#I had another thought I was gonna add but I forgot whoops

[vigilanthe]

I just need y’all to know a few things:

- When B’s parents were killed he was convinced it was his fault. Not only were they killed on the anniversary of his adoption but Bruce also bit the shooter in an attempt to get him to drop the gun. It resulted in him getting pistol whipped. His dad then died protecting him from getting hit again. Then his mom died trying to protect him long enough to get away. Bruce got away but got grazed by a bullet on his right arm :’(

- Bruce, sadly was subjected to a lot of racist comments growing up. Turns out a lot of rich people in Gotham are racist, selfish worms. Disgusting.

[sarcastic-positivity]

(This is a one-shot I wrote based on the gerry x Tim roomates AU. It ended up a lot longer than I intended, but yk lol.)

Title: Another failed attempt at love

When Tim finally made it to the floor, his flat was on he stomped down the long hallway until he reached the door, where his flatmate, and more importantly, his bed was waiting for him.

He unlocked the door fumbling with his keys out of anger. He felt so stupid, he should've quit dating apps a long time ago but here we are. He shut the door louder than he intended and flinched at the realization. He wasn't sure if Gerry was awake or not, and he didn't want to risk waking that nightmare. Gerry needed his rest and lord help anyone who stand in his way.

But as soon as Tim turned to face the sitting room of his flat, if you could even call it that, he heard a raspy voice come from the unmoving figure sitting on the couch. "That bad huh?"

Gerry was sitting on the sofa, the only source of illumination being the graphics tablet sitting in his lap. His makeup was still on, though slightly smudged. Although Tim wasn't sure if that was intentional or not. Gerrys leather platforms were sitting off to the side in front of the couch as they usually sit, Tim was pretty sure there are dents in the dirty carpet where they sit.

"What are you a bloody vampire? Turn a light on!" Tim flipped the switch to his right and the room lit up. Gerry winced at the sudden light and indistinctly closed his eyes and tried to adjust.

"Unfortunately, no." The Gothic boy said sarcastically from where he sat. "So, did the date go well or not? You seem pissy."

Tim sighed and made his way across the room, "how difficult is it to pay for YOUR BLOODY MEAL!? He offered to pay or me! And then WHOOPS, forgot his wallet!" Tim waved his hands around to accentuate each word. He plopped down next to his flatmate as gracefully as a toddler doing a belly flop. "And I mean, I'm fine with paying for myself, but HE offered to pay! And then I had to pay for us BOTH!?" He continued.

"Wow, you've had a hell of a day." Gerry said mockingly.

But that was lost on the angry man sitting next to him. "Yeah! And he didn't even ask me any questions he just talked about himself and his ex the whole time." Tim sat with his arms crossed like a pouting child, mostly as a joke, but he was genuinely upset. There was a gap of silence where the two men sat in the thick tension filled air.

"Well, anyways, what are you drawing?" Tim broke the silence and leaned over the poorly died black haired man next to him.

"Eh, nothing, I just decided to draw you as a warm-up sketch. I'm gonna add some of the other archive workers." Tim looked into the bright tablet and saw a gorgeous drawing that shared his face. It honestly looked better than Tim did on a good day. It sure as hell didn't look like a bloody warm-up.

"That's amazing" he thought. He didn't realize untill Gerry responded that he had said it out loud.

"I mean, I've done better." Gerry said uncharacteristically shyly.

"Whats with the sudden humbleness? I thought you were good at everything?" Tim said sarcastically, and playfully elbowed his flatmate.

"I'm not good at everything, I'm just better than you." Gerry said with a smug smirk and a look in his eyes that somehow always seemed to make Tim nervous.

"Yeah, right." Tim teased, trying to hide the twisting feeling in his stomach and the rising temperature of his face.

Gerry went back to his drawing when he was finished teasing his flatmate. Tim watched him draw, he always did. But his eyes couldn't help but wonder to the artist. Gerry's dark gray eyes and smuged eyeliner were illuminated by the glowing tablet. The bright screen exentuated his features in a way that made Tim's face grow hotter.

Tim liked his Gothic roommate ever since they got to know eachother. They met through Jon, oddly enough. Apparently Gerry's mom worked in the institute in the 90's or something? Tim didn't really know the details, but based on how Gerry practically flinched each time she was brought up, Tim didn't want to ask. Gerry needed a place to live and Tim was barely affording his flat at the time, so they teamed up and Gerry moved in.

Tim didn't know how difficult it would be to live with the guy. He was only a year or two younger than Tim and he was hot, so he thought he would just jokingly flirt with him, from time to time like he did with everyone else and it wouldn't be a problem. Well little did he know that Gerry was also a huge tease, mostly to Tim which he thought was weird. Tim was really only on the giving end on the overly flirtatious friend, but Gerry would always find ways to knock him off his feet. Tim didn't know he had a thing for goths untill Gerry. Or maybe Tim just had a thing for Gerry.

"See something ya like?" Tim caught himself staring at Gerry's lips, that were twisted up into a smug smirk. That fucking smirk. Tim felt his face grow impossibly hotter as he tried to explain himself.

"I, well, I- I mean" Why was he bumbling like an idiot? He was good at this? This was his thing? He was the one who got people flustered, not the other way around. Tim heard Gerry start to laugh. God he loved Gerry's laugh. It was scratchy yet soft, it was like a shitty knitted jumper. But God it was cute. Tim watched the other man's lips as they laughed free of malice. He found himself leaning towards his gorgeous flatmate looking up into his eyes. Gerry suddenly stopped laughing and made a suprised expression. His pale face grew a bright shade of red as he looked at the man sitting next to him. He took a quick look at his lips then back to his large eyes.

Gerry quickly closed the distance between him and the other man. Tim genuinely couldn't believe he was kissing Gerry Keay. The man who flirted with him for more than a year and never actually made a move. Tim scooted closer trying to deepen the kiss. Gerry pulled away for a moment and before Tim could start to apologize for what he'd done. Gerry quickly moved the tablet from his lap and was back with his lips on Tim's.

Tim lifted his hand and placed it on the back of Gerry's neck. Gerry slightly parted his lips as an invitation and Tim quickly took it. Gerry supported himself on Tim's shoulders and Tim moved his hands to the other man's waist. Gerry was wearing an oversized jumper with a band that Tim didn't recognize, but it didn't really matter because Gerry swiftly pulled it off and threw it behind him. As Gerry moved to continue snogging his flatmate, Tim planted his hand on his chest to stop him.

"Why?" Gerry scrunched his brows in a puzzled expression and Tim continued. "Why are you doing this? Do you actually have feelings for me or is this just a fling?"

Tim was always awful with his words when it mattered most, but he felt he got his point across.

Gerry snickerd at his words and grabbed Tim's face with his tattoo clad hands "Tim Stoker, I have been in love with you for months." Tim lifted his brows in suprise.

"You wot?" Is all he could think of in response. The long haird man sitting next to him laughed, hands still wrapped around Tim's face. He pressed their foreheads together as Tim started to laugh as well.

The two men laughed together for a while. "I just, I never thought you actually had feelings for me." Tim said, the blood instantly flowing to his cheeks.

"I flirt with you all the time!?" Gerry responded throwing his hands in the air dramatically.

"You flirt with everyone!" Tim argued.

"No, no, no, you flirt with everyone. I only flirt with people I'm interested in and people who respond in funny ways. You just so happend to be both." Gerry looked at Tim with a smug expression and had the absolute gawl to wink! At the man who's already practically melting by the fact that the sexy goth he's shared a flat with for a year and a half, is in love with him. Tim felt his blood rushing a little further south than he'd like, so he turned away so as not to have even another problem on his hands.

"I love it when your shy." Gerry says with a smile. Tim turns and immediately grabs him by the neck of his t-shirt and kisses him. Gerry grabs his face and leans into the kiss.

"How's that for shy?" Tim says, pleasantly grinning at Gerry. The other man rolls his eyes and pulls Tim in for another kiss.

"Shut up, you tease."

Omggggg love love love

[plutonicmirror]

Zero Hour (1994) #0 [and Zero Hour in general]

Let’s continue my Zero Hour first reading. After skipping some filler tie-in issues, I reached the finale. Again, funny numbering gimmick with a 0 issue. I think Marvel also had something similar with their -1 issues back then. Oh, the 90s!

Hal Jordan Parallax reveals his master plan: “I’m gonna erase the universe so hard, I’m gonna create a new one where everything is right and everyone is happy™”. Classic case of a hero reacting to tragedy the readers are supposed to know about the Emerald Twilight story arc, but I’m LARPing as a snot-eating 10yo in 1994 who just started reading comics and doesn’t have enough attention span to know the lore with absurd amounts of cope and a plan that sounds extremely good on paper, but that other heroes must oppose because morality yadda yadda yadda. Looking at you, Injusticeverse.

Shout-out to my man Danger, a D-lister that was brought to the final fight fOr a ReAsOn. I’m gonna be honest, I skipped his tie-in because I couldn’t give a fuck about who he was. I usually like me some B/C/D/Z listers, but I also don’t give a fuck about DC’s Titans and his book was apparently tied to that whole mess so I was like “meh, next”. I mean, this young dude is a nobody right....?

*one trip to a comics wiki later*

Oh...

Ahem, moving on. The Spectre shows up looking for REVENGE after all of the JSA folks get ultra aged up or straight up deleted from existence, even though they had previously asked him for help and he was like “nah that’s human bullshit, I ain’t movin’ any finger”. Good job, asshole.

So yeah, remember our D-lister? Turns out his power (which is absorbing energy and making explosions) is specifically needed to counter Parallax’s new Big Bang. So our heroes’ plan is...to recreate the universe exactly as it was. So basically Parallax’s plan but done by them because fuck you Parallax, you don’t get to play God. Except...it doesn’t come out exactly as it was, because there’s “““subtle changes”““. In a meta way, this event was supposed to be a soft reboot to fix some of the fuckery that Crisis on Infinite Earths (a big event I haven’t read yet out of fear) caused. Was it accomplished? According to Comic Pop’s Back Issues video on this event... it kind of wasn’t. Sidenote, I highly recommend that channel’s Back Issues series, after reading an event it’s fun to watch a recap that adds background bits for the uncultured (like me) even if I sometimes feel the critique of the host is too harsh.

A not-Killing-Joke’d Batgirl from another timeline who temporarily sided with Parallax because she was doing her best “I want to be a real boy�� Pinocchio impersonation got killed in the heat of the moment, so the other normal-powered hero in the room (Green Arrow) gets pissed at his former bestie. After this whole event he ragequits btw and apparently a common joke is that many readers think that should be the standard reaction to the whole thing.

Parallax is seemingly killed but it’s comics so he’ll be fine, trust the process. If I recall correctly, Hal gets to be the new Spectre for a while [*Vietnam flashbacks of Identity Crisis*]. I forgot to mention that the current Green Lantern of the time Kyle Rayner and Wally West were also “killed off”. Again, they’ll be fine. I just didn’t care enough to read a wiki and find out how they come back. But that bit brings us to this “oh yeah, that happened” moment:

Power Girl was pregnant and gave birth to a baby with the help of Wonder Woman who conveniently decided to play midwife instead of stepping up to the threath. Bue hey, guess who also was sort of born in the aftermath of this event? That’s right, I was! So surely that means that baby is a very important char-

Whoops, nevermind.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE WHOLE EVENT:

“7/10 it was alright” - IGN.

The contrarian in me doesn’t hate it like most nerds out there do, but it’s certainly not the greatest event ever written. Granted I went in without knowledge of a lot of stuff, like how was I supposed to make sense of what was happening in the Hawkman tie-in issue aka the whole “let’s try to solve the problem of having multiple origins for this character by literally merging them all into one” thing? How could I know what CoIE fuckery needed to be fixed if I don’t know the big impact of CoIE besides Supergirl being killed off (this fact is cultural osmosis at this point)? Did it matter to me in the long run? Not really, because it’s not like I feel compelled to keep reading DC continuity and make sense of it for the time being. The art was good, the colors were pretty, the Parallax suit was rad, the pose Ollie made at the end was Jojo-esque and dramatic, Batman fucking off from the final fight via being killed was good.

Now, the tie-ins. Some of them were fun, some of them were a drag to read because I had no idea of background info for most of them. Almost all of the Superman tie-ins were fun to read with the exception of Steel because I was tired of wiki-hunting when I reached his issue, shout out to the alternate Jor-El and Lara, the Alpha Centurion and the “Superman tries to save the Kents during the chronal rift” stories (Superman vol. 2 #93, Adventures of Superman #516, Action Comics #703 respectively). The Legion of Superheroes and adjacent issues were extremely confusing to me as a casual but oddly engaging. I had no idea what was happening but it was sort of fun. It revived my itch to read LoSH comics even if I’m still feeling overwhelmed at the mere thought of going further with that task. Oh yeah, the silent Green Arrow issue was a lot of fun! (Green Arrow vol. 2 #90).

The characters introduced were a mixed bag. On one hand we have Bart Allen aka Impulse, who was created in the prequel to this event and was sort of interesting. But then the chronal rift time erasure bullshit happens and since he’s from the 30th century he basically does nothing of importance... Alpha Centurion, as I mentioned, was a fun read in his Adventures issue but in the core event he was... a convenient minion. Thriumph? Thriump was an annoying character, one of those “oh yeah he was totally there in the beggining of the big team but the big name characters just don’t remember tee hee!”. Don’t worry though, he would later die of a cold. Or something like that. Extant felt edgy throughout most of the core issues and the tie-ins, he really had that Madara Uchiha endgame villain energy...until he was revealed to be just a pawn that was just rebelling. And then he fucks off. Shout-out to this specific goofy panel:

Tie-in issues skipped: Anima #7, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #31, Damage #6, Robin vol. 2 #10, Showcase ‘94 #10, Steel #8, Team Titans #24 (yeah, this team got erased from existence and I just couldn’t care), The Darkstars #24. Also skipped: all of the Zero Month aftermath gimmick #0/soft reboot issues.

New Year’s resolution when it comes to DC? I’ll get around reading the 70s Green Arrow and Green Lantern book. Ever since I found some academic paper on it that mentioned the words environmentalism and malthusian I was like “ok wtf I have to read this”.

Tytyty for reading my blog.

[chososcamgirl]

HIHIHI IYA DAILY CHECK IN HRUUU⁉️

IVE BEEN LACKING ON MY TUMBLR ASKS LATELY BCUZ IVE BEEN GETTING MORE SUN IN (due to recent events) BUT IM HEALING AND THINGS ARE MAKING PROGRESS 🤗🤗 IM SOSOSO SORRY I HAVENT CHECKED IN ON U RECENTLY BUT IM GOING THRU UR PAGE RN AND TRYING TO CATCH UP🙏💯 (UPDATE ME ON ANYTHING/EVERYTHING THATS HAPPENED 🙏🐺)

IM TAKING A BREAK FROM SCHOOL RN BECAUSE I NEED TO MEET CERTAIN CONDITIONS TO BE ABLE TO COME BACK ON CAMPUS 😭😭 AND I MIGHT NOT BE ON TUMBLR AS MUCH SO HERES MY DISC (mikikoo.o) AGAIN IM SO SO SOOO SORRY FOR NOT CHECKING IN AND STUFF I PROMISE IM TRYING TO BE MORE ACTIVE 😔💔

I STARTED WATCHING MOB PYSCHO AND ITS SO GOOD OMG⁉️⁉️ TBH WHEN I GOT BACK INTO ANIME I THOUGHT I WOULD ONLY WATCH JJK BUT NOW IM GETTING INTO OTHER SHOWS🤗🤗

AND I GOT BACK INTO ARTTTT YAYYYY CUS I HAD A HUGEEE ART BLOCK BEFORE BUT IM GLAD IM DRAWING AGAIN 🙏🙏

ALSO YES I KNOW ANON IS OFF CUS THIS IS AN ALPHA ANON REVEAL 😈🐺 ALSO I WANNA GET INTO POSTING STUFF BUT IDK WHAT TO POST 😔💯

SO EXCITED FOR SJAP WEEKENDDDD OMFJENEBDNEJEBE ‼️‼️ BUT MAKE SURE UR NOT TOO TIRED ITS OKAY IF WERE EDGED 💗💗🤗

ALSO HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY TO MY BEAUTIFUL PURPLE EYED ONIGIRI SPEAKING BF TOGE 🤗💗🤤

SORRY THIS ONE IS SO SHORTTTT ‼️‼️💯 ILL MAKE SURE TO DO A LONGER ONE TMRW + I BELIEVE I HAVE ONE IN UR INBOX⁉️⁉️ UNLESS I FORGOT TO SEND THAT ONE 😔😔

ALSO AOTD… NONE TODAY 😭😭 SORRY I REALLY NEED TO KEEP MY ASKS UP TO DATE 😔😔😔

QOTDDDDDD WHAT ARE U GONNA BE FOR HALLOWEEN??? (Idk if I did this one alr or not if I did then sorry 😢💔)

OKOK I HOPE U HAVE A VERY VERY SKIBIDI AMAZING DAY SIGMA ILYSMMMM TAKW CARE🤗🤗🤗 #BLESSUP😇‼️

MIKO!!! <333

hi lovely i meant to answer this last time but i completely forgot and the ask ended up glitching😭 hi hello how are you angel i hope you are well!! <3

btw NEWS GUYS!! miko is alpha anon🙂‍↕️ if you can’t tell already… HOORAY!! another anon revealed!!! i’m so glad you’re healing and taking precautions on getting better lovely! i’m so glad you’re here with us again :) ERM SO!!!! i’ve just been working LITCH that’s it. my life is so boring atm i honestly just want to start uni so i can have something more FULFILLING but omg i’m meeting up with my long distance friend VERY SOON so i’m sosososo excited like i miss her BAD😭 it’s been 551 days since we last saw eachother 💔

OOOOO okay i’ll add you on discord after i send this ask but that’s totally okay!! do what you need to do to get better🙂‍↕️ we’ll definitely talk more on there too! OOOOO mob psycho is def on my list after i finish aot and bsd🙏 i wanna start demon slayer again TOO rahhh so many things to do!!!! YAY FOR ART BLOCK BEING OVER!! blocks in general SUCK but the relief after is SO GOOD🗣️🗣️🔥 WHOOP i’m glad you can post pictures now.. heh… 😈

IM SUPER EXCITED FOR SJAP WEEKEND AND SJAP HALLOWEEN!!! i’m like shaking in my boots.. DONT WORRY ITS DEF GETTING POSTED THIS WEEK🤫🤫🙇‍♀️ also i litch missed my favs birthday too😓 the ONE day i wasn’t on tumblr it was his birthday KMS💔💔 HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY THO KING!! UR FINE!! DONT STRESS!! also i do not believe i have any other of ur asks in here 😭 UNLESS MY INBOX IS GLITCHED OUT BUT I’LL DOUBLE CHECK!!!

AOTD‼️ I AM DRESSING UP AS MAXINE MINX !!!! i am sososoos excited for it to debut i did a practice run and god it looks so fire HBY🫵

ILY TOO MIKO/ALPHA!!! <33 HAVE A SUPER SKIBIDI DAY😏😏

[yelenasdiary]

The Third Widow || Red Room 

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff X Fem! Belova! Reader.

Summary: Y/n Belova is the younger biological sister of Yelena Belova and the adoptive sister of Natasha Romanoff. Saved from Red Room by Melina & Alexei she now must adjust to a new normal. Going to school, recovering, and finding love in the eyes of another troubled teen, Wanda Maximoff. All while General Dreykov has his eyes set on claiming back what he calls his most powerful ‘widow’.

Angst | Dark Themes | 4.2K | Lots of Mentions of Death | Suggested Murder | 

Notes: Flashbacks are bold, italic and start with ‘~’ | Written in second person. | 

Translations: Мэри (Mary)

AC: 8-year time jump, I’m sorry!!! But it helps make the story add up with the black widow movie timeline x I’ve made a couple of changes in the BW script, whoops

The Third Widow Masterlist

"Where did you think I was all this time?" Yelena now, 26 years old asked Natasha. 

"I thought that you got out and were living a normal life" 

"And you just never made contact again?"

"Honestly, I thought you didn't wanna see me."

Yelena scoffed, "Bullshit. You just didn't want your baby sister to tag along, whilst you saved the world with the cool kids" she says. Natasha dried her hands on the given towel at the gas station before walking by her, "you weren't really my sister" she mumbles. "And the Avengers aren't really your family" Yelena turned to follow the red head. 

"They're more of a family than Melina and Alexie" Natasha gives the cashier money for the supplies on the counter leaving Yelena behind in silence. 

Later the two sat at a table while Natasha stitched up Yelena's wound, "did you ever see her?" She asked the blonde. Yelena shook her head, "not physically, but I heard about her" Yelena looked away as Natasha wrapped the bandage around her arm, "He hides her" she added. 

"From you maybe, I can't believe you went back there…the last I heard was Red Room had moved location again and a few widows escaped…I thought you were one of them"

"And leave Y/n there?" Yelena frowned as Natasha took the seat across from her, "you might not feel like we're family but she's mine…that's why I need your help" 

"My help?" Natasha tilted her head slightly. 

"That gas, the counteragent, it was synthesized in secret by an older widow from Melina's generation. I was on the mission to retrieve it, and she exposed me, and I killed the widow that freed me" Yelena explained with a saddened look. 

"Did you have a choice?"

"What you experienced was psychological conditioning. I'm talking about chemically altering brain functions. They're two completely different things. You're fully conscious, but you don't know which part is you. I'm still not sure…I'm not even sure how bad things are for Y/n. He keeps her close to him, away from the rest of us" Yelena sipped her drink.

"Is that all there is left?" Natasha asked with an almost sigh. 

"Mmm-hmm. It's the only thing that can stop Dreykov and his network of widows"

Natasha reached for her drink, "Can you be sure she's still with him?" She asked. 

"He took her from me twice now. I've tried to keep track of things, but he hasn't been sending her on bigger missions like he did. He's trained her differently than us, maybe one in 20 survives the training, becomes a widow. The rest, he kills. To him, we are just things. Weapons with no face that he can just throw away. Because there is always more. And no one's even looking for him" 

"We tried, Yelena. When you took off and didn't tell us, we knew where you were going. We looked for you, we looked for Red Room and we found nothing. We don't even know how you ended up back there"

"I..I don't even remember…I forgot why I was even there in the first place until I was freed again" Yelena's eyes dropped to the table between them leaving them both in silence that neither wanted. "Where you gonna go?" Natasha asked breaking the silence. 

"I don't know. I don't really have anywhere to go back to, so I guess anywhere" Yelena read the label on the bottle of her drink, unsure how where she'd truly go after this. 

"Don't"

"Don't what?" Yelena questioned as she looked back up at Natasha. She chucked at Natasha's sly smirk, "You're going to give me some big hero speech, I can feel it" she adds. "Speeches aren't really my thing" Natasha smiled softly, "Huh?" Yelena replied with a confused look.

"It was more like an invitation" Nat explains. "To go to the Red Room and kill Dreykov?"

"Yeah"

"Even though the Red Room is impossible to find and Dreykov is too slippery to kill?"

"Yeah"

"That sounds like a shitload of work" Yelena slightly cocked a brow. "Yup" Natasha sighs, "Could be fun, though" she adds with a soft smile. 

Meanwhile, Wanda who is now 25 going on 26, has found comfort in being a part of the Avengers and being cozy with Vision, though not a day as gone by where she doesn't think of you and remember the innocent smile on your face and the first time, she kissed you. She still smokes and chuckles almost every time to herself at the memory of you telling her how terrible her trait is. 

When she was first asked to join the Avengers, she looked at Natasha who could barely look at her and acted as if she didn't know who Wanda was, the guilt in Nat's eyes made Wanda join the Avengers. She wasn't surprised to know the Avengers were most of her teachers from school, "that was the worse cover up" she chuckled to Tony when she first joined, "What was that all for huh? So, you could pick us out like candy?" she mumbled. 

She hated how Natasha never spoke about you or even mentioned you to her, even when she tried to ask about you and Yelena, she would brush it off and ignore her. So Wanda did her own thing, her own searching. She came across a book she'd been told before was dangerous, but she didn't seem to care too much and thought about what you'd say if you caught her going against the rules like she did. 

Vision was a good distraction for her, in many ways he reminded her of you and how you were learning to adjust to the new world. It broke her to look at him and not see you, every time she looked at him, she wished so much that it was you and she knew that wasn't far on Vision, but he'd never know… she never told him about you. Vision was able to help her see somewhat of a future together and sometimes she wondered what she'd do if you walked through the door, would she leave him for you? Even if nothing romantic were to happen but just so you knew that you had all her attention, or would she stay with vision and just be a friend you could count on.  

Kate was rightfully mad at Yelena for leaving without even as much as a goodbye. The person she loved so deeply in secret, the one she never told her feelings too just gone without a word broke her just as much as losing you broke her. She took her hurt out on her archery, winning contest after contest but none of that meant nothing to her when she couldn't show Yelena. 

She kept in contact with Wanda and often would spend nights staying up talking to her about things she wished to talk to Yelena about. Kate could hear how much Wanda missed you, whenever your name was brought up in conversation, she wanted to change the topic. It was like you were dead and there was no place for anybody to grief and slowly you became a topic that was just too much for Wanda to listen too.  

----

You needed no time to adjust to the environment that Red Room was. Dreykov sent you on many missions with his daughter, Antonia, even if you were solely there just to make sure she came back alive, neither of you spoke to each other and oddly enough you liked it that way. Your days there spent training no matter how much you already knew, you weren't to miss a day of training if you weren't on missions doing Dreykov's dirty work. 

The other widows feared you and how much you were treated like Dreykov's shiny toy. He used you to set the new standards for Red Room. New widows would be injected with the same sternum you were injected with. You were the new standard, they all had to try and match your skill, your style, everything. Dreykov made becoming a widow a lot harder than it was. Yelena showed clear signs of being able to pass the training, which was perfect for Dreykov's real mission for you, that was until she was freed of course. 

"Kill her. Don't bother bringing her back here" Dreykov spoke as he looked up from his screen towards you. "Yes, sir" you replied as you always did before your eyes dropped to the fellow Widow, you'd only seen in passing, "Is Antonia coming?" You questioned. Dreykov shook his head, "No. This is your mission. This is what have I prepared you for, you will go alone. You will report to me every morning until the mission is complete" he adds in a stern voice, "start with the house address on the second page, if Belova is going anywhere, it'll be there" He shoos you to leave his office, something he did far too many times. 

Sometimes when you saw other widows talking among themselves you couldn't help but feel alone in a world where everywhere you looked was somebody just like you. At night you couldn't stop yourself from looking at the scars and wounds you'd collected from each mission, running your finger over them wondering if it was all worth it. All the killing, the guns, the damage it causes to the people and buildings. Was everything Dreykov made you do really for the best like he says? All these thoughts only to be reminded by the lack of freedom that you would never truly understand your place in the world. You are a weapon, you needed to remember that. 

By morning you found yourself watching the house addressed in the mission file from miles away with binoculars glued to your face watching every move on the property. A woman with dark hair in a braid seemed to be doing some sort of testing on some pigs from what you could see, already assuming that was the famous Melina Vostokoff. Something about the area felt familiar, the house, the trees around you, the smell of the fresh air. You found yourself looking more at Melina with less care for the mission and trying to read her like she was trying to tell you something but maybe that was because you knew little about her from her file or maybe you were too focused on the mission and wanted to know everything there was. 

For hours you sat and watched as she did work around her yard, as the minutes ticked on the place only got more familiar to you, but you still couldn't put a finger on it as to why. Your attention on Melina was broken by the sounds of conversation coming from the hill beside you, with your binoculars you could see a larger man, a little overweight with a big beard and slightly long hair. He was covered in tattoos, his white tank top doing nothing to hide them. Beside him were two young women, one with bright red hair, she wore a white suit while the other women had dirty blonde hair, a baggy white suit with a green vest. You looked down at the mission file to confirm the target was in fact, Yelena Belova. 

You watched the three walk down the hill only to be greeted by Melina holding a rifle, your enhanced earing allowed you to listen to the unexpected greeting before the four traveled into the house. From the window, you could see they all sat at a table pouring drinks. The conversations between them made you take mental notes for when you had to report back to Dreykov. 

"So, here's what's gonna happen" the redhead spoke, you could tell her voice from Yelena's. "Natasha don't slouch" Melina spoke, her Russian accent was thick, "I'm not slouching!" The woman you assumed was Natasha Romanoff argued. 

"Yes, yes, you are!"

"I don't slouch!" Natasha spat.

"You're going to get a back hunch"

"Listen to your mother" a deeper voice spoke; you noted that voice down as Alexei Shostakov. Natasha signed "Oh, my God, this…" 

"Up, up!" Melina prompts as you watch through the binoculars, smiling softly to yourself at the scene you watched from afar. Such an unusual family you thought as you continued to take mental notes and watch the family of four down glasses of what you assumed was vodka. 

For a moment you lost yourself watching the family argue like other families did. "You're gonna tell us the location of the Red Room" Natasha demanded, shifting your attention back to the mission with a slight frown as you listened and watched even more. 

"You can't defeat a man who commands the very will of others. You never saw the culmination of what we started in America, nor did you" Melina explained before you heard saw her pick up her device she was holding before, "What are you doing?" Natasha asked after Melina explained a few more things.

"Oh, I am explaining that the science is now so exact, the subject can be instructed to stop breathing and has no choice but to obey" she goes on.

After moments Melina explained more about the science behind Red Room and how they were able to do the things they do, to you, it meant nothing but knowing you were different to the other widows. Melina didn't mention anything about the things that they injected you with or why, all you knew was that you had to tell Dreykov they were coming for him. 

You could hear the jets before you could see them as they surrounded the house with bright spotlights, guards you knew raided the house while you watched from a far unsure what to do when you saw them take your target, Yelena along with Natasha and Alexei into the jet. 

"Let's not keep him waiting" you heard Melina speak. 

----

You returned to Red Room a few short hours later when you didn't get any commands from Dreykov. Walking by the training widows to your room, you wondered where your target was and why Dreykov sent you on a goose chase. 

"Sir, What was that all ab-"you you paused after welcoming yourself to his office, seeing the red head, Natasha and Dreykov both looking over at you. "You're here. Good" Dreykov muttered but your attention was stuck on Natasha who sat with a frown. "Y-Y/n?" she questioned softly. 

"Oh, that's useless, she doesn't remember you or anybody else" Dreykov inserted himself. 

"What? You brainwashed her?" Natasha spat as she looked at him. "It doesn't matter" he muttered as he walked over to her, "she's better than you, faster, tougher, smarter!" he adds while circling her, "she does everything I say, when I say it. She has no intentions of leaving" he says to her before he looks back at you, "get out, you're not needed now!" He commands and just like he mentioned, you did so without a peep and walked back to your room.

"I know what you and Belova have been doing and let me assure you that it won't work on Y/n" Dreykov chuckled slightly while looking at Natasha. "What have you done to her?" Natasha demanded causing Dreykov to pull out the file he had on you. Everything you have ever done for him on file, everything he's ever done to you, burnt. 

"I gave her a real home" he replied placing the file in front of Natasha. "The Avengers, they kept looking for her. That was you, yes?" he adds. Natasha flicked through your file, some of the details she'd already known. You'd been on the Avengers radar for some time now, they just weren't able to track you back to Red Room. "For years you have been looking for her and now you have Belova looking too? She belongs to me, I raised her" Dreykov rambles as Natasha closes your file. "She belongs with her family!" Natasha looked up at the older man. He chuckled once again, "She has no family, not even Belova. She has no ties to her. Not anymore!"

He circled Natasha once more before leaning against his desk in front of her, "do you know what her next mission is?" He asked. Natasha's jaw clenched as she kept strong eye contact with, "she's going to kill Belova for me, clean up the mess." 

Natasha couldn't help but laugh in the man's face, "kill Yelena? Really?" she chuckles. "Don't laugh at me! At first, I wanted her to kill you for betraying your family but now?" Dreykov moves behind his desk, "do you know what I could do with an Avenger under my control?" he mutters moving his pinkie finger ring across the touch pad. Natasha looked behind her at the large screen with a map and mug shot like photos of thousands of girls, "I gave them all a home, a purpose! I took them off the street and gave them a life!" Dreykov says. 

"You took away their freedom! Their choices! You can't honestly sit there and think you'd a god" Natasha shook her head with a chuckle.

"Is this your plan huh?"

"My plan is to kill you" Natasha stood from her seat, Dreykov cocked a brow, "Well, I'm alive so what are we doing to do now huh?" 

"You don't feel anything, do you?" Natasha frowned, "did you feel anything when I killed your daughter?"

Dreykov laughed as he looked over to Antonia who stood patiently in the background, "Really?" He gestured for Antonia to step forward, "thank you Natasha for giving me one of my greatest weapons" 

---

You knew it would go against Dreykov's orders, but you couldn't help being drawn back to Melina's property, with your target in medical you assumed Dreykov would handle her and with Natasha in his office something didn't feel right. Slipping away without the guards noticing you was easy, especially when Dreykov was already busy with Yelena and Natasha. You traveled back to Melina's property knowing nobody was home, the sense of familiarity washed over you again. 

Slowly you stepped into the house, a familiar smell greeted you as you stood in the kitchen, you'd been here before you told yourself, but nothing was coming to mind as you walked through to the living room and slowly up the stairs to the second floor. You were drawn to the first room on the right as it was the only room with a closed door. Touching the handle and turning it slowly brought you even more of a familiar sense to the building but again, nothing came to mind as to why. 

The room smelt of dust as you switched the light on to see the bed made perfectly, a bookcase full of different books covered in dust leaving a trail from your finger as you ran over it. The desk looks as though this was a teenager's room, a laptop sat perfectly centered in the middle with a black leather book sat beside it. You frowned when you picked up the book, running your index finger over the red impressed name of yours before opening it. 

"There is 365 pages in this book, drawing something for me every day, or don't. But I hope you do – Wanda"  

Read on the first page, "Wanda" you whispered to yourself before flipping to the next page. 

"Happy birthday, Мэри x" 

Read the following page. The words stared back at you as you tried to work out who Mary was and why your name was on a book you'd never seen before and who was Wanda? You flipped to the next page as you sat down on the edge of the perfectly made bed with an even more confused look. A sketched drawing of 7 people sitting around a squared table with a birth cake in front of a young girl, at the bottom of the page wrote "first birthday!!" The longer you looked at the drawing the more you noticed who was in the photo, Yelena, Natasha, Melina, Alexei and two others you weren't sure of but there you were as a young girl with a big smile on her face with a banner above you that said "Happy Birthday" 

Melina's voice soon clouded your mind with what you overheard earlier in the day, "The world functions on a higher level when it is controlled, Dreykov has chemically subjugated agents planted around the globe" 

"Not me!" You mumbled to yourself as you threw the book to the side in frustration, "not me!" You spoke again. Your eyes caught a photo in a frame sitting on the desk, two small girls looking the happiest they've ever looked. You walked over to the photo and picked it up slowly, "Yelena" you whispered as you came to more realization. "Dreykov wanted me to kill Yelena because of this?" You asked yourself hoping that saying the words out loud would make more sense to the situation. Needing to take a moment as your breathing picked up and you felt overwhelmed you dropped the photo and stormed out of the room, leaving the light on. You needed answers and the only person who knew them was Dreykov. 

----

"Where's Y/n?" Natasha asked as Yelena helped reline her shoulder. "I don't know, I couldn't find her. We have to find Dreykov" Yelena replied, "I'll be right behind you" Natasha spoke giving Yelena the nod to go ahead.

Yelena rushed out as the building started to crumble, making sure to search each room in looks for you knowing that Dreykov was already on his way out of the building. Each room only left her with more worry and fear as there was no sign of you anywhere, she only hoped that Melina and Alexei had found you or that you were fortunately, for once, on a mission. Natasha collected all the data she needed for Melina and Yelena to help save the other widows as quickly as she could, even doing more digging in Dreykov's files for your name. To her surprise she found a lot more than she thought she would. 

You arrived at the usual place where Red Room was hidden only to find it crumbling, falling from the sky. Jets of Widows landed safely as you stood in anger waiting for any sign of Dreykov. 

"Y/n, you got out!" One of the Widows came up to you with a worried look, your jaw clenched at the sound of her voice as you looked at her, "Where's Dreykov?! Did you make sure he was safe?!" you asked in a demanding tone, the widow whose name you didn't know looked into your eyes with fear, "T-they didn't spray you with the gas?" she asked. 

"Gas?!" You frowned, "Where is Dreykov?!" You added. 

"W-we don't know…he's been controlling us. They told us we were free…" she tried to explain, "Shut up! Where the hell is he?! You guys a fucking useless!" You spat as you pushed by her. "Wait!" The Widow stopped you by lightly holding your arm, "You don't belong to him anymore, just wait, we'll help you" she said. 

"I don't need your damn help!" You gripped her wrist and forced her to let you go. A loud explosive was heard from above, all of you looked up to see what it was. "That better not be him!" You turned to the Widow. 

"Please, let them explain" 

"Who?!"

"Melina, she knows everything!" 

"We can't trust them!" You shook your head leaving the group of widows behind and began searching the rubble for any signs of Dreykov or Antonia as more pieces of the place you called home fell from the sky. Among the rubble were the bodies of guards that didn't make it to the ground safely but still no sign of Dreykov. With more and more pieces falling you decided to wait where it was safe, further away from the scene and hope to see him land in one of the jets so you could handle him yourself. 

Why was there a photo of Yelena with a toddle that looked a little like you? Why was there a sketch book with a drawing of a first birthday which you only start to feel like was your own, but these people were strangers to you. You only know them from what you've been told, and nothing was ever mentioned about you having any connection to them and if you did, you didn't remember it. 

----

You realized the chances of Dreykov making it out alive were getting thinner by the second, you watched in the shadows as Natasha found Antonia before throwing a red dust into her face and the fight coming to a stop. 

"Is he gone?" Antonia asked out of breath. 

"He's gone" Natasha confirmed your fear. You watched her walk away after a few moments and called for Yelena. Now you'll never have the answers to your questions and without a home, what would you do? Where would you go? 

Natasha found Yelena and you felt relief when you saw her movements from afar. Your heart only broke as you watched the two reconnect and hearing Natasha apologize in Russian. They were a family, a real family. You couldn't bear to watch anymore and it wasn't worth inserting yourself for a fight, quietly you disappeared into the woods leaving behind the only place you knew was safe. You were alone, confused and hurt, all these emotions you had Dreykov told you were worthless now it felt like the only thing that mattered. 

You are alone, with nowhere to go.

Taglist: @justabrokensunshine | @sayah13 | @nattyolw | @exclusivitymajor | @bibliophilicbi | @when-wolves-howl | @that-one-gay-mosquito | @get-the-fuck-outta-here | @foggymoonbanana | @atmnothere | @justyourwritter69 | @wiertarkanah | @marvelfan98 | @jasminebelding | @bluesimps-world | @wandasobsession | @marvel-fan-2021 | @lattayhottay16 | @jowshuaayee | @dumb-fawkin-bitch | @capswife | @1tsmydan | @roman0ffsheart | @mrscromanoff | @immadowhateva | @magnificentworldtf | @originaltrashheap | @mousecakez | 

[handsoffmyfriends]

Alrighty for Bakugou fluff, can I request a scenario where he wakes up but he's still REALLY sleepy so he actually thinks he's still dreaming so he goes downstairs for breakfast in the dorms, kisses the reader and hugs them while getting food, just the two of them. Only the reality is he never confessed to his crush yet, the bakusquad is there and he burns his tongue on his coffee thus waking up and grasping what he just did. EMBARRASSMENT GALORE

LUCID DREAMING

— bakugou katsuki was one of the few people who experienced very lucid, very life-like dreams. usually, he was pretty good at telling when he was dreaming and when he was awake. usually.

PAIRING: Bakugou Katsuki x Reader

WORD COUNT: 1,099

WARNINGS: second hand embarrassment, bakugou swearing, distressed denki noises

A/N: HELLO THIS WAS THE FUCKING FUNNIEST THING OF MY ENTIRE LIFE i seriously could not stop giggling over this for a solid 5 minutes !! anon i am BEGGING YOU turn on your location, you deserve all the recognition for this HILARIOUS prompt nhfdsjklhgkjfds

You were in the kitchen, preparing another round of coffee for the squad. It was Sunday and you all agreed to do nothing except indulge in caffeine and watch shitty movies with shitty snacks. Bakugou had yet to weigh his opinion on the matter, but considering he was still in bed - at the righteous hour of 8am, no less - he had waived his right to an opinion. 

“Think I should make Bakugou one?” you called out.

The resounding “NO!” from every single person stopped you in your tracks. 

“Bakubro is really particular about how he likes his coffee,” Kirishima explained, leaning back over the couch to look at you. “It’s so manly.” 

“You mean insane!” Kaminari corrected, voice high in distress. “Have you actually seen how he makes it?” 

“It’s a crime against coffee,” Shinsou added sleepily. “He doesn’t even use real coffee.” 

“Jokes on you, buddy, but Y/N isn’t using real coffee, either,” Sero teased.

“Y/N doesn’t burn the shit out of it, though,” Shinsou shrugged. “Speaking of which, can you hurry up? I’m gonna pass out over here.” 

“Be grateful!” Mina snapped, lobbing a pillow in Shinsou’s direction. “Y/N, don’t make his anymore! He doesn’t deserve it!”

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll take that back right now, Pinky,” Shinsou snapped.

You laughed at the squad’s banter, tuning it out as you continued to prepare coffee for everyone. Shinsou included, since you didn’t have a death wish. Excluding Bakugou, since Kirishima was right. He was picky when it came to what he put in his body. You doubt he would appreciate the gesture if you fucked up his first coffee of the day.

Speaking of the blasty boy, he finally made his appearance. You’d never seen him look so exhausted, you were actually kind of concerned about him. He was always the first one awake, banging on your door to drag you down for morning training. Sometimes he would try Kirishima, and he knew better than to try getting Kaminari up early. Shinsou was a lost cause. Having him practically drag his feet across the room was a sight you never thought you’d ever see.

He paid the rest of the squad zero attention as he made his way into the kitchen with you. “Good morning, Bakugou,” you greeted, though even to your own ears it sounded like a question. “Did you... sleep well?” 

He grumbled as he dragged himself over to you and— wait, what!? You flushed red instantly as he slung an arm around your waist, pulling you flush against his chest. You were compliant since you didn’t know what was going on. Why was he—

Your brain shut down when he planted a sleepy, sweet kiss to your cheek and said, in a gravelly voice, “mornin’ babe.” 

He pulled away as if everything was fine, as if kissing you like you were a couple was a normal thing to do. Sure, you might have harboured a secret crush on the guy, but you were friends first! He never showed any indication of liking you back, so you never pursued anything. So... what the fuck!? 

Should you say something? Was this a thing that was going to happen now? You wouldn’t exactly be unhappy if that were the case, but... it wasn’t supposed to work like that! 

The rest of the squad looked on in stunned silence. Of course, they’d seen.

(Unbeknownst to you, the squad had managed to wrangle some of Bakugou’s more personal feelings from him, several months back. It had taken a lot of bribing, and he only ever said it once. That Bakugou Katsuki had a crush on you. They’d all been sworn to secrecy, lest he turn to villainy to murder all their asses.)

No one knew what to say. No one dared break the silence. It was so surreal, it felt almost dream-like in the absurdity of it all. 

You just watched as he milled about in the kitchen, making his famous shitty coffee with nothing but boiling water. You’re sure he forgot to add something cooling. Before you could warn him about scalding his entire tongue off, he tipped his head back and took the most daring chug of boiling bean juice you had even seen. 

It ended up exactly how you’d imagine it would. He sputtered it all out with a series of curses, nearly throwing the offending mug across the room. 

And then he froze. Abruptly, as if he hadn’t even been aware of his surroundings, he looked around to see the squad all leaning off the edge of the couches, to see you standing there entirely red faced. 

His face went deathly white for a second before all the blood came rushing back, his face flushing even redder than yours in undeniable embarrassment. “Holy fuck, I’m awake.” He sounded so mortified, wide eyes flying to you and then locking onto your friends.

The silence lasted exactly three more seconds before Kaminari burst out laughing. “So bold, Kacchan!” 

“That was so freaking manly!” Kirishima praised with a tear of pride.

“It’s about time Bakubabe made a move,” Mina squealed with excitement.

“Bakugou really is an all or nothing guy, huh,” Sero nodded, vaguely impressed.

“I’m never going to get my fucking coffee,” Shinsou groaned, curling up on the couch and burying his face into the cushions. Through some other worldly powers, he was out like a light, fast asleep despite the ruckus going on around him.

The squad roared with laughter. There was no stopping their whooping and hollering, both cheering and teasing Bakugou. 

“Shut the hell up!” Bakugou shouted, hands sparking off. That just made the idiots laugh even louder. He felt embarrassed, he felt humiliated, and he wanted nothing more than to blast the smug faces off his dumbass friends but you were there, looking at him with a mix of your own embarrassment, confusion and concern. It was enough to pull him back from his murderous rampage. 

“Bakugou...” you started, but he interrupted you.

“Don’t make a big deal out of it, Y/N. I thought I was dreaming.” 

Wrong choice of words. Your face turned sweet, your smile like sunshine. “Aw, you dream of me? Bakugou, that’s so sweet!”

If it were even possible, he went redder in the face. Your group of friends laughed even louder. 

Feeling bold, you decided to tease Bakugou just a little more. You stepped up close to him, mimicking his moves on you earlier, placing a chaste kiss to his cheek. “You could have just said you wanted a kiss, Kacchan.”

[lovely-ateez]

Vampire Shift~

ꕥPosted: 5/23/21

ꕥGenre: Fluff, Smut, Angst, College!au, Horror!au

ꕥPairing: Fem!Reader x Vampire!Jongho (feat Wooyoung and Minho from skz)

ꕥWord Count: ~5.9k (whoops)

ꕥWarnings: Horror themes, Language, Thigh riding, Unprotected sex, Mentions of blood and blood sucking (please lmk if I missed anything)

ꕥTag List: @cappujinho @bobateastay

ꕥA/N: I hope you all don’t a more spooky concept! Halloween is my favorite holiday and even though its May, it’s always spooky season to me lolol. Also! Feel free to listen to Vampire Shift by All Time Low while reading this (it’s only on YouTube I cry) since this is inspired by the song :)

It was a terrible idea, really, to work the night shift at a gas station alone. Even more so when you’re a young woman whose only defense is the pepper spray on her key chain and 911 on speed dial. Alas, college bills don’t pay themselves and every spare opportunity to get cash was one I had to take.

The digital clock sitting on the counter next to me briefly flashed, indicating another hour had gone by. It was currently four a.m. and it was safe to say I was losing my mind. I’d worked for five hours now, and not a customer had come in. That was the only advantage, really. So long as no one was around my boss let me finish any assignments I had, which came in handy on more than one occasion.

I was only six paragraphs into a five page report and had been staring at my laptop screen for over an hour, feeling beyond brain dead. I was assigned the topic of financial statements and country trade deficits, and wanted to cry every minute I thought about it. I was half convinced to pay someone to write the report for me.

The ringing of a bell indicated a customer opening the door and I closed my laptop to peer around the counter, ready to greet whoever entered. The first man to catch my attention was wearing sunglasses which fazed me, but I tried not to stare. The man that followed had black hair with blond underneath, a combination that I strangely liked. Both men were donned in all back, their faces stoic. They were attractive, I had to admit, but neither were my type.

And then, the last man entered. He looked over to me as he walked through the door, giving me a nod and a slight smile. His slicked back black hair matched his black ripped jeans and highlighted his red leather jacket. He was so handsome he looked like he jumped out of a magazine and I had to suppress a ‘wow’. A string of butterflies fluttered in my stomach and I did my best to ignore them, not even knowing his name.

The three of them wandered through the aisles until I could no longer see them, and I scolded myself for being so thrown off that I forgot say any form of a greeting. I sighed and turned my attention back to my laptop, opening it and blankly staring at the screen. My ears perked when I heard the men’s hushed voices.

“Y’oughta get that girl’s number. I saw the way you looked at her.”

“Yeah, Jongho. She’s pretty cute. If you don’t get her number you know I will.”

“Shut up.” One of the men, Jongho apparently, responded with a laugh, “Let’s just get some snacks, okay? It’s gonna be a long night. Also I’m buying tonight so get whatever.”

A smile crept on my face and I looked down, fiddling with my thumbs.

They think I’m cute. Maybe Jongho’s the one in red?

I heard the bell ring once more and a girl entered who I vaguely remembered from high school. She was popular but for good reason, probably being one of the nicest people I’d ever met. Our circle of friends overlapped slightly so I’d spent a fair amount of time with her. She was smart as a whip and gorgeous all the same, which seemed to stay with her. She looked bright, long red hair falling around her face, freckles still prominent as ever.

We met eyes and she smiled, “Hey y/n!”

I smiled and waved, “Hey Annabelle. How’ve you been? I haven’t seen you in awhile.”

“Good! I got into my dream college and it’s been great, although I’ve had to take some pretty hard classes.” She giggled, walking towards me. It’s honestly not too far from here. You go to Westgate University, right?”

I nodded and I put my laptop aside. She spoke again, genuinely excited for me, “That’s awesome! Congrats!”

“Thanks,” I smiled, “I’m taking it you got into Orholt?”

“I did! I was really-”

One of the men that entered earlier—the one still wearing sunglasses—shouted the redhead’s name and caught her attention, “Hey Anna do you want a Redbull or a Five Hour Energy?”

“Redbull! I’m not a monster.” She laughed.

The man nodded and walked toward us with several drinks and snacks in his hands.

“Oh! I want to introduce you to my boyfriend!” Annabelle turned to the man still wearing sunglasses and reached for his arm, “This is Minho. I met him at Orholt.”

Minho gave me a slight nod as I introduced myself and he placed the food and drinks on the counter. I began to scan the items, the mindless routine that I was used to by now. The loud sound of laughter made me look up, seeing the two other men approach us and place their snacks down as well. I watched them long enough to notice the way two-tone—my new affectionate name for the man with blond and black hair, I decided—shamelessly checked me out, a cocky smile on his face when I caught him. I just let out a small laugh before resuming my task, watching his confused reaction in my peripheral vision.

“Oh my god I totally forgot to introduce you to my friends.” Annabelle giggled and pointed to two-tone, “This is Wooyoung.”

“Hiya, Wooyoung.” I said with a confident smile, enjoying the way he still had a slightly confused look on his face.

“And this,” Annabelle nodded towards the man in red, “This is Jongho. Both him and Wooyoung go to Orholt, too.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Jongho. I’m y/n.”

“Very nice to meet you.” The man smiled before he sent me a wink.

I had never been a particularly shy person, but as he did so my eyes darted down as I felt my face flush. I didn’t notice the gears turning in Annabelle’s head as she put the pieces together.

I placed the final items in the bag, raising my head as Annabelle addressed me,  “You know I’m having a bonfire tomorrow night at my place and you should totally come!”

I stopped to think, first trying to remember if I worked the next day, then wondering if I was willing to go the bonfire when I realized I didn’t have to.

She sensed my hesitancy and her face fell, “Aw do you work tomorrow night? It’s a Saturday!”

“Oh no, I don’t. I...” I stopped to think for a minute. Although I likely didn’t know anyone else who would be there, I was familiar with Annabelle’s house, which brought me a bit of comfort, “Are all of you going?”

Annabelle gave a knowing smile, “Yes. All of us will be here.”

I nodded, accepting the credit card Jongho gave me, quickly after handing them the bags, and returning his card, “I’ll go.”

“Yay! We’ve gotta head out but I’ll send you the details. You’ve still got the same number, right?”

“Yeah I do.”

“Alrighty! I’ll see you tomorrow then!”

Annabelle left with a wave, her boyfriend on her arm and Wooyoung behind her. To my surprise, Jongho didn’t leave with them, the cocky look on his face all but telling me why he stayed.

I looked at him with wide eyes, playing innocent. “Can I help you?”

He placed an arm on the counter, his dark eyes seeming to put me under a spell. The confidence he was radiating was almost palpable and I felt myself being pulled to him. It was intimidating, to be honest.

“You’re really cute and I want your number.”

I let out a surprised laugh, “You really don’t beat around the bush, do you?”

“No, not really,” He propped his other arm on the counter, leaning towards me and raising an eyebrow, “So what do you say, doll?”

A smile crept on my face as I mirrored his actions and leaned towards him, “You gonna memorize my number? Or do you have a phone I can put my number into?”

Jongho’s smile got brighter as he reached to grab his phone, handing it to me. “You’re a firecracker, aren’t you?”

I shrugged, “I’d like to think so.”

When I handed his phone back, our fingers brushed and I could’ve sworn I felt sparks shoot through me at the simple interaction.

“Well I need to head out before the rest of them get too annoyed,” He nodded towards the exit where Annabelle, Minho, and Wooyoung left, “But it was enchanting to meet you, y/n.” He bowed, drawing a laugh from me.

“Ah yes. You as well, absolutely delightful.”

He gave me a smile, “I’ll text you later.”

"Sounds good. I’ll hold you to your word.”

“I’d expect nothing less.” And with that, he was out the door, leaving my heart a fluttering mess.

-

Me [8:37pm] So is there a dress code for tonight?

Annabelle [8:42pm] Nope! Wear whatever you’re comfortable with. I’m wearing this if it helps at all!

Annabelle [8:43pm] 1 Image Attached*

Me [8:45pm] So leather jackets and crop tops?

Annabelle [8:48pm] Haha sure! We can match!

Me [8:51pm] Lol bet. See you at eleven :)

Annabelle [8:51pm] See you then!

I started the process of slipping on a white cropped top followed by my light washed ripped jeans. I knew I was getting ready far earlier than I could have, but something about new events made me anxious and I had to make sure I looked nice. I giggled at the black leather jacket I was throwing over my shoulders, not having worn it since high school. In the middle of debating whether or not I should add another layer of mascara to my lashes, my phone dinged.

New Number [8:59pm] Y/n this better be you. This is Jongho and I’m texting you for a really important reason and I need you to reply quick

Me [9:00pm] Yeah it’s me. What’s going on are you okay??

New Number [9:02pm] I’m gonna go grab some food before I head to Anna’s. You wanna come with?

Me [9:02pm] Oh my god don’t do that to me, you buffoon. You scared me so bad rip

[New Number name changed to A Cute Buffoon]

Me [9:03pm] But sure I’m down lol. Here’s my address btw

Me [9:03pm] 1 Location Shared*

It occurred to me perhaps a bit too late that I was sharing my address with someone that I’d met only once and in a gas station.

I mean, he’s friends with Annabelle so he’s gotta be good right? God I hope so. I thought to myself.

A Cute Buffoon [9:04] Then it’s a date :) I live pretty close so I’ll be over in 10. That work for you?

Me [9:06pm] Fine with me!

A Cute Buffoon [9:06pm] Sounds good. I’ll see you soon ;)

I set down my phone and thanked myself for already doing my makeup. I checked myself out in the mirror, satisfied with my appearance and proud of how well my makeup turned out. I grabbed my bottle of perfume and spritzed the liquid in the air, letting it gradually fall on me so it wouldn’t be too overpowering.

You look beautiful, babe.

The waiting game was harder than I thought, not knowing what to do except awkwardly sit around and play an assortment of phone games. When exactly ten minutes had passed I heard my doorbell ring and I lifted myself from my couch, grinning at his punctuality.

I opened the door to see Jongho holding a bouquet of flowers, a smug look on his face. “Lovely to meet you here, stranger.”

I wanted to make a joke back but I couldn’t seem to think of anything, too surprised by the flowers in his hands. It wasn’t anything extravagant, the small bouquet of violets, but I felt my heart swell.

It’s perfect. He’s perfect.

My voice was small when I spoke, “No one’s ever given me flowers before.”

His eyebrows furrowed as a confused look painted his face, “Really?”

I nodded, taking the flowers from his outreached hands and smelling their sweet fragrance, “They’re beautiful.”

My eyes flickered to his, the tender look on his face making me feel as if I was melting on the spot, “You’re beautiful.”

I squealed, my face undoubtedly turning pink while my mind short circuited. I’d never become so shy around someone before and the only thing I could think of to say in response was another ‘thank you’ followed by ‘I’ll go get a vase for these.’

I opened my door further, rummaging through my cabinets for a vase when I noticed Jongho was still standing by the door, “You can come in, you know? That’s why I opened the door.”

He laughed nervously, “Sorry about that. Force of habit, I guess.”

I raised my eyebrows in a teasing manner, “What? Are you a vampire? Can you only come in if someone invites you?”

I thought I saw a flicker of shock on his face for a moment, but it was gone before I could register it and I shrugged it off, my eyes finding the perfect vase for the flowers.

“It’s just how I was raised.”

“I get that.” I placed the flowers in the vase, giving them a bit of water before walking up to Jongho and gently patting his cheek, “Your good manners are appreciated.”

He laughed in surprise, full gummy smile on display as he playfully swatted my hand away from his face, “Alright, alright. Let’s head out already.”

I made a sound of agreement before noticing a slight pink on his ears. I was temped to tease him, but ultimately decided to save it for later. If I could fluster him once I knew I could do it again.

-

The diner we went to was one I’d never heard of before, let alone been to, and I was beyond frustrated that I didn’t even know about it’s existence. It was an adorable fifties style diner and even the attire the waiters were wearing fit the theme.

“This is the cutest place to ever exist, I’m convinced.” I said as we sat down on the same side of a bright red booth.

“I really hoped you would like it. This is my favorite restaurant ever and they have fantastic milkshakes. If you’d like to share one for desert, I’m all for it.” A wink.

I bit my lip and hid my face in the menu that was placed in front of us, thankful for any method of escape.

“You’re so cute.”

“Ahh no don’t say things like that.” I giggled from behind the menu.

His hand grabbed the top of the menu, pulling it down so he could see me, “Why’s that?”

“Because you make me nervous. Like a good nervous!” I tried to explain, which only resulted in becoming even more embarrassed, “I-I mean I’m excited to be around you but I’m also nervous. I hope that doesn’t sound weird.” I cringed at myself. Never in my life did I think I’d be blushing and stuttering over some man, but my god did he prove me wrong.

“Not at all,” he reached over to take my hand in his, “because I feel it, too.”

Before I could properly react our waitress came over, taking our order and effectively saving me from becoming a human tomato.

We handed our menus back to her after ordering and she looked at us with a soft smile, “You two make a cute couple.”

While I was a bit too stunned to say anything, Jongho didn’t seem to have the same problem and went along with it, “Thank you, ma’am. That’s kind of you to say.”

When she left, Jongho leaned closer to me, “I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable by saying that we we’re a couple. I thought that-”

“No, I didn’t mind it!” I bit my tongue after likely saying that way too fast with far too much enthusiasm, but I meant it, “I didn’t mind it,” I said again, softer this time.

The tips of his ears once again turned a faint shade of pink, “Good to know.”

The food was as wonderful as it possibly could’ve been, their fries alone being one of the best things I’d ever consumed. Just as Jongho suggested, we shared a milkshake, which led to shy eye contact and laughter and my crush becoming stronger by the minute.

Just as Jongho paid and we were about to leave, a certain song began to play and he looked at me with an air of mischief, holding out his hand to me, “Dance with me.”

I took his hand, trying to hide my smile but failing. He led me away from the table and next to the jukebox. The area surrounding it was more open, probably with the intention for people to dance near it. He grabbed my waist, holding the hand of mine that wasn’t placed on his chest and looking at me in a way that could make any woman fall in love on the spot. We swayed to the music and I couldn’t help but feel full. Like I’d found all that I’d ever need.

Put your head on my shoulder~

“Do you know this song?” He asked with a smile.

I scoffed, “Of course I do! It’s one of my favorites.”

“It’s one of mine, too.”

Hold me in your arms, baby~

I mouthed along to the words as I felt the need to prove it to him. As if to one up me, Jongho began to sing along, his gorgeous voice amazing me.

Squeeze me oh so tight, show me~

That you love me, too~

I blushed as he looked at me while singing along, becoming a bit flustered himself when the lyrics clicked with him.

Put your lips next to mine dear~

Won’t you kiss me once, baby~

As if we were in sync our eyes darted to the other’s lips at the same time. I could feel Jongho’s breathing becoming heavier before he said in a hushed tone, “Can I kiss you?”

“Please.” Was all I could respond before I pressed my lips to his, fireworks igniting inside me when he kissed me back. His lips were so soft and warm and as crazy as it sounded, he felt like home. I felt him smile against my lips as the music continued to play.

Maybe you and I will fall in love~

-

The fire was loud, crackling and lighting up the faces of all those crowded those around it. It was essentially the only source of light in the dark of the night, except for the distant lights still on in Annabelle’s house. My hands were interlocked with Jongho’s as we sat around it’s warmth, both of us finding it hard to separate from one another.

Conversation was flowing all around us, and I was relieved to find that everyone I had talked to was kind and welcoming. I was more nervous than I realized, but having Jongho next to my side alone calmed me. Someone around the fire mentioned an old story involving Annabelle and I began to wonder where she was, having not seen her since Jongho and I first arrived. I mentioned I was going to look for her and he nodded, at first wanting to join me but then getting pulled into conversation with one of his former classmates. I told him I’d head off on my own and he nodded again.

I looked around what seemed to be the entire property and still there was no sight of her. At that moment I heard yelling coming from her house, startling me. I felt my blood run cold when I recognized one of the voices as Annabelle’s. The yelling didn’t sound like it was out of fear, but instead more aggressive, out of pure anger. Without thinking I ran inside, hoping to calm the situation but instead found what seemed to be out of a work of fiction.

An unfamiliar man was on the ground, obviously trying to get away from a hidden figure before him that seemed to be cloaked in darkness. He let out a sound that I’d never heard a human make, one that I couldn’t even compare to something I’d heard before, and a shiver ran down my back. As the figure took a step forward I recognized it as Annabelle, or what seemed to be some version of her. Her normally grey eyes were now bright red, sharp fangs on display as she snarled at the man. A group of people were surrounding them, alarmed looks on their faces but hardly trying to intervene.

“What the hell?” I whispered, my eyes wide as I tried to back away without anyone noticing. But of course, I just had to step on an empty soda can, all eyes pointing my way. As I looked at the people around me, their expressions seemed to mirror mine and I swallowed, suddenly feeling immensely claustrophobic.

I met eyes with Annabelle and she seemed to change in a flash, her eyes returning to their former color and fangs disappearing. She looked more panicked than I had ever seen her which only scared me more. She was always able to keep her stressors under control, but as she stared back at me, I saw a version of her I never had before.

I was barely able to form a sentence, adrenaline coursing through me at a rampant rate, “Um...” 

Annabelle slowly walked towards me, “Oh—hey! Sorry I disappeared for a while but how’s the party going? Are you having fun?” Panic was still evident in her voice but I knew she was trying to keep a hold of the situation.

“I...I don’t-”

A stern voice came from left, and I nervously turned to meet Jongho, an unreadable expression crossing his face, “Y/n.”

“Yeah?” My voice squeaked as I began to regret agreeing to come along in the first place, still hyper aware of all the eyes on me.

“Come with me.”

His eyes softened at my panicked state and he held out a hand, “Please?”

I was hesitant, but being anywhere away from the crowd and whatever Annabelle turned into seemed to be a good idea. I took his hand and watched as he exchanged a look with Annabelle that seemed to calm her. Turning on his heels he led me back to the bonfire, sitting in a chair and motioning for me to do the same. Seeing no one around us gave me a feeling of both anxiety and comfort, and I wasn’t quite sure which feeling was winning at the moment.

“Well I’m sure you have plenty of questions.” He started, “I won’t lie to you and try to convince you what you saw wasn’t real, because it was, but I need you to know that no one is going to harm you. That guy is Anna’s roommate and they get into an argument at least once a week. Sometimes it can be nasty, but they never get physical and neither would ever hurt anyone unprovoked. No one here would.”

I was silent for a few minutes, trying to process what I saw on top of the time bomb of information he dropped on me. “Is she...is everyone....are you a vampire?” I whispered the last words, almost too stunned and afraid to say out loud.

He smiled slightly, his kind eyes making me feel safe. “Yes. We’re what you’d call vampires.”

I took a breath, almost afraid to hear the answer to my question, “Am I in any danger by being here?”

“No, everyone here is good. They don’t pose any threat. There are plenty of dangerous vampires but we stay away from them. Besides,” He placed an arm around my waist, playfulness in his eyes, “If there were, I’d protect you from them.”

“Oh? And how don’t I know you’re not dangerous?”

He leaned closer to me, clearly enjoying this, “You don’t, I suppose. Doesn’t that make it fun?”

“That’s very much debatable,” I smiled for a moment before a frown took over, “Everyone just seemed really...I don’t know, startled I guess?”

Jongho let out a loud sigh, looking down at the ground for a few seconds before looking back up at me, “Humans aren’t normally invited to these parties. It’s assumed that everyone here is a vampire. The perfume that you’re wearing, whatever the hell it is, is masking your scent. If I didn’t meet you before today I wouldn’t have known you were human. I guess Anna didn’t tell everyone, either.” He placed a hand on my knee and looked at me with kind eyes, “How are you feeling?”

“Surprisingly calm considering that I just learned vampires exist.”

Jongho laughed, “Yeah I’d say you’re taking it pretty well. Like I said earlier though, I’m sure you’ve got plenty of questions, so fire away.”

“Yeah I have a few.” I hesitated, hoping he wouldn’t be offended by my question, “Exactly how old are you?”

“Oh are you gonna age shame me?”

“No but it’s probably an important thing to know...since we kissed and all.”

He laughed again and leaned back in his chair, placing his arms behind his head,  “How old do you think I am?”

I used his question as an excuse for my eyes to wander over his body. He was beyond attractive, very clearly fit and he knew it, which equal parts pissed me off and turned me on. As hard as I tried, I kept finding myself being pulled to his thighs. Even through his jeans I could tell he had strong thighs and I had to press my fingernails into my palm to keep from drooling. “From your appearance? Early twenties. From what age fiction usually tells us vampires are? I’d guess you’re a hundred and three.”

Jongho nodded with a smile, “I’m not quite that old but that’s a fair guess. You had it right the first time. I’m a pure born and we actually age, but we don’t age as quickly as humans. I’m twenty.”

“Pure born?”

“It means both of my parents are vampires.”

I nodded as another question came to mind, a smile on my lips. “Do you sparkle in the daylight?”

“Oh my god,” He covered his face with his hands, a mixture of a groan and a laugh escaping his mouth, “No, we do not sparkle in daylight, “His hands came to rest on his knees, “But it sucks that we really shouldn’t be in direct sunlight for over two hours a day. That’s normally the rule to go by. It’ll burn us if we’re in it for much longer than that.”

“So do werewolves and witches and everything like that exist, too?”

“Yeah pretty much. We don’t all get along, but we have to coexist. It’s something we’ve struggled with for a while, unfortunately. Basically everything you’d believe to be supernatural exists.”

I was silent for a while, not really knowing what else to say.

“Y/n? Are you doing okay? If you’re not comfortable being here I can drive you home right now or if you’d rather be alone I can call an Uber or—”

My heart skipped a beat at his kindness. “No, I’m okay. I guess I’m just surprised I’m learning about this just now.”

“We do a good job of hiding it. Also it was probably a given, but keep this as a secret if you can. Having a lot of people know about our existence can be risky.”

I gave him a silent nod, unintentionally leaning closer to him. The sound of approaching footsteps made me jump into Jongho’s arms. I didn’t know why I found comfort in him, knowing that he could be dangerous as well, but he’d been nothing but sweet to me. I had no reason to fear him.

Annabelle approached us but stopped, taking a few steps back when she saw how I was buried in Jongho’s arms.

“Hey y/n.” She rubbed her arm, looking down as if she’d done something wrong.

“I guess Jongho probably told you everything at this point. I’m really sorry if I scared you and I understand if you don’t want to be friends anymore.” Even in the dark I could see tears beginning to stream down her cheeks and I felt a pain in my chest.

I got up from Jongho’s hold and wrapped my arms around her, feeling her stiffen, “I trust you, Annabelle.”

Those four words seemed to relax her and she returned my hug, still sniffling, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. We aren’t supposed to tell anyone and I thought you might hate me—”

I pulled back, “Why the hell would I hate you? You’re still you.”

She laughed through tears, gripping me tighter, thanking me over and over for not pushing her away.

We’re gonna be okay. It’s all gonna be okay.

-

Not too long after, Jongho drove me home. The ride was more silent than when we were headed to Annabelle’s house, but the air wasn’t heavy or uncomfortable. Feeling tired, I laid my head on Jongho’s shoulder, faintly hearing ‘sleep well, baby’ before drifting asleep.

When I woke, I was in my bed. I reached for my phone on the bedside table and found a little note placed next to it that read:

I hope you don’t mind that I carried you inside. I tried to wake you for like five minutes but you were out cold. Anyways, I had a really good time with you yesterday and I hope you had fun too :) Text me when you wake so I know you’re okay. -J

I looked at my clock and saw that it was still early, but I texted Jongho anyway.

Me [3:00am] Not sure if you’re still up, but I really enjoyed yesterday, too. I’m exhausted so I’m gonna go back to sleep but I just wanted to say I’m okay and everything is good :))

A Cute Buffoon [3:00am] Sleep well, darling. We can talk in the morning

-

It had been roughly a month since Jongho and I started dating, and while I felt like I knew him pretty well, we had only known each other a little over a month, on top of the fact that he was a vampire which was essentially an entire separate culture. I’d asked him most questions I had early throughout our relationship, but one in particular kept replaying in my mind.

We were currently sitting on the couch in my apartment, cuddling each other. The TV was on but neither of us were really watching it. I was far more interested in the warm body in front of me, and based off of how Jongho was looking at me, the feeling was mutual.

I bit my lip, anxiously mulling over the question I’d wanted to ask him for weeks. I didn’t know how he would take it, let alone how I would bring it up, but I needed to ask at some point. Knowing he could probably sense my nerves, I gave in. “Jongho, can a human turn into a vampire?”

He hummed, turning to face me. “Why do you ask?”

“I just...I didn’t know if it could happen or not.”

Jongho chuckled, “Yeah it’s possible. It’s a long ass process to go through though, and there’s a lot that can go wrong, so it rarely happens.”

I shifted in my seat, trying not to appear overly interested. “Why is that? What can go wrong?

He smiled and raised a brow, his cocky persona resurfacing, “You sound so eager to know, dear. Do you want to become a vampire?” His eyes briefly flickered towards my lips before he tilted his head, dragging his soft lips across my neck. I let out a gasp when I felt the tips of his teeth lightly scraping the skin, “Or maybe you’re just looking for an excuse for me to put my mouth on you?”

Like with anything that exuded him, I felt myself becoming quickly overwhelmed, my mind now hazy and distant. I shut my eyes in an attempt to gain some semblance of control over myself.

“Your thoughts are swirling, doll.” Jongho began leaving gentle kisses along the side of my jaw, “Don’t think too much. Just let me take care of you. Okay?”

“Okay.” I said through a short breath, knowing we’d just have to have the conversation another time.

We’d had sex before, so it wasn’t like this was new territory for us, but every time felt like the first, leaving me just as out of breath each time.

He lifted me and placed me on his thigh, dragging me across his flexed muscles. I felt my eyes roll back at the simple motion, my need growing at an embarrassing rate. I grabbed his shoulders as I began to drag myself against him, whines and whimpers spilling from my lips.

“God you’re hot,” Jongho said through hot breaths, beginning to kiss my neck, no doubt leaving marks.

“Thanks I try.” I managed to say, pleased when Jongho laughed.

“You don’t even have to, and it’s completely unfair.” His hands moved under my shirt and danced along my skin, “It’s like you’re an angel come to life.”

I let out a loud moan, feeling tears well in my eyes from his praise, “You always make me feel so beautiful when I’m with you.”

Jongho responded with a smile, carrying me to my bedroom and laying me down on the bed while hurriedly discarding both of our clothes.

“You’re always so eager, babe.”

He nuzzled my neck as he climbed on top of me, his hands finding my own and holding them, “As if you’re not.”

“I never said I wasn’t.”

He then moved in between my thighs, teasing me with his fingers as he ran them along my wet slit, occasionally rubbing my clit, drawing small whines from me.

“Jongho please just fuck me already.”

“Sweetheart, do you even think you’re wet enough for me?” He cooed.

Feeling frustrated, I pushed my fingers inside myself with ease, pulling them out and spreading them so he could see my essence dripping down my fingers, “I don’t know you tell me.” I said with far more sass than I intended.

Jongho’s eyes widened at the sight and wasted no time positioning his cock at my entrance, pushing in and letting out the most beautiful groans.

Neither of us ever bothered to use protection because, to put it simply, vampires couldn’t get humans pregnant. It was only possible when both partners were vampires, and we took full advantage of that.

“Fuck—baby you feel amazing. You’re so warm and tight ohmygod.” Jongho moaned as he began to move, thrusting in and out of me at a steady pace.

I clenched around him, loving when he was vocal. His sounds helped get me off just as much as his actions, at times it seemed.

“You feel...really good...too.” I said through heavy breaths. And as much as I wanted to last longer in bed, with Jongho, I never could.

“I don’t know if it’s because you’re a vampire and you’ve got like magic powers or something or maybe you’re just a sex god—but holy shit...I’m close.”

He threw back his head and had the audacity to laugh, something I really couldn’t stay mad at with how good he was making me feel. “Babe it’s been like six minutes.”

“Don’t be an asshole.” I joked, my laugh turning into a moan. It only spurred Jongho on, making him angle one of my legs up higher, hitting deeper inside of me.

“I know you’re close, baby. I can feel it. Cum for me, baby girl. Let go for me.”

He reached down to tease my sensitive nub, drawing quick circles until I was seeing stars, chanting his name like a prayer.

After Jongho came down from his high, he disappeared into the bathroom as he always did, coming back with a warm towel. As he pressed the towel to my thighs I tried to ask again.

“So...about the human to vampire thing?”

“Well,” Jongho sighed, “I didn’t think I’d be able to distract you forever.” He smiled, “It’s mostly done because couples want to stay together. The thing is though, the vampire obviously gets a taste of the human’s blood and it can be hard to stop once you’ve marked them, especially since smell is such a big allure for us.”

He took a long breath, “Then the human will almost always pass out, and needs to be taken care of for the next couple days because they’ll be so weak. Another problem is that the scent of their blood will be amplified during those days and it’ll be harder for the vampire to not, you know...” He looked away, not able to say the words. I knew what he meant, we both did. In some cases, vampires would kill their human partners for of their blood. Sometimes it was beyond their control. Just a primal need that would betray them. “Then their scent is more easily detected by other vampires and the whole thing is just kinda a mess. I think I’ve only heard of five attempts and only one of them was successful.”

I nodded, not really knowing what to say.

“And then on top of it all, it can be harder for the human to adjust and it can put a lot of pressure on the relationship. Human and vampire relationships are dangerous.”

His face was serious as he ran a hand through my hair. I looked up at him and leaned into his touch.

He cleared his throat and averted his eyes, a shy behavior I hadn’t seen from him before, “I guess it’s important for you to decide then.” His eyes met mine again, “Is this still something you want to continue?”

“Our relationship?”

“Yeah.”

“Of course, are you crazy? You mean the world to me.” I swallowed, realizing he hadn’t voiced his own thoughts, “What about you? Do you want this?”

“I think you have a pretty good idea of what I want.” He smiled and pressed a quick kiss to my forehead, his eyes sparkling.

“Hey Jongho?”

He hummed, looking at me.

“I want to spend forever with you.”

[silluuuu]

In Plain Sight, ch. 11 - Who You Really Are

hello my friends, i just posted the Final chapter (!!!) of In Plain Sight, three years in the making! thanks again to @justpocketchange and @chichirichick for betaing!! I've posted the summary a ton of times in the past, but here it is one more time, for posterity:

In a world where everything is black-and-white until you find your soulmate, one learns to navigate in shades of gray. When Soul, an agent tasked with recruiting operatives for the FBI’s tech division, gets a tip about Maka, a sharp-witted hacker flying under the radar, their story is bound to be a colorful one. For SoMa week 2018’s ‘complementary’ theme.

chapter 1 here; chapter 11 here !

Beginning under the cut!

The next morning, Maka is awakened by a soft, insistent buzzing beside her head. Each time the sound lapses, it picks right back up again, pulling her slowly out of sleep. Eventually, still half-curled in the fetal position, she puts the phone to her ear and sleepily asks, “... Hello?”

“Uh, hello,” comes Liz’s voice through the phone, sounding both sarcastic and stressed. “Good morning. Now tell us everything.”

“Oh.” Maka blinks twice. “Oh my god!” She sits up in a rush, rubbing at her face. “I forgot to call.”

“Yes,” Liz observes, her voice carefully neutral. In the background, Maka can hear Patty laughing. “Next time I forget, I won’t get in trouuubblleeee!!!” she declares.

“Sorry,” Maka says with a little grimace. “It was a really late night. I crashed right after everyone left.”

“It’s fine,” Liz says, and Maka imagines her shrugging. “If I weren’t so sure you could beat him in a fight, I would’ve called in the national guard by now, though.”

Maka laughs. “I’m honored.”

“Hey, enough chit-chat!” Patty yells. She still sounds far away, so they are clearly on speakerphone. “Spill.”

Maka thinks about how to explain. “It went… perfectly, honestly. All according to plan.”

Liz lets out an approving hum. “He’s predictable.”

Maka thinks of the whispered apology that she definitely didn’t expect, and isn’t quite sure if she agrees. “I mean… mostly, yeah.”

She takes them through the play-by-play, and as always, they are a great audience - laughing at the right times, and appropriately amused by Soul’s discomfort. When Maka recounts Black*Star breaking her door down, Patty lets out a little whoop as Liz groans. It reminds her that she still needs to make him pay for that.

“So… what are you gonna do now?” Liz asks, once the story is complete.

“I’ll... go into the office on Monday, for sure,” Maka hedges. “I still don’t know if I’ll take the job, though.”

“Very responsible,” Liz says, teasing, because they both know what she’s really asking about. “And what are you gonna do about your soulmate?”

Maka is quiet for a minute, indecisive.

“...Wanna hear something fun?” Liz asks, taking pity on her. “You might get mad at me, though.”

“I can’t be any more mad at you than I was at Soul,” Maka says with a shrug. “Or... than I am.” She pauses, unsure of how she’s actually feeling this morning. “Anyway. Go ahead.”

“Okay,” Liz says. “He texted me yesterday afternoon. Told me he was gonna tell you last night.”

That is a surprise. “And you didn’t think to share this information with me?” Maka asks.

“We thought about it…” Patty hedges, entirely unapologetic. She is closer to the phone now, so her conspiratorial tone is extra clear. “But we didn’t wanna mess up a good plan.”

Maka just laughs. “You guys are kind of evil, you know that?”

Patty lets out another round of maniacal laughter that proves Maka’s point. “He had it coming,” Liz says, equally unrepentant. “Also, yeah. We’re having fun.”

Maka decides that it’s time to get out of bed and she pushes the sheets back, ready to make tea, when Liz adds, “He isn’t, you know.”

“Huh?”

“He isn’t evil,” Liz clarifies. “An idiot, absolutely. But not evil. He really didn’t try to tell you last night?”

“I... didn’t give him that many opportunities,” Maka admits. “But no, he didn’t.”

As she says it, her phone vibrates, and she pulls her ear away from the phone to see a text.

[[ wanna talk today? if thats ok? ]]

A smile twists the side of her mouth at the irony. “Hey, guys? I… think I’m gonna head out.”

“He just texted you, didn’t he?” Liz says, amusement coloring her voice.

Maka blanches, and she’s thankful that neither of them can see it. “Maybe.”

“Predictable,” Liz repeats. Maka’s no longer sure if Liz is talking about Soul or about her, which is a bit unsettling.

“All right!! Go get ‘im!!!” Patty yells aggressively into the receiver.

Given her tone - and the fact that it’s Patty - it’s impossible for Maka to tell if she means it in a romantic sense or in a vengeful sense. And honestly, Maka’s still deciding which one she wants.

Maybe there’s still time for a bit of both.

Read the rest on AO3!! :)

[butwhatifidothis]

what really annoys me about edelgard and her "relationship" with ingrid is that he could have made it way less icky and cheaty with one simple trick: follow canon and have byleth and edelgard not be together before the timeskip.

like if edelgard is in love with byleth, maybe she's sort of aware her feelings are requited, but they haven't talked about it yet, there's nothing solid, and now byleth is gone, and they never talked about it

of course, the second she starts feeling something for ingrid she would tell her. the last time she didn't tell someone about her feelings she disappeared!

and then ingrid still leaves, and almost dies, and edelgard can't deal with that, and goes all "yes I have feelings for you but I can't afford to have a relationship with you, I must be strong, I can't deal with losing you too" or whatever

Different nonnie: The fact that Woobiegard believes Byleth is still alive and will come back is one of the easiest issues to fix in this nonsense between Woobiegard and Ingrid. Have Woobiegard also believe Byleth is dead and bingo, no cheating (assuming Ingrid isn't already with Sylvain at this point in the fic???)! And that can add some nice potential conflict once Byleth does come back as Woobiegard has to sort out her feelings towards both of them and how she and they perceive what happened over the timeskip.

Gonna combine a few asks, as they’re all about the cheating thing lmao

Honest to god, this cheating thing was the easiest shit to just not have happen. These two suggestions can add genuine conflict between Edelgard and Byleth, where Edelgard can genuinely not be blamed for acting on her feelings because she actually thought Byleth was gone, and she thought she was finally moving on from the feelings of despair and loneliness with her growing love for Ingrid before Byleth randomly and suddenly returns from the dead. If you want to add some drama in a relationship, making it be understandable as to why the drama exists for both parties is usually pretty 👌 but he just has Edelgard cheat and have nothing come of it from her friends. I can just hope something happens when Byleth finds out - I mean it’ll probably be another handwave but I can hope lmao

@zorua-adorable: Okay, I know this isn’t gonna happen, but I think it’d be hilarious if Byleth finding out about Woobiegard cheating with Ingrid leads to her deciding to s-support Sothis (as a big ‘F YOU’ to Woobie).

LMAO what a fuckin’ turn this fic would be if that happened, just “The goddess left your ass BUT NOT MINE” and she just marries God on the spot

Another nonnie: Captain could've done something interesting and have a poly relationship between Edelgard, Ingrid, and Byleth. But whoops I forgot that this is all about Woobiegard and Byleth epic all powerful timeline crossing love story so we can't have Byleth show a scrap of attraction to anyone other than Saint Woobiegard! But I guess Woobiegard is exempt from that??? But really I can't believe Woobiegard can fucking cheat on the supposed love of her life and STILL not experience any actual fallout over it!

Different nonnie: Woobiegard cheated on Billy? Jesus Christ cap, just admit that Billy was your projection, and how you like Woobie/Grid more. If he doesn't commit to a lesbian orgy, then what's the point? Doro even had a crush on Grid, and polyships are popular (for some reason. I'm not into that, and I can tell if the ship was wishful thinking depending on the writing which is 60% of the time)

A poly ship would have been a pretty daring turn for the fic to go down (like Nonnie 2, I’m also not a fan of it just cuz it’s rarely written that well in my experience), but given that he’s been apparently building up Ingrid’s feelings for Edelgard and vice versa for a bit (I say apparently because, like I said, Ingrid and Edelgard have acted pretty much like everyone else with no real romantic chemistry to speak of until Chapter 44 shoved all the romance at the reader at once) it wouldn’t be that unexpected. Of the two options - have cheating be there and addressed improperly or have Cap’n write a poly relationship - I think I’d actually rather the former, bad as it is. With a poly ship, I’d have to read Cap’n fumble around with something as complicated as that when he already handles far simpler concepts amateurishly for way longer than simply having the cheating come up in one chapter (at most two, assuming it comes up again when Byleth comes back - we all know it’d be resolved in one chapter lmao). Definitely would’ve made Edelgard look, like, way less ass than the cheating does tho lmao

[cinnaminsvga]

🌸 social media au where y/n posts a fake boyfriend application on twitter as a dare but ends up seeking something real in the long run (aka how to fall in love the zillennial way) 🌸

A/N: RIP Jungkook... When will he catch a break, I wonder? Who is Hoseok to him anyway? Much to think about... Also I’m just gonna say this, but Jungkook is literally the most unreliable narrator I’ve ever had to write, so take that in mind when you read this. Enjoy! || W.C. 2K

prev // part 14 of ? // next masterlist here.

[updates every 6PM PST]

It takes another 10 minutes or so until the maintenance guy manages to rescue both Jungkook and Namjoon out of the elevator. Luckily, the elevator didn’t stop midway between floors so they didn’t have to crawl or climb out, so getting out is a quick and easy ordeal once the doors are opened. Jungkook breathes a sigh of relief, but that moment of calm is short-lived when he hears Namjoon clear his throat behind him.

“Umm… Jungkook-ssi, right?” Namjoon addresses him by his name for the first time. Jungkook jumps up in surprise, though he should have known that you would have ratted him out when you found out he was intentionally ignoring the taller boy.

“I… Yeah. And you’re Namjoon,” Jungkook doesn’t even bother tacking on the question mark at the end, too worn out mentally to bother pretending like he’d only suddenly realized. He rubs the back of his neck, thankful that he’s turned away from Namjoon so that he doesn’t see the flash of annoyance across his face.

Without another word, Jungkook begins climbing the last two flights of stairs to reach your shared apartment. He doesn’t turn to see if Namjoon follows, though he does hear the extra pair of footsteps close by.

When they file into your shared home, the awkward tension magnifies tenfold. While Namjoon and Jungkook had been gone, it seems that Hoseok has already made himself comfortable, laughing jovially at something you said as he helps you bring the last remaining pairs of cutlery to the table. Jungkook looks over at the new visitor from the corner of his eye and notices the way Hoseok has his gaze locked fervently on you as you fussed over everyone’s seating arrangements.

“Oh, Jungkook! Namjoon!” You shove Yoongi’s plate towards him the moment you hear the door open, sprinting over to the two of them. Your hair is in complete disarray, slightly frizzy in places even after you had painstakingly taken an hour this morning trying to look presentable. Even so, Jungkook can’t help the way his heart beats a little faster when you envelop him in a tight hug, as you’ve always looked cute to him no matter what. When he wraps his arms around you to return the embrace, he feels you lower your lips near his ears. “You’re in big fucking trouble, mister. We’re talking after all of this is over,” you whisper darkly. He gulps audibly when you separate, the smile on your face is eerily present.

Thankfully, you don’t hug Namjoon as well, though an apology is out of your mouth before Jungkook can distract you. “Namjoon, I’m so sorry again. I wish I had warned you about the elevator sooner,” you pout, but Namjoon is quick to waive your concerns.

“Hey, it’s not your fault. You didn’t know. All that matters is that we’re here now.” He smiles warmly, his dimples on full display. You clear your throat, staring wide-eyed at him, no doubt dumbstruck by his handsome features. Jungkook tries to relax the tick in his jaw, but to no avail. Instead, he marches past the two blushing fools, eager to get away.

Since your apartment is quite small, you set most of the food onto the coffee table, with everyone either sitting on the floor or on the couch. Jungkook is quick to take a seat next to you on the couch, but that also forces him to have Seokjin on his other side. The elder winks salaciously at him, which Jungkook pointedly ignores.

Namjoon and Hoseok take a tentative seat on the other side of the coffee table. Namjoon’s gangly legs make it difficult for him to fold himself in properly, so you offer to switch places with him instead, much to Jungkook’s dread. Namjoon glances at him for a moment before hesitantly accepting your offer, squishing himself on Jungkook’s right side on their small, sunken couch. He can feel rather than hear Seokjin’s attempts to mask his nefarious giggles.

You seat yourself beside Hoseok, who smiles widely back at you. “Sorry, I totally forgot to introduce myself. I’m Y/N! I’ve heard all about you from Namjoon.”

“Really? Well, I hope it’s only been good things,” he says. “To be honest, I don’t think I’d see you again after that time in––“

“I’m going to fucking start eating now!” Jungkook interrupts, stabbing his chopsticks into the mountain of pork that you had prepared. Somewhere in Busan, he’s sure his mother is cringing at his terrible manners.

For a moment, you seem startled by his sudden proclamation, but you’re quick to shake it off. “Alright everyone! Please dig in,” you say, clapping your hands with a large grin on your face. Jimin is the first to dive into the food, popping a piece of kimbap into his mouth and moaning loudly in satisfaction.

“Y/N, I don’t know what type of crack you put into your food, but MAN this is delicious,” he says, already piling up his plate with anything he can get his hands on. Yoongi is slightly more reserved when he takes a prawn and chews it softly, nodding in agreement with Jimin’s statement.

“Thank you for this meal, Y/N. You must have worked really hard,” Namjoon says, reaching over for some food as well. Jungkook watches as he nearly bumps the plate of ssam off the edge of the table. “Oh, whoops.”

Hoseok laughs loudly, the sudden noise surprising everyone around him. He doesn’t look all that embarrassed, however. “I’ll have to apologize for Joon in advance. He’s a bit of a clumsy guy.” He smiles kindly at Y/N. “You’re gonna have to get used to that eventually, I suppose.”

Jungkook notices the soft blush rising up your neck. His grip on his chopsticks tightens as he takes a particularly rough bite out of his food. “I, um, suppose I will,” you laugh shyly, rubbing the back of your neck while keeping your gaze off Namjoon. You accidentally make eye contact with Jungkook instead, who didn’t have enough time to erase the annoyance out of his expression. You flinch slightly, before softening your voice in that tone you use whenever Jungkook felt a little stressed out. “Jungkook? Are you okay? Is the meat too tough or something?”

Seokjin snorts beside him, nearly choking as he was in the middle of taking a big swig of water. Jungkook hates that he knows that the bastard is enjoying this way too much. Jungkook’s frustration is easy for anyone to see, with only you being left unaware as to why he was so agitated. Your cluelessness only adds to his bubbling anger. “Yeah, Jungkook. Are you alright? Bet you wished there were less people at the table, huh?”

Jungkook is quick to stomp on his foot, causing the prick to yelp in pain. He’s too busy pinching Seokjin in the tit that he misses the way Namjoon’s face falls, dejectedly looking at his food with a deep furrow in his brow.

“Oh? Are you becoming self-aware? Maybe you should take a page out of your book and leave before I kick you out myself,” you huff, scowling at Seokjin. You must have misinterpreted his little side comment, though Jungkook isn’t sure if he should be thankful for that or not. You turn to Taehyung, who has been mysteriously quiet this entire time. “And you. I know I said you could bring a friend over, but I didn’t expect you to bring this soggy testicle!”

Taehyung just shrugs, his attention focused on his phone. “What?” He doesn’t look up, his fingers furiously occupied with something else. “Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. Won’t do it again.” When he finishes his text, Seokjin’s phone dings soon right after. Jungkook’s eyes narrow suspiciously at the two, but neither of them seems to care.

You’re beginning to look flustered, mouth opening and closing as you figure out a way to salvage this mess of a dinner. If Jungkook had been slightly less preoccupied with his own swirling thoughts, he might have thought to comfort you or say something to alleviate the tension. Instead, he has his head bowed in shame, the bitter taste in his mouth unwilling to leave until the boy to his right decides to leave first.

“Anyway,” Yoongi clears his throat, causing Jimin to jump beside him. Normally, Yoongi never spoke all that often when they got together, usually content with eating and listening to the younger ones joke around. He isn’t looking at Jungkook, but he knows that Yoongi must have read his mind. He waves his chopsticks around vaguely at Namjoon. “You. You like woodworking, right?”

Startled from being directly addressed, Namjoon’s posture straightens slightly at the mention of his favorite activity. “Y-yes. It’s a bit of a side hobby that I do when I’m not busy with school or work. I’m… not very good. Just a novice, really.” He laughs, nervously propping his glasses up his nose until they’re nearly up to his forehead.

“Oh, hush! Namjoon is fantastic! I got him to make little wooden figurines to decorate the cafe over the summer, isn’t that right?” Seokjin interjects, reaching over Jungkook to slap Namjoon on the back.

“That’s right! Namjoon, I’ve seen your photos on Instagram! You’re definitely good at what you do,” you say, eyes sparkling with amazement. Namjoon coughs shyly into his hand, but it doesn’t hide the blush painting his cheeks.

Jungkook feels his blood pressure boiling, but he grits his teeth instead. “Interesting stuff,” he murmurs sarcastically, soft enough that only you wouldn’t hear. He senses Namjoon sagging back into his seat, but he doesn’t even feel remotely guilty that he had heard him. Even without looking up, he knows that Yoongi is sending him a warning look in response.

“Namjoon, that’s really cool. I’m an interior design major, so I’d love to see what you might think about the wood pieces I’m thinking of purchasing for an upcoming exhibit,” Yoongi says, trying to salvage the situation. Jungkook glares at him, but the elder doesn’t back down. Instead, he quirks a brow up, as if challenging him to say something.

Jimin gasps, a few bits of rice falling out of his mouth and into the plate of ssamjang. “That’s right! Yoongi, didn’t you say you needed something interesting as a center piece for the dining table? Maybe Namjoon can help you with that!”

Namjoon flushes, waving his hands and shaking his head fervently. “Ah, no! I don’t think I can help you with that. I’m sure you can ask plenty of other professionals who are more capable than I am.”

“No, Namjoon. You should help them,” Hoseok quips. He’s got a pout on his face, causing his cheeks to bunch up cutely. Like a fucked up squirrel, Jungkook thinks petulantly, hating how childish he was being but unable to stop. He steals a look at you to see that you’re staring at Hoseok, too. Hoseok pumps his fist up, “Namjoon’s great! He’s just being humble, that’s all.”

“I’ll be sure to ask you for help then, Namjoon.” Yoongi smiles wide, his pink gums appearing for the first time that night. It’s the kind of smile that makes you feel good, like being praised without words. Emboldened by Yoongi’s kindness, Namjoon smiles back, his previously dejection slowly washing away.

Jungkook feels betrayed. He can’t stand sitting in this room anymore, not when all his friends, most especially you, were being so buddy-buddy with this new unwelcome addition to your party. He puts down his chopsticks onto his dish, standing up and making his way over to the kitchen sink.

“Kook? What’s wrong?” You stand up as well, walking towards him. When you reach out to touch his shoulder, he accidentally slaps your hand away on instinct, head fuzzy with too many thoughts. You gasp, cradling your hand to your chest even though he hadn’t hit you that hard. You were mostly shocked, not used to seeing Jungkook so… touchy, and for seemingly no apparent reason. If only you knew, he thinks to himself.

“I have to go. Stomach ache,” is all he says before he’s grabbing his coat from the rack and shoving on his boots. He grabs his car keys, unwilling to turn around to see the expressions on all your faces. “I’m heading to the pharmacy. See you.” He slams the door shut behind him, leaving you more confused and hurt than ever before.

“Well, this sucks, huh?” Seokjin nudges Taehyung with his foot. Taehyung, to his credit, jabs Seokjin straight in the balls.

“Back to the drawing board,” he sighs to himself, rubbing his temples as the elder groans obscenities back at him. This is going to be harder than he thought.

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

i don't know what to be without you around

Fandom: Supergirl Rating: K Pairings: None A/N: I fully intended for this to just be a goofy headcanon and then WHOOPS it turned into Danvers Sisters feelings. (Not k*lex. If I see it tagged as such, ya get BLOCKED.) Short. 99% fluff. Probably contains spelling errors. You’ve been warned. 

...

Then

Occasionally, Alex would regret all the time and effort she'd wasted focusing on the downsides of having been thrust into elder sibling-dom. Because while, yes, a lot of the changes that occurred in the Danvers household upon Kara's arrival were...not great...there were definitely some perks to having a sister.

Like the simple satisfaction of a perfectly timed, “Shotgun!” victory.

“What?” Kara protested, her yawn undercutting her indignation. “You can't call shotgun yet, we don't leave for another hour.”

“You snooze you lose,” Alex told her, giving her a pointed look as she yawned again. “Literally.”

Kara rolled her eyes and returned to stuffing pairs of t-shirts and shorts into her duffle bag. Alex did the same, surveying her own bag to see if she'd missed anything. Bug spray, maybe?

She turned to head out into the hall, but Kara stood in her path, wearing a sly smile.

Alex didn't like the look of it. Not one bit.

“What's with the face?” she asked, attempting to sidestep around her younger sister. Kara easily blocked her, and crossed her arms.

“Okay, you get shotgun,” she said. Alex blinked.

“Uh, yeah. I know. I called it.”

“Which means,” Kara continued, complete with dramatic pause for full effect, but Alex already knew what was coming. The second half of the rule...how could she have forgotten. How could she have been so foolish. “I get to pick the music.”

Alex groaned in dismay.

“Kara, no.”

----------------------------------

It would take them four hours to get to the Tuolumne Meadows campground. Alex sighed, and rested her head against the passenger-side window. That meant four rounds of Fearless, though it was more likely that Kara would just play the same five or six songs she'd been listening to on repeat ever since she bought the album.

“Can't we listen to something else? Please?” Alex begged.

Kara smirked, and turned the volume up.

But of course, her mom immediately turned it back down, giving Kara a stern look in the rearview mirror.

“Kara,” she said in a tone that suggested, knock it off.

Kara quickly cowed, retreating further into the safety of the backseat. “Sorry, Eliza.”

“Great,” Alex said, sitting up straighter in her seat. “Now get her to play something else.”

“Alex, just listen to your iPod, if you don't like Kara's music,” her mom suggested. Alex sank back into the seat.

“...It's not charged.” There was a snort from the backseat. Alex glared into the rearview mirror. “Because someone lost their chord and was hogging mine this morning.”

Kara shrugged, and smirked that same insufferable smirk.

“You snooze you lose.”

----------------------------------

Four hours and what felt like a billion playthroughs of “Forever and Always” later, they arrived at the campsite, the interminable car ride almost instantly forgotten as the rocky banks of the river came into view. Alex had been here before, years ago on a father-daughter camping trip, but it was Kara's first time. As they filed out of the car and began to pull duffle bags and ice chests from the trunk, she turned to gaze out at the trees, taking a deep, calming breath.

Alex joined her, and gave her shoulder a good natured nudge. “It's nice, huh?”

“Yeah,” Kara agreed. “It's...a softer kind of noisy, than Midvale,” she explained with a happy sigh. And then, after a moment, she said, “...Sorry for being a jerk, in the car.”

“It's fine,” Alex shrugged. “Here, grab the tent.” Kara lifted the gear with ease, and followed Alex over to a level patch of dirt. “I just don't get how you can listen to the same, like, five songs.” She gestured for Kara to dump out the contents of the tent.

“No super speed, Kara!” Eliza called from the car. “You'll kick up too much dust!”

“Okay!” Kara called back as Alex began sorting the pieces. Kara stooped to help her. “They're good songs. You listen to your favorites a lot.” And Alex had to pause and silently admit, that was true. 

“Yeah, but not over and over,” Alex finally said. “I'd get tired of them.” Which was also true. She remembered liking that Fray song, once upon a time, but now, it just annoyed her, any time it played on the radio.

Kara shook her head at Alex’s remark. “I don’t. There's something new, every time.”

Alex glanced over at her, ready with a retort—how could there be anything new in Taylor Swift songs? Weren't they all just...basically the same thing? First dates at fifteen, feeling fearless in the rain at 2AM?

But Kara's eyes were bright behind her glasses as she enthusiastically went on. “Like, sometimes, I'll just listen to the rhythm, or the vocals, or I'll pick out my favorite sounds, and it makes the whole song brand new again.”

Alex narrowed her eyes. “So...it's an alien ears thing, or...?”

Kara considered the question as they continued to put the tent together—they'd located all the poles and stakes, and were maneuvering the tarps into place. “...Maybe?” She said.

Alex kept working on the tent, waiting for Kara to continue, perhaps offer some sort of additional explanation. When she didn’t, Alex looked up to see that Kara’s eyes were on the tree canopy overhead. Her expression was neutral, but Alex had come to recognize that particular look.

She was listening.

To what, Alex didn't know.

“Yeah,” she said after a time. “Yeah, I think it is an alien ears thing.” She smiled. “I like the way guitars sound.”

Alex might've teased her about that, if Kara hadn't sounded so achingly sincere. Did they have guitars, on Krypton? Alex couldn’t remember Kara saying anything about music from her home world. Alex knew it probably wasn’t the case, but she imagined it being a lot of...synth-y sci-fi stuff.

She considered asking Kara about it, but decided against it--sometimes, Kara would get...weird, about such topics, and they were having a nice time. Alex didn’t want to ruin it. 

So instead, she feigned offense. “Well, if you like guitars, I don't see why you don't like my music.”

Kara emphatically shook her head.

“Your music is loud.”

Alex started feeding one of the poles through the tent material. “Um, yes? That's the best part?”

“Yeah, no thanks,” Kara chuckled as she hammered a stake in place. The repeated the process at each corner, and soon enough, the tent was upright, and ready for them to store their gear inside. “It's loud and it's so emo.” 

Alex snorted, heading for their pile of backpacks and duffle bags.

“Okay, Miss 'Romeo save me I've been feeling so alone'.”

FWUMP.

A sleeping bag collided with Alex's right arm.

“That song is great!” Kara insisted, already reaching for more ammo with a wide smile.

“That's not even how the play goes!” Alex teased her. “Right? Aren't you like, the Romeo and Juliet expert?”

FWUMP. The second sleeping bag hit home, but Alex didn't care. She was having fun.

“That's not the point, and you know it!”

“See the lights, see the party, the ball gowns, see you make your way through the crowd--” Alex thought she was safe, as there were no more sleeping bags.

But Kara had found their pillows.

FWUMP. FWUMP.

She laughed again, careful not to let the pillows fall in the dirt. And she was just about ready to give Kara a taste of her own medicine, when she saw that sly smile once more.

Oh, no.

“Hey, Alex, if you hate the song so much,” Kara said with a knowing look, “how come you know all the words?”

Well, shoot.

“...Cause...you play it all the time. Obviously.”

“And you’ve listened close enough each time to learn all the lyrics?”

Alex scowled. “...I mean. It’s...it’s kind of catchy, I guess.”

Kara beamed.

“Ha! I knew—”

Alex hurled both pillows at her.

FWUMP!

----------------------------------

Now

Alex lets out a relieved sigh.

Kara is back.

Kara is safe.

Kara appears to be whole and...mostly healthy. Her sodium levels are low enough to give Alex some pause, and her right leg shows signs of muscle strain, but otherwise...

“Can I go home now?” Kara's voice is raspy from fatigue. Alex shakes her head.

“Not yet,” she says. “Sodium has to be administered slowly. It's gonna take a while.”

Alex expects some sort of pushback, or protest, but Kara just offers a small hum of understanding. She really is tired, Alex realizes.

“But hey, good news,” Alex adds with forced brightness, “you do get to eat in about,” she consults her watch, “fifteen minutes, or so. Anything you want. Me and Kelly are buying.”

This earns a groggy grin from Kara, and Alex stores the image in her mind, filed under 'reassurances that Kara is still Kara, even after...everything.'

“A dangerous offer,” Kara jokes. 

“Well. It...would not be the first time we bought a mountain of food, to welcome you home,” she admits. Kara shoots her a sad, questioning look, but Alex pointedly ignores it. “So. What'll it be? Pick your poison.”

Her sister's brow furrows in thought. “Um. I guess...whatever will get here fastest?” she suggests. “I'm starving.”

“Ah. We all had a feeling you might be, so,” Alex scoots her stool across the room and extracts a plastic bag from under one of the lab tables. “Snack run,” she says, revealing the spoils with a flourish. Kara laughs outright. It's soft, but it's the strongest she's sounded since returning from the Phantom Zone.

“Thank you,” she says. But Alex taps her watch.

“Still have eight minutes to go,” she reminds her. Kara nods obediently, though she's already sifting through the bag.

“I assume the apples and olives are from Brainy,” she says.

“He swears by that combo,” Alex tells her. “Don't worry, I'm pretty sure J'onn put some actual sustenance in there. You know. Red Vines. Pretzels. The good stuff.”

“...What's this?” Kara asks, and Alex wonders if Brainy perhaps added other questionable food combinations, but the item Kara pulls from the bag isn't one of the snacks.

“Oh.” Alex rubs her arm, a little self consciously. She forgot she left that in there. “That's just...” She pauses. “...I saw that. While you were...” Alex tries to think of a good word for it, but there isn’t one. “...away. I guess I thought...that if I got it. It...was like a promise. That we'd find you. And I'd give it to you.”

The logic doesn't seem quite as sound, as she says it out loud. Regardless, it dredges up memories of awful days marked only by failure, frustration, and fear that they'd never find Kara.

She shakes her head, clearing the thoughts away, and continues in a lighter tone. “Because obviously, pot stickers would go bad, so. This seemed...less wasteful.”

Kara nods, still staring at the shrink-wrapped copy of Fearless (Taylor's Version). A wistful sort of look tugs at her features.

“I haven't listened to these songs in years,” she says.

And Alex can't pass up the opportunity to tease her. “Yes. It's been nice.”

Kara rolls her eyes, but she's still smiling. “It's a good album and you know it,” she says. She sets it aside and yawns. Alex notices that she's looking a little worn out, and she doesn't appear interested in the food anymore.

“You want to rest, while I order the food?”

“...Yeah,” Kara decides. Alex stands to collect the snacks and put them back on the lab table. Kara inclines her heard towards the CD. “Did J'onn put a stereo down here?” Alex gives her a look. “Wait. Of course he did.”

Alex takes the hint and grabs the CD, pulling off the wrapper before heading out onto the main floor. The mismatched selection of furniture is currently off to the side, having been cleared away for one of Nia's training sessions. Alex finds the stereo next to one of the lamps.

When Alex returns to the med bay, Kara's already nearly asleep, her breathing slow and steady.

Alex checks on one of the computers—everything is holding steady, and Kara's responding well to the sodium. She should be able to go home tonight.

It makes Alex sigh in relief once more.

Kara's safe.

Kara's healthy.

Kara's home.

Alex places the CD into the open tray. Checks the track list, turns it to one of the softer songs, and lets it play.

Kara smiles as the opening chords drift through the speakers.

“I like the guitar,” she says quietly.

----------------------------------

NOTES: - Brought to you by the release of Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and the realization that the original album would’ve dropped at the perfect time for young, impressionable Kara to become a huge fan. - Title pulled from “Breathe” because WATCH ME repurpose select lyrics from love songs for platonic/familial relationships. - I want to say that Kara and Alex went to a MCR concert together...or maybe mentioned MCR? In the tie-in comic? I forget. This isn’t really crucial to the story, I just think it’s a fun aside.  - Apparently it’s National Siblings Day so...yay for good timing? XD 

[oneterribletruth]

storge

day 5 of MERWeek! prompt: family

read it on ao3!

Harlow had a hard time with the concept of ‘family.’ Like, sure, she had seen families together. Hell, she had probably had one. Once. Not that she really remembered it. And of course she had seen lots of families around on the Astreous. She wasn’t blind. But she had a hard time really understanding it. People got so starry-eyed over the word. Like it meant something special.

Even the gangs used it. Called each other ‘family’ as if that somehow excused the things that they did to each other and others. Because somehow saying somebody is a brother or a sister made it okay to tell them horrible things about themselves to their face, yet also slit the throat of anybody else who did.

So when Shepard called her crew ‘family,’ Harlow had rolled her eyes. Couldn’t help herself, really. Because of course, this would be like every other ‘family’ she had met. A clique of friends with some inside jokes, where she would be the outsider. People who would say one thing to her face and another behind her back. But sure. Family. Whatever.

Then she had met them. Tali had been the first, then Grunt and Miranda. Then Kasumi and Jack and Steve and Garrus and Vega. It should have been overwhelming. So many new faces, and in such short time. But from Tali’s first awkward wave, Harlow had felt…accepted.

They immediately treated her like she was just…one of them. Didn’t single her out, but didn’t ignore her either.

The “couple days” Shepard promised her had turned into a week, then a week into two, then three weeks had passed and Harlow really felt like she was starting to know what ‘family’ meant.

Family was knowing that Miranda woke up at 6:30 every morning, left her room, got her coffee, and sat down at the couch to pass messages with Orianna and read articles about the latest cybernetic upgrades—sometimes papers about gene mods too. She was still the ‘ice-queen’ as the crew lovingly referred to her, but Harlow saw how much she cared about everybody, in her own way of course. She had even spared Harlow one of her rare smiles when Harlow had picked up on one of her obscure references to some old human literature. (Harlow did not let her know that the only reason she knew it was because she had been spying on her using Kasumi’s cloak.)

Family was sitting at the counter while Vega made breakfast and regaled her tales of all of the dangerous missions he had gone on (and how badass he was during them). The marine never mentioned the reapers. Stories sometimes drifted that way, but his eyes would drift toward Shepard and the story would take a new direction. The crew joked about his oblivious nature,  but Harlow thought he knew more than he let on, more than happy to be the butt of the joke if it brought a smile to somebody’s face.

Family was playing board games with Grunt (who was surprisingly good at them) and card games with Steve (who was surprisingly bad at them, considering how much he loved to play).

It was going shopping with Tali and Kasumi and listening to the former complain about always being pegged for stealing while the latter slipped something into her bag unnoticed. Kasumi would wink at Harlow from beneath her hood. “Just between you and me, ‘kay? Shepard doesn’t have to know.”

Family was even in the threatening nature of Jack, she found. Their first encounter did not set them up to be friendly with one another (Harlow swore up and down that she would never, ever try to sneak into her room again), yet the ‘psychotic biotic’ had softened some over the course of the last couple weeks. “Pipsqueak” was Harlow’s new name to her, and the crew assured her that the nickname was a good sign. She had ruffled Harlow’s hair before leaving out this morning.

Most of all though, Harlow found family in the way Liara brushed her hair out at night. Long strokes paired with soft hums of unfamiliar songs. And in how Shepard asked about her day like she genuinely cared, attentive to each word that Harlow said.

“Harlow,” Shepard’s voice dragged Harlow from her (for once) quiet contemplation.

Harlow blinked and shook her head. “Yeah?”

“You okay?”

“Yeah…yeah! I’m fine!” Shepard didn’t seem convinced, those green eyes seeing and taking in too much, but after a moment, she just shrugged and smiled softly.

“What are you gonna name it?” She asked, jutting her chin toward the model skycar in Harlow’s hands.

Harlow wrinkled her nose. “It needs a name?”

“Sure. Cars, ships, guns…they all get names. Makes you appreciate them more.”

“It’s not an actual skycar though.”

Shepard notched an eyebrow at her. “Fine, what do I name it?”

“Anything you want.”

Harlow turned the model over in her hands, admiring the black sheen. It had been a great morning, painting it with Shepard in the not so quiet apartment. The crew had come and gone in waves. Cortez had stayed for awhile and chatted with Shepard about ships. Tali had urged Harlow to add some purple to the model. Vega and Garrus got into an argument about guns, eventually dragging Shepard into it. Liara had stopped it by sending them both to the range to test their theories.

Harlow smiled, the perfect name coming to mind, something she had seen in Miranda’s old books. “Storge.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

whoops! forgot to post this over here! ah, well. subscribe on ao3! then you won't miss anything due to my forgetfulness XD

[khoicesbyk]

The Royal Romance.

Second Chance Romance.

A/N: I’ve decided to go into my own little TRR/TRH world and create an AU. This will be fun! So; Talley Ho! *in my Sherlock Holmes voice*

Rated: Mature. | Contains sexual content and strong language. (You know? The usual from me. 😁) | Bolded and/or italicized words are conversations and thoughts of the characters. | Main Characters: King Marquise Rys (LI) and Queen Shanelle Dawkins (MC) | All Characters and names: (except MC and certain original characters, created by me) are property of Pixelberry.

Current Word Count: 1,300 words. (more or less. I stop counting after editing and re-editing. 🤷🏾‍♀️)

Woo! Another Drabble from me! I’m starting to get good at this!

Prompt Time! Using @wackydrabbles Prompt #69 (hehehehe) I won’t forget this. It’ll be in bold in black.

Tag List: @txemrn @pixie88 @lifeaskim @hopelessromanticmonie @lucy-268 @choicesficwriterscreations @wackydrabbles @secretaryunpaid @shanzay44 @bebepac @texaskitten30 @kingliam2019 @glaimtruelovealways

As always if you’d like to be added to my tag list, just reblog or send me a DM and I will happily add you. 😁😘

I AM UNAPOLOGETICALLY NSFW! READER DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED!

Chapter 7.) Shattered Glass.

His majesty had been caught in a very precarious position. One he had no knowledge or realization that he was in at the time. All thanks to his very charged encounter with his ex Tanya.

What was meant to be innocent and comforting, could be seen as him falling back in with her and out of love with Shanelle. Or that’s how Damon was about to spin it to her. He was determined to stick to Marquise.

After securing the final travel plans, Damon was on his way to talk to Shanelle and hit her with a hard truth. He found her in her room going over her luggage. He knew this would hurt Shanelle. Which is exactly what he wanted.

“5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Yup that’s all of them.” She said as he entered her room.

“What are you doing princess?” He asks her.

“Not worrying about you, dickhead.” She replies.

“Awww don’t be like that! I was only joking, your highness!”

“You are so annoying!”

“You know you love it!”

“I know I’d love to stab you and hide your body.”

“Stop it before you make my dick hard.”

“You pig!”

“Oink oink baby!”

“Ugh! What do you want Damon?” She asked him.

“I thought you’d want to see my handsome face, baby girl.” He replied.

“You mean the same face that got punched by a king? More specifically my future king?” She asks him.

“I refuse to answer that.” He replied.

“Awwwww that’s okay baby! Besides I already saw the aftermath of the ass whooping he gave you, so I’m good.” She said to him. She snickered as he rolled his eyes at her.

“I still don’t see what you see in him.” He told her.

“Let’s just say I see more in him than I’ll ever see in you.”

“You sure about that princess?” He asks.

“Yes I’m sure. I don’t have to question him. Unlike you. I know where I stand with him.” She replies.

He just smirks at her as he moves her luggage to the door. He was trying to get her all riled up just so he could break her heart.

“I’m sure you think you do, baby girl.” He said to her. She rolled her eyes at him.

“I know what you’re doing, Damon.” She said to him.

“What am I doing sweetheart?” He asks.

“You’re being cryptic. You always did that whenever you wanted to piss me off.” She replies.

“You think that’s what this is, baby girl?” He asks.

“With you it’s more than possible, so.” She replies with a shrug.

“You are still so judgmental, I see.”

“Am I really judgmental or do I just know when you’re trying to pull some shit? Which one is it?” She asks him.

“You’re judgmental! You always have been!” He replied with a bite in his tone.

“Angry already Damon? You know maybe you shouldn’t be here anymore. You don’t seem to really enjoy your job all that much.”

“Cute! Real fucking cute! You still think you’re just little miss perfect, don’t you?” He sneered at her.

“No. Not at all. I just know when to call you out on your bullshit.” She replied.

Damon lets out a dark chuckle then asks, “oh really? And what about your so-called Prince Charming?”

“This conversation has nothing to do with him.” She replies.

“Oh but it does, baby girl. Or at least it will.”

“What are you rambling on about?” She asks him.

“You treat me like I’m some kind of pariah, while you praise the ground your king walks on.” He sneered.

“It’s not my fault. If you had been the man you were supposed to be, I wouldn’t have to be here. I’m here thanks in part to you! If you had been a man when we were together, you wouldn’t have to see me with him now. I would’ve never met him if you hadn’t broken my heart!” She replies.

“And here we go! Here comes the victim act!” He said as he rolled his eyes at her. That infuriated her. She glared daggers at him before speaking what was on her heart.

“You know what? I have had enough of you saying I play the victim. I AM NOT A PLAYING A FUCKING VICTIM! What I tell the world is exactly what happened! YOU! WALKED! OUT! You threw us and what supposed to be our life together away! And you didn’t care what it did to me! You broke me! After giving you all that I had to give, you decided that it wasn’t good enough for you! What’s worse is you decided that I wasn’t good enough for you! You decided that you had to have more. So you went out and got it. You asked me to marry you, just for you to wind up fucking another woman! You decided to be a selfish, self centered bastard! You decided to smile in my face and tell me how much you loved me and how you couldn’t wait to marry me, all while you had the audacity to fuck her in my bed! You violated me! You humiliated me! I swore that I won’t forget this! So I make sure that the world won’t be able to forget it either!”

She was upset at this point and he knew it. He was getting to the point where he wanted her to be.

“And you think your prince is better, right? You think that he won’t hurt you?” He asks her.

“You know what? Yes I do! He loves me! He cares about me! He’s patient. He’s kind. He has a sense of honor, of decency and compassion! And you want to know what the best part about him is? The best part about him is that he’s twice the man and three times the lover that you will ever be!” She replies with rage in her tone.

“He’s twice the man I’ll ever be, huh? You sure about that?” He asks.

“Positive!” She replied.

“Poor little princess! She does the noble thing and defends her king, without realizing that she’s nothing more than a disposable bed warmer! That must be really nice!” He sneered.

That was when she had heard enough and slapped him. He was loving it. He knew what to say and do to set her off. And he was happily doing it to her.

“Ooh! Looks like I struck a nerve! You know? I forgot that you hit hard. I guess learning the truth about where you stand with his majesty stings.” He said to her.

“I fucking hate you!” She said as she seethed.

“That’s okay baby girl! You can hate me all you like. But at least I won’t be the only one.”

“What are you talking about?” She asks. Rather than answer her question, Damon smirked and pulled his phone out.

“A little something I recorded earlier. Consider it as a gift. Now while you watch I’m gonna get your bags. Happy watching!” He said to her as he gathered her luggage together and got it out the door.

She was still confused as to what he meant but she was about to find out. When her phone buzzed on the nightstand, she checked her text messages and saw the incoming text from Damon. It was a video. Which further confused her, until she opened and played it. And what she saw broke her heart.

“No! No! It can’t be! He wouldn’t! Not this! Not again!” She said as she continued to watch. She felt the tears well up in her eyes. It just couldn’t be. It wasn’t possible. But there it was in black and white.

Her man and his ex. Together in each other’s arms.

[scratchbandicoot]

Based on this lovely lil thing

He swears on all the comedy shows he’s ever watched, this would be the exact moment where things would freeze frame, record scratch, and insert corny line, like, “Hi, I’m Steve, you’re probably wondering how i got here-“

And normally, in a situation like this one, it wouldn’t at all be the case. Baking is like, a seriously mundane thing a lot of people do. Mostly housewives, grandmas or kids with their parents but it just so happens that Steve is the one doing the baking right now- and it should have gone without a hitch. So, 20 minutes of digging into the cabinets of his mom’s cook books- he began. He wanted it to be good, not a cop out box of mix because making it from scratch makes it more special. And it’s a fucking cake; how hard could it really be?

Apparently super fucking hard actually. Because what should have been a completely mundane, simple task that takes like 40 minutes tops- Steve was left with this. Referring to the absolute disaster that is his kitchen. There’s like, 8 eggshells scattered all over the countertop- one somehow ending up on the floor and another on his knee. There is a spilling bag of sugar on its side creating a hectic little pile that leaks onto the stove top- (Thank god for his parents expensive ass glass-top stoves.) Somehow he managed to spill olive oil around the sink when the recipe doesn’t even call for it- and to top it all off there is flour covering every inch of the kitchen and himself. The apron he has on does absolutely nothing, the powder covering his pastel blue cashmere button up- and he’s sure he somehow managed to get flour on places where the sun don’t shine. He’s three hours 45 minutes deep at this point and he knows he’s literally about to cry. He can feel his eyes burning with frustration and a huge lump tightening his throat with the threat of unshed tears. How did he get to this point? Well, lets backtrack.

It’s Billy’s birthday tomorrow . Steve has always done something special on Billy’s birthdays- even though he is like, super weird about gifts and being given things. Seriously, last time Steve gave Billy just a dumb little birthday card with snoopy dancing, and text that read ‘a big-smiling, fun-having, great-feeling birthday’- his nose srunched up like he had to sneeze and he gave the most awkward thanks followed by a back pat that- felt so absolutely “hiya pal” that Steve cackled out loud to the point he was in tears. Billy just burned red and sputtered all irritated, “Stop fucking laughing, Harrington.” Guy just cannot handle shows of affection.

This though, was a little more special. A little more personal than a rinky-dink peanuts birthday card- because billy really loved confetti cake. It brought back memories of his mom; how they used to bake the cake together on his younger birthdays, and how much he really missed it. Nothing could really beat the warmth of those memories, or the fondness painting Billy’s face when he recalled them- but goddamit- steve was gonna try, was trying, his actual best. He even convinced Keith that he’d take his next Saturday shift if he let him off the hook today to do this. His nonna had baked with him when he was young-like, 6- so he figured he’d pick it back up. Which was so not the case here. It’s safe to say he is more than a little rusty. So rusty in fact, that his old bike that he got for his 12th birthday that sits in the garage decaying and untouched, had absolutely nothing on him right now.

The first try was peppy; with a shimmy of hips and a waving whisk to the song playing from the sound system in the living room, and Steve thought genuinely that he did it right. He might have, maybe, with the recipe, but the lump of coal that was pulled out of the oven indicated heavily to the opposite. The smoke in the kitchen made Steve cough and gag, having to open up all the windows along with the screen door. The second attempt was a different outcome. Terrible, but different. A cake with singed edges and a liquidy inside that stuck to the pan and got scraped out with an uncermonious plop into the garbage. Mush, really, something akin to the texture of apple sauce. The third attempt Steve really focused, he swears, but that just ended up with a cake that didnt even rise and he was back to square 1 before he knew it with a beautifully new sense of defeat.

So, before he had an actual mental break over a goddamn cake he knew 7 year olds could make better, he called up Ms. Henderson for help. The lady is practically a god when it comes to baking and he really does not know how she does it. Whips out cookies and tarts and cupcakes like it’s going out of style.

“Hmm...oh! Sweetie, I think it might be the cornstarch. It sinks to the bottom of the pan if you don’t add baking soda- did you add baking soda?”

Steve glances at the forgotten unopened box of baking soda leaned against the stoves backsplash. He slaps himself mentally.

“Um, no. No i did not do that.”

“Well then, that’s it! You simply forgot a key ingredient is all. Not a big deal in the slightest.” Ms. Henderson was always very sweet to steve. Maybe because Dustin had become a little brother to him, but she never ever made him feel dumb. Always assured him mistakes are simply human.

“Right, right, yeah. I’ll add that. Thank you Ms. Henderson.” Steve goes to run a hand through his hair but is met with the headband pulling Steve’s hair from his eyes.

“Its Claudia sweetie, you know that.” Steve could hear the smile in her voice. She makes him feel better.

She gave a few more tips, how just white sugar might dry out the cake when used too much and using brown sugar will make the cake’s texture fluffier. He thanks her and hangs up with a sigh. Back to work.

He follows each step meticulously, following Claudia’s directions to a T and slips it into the oven; prays to god that this will be the last time he tries this. He’s only got one egg left and the overly sweet assortment of smells is starting to make him nauseous. After 45 excruciating minutes, Steve huffs and pulls out the cake. It looks... actually it looks like a cake. He smiles crookedly- holding his breath as he slips the cake onto the tray. It comes out in one piece, albeit lopsided, Steve whoops. He finally fucking did it- the cake actually looks like a confetti cake- and Steve is just so fucking proud of it, already going in to make the frosting before theres a ring at the door.

He frowns, wiping the flour on his watch head. It’s midnight- 12:07 am. Jesus christ, he started this at 7 pm, he didn’t even realize-

He hurries up to the door trying to wipe off the flour and make himself semi presentable. The door swings open and it’s Billy. He’s holding a six pack of Natural Light and a smirk that warps into a surprised raise of his eyebrows at Steve’s current state. He’s sure he must like he just ran a drug cartel or something.

“Hi, pretty boy.” Billy says as he walks in, checking Steve up and down. “Whats uh, whats up with your threads? Look like you jumped head first into coke or got real personal with Frosty the Snowman”

Stve rolls his eyes. His breath catches when he sees Billy start walking to the kitchen. He runs and blocks Billy in the doorway.

“You can’t go in there.”

Billy frowns, “What, you actually got drugs in there or somethin’?”

“No- you just- you can’t go in there. Not allowed.”

“Cmon baby whatcha got in there?” Billy starts to nudge past him; never was good at waiting.

“Wait, no- Billy- don’t-“

Billy takes in the state of the kitchen with a confused look and low whistle before his eyes land on the unfrosted confetti cake sitting on the kitchen island in all it’s lopsided glory. He freezes.

Steve waddles up behind him; following his gaze as he chews on his lip.

“I’m sorry, didn’t have time to make the frosting. Wanted it to be a surprise.” Steve scratches the nape of his neck sheepishly.

Billy’s still just standing there, and for a moment Steve is afraid he overstepped. That he was hijacking a moment from Billy’s mom that was only okay to do if she did it. He tries to get a read on Billy from his side profile since Billy is only turned slightly towards him but he can’t. A few more seconds of Billy standing there- and what Steve hopes is stunned silence- before Billy quietly murmurs,

“You made me a confetti cake?”

Steve holds his breath after a strained little, “Yeah.” The unshed tears from earlier are threatening to fall again, “You said you loved confetti cake, and that it made you happy. Wanted to make you happy.”

Billy spins on his heel fast, catching Steve’s face in his hands and lips with his own. Steve’s heart bursts and jerks a little with the surprise. It’s a chaste thing, just a press of lips, before Billy pulls away.

“You’re so... you just...” Billy trailed off and it was, like, a huge thing for Steve in that moment. Billy? Speechless? Steve never thought he’d see the day. It makes his face heat but his heart full and he beams.

“I’m... what?” He draws out.

“Fuckin’- somethin’. You’re somethin’ else.” Billy tugs him in by the waist and uses the other hand to swipe at the flour on Steve’s cheek. He looks so goddamn fond it makes Steve’s heart rate skyrocket.

“Is it okay?”

Billy hums, “It’s so okay. So much better than okay.”

He presses sweet little kisses to Steve’s lips and Steve can’t stop smiling.

“Well,” he says between pecks, “I wanted to do something special.”

Billy hums again, kisses trailing pepper like to his cheeks, his forehead, his nose and now down his neck.

Steve fights down the urge to shiver as he wraps his arms around the other’s shoulders. But-then he feels a wetness at the crook of his neck and makes a soft concerned noise at the back off his throat. He tugs Billy gently off and is met with blue, glassy eyes. Billy was tearing up.

“Thank you.” Billy says wetly, gently, before hugging Steve tight. “God- i- thank you.”

Steve smiles sweetly, hands going into Billy’s hair. He doesn’t ask because he doesn’t need to. Knows that this is Billy being happy, knows that this isn’t bad, knows Billy. Loves Billy.

Steve pokes Billy’s sides- grins, “Happy birthday, baby.” And punctuates it with a kiss.

[ellethecalm]

I am struggling to keep chill, not Ether some people, and take an issue to the next level. I have to remember that silence has a huge impact.

Silence says everything.

But it also says nothing.

And that's the part that's killing me. My pride. My need for everyone to know the story-the correct narrative.

Lashing out won't fix a single thing. At least not in the short run. Perhaps timing is everything. I just have to be patient until I'm in the correct space to destroy this bitch and her oldest spawn. I'm not committed to the idea of staying silent forever.

(Especially while my partner is being attacked because my partner is a reflection of me and I don't deal with thieves who screw over their family and friends. Truth be told for all his faults, all he does is over extend himself for these losers. That's our issue, he puts all these ppl ahead of our relationship- Which is a rant for another time.)

I've been deep in prayer lately trying to find strength and peace. I have so many other things that need my attention right now- not this dysfunctional crap. I can't find the focus/emotional resolve to only pay attention to those things. Time really can't move fast enough. I'm ready to dissolve myself from the drama that seems to attach itself to these people monthly.

My life in general is not full of drama-it is full of self appointed loathing. That's much different than drama. I have self esteem and discipline issues. Not tax, money, gossip, betrayal, law enforcement, threats of violence issues. Whenever we link up to help this bitch, we always get all of this crap. And it's enduring.

My new rule is never again help traumatized people that are perpetual victims. They don't heal and they're damaged, beaten dogs in a corner waiting to lash out- funnily enough, never at the origin of their issues in the first place. They lash out at the ones that put their guard down to help.

My guess is that this is the only time they feel powerful. They buck up like you owe them something because you aren't as fucked in the head as they are.

Fuck y'all and the assholes that beat and ruined y'all. Never ever do you have smoke for the ppl that are freely and safely walking around here that actually tormented you. You want to threaten death to someone who cosigned loans for you, paid your debts, contemplatiled adding you to their credit lines and signed a mortgage for you?!

You want beef with and want to ruin the ones that put their own lives on hold to help your unemployed asses and your 50-11 kids you keep pushing out and your ford fusion neckbeard bugeyed huzzzband. I hope you suffer for the rest of your life you lying sack of shit.

I wish that officer had stomped a hole in you and pushed your manipulative ass over the fence. That's On God.

You let a racist motherfucker kick your kid's ass with steel toed boots on and break his bones while you escaped your own ass whooping by running off to flea markets to spend money you don't have. You telling your one mixed child that he ain't mixed he white like his momma-when racists kids are making fun of him. You threatened your kids with homelessness if they get kicked off the football team for bad grades- not because you care about their grades but because you thought they were a shoe in for the NFL and you wanted to live your footballer mom life. You cant help your 8th grade dropout now single mother 17 year old daughter straighten up. When she only had sex with boys because you said you would disown her if she were a lesbian- now she too is a single teen mother with a mixed kid y'all don't have the racial awareness to care for with a boy who shoots up residential homes- literally she's just like you were cuz your stupid ass never had the talk. your other kid has a pending rape charge and the little ones only now just learning to read and write their names. You are a shit mother. You think being a mom is an accomplishment..maybe because that the only thing you can produce is kids with 10 fingers and 10 toes. But you ain't raising them right. And you don't have a Monopoly on birthing, ho.

As for me and mine, we could start a family right now if we wanted and raise them a million times better than you could ever dream; but we have goals to meet and work to do as individuals. We are not gonna just be popping out babies because we're aimless and haven't worked for 10+ years.

Broke, crazy bitches like you make me sick.

And I forgot to add you a whole psycho for wishing death on your step kids cuz your bland, horrible cooking gave them acid reflux and they were vomiting all over the place.

[my-arlington-academia]

Hello! Could I get headcanons for the main 10 with a Scholar who likes to leave love letters around for them to find?

Yes! 💗 and thank you for the request ✊ I'm not sure if they're already dating or not? I'm gonna assume they are. (This turned out to be so long! I'm gonna flood the tags again...)

Alistair

- first time you gave him one, it was on his desk

- he tried to read as swiftly as he could, but as he was reading through it, he started getting weird looks from the other students

- not surprising, he was grinning the whole time

- Raquel tried to look over his shoulder

- "Oooohhh~ what's that? A love letter? You're so popular with the ladies haha."

- he immediately hides it and stuffs it in his bag

- "Psh. N-no? It was just uhhh... homework!"

- poor boy sucks at lying

- "Of course, I'm sure everyone smiles like that at homework."

- Alistair keeps on giving you glances during class

- he didn't have the time to read all of it but he did see that you signed it and your handwriting is really recognizable

- afterwards, he quietly reads it in his room

- his heart races at each word

- comes to your room as soon as he finishes reading it

- "Y/N I came here to th- than- uhhh? Yeah! To thank you! Haha..."

- for a hot second he forgot how words work

- is laughing out of nervousness

- after that, you keep giving him more and more letters

- he starts consciously expecting to find one on his desk when he walks in

- is really sad when there's nothing on the desk...

Axel

- he already receives a lot of love letters ("fanmail") so how can you give it to him while making sure that he knows it's yours right away?

- you thought of a silly trick to throw him off guard

- When he's walking through the hallways you call out his name and give him the letter, you tell him that "he dropped this"

- he's surprised so he automatically grabs the letter

- "Oh! Thank you for picking it up for- Wait. I don't think this is mine. Uh...?"

- too late! You ran away immediately

- it takes him a few seconds to understand what you just did

- he's excited! But of course he's not going to read it in the middle of the hallway

- skips the beginning of next class to read it carefully in the cafeteria

- he blushes furiously at how passionate the letter is

- he's persuaded that you could write a beautiful love song

- comes in class 20 minutes late and gets detention from Tadashi but to be honest, he doesn't even care anymore

- When he walks in, he gives you a subtle look but you know what that look means

- you're so embarrassed that you try to ignore him the whole period... until he stealthly throws a paperball on your desk

- you open it, it says "look my way"

- even though you're mortified, you do so anyway

- he waves at you and smirks all knowingly

- ohhhh boy, you look away again

- you hear a stifled laugh, he probably thinks your reaction was really cute

Claire

- she often lends you pretty little boxes with cookies in them

- but when you have to give the box back to her, you get an idea

- you put a love letter in the empty box and give it back to Claire

- she discovers it in the evening when she opens the box, expecting to only find crumbs you left behind

- blinks a few times and closes the box

- opens it again and the letter is still inside

- she thinks "it wasn't a hallucination!"

- reads it really slowly because she has to stop at each sentence to calm herself down

- the next day she gives you the box again with the new cookies she baked yesterday

- runs away as soon as you take the box

- you open it and there's a letter on top of the cookies, it's a response to your letter!

- seems like she was too shy to tell you in person

- to fit the theme of the letter: the cookies are heart-shaped

- you guys keep on exchanging letters through the box and it becomes a habit between the two of you

Ellie

- since she doesn't have a roommate, you slide the letter through the small space under her door

- finds it on the floor when she gets back to her room

- OwO whats dis?

- opens it and reads it super quickly

- she's so giddy that she reads over it multiple times

- sends you text messages with lots of emojis in them

- "Thank youuu 💖💕💗 you sweetheart!!! 💘💝😍😊😘"

- builds a robot to deliver letters between the two of you

- it knocks on the door and if you don't open it to take the letter, it goes back to Ellie

- she teaches you how to use the robot!

- "Don't worry! If someone else snatches the letter away from the robot it'll activate an alarm on my phone! And it's not like we need to sign the letters, we can use codenames!"

- You remind her that she's the only one in the pure and applied sciences department to create cute robots like those

- "Ah whoops... well uh, to be fair everyone already knows that we're dating so... no need to hide it!"

Karolina

- she probably doesn't care much about love letters

- she always thought that it's childish and extremely ridiculous

- that is until you gave her one

- the really first time you gave the letter to her directly or else she wouldn't read it, not knowing that it was from you

- she's all proud of herself while reading it

- she agrees with each statement but still blushes

- "Of course I'm gorgeous! You didn't have to write that part..."

- she's actually a sucker for books, especially from the romance genre

- you make her feel like a heroine from one of those books and she's secretly really happy about it

- but she'll never admit that of course

- after a while she gets inspired and tries to write one herself

- she thinks "I'll show you how it's done!"

- ends up getting really embarrassed at the thought of you reading the letter and doesn't give it to you until the end of the year

Neha

- after multiple attempts you somehow managed to sneak the letter in one of her sketchbooks

- too bad you couldn't see the surprise on her face when she found your letter

- she wanted to work for a few hours and brainstorm ideas for some new outfits

- but her plans went out of the window

- she read it. Put it on the side and started thinking about you during a solid 20 minutes

- wants to thank you but doesn't know how to do it without sounding like a little kid

- decides to send you a text for now, but she'll also write you a letter later

- "Thank you a lot for the letter. I really appreciate it."

- thinks that maybe it's a little bit too cold so she adds a heart emoji at the end

- cringes to herself while sending it

- gets back to work but sometimes she draws your face on the side

- scribbles all over it when she realizes what she's doing

- "This is not professional! If I have to show my sketchbook to someone and they see this, they won't take me seriously..."

- decides to write you a letter first or else she won't be able to focus

Raquel

- This is a hard one

- Raquel always moves from place to place without stop so it's hard to be sneaky with her

- eventually you slip the letter in her bag but you don't know how much time it'll take for her to find it

- like you thought it took her a few days

- when she did, she was very vocal about it

- she ran to you and almost jumped on you

- hugs you and thanks you hundreds of times

- "I love you too!!! You're so sweet Y/N..."

- becomes much more flirty, she was already confident but now it's even worse (or better? 😌)

- puts the letter on the wall of her room and shows it off to Claire

- "Look at that Claire! It seems like my godly charm cannot be stopped."

- Raquel starts carefully checking her bag everyday in hopes of finding another letter from you

- and even when she doesn't find anything, it gets her into a working mood

- "Might as well do my homework I guess..."

- becomes much more responsible with homework now that she checks her bag everyday

- your love literally helped her to get better grades

Tadashi

- This was a risky mission

- you had to sneak into the student council room and leave it on his desk

- they had a meeting this afternoon and Tadashi has been in a bad mood lately

- Well, to be fair he's always done with everybody's BS but this time it was worse than usual

- he finds the letter and gets confused right away

- wants to read it but he's having a meeting

- he's really fidgety the whole time, for some reason he has a feeling that it's from you though he can't explain why

- once everyone leaves the room he opens the letter

- all of his stress dies down, he falls back on his chair and sighs

- goes to find you and brings you to the council room, he makes you sit on his chair

- you tell him that you can't be here but he smiles and answers "Oh? You say that now even though you snuck in earlier to give me a secret love letter of all things?"

- he teases you with endearment and massages your back to thank you

- asks you if you'll write more (because he loved it) and you promise to do so if he promises to take more breaks

Tegan

- Tegan often invites you to play videos games with him (or to marathon some shows/anime/movies/whatever)

- you left the letter behind for him but he didn't catch the drift

- goes to your room to give it back

- "Um... you forgot this, I think..."

- you tell him that it's for him

- "Wait, really? You can just text me, you know? It's quicker and way easier than writing letters."

- oooohhhh boy. He really doesn't get it, you have to spell it out

- "A l-love letter? For me!?"

- "Tegan. We're dating."

- "Oh right! Sorry... I always forget that, it seems like I'm in a dream..."

- reads it in front of you while you're paying close attention to his reactions

- and to no surprise: he's a blushing mess

- you're fully satisfied, all that time was worth it

- he says that he'll repay you with a "love text message" which sounds like he's being lazy, but really knowing how... "unique" his handwriting is, you're glad...

- but it was not just a text message.

- "Sorry, I went a bit overboard 🙏🙏"

- his text has a 23 pages long file attached to it

- he wrote a really really long essay explaining in details why you're "so awesome" and "the best person in the world"

Tyler

- after classes are over, when he's working on a new painting he spends almost all of his time in the art room

- that's when you strike!

- you know he has a habit of sitting in the corner of the room so that's where you leave the letter

- honestly, he was in a slump lately because he felt like he was doing a really half-assed job with his new art piece

- but your letter gave him so much motivation that he finished the painting in a day

- "This is crazy Y/N! Reading your letter gave me the same rush as drinking 5 monster drinks in the span of 2 hours!"

- "Uhhh... Please don't do that?"

- laughs at how worried you look and asks you to write more to give him strength

- you say no at first but he pulls out your letter out of his pocket and starts reading it out loud in the middle of the hallway

- "Ssshhh! People might hear!"

- "Yeah, so? That's kinda the point but if you promise to write me more I'll stop~"

- you know he's just teasing you but it's still so embarrassing...

- in the end you give in out of shame however you have no idea just how much this letter helped him

- whenever he feels down or like he's not good enough he pulls out one of your letters and reads it

- he keeps all of them safe in a box, they're his treasures