#I RAMBLED SO HARD today is a venting day HUH?

[27emailsicantsend]

Set it Up: A Rina AU

Chapter Three

"Hey buddie, how was work?" Seb asked Ricky Monday night after Ricky spent the day negotiating the terms of Nini's contract with Gina and her. Seb was making an intricate salad for Carlos and himself for dinner that night, while Ricky had come through the front tour, his sight set only on the couch. Once he got to their disheveled heap they called "furniture", Ricky collapsed into the left side, his body sinking lower into the cushion than he remembered.

"Hey Seb, next time we buy a couch, let's test the cushions first," Ricky groaned, moving his weight to the other side.

Seb raised his knife Ricky's way in agreement, "ditto".

"And it was... a lot. We found a new artist to work with EJ, but from what I've heard about her is that she can be a nightmare. And her assistant is even more difficult to deal with. She's so... perky? And somehow equally as intense. It is really hard to read her sometimes. And then EJ has been outlandishly bad this week. He.... well, let's just say he must be going through something because I can't seem to keep up with anything he needs. And sometimes this job just seems like so much... I just feel like I won't be able to make a sustainable life off of it unless I live up to EJ's expectations of me-"

"-Ricky?" Seb cut off his rambling, now sprinkling what looked to be cheddar cheese into the bowl.

"Yeah?"

"I love you so much. You know this. But I only asked how was work. Don't you have a girlfriend to vent to about this stuff?" Seb asked the question kindly, but Ricky could tell he really didn't want to hear everything. 

Especially since it was about Carlos’ place of work, it probably felt uncomfortable focusing on the problematic parts of it. Carlos didn’t seemed to mind EJ, because they had this keen sense of “finer things” that they shared, but Ricky felt like he wasn’t quite at their level yet. Of course, he wanted the money and nice cars, that was the whole point of wanting the promotion, but he also wanted to maintain his dignity in pursuit of material possessions. This was a trait EJ lost and Carlos has started the path down. 

"Right... sorry. I do, but I tried to call Lily three times today and she keeps dodging my calls. I know she's mad I haven't taken her on a date in weeks... And you already know she won't be helpful. Advice isn’t really her ‘thing’," Ricky admitted, rubbing the nape of his neck.

"Well, when you date someone boring, you're going to be bored, Rick. If she’s that hard to talk to and doesn’t want to be around you, why haven't you broken up with her yet?" Seb counseled, now pulling meat out of a warm roast chicken. “No offense”.

"None taken," Ricky responded hopelessly. "But everyone has flaws. Not everyone is supposed to have a girlfriend who gives great advice or who wants to listen to my problems all of the time. I think that would make the relationship boring... And you know that you don't hear me complain about Carlos!"

"That's because he complains for the both of us," Seb joked. This was another one of EJ’s traits Carlos was beginning to manifest. Ricky and Seb knew that Carlos had an eye for finer detail and liked things being precise, so Seb was happy to accommodate. Seb was more carefree and laid back, and Carlos was more outgoing and wild. They were the perfect yin to each other’s yang and brought out the best parts in one another. 

It's why the salad wasn't premade from the local grocery store and instead had the details of a gourmet restaurant. But it’s also why Carlos will let most of their “date nights” be at home. They work together in the best way.

“...you probably want me to leave for your date night, huh?” Ricky presumed a few seconds later.

“Yes, please. Get out,” Seb lovingly commanded him, before accidentally drenching the salad in homemade vinaigrette. 

Meanwhile, a few blocks down, Gina had just gotten home from her exhausting day with Nini. All she wanted to do was throw on her pajamas, put on a movie, and talk to Kourtney about how bad she feels for ditching Jack so much. Jack had been so kind and accommodating to her insane schedule, letting her continuously bump the first date (which they were still waiting to go on). Somehow his flexibility and patience made Gina feel like she had a real chance with him.

Tonight was another night they were going to go on a first date, but Gina had spent the entire day catering to every single one of Nini’s commands. Ricky had gone home before Gina and Nini was trying extra hard to impress EJ as her new producer. So Gina found herself running a lot of errands this night, some of which EJ said she didn’t have to do, but Nini insisted it was “for the best”. 

Gina wanted to see Jack when she was free and not exhausted, but it seemed like that was wishing for the unthinkable. Once again, Gina found herself telling Jack that night she wouldn't be able to go out with him. Gina sent the text and felt the tears begin to form in her eyes. She wasn't sure if she was crying out of anger, stress, or pure exhaustion, but she just wanted Kourtney to come home. She wanted the two of them to get in their pajamas, put on face masks, and complain about Gina’s love life and the work grind of New York City. 

And, as though by magic, when Gina wished for Kourtney to be back, she heard two voices outside the door.

The couch Gina was sitting on had it’s back facing the door, so she had enough time to wipe the initial tears off her face and collect herself. When she heard Kourtney and Jet walk she tried to, slightly embarrassed, muster up a normal voice before greeting them home.

"Hey guys! What's up?" Gina asked, holding back a sniffle.

"So... we have something to tell you!" Kourtney and Jet walked around the couch to a couple of chairs placed close together. The chairs were facing the couch, so Gina had no where else to look but at the couple. Hands laced tight, Kourtney held up Jet’s and hers to reflect a large diamond ring. It was about double the size of Kourtney’s finger and had a solid gold band to hold it in place. Gina couldn’t help but wonder how Jet could afford that with his small job.

Gina was somehow equally excited for Kourtney and equally embarrassed that all she wanted to do was wallow in loneliness and being "legally single". Now Kourtney could file “married” on all court documents and Gina was left checking the “single” box. Gina gathered up whatever happiness she could (albeit sounding slightly fake) and congratulated the pair.

"Oh my gosh, you guys!! I'm so happy for you!" Gina ran over and hugged them both, Kourtney letting out a little squeal. After some gawking at Kourtney’s ring, Gina sat back down and tried to push her upset feelings to the side for the rest of the night. She listened sincerely as Kourtney and Jet retold the details of the night.

Kourtney explained that Jet brought her to a private pier with candles placed everywhere- the deck, the railings, and even on a small table behind him. He sprinkled rose petals all over and had a private violinist playing “their song”. After the proposal, the two went to a fancy seafood restaurant nearby and then came back to tell Gina first because it was late and Kourtney didn't want to hide the ring.

Gina was flattered she knew even before their parents, but as attentive as she was, the more they talked, the more her spiraling thoughts came back. She knew she had to get up early, so she used that as an excuse to leave the conversation and uneasy feeling she had.

The next morning, Gina showed up to Nini's old studio and helped her pack her things to move over to EJ's studio. Nini was extra stressed about the move, so she found new ways to harass Gina. From making fun of the out Gina chose (a sporty jacket and ripped jeans), to listing all the ways EJ will probably not be as good as her old producers (but couldn’t care less about having them back), to pretending to find a hair in her breakfast bagel (anyone would have thought it was a horror scene). By the time Gina and Nini arrived to EJ's, Gina was about fed up with Nini’s excessive complaining. It felt like Christmas Day to Gina, handing Nini over to EJ when he stated he wanted to work with her one-on-one that morning.

"How has EJ been?" Gina grouched, dropping a box on Ricky's desk. “I am having a lovely morning with Nini”.

"A nightmare. He made me rearrange his office sock drawer. He has a sock drawer in his office!" Ricky whined, making sure to keep his voice down so EJ and Nini didn't hear the pair from EJ's office. He couldn’t help but rub the temples of his forehead from stress.

"Who needs a sock drawer in their office?" Gina baffled, taking the rubber band ball off of Ricky’s desk and snapping it.

"He says the afternoon grind makes his feet sweaty," Ricky replied, rolling his eyes. He snatched the ball from Gina’s hand. “Give me that”.

Gina flinched in disgust. 

"That is so gross... and if we’re going to be working together, you need to learn how to share. Playground rules,” Gina took the rubber band ball back, snapping away happily again.

Ricky chose not to notice Gina’s defiance and responded nonchalantly, "Tell me about it. It’s the absolute worst. Anyway, it's making me irritated because I have had to be out late with him every night to help him with this new hire. And before that, we were looking for the new hire. And before that... well, I don't know. But I'm always busy and I haven't seen my girlfriend in weeks because of it!"

"Tell me about it," Gina agreed, matching Ricky's irritation. "I have been trying to go on a date with this guy- also for weeks- with no luck. It made me feel even worse last night when my best friend came home, literally engaged, and I had to find it somewhere inside of me to be excited for her because I was too busy moping about my own love life".

"You had to fake being excited for your best friend?" Ricky pointed out.

"No, not like that," Gina backtracked, using the ball to gesture her thoughts. "I am so beyond excited for both of them. I guess... I just wish I had enough time in my life to have something like that too, you know? That I had other priorities besides work".

"Yeah, definitely," Ricky concurred before Gina continued what he believed to be her finished thought. She was now lightly pacing next to his desk and Ricky couldn’t tell if she was talking to him or herself again.

"And not to mention how oblivious they seemed. Not in a bad way, but it was like they were so happy. And I would give anything to have my life be that restful and easy again, while still maintaining the job,” Gina mused before setting the ball back down on the desk.

“I really don’t get what is happening,” Ricky laughed, watching Gina think out loud in amusement. He replaced the ball back to it’s original spot on the desk.

Gina didn’t respond. “But I can’t, because Nini stays constantly preoccupied with me. It makes me wonder if she’s happy, because she doesn’t really take breaks either..."

"Oh my gosh! That's it!" Gina blurted, making Ricky jump back in his chair.

"Argh! Don’t do that! You're going to send me into cardiac arrest!" Ricky reprimanded, sitting back up straight once he recollected himself. "What is it?"

"We need Nini and EJ to fall in love," Gina devised, her smile a little sinister.

"Absolutely not," Ricky protested. He knew that it was a sure way to get the both of them fired.

"Ricky, come on,” Gina whimpered. “If they were oblivious, they wouldn't care at all about us. I'm sure my face had mascara running down it and Kourtney, my best friend who knows me better than anyone, couldn't have bothered to ask. They would be so busy; they wouldn’t know anything about our whereabouts! We could get our lives back!”

"I... I really don't know about this, Gi- I mean Gina. We could get in a lot of trouble if they find out and I really can't get in trouble. I have a lot on the line right now. More than you know," Ricky’s voice was wavering.

"And I do too! But when people are in love, they are happy. And happy people treat other people better, making others happy. Making us happy. We could get everything we want. We are literally the puppeteers to their life. Look at this," Gina said, before pulling out her phone and scrolling to show Ricky Nini's digital calendar.

“I know everything about Nini. I make her schedule, I know her favorite food, her likes, her dislikes... I even know which family member she would want to use as a cover for murder, should she ever commit,” Gina continued persuasively.

"Huh?!" Ricky asked bewildered.

"Oh, oh no!" Gina panicked, quickly recovering her point. "She would never actually do that, I just mean I know who it would be... But I promise, Nini wouldn't... anyway, it just proves my point. Does EJ ever ask about his schedule?"

"Only when he thinks I left something out," Ricky replied, visceral flashbacks coming to his mind of his conversation about the loan.

"Exactly," Gina pushed. "They would. Never. Notice. if something got changed or moved around. We could be changing their lives for the better and ours. What do we have to lose?"

Ricky heard the word "everything" go through his head, but for some reason Gina was a lot more convincing. He felt like he was in over his head with work and he would love to spend any time he could with Lily again. And, as an added bonus for him, less time being bugged by Gina. As much as his instincts told him not to, he asked Gina a follow-up question to her own.

"If I said yes, what would be our first plan of action?" Ricky asked, feeling himself surrendering to the idea. The inquiry made Gina do a small dance in delight.

"Ok, I'm going to need to you to settle down if we're actually making this happen," Ricky requested, placing an arm on Gina's shoulder to get her to stop. She stopped immediately, her body shaking from trying to hold still, her mouth pursed together to keep noises from escaping.

Feeling like they weren’t going to get anything done until Gina got the dance out of her system, Ricky succumbed to her glee. "Ok, fine, you can dance for five more seconds and then it's Operation Cobra".

"Operation Cobra?" Gina queried, as her face quickly twisted from happiness to confusion.

"I watched a lot of Once Upon a Time growing up. Sue me," Ricky justified sarcastically.

Gina shrugged her shoulders and danced again for exactly five seconds before standing stiff as a board, hand to her forehead, ready for duty. As much as Ricky tried, he couldn't hold back his chuckles.

[flowermist7432]

What about bubby is happening???

Hwjhhgggggggg E v e r y ThIng,, its a long one but please read if yah do wanna understand my thoughts tho its long cause i ramble!!

Ismhd okay so i made art a LONG while back that was like, Bubby and Coomer! Right? I love their ship, infact the way they are drawn is so specific and it REMINDED me of..idk..Crowley and Aziraphale.

The logic behind that is how the fandom draws them like Crowley. Little mean with a soft heart, and wears cool black stuff and stylish, TALL AND VERY SKINNY while Coomer is drawn as chubby, lil man who's nice but also a little bastard. So i was like "Hah! Oh man! Reminds me of another ship! Infact i wanna draw em like that! >:0" then i drew them dressed AS them!

Now, i wanted to kinda re draw that piece cause its old and my artskills have MAJORLY improved. But folks loved it! And MONTHS later when ive already forgotten about the post some..person was like "this is so antisemitic to draw Bubby as a literal demon"

Now obviously as someone with RSD i choked, first of all. SECOND of all this person CLEARLY missed the mark that??? Of course i drew him as Crowley thats the part of the joke- COOMER IS AZIRAPHALE it doesn't work the other way around tho maybe for a joke it can cause that would be funny ("Gordon! Im a demon! And i require your soul as debt~❤"). Third, this...this art was made way long before this whole ENTIRE THING WITH him being called jewish suddenly and his new rules.

The reason he's concidered jewish is because Gir used one of the random scientist old man npcs which aparently later on in the games was turned into Dr Kliener? And the name Kliener is a name of jewish origin. And even tho the fandom had decided.

"Okay were separating Half Life from Half Life Vr AI. Cause the two things are so..SO DIFFERENT from eachother at this point its not even funny" the fandom ALSO decided because Gir used that model it intern makes Bubby jewish. And that means Bubby's sharp teeth the fandom did before that or just, aspects of how he might look a BIT monster-ish cause he was canonly made from a tube was gone! No more! You cant cause now everyone decided he's jewish!

I legit had no problem with it cause "oh dang" cause well im not jewish what do i know, i mean if you headcanon that, thats cool! ❤💖❤💞💖 Also im sure folks can live with not drawing him a few fish-like! I mean maybe he just came outta the tube lookin like a regular white old man which is always funny tbh. Also as i said im not jewish so i have no say really it wouldnt be fair >:0. Infact I love the connection but artists getting accused of antisemitism because Bubby was being drawn alittle off like pointy teeth or using the sharp triangle body shape theory kinda sucks cause to me it was clear it had nothing todo with jewish themes and also lets be honest Dr Kliener and Bubby are two seperate entities to me.

But its actually one of the biggest reasons i stopped fandom interacting cause..idk. it got to much with the "Dont draw/write a character like this" and stuff. It was the stick that broke the camel's back with realising this fandom turned great wonderful wholesome headcanons to implimented FACTS of the community and if you are tripped up even alittle unknowingly even before hand yer FUCKED. Which is actually my number one fear so it certainly did the trick! I just..left! I got to scared of doing something wrong or even asking. Cause its a bit feral even if you wanna genuinely ask why. And btw this isnt "UHG STUPID RULES" and more like "oh god oh fuck--"

I..look i'll always have a special place in my heart but im gonna be vulnerable fer' a sec and say so, SO scared of lettin folks down. 😥 i dont wanna be a antisemitism artist! Or a racist or a homophobe or any of this! Its scary and makes me wanna cry even at the very thought someone MIGHT think that even tho i know im certainly not. But its also made me not wanna interact cause..what if i accidentally draw something or say something that came across the wrong way or broke "fandom rules" i was unaware about like god holy shit thats TERRIFYING!!!

So i just, stopped drawing em. I even have poc characters or stuff ive wanted to show to tumblr but im scared of getting facts wrong or someone getting angry i did something so i just hide em all away. Its too intimidating and the chances of having yer ass handed to you by one accident and being shunned for life is so possible in my head and i never wanna risk being a terrible person. Even if that means stop drawing hlvrai and not showing original work in fear of messing up

[noxtivagus]

SHADOWBRINGERS.... listening to the song again n oh god i love the lyrics so so much we r ignoring the fact that i have to wake up in like less than 4 hours

[bonkie-barnes]

Spoons

natasha romanoff x gn!reader

word count: 2.1k

warnings: chronic illness, mention of medicine, self deprecating thoughts

A/N: this is me 1000% projecting about my guilt that comes with my chronic illnesses. they're kicking my ass rn. this is a vent fic, but if you resonate with this at all, i hope you enjoy :)

- - -

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The alarm clock on Natasha’s bedside table has been going off for a full minute already. You merely roll over and cover your head with Natasha’s pillow. It smells like her.

You have absolutely no energy to get up, let alone reach across the bed to turn the alarm off. Your head feels heavy and your body aches something terrible.

The list of chores you have to do around the house today sits uncomfortably in the back of your mind. The list of friends who have texted you about making plans to hang out sits there too. The idea of staying in bed all day sounds more and more appealing by the second. You know this because the alarm is still blaring into the otherwise peaceful morning air.

Just as you’re gathering the strength to sit up and turn the alarm off, Natasha walks in. She looks at her watch and her brow furrows in confusion.

“What are you doing, sleepyhead?” she asks you with a little smirk. There is concern in her eyes, though she masks it well.

You’re both fully aware the alarm has been going off for seven minutes straight now.

“Just tired, love. You know how much work it takes to reach over,” you say in a joking manner, hopeful that you can get past this without worrying her too much.

Natasha eyes you suspiciously for a second before giving in.

“How was your workout?” you ask her sincerely.

As she starts rambling about her morning activities, you feel a sense of shame. You’ve barely managed to wake up in the time it’s taken her to complete a full workout routine. Hell, you couldn’t even find it in you to turn the alarm off.

You finally focus on her rant as it comes to an end. Natasha is looking at you expectantly. Shit. She’s asked you a question.

“Huh?” you grunt.

She chuckles before answering, “I asked if you were ever going to get up and get in the shower, stinky.”

You put on a fake smile but fail to meet her eyes, the shame eating you up. It has been a few days since your last shower, but it’s just so hard to find the strength and energy to get up and stand in one place for more than a minute or two.

If Natasha notices the far away look in your eyes and the grimace on your mouth, she doesn’t say anything.

After one of the quickest and most unproductive showers you’ve ever taken, you find Natasha waiting for you in the kitchen. She’s taken it upon herself to make breakfast for you both.

You kiss her cheek and thank her as you sit down at the table. The warm cup of coffee she sets down in front of you is a godsend. The warmth emitting from the cup helps to diminish the pain in your knuckles, if only slightly. You send up a silent prayer to whomever might be listening that the caffeine will help with the fatigue today instead of making you sick.

Natasha sits down in the chair next to you with her own plate. She runs her eyes over you in a scrutinizing manner. She wants to think you don’t notice, but you do.

Clearing your throat in hopes to take her focus off you, you ask about her plans for the day.

“Oh, you know, mostly just busy work. I have a ton of paperwork to get through,” she tells you through an exaggerated sigh. “What about you?”

The list of chores screams at you again. “Mostly just some things around the house. Grocery shopping, laundry, boring shit like that.”

Natasha hums around a sip of her coffee. It surprised you just how much cream and sugar she takes in hers. It’s just one of the many unpredictable things about her that made you fall in love.

“Super exciting. I hate to miss out,” she teases you.

You crack a smile to appease her. Inside, though, you realize just how little she understands. These errands seem so simple to her, when to you, they are the most daunting of tasks.

You’re brought out of your thoughts by Natasha standing up to take her plate to the sink. She comes back to kiss your cheek and let you know she’s going to go get ready, before walking out of the room.

You suspect the amount of housework you’ll get done today will be minimal, so you decide to at least make Natasha some lunch. Maybe it will lessen the disappointment she feels when she comes home to see everything exactly as it was when she left, you think.

Your plan is halted as you’re making her sandwich. The stupid cover on the peanut butter jar is stuck. You can’t open it for the life of you. The guilt comes in like a tidal wave. You can’t even do something as simple as make lunch for her, your brain supplies for you.

Natasha returns from getting ready to see you standing in the kitchen with a glare on your tired face.

“What’d the peanut butter do to you this time,” she jokes.

“I can’t.” Tears well up in your eyes.

She comes up to wrap you in a hug from behind. She softly asks, “What can’t you do?”

“I can’t open the jar,” you mutter softly, feeling overwhelmingly embarrassed.

“It’s okay, love. Let me help,” she tells you delicately before kissing the spot under your ear. She can tell this is affecting you more than usual and wishes for nothing more than to be able to take away your distress.

You mutter a thank you before continuing to make her sandwich. You pack everything into a bag and write a small note to finish it off. You know Natasha loves the little messages you leave her periodically, and nothing will stop you from trying to make her as happy as you can.

Goodbyes are said as you both wander closer to the door. Natasha makes sure to hold you longer and tighter than usual. You don’t comment on that.

The silence that encompasses the room as soon as the love of your life leaves is suffocating. You can feel the exhaustion from purely getting up and getting ready creeping up on you. Logically, you know that you shouldn’t overexert yourself, but the shame is eating you up. Already on a roll, might as well keep on going, you think to yourself.

You go back to your mental to-do list and debate what to start with. The grocery store doesn’t sound terrible. Some sun would do you some good. It’s been a few days since you’ve seen the world that exists outside of your house.

Wandering back to the bedroom to get your phone and shoes, you try to push the fatigue from your mind. In your attempt to block out the tiredness, you fail to recognize the ever-present pain in your joints increasing. It’s only when you sit down and bend over to put your shoes on that you register the feeling. Your hips ache severely; so much so, that you can’t hold your position long enough to get your shoe on your foot.

This seems to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, seeing as you immediately burst into tears. The pain mixed with your inability to do basic, everyday activities completely overwhelms you as you break down.

There’s absolutely no chance that you’re going to complete this task, let alone all the other ones on your list. You let out a sigh as you stand up and shuffle to your room, phone and shoes forgotten in the living room.

You let the weight of your emotions crush you as you climb into bed and under the covers, your wife’s pillow clutched closely to your chest.

Your tears cease to stop, even as you succumb to the sleep you so desperately wished to hold onto this morning.

- - -

Natasha comes home to an eerily silent house. On any typical day, she would come home to the noise of your favorite show or music softly playing, whether it be from a speaker or from your guitar. Your shared house consistently was filled with life and sound. It was one of her favorite parts of her day; coming home to you in your own element, laughing or singing. You are her home.

This newfound silence has her exceptionally worried. Even on your bad days, there was at least a laugh track coming from the TV or the smell of hot chocolate coming from the kitchen. Now, there’s absolutely nothing. For a split second, Natasha thinks that you may never have come back from the grocery. Her heart rate spikes. The sight of your phone on the coffee table and your shoes strewn haphazardly on the floor puts those worries to rest.

“Darling?” she calls from the entryway. There is no response. She carefully removes her boots and coat before moving through every room in the house, calling out for you softly in each.

She makes her way to the bedroom, lightly knocking on the door as she lets herself in. She sees the rise and fall of your chest and is filled with a sense of relief she didn't know she needed.

"Love? Are you awake?"

You grumble out an answer that could be understood as a 'yes'.

Natasha carefully sits down on the side of the bed that you are facing.

"Can you tell me what's going on?" she requests softly, in fear of upsetting the quiet environment of the bedroom and making things worse.

The tears that started up again when you wife called out the first time get even heavier somehow.

"Oh love, come here."

She carefully gathers you in her arms and rests your head on her chest.

"Does this have anything to do with the peanut butter jar this morning?"

You nod. One of your favorite things about your wife is her ability to observe and understand what you're going through.

"I just can't do anything today. Everything hurts and I'm so, so tired," you whisper, followed by a heartbreaking sob.

"It's okay love. Please don't cry," Natasha whispers back.

"But it's not! It's not okay!" You sit up from her chest to let out your rant. "You've done so much today and I could barely wake up. You work so hard and I should be able to do stuff around the house so you can come home and not have to worry about anything," you finish with a sigh.

Your wife puts her hand under your chin, forcing you to look in her direction. "Love, look at me. Believe me when I say that I don't care about the state of the laundry or if the pantry has been stocked. All I care about is you. All I want is for you to be okay. It's killing me that you feel like this and I can't do anything to take it away from you. What I can do, though, is tell you just how proud I am of you. You are the strongest person I know, and I work with the Avengers."

You giggled at that. Natasha smiles at your small second of happiness.

"Are you sure? Because I was going to get so much done today and I was trying to-"

Natasha cuts you off with a soft kiss.

"My love. Listen to me. All I care about is your health and happiness. If staying in bed and catching up on sleep is what you needed today, then that's all I expect from you. I never want you to hurt yourself trying to do more than you can. We all have limits. It’s okay to need a break some days. I love you and I am so very, very proud of you."

With a long look into her eyes, all you find is love and adoration directed towards you. There's no disgust or disappointment as you had anticipated.

"I love you too," you utter quietly.

Natasha smiles and leaves a long kiss on your forehead. "What if we got some pain killers and some food in you? We can even put on your favorite movie. Does that sound good?"

You nod. Natasha gets up to get you some medicine and to order some food, while you get your favorite movie loaded on the TV.

Later that night, when both your stomachs are full and your wife is obnoxiously singing along to the songs in the movie just to make you laugh, you realize just how loved you are.

You don't know how tomorrow will treat you, or the day after that. What you do know, however, is that Natasha will always be there to support and love you. Your pain level and ability to function is always an uncertainty, but your wife's love will never be.

- - -

A/N: as always, i try to keep it gender neutral. if you find a mistake, please let me know! feedback is appreciated! to all my chronic illness buddies out there: i love you, you've got this :)

taglist: @007giu

[sandbees]

Yuu and the House of Mouse; The...Great Seven?

It’s been three weeks since Yuu has worked at the House of Mouse.

Headmaster Crowley decided that going would be a great experience! He graciously gave you permission to work there! (Just don’t forget to do your homework and get a good rest after; he doesn’t want you to be lagging behind your classes after all!)

At the House of Mouse, you eventually learned the ins and outs; and you’ve gained everyone’s attention. They like you a lot! You have this, “If I talk to you about my problems you’ll listen kindly and either give me advice or continue to let me vent out my feelings” vibe.

Being a (sort of) therapist must have helped, huh?

You yourself have a few favorite guests that you can always look forward to seeing;

Tiana and Naveen: You hit it off when you first met. Something about their dynamic and allowing you to vent about back at Twisted Wonderland gave you good vibes about them. They’re polite guests, and they have given you advice on how to improve your work. Tiana has (once) invited you to work for them if you wanted to work at another job, but you tell them that you have school. They’re immediately concerned, because someone going to school working at a job with very demanding and colorful characters? You assure them that you’ve manage to balance school and work, however they seem less than convinced. Though nothing big changed, they occasionally remind you to take breaks and to have fun watching the cartoons on screen when you’re not busy waiting tables. (They also give you candy from their time! Butterfingers, anyone?)

Hades: He’s a frequent guest at the House of Mouse. You had lent an ear to his complaints, and then again, and then again, and soon enough you’re his personal therapist. You’re the go-to waiter whenever Hades shows up; much to the delight of the staff (The penguin waiters are...a little scared of Hades). It’s surprising how little he seems to reflect Ignihyde. He’s like a shut in extrovert. However, when you tell Hades this, he becomes very interested in your world. He’ll let you ramble about what you know about Twisted Wonderland, and he’s going to make smug comments about it. After that encounter, Hades starts conversations with you that isn’t just complaining about his siblings. In fact, he’s one of your pep talkers when you’re feeling stressed or down.

The Darling Siblings: If you don’t recognize them, they’re the siblings from Peter Pan! (Wendy, John, and Michael) When you first met them, they acted very polite. And they gave “children, protect them” vibes. As you continue to work, you discover that the children had a more playful side to them. You could easily joke with them and in exchange Wendy would tell you stories or John and Michael would tell you about their recent adventures.

Scrooge McDuck: Donald introduced him to you, actually. He mentioned, “Since you sound like you’ve been on a lot of adventures, I think you might like to share stories.” How right he was. Scrooge’s stories were captivating and enchanting, you’d always be on the edge of your seat hearing them. Whenever he swung by and you were on break, you two would be swapping stories of your lives. He was most interested in your first day story; about the magical chandelier specifically. You always look forward to a new story he would have.

Of course there were others, but the ones listed above were the people you loved seeing.

Today was a typical night in the House of Mouse, though everyone seemed...a little agitated?

You ask Mickey, and he explains that there was a reservation for a villain get together...and last time, it went poorly.

You offer to serve them as a waiter, since you’re sure that you can handle it.

“Are you sure?” “I’ve dealt with worse characters...I think. By the way, can I get the list of who’s going?”

You find out Hades was the one who reserved it (oh thank goodness, someone you’re already familiar with. And he likes you)

He’s also bringing - “I’m sorry, can you repeat that?” “The Queen of Hearts, Scar, Ursula, Jafar, The Evil Queen, and Maleficent.” “I-“

Imagine your shock when you find out Hades is bringing all of the Great Seven. You’ve already met Maleficent, but someone like the Queen of Hearts, or the Beautiful Queen??? You’re ready to walk to your doom right now.

When the doors open, you go about your night as usual, though your on edge as you anxiously wait for the Great Seven to arrive. This would be the first time you would be interacting with most of them.

When they arrive, you greet them and take them to their table, doing normal procedure.

However, things go south when Hades asks Yuu to come and have a chat with them when they go on break.

“yeAH suuurrreee-“ “Great! They have a lot of questions and I think they’d like to hear what you have to say!”

Yuu is making high pitch dying screams when she gets to the kitchen.

“Oohhhh my god, they want to talk to me. What if I mess up? What if they dislike me and then try to kill me? Oh no oh no-“

Yuu is trying not to scream in excitement and stress as Mickey excuses her to talk with the Great Seven.

The meeting? It goes well.

When they ask about their world, Yuu describes their time at NRC, and how the villains were praised as good people, and were known as the “Great Seven”.

They were very intrigued about this, and would always puff up when Yuu praised them. They also ask questions about Yuu as well!

What? They’re villains, but they’re not rude.

They listen to your tales, and are sympathetic to the idiots that you surround yourself with. They get it, they are also surrounded by idiotic, self centered heroes who think they’re in the right- (projecting much?)

The Queen of Hearts is a lot more than you expected; she’s strict, but she also has good humor (as long as you don’t mock her). When you ask what kind of tarts she likes, she responded with “Any kind of tart, however jam filled tarts are one of my favorites.”. You wonder if she’d like the tarts Trey would make.

Scar...isn’t talkative, though he seems very pleased when you talk about what NRC thinks of him. He’s actually kinder to you - you’ve heard stories from Goofy and the penguins waiters that Scar is hard to please.

Ursula is what you would call a sweet talker. Kind of like Hades, but you can tell that she wants something. You indulge her, answering any questions about your world. She seems particularly interested in the rivalry between NCR and RSA, however.

Jafar wants to know everything about Scarabia. From it’s current standing to it’s history. You try your best to explain as much as you know about the dorm; but you mention that your information is limited since it wasn’t your dorm. He’s satisfied with what you give, but Jafar tells you that next time, he’d like to know more. You better go study up on Scarabia now :) (Or ask Kalim or Jamil about Scarabia)

The Beautiful (Evil?) Queen acts smug, and she seems relaxed around your presence. Maybe it’s because you told her that she’s known as the Beautiful Queen? She wants to know who is housed in her dorm, and like Jafar, she wants to know everything about Pomfiore. When she heard about the VDC, she asks multiple questions about it. (“When the VDC comes around, maybe I shall grace everyone with my presence...hmm, or should I help NRC’s team? I mean, they would represent me, of course.”

I’ve actually mentioned that you have met Hades and Maleficent in this ask

Hades and Maleficent consider you as friends (maybe not close friends, but friends nonetheless)

The rest of the Great Seven also have positive opinions on you; and they try their best to live up to your expectations! They can’t have you turn your back on them after you openly praise them!

You’re dragged away from your job - instead you focus on entertaining the Great Seven! (Which was fine, Pete was at it again by trying to drive out the guests; you kept the Great Seven in so they could still run the show!)

As the night went on, you felt yourself getting less and less nervous about being with the Great Seven. You had loads of fun!

Of course the show ended sooner than you liked; and it was closing time.

“It was really wonderful to meet you! Maybe we’ll see each other again when the House of Mouse opens again?”

“Why would we wait for nighttime? I have a magic portal to travel to Twisted Wonderland whenever we’d like.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

Turns out Maleficent had an easier way to travel to Twisted Wonderland; but she gave you a sparkling gem. She told you that when she gave everyone (The Great Seven) a way to travel to Twisted Wonderland, they’d surely visit you. With the gem, it will sparkle and shine a certain color when they do.

The color? Well, of course it would be the dorm colors! It would be easier that way, would it not?

So, in the near future, the Great Seven would be able to visit you.

What do you think? You’re not against the idea; but the idea of one of them showing up during class is going to be a nightmare.

Oh well, future you will worry about that.

You thank Maleficent and go about returning to your world.

Before you get to the mirror, Mickey stops you.

“Hey, I just wanted to thank you for making sure the villains stay, it was a lifesaver and you saved our show.” “No...problem?” “Haha, our club would’ve been toast if they left! Thank you again!” “...Your welcome?”

And then you departed from the House of Mouse, immediately crashing onto your bed. Lazily, you take a glance at your mirror, wondering when you’ll see the Great Seven.

Then you promptly fall asleep.

[flightlessangelwings]

Always the Laundry

Marcus Moreno x gn!reader (no pronouns, no y/n)

Word count: 1.7k

Warnings: Fluff, protective!Marcus, kissing, heated making out, shirtless, Marcus being the best boyfriend, Missy being the best kid

Notes: Written for @autumnleaves1991-blog​ Writer Wednesday. I saw the photo and immediately thought Laundry Day Series! This works as part of the series, but can also be read on its own. I need to get back into writing more of this series cause I really do miss it and I have a few more parts planned out, so look forward to that coming soon and enjoy this for now! Graphic made by me.

~

It was a quiet afternoon at Heroics Headquarters and Marcus slumped down onto his desk with a heavy sigh. The morning had started with a threat of an emergency, but after Marcus sent a team to investigate, it turned out to be nothing. After the rush of adrenaline wore off, the Heroics leader found his thoughts drifted over to you. He wondered what you were up to this afternoon, and when he would see you next.

The two of you hadn’t been dating long, only a couple months, but Marcus felt a deep connection and attraction to you that he hadn’t felt since his late wife. You both agreed to take things slow, which worked best for both of you, but Marcus quickly found that he had deeper feelings even after a short time. He forced himself to hold back, however, and wait until you were ready to take the next step in your relationship. He would wait, though, as long as you needed.

Just as a smile flashed across his face at the thought of you, Marcus’ phone rang. His grin grew wider when it was your name on the screen, and he welcomed the distraction from the quiet of headquarters today, “Hey baby,” Marcus answered with a pep in his tone.

On the other end of the line, you breathed heavily and your voice was shaky, “Marcus?”

He immediately went on alert and stood up when he heard the panic in your voice, “What’s wrong? Are you ok?”

You rambled incoherently for a minute before you spoke more clearly, “I’m sorry to call you at work, but I didn’t know what else to do…”

“Are you at home? Where are you?” Marcus cut you off before you could continue.

“Yeah…” you sounded so scared as you whispered into the phone.

“Stay there, I’ll be right over,” he couldn’t hide the way his voice wavered as a rush of fear ran through him. 

Without hesitation, Marcus gathered his things and his weapons and bolted out the door. As he jumped into his car, every possible scenario ran through his head as he thought the worst. What happened to scare you like that? Had someone figured out your connection to him and found you? Did they have you cornered in your house, trapped? Were you hurt? What if he couldn’t get to you in time?

Marcus made it to your place in record time and with his sword in his hand, he barreled through the door as he called out your name. But, instead of a disaster situation like he expected, your place was quiet. There didn’t seem to be any hint of break in or anything disastrous. He made his way into your place as he called your name again, “Baby?”

“In here Marcus,” you finally called back from the far end of your home.

The laundry room, Marcus thought as he quickly moved over to meet you. What he found, however, was not what he expected.

You looked flustered and overwhelmed, and your clothes were soaked. You were surrounded by piles of laundry all over the place as your washing machine shook and spewed water and soap everywhere. At least an inch of water flooded your small laundry room, and it took Marcus a moment to register that his feet were now wet as well. 

But, your face immediately softened when you saw your boyfriend in the doorway, “Marcus…” you breathed in relief and his shoulders finally dropped, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know what to do and I was freaking out,” you gestured to the mess around you as he moved to be next to you.

“It’s alright,” he spoke in a soft, calming tone as he put his hand on your shoulder.

“This stupid machine,” you cursed, “It’s always spazzing out on me, but it’s never been this bad before,” you vented for another minute before you finally turned and met Marcus’ gaze. When you did, all the air left your lungs, “Marcus?”

“You scared me,” he admitted as those deep brown eyes looked into your own, “I thought something happened,” he squeezed your shoulder tighter before he pulled you in and wrapped his arms around you.

You let out a deep breath as you nuzzled yourself into his strong, comforting embrace, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” you sighed again as you tried to make a joke to comfort him the way his embrace comforted you, “I mean technically something did happen…”

Marcus hugged you tighter as he kissed the top of your head before he let out a soft chuckle, “Always the laundry with you, huh?” The two of you broke out into laughter as you both fondly thought back to the day you met at the laundromat. Marcus pepped light kisses all over you until he finally felt you were safe and pulled away to meet your eyes again, “I’ll help you clean this up and then we can go over to my place so you can finish your laundry.” He thought it best to take care of the immediate problem for now, and he could worry about your washer later.

Your eyes lit up as you clung to his sleeve, “Thank you, Marcus,” this time it was your turn to place a soft kiss to his lips.

“You never need to thank me, baby,” he replied as he smiled into the kiss. 

He wasted no time in helping you unplug the washing machine so that it stopped spewing water and together the two of you cleaned up the water that collected in the little room. Then, Marcus gathered all your laundry and carried it to his car for you and took you over to his house. Even though you insisted you could carry some of it, Marcus didn’t allow it. He genuinely enjoyed taking care of you and wanted to do anything he could for you, no matter how small.

“Your clothes are soaked too, babe,” he said with a grin after he put the first load into his washing machine.

Heat rushed to your face as you realized what he insinuated. You had gone on several dates over the past couple months, and the two of you made out like a couple of horny teenagers every time you saw each other, but things never went further than that at this point. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to, you wanted him more than anything, but you both agreed to take things slow for both of your comforts.

Just as Marcus was about to apologize for his comment, you grabbed at your shirt and slid it up off your body and stood before him more bare than you ever had before. Marcus’ mouth dropped open in awe as he just stared at you with wide eyes. His reaction just made you more flustered, but in a good way this time. 

Before you could say anything, Marcus closed the distance between your bodies and kissed you passionately. He took the shirt from your hand and tossed it to the floor before his arms wrapped around your waist. Marcus quickly deepened the kiss as he lifted you up and sat you on top of his washing machine. Momentarily shocked by the movement, you moaned into his mouth, which only encouraged him more. 

While you stayed locked in his kiss, your own hands roamed around his chest and tugged at his shirt. Wordlessly, you asked permission for him to take it off as well. And Marcus was more than happy to comply. He broke away from you for just a brief moment as he slipped his shirt off before he was right back on you.

Heat rose in the room as you and Marcus lost yourselves in each other. The kiss felt more intense than any before while your hands roamed all over each other’s bodies. You had never felt that much of his bare skin before, and you quickly found yourself craving more. And Marcus absolutely felt the same about you. No words were spoken, none were needed, just the sounds of your lips against each other and soft moans from both of you filled the space. Marcus pressed his chest against yours enough so that you felt how hard his heart pounded in his chest, and you knew yours beat just as fast.

But, you two were interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. You both broke away and were met with Missy in the doorway, her arms crossed as a playful, knowing smirk on her face.

“Missy!” Marcus scrambled and grabbed his shirt off the floor and used it to cover your body, “What are you doing home?”

“Because I live here,” she tried to play stern but she couldn’t help but laugh at the predicament she found when she walked in the door, “And school is done for the day.” Thankfully, it wasn’t Marcus’ turn for the carpool this week and a classmate’s mom brought Missy home.

At the same time, both you and Marcus tried to explain the situation with overlapping chatter. Missy couldn’t help but burst into laughter as she felt like the adult who just caught two teenagers making out, “Ok, ok, you don’t need to explain,” she threw her hands up in surrender as he turned to walk away, “Just lock the door next time, and keep track of the time! Geez!”

You and Marcus stood dumbfounded as she walked away. The two of you were stunned to silence for several long moments before you locked eyes again and erupted into laughter. Marcus reached out for a towel so you could better cover yourself for now and placed one last kiss to your lips as he did so, “She likes you,” he whispered.

Your eyes went wide, “Really?” you breathed in a hopeful tone.

“Really,” he confirmed with a wink, “And so do I,” Marcus cupped the side of your face.

You could have cried from the overwhelming emotions of just those few words, but you held yourself together. You placed a tender kiss on Marcus' nose as you spoke so softly, “I like you both too.” In that moment, both you and Marcus were grateful for your very faulty washing machine. 

[trashcanfanfics]

May I request a Husk before working at hazbin hotel and a (Nonbinary) reader that is a bartender at a club and everytime he comes in to get shitfaced drunk they bring home after their shift and he eventually gets attached?

(Optinonal: some creepy guy hits on reader and how husk reacts when the guy takes it to far?) Have a lovely day/night and stay healthy! 💕

My first request for Husk!! I love that kitty!

You stay healthy and enjoy your day/night!! <3

This is your favorite time of night. When a certain avian cat would come in and drink at the bar where you worked. You had developed a soft spot for the drunkard, talking with him everytime he'd come in. He'd always comment on how this was where the best alcohol was and how no other place was as good. Currently, he was sitting on a stool in front of you, and it looks like you're going to have to take him home again. That's fine, though, you don't mind, in fact you have a spare key to his apartment now because of how often you throw him in the backseat of your car and drag him up the stairs to his apartment.

"And! That bastard just smiles with a shit eating grin, tellin' me that he already did it!" Husk takes a swig of the bottle. "Fuckin' dick." You hummed in response. Truth be told, you had been only half listening to this drunken story slash rant he was slurring out. Something about an Alastor. He usually complains or vents about this guy and you have yet to meet him. Husk said that that's a good thing, though. He continues on this topic, occasionally forgetting where he left off, leaving you to remind him, and him getting fluffed up at the reminder of thie "Alastor".

"If he pisses you off that much, maybe bring him in here and I could give him a piece of my mind." You placed you chin on your hand, leaning slightly over the bar. Husk's angry rambling came to an abrupt stop and he looked at you with total seriousness.

"I would never let him come near you. Never." Those words made your dead heart beat faster. That's another thing about Husk, he'd recently become very protective of you. His excuse was that you were the only good bartender on this side of the Pentagram. You blinked slowly in shock making him look away and take another long gulp of his bottle. Before you could respond, another slightly tipsy demon slid onto the stool next to Husk.

"Hey, pretty thing, when are you off work?" You recoiled away from the disgusting individual. Noticing Husk stiffen and his tail flicking back and forth caused you to also be on alert.

"That's none of your business." Your cold reply made the unnamed man chuckle darkly. It made your skin crawl and fear to pool in your gut. The look this creep was giving you set off alarms in your head. Stay away, they said. Danger.

"I'll just wait outside for you then." That eased your anxiety a bit, you didn't need to leave the bar to get to your apartment above it. Then you looked at the drunk Husk and your blood went cold, remembering that you have to take him home. "And besides, I can continue to talk to you here 'n' now, gorgeous." The wink he sent you was uncoordinated and unsettling. Your mouth twisted into an uncomfortable frown.

"Too bad yer voice is annoying." The creep's and your attention was brought to Husk, who was sipping on his drink, looking a bit more sober than the last time you glanced at him. "Maybe you should get fuckin' lost, bub." The creep didn't like this and snarled at him.

"Maybe you should mind ya fuckin' business, shithead," the creep snarled. You felt your blood boil. People were creeps all the time to you, you could handle it, but something about him talking to Husk that way pissed you off.

"I think you talkin' like that to my significant other is my business." You watched in shock as Husk casually, yet meaningfully, took the last swig of his booze. The creep frowned and then sneered.

"A cat, babe you can do better than that." This guy was just not getting it, was he? Before you could retort with a nasty comment about his appearance, Husk takes the empty bottle and smashes it into the offender's face, knocking him off his stool. No one else even flinched at the scene, going about their conversations. It was Hell, no one gave a shit. The man got up, holding his face.

"I'll just wait outside for both of you, then! I'll bring my crew! You'll be fucked, one of you literally." He sent one last dark smile before leaving the bar. You let out a breath you didn't know you were holding and turned back to Husk.

"Thank you," You said. No other words were needed, though you wanted to say more. To say how you appreciate him being there and standing up for you, protecting you, but you kept quiet. You knew he just did it so you would be able to take him home.

"Don't mention it..." He looked down as you set another beer bottle in front of him. He took it and looked at it for a second before popping the top. "Ya need an escort home tonight?" His question surprised you. You smiled.

"Ha, no, I, uh, live upstairs, actually. But thanks." You pointed up to emphasize your sentence. Husk hummed and gulped down half the bottle. "Got too sobered up for that, huh?" Your attempt at a joke made him chuckle with a half smile.

"Yeah, maybe I shouldn't continue if I gotta walk home, though." He looked away and around the bar. You raised an eyebrow and glanced at his wings. He doesn't fly, he told you that once when you asked. Too much effort, he said.

"What makes you think you're walking home?" You asked, hand on your hip. He looked back at you in suspicious confusion.

"Ya ain't going out there with those assholes waitin' for ya." His voice was stern, like a father almost. You briefly wondered if he had kids before shaking your head.

"Then neither are you, they're waiting for you too, ya know." You crossed your arms. The both of you stared into each other's eyes for a minute before he sighed and took another swig.

"Well, then what am I gonna do? Sleep behind the bar?" The mental image of him sleeping on the floor behind the bar, clutching a bottle of whiskey brought a smile to your face.

"Wouldn't be the first time," he snorted at that, "but I was thinking that you could sleep on my couch." His eyes met yours again.

"What?"

"You heard me." You looked at the clock on the wall by the dart board. "It's closing time anyways." He followed your gaze to the clock and squinted.

"No it ain't. You don't close for another few hours." He looked back to you with an eyebrow raised. You smirked back.

"I'm the owner, I can close anytime I want." You rounded the bar and made your way over to the few occupied tables. "Help me get the drunks outta here and we'll head up." Husk gulped down the rest of the booze and stood up. You turned from him to politely tell the still sober occupants to leave as you were closing early today. They grumbled but complied.

The next table was handled by Husk, as he told the ones splayed out in their chairs that they had to leave. They blew raspberries at him, causing him to growl back. You went over and put your hand on Husk's back, between his wings. His tail started flicking at the tip.

"You heard him, guys, time to go." Your voice made them groan and get up, wobbling and stumbling to the exit. You let out a breath with a smile and shook your head. The rest of the tables seemed to understand thet they had to go too and left, leaving you and Husk alone. You walked over to the doors and locked them before heading to the employee's only door, Husk behind you.

You both walked through the kitchen to another door next to the pantry, leading to a hallway. Passing by the breakroom and bathroom, you pulled out your keys. The stairway at the end of the hall squeaked and complained as you both wallked up to the little landing where your door was. Keys jangled as you unlocked and opened the door.

"Home sweet trashy home." You moved aside to let him in. He looked around as you closed the door and locked it. His ear flicked back at the sound for a moment before turning back forwards.

"'S nicer than my place."

"I know." You smiled and made your way to the kitchen. "You hungry?" He grumbled out a ''I could eat" and plopped down on your couch. You set to work on some mac 'n' cheese.

"Ya know, this couch is pretty comfy," Husk calls from the livingroom. You snort at his attempt at a casual conversation.

"Don't force yerself, there. You know you don't have to talk if you don't want to." You chuckled again. You pulled out the milk and butter, setting them down on the counter. Husk doesn't answer back and you assume he's just taking in his surroundings.

The mac 'n' cheese is finished when you add some bacon bits to it. Smiling at your work, you pulled out two bowls and scooped out servings. The spoons made a clatter as they were placed into the bowls. Stopping by the fridge, you balanced the bowls on one arm before grabbing out a soda for you, and a can of beer for Husk.

In the livingroom, you see Husk hasn't moved from the couch but does look more relaxed and comfortable. You handed him a bowl and his beer. He took them with a mumbled "thanks" before he set the beer on a coaster and dug into the cheap pasta.

"This is really good." The comment made you smile as you dug into your own bowl. You swallowed and looked at him.

"Thanks, it's the bacon bits." You take another bite and swallow. "Makes it taste like you put effort into it." Husk smiled slightly as he continued eating.

This was perfect, you thought, just spending time with Husk, outside the bar. Aside from taking his mumbling, drunk ass home, you hadn't really ever spent time with him casually. You loved Husk, you knew that. Even with how rough his exterior is (figuratively, you had felt how soft that fur is), you couldn't get enough of his company.

"Yer starin', bud." You blinked and quickly looked away, chewing on the bite of food you put in your mouth. He huffed in amusement. swallowing hard, you noticed you didn't have any food left and set the bowl on the coffee table before picking up your drink.

"Well, can you blame me? You over here looking cute and all that." You hide your blush behind the soda can as you take a sip. Husk whipped his head towards you. You decide to roll with this. "What your significant other can't tell you that you look cute?" Your callback to what he had called you earlier made him almost choke on his beer.

"Hh-what?" His response was full of shock and confusion. You shrugged, enjoying this newfound confidence. Maybe you accidentally grabbed yourself some liquid courage.

"I wouldn't mind being your real significant other." You shifted your gaze to look at him from the corner of your eye. His pupils were blown and he looked at you like you had hung the moon. It made your heart thud harshly in your chest.

"I wouldn't mind either..." His response shocked you, you had expected to be rejected and then just blow your statement off as a joke. You blinked slowly at him in shock again. He slowly blinked back. You made a mental side note to look up cat behavior later to see what the fuck that meant but for now, you just leaned over and kissed him. He kissed back, putting down his drink and pulling you closer. A purr rumbled out of his chest as you raked your fingers through his facial fur to the bcak of his head.

This was perfect, you thought.

[toomanyfandoms02]

The Journal // George Weasley x Reader

I LOVED THIS REQUEST FROM @rainy-day-gracie OMGGGG it was SO fun to write.

Don't forget that request are open and dialogue prompts are on my page!

Summary - Reader loses her diary and has to go on a search for it.

Word Count - 1.75k

Prompts - "When did you take that!" ~~ "I hid it."

Where was it?

WHERE WAS IT?

Now, I didn't like to refer to my personal notes as a diary, I prefer journal. But the point is, it was missing.

Missing from the small compartment under my bed where I had hid it. Not that I expected anyone to take it, but it calmed my anxiety so I did what I could.

The journal looked just like my sketch book, I did this on purpose so that people wouldn't question why I had it out and was writing in it on occasion. They would just think I'm sketching per usual. But I made sure to keep good track of it, because I truly *did* have very personal information in there, like any journal would. So at this point, I'm frantically running around asking my dorm mates if they had seen it. First asking Hermione and Parvarti because they knew of the book. Then asking Ginny Weasley and Sophie Roper.

They had all claimed to have not seen it.

So I rushed down to the common room. Checking the side tables, under the couch, on the fireplace mantle. But it was useless, I *know* I closed it in the compartment 2 days ago. I remember it distinctly because I had written a rather private thing in it that day, and I wanted to stop thinking about how it made me feel.

*Potions, one of my least favorite classes for a few reasons. (Maybe because we had it with the snooty Slytherins or maybe because Severus Snape taught the wretched class, who's to say.) But there was one thing that made the class shine for me despite the things I hated about it.*

*George Weasley.*

*Somehow we had managed to be partners for this potion by random. Much to Snapes disliking. But he had to let it go since the picking was truly random.*

*"Today we will be making the Babbling Beverage, does anyone know what this potion does?" Snape asked in his usual monotone voice. A slytherins hand shot up from the back, explaining that it makes you speak uncontrollable nonsense. George leaned across the table to me.*

*"Guess it wouldn't change much for you then, huh?" He laughed, leaning back into his seat with a shit-eating grin.*

*And that's what sparked me to write in my journal. I felt I had to do it immediately, so I did. I whipped it from my bag and held it in my left hand, not laying it on the table where he could see.*

*"What are you writing?" He asked, trying to peak at it.*

*"I'm drawing you Bimbo!" I laughed but that's not even close to what I was doing.*

**I really thought this was only the stuff you could read about, this feeling. A laugh has never brought louder music to my ears, and that smile, I feel like I've never seen him smile like that. He never fails to bring a shining moment to my day. I hope that I make him feel this way sometimes. The tightness in my chest, the way my heart feels like it's having palpitations because its beating so damn fast. Or the way I think he's just so perfect. I sound like such a teenager gosh.**

*I never used names in the thing just in case someone ever got a hold of it.*

*"Why don't you ever let me see your drawings?" He pouted, grabbing at the book and nearly having a hold of it. I snatched it from him quickly.*

*"Because I'm still learning and I don't like them very much." I lied, holding the book to my chest.*

*"I bet they look fine." He muttered with another pout before going to grab ingredients.*

After I decided there was no use in panicking, I took some deep breaths. I had to get to Potions soon, I could talk to George about this and vent to him about the stress I was under at the moment. I grabbed my Potions book from my side table and headed that way.

To keep me distracted by what I felt like were prying eyes in the corridors, (which no one was probably looking at me, that's paranoia for you) I flipped through my sketch book. I flipped through it all the way to the potions door. But one step in and I had nearly dropped it.

George sat, tipping his chair back with what I was positive was *my* journal. He looked deep in thought, his right index finger dragging down one of the pages to read it. I recovered my sketches and stomped over to him, alerting him of my presence. He stood from the seat, holding the book from my reach.

"When did you take that?!" I tried to express my concern quietly so no one would but in on the convo, my arms crossed over my chest.

"Technically I didn't take it." He replied in a cocky manner. "Sophie got it for me."

"But I hid it! That damn girl, I knew she was being suspicious. Give it back, now Weasley, I'm not playing." I held my hand out for it.

"Not until you tell me who you fancy." My face paled, he had read some of it that little snot. That made me quite scared, I did not want him knowing that.

"George it's just ramblings that I come up with, like short stories."

"These sound pretty realistic to me." For a second there his face seemed hurt, but I will have to look over it considering the situation I'm in currently. He brought it to his eye level, still to where I couldn't reach it, and flipped through pages to find one where I write something lovey. "How about, 'He made me laugh so hard I nearly choked today, how does he do it? Do girls seriously not see the charm in this man? I sure do.'" He flipped more, reaching a sufficient page clearly.

"Or, or this one. 'I like him so much I want to be part of his family. Have you ever liked someone so much you *want* to meet their family. I want to be a Weasley-'"

You've got to be kidding. You've **got** to be kidding.

I must have gotten so caught up with writing it that I just let a name slip. Why would I do that. My hand was clasped over my mouth firmly and George was still holding it eye level, seeming to read it silently. I sat in my seat and put my head on the table so I didn't have to watch anymore.

I figured this would happen this way, it wouldn't be me directly telling him. But I thought I would cry, because the thought if it happening made me cry. But I was actually just scared and embarrassed. Scared of rejection and embarrassed that it happened like this.

I heard the book lay next to me softly on the table and the seat across from me scoot out.

"I'm going to get the ingredients for today." He said quietly. I could see his feet walk away from my view under the table. My head was brought up, grabbing the journal and shoving it into my bag shamefully. He came back with small jars and measuring spoons.

"I didn't mean for her to grab your diary you know." He confessed, not looking me in the eye. "I was trying to get her to grab your sketch book. I wanted to see your sketches. But I'm guessing the books look the same so she grabbed the wrong one. I'm sorry for reading it, that was personal." He was fiddling with his hands, his key sign of nervousness, I could tell he meant his apology.

"Its okay, I would have done the same thing if I had yours." I chuckled, trying to relieve the tension in the air. That brought a smile to his face, finally looking me in the eye.

"So, do you have a crush on Fred?" He asked, his face cringing slightly.

He's kidding right? Surely he's not that dumb. My eyebrows furrowed probably as far as they could.

"What?" Was all I could get out. I could not believe this idiot right now.

"Well I hope it's not Ron, that would be a little weird I think, and surely it's not me."

"Yes it is!" I protested back pressingly.

"Its Ron?!" His face was horrified now.

"No you dimwit! It's you! Merlin are you dumb! Georgie you're all I write about in here nearly, look." I pulled the book out again, flipping to a random page. "I taught him how to braid today, he told me he didn't know how and I told him I was perfect to practice on. He's actually quite good at it, I think he knew how to braid. For a moment there he was just playing with my hair and I thought that I might just blackout, it was a dream." It was from a night in the common room. "Or, more proof. 'The boy was sitting across from me on the couch in front of the fireplace today. It was perfect to draw, or at least try. The sketch is kind if shit but I can tell its him and now it think I'll look at it every day because I loved that moment.'"

George's face looked so happy. It was another one of those smiles that drove me mad, but I guess everything about him drove me mad, didn't it?

"You really feel that way about me?"

"Of course I do. I thought it was obvious. And I'm sorry to spring it on you like this."

"Well I certainly was too much of a wuss to do it myself." He said with a nervous smile.

"You mean, you feel the same way?" There's absolutely no way.

"Well of course." He said, as if it was the most casual and obvious thing in the world. "Do you see me act the way I do around you with anyone else. Braiding anyone else's hair, trying to stay calm and collected and seem cool around anyone else."

"Well that's because we're best friends."

"But is that the case for either of us?" And he was right. We only acted this way around eachother because we were hopelessly pining for one another, without even knowing it. And it was consistently working.

"Well aren't we just the perfect pair." I said with a giggle, pouring ingredients in the cauldron for the first time in 10 minutes.

"Are we a pair now?" He asked with a cheesy smile.

"Is this your way of asking me out Weasley?"

"Maybe."

"Then yes, we *are* a pair."

[wanderingchocolateeclair]

BNHA Spring Break - Day 3: Headcanons

I wanted to do this prompt but I didn’t know what to do, so I thought that I might re-post a few of my favourite pieces I’ve done (basically just a lot of Edgejeanist and EctoLoader lmao), along with the headcanon that links to it and some other headcanons? 😊

Put it under the cut just because the post is a little longer than my other ones!

- Edgejeanist have an awful, basically non-existent, sleeping schedule and often end up just sleeping like this at 2:00am

- The top five are just one massive chaotic family :) (this still makes me laugh when I see it)

- EctoLoader are just a very lovely old married couple 😌

- Edgejeanist are almost at that point 👀 they also have matching lockets that I seem to forget to draw every single time-

Other Headcanons from my notes (mostly ecto, PL + snipe):

Snipe is a single dad, and has a lovely little daughter (who I’ve drawn in the family doodles that I have yet to finish and post)

Erasermic, eri and shinsou are one big family of course.

Ectoplasm and Snipe are very competitive and have known each other since childhood

Ecto is very musically talented

Powerloader really loves music (for what reason I wonder) and can play the drums and sing pretty well

The whole faculty have staff movie nights every week to relax and it’s adorable.

Sometimes the students will walk in to report something and they’re all just sobbing at 2:00am watching like the titanic or something

They’ll also have nights where they stay up playing wii sports or something and let me tell you it’s the most intense thing you’ll ever see

Oh and of course mario kart you can hear mic yelling whenever he does anything

Powerloader curses A LOT but always gets a lil smack round the head from Ecto or snipe if they hear him

Midnight is the mum of the whole staff - you need something?? Got it don’t worry!

13 is baby, nothing else needs to be said.

Powerloader is allergic to dogs. And pineapple?

Hound dog really just wants cuddles all the time, from anyone

Cementoss is just an absolute sweetheart.

Powerloader will get struck with sudden ideas for inventions or anything and when he does everyone has to jump out of his way unless they want to get bowled over - he will jump up from WHATEVER he’s doing and leg it to wherever he can take notes

Karaoke. Karaoke. KARAOKE!!!

At any given chance or moment Ecto and Powerloader will tease the hell out of Snipe and just give him a real hard time for anything

The teachers have once walked into a VERY intense makeover session involving Eri, Aizawa, Mic, Midnight, Hound Dog and Powerloader. All in a hair braiding train and bows eveRYWHERE. Let’s just say that the remaining teachers have quite a few of those photos saved. It is now a very common occurrence

When eri first came to live at the dorms ectoplasm and hound dog were scared that they might scare her but actually she came to liking them the most out of all the other teachers

Recovery girl will attack any of the teachers whenever they are being careless and they physically cannot retaliate it’s hilarious

Despite possibly being older than the other teachers, due to his lack of knowledge with actually teaching, all might is babied a lot by the other teachers and it’s like “for the 5th time today, no punching another student is not within school regulations all might gOD-” (taken from a convo with a friend)

You have chaotic trio number one: midnight, mic and Aizawa...... but what about snipe, ectoplasm and powerloader??? Chaos on a completely different level..

And principal nezu.....nothing else said just principal nezu

Cementoss makes the best tea

Mic chugs like 5 litres of coffee every morning

The teachers have dance offs

Snipe also has a dog

When all the teachers have marking to do 13 bakes the best cookies and they just go around the dorm handing plates of them out to every room

Any gossip?? Ectoplasm somehow accumulates it all. It’s just weekly sessions of the teachers gossiping about their students and the main three collectors of this gossip are ectoplasm, midnight and recovery girl??

Snipe has bad asthma and it worsened after that accident (will be elaborated on when I decide to write out my EctoLoader backstory)

PL has very sensitive eyes due to the amount of time he spends underground in the dark - hence why he likes to have his hair over his eyes, and it’s a comfort thing.

Out of the 40 y/o trio(let’s just pretend that snipe has an age for now) Ecto is the most patient and calm and PL is the least. Snipe is somewhere in the middle.

Despite this, shockingly, in their UA days and even now, Ecto was the one that got into the most fights and is the hardest to restrain when angry (it’s always the calm ones huh?) but it’s mostly due to how much he cares- so if someone comments on someone he cares about he will not hesitate to step up and confront - he is pretty tall and intimidating after all.

Due to this, when something happens that the other two knows will make him angry they have to latch onto him or grab him by the back of his shirt to stop him from charging off.

PL on the other hand will be scooped up by the other two to calm down - Ecto picks him up and he calms down quite quickly however back in the day + for snipe in general, if they would pick him up it would result in a couple of bumps and bruises first.

Recovery girl has no shame in bringing this up to anyone she can and it makes them rather embarrassed + Ecto refuses to believe he got in the most fights he will always say it was PL. But snipe confirms the truth

Obviously each of the teachers will have their own ways of winding down after a stressful day or their own ways of brainstorming their ideas and venting under stress.

Ecto’s way of doing this is playing whatever instrument he has lying near him - often violin - and pacing aggressively whilst noodling about (definitely not based off of something I do 👀). Or listening to music if just relaxing but normally aggressively relieving stress by banging out some tunes. PL and snipe know to leave him be when he’s like this and just maybe leave a drink or snack on the side - he’ll get it later.

Mic often does the same, or just joins in.

And that leads to full on music sessions with all the teachers joining in, singing and what not.

I have more but I’ll post it some other day. Sorry for the long post, you guys know me and my tendency to ramble-

[akiraidraws]

Imperfections AU: Beginnings

(Summary: This story takes place prior to any successful attempt at creating a living toon with the ink machine. Henry is nervous about a meeting with Joey. All he knows is that it has something to do with the new ink machine and the toons. Will he go along with Joey's scheme or will he refuse?)

Trigger warning: Implied anxiety, light swearing

Just going to leave this under the cut since it's a little long.

Chapter 1: When Dreams Take Hold

It was another usual quiet morning at Joey Drew Studios. The studio's employees were hard at work within their respective departments, winding down from a particularly stressful deadline crunch with the beginnings of a new Bendy short.

Henry sat at his drafting desk in his new private office space, drawing in silence as Sammy leaned against the opposite wall venting his grievances about the newly completed ink machine to the long-time animator. Henry was only half listening to to music director as he tried to stop his concerns about some 'project' that Joey had requested he be present for later that afternoon. He knew it had something to do with the new ink machine and the cartoons but he had no idea what Joey meant by 'bringing life to the toons'. Joey had insisted that his presence was extremely important and that the 'project' had something to do with the little devil darling himself. What Joey meant by that Henry had no idea. Had Henry been doing something wrong? Were the animations not living up to Joey's expectations? These thoughts were flooding through Henry's mind in waves. How could he possibly give the toons more life than he already had? He loved the toons. He poured his heart and soul into every single frame he drew.

Henry flinched when Sammy waved a hand in front of his face.

"Henry! Henry, are you even listening?" Sammy asked with the slightest hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Oh. Yeah, yeah, I'm listening."

"Really? Because it looked like you were zoning out." Sammy retorted with a scoff.

"Sorry, I'm just a bit tired is all. How about I take a break and we go grab some coffee." Henry suggested.

"Fine by me, I could use some coffee right about now." Sammy said as he turned on his heel leaving the room. Flinging the door open and starting down the hall.

Henry stretched his arms as he got up and followed Sammy down the hall to the small break room. The room was bustling with activity compared to the quiet of the other areas within the studio. Susie, Norman and Shawn were seated at the mid sized table and Wally was leaning back against the wall with mop in hand. Sammy grabbed his coffee first and joined the trio at the table. They were all buzzing and complaining to each other about the new ink machine that Joey had installed. Henry only caught small snippets of the conversation as he entered the room and grabbed his own mug, filling it with the much too old coffee that was left in the pot.

"And so he says to me 'Mr. Flynn, these smiles are crooked AND there's ink dripping down the faces!' like its my fault that those blasted pipes be breakin' right over the shelves!" Shawn exclaimed to the trio throwing his hands up in obvious annoyance.

"Tell me about it! Not even my dressing room is clear of ink anymore!" Susie chimed in.

"How do ya think I feel? I'm the one who's gotta clean up the mess! I swear if one more pipe bursts, I'm outta here!" Wally whined as Norman laughed and Sammy groaned.

Henry took a sip from his mug as he joined the crew at the table.

"Man, you all have me feeling lucky. It's like the animation department is the only one not swimming with ink." He said with a chuckle.

"Aint you a lucky son of a gun." Norman elbowed the man as he teased.

"Seriously though, Henry. Are you alright? you look a little tense." Norman asked.

He grasped Henry by the shoulder with a little more force than he meant to making Henry spill his coffee.

"Oh, shoot. Sorry."

"Nice one, Norman" Sammy scoffed as Susie chided him and Wally snickered, earning a glare from the music director.

"It's alright Norman. No use crying over spilt coffee." Henry reassured as he wiped up the coffee from the table with a loose napkin.

Shawn was enjoying the show as he quietly sat back and sipped his coffee with a smile.

"And to answer your question, yes, I'm fine. Doing just dandy actually. Just a little worried about a meeting with Joey later today but it's nothing you all should worry about. Really."

"If ya say so." Norman shrugged.

The six co-workers sat and exchanged ink machine mishap stories with each other well into the afternoon, laughing their heads off at each other's expense when a sudden knock sounded at the break room door. Joey stood in the doorway smiling at Henry and tapping on the face of his watch. Everyone looked up at Joey then back at Henry.

"Whoops. Sorry ladies and gents, looks like I'm late for that meeting."

Henry feigned a smile getting up from his seat. He waved a quick good-bye to his friends and headed out the door with Joey. The walk to the ink machine room was uneventful as Joey rambled on excitedly about 'dreams coming true' and 'imagination'. Henry simply nodded along to the banter with the occasional 'mhmm' too stuck inside his own worried thoughts to pay attention. The only thing pulling Henry from his thoughts being Joey suddenly throwing his arm over his shoulder and leaning into his side.

"Aren't you excited Henry?" Joey asked enthusiastically, practically vibrating with excitement.

"Huh? Excited about what?" Henry responded to the question with confusion.

"Henry, old pal, weren't you listening?" Joey laughed.

"Uh.. no, no I wasn't. Seems like I've had my head in the clouds all day actually." Henry confessed rubbing at the back of his neck with a small smile.

"Well that's alright, old pal. There's nothing wrong with a little day dreaming." Joey chuckled.

"Just try to keep your head out of the clouds during our little 'project' alright?"

"Sure, sure. Uh... hey Joey?"

"Yes Henry?"

"What exactly is this 'project' you insisted I help you with? Why is it so important?"

Joey let go of Henry's shoulder and turned to face him with the biggest smile Henry has ever seen on his friend's face. One would even say that it rivaled that of the little dancing darlin' himself.

"Why Henry old pal, we're going to bring the little devil himself into our reality. With the help of the ink machine and a little magic that is."

Henry's jaw practically hit the floor.

"W-what? Joey that's crazy! You don't actually mean-"

"Why yes, I do. Henry, I wanted you to be there for Bendy's birth because I know how much he means to you. You DID create the little devil after all and I just KNOW he'll be perfect!" Joey beamed clapping his hands together.

To be honest, Joey just needed Henry present so that he could take a piece of his soul and use it to stabilize the new little toon. He didn't want any repeats with grotesque soulless abominations like the ones he had created and destroyed during late night practice sessions within the studio.

But Henry didn't need to know that.

"Joey, what the hell-"

"I know how this sounds old pal, trust me I do! But with a little imagination and soul anything is possible!"

"Joey! Stop! Just. stop."

Henry couldn't believe what he was hearing. Bring Bendy into their physical plane of existence? He had never heard of anything so absurd in his life.

"Let's just say that I believe you. Why EXACTLY do you need ME there for your weird magic ritual stuff?" Henry asked skeptically.

"No reason. I just thought you might like to be there." Joey lied

Henry's skepticism didn't falter. He considered just walking away but something pulled at him from inside that urged him to entertain Joey's notion. Maybe it was curiosity. Maybe it was a deeply rooted connection that Henry had always felt towards Bendy that he just never took notice of.

He decided that if anything went wrong he could kill Joey later but for now he just went along with whatever nonsense Joey spewed in an attempt to persuade him. It didn't. But Joey didn't need to know that.

Joey stopped abruptly outside of the room housing the large ink machine.

"Well here we are, Henry. Are you ready?"

"Yes. Let's do this."

[kunderdogs]

Take A Chance VII

Simon Dominic (AOMG) x Y/N (Reader) Genre: Romance / Angst Count: I didn’t count lol sorry Warnings: None Rating: Mature (suggestive, swearing) Summary: Who would’ve thought a one night stand with Simon D would turn into FWB? It only gets more complicated when you developed feelings, against your better judgement.

This gif of Simon D is one of my favs. Pls don’t hate me for the ending. :) Two more chapters left! 

Had to post this early because I got called into work today.

Chapter One. | Chapter Two. | Chapter Three. | Chapter Four. | Chapter Five. | Chapter Six. | Chapter Seven.

Driving around aimlessly at 9AM was not how you pictured the start of your weekend to go. Then again, you could’ve never imagined Simon would stroll up to your place, drunk as hell and picking fights with you in the middle of the night either. For now, you felt your nerves settle as you drove around the town. You figured you could drive around and get some fresh air. Anything to get your mind off of your intruding thoughts. 

Being in that house with Kiseok just felt so suffocating.

You were cruising through some of the residential neighborhoods when you noticed you were close by Nicky’s house. You smiled and pulled on the side of the street, immediately grabbing your phone and dialing her number. She picked up at the last minute, groaning and complaining of a hangover, before launching into retelling you all of the drama from last night.

“So what do you want to eat? I’ll pick something up for you.” You connected the call to your car before pulling off the street. 

Nicky yawned a bit, “Eh, don’t worry about it. Wouldn’t want you to come all the way over here just to get me breakfast.”

“I’m in your neighborhood anyway so just tell me what you’re in the mood for. Cinnamon rolls? French fries?”

“Why are you in my neck of the woods at,” she paused on the other end, most likely to pull the phone back to check the time. “9:27AM? Couldn’t sleep?”

You sighed a little louder than you intended to, “You could say that. Since you won’t tell me what you want, I’ll surprise you.”

She hummed in agreement, “Don’t forget the OJ! Thank you, love. See in you in bit.”

Saying your goodbyes, it didn’t take long to get to a small cafe about ten minutes from Nicky’s apartment. It was early enough that there wasn’t much customers so you were happy to be in and out of there within a few minutes.

Upon arrival at Nicky’s place, you found her sprawled out on the couch, clothes from last night wrinkled but still in place. Her makeup was wiped off and smeared onto makeup wipes that were on the coffee table. You laughed to yourself, nudging her with your foot when you got closer. She was such a beautiful disaster.

“You look like you’re barely hanging on over here,” you teased, putting the food down on the coffee table before cleaning up the makeup wipes.

Nicky mumbled something in the pillow and reached blindly for the food. “So what’s bothering you, hm?” Her voice followed you into the kitchen.

Washing your hands in the sink, your mind worked to find the right words but they got stuck in your throat. Everything was still so confusing to you.

Yes, you had deep feelings for Kiseok but the reality was that you couldn’t be together.

It was just cruel of your mind to even picture him involved with you in the way you wanted him to be.

Part of you was relieved that you ended it but the other, much larger part, almost immediately regretted it. That part of you wanted to run back into his arms and confess your feelings to him right at this second.

You didn’t realize how loud you sighed until a cold hand wrapped around your wrist. Nicky pulled you to the living room, and began searching for a movie while you got comfortable on the couch

“Does it have anything to do with Lover Boy?” She guessed, eyeing your downcast mood. When you pouted without answering her, she plopped next to you. “Wanna talk about it?”

Nicky always wanted to talk about her problems, which you were completely willing to listen to but when it came to you sharing...It was a little more difficult for you to open up. She was never offended or put off when you didn’t want to talk about your feelings but she was definitely surprised when you nodded.

As Iron Man played in the background, you spilled everything that happened last night. Her sky-colored eyes grew in size as you vented about everything that was said yet she didn’t interrupt you once. By the time you were done, you took a moment to catch your breath and her mouth was hanging open in shock.

“Dear lord, I leave you alone for two seconds and all this happens huh,” she teased, causing a smile to crack on your lips.

Taking a bite of her food, Nicky thought about what she wanted to say before looking at you fully, “So, are you going to tell him or leave it at that?”

Looking to the hanging TV, you sunk back into the couch. What good would come out of you telling Kiseok your feelings for him? Other than getting it off your chest, it would change nothing. If anything, it may even ruin your chances of being friends with him in the future.

If you couldn’t be with Kiseok romantically, you still wanted to be friends. He was always there to listen to you and give you advice, even make you smile when you were stressed or having a bad day. Above all else, you enjoyed his company, even when you two just sat and did absolutely nothing.

You huffed when you noticed Nicky was still waiting for an answer, “There’s nothing more for me to say. I feel like I’ve said all I had to...”

She snorted, “You didn’t say anything of importance. You should go back to your place and talk it out with him.”

“What good would come from that?” You dismissed.

She shrugged, “Maybe he feels the same way. Close mouths don’t get fed.”

The orange juice you were drinking almost came back up through your nose as you snorted. “Yeah, right. If Simon even had an ounce of feelings for me, he wouldn’t be out with that other chick.”

Nicky couldn’t really argue with that point and shook her head, “You know how men are. They don’t realize their feelings until it slaps them in the face. From what you tell me, Simon D is the type of guy to not recognize it right away.”

Sighing again, you felt the tension in your shoulders. “I’ll figure it out later. I just want to rest for a bit. All this is so emotionally draining.”

With an understanding smile, a foot suddenly kicked into your side, forcing you to lay down on the couch. You glared playfully at your best friend while she tossed a throw blanket over your lower half.

“Take a nap. I’m going to shower. Gotta wash away all the bad decisions I made last night.”

Without further ado, Nicky skipped off to her bathroom, your laughter following her down the hallway.

Usually, you had a hard time falling asleep now that Cookie wasn’t with you, but something about Nicky’s apartment was so cozy that you were out like a light in under five minutes of laying down. It was probably because her couch was just so warm and comfortable.

Either way, you woke up hours later to another Avengers movie playing and Nicky eating brownies at the other end of the couch. You checked your phone to see if Cookie had called or texted, but they were at a water park today so you weren’t expecting a call until they got home, which would be late at night for them. It made you a little sad to not talk to your mini all day but you were glad she was having a good time with your ex’s family.

Sleepy eyes glanced at the time on your phone. “Shit. It’s already 1:30? How long was I out?”

“Since like 10, dude. You must’ve been dead tired.”

Yawning, you sat up and snuggled the blanket into you again. “Still am. I think I’m gonna head home and go to sleep in my own bed though.”

“Are you saying my couch isn’t an acceptable bed?” She teased, knowing damn well you loved her couch more than your own.

“I will steal this one day and replace it with mine.”

“Sure. Text me when you get home. Drive safe! Woah- HEY! Leave the cinnamon rolls!”

The drive back to your house was uneventful. Oddly enough, there was hardly any traffic out which was a bit odd for a weekend, but you thought nothing of it.The once blue sky was now gray with even darker clouds hanging low. It felt like the calm before the storm. 

You were in no rush to get home, and the feeling only amplified when you pulled up to your apartment and noticed Kiseok’s car still parked in the guest parking.

Sighing, you dragged your feet up to your place and as soon as you were getting off the elevator on your floor, your phone rang. A wide smile broke out on your lips.

“Hi, sweetie! I was waiting for you to call me!” You answered, leaning over the rail that over looked the courtyard garden. “Oh yeah? How was the water park?”

A few minutes into your conversation, you were so engrossed with listening to her ramble about her favorite rides, that you didn’t notice the opening or closing of a door down the hall. Heavy footsteps came closer to you, but you paid it no mind. Other than yourself, there was two other families that lived on this floor so it wasn’t out of the ordinary.

“Mommy missed you too. Your daddy being nice to you?” You laughed when you heard a huff on the other side of the phone. “No, I didn’t have dinner yet. I’ll have some later- oh, okay. Tell your grandmother I said hi, okay?”

The sound of someone clearing their throat alerted you to the body leaning on the rail a few feet from you.

Jung Kiseok, still in his clothes from last night, peered down at the garden beneath you two. When he noticed your attention on him, he glanced to you. “Can we talk?”

Jesus, he literally came out of nowhere! Noticing your jaw hanging slightly, you swallowed before agreeing with your daughter. “Yes, baby, it’s okay. Go shower and go to sleep. Thank you for calling me. I love you. Goodnight...”

The ending dial tone sounded much too loud for your ears as the silence in the hallway was almost suffocating. It was quiet for sometime, since the two of you didn’t say anything. Kiseok was trying to find the words to say, and you had too much you didn’t want to uncover.

This conversation was inevitable but you still wanted to avoid it. The lump in your throat only grew when he sighed deeply. It seemed like he was about to say something, until the elevators opened and two small blurs sprinted out. “I-”

The Choi twins were your neighbor’s kids and it was only another two seconds before you saw their mother chase after them. You giggled after them, those two were always giving their mother a hard time.

“Sorry about that,” A deep voice apologized. You nodded to the twin’s father, who was holding a tiny baby wrapped in blankets to keep him warm.

“Don’t worry about it,” you waved him off with a smile but didn’t miss the double take he did to your company.

“Maybe we should go inside?” Kiseok pushed off from the rail and waved slightly to a wide-eyed Mr. Choi.

You took the advice without a word, leading the way to your front door though he would’ve had no problem finding it himself. Once inside, you kicked your sandals off and dropped your purse on the entry table.

The door shut tightly behind him, entrapping the both of you in a thick silence that didn’t go unnoticed. You sunk into the couch, giving him enough room to sit near you without touching you.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

You weren’t sure what you expected him to say, but it surely wasn’t that. Could you really be surprised though? Suspecting what he was asking, you had to make sure you two were on the same page.

“Tell you about what?”

Tired dark eyes stared you down, “Let’s not go back and forth. I know you have a daughter and I’m not sure what kind of problems you and your husband have, but cheating is never the way to go about it.”

You tried to stop the loud laughter that spilled out of you, but that was so far from what you thought he would say. You honestly couldn’t help it, and soon, you had tears in your eyes as you were literally rolling around the couching laughing.

Kiseok did not look amused in the slightest - his lips thinned into a hard line, brows frowned to display his seriousness of the topic. “This really isn’t something to laugh about. I refuse to be some kind of homewrecker.”

You had finally got your giggles under control when he said that, launching you into another fit of laughter. “What! You think-?! Oh my god, I haven’t laughed like that in a while,” you giggled, wiping the spilling tears from your eyes.

Feeling his glare, you sat up and took a breath. The tension was a bit less in the room. “I’m not married.”

He didn’t believe you. “You have family pictures-”

“In my daughter’s room, yes.”

He dismissed your interruption, “I saw that man at the airport when you ran into Jay Park. He hugged you and you were crying.”

You paused, blinking slowly. How did he see that? “How do you know that?”

The way he sighed with finality made you feel a bit defensive. “Jay was FaceTiming me and Loco. The main point of this is I don’t want to be in the middle of whatever you have with your husband.”

Eyes rolling, you crossed your arms under your chest. “Stop saying that. I’m not married.”

“Why are you lying? You have a child with him.” The tone of his voice raised slightly but you frowned at him.

“You can make a kid without being married to someone. Me and my daughter’s father aren’t together. I’m no cheater. Unlike you, I don’t have a list of hoes I can run to.” The words left your mouth but you regretted it immediately. Your personality didn’t allow you to apologize or take it back, especially with how heated you were becoming.

Sitting less than a foot away from you, Kiseok couldn’t really argue with that. You were right. He called Nayoung because she didn’t care for a relationship and he had wanted to...hurt you the same way he had been hurt after seeing you in the arms of another man.

It was childish of him, he’ll admit it, but it happened. He was only human and he had acted on his emotions. It wasn’t one of his proudest moments. Once you brushed past him at the restaurant with tears in your eyes, he had felt sick to his stomach about the whole thing. It wasn’t like he knew you would be there that night, it was honestly a terrible coincidence. After that night, he couldn’t even look Nayoung in the eyes without seeing your heartbroken expression.

Prideful at heart, Kiseok still felt the need to defend himself even if it was a weak defense, “I don’t have a list of hoes. That was me being an idiot.”

“Whatever, Kiseok. I don’t care anymore.” Calling him without an honorific gave you a sinking feeling in your stomach but you looked away from him. “What more do you want from me?”

With that, he faced you fully, “Everything. I want to know everything, about your daughter, your past, the truth about all of it.”

Startled, you faced him with doubt clouding your face. “Why? Why does any of that matter to you? Why do you even care?”

For the first time today, you saw Kiseok smile. Not a smirk, or half grin that he liked to flash you when he teased you, but a real smile with his teeth showing. Looking closer, he also was a little rosy in the cheeks a bit. “I-Well...I thought it was obvious now, but you’re really dense.”

You thought you knew where this was going so you sighed, “Look, I’m not a charity case, okay? I can-”

“I really like you, ___. Not just in a sexual way either. I like you on an emotional level...I really, really like you,” he confessed in a rush, sounding just like you felt at the moment - breathless.

And then your heart started to ache.

“Kiseok...we can’t...we can’t be together.”

[empressxmachina]

Patients Zero - iii. by Imperial-Radiance

~Also on Wattpad~

*gasp* *cough*

Oh, good god. What? I thought I was— But, how am I—? Didn’t I get—? Wait, where am I?

Hard: I’m on something hard. Hard, flat, slick, and cold. My back hates this. I’m guessing it’s a floor. But I feel grooves, not just one that takes up my entire hand. It almost feels… made for me. Impossible. My eyes; they’re closed. It’s dark, behind and in front of the lids. Yet, there’s a glow: a… soft one? Not the blinding white from before? It’s cool, still, but not as much somehow. I wait for a voice to give me any sort of insight of where I am, and all I get back is just the gentle hum of a… a… Wait, is that a fan? No, is that a heater? Even on the hottest days outside in the real world – real because this is a fantasy, still, especially if I’m alive – it never went past room temperature. I… I’m boiling like I’m stuck in an oven.

Oh, my god. Am I being cooked in here? No, screw that. I’ll accept going out in plenty of ways in this diminutive state, but I will not go out as someone’s di—!

Well, this is… new? I finally lift my back up and open my eyes, and I’ve found myself lost… and in pain. Holy crap! Everything hurts! Ugh. But that’s the least of my worries. I’m alive, somehow, for some reason. But, why, and why here, wherever here is?

Am I crazy? This sure looks like a living room: not very different from my one at home. There’s a sofa, a table, and works of art that admittedly caught my vision immediately. I’ve liked to think that I’m not a leech for moving media, so not seeing a television or the like here is pleasing. There are dimly lit LEDs as large as me, a rug across the ground over there as large as me, and an actual fan even larger than me. Sure, it nearly takes up a whole wall like a fireplace would, but the latter would be unconventional. It’s blowing out heat, so it must switch between hot and cold. The only thing missing is a collection of literature of varying genres, but I doubt printing that small is even possible. Besides that, it’s like it was made for me.

But that’s just it. That’s fucking weird. It’s made for me, and how small am I now?

I must be going insane. This can’t be real. This room can’t possibly be mine—Oh. Oh shit.

That’s a kitchen over there behind me. A real kitchen – well, as real as it can be with its counters and cabinets. But it’s the actual cooking stuff that made it real: the primitive tools in the corner for refrigeration and cooking – some solar funnel/pot thing, I think – and the bruised yet familiar food scraps from my past life stacked in a triad of pyramids next to them. Wait, past life? I say that like it’s been forever since I was… ambushed… by someone big enough to make a place like this if they’re careful.

I’ve got to get out of here. But what is here? First things first, I should probably get my ass off the floor: this uncomfortably perfectly-sized floor.

O-Okay. Up and at it. The floor isn’t an ocean anymore. Appliances don’t have as much of a chance of killing me now. If I go this way, then I can sit at this table right here and contemplate all the dumb stuff I did to get here… wherever here is, not to mention there are enough chairs to fit a whole family or a group of housemates. Housemates. AmI alone here? Why am I here? Why do I keep asking myself these questions rather than just looking for the answer?

I’m irrational. This is irrational, but I must make the most of it. No, screw it, do I even have a choice? Well, with all these grabbable, sharp things around, I guess the answer’s technically a ‘yes.’ But. I’m not that depressed. I’m not. Not *sigh* that depressed. I’ve fought this long for others’ lives before and my own at this level, so why stop now? It’s not like I’m not used to being like this. It’s just this current situation that’s new… and heaven knows how much I love surprises… and rambling. Where was I? Oh, right.

If I go that way, now, then I can go to a surprise upstairs with who-knows-what… or who-knows-who. Would they really bunk me with someone else? I wasn’t one for strangers at full size, so how would they think I’d manage one on this scale!? They’re the ones that are short-sighted, not me. Ugh, I can’t wait to deal with that possibility. Though, maybe I don’t have to.

There’s the door. Huh.

I know I just got out of some stasis a moment ago, but it only just occurred to me that all the windows are covered and presumably closed. There seems to be no light peeking out of anywhere, either, so either it’s still nighttime, or I’m enclosed somewhere cut off from the world. No, the latter’s always going to be true here, now that I think about it. I don’t know where here is, but I do know it sure isn’t out there. There’s no use in not verifying it, though.

I guess that I shouldn’t be surprised how what should be a small door doesn’t have a lock. Yet, it has a hinge – two of them? Okay. Am I too dumb for not checking the windows? No, just crazy, but I knew that already. What’s crazier, though, is how I’m simultaneously right and wrong upon opening this door.

This is a small house, and this sure doesn’t look like a lab, a ward, and especially not that basement. To be honest, I kind of expected there to be grass or an equivalent on the ground here. Ground. I say that like this place containing me isn’t on a freaking table right now. Well, to be fair, they brought in real grass, plants, and stuff for the diorama dwellings, so I guess it’s not that weird. But those were for hundreds if not thousands of people on several stations. This is just me… and a house for me… on a table.

A table in what looks like a… a bedroom? I mean, I think I can make out the mountainous shapes of a bed, nightstands sandwiching it, and I think a dresser across from them, but it’s freaking dark in here. I’m surprised I can see that far away. Those LEDs boxed in my walls shouldn’t be able to reach that far, even if their brightness was somehow magnified through the cracks between windows and the door, yet here they are. Despite that, there’s no denying I’m in some resting place for some giant somewhere. Somewhere.

I could be freaking anywhere, but where?

I do know one thing: it’s damn fine that I don’t have a fear of heights. That helped me back there with the commons, so it’ll help me here, too. But, god, damn it, that drop is large. I bet it was intentional, along with my placement here. With the back edge cut off by the wall and the front sharply opening to this no man’s land of a room, I don’t have many options of escape.

I hear a heater running like a radiator under a window on one side of this table, and I’d rather not get burnt to cinders today. I could test my luck descending the curtains, but I don’t think I’m in proper form to climb or slide down. The opposite side is blocked by a chair in the corner. Falling onto a cushion might not be a bad idea. Maybe there’s a vent I can get through behind there. Hmm.

Screw it. I’d rather risk seeing my maker than wait for them to come to me. Chair, it is. It seems like the only way to go. But, should I take a leap of faith or weigh my options? Eh, watch with my luck, and this room’s patron comes back in and throws something atop of me – maybe even themselves. A smudge on somebody’s ass: that’s not legacy worthy. At least if I’m up here for some time, then I can probably make it back in the house and use it for even a smidgen of protection.

Hopefully.

Huh. Should I be bothered by how my steps aren’t clicking across this surface? I mean, they never did in the basement, but there were plenty of people around causing noise and whatever. Here, I’m alone… at least for now. That should be calming, shouldn’t it? Alas, as I continue forward, the curve of what-now-looks-like-an-accent-chair crests over the horizon and—

Oh, curse me.

So, I was right in being worried about possibly being suffocated to no end in colossal clothing. But, of all of them, did it have to be scrubs? I’m no color aficionado, but I do think that’s how that health-centric blue is supposed to look in this lighting—er, lack of light, I should say. Of course, they’re not just any scrubs, either. Any sensible physician would know to discard of their scrubs in at least a hamper to be washed after use or just use a new pair. These look like cast-offs like mad.

I’d put money down on them being his. That monster brought me here, didn’t here? Then, me being here would make sense: I’m where he lives or, at least, stays so he can watch me like some project.

Looking back at this rather extravagant house for a subspecies like me, who knows how much other preparation has been done since he acquired me? Is he why I’m hurt like this? Speaking of hurt, wasn’t I beeping before, and that led to all of this? It’s stopped now, and so was I, but is replacing it with pain much better? If I run away, then how do I know that the beeping won’t restart and lead to an even greater demise?

I’m curious, though, considering he could’ve ended me earlier while I was presumably incapacitated if that were his goal. But what if he may have plans for me, instead? What if he’s planning for me to run away, and that’s why he’s away, probably watching from afar? The basement had cameras whether they wanted us to know they were there or not, and I bet there’s some in here, too, with night vision, thermals, and all that other fancy gobbledygook. Ugh, it’s dark and distant in here, but damn it, I’m going to find one if it’s the last thing I—

Are you kidding me?

Do not tell me that’s been him this whole time. Him, and he’s that? Well, that’s poetic as hell, isn’t it? He was going to take me out beforeall this crap started. Now, he’s going to do me in here, instead, screwing me sideways and 1-upping me even more so.

In my visual pursuits of a camera, the last thing I expected to find was an I.D. To surprise me even more, I recognized the face on it. I remember my first time seeing it.

I was on a lunch break, just reading in my journals about Match Day – how it had been the largest amounts of matches in history or whatever – and then Doc Adams suddenly broke the fun and excitement, coming in with a list of our future interns. One of them was him. If it had been just a few years prior, then I would’ve been excited. After all, there’s nothing wrong with more doctors, right? But, Adams, the louse, has… had been trying to get me out of the doctoring game since.

It’s because he knows that I’d be better at his job than him, and the supervisors at the system H.Q. have been telling us both this. I can’t help that I love – loved– helping people directly so much to not replace it with a tedious desk job, even if it looks over pretty much everyone else in the hospital. Thus, his solution was to put more and more people in our ranks to dilute the focus away from me. It worked for a while until someone had a symptom that they didn’t know how to treat, but I did.

Despite my knowledge, this new guy was perfection, though, and from across the ocean, no less. I bet Adams creamed his pants at him on the list: this—What’s his name again? Oh, yeah: this ‘Mikul Merchant’ or whatever. I wonder how many bribes Adams had to make to get him. But that doesn’t matter now, does it? The first day for the interns would’ve been months ago, and the kid and I are both here, apparently, with him ruining my life just as much if not more so than he would’ve been without this wretched disease.

Though, if he was already on this continent way before then, then he must’ve been excited, too. After all, I’m sure his home country has its own center like this where he could’ve been. Why was he here, and how in the world did he turn out to be a carrier, too?

Upon registration, everyone is given I.D.s, but rather than having the random number sequences and barcodes the others get until they’re rendered useless by dwindling heights to where they can’t carry the damn thing, carriers’ listings are just ‘zeroes’ with a Q.R. code. I’m positive that’s how that self-deprecating squad of bugs found me and put their emotions out on and into me. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one here, so why would they charge me rather than someone like him? Well, besides his youth, foreignness, and relative handsomeness that may correlate with them, unlike me, he’s a carrier of and might as well be immune to both strains.

Curse this minute minutia. Curse my imperfections. But, most importantly, screw this—!

*CLICK* God, no.

Before I can even blink, a beam of light blinds me, revealing the previously dark side of the room and thus allowing me to see that this isn’t just a bedroom but more like a hotel room. A vanity adjacent to a closed closet appears. It’s spanning across the wall opposite me, this table and chair, that house of mine, and the window. How I didn’t see the reflection of this house in the mirror beforehand is beside me. But, no other reflection aside from my own hasn’t yet come into view, which makes me wonder if this is genuinely that giant’s room.

I know I used to come across my team’s scrubs in my office on occasion, so who’s to say that a lead person isn’t just keeping subject/’Doctor’ Merchant’s clothing with them for testing or safekeeping? Though, I don’t think that just throwing them across a chair shows its direct importance or proper sanitation practices. Or, maybe there’s another type of experiment going on. Perhaps it’s just dealing with me and what I do in this new location? Either way, that doesn’t answer whose room this is or why—

Never mind. There, he is. I’m here with him. I should stop doubting myself. No, this is the one time I should challenge anything and everything I’ve ever known.

Emerging from what I assume is a bathroom, a lanky, lean embodiment of a supposed human comes through. Supposed. Humans aren’t meant to be that large. It’s almost godly – the glow of his mostly bare, solely-pants-wearing, towel-draping-necked form – but I’m not glorifying a monster, checking his face and onyx hair over the sink and counter like he hasn’t done anything wrong. His auburn skin with no marks in sight is so nourished like he’s been able to bathe sensibly and get proper sunlight. There’s not one eye bag or wrinkle like he’s never had a single stressor in his life: the pampered, pompous prick. I’d almost say he’s prettier in person, but beasts are never pretty.

If you’re here, then you should be under all the stresses. Yet, here you are, flouncing around almost naked like you aren’t contracted with and spreading disease! If that’s the case, then why the hell am I here, trapped with you—!?

You… You… You’ve got to be kidding me. I mean, it was only a matter of time, but… don’t fucking dare.

Before I can even comprehend it, his almond gaze snaps on me like a locked crosshair in a gun’s sight. I try freezing in place, but I’m sure the vanity lights are making my eyes glow like a beady animal’s, so it’s all in vain. Aside from that, I didn’t think he had even noticed me at first, but then he had squinted his eyes and cocked his head like an inquisitive dog trying to hear. Just to test my luck, he even acknowledges me… or whatever he thinks I am if he doesn’t know for sure for some reason,

“H-Huh?” He sounds so soft, almost… Nope, I’m not going to say that. There’s no way he actually cares. I… I’m nothing in comparison. He’s taken out souls larger and smaller than me, so what difference would I make? “Is something there?” See? ‘Something.’

I’m a thing now.

I almost thought he’d salivate for his new toy, treat, or whatever I am to him. He’s already been a predator in public upon thousands of eyes. How much craftier will he be, all alone? I’m not going to wait to find out. Even if that’s what he’s expecting me to do, I don’t care. It’s fight-or-flight, and the former is definitely out of the question.

“W-Wait!”

Like hell, I’m doing that.

[seouledbysisi]

New World

Chapter 10

Gianna was solidly asleep when she was awoken by Mia bouncing on her bed.

“Wake your ass up!” Mia yelled as she fell over on her.

Gianna groaned loudly. “Just five more minutes, Mom!”

Mia slapped her shoulder. “Girl I am not your mama!”

Gianna’s eyes popped open. She thought she had still been dreaming. “Why are you in here so early being so loud?”

“Because you need to contact SM like right now!” Mid exclaimed.

“Huh? You couldn’t tell me this in like four more hours?” Mia yawned.

Mia jerked her up. “No, you need to answer that email right now!” She urged.

“Why? Why can’t you just let me sleep?” Gianna complained as she laid on Mia’s lap.

Mia took a deep breath. “Because I head to Korea in about two days to sign a contract with SM as a stylist!”

Gianna’s eyes flew open. “What? How? Oh my gosh!”

“Johnny pulled some strings for me.” Mia smiled.

“Wow. He really must like you.” Gianna sighed.

“He didn’t want you to be alone.” Mia whispered.

Gianna looked up at her. “You told him about that job offer?”

“More like I told him about you being mad at me. I needed someone to vent to.”

“It’s just funny because Taeyong hasn’t breathed of word of it. Like not even a hint at it.” Gianna spoke in confusion.

“Maybe Johnny didn’t tell him?”

“Or maybe he just doesn’t care.” Gianna sighed and pulled her phone out. She pulled out the email from SM and wrote her acceptance of the job. “Happy?” She gave her a fake smile.

Mia rolled her eyes. “Don’t jump to conclusions. Johnny probably just hasn’t gotten around to telling him.”

“Come on now, Mia! You don’t even believe that! It doesn’t even matter anyway. At least it’ll make things easier with being professional around each other. “ Gianna shrugged and got out of bed.

Mia took a deep breath. “What are you going to do about this apartment?”

“Keep it? The rent is paid up all year. I’m sure my mom will just continue to pay it.” Gianna brushed her teeth and pulled her hair back into a pony tail.

“Why do you have an attitude? I mean I’m sorry that you feel like Taeyong doesn’t care. Maybe he does, or maybe he doesn’t but he’s not the only guy on earth. And quite frankly you shouldn’t even be this upset. You have a chance of a life time working for one of the most popular entertainment companies in Korea. That should have you high off of life!” Mia rolled her eyes and stormed out of the room.

Gianna grabbed her phone and called her mom. She answered almost immediately which was strange. She normally was ‘too busy’. “Mom, I got a job offer.”

It was loud in her mom’s background. “Really sweetie? Where?” She sounded excited nonetheless.

“This might be hard to accept but I’m moving to South Korea in a few days.” She revealed.

“Whoa! You’re trying to get like me. Traveling overseas for work! That’s my girl! I’ll continue to pay the rent if Mia wants to stay in it without you. It’s totally fine!” Her mom stated.

Gianna giggled a bit. “She’s actually coming with me. She has a friend that got her a job out there too.”

“Wow! Is it a guy?!”

“Yeah it is. But-“

Her mom squealed a bit. “Maybe you’ll get yourself a guy when you get there! Wouldn’t that be nice?”

Gianna squeezed her eyes shut. “Yeah. So nice.” She spoke dryly.

“Are you okay, honey?” Her mom asked. She could tell in her voice that she didn’t seem happy.

“Yeah mom. But can you keep the apartment just in case things don’t go as planned?” Gianna took a deep breath as she stared out of her window at the lake that sat behind their apartment complex.

Her mom agreed and they ended the call.

She began packing her clothes up. She wasn’t sure exactly when she would have to head to South Korea but may as well be prepared. Her phone pinged with a notification. She had hoped it was Taeyong. Sadly it was a email. She opened her yahoo account. It was a email from SM.

Greetings Gianna,

We are happy to have you onboard. We hope that you are ready to get this show on the road. We have already drawn up contracts and have attached a copy to this email. Tomorrow you will receive information for your flight to South Korea. We hope that you have prepared yourself to leave as soon as this coming up Saturday. If not we can rearrange times and dates at the best of our abilities. We have prepared living arrangements as well. When you arrive you will be greeted at the airport and immediately shown to your new apartment, which is not far from the SM headquarters, and given a quick tour around the city. Thank you for your acceptance and welcome to the SM Entertainment family!

Johnny

The guys were at a radio station in Melbourne, Australia talking about their concert which would be held that night.

“So you’ve been here a few times before. Has anything changed since the last time?” The radio host asked.

Johnny immediately got ready to speak. “Not really. Our fans are always radiating so much energy wherever we go so we’re always expecting that type of love.”

“So this might sound weird but are you all single?” The female host asked.

All the guys looked from one another when Johnny translated the question into korean. They all nodded.

“We travel so much and see so many beautiful people. It’s hard to just settle on one person to give all of your attention to.” Johnny quickly answered.

“But I’d say we’re never going to be single. NCTzens give us everything we need whether it’s a friend, girlfriend, wife, family. They all fall into those categories for us at whatever moment that we need it.” Haechan added.

Taeyong simply nodded. He hadn’t said a word the entire interview and it wasn’t that he couldn’t. His English had actually gotten pretty good, he just wasn’t in much of a talkative mood.

They wrapped the interview up and headed to the hotel to get some rest before the concert. Johnny hurried to the elevator to catch up with Taeyong. The others decided to explore the hotel some more.

“Dude, why’re you so quiet today?” Johnny asked as he draped his arm over Tae’s shoulder.

Tae shrugged.

“So you’re not gonna talk to me?”

He shrugged again and watched the numbers as the elevator ascended.

“Really TY? What’s up with you?”

“Nothing.” He apple and got off the elevator on his floor.

Johnny started to hop off with him.

“Don’t follow me. Please. I just want to rest up for tonight.” Taeyong shot him a small smile and walked down the long hallway to his room.

Johnny hopped back on the elevator and pulled his phone out. He called Mia.

“Hello?” She breathing a bit heavy.

Johnny raised an eyebrow. “Why are you breathing like that?”

“Because I’m struggling over here with packing!” She yelled a bit.

“Well excuse me! Why is everyone being rude today?!”

Mia sighed. “I’m sorry I’m just frustrated.”

“That’s seems to be the explanation for everyone today. So when do you leave out?”

“Saturday. When will you be back in Korea?” Mia asked as she plopped down on her bed.

Johnny checked the calendar on his phone. “We have a break in between for like three weeks so next Sunday I’m sure we will be back.”

“Sounds cool. Y’all need a break.”

“It’s not a real break because we have a fan meet too during that break but for the most part we’ll be free to do what we want.” Johnny explained.

Mia had a burning question on her tongue but she was almost scared to ask. “I have a question but-“ she hesitated.

“What is it?” He opened his room door and laid on the bed.

“Like would you want to hang out one day during your break? I mean if you don’t want to that’s fine. I don’t even know why I asked- I’m just-“ she began to ramble.

Johnny chuckled. “Why wouldn’t I want to hang out with you?”

“I don’t know. I guess I just don’t want you to feel obligated to be with me or show me more attention than you have. I feel like we’ve connected but that could just be me overthinking things because I do-“

“Whoa! You’re selling yourself way too short! We definitely are connecting.” He admitted. “I plan on seeing a lot of you, okay?”

Mia breathed a breath of relief. “Really?”

“Yeah. I mean we’ll have to be very particular about the places we go but I do want to get to know you more. I think you’re cool and anyone who keeps a smile on my face deserves some of my time.”

“Wow. And here I was thinking that I’ve been dreaming all of this time.” Mia told him with a giggle.

Johnny laughed. “Nah you’re awake. Taeyong is being weird. He’s shutting everyone out. Including me.”

“Why? Over what Gianna said?”

“I guess. He doesn’t really get involved with females so I think because he likes her this is hard for him. I think he feels like he can’t have her and it sucks knowing that someone else can.”

Mia cleared her throat. “Hypotheyically speaking if she did like him, why wouldn’t he be able to have her?”

“He doesn’t date. Period. He’s never done that. He doesn’t know how. All he does is work and make sure we’re all in line. He puts everyone else before himself. He always will.”

“Well eventually he’s going to long for someone to cater to his feelings and needs.”

Johnny stared at the ceiling. “I know that, the problem is getting him to understand that.”

[ibelieveinahappilyeverafter]

To Land On Your Feet - Chapter 03

I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Sorry if it's an hour or two late across time zones; school was much busier than I was expecting it to be! (This version is even later since I passed out last night before I could hit upload.)

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Summary: Aizawa Shouta had a good life. He was a happily married pro-hero teacher, had two cats that loved to make his life difficult, and soon, if things went well, he would have Shinsou Hitoshi as a son. Thanks to an unexpected attack by a man with the League of Villains, though, Shouta is turned into a cat. While he had a fondness for cats, that never meant he wanted to be one, especially when no one seems to recognize him and his friends and family are trying to find him when he’s right there.

He had been planning to find a way to change back, but instead he ends up following Shinsou Hitoshi to the foster home he lives in after hearing some worrying information from the teen himself. Shouta himself was guilty of venting his frustrations to cats, but hearing that Hitoshi would be locked outside in the cold if he was late getting home was just another clue among countless that something was wrong. He has to get back to normal, but he’d be a poor hero and a shit father-to-be if he didn’t follow the kid and make sure he was okay.

Besides, quirks like this usually had a time limit. Right?

              <<First Chapter>><<Previous Chapter>><<Next Chapter>>

                                              Chapter Three

‘Alright, kid, if you have a secret secondary quirk that deals with hearing the thoughts of cats, now would be a great time to tell me about it.’ Shouta thought the words as loud as possible, unsurprised and yet still disappointed when Hitoshi scratched under Shouta’s chin as if he really was nothing except another street cat. ‘I don’t look that different as a cat, do I?’

“You’ve been through a lot too, huh?” Hitoshi’s voice was soft and quiet, Shouta frowning when the kid brushed over the scar under his eye. ‘Too,’ he had said. Shouta didn’t like that. “It’s okay. The scars always fade away eventually.”

Okay, that Shouta really didn’t like. He knew Hitoshi had a rough past with the way he spoke about some things, but the kid was so walled off it was hard to get anything personal out of him. Hizashi liked to call it karma, but Shouta was scared with how much of himself he saw in Hitoshi some days.

“Oh, hang on, I got just the thing for you!” Hitoshi moved to sit in the middle of the sidewalk as if he couldn’t care less, Shouta wishing he could laugh as he saw Hitoshi dig around in his bag before pulling out cat treats with a wide smile. “I feed the strays I see from time to time, so I always make sure to have a few treats on me. What do you say, buddy, want some?”

Right. Hitoshi, his student that he had a great deal of parental feelings for, was attempting to feed him cat treats. Blinking up at Hitoshi, and seeing the kid look so cautiously hopeful to the point he was holding his breath, Shouta withheld a sigh and moved forward to eat a few of the treats.

Really, it was a logical decision. His body was exhausted and, while this may be an entirely different story if he were human, the cat treats would go a long way in restoring his energy and settling his hunger. It had been almost a full day since he had last eaten anything, after all, and this was better than nothing.

If part of the reason he did it was so Hitoshi would look a little less worn down and tired, well, no one had to know that except him and maybe Hizashi when this mess was over.

“You’re pretty lucky, kitty. I usually leave earlier than this, but today has been… pretty bad.” The dark tone of voice had Shouta feeling more of those parental type feelings.

Since he couldn’t sit by the kid and offer him silent support, he settled for pawing at Hitoshi’s knee and giving a warbling meow that had him wincing. Honestly, how did people think he was an actual cat?

“Thanks for trying to make me feel better.” Hitoshi offered him more cat treats and a tired smile, Shouta only eating the treats to try and cheer Hitoshi up. “My…” Hitoshi trailed off, looking away for a moment before pushing out a sigh. “My teacher, Aizawa-sensei, is missing. He’s a pro hero who was on patrol last night and he didn’t come back.”

‘Oh, kid…’ No wonder Hitoshi looked stressed and worried. Shouta knew his homeroom was no doubt running amok and attempting to confront the villain that had done this to him, but he had hoped Hitoshi wouldn’t have to deal with the stress of this. ‘And I can’t even tell you I’m alright, huh?’

“It’s actually pretty funny.” The smile Hitoshi had on was hollow and fake and seemed to be a mirror image of the smiles Shouta once gave to Hizashi. “I didn’t learn about it until later, because, see, I train with him, right? He’s training me to get into the Hero course, so we train after school and he teaches me… everything, pretty much. He’s never late, though, but he was today. He was late and then half an hour passed, and he didn’t show up and I actually thought he just got sick of dealing with me.”

‘What?! Oi, kid, I know you have as many self-worth issues as some of my students, but you have to know by now that I wouldn’t give up on you! Isn’t that obvious? Am I not obvious enough?’ Shouta’s lecture came out sounding like yowling similar to his cats when they were angry, Hitoshi only laughing instead of looking properly chastised.

“You sound like Yamada-sensei,” Hitoshi grinned, trying to distract him with another cat treat. Shouta ate it out of pity and idly wondered how many treats Hitoshi kept on him. “‘S okay, Yamada-sensei came in around the time I started thinking that. I honestly thought Aizawa-sensei was dead for a few minutes with how he looked.”

‘Oh, Hizashi,’ Shouta sighed to himself, no doubt sure that Hizashi was worrying himself to pieces over this entire mess. The USJ incident hadn’t been that long ago and Shouta still saw traces of Hizashi’s fear from that event. It was in the way he hovered next to Shouta’s right where his vision was weaker, and in the way he sometimes flinched and tensed if he couldn’t automatically spot Shouta when entering a room.

“He offered to take over my training, but we just talked, instead,” Hitoshi said, rubbing at Shouta’s cheeks and almost managing to distract Shouta. Another thing to take note of, it seemed, was that his new body responded as a cat would to outside stimulus. “It was… bad. He didn’t even have his hair spiked back or anything and he was quiet. You probably don’t know this, kitty, but Yamada-sensei is actually Present Mic. Present Mic isn’t ever quiet, but Yamada-sensei can be, sometimes. This was a bad quiet, though.”

‘Not that I’m not grateful, but why do you never talk this much when I need you to? Do I need to start attaching microphones and cameras to cats before sending them your way?’ Shouta wished he had the words to complain, settling for swatting at Hitoshi’s hands when he started getting too distracted.

“You know, kitty, sometimes I wish I wasn’t so broken.” The words startled Shouta into almost jumping, his full attention now on his kid. Hitoshi didn’t seem to notice, staring off into the distance, instead, and seemingly lost in his thoughts. Shouta wished he could just properly frown or, even better, nudge Hitoshi to go back into the school or the dorms or the spare bedroom he and Hizashi had started unconsciously cleaning and decorating for a teenage boy who loved underground heroes and cats.

When Hitoshi started to gain that frustrated look of having too many thoughts that he didn’t know how to voice, Shouta tried for another meow, headbutting Hitoshi’s shoulder, thinking to himself, ‘Sorry, kid. If I was more careful then we could be having dinner right now and you two wouldn’t be worrying so much.’

“Thanks for being such a great listener,” Hitoshi smiled, looking to come out of his thoughts as he gave Shouta another scratch before glancing at his phone, frowning the moment he did. “Sorry, kitty, I gotta get home. I’ll be locked outside if I’m late again and the temperature is supposed to drop tonight. If I get another sore throat, then my teachers will find out about it. I barely snuck by with the last one.”

‘I knew you were sick that week! You kept insisting on physical training over quirk training and refused to even talk half the time.’ Now Shouta was glad he had kept sneaking the kid vitamin water that was good for that kind of thing. ‘Honestly, you’re lucky Hizashi was so wrapped up in work that week or…’ Shouta’s thoughts trailed off into a background hum as the words Hitoshi had said finally registered.

Locked outside. Locked outside when the weather forecast, last he had checked, was supposed to be near freezing. That hadn’t been a joking tone, either. That tone was simple, tired, and so matter of fact it was like Hitoshi had been complaining about how tomorrow would be chilly instead of sunny.

“Thanks for listening to all my rambling, kitty. Maybe I’ll see you again sometime.” Hitoshi gave him a smile before pushing himself up and brushing his pants off, starting to walk away from the school.

Shouta knew, without a doubt, that he should be working on getting to Hizashi and Nedzu and contacting the police. One of them, no matter how many it took, would realize who he was eventually. It was best to get this matter over and dealt with sooner rather than later, but Hitoshi was walking away as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, a longing, sorrowful, tired expression that he never let others see if he could help it.

Shouta’s body was moving before he could even think, new and unfamiliar paws breaking into a quick sprint that had him catching up and falling into step beside the now startled teen.

“Oh! You wanna walk with me for a while, then?” That tired expression seemed to lighten and Shouta knew, without a doubt, that he made the right choice. Hizashi would be okay; especially once Shouta explained why he had been gone for so long, but if he let Hitoshi leave on his own now, then Shouta would be a pretty shitty father-to-be – especially after hearing something like that.

“You know, you’re pretty strange, for a cat,” Hitoshi said after a few minutes of comfortable silence. “You’re not a normal cat.” The words had Shouta perking up as he shot his head towards Hitoshi, delighted that the kid might have realized who he was, even if it had taken him a while. “You’re some sort of god in animal form, aren’t you?”

Maybe it was a good thing he was a cat, if only so Hitoshi would never know he laughed at that. It was hardly Shouta’s fault, though. He just… he had never heard Hitoshi say something so childish. It was nice. It was good. It showed the kid was more comfortable than he had been all those months ago.

Jeez, it had only been a few months, but Shouta had already latched onto the kid as much as Hitoshi had latched onto him back. It had been hard not to feel something for the kid when Shouta first saw him at that Sports Festival. Even bandaged, high on pain medication, and fighting off a burning headache, Shouta had still seen so much of himself in Shinsou Hitoshi.

Hitoshi had come so far from that suspicious, beaten down teenager that had been expecting trouble and detention when Shouta had first approached him after classes were over with a proposition. Now here he was, against all odds, laughing and joking about a ‘stray cat’ being a god in disguise.

‘Do you even realize how far you’ve come, Hitoshi?’ The kid always complained about never seeing any change in himself, but he had come so far.

“I can tell you’re laughing at me,” Hitoshi pouted, dramatic and childish as he threw his arms about much like Hizashi might to make a point. “I mean, just look at how big you are! You’re probably as tall as me- Here, c’mere, kitty.”

Hitoshi prodded and nudged at him, careful and wary in a way that spoke of being bitten by strays before. Shouta made sure to butt at his hand before standing himself up on his hind legs just to satisfy whatever tangent the kid was on now.

“See, look at that! You already come up to my chest!” Shouta… did. He knew he had been turned into a house cat, but now he was re-thinking that he might be some sort of other big cat. When standing up on his hind paws he easily reached a little below Shinsou’s chest. Shouta had to be four feet head to tail at least- Actually, maybe it was four feet without the tail. “You’re either a divine creature in animal form or a big cat that escaped from the zoo.”

‘Your guess is as good as mine, kid.’ Hopefully the quirk that had been used on him didn’t have any delayed surprises. He didn’t want to know how this could get worse. ‘Come on, Hitoshi. Let’s get you home.’

Dropping back down to all fours and giving Hitoshi a nudge to get him moving, Shouta found himself content to listen to Hitoshi ramble about his day as he started walking again, complaining about Nemuri, who was his homeroom teacher, and the sub for Hero Ethics, which was the class Shouta usually taught. Hitoshi seemed to have so much to say and, luckily for them both, Shouta had a knack for listening to chatterboxes ramble about their day.

As they walked, though, Shouta couldn’t help but to think about how much better it would be if he was able to respond back, Hizashi on Hitoshi’s other side and adding to his stories to blow them even more out of proportion.

One thing was for certain; Shouta needed to find a way out of this mess.

[just-jordie-things]

Gangster’s Paradise - Richie Tozier (chapter nine)

word count: 4739 warnings: swearing, fist fighting, mentions of smoking, mentions of drug dealing, themes of depression, sexual innuendos a/n: this is by far my favorite chapter of this entire series. not my gif

[chapter one]  [chapter two]  [chapter three]  [chapter four]  [chapter five] [chapter six]  [chapter seven]  [chapter eight]

Monday morning was like one of those awful hangovers you get after a long night partying.  Where your body is sore, and you’re sure there must be bruises.  Her throat was dry and lips were chapped, completely parched.  Her head is spinning and she could the urge to vomit but she hadn’t eaten anything and throwing up on an empty stomach was a painful hassle she didn’t want to deal with.

y/n felt the same way walking into school late as she did waking up earlier that morning.  She’d woken up on time, but stayed in bed all through first period, feeling like complete, and utter shit.

She dragged her already worn down sneakers al over the house as she got ready.  Which, today was just putting on clean clothes and a cap to cover the fact that she didn’t brush her hair or apply any makeup.  Or that she was incredibly hungover.

Even once she walked herself to school, she was dragging her feet.  But she was already late, so at this point it didn’t matter how long it took her to get to school.

The walking trip alone was half an hour.

Richie was wandering the halls, Ben and Bill walking with him as well.  Technically they were supposed to be heading to first period, but none of them really wanted to be there anyways.  Besides, Richie had a lot to vent about his weekend to his friends.

“So, it was a mutual breakup?” Ben asked, trying to piece together this long story.  Richie shrugged his shoulders in a lame answer, but it was the best he could offer.

“W-well d-d-did you th-think it was for the b-best?” Bill asked.

Richie wasn’t sure.  On the one hand, he was sure that without him as a distraction, y/n would figure out what she needed to do.  But he prayed to go that she found a safe way to ditch Bowers and come back to him with open arms.  But on the other hand, he wasn’t sure just how in deep she was with Henry and his gang of imbeciles.  And he wasn’t sure how quickly, or safely, she could leave a gang.  Especially one she’s in charge of.

“I’ve got no clue Bill” Richie sighed.  “But I want her back.  It was strange sleeping without her last night”

“Awe” Ben cooed under his breath, but Richie ignored it.  Not even bothering to slap the boy’s arm like he usually might have.

“It’s all strange.  I had her back in my life for what felt like years but looking back it seemed like seconds” Richie rambled on, feeling the romantic sap spill off his tongue.  Ben, who was smiling a the bittersweet words, and Bill, who was frowning at the sadness of Richie’s tone, both walking and listening intently to their friend.  “I just need her to be safe.  And I was the reason she wasn’t safe”

“N-n-no you w-weren’t R-Richie” Bill said, brows drawn together.  “y/n b-brought that on huh-herself” Richie gave Bill a sharp look, but didn’t protest as he went on.  “Y-y-you were helping her g-get out of it”

“No I wasn’t” Richie mumbled back.

“Y-yes you w-were.  Sh-she’d still b-be with them if-”

“If you didn’t ask her out last friday” Ben murmured, finishing Bill’s thoughts.  “If you hadn’t asked her out, and followed through with it and became a part of her life again, she’d still be stuck in that terrible place with the Bowers gang” He said.  “She’d be worse off than ever.  Except for now.  I’ll bet without you, she’s miserable” Ben said, looking to Bill for backup.  The stammering boy nodded in agreement, while Richie stayed silent.

y/n felt miserable.  Standing in the empty hallways and staring into the abyss of her near-empty locker.  Before now, she’d never realized how painfully empty it was.  There were no pictures, no drawings on the inside.  Just the blank grey metal.  Looking at it now made her feel worse, but she couldn’t place why.  It was just sad.

Sighing, she opened up her backpack and dropped off the few binders in her backpack that weren’t necessary for her classes today.  She looked at the things that now barely filled her locker, but now it just seemed more depressing.

y/n groaned loudly before slamming the door shut, no longer wanting to look at it.

“Got a lot of pent up anger princess?” The girl turned, seeing Patrick Hockstetter’s tall form coming down the hallway, not too far from her.  Typically, she’d give hima  snarky and borderline threatening response, but she couldn’t do that anymore.

She’d lost her control over them.

“Fuck off” She mumbled quietly, zipping up her too-big jacket and turning to walk away but Patrick only caught up with her.

“Oh come on, lemme walk you to class pretty girl” Patrick said, looking down at her sickeningly, and licking a tongue over his teeth.

“You must not have heard me when I promptly told you to fuck off” She told him, shooting him a quick glare.

“I was thinkin’ last night y/n/n” Patrick straight up ignored her, slinging an arm around her shoulders and tugging her roughly against him.  y/n’s head ached more at the harsh movement.  “I was wonderin’... what in the hell were you doin’ with frog face this weekend, huh?” y/n stayed silent, and didn’t dare look at him.  “Well? Am I gettin’ an answer? Cause I’ve got a pretty decent assumption in my head pretty girl”

“It’s none of your business anyways Patrick” She told him, but again, he didn’t seem to care.

“Yeah? Cause I feel like you were fuckin’ him all weekend long” Patrick said, and y/n turned away, her chest constricting and her eyes widening.  “No comment angel?”

“None of your business” She repeated, walking a little faster away.  But the older boy took longer strides to catch up with her anyways.

“It’s all my business, we’re the same business, remember princess?”

y/n’s jaw set, and she kept up with her quick pace.

“Come on y/n/n, you don’t wanna share? Why? Frog face got your tongue-”

“Just shut the fuck up!” She spat out, spinning towards him wildly as she yelled.  “Patrick I swear to God I’ll rip your tongue out if you don’t stop fucking running your mouth!”

Patrick smirked, shaking his head down at the girl.  “All Buck Beaver does is run his mouth, but I’m sure you’d far rather appreciate a mouth runnin’ all over your-”

She pounced.  y/n physically leapt off the ground, and shoved him down against the linoleum floor of the hallway.

“There she is!” Patrick hollered, wooing loudly afterwards.  “There’s the y/n we elected for us! There’s the bitch we’ve all been fucking waiting-”  She shut him up, socking her fist hard agaunst his jaw.

“Shut the fuck up! Shut the fuck up!” She screamed over and over again, landing punch after punch clumsily but brutally against Patrick’s face.

It was an out of body experience, let’s say.

Patrick was swinging his arms around, trying to grab hold of her.  Maybe to throw her off of him, or maybe to hit her back.  But she barely even noticed, red blurring her vision so much she couldn’t see past his bruising face.  She didn’t even realize that after knocking his teeth a few times, they were splitting and beginning to splatter blood across his cheeks.

“Come on y/n/n! Come on! Lay it fucking on me!” Patrick laughed in a twisted way, even as she continued swinging.  Until eventually his hands finally found something to grip onto.  Her hair getting yanked on so hard she yelped as he flung her off of him, and stood up, his hand still holding onto her, and he slammed her into the lockers.

“You’re just a fucking psychopath, just like every third kid in this fuckin town” She muttered.  “If you get out of this town, the only place you’re going, is the fucking state penitentiary-”

y/n was silenced my his fist socking her across her cheekbone, finally releasing her hair.  His empty hand clasped around her throat, and he was giving her the most menacing smile she’d ever seen.  Sending a shiver down her spine.

“Bitch, you’re never gonna learn are you?” He spat out, leaning dangerously close to her.  “You’re fucking nothing.  You talk a big game, but have so little.  So, so little.  You’d be better off dead, like all those other kids.  Dead in a ditch in the middle of fucking nowhere.  Even Buck Beaver, is better off without you”

She was silent, the red in her eyes replaced by the overwhelming urge to cry.  Not out of fear, fuck the day y/n was every afraid of the likes of Patrick Hockstetter.  But because he was right.  All she’d done is fuck herself over, and now Richie too.

“Cry baby, come on come on come on” He taunted quietly, begging it from her.  “Cry for me, if you won’t scream, cry”

“Eat.  Shit” She uttered out, before slamming her entire body against his, and started swinging her fists again.  She didn’t care.

“R-Richie” Bill rolled his eyes, cutting off the boy’s ramblings.  “Y-you’ve got to stop b-beating yourself up”

“What’re you talking about? I’m just ranting, it’s what you do with friends”

“No, what you do with friends is talk and complain.  You, are heartbroken” Ben said, before turning down the hallway to go back to class.  “You made me miss ten minutes, now I’m gonna be drilled about where I went”

“Fine.  Go.  Don’t help me” Richie retorted sarcastically.

“You don’t need help Richie” Ben said.  “You need to go talk to y/n, remind her how you feel, tell her you’re there for her.  You think you’re going through shit? She could get thrown in jail any minute.  Or worse.  You don’t think the Bower’s gang would pull a gun on her any second?”

Richie winced, but looked away so that Ben wouldn’t notice.

“If you think you’ve got problems Rich, then you need to suck it up” Ben said, and it was the snarkiest thing that both Richie and Bill had ever heard him say.  “Because she’s got big time shit going on.  And she needs you” With that, Ben walked off, heading back to class.

“She only pushed me away, but it was for the-”

“Don’t say it was for the best” Bill cut him off, without a single stutter in his voice.  “B-Ben’s r-right” Richie sighed, running his hands through his hair a few times before tugging tightly on his curls.  “Really y-you have to s-stop kicking y-yourself over th-this”

“I can’t not do it Bill.  It’s my fault”

“N-no it’s not”

“Yes, it is.  If it weren’t for me, she’d still be in a simple bliss and completely safe” Bill shook his head slightly, biting roughly on his cheek.  Richie you idiot! His mind screamed.

“St-still wrong R-Richie” He said quietly.  “I agree w-with Ben.  Sh-she needs you.  N-now, more than ever”

“I don’t know Bill” Richie said, his voice nearly failing him.

“Sh-she’s only p-pushing you away t-to protect y-you, and t-to keep her g-guard up.  Y-you know y/n better than a-anyone.  So y-you of all p-people should have already f-figured that one ou-out”

Richie was silent.

“Y-you love each other.  Th-that may n-not feel like it’s enough.  B-but it is” Bill said, stopping Richie in the hall completely.  “You b-both need each other.  Y-you just d-don’t realize i-it”

More silence.

“L-look I’ve g-got to get to class.  But y-you should talk to her.  S-soon, Richie” Bill said, patting his friend’s shoulder before walking off to his own class.

He knew he and Ben were right.  He knew that Richie was hurting, but he also knew eventually his trashmouth friend would see what he needed to do.  He’d understand that y/n-

Is fighting Patrick Hockstetter.

She was fighting him, right as Bill tuned the corner he saw the girl shoving and punching at the significantly taller boy.

“H-holy shit y/n” He whispered at first, then yelled, “y/n!”

In a moment of confusion, y/n stopped her attack and turned to see Bill standing at the end of the hall, his eyes wide and lips open in a circle.

“Bill?” She muttered to herself, before she was licked across the face with Patrick’s bony fist.  Her small body knocked to the ground from the impact, and letting out a pained groan as her hand came to brush her fingers over her cheek.  Just as she felt the string of what was going to be a bruise, a foot swung itself against her ribs.  “Fuck!”

“Holy shit!” Bill hollered again, his feet finally moving and carrying him in a sprint towards the scene.  “y/n!”

The girl mentioned stood up again, panting and putting her hands on her knees for a moment to regain her strength.  Not that Patrick cared, as he lunged for her again.  Bill almost jumped in front of her, before she stood suddenly and swung at him.  She landed a punch just under his jaw, but it didn’t faze him one bit.  He snatched her wrist with ease, yanking on her roughly and nearly punching her before Bill pulled the girl out of his grasp.

“F-fuck off” He said, keeping y/n behind him like she needed his protection.  If you asked her, she’d say she didn’t.

“O-o-o-kay B-b-b-b-Billy” Patrick snickered, and pushed Bill aside.  “y/n’s got a death wish, and I intend to grant it for her” He said, licking over his lips.

y/n spit on him.

But he only laughed, that twisted fuck, and leapt towards her, just as she kicked her leg up and kneed him between the legs.  Patrick howled with pain, but it only made him hesitate a few short seconds before grabbing her and shoving her to the ground.  y/n never got the chance to fight back before he began landing punch after punch against her, bruising her skin almost instantly.

She’d never noticed how his hands were like that of a skeleton’s until now.

When the end of the period bell rang and students filed out of classrooms like flies, it grew loud with cheers and chatter upon finding a fight in the halls.  They crowded instantly around Patrick beating the living shit out of y/n, not caring the girl was coughing blood or that her lips were swollen beyond their usual plump appearance.

This crowding lasted a few minutes before a teacher had finally wedged their way through the sea of students.

“Mr Hockstetter! Ms y/l/n! Mr Denbrough! Principal’s office, now!”

Richie was fiddling his pen around between his fingers mindlessly.  Not paying a single ounce of attention to whatever his Calculus teacher was scribbling on the board.

After getting back to class, all he’d done is doodle on his paper, his desk, his own hand, and stared blankly out the window.  Anything to keep him distracted from not only the work he was supposed to be doing, but also the thoughts that kept swimming around in his head.  What to do about y/n what to do about y/n.

On the one hand, he screamed go back to her! Go hold her and remind her you love her!

But on the other, the quiet whispers in his own mind that somehow overpowered the passionate shouts, don’t, you’ll upset her.  You’ll hurt her.  You don’t want to hurt her, do you?

“Fuck!” He shouted suddenly, slamming his pen against the desk and making one of his papers float to the ground.

“Mr Tozier!” His teacher scolded, her writing coming to halt with a loud squeak on the whiteboard.  She put a frustrated hand on her hip, looking for an apology from the boy.  And he knew.  That’s why he didn’t say anything.

“Well? Are you going to apologize to the class for disrupting their learning?” She asked in a tone a mother would use when looking for getting what she wanted.  Richie looked around at all the eyes staring him down.  Curious, prodding eyes.

“Fuck this class” He announced, boldly, but boredly.

“Excuse me?”

“Fuck” Richie repeated, leaning over his desk slightly, “This” He added slowly.  “Class”

Earning himself a glare from his teacher, and an aggressive pointing towards the door.

y/n was slumped down in the uncomfortable chair outside the principal’s office.  She had her hands linked together over her stomach, her foot tapping anxiously on the floor.  There was a bag of ice, wrapped in a paper towel that the nurse had told her to press anywhere she felt pain.  But it hurt everywhere, so she left it sitting on the chair next to her.

She wasn’t sorry for a damned thing she did, so she wasn’t giving into using that bag of ice like a vulnerable pussy.  It made her feel like  badass not using it.  A bruised up, tiny framed, badass.

y/n smiled to herself, her lips aching where they’d been split and swollen.  Dried blood still on them.  Even when she had cleaned up before coming to the office, she couldn’t properly wipe away all the blood with the school’s shitty paper towels, so she’d left it.  Deciding to do it at home when the principal sent her away for a three day suspension she was sure she would receive.

Patrick Hockstetter was sitting in the office now, likely coming up with an extravagant, and untrue, story of how y/n attacked him first.  And he did have the cuts and bruises to prove it.  While y/n may have a good record, Patrick has a good knack for lying.  Surely she’d be sent home with a form for her father to sign, stating she’d be suspended from school for the next few days.

“Fuckin’ stupid” She grumbled, catching Bill’s attention, who was sat across from her in the small waiting area.  He’d been sent to the office as well, even though he’d only tried to break up the fight.  He was still involved, and in the school’s eyes, that’s enough for at least a talking to.

“W-what is?”

“This! This is fucking stupid!” y/n winced after she yelled slightly.  Kind of because it hurt to, but mostly because she’d never yelled at Bill before, and it made her feel… guilty.  Not as guilty as she felt about ignoring him for the past few years though.  “Why are you here?” She asked him hesitantly.

“B-because I-I was caught w-with you g-guys” Bill answered simply, softly.

“I mean why… why’d you come in the first place? Why didn’t you leave?” y/n said, unable to hold eye contact with him.

“B-because I thought h-he’d actually k-kill y-you” Bill answered, earning a short chuckle from her.  “B-besides, R-Richie would’ve been upset if I d-didn’t do a-anything”

y/n’s head snapped up at that, and she was finally confident in keeping an intense stare on Bill.  “Wha-what? Richie he told you-”

“Yeah” Bill answered before she could even finish her sentence.  “I mean… I-I’ve always known” He shrugged his shoulders slightly, and y/n sat back in her seat, sliding down it as she thought.  “It w-was much m-more obvious b-back then” Her eyes cautiously met Bill’s as he looked off somewhere else, smiling as he recalled the days they had spent all together.

“What was obvious?” She asked quietly.  Maybe Bill didn’t know what she thought he did.  He gave her a funny look, cocking his head to the side a little.

“Y-you guys l-love each other” He said, and her lips parted slightly, quickly redirecting her gaze as she shook her head.

“No- no we aren’t” She replied, finally grabbing her bag of ice and pressing it slightly against her bruised ribs.  “We were close, o-of course” She stammered.  “But we weren’t in love” Bill scoffed.

“R-really? After all this y-you c-can’t even admit it?” y/n flinched at his harsh words, but didn’t say anything in reply.  “y/n y-you and R-Richie have t-to be the b-biggest idiots in th-this school-”

“Watch it, Richie and I haven’t spoken years” She snapped at him.

“Liar” Bill replied.  “H-he told me a-all about it” y/n winced at his response, snapping her mouth shut.  “I can’t b-believe you’re still p-putting up this- this bullshit act”

“I’m not putting on an act!” y/n stood up from her seat suddenly, abandoning her ice on it.  “This is just how life turned out Bill! What do you want me to say? What do you expect?” She asked him angrily.  “I’m sorry that we lost touch after all that fucked up shit happened, okay!? I’m sorry Richie and I didn’t go off and get hitched and I’m sorry Bev’s gone and I’m sorry Georgie died and I’m sorry-”

She choked, tears filling her eyes as she found it more and more difficult to yell at him.  Bill stood up, a sorrowful expression on his face as he walked the short distance between them.

“I’m sorry- I’m sorry” Her voice was strained as she cried, and in seconds Bill was opening his arms and holding onto her tightly.

“I’m s-sorry too y/n/n” He said quietly, squeezing her carefully, wary of her bruises.

“I fucked up real bad, Bill” She said through short breaths.  “I’m not getting him back, I’m never getting him back”

“You w-will, you’ll f-figure it out” He told her, pulling away and smiling softly at her.  “Y-you two always f-figure it out” y/n frowned, ducking her head down to stare at her beat up sneakers.

“Miss y/l/n” The door opened suddenly, and y/n spun around to see Patrick being let out of the office.  He cast her a look on his way out, smirking and running his tongue over his split lip menacingly.  His eye was bruised as well as his cheekbones, but he didn’t seem to care.

She knew she was screwed.

“You’re next” The principal stated, still holding open the door for her.  y/n turned back to Bill, a worried but apologetic look on her face.

“Don’t worry, I’m telling her the truth.  You won’t be in any trouble” Bill nodded gently.

“Alright. I-I’ll wait here, o-okay?” She nodded back, about to say something else, perhaps thank him, when she was called again.

“Miss y/l/n please don’t make this difficult” The principal’s strict voice rang.  y/n ushered quickly into the office, the door slamming slightly behind her.

Richie swung open the door to the waiting room, whipping it shut behind him and causing Bill to jump.

“Bill?”

“Richie?”

They both spoke at the same time, surprised to find the other there.

“You heard a-about it already?” Bill asked as Richie sat in the seat next to him.  But the glasses wearing boy gave him a confused look.

“Heard about what?” He asked, but just as quickly brushed it off.  “I’m here for cursing in Woods’ class” Bill nodded, not so shocked anymore that Richie was at the office.  “But why’re you here?”

“I tried b-breaking up the f-fight” He replied.  “G-got sent down since I was i-involved, but she’s st-still in there g-getting talked t-to”

“Who? There was a fight and no one told me?” Richie asked, a smug smile tugging on his lips, wishing he’d seen someone throw hands today.  He could’ve used that kind of entertainment.

“Y-you didn’t hear?” Bill asked, and Richie’s amused smile went away from Bill’s quiet and anxious tone.  The one he only used when something went horribly wrong, or he was scared.

“What? About what?” Richie asked, his nerves now getting the best of him.  Bill swallowed thickly, his mouth opening and closing a few times but he wasn’t sure what to say.  “What Bill? Fucking spit it out what is it? Who was it?”

“R-Richie I’m s-sorr-”

“Just fucking say it Bill who got in-”

Richie was cut off from his question when the principal’s door opened, and y/n walked out.  When she looked up and her eyes instantly landed on his, he shot up right away.

She looked awful, her once soft lips puffy and bruised.  One of her eyes darkening and her cheeks littered in ugly spots of bruising, black and blue, a disgusting color looking like her skin was rotting on her face.  She held a hand over her ribs, and he just knew her shirt was covering even more sores.  Not to mention the dried splatters of blood on her lips.

“Holy shit what happened to you?” Richie breathed out, not meaning to sound rude, but he was so concerned he didn’t even know what to say.

“Mr Tozier, it was your language that got you down here, do you really want a second strike within the hour?” The principal scolded, but he didn’t listen.  y/n’s eyes were set on his, round like a doe caught in the headlights, and she looked like she would either burst into tears or run away.

“I’m fine” She spoke softly, looking down as she headed towards the exit.

“No you’re not” Richie whipped around and followed after her, standing between her and the door.

“Mr Tozier!”

“You’re not fine, what happened? WHo did this to you-?”

“No one Richie, leave it alone” She warned him quietly.  “Let me go”

“Fuck no-”

“Mr Tozier! I won’t warn you again!” The principal call, and he grimaced, looking away from the girl in front of him for a few seconds.

“You’re not ignoring this with me” He told her, before walking to the office.  y/n’s brows furrowed together as she turned to watch him walk into the office.  His eyes caught hers for a moment, then quickly diverted as he disappeared into the principal’s area.

She didn’t look at Bill as she rushed out of the office, heading straight for her locker.  It hurt her shoulder as he backpack moved roughly against it, but she didn’t care.  She needed out of this damn school as soon as she could.  Why did Richie show up? Of all people that could’ve walked into that office, he had to.  Of course.  The hungover, bruised girl looked down at the paper in her hands, not caring to read all the fine text printed on it, only seeing the big bold letters reading, NOTICE OF SUSPENSION.  The bottom of the page held a long line where her father was meant to sign.  Though he likely would never see this paper.

“Well well if it isn’t princess herself” She saw Patrick waiting for her at her locker, but his presence didn’t faze her like he was hoping it would.

“What more do you want Patrick? Another ass beating?” She asked, sounding tired as she pushed him slightly to the side to put her locker combo in.

“Course not babe, I just wanna talk”

“Last time you said that you asked if I’d fuck you” She responded dryly.  He chuckled, swiping his tongue over his bloody lips before shaking his head.

“Offer always stands, sweetheart.  But again, this isn’t that kind of talk” He told her, making her grimace, but not look at him as she got her things out of her locker.  “Just wanted to make sure you knew… that you’ve been removed of your position” He said in a husky whisper.

Y/n turned to him quickly, a look of surprise on her face as she was filled with hope.  “I’m out?” She asked quietly, her optimism shining through her words.  But Patrick laughed barkingly, shaking his head at the girl.

“Foolish bitch” He said at the end of his laughter.  “You tried screwing us over, you’re never getting out” With that, he walked off down the hall.  y/n’s face fell to one of terror as she watched him leave.  “And if Henry won’t kill you? I sure as hell will!” He hollered before he was out of sight.

“Shit” She cursed under her breath slamming her locker shut and leaning her head against it.  The coolness of the metal felt nice on her face, but she was far too worried about what was to come to care about her bruises now.  “I’m fucking dead”

my. favorite. chapter.

taglist: @awtozier @fightmebub  @catching-fire-in-the-wind @black-tights-black-heart @socially-awkward-nerd @depressed-trashcann @beepbeeprichtozier @timsflannels @theidjitsimpalaa @timsflannels @theidjitsimpalaa @itsluzymeh

xoxo ~ jordie

[thefandomwriter]

Izuku Midoriya X Loner! Reader

Regular P.O.V

    You sighed heavily, forcing yourself to walk into the halls of U.A. You really didn't want to be there, but the nerves you got when you skipped class or weren't at school were unbearable so you made yourself go. You had been placed in class 1-A, having a quirk that could manipulate crystals, being able to shoot them up from the ground. You didn't think it was very flashy, it was basically nothing compared to Bakugo's and Todoroki's quirks.

    Finally arriving at the class -40 minutes early, might I add-, you took a deep sigh before opening the door and walking in, unsurprisingly you being the only one there. 'Another day to go unnoticed..I guess.' Now, it wasn't like you didn't have friends, it was just that-everybody in the class had their main set of friends. You were the only one who didn't have a specific group, you were just kinda...there.  

  Sometimes, you'd just be all by yourself listening to music, while others you'd be chatting quietly with some of your friends, though you mumbled a lot so they hardly ever heard what you said. They'd also seem upset if you were listening to music while they were with you. There was at one point yesterday during a work period, you were sitting beside Uraraka, and you had plugged in your earphones. She then, tapped your shoulder and asked you to take them out, so you complied thinking she needed to ask you something but all she did was keep quiet. You took this as a sign to put them back in again, and once again, she tapped you on the shoulder to take them out. Uraraka then had said she was a little upset you kept putting them back in instead of talking, which annoyed you a little. There wasn't even a conversation going, and after a third time of you doing, waiting a few minutes for her to start talking, when of course she didn't, she said she was just gonna go work with Iida and Deku.

   You felt like you had pissed her off, and could already feel the guilt rising on your shoulders from remembering the conversation. Sitting down at your desk, you put your earbuds in and started drawing-a common thing you did, and was good at- maybe you were supposed to be a loner, or maybe you just weren't designed to have a specific group of friends.

    As the class filled with more and more students, and there was about 2 minutes left before school started, you looked down at the sketch you had made. It was a bunch of butterflies, all bunched together in a crowd, many of different colors, while there was one butterfly near the end of the page, no color at all, just a pale grey. 'I'm being selfish....They can hang out with whomever they want,' You mentally scolded yourself, took your earbuds out and as the bell for class rang,  you mentally prepared yourself for a long day.

 "Okay, class. Today you're going to be given an assignment to present to the class later next week. It'll be on quirk manifestation, and the history of how quirks came to be." Aizawa spoke, the usual bored look on his face. Groans and complaints can be heard from the other students, but all you did was stay quiet, not wanting to make it harder for the tired teacher. "You could work in pairs, groups, or by yourself, just as long as you get the work done. You have the rest of this class to start it." After Aizawa had finished, almost immediately people started getting into pairs and groups. It was only a matter of minutes before everyone had found who they were working with, and you were once again, left to your own devices.

    You looked around the room, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, all but you. You sighed, and put your earbuds back in and started working on the assignment.   Unknown to you, the class had gone silent due to hearing the loud music playing from your earbuds. They were all staring at you as you wrote the third paragraph of the assignment, still not noticing the attention. It was only a matter of time before Bakugo shouted at you, which you barely heard, as you took out your earbuds to find everyone look at you. "Um, can I help you?" You asked quietly, looking around the room. "Your music was playing really loud, you should be careful with how loud it is, it could damage your hearing." Midoriya spoke, smiling a little. "Oh, uh, sorry, ya I'll be careful.." You looked towards the ground as you once again plugged your earphones back in and started writing. You had it so the music was loud enough to block out toher noises, but not so the others could hear.

   "She really is a loner, huh?" Denki said, looking over at you. "Who gives a fuck? Not like she tries to actually fucking talk anyways." Bakugo grumbled, also turning his attention back to his project. "She just likes to keep to herself I guess," Uraraka added in, smiling.  "Maybe we could do something to help her warm up to us, y'know? Like a small get together? We could all throw a small party in the dorms to see if that'll help." Momo suggested, joining in the small conversation. "I say we go for it!" Kirishima shouted, nodding in agreement.  Soon, everyone had agreed to host a small party on Friday to help you warm up to them, and it wasn't long after that, that the bell rang for lunch.

    You had decided to eat outside, not wanting to be stuck in the stuffy cafeteria. You were sitting outside under a tree, scrolling through some old photos of you and your classmates from another school. You had been the only one from your elementary school to go to U.A. This year, and you had left a lot of really close friends behind, some of which who you've known for years. They said they'd keep in touch with you, but they never tried. You'd always try to make plans with them, but they were always seemingly busy, so eventually, you stopped trying. It was really hard for you as the graduation trip had been the best part of your life with them, and the class had grown so much closer, it hurt you so much to lose that. You'd always get a big feeling of loneliness when you saw videos of them all together, without you. It hurt you so, so much. They were your second family, you had never grown close to such a large amount of people as you did with that class.    You lifted your hands to your face, and felt tears trickling down your face. It was as if they'd forgotten you, as if you were never there, as if you didn't matter. And maybe you didn't matter. Maybe it was all in your head that you were good friends with the class, maybe it was all just an illusion to keep you happy when in reality they didn't like you. 'No..They'd never do that to me.' You thought, pushing negative thoughts to the back of your mind. You pulled your knees up to your chest and started quietly sobbing, feeling a great sense of loneliness. You wiped at your tears with your sleeves, mumbling to yourself.

  "Why're you crying? Heroes don't cry! They're strong! They don't let petty emotions get to them!" You shouted at no one. No matter what, all the pent up emotions from weeks and weeks had finally decided to come out, and you couldn't stop it.    As you were about to get up from leaving to just to rest in your dorm for the rest of the day, you felt a pair of arms wrap around you. "Y'know heroes need to cry too, right?" A soft voice asked, you turned around and saw Midoriya smiling at you. "They don't cry because they're weak..They cry because they've been strong for too long." It was then that you broke down again, and locked the boy in a hug, you dropped your phone and started crying into his chest. "I-I'm sorry Iv-Iv-e be-en so str-esse-d lately and I-I Do-n't know wh-at c-came ov-er m-e-e," You hiccuped, hugging the boy tighter.  He started rubbing circles in your back, calming you down effectively. "You don't have anything to be sorry for, crying is normal, and a nice way to get rid of pent up emotions." You guys stayed like that for a few minutes, you sobbing and him calmly rubbing circles on your back.

   As you hugged Midoriya, he caught a glance of the picture on your phone, which was a picture of your whole class at camp,  including you around a bond fire, all smiling and roasting marshmallows, the last trip you all had together before graduation. Midoriya soon pulled away, hearing your hiccups and sobbing die down. "Are you feeling better?" He asked, giving you a kind smile. You smiled, and wiped your face one more time before giggling weakly. "Ya, I do, I'm sorry, that must've been so awkward for you," You chuckled, nervously rubbing the back of your neck. Midoriya shook his head, "no no, it was perfectly fine! I tend to cry a lot too, so I mean-well-I-" he started rambling again. "It's alright, I get it," You yawned, and grabbed your phone. "I'm going to rest at the dorms, okay? Crying takes a lot out of me since I don't really do it often.." You trailed off, and a light blush coated your cheeks. "thanks for cheering me up, Midoriya," and with that, you kissed him on his cheek and went on your way towards the dorms to catch some much needed sleep, leaving a blushing and mumbling Midoriya in your wake.

  ---Time Skip to when Lunch is over---

   Everyone had gathered back in the classroom, and some immediately noticed your absence from the room. "Does anyone know where L/n Went?!" Iida yelled, standing at the front of the class. Midoriya nodded and replied, "She wasn't feeling well at lunch-she's sleeping in the dorms right now." "She is?" Uraraka questioned, Midoriya nodding  "I hope she's feeling well." "Tch I'm sure she's fine. " Bakugo rolled his eyes and went back to sitting quietly.    A few more minutes passed of the students conversing, and the bell to signal class officially started had rang, and everyone turned their attention to the board.

(Well, this is part 1! Sorry if it was a bit confusing, I was venting while writing this. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy! And stay tuned for part 2!~)