#I had classes earlier today so it took me a while to respond to this but it was such an enjoyable exercise - thank you for the ask!

[thecountoflondonfansite]

Two Brains drove surprisingly calm this time down the roads. It made Henry and Hyde somewhat nervous. Both noticed the grim expression on the mad scientist’s face. “Is everything alright, dearest?” Henry asked with concern. Two Brains didn’t immediately respond and seemed to ponder on what he should say. He seemed to relent as he began to respond to his boyfriend’s question. “Honestly, I’m not…and you won’t be as well. The truth is, I gave a half truth about our lunch date. I’ll stop by somewhere and pick us something to-go, but I’m taking you to my warehouse. The chaotic four and I need to talk to you about Lucian.” Two Brains admitted. Henry looked shocked. He understood why Two Brains gave a lie earlier since there were other people around including Amber. For pete’s sake he nor Edward mentioned Lucian to Rachel yet. “Did he bother ye as well today?” Henry asked in a worried tone. Two Brains looked alarmed by Henry’s question. “Not me, but that’s not important right now. What do you mean by today?” Two Brains asked, looking just about as panicked as Henry and Hyde even though he couldn’t see him. “Well ah unfortunately ran into Lucian at the park earlier. Ah was taking Amber there to play because she had a terrible nightmare last night about her experience. Ah was trying to make her feel better. Luckily, Adrian came by and scared Lucian off. Turns out he is part vampire as well. Ah asked Adrian to stay with us until we had to leave so Lucian wouldn’t try coming back. Unfortunately, Tobey had launched his robots to attack because he was upset with Gabriel and was worried about me when ah didn’t come to class today. Ah asked Adrian to take Amber back to the apartment while ah tried to convince Tobey to calm down. Luckily he did, but then his mother came and took him away. She was quite cross with him. Wordgirl took me back to the apartment but Adrian had already left by the time we arrived. Wordgirl returned back to school by the time ye called me.” Dr. Two Brains was feeling a mix of worry, relief, anger and irritation after Henry told him his story. “I’m glad you’re okay and Lucian didn’t hurt you or Amber. I just wish you wouldn’t risk your life again even if it was to help Tobey.” Two Brains exclaimed. Henry gave him a sheepish smile. “Rachel already gave me a lecture about that. Ah honestly feel bad for Tobey and consequently his mother. Ah know it’s not me place to judge others parenting, but ah feel Tobey and his mother are having a hard time compromising on how to help him properly express his emotions through non violent means. He is a brilliant child, but he doesn’t have to use his robots for nefarious deeds.” Two Brains was amazed and moved by Henry’s concern for the kid, just another reason why he loved that man. “Mrs. McCallsiter isn’t honestly a bad parent. I met her a few times and she does love her son. It’s not the villainy she gets frustrated with mainly, it’s the bills and complaints she receives from Tobey’s destructive rampages that get her mad. Tobey does love his mom as well even though he is also terrified of her anger. She definitely does a much better job than her ex husband could ever do.” Two Brains remarked with a huff. Henry looked surprised. He hadn’t met Tobey’s father and assumed his parents were either divorce or it was similar to Becky’s situation with an absent or dead parent. “Ah never met Tobey’s father. Does Mr. Mcallister live in Fair City or not?” Henry inquired, momentarily forgetting about Lucian. Two Brains winced as he realized he admitted too much and he knew Henry would not like his answer. “His last name isn’t McCallister, it’s Claire’s maiden name."

Henry felt devastated for his oldest friend. "That's absolutely horrible. I can't possibly imagine what Robert is going through. Even though he had issues with his father, this would no doubt affect him greatly.” His heart ached for Robert. Having lost his father due to a murder. Who could've done that? Was it the same person who attempted to kill Mr. Danvers Carew with the fire which Hyde got framed for? “You said it seemed personal. Why do you say that, old friend?” The lawyer took a moment to answer. “The murder was grisly and there wasn't anything stolen from the crime scene. It sounded more than just a robbery gone wrong. If it was truly that, expensive items would've been missing yet it all remained. I'm honestly shocked that Robert never told you. You two were always so close. Practically inseparable from college.” Henry looked visibly uncomfortable and solemn due to what his friend had said. “Thank you for telling me this. I do hope Robert will tell me about this on his own time. I won't force him or rush him.” Gabriel nodded at that. “Are you going to tell him?” The teacher seemed hesitant to answer that. “I will, once he has his own problems sorted. I would rather not add onto his problems with my own.” While it was true, Henry also didn't want to make things more complicated for Robert. He knew that his best friend had HJ7 and possibly could have ingested it. Leading to his own soul being split. It would only stress him out which could lead to his possible version of Hyde to get better control over him. It would only serve as ammo Robert's counterpart could use against him. “That is quite understandable. You two have been through a lot. Also considering the incident with your former employee. Mr. Hyde. It's been so stressful for both of you.” Hyde felt nervous whenever Gabriel would mention him. It felt like he could so easily uncover who he truly was to Henry. It was why he never appeared around him either. It's not that they didn't trust him. Not at all. As crazy as Hyde thought he was, he didn't want to possibly lose a friend he technically never met. He actually liked Gabriel and knew that the lies Henry kept would hurt the man deeply. It was a shared fear between Henry and Edward. “Thank you for understanding that, Gabriel. Also thank you for helping me.” Gabriel offered him a warm smile. “Of course. I would do anything for my dearest friends.” It troubled Henry. Why didn't Robert say anything about his father? Yet again, Robert did keep it a secret that he had a vial of HJ7 too. Becky looked confused, she had known about the murder of Dr. Lanyons father before he did. She was sure he would've known. Before the young girl could think about it further, she heard a voice calling for her. It was her uncle's voice. She listened to him calling, luckily Gabriel was too occupied with Henry to notice that. She went over to her father and tugged at his sleeve. Making Dr.Two-Brains lean over so she could whisper into his ear. “Dad, Uncle Alan is calling me. It sounds really urgent, I'll be back as soon as possible.” The mad scientist seemed reluctant to let her leave but nodded. “Alright, please don't take too long. Be careful.” With that said, Becky left. The moment she was alone, checking to make sure it was safe, Becky transformed and flew straight to Alan's and Hugh's apartment. She wondered why he called for her instead of going there himself. It must've been something serious. When she arrived, Becky went to the apartment she knew they resided in. Giving the door a couple of knocks before it was answered by Alan. Behind him were the other three of the four. “Uncle Alan? What are the others doing here?” His expression remained stoic. “We wanted to tell you something. We need you to tell your dad to turn his phone on. We have urgent information to tell him. Something has happened. We need to tell him what as well as the information we gained from it.”

Becky looked alarmed at what her uncle had just said. "Does it have something to do with Dr. Barriton?" Becky inquired as she remembered her dad telling her about the blonde scientist. Becky never really met him since the guy was fired when she was a baby. Her dad did describe him as an absolute narcissus and prick who was Athena's cousin. Becky didn't hold it against anyone to be related to that psycho woman since her twin brother Eris was a good person. She held the man's character and lack of morals against him. Alan shook his head. "No, it wasn't Calvin. Have you heard any of the adults speak of a Lucian Bennett?" Alan asked his niece. Becky pondered the question a bit and shook her head. "Not really, no." She answered. "Who is he?" The four looked at each other, not really sure how to explain. Hugh decided to speak about the man and his encounter to a degree. "We are not entirely sure who Lucian is as a person, but we know he is like Edward Hyde. By that, I mean he is the counterpart of someone who took the HJ7 formula." Becky's eyes widened at Hugh's explanation. There was someone out there who had their own Mr. Hyde! "Does Dr. Jekyll know about Lucian?" Becky asked in an urgent tone. The others gave a nod. "Yeah, he is aware of Lucian. He is also aware of the man having his own variation of the HJ7 formula though he isn't entirely sure how it is possible." Jenkins explained. "Listen, Becky. We really need to get in touch with your dad. It's difficult to explain but Lucian had nearly gotten physical with Hugh. We need to tell your dad what we know and what happened. Alan couldn't fly to Henry's house since it would have caused some alarm and we know the others are still recovering from Athena's attack. That is why he contacted you." Patricia explained in a serious tone. Becky nodded as she understood the gravity of the situation. "Okay, I'll get my dad." The heroine then took off back to Dr. Jekyll's apartment. "Where did your daughter run off too?" Gabriel asked. "Oh, she remembered she had to go outside and call her uncle Alan and let him know she couldn't spend the night at his and Hugh's home this Friday since personal things came up." Dr Two Brains quickly explained. Utterson looked surprised at the response. "She had to take her phone call outside." The lawyer exclaimed with a slightly suspicious tone. Two Brains internally panicked. 'Why can't this guy be as dumb as the rest of the civilians in this city.' "Oh well it was special bonding family thing they had this weekend though Becky is no longer feeling up to it. She and her uncle Alan have unique traditions that are not meant for other ears to hear. It shouldn't take to long for Becky to speak with Alan." Two Brains exclaimed. Henry seemed to catch onto the hidden meaning of his boyfriends' words and decided to help cover for him. "It's a strange but endearing characteristic that my boyfriend's family has. They like to keep their personal businesses private, even if it is just regular, family matters." Henry added. Gabriel looked a bit confused but quickly shook it off for now. "If you say so, Henry." He then turned to Dr. Two Brains. "So your brother is dating Dr. Mann?" Gabriel asked Two Brains shook his head. "No, Alan is dating Hugh, but he isn't my brother. He is technically my brother-in-law. He is Becky's mom's sibling." The mad scientist corrected. In what seemed to be a short amount of time, Becky returned inside. "Hey, kiddo. How did your talk with Uncle Alan go on the phone?" Dr. Two Brains inquired. Becky greeted her dad with a smile but Two Brains and Henry could tell that it was faked. "It went well, but he wanted me to let you know to turn on your phone. Hugh and the other four have been trying to reach you and see how you were doing." Becky respond. Two Brains looked embarrassed and quickly pulled out his phone to turn it on. His eyes widened as he saw the missed calls. "Oops. Sorry. I turned my phone off because I was having a conversation with Henry and didn't want to be disturbed." Two Brains exclaimed. @unhingedexperimenter

[divorceblogger]

hope it isn’t weird to barge into yr dms re: the mythology metaphors, but yr post sparked a thought in me! idk too much about Marius’ timeline, but I believe he would have been a contemporary of Ovid (exiled in 8 AD). the pursuit of Daphne, Leda, and Ganymede are all in Ovid’s Metamorphoses — a LOT going on in the poem re: sexual violence’s transformative effects (and this feels possibly significant in the context of vampiric “turning” as a metamorphosis?). the marble statues make me think of Pygmalion & Galatea which is also another passage in Metamorphoses that has weird implications abt consent. i am going to try to flip thru the footnotes of my copy later bc i haven’t refreshed my memory on ovid in a hot minute

not at all, I love talking to people on here - and I never considered that angle but it seems so obvious in hindsight! marius is very much a product of and clings to the prevalent ideas of his time in a way that’s not very subtle at all, transferring his belief systems to various fledgling vampires and using controlled imposition of literacy & culture as a tool of subjugation (which is a pattern of behaviour louis also emulates with claudia in the books), and it reminded me of a specific passage from an article on pederastic relations that I found relevant to the larger conversation:

I haven’t read the metamorphoses yet myself so it’s interesting that you should bring up pygmalion and galatea because they’re mentioned in the vampire armand too (perhaps indicating a conscious intent to reference ovid?), but it wasn’t in a context that made sense to include in the other post. The transformative role that seems to be such a common theme associated with sexual violence is very much in line with what the books do otherwise too, I’d say - they label all human victims ‘brides’ which has certain implications for marital relations as a large for vampires who seem to develop very dysfunctional companionships; louis himself also describes the turning of a human by a vampire as a sexual act, and a mutual and I also recently discussed how claudia’s own turning seemed to draw on a lot of language used to describe assault.

this is also slightly less relevant, but in the continued context of violence imposed through a controlled parcelling out of literacy, I enjoyed drawing comparisons between lolita and the vampire armand, specifically looking into language as a tool of violence even if I don’t necessarily think anne wrote that with conscious intent.

[maitanii]

IT WASN'T LOVE. He wasn't in love. Ran Haitani, definitely, wasn't in love.

However, as his finger scrolled through the phone screen each night, attempting to delete some blurry photos where only the outline of a smile was discernible, laziness conveniently took hold, allowing those files to continue occupying space on the phone.

On closer inspection, you're not that pretty. He wouldn't even say you're pretty, just an ordinary girl. Those five freckles scattered across your cheeks aren't that beautiful, even though they reminded him of the constellations Rindou always points out when they travel to the countryside. The poorly painted nails, slightly bitten at the corners, are just another sign that you're a mess, although he always brings a nail file for you to use. And the small chip in your front teeth? Nothing out of the ordinary, but he was with you when the fall happened (and watched you cry yourself to sleep while holding you on the couch).

"Are you listening to me?"

"Loud and clear."

"Right." Returning to spear the fork into the salad, you made sure not to pick any tomatoes. Those were left for Ran. "When is the fight?"

"Tomorrow." Reaching for his cutlery, he began to stab at his food. "Are you worried?" he commented before starting to chew.

"Don't talk with food in your mouth, pig." Placing your face in your hands, you turned your head to look out the window.

"Okay."

The red lights from the opposite building reflected on your forehead. In just a minute, Ran had noticed you had gotten new highlights in your hair. He also spotted the small pimple that had popped up near your chin and the poorly applied concealer on it. The tension in your shoulders. And that you didn't want to look him in the eyes.

"What time is the fight tomorrow?" you asked as Ran's slender fingers played with the engraving on the fork.

Ask me not to go.

"At seven. But South always asks us to arrive earlier. Should we order dessert?"

Ask me not to go.

"Okay."

Come on, ask me not to go.

Taking his gaze away from some point on your face, he lowered his head. The ambient music in the restaurant slipped into the silence of the conversation. How could he fall in love with someone who worried about him getting hurt in a fight? Trust was the foundation of any relationship, right? Damn it.

The Mont Blanc and the cheesecake didn't last long on the table. In a fork battle, the desserts soon disappeared. Rindou had always suffered the consequences of stealing bites from his food, so why had he fought with you to accept eating the last piece of Mont Blanc?

"I have exams soon, and I'd like to get up early. Can you take me home?"

"Sure." Smiling, Ran thanked the waiter who cleared their plates (the first time he didn't thank him, you reproached him for it). "But you have to let me pay."

"No."

"Then I guess you'll have to walk home alone."

"No problem."

He sighed. Fighting was pointless. In all the years since your friendship began, you had never let him pay an entire bill. Not even when your ex-boyfriend left you and gave you several jars of ice cream could you avoid leaving some coins on a piece of furniture at his house. Or when he gave you that bouquet of flowers on Valentine's Day, and you left two boxes of chocolates on the backseat of the car.

The way back home was quiet. To no one's surprise, you chose the music, and he chose the topic of conversation. The guys from your economics class. The new mascara that didn't leave many clumps. The scholarship you had applied for months ago. He was so engrossed that he got distracted and ended up driving through several streets, prolonging the journey. Well, what a silly mistake.

"Thanks for bringing me home. And thanks for today." Raising your thumbs, you drew a slight smile on your face. "I needed to get out for a while."

"I know, you took too long to respond to my messages."

"I always do that."

"Not to an invitation to have dinner at your favorite restaurant."

"You know me so well." Pinching his cheeks between your fingers, you watched as he squinted his eyes.

Closing the car door, Ran watched as you began to search for the keys to the gate in your bag. Taking out his phone, he checked the messages he had received during dinner. Two taps on the door prevented him from replying to the meme Rindou had sent him. Your perfume once again invaded the interior of the car.

"Ran." The concern in your voice made him immediately turn his head. "I know it's a lot to ask, but please try not to go to the fight tomorrow. You can come up with any excuse and come to my house. But please, don't go."

A smile began to slowly form on his face.

He wasn't in love. But when he got home and wrote a message to South saying he had a fever, he had done it with immense joy in his heart. And when he went to bed and looked at the photos he never deleted from his gallery, he would write again in his notes the places he wanted to take you. But he wasn't in love because what he felt was beyond any of that."

[lilacmingi]

FORBIDDEN FOREST

My works are 14+ ONLY. If you’re under 14 DO NOT interact with me or any of my works

Pairing: Slytherin!Wooyoung x Gryffindor!fem reader

Word count: 3,662

Note: Reminder that this is an imagine from my Wattpad from 2023 so there will not be extra parts or continuations

"Woah." You gaped, taking a seat beside Wooyoung at the dining hall table.

His lengthy black hair was now accompanied with striking blonde on the lower layer.

"Oh, you noticed my hair?" He grinned, flipping it in a dramatic manner.

"It's hard not to."

"Do you like it?"

"I love it."

Wooyoung grinned brightly in response. "We were practicing the colovaria charm today and I thought why not leave my hair like it is."

"It suits you."

"You think so?"

You nodded, bringing your hand up to run your fingers through his hair, allowing the soft strands to pass between your digits as you admired the two-toned colors.

"It's very unique and stands out just like you."

Wooyoung started giggling, trying to hide the fact that your comment got him flustered, but he could feel his cheeks getting warm and no doubt turning pink. It didn't help that you were playing with his hair, making his heart do somersaults in his chest.

Wooyoung was a Slytherin and you were a Gryffindor, the two houses have had a long-standing rivalry for decades. Despite that, the two of you had become great friends—the best of friends, actually. Sure he could be a pain in the butt sometimes, but what friend isn't?

"You kinda look like an Oreo." You mentioned while looking at his new hair.

He looked at you quizzically. "What's an Oreo?"

Your mouth dropped open in complete and utter shock.

"Wooyoung, you need to get with it."

"What are you talking about? What's an Oreo?"

"If you want to know, meet me in the North Tower this afternoon after your last class."

"Okay?"

Later that day, Wooyoung met you in the North Tower as you had requested earlier during lunch. He found you standing there patiently, waiting for his arrival.

"Okay, I'm here. Now what?"

"Sit down."

The both of you took a seat on the stone flooring of the tower and you pulled out a package of Oreos, placing it on the ground before carefully pulling back the plastic seal.

Wooyoung reached inside and retrieved one of the black and white treats, examining it for a moment.

"They're cookies." He noted.

"Yes."

Wooyoung started to eat the small snack but before he could, you smacked it out of his hand, sending it right out one of the tower's archways.

"No."

"What was that for?" He whined.

"You're doing it wrong." You told him, pulling a thermos out of your bag. "If you're going to experience Oreos you have to do it properly."

Wooyoung watched as you unscrewed the cap that doubled as a cup, pouring something into it and handing it over.

"It's... milk."

"Exactly." You responded, handing him a new cookie.

He sat there, holding both things in his hands, not really knowing what to do.

"You dip it." You told him, proceeding to mimic the actions.

When he didn't budge, you reached out and grabbed his wrists, forcing him to dunk the cookie into the milk.

"Now, leave it for a few seconds, but not too long. There's a science to this."

You waited for just a brief moment before nodding, giving him the green light. He excitedly pulled the cookie out of the milk and took a bite, his eyes widening almost instantly.

"These are amazing!" He gasped. "Is this what muggles like to eat?"

"Yep! Half-bloods like me get the best of both worlds." You grinned proudly, resting your arms behind your head while you gloated.

Originally, you thought introducing Wooyoung to Oreos was a great idea but you're afraid you started something because he had unknowingly finished the remainder of the pack.

"Wooyoung, that was supposed to last me the whole month. I won't be able to get any more until my parents send some next month."

"Sorry." He grinned bashfully. "They're just so good."

You couldn't be mad at him, nor could you hold back the small triumphant grin that played at your lips.

"I know right?"

You started tidying everything up, putting a cap on your now empty thermos and putting any trash into your bag to toss later.

"Now you know why I compared your hair to an Oreo." You smiled, reaching over to brush Wooyoung's hair back. "I hope you keep it like this for a while."

That was two months ago and his hair has remained the same color ever since.

The both of you sat in the study hall poring over transfiguration textbooks before class. Wooyoung's fingertip ghosted across the paper as he reread the same paragraph over and over, stopping every few seconds to push his hair away from his face, the long, stubborn strands coming untucked and falling down in his line of sight, pestering him. You noticed this and tugged off the hair tie you conveniently kept around your wrist, moving over to him. He flinched slightly as your fingers raked through his hair, pulling it away from his face.

"Here." You murmured.

Wooyoung's eyelids fluttered closed in response to your digits running through his hair, his heart hammering against his rib cage. You worked quietly, taking the top layer of his two-toned hair and tying it into a small ponytail so that it would stay out of his way.

"There. That should help."

As you sat back down, Wooyoung's hand came up to feel the layer of hair that had been secured at the top of his head.

"Thanks."

When you tied his hair back, you thought you were doing him a favor, which you were, but the hairstyle only made your heart jump. He looked way too good.

Once it was nearing time for class to start, the both of you gathered your things and headed in the direction of the transfiguration classroom.

"We should do something fun after school." Wooyoung spoke up.

"Like what?"

Wooyoung's definition of fun was usually something that could get you guys expelled. Though, it never happened and he somehow always managed to keep both of you out of detention, you despised almost every "fun" idea he had.

"I think I'll pass."

"Why?" He frowned.

"You know why."

How on earth did you end up end up here?

Jung Wooyoung, that's how.

Your mischievous Slytherin friend insisted on taking a walk, but of course it wasn't a normal walk. Nothing with Jung Wooyoung is ever normal; he's always got something up his sleeve. That's how you ended up standing at the tree line of the Forbidden Forest, your trouble-making counterpart continuing towards the cluster of trees with no signs of stopping.

"Wooyoung!" You hissed, causing him to pause. "What on earth are we doing out here?"

"Taking a walk." He answered casually.

"We are not just taking a walk. Why did you bring me here?"

"To explore."

"Explore?" You parroted in disbelief. "No, no. There is no 'exploring' the Forbidden Forest. This could get us detention—no, this could get us expelled, Wooyoung. Have you lost your mind?"

"Not at all."

"I'm not going." You crossed your arms.

"Oh, come on. Don't be a party pooper."

"I said I'm not going." You repeated more firmly to let him know you wouldn't be swayed.

"We're just gonna walk around for a while, that's all. There's nothing to worry about."

"There's so much to worry about. Expulsion, getting lost, getting injured, attacked, eaten."

You listed, counting on your fingers.

He raised a brow. "Are you done?"

"Really? You're not concerned about any of this?"

"No, not really."

"Get back here." You pointed to the spot beside you.

"No."

"Wooyoung."

He started walking backwards into the forest, obviously out of spite.

"Oh no. Someone must have cast a spell on me. My legs can't stop moving." He feigned concern.

"Wooyoung, stop right now." You hissed.

"I can't!"

You hurriedly glanced around to make sure no one else was outside.

"You're going to get us in trouble." You whisper-yelled.

"My legs are moving on their own, Y/n. I'm completely helpless."

Giving one last hurried glance at your surroundings, you rushed forward, muttering under your breath about Wooyoung being obnoxious and how you're going to get detention.

"I hate you so much." You grumbled, trudging behind him.

"Do you?"

"Right now I do."

Your eyes darted about as you crossed the dirt floor of the forest, hoping nothing would jump out.

"This place is so cool." He marveled.

"If by cool you mean deadly and forbidden, then yes, it's very cool."

You couldn't see Wooyoung's face, but you knew he rolled his eyes at your snarky remark.

"What is it that you're hoping to find out here?" You questioned.

"Nothing. I just wanted to explore and look around."

He was your best friend and yes you liked him, but he could be unbearably obnoxious sometimes, like right now.

"Have you ever heard of curiosity killed the cat?" You questioned.

"Have you ever heard of Schrödinger's cat?" He shot back.

"Yes, but the whole point of that theory is if you don't open the box the cat could be dead or alive and you'll never really know. You just stay curious."

"Yeah and I'm choosing to open that box."

Idiot. You thought.

As much as you wanted to turn around and leave, you couldn't possibly abandon Wooyoung, especially in the Forbidden Forest. If something happened to him you wouldn't be able to forgive yourself.

"See? It's not so bad." Wooyoung grinned after you had been walking for a few minutes.

The snap of a twig echoed through the forest, more than likely indicating that something deep within the cluster of moss-covered trees was lurking, watching... waiting.

"What was that?" You spun around in the direction of the noise.

"What was what?"

"Wooyoung, I just heard something."

"You're just imagining." He waved a dismissive hand, walking further ahead.

"Hey! Don't leave me back here." You scurried forward.

"You scared?" He taunted. "Don't worry, you can hold onto me if you're afraid."

"Now's not the time for that." You scolded while your frantic eyes moved about your surroundings. "Something's out there."

"Nothing's out there."

"Hm, let's see: Giant spiders, centaurs, thestrals, hippogriffs, a werewolf."

"The werewolf is just a rumor."

"You don't know that."

He only shrugged and went on his merry way.

"I'm not trying to get eaten." You added. "We should go back."

"You worry too much."

"And you don't worry enough."

"We'll walk a little further and then go. How's that?" He attempted to strike up a deal.

"I'd rather go now."

"It's my final offer. Take it or leave it, Y/n."

"Fine." You grumbled, crossing your arms over your chest as you picked up the pace to try and keep close to Wooyoung.

You had no choice but to stick by him since he was the only other human being around. If the two of you got separated you were screwed.

Leaves rustling in the distance behind you grabbed the attention of both you and Wooyoung.

"Did you hear that?" You asked pointedly.

"I did." He came to a stop, looking back in the direction you two had just came from. "It's probably nothing."

"Nothing? Wooyoung, there's something out there. We need to leave now."

Before he could respond there was more rustling in the distance, this time it actually seemed to make Wooyoung stiffen.

"Run."

"What?"

"Run!" He repeated, grabbing your wrist and pulling you deeper into the forest.

You didn't know what you were running from, but you didn't want to find out. You were thankful for Wooyoung's very brief moment of rationality, however, it seemed it was a bit too late. You had your chance to leave before something caught sight, or scent, of the both of you and you didn't take it.

"Over here." Wooyoung pointed to a nearby tree. "There are some lower hanging branches, we can use them to climb up."

He hurried over to the trunk before kneeling down, patting his knee. "Go on."

Without giving it a second thought, you stepped up onto his leg and reached for the closest branch grabbing onto it and using it to pull yourself up.

You didn't have the greatest upper body strength but considering the situation, the fear gave you a sudden adrenaline boost to climb. Grunts left you as you continued latching onto branches, using them as leverage to heave yourself up. It seemed Wooyoung wasn't far behind, as you could hear his grunts.

"That limb on the right should be fine." He stated from behind you.

Desperate, you listened to him and heaved yourself onto the large limb, helping Wooyoung onto it once he had climbed high enough.

"Not so bad, huh?" You asked mockingly, referring to his earlier comment as you huffed, trying to catch your breath and calm your racing heart.

"Okay so maybe I was wrong."

"Maybe? Wooyoung, we're stuck in a tree and there's something lurking down there."

"At least we're up here where it's safe."

"And what if whatever's out there can fly or has claws to climb a tree, hm?"

He blinked a few times before answering.

"We have magic. We can zap it if it gets too close."

You took in a very deep breath before letting it out slowly, trying your best to calm your nerves. How could he be so nonchalant in a situation like this?

"You know how we were talking about Schrödinger's cat earlier?" You asked.

"Yeah."

"You shouldn't have opened the box." You smacked him upside the back of his head.

"Ow." He rubbed his scalp. "What was that for?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe it's for dragging me into the Forbidden Forest."

"You need to loosen up, Y/n."

"Loosen up?" You laughed loudly. "How can I when there's something down there that more than likely wants to eat us?"

"Look, we just need to wait up here for a little while and then we'll go."

"How will you know it's safe?"

"We just need to wait and see."

Though you shook your head in disapproval, that seemed to be the only solution at the moment—wait it out. Neither of you were equipped to battle a magical beast and you definitely weren't ready to risk losing your life by getting down from the tree and making a break for it.

Wooyoung let out a long sigh, boredom quickly setting in. His legs swung back and forth while his eyes looked around at the surrounding trees, biding his time by seeing how many he could count. He had gotten to twenty-six when he lost count and had to start over.

Your legs unconsciously moved back and forth in the same rhythm as Wooyoung's while you too tried to pass the time, looking for something to distract you for a short period of time. Your wandering gaze turned to your troublemaker friend while he was occupied, your eyes taking in his features, moving down to linger on the mole adorning his lips, that stupid mole... the one you'd always secretly wanted to kiss. Your friendship with Wooyoung had its ups and downs, some moments were filled with you silently swooning over him while others were spent trying to talk him out of doing something stupid and dragging you with him. Despite how many sticky situations you'd been in with him, they never pushed you away or made you want to stop being friends with him. Maybe that just proved how much you loved him.

It then dawned on you that someone would eventually notice the both of you are missing. Someone would have to search for you and Wooyoung. What if it was a teacher and they came out here looking for you? You didn't like the idea of getting caught by a professor because there was no telling what consequences you'd face, but you also weren't keen on staying up in the tree for the rest of the day.

"If someone happens to come walking by we'll be spotted immediately because of your two-toned hair." You complained, muttering a quiet, "Your stupid hair."

"I thought you liked it." He stated, referring to when he first colored it.

"I do. That's why it's stupid."

"What do you mean?"

"I like it so much. Your long, stupid hair and your stupid face... and you in general."

A small, amused grin tugged at his full lips.

"What are you trying to say, Y/n?"

"I'm not trying to say anything."

You really weren't in the mood for his teasing.

"Are you sure?" He inquired, tilting his head.

"Yes." You responded a little too quickly, turning away from him as warmth tickled your cheeks.

Wooyoung took delight in seeing you flustered, taking the opportunity to tease you further.

Your gaze stayed locked on a distant tree that suddenly became very interesting. Your mischievous friend leaned in, dragging his bottom lip against the shell of your ear.

"You can say you like me." His warm breath brushed against your ear sending a rush of chills across your skin.

"Quit it." You pulled away from him, careful not to jerk too quickly and go plummeting to the ground.

He seemed to back off after that, which you were grateful for.

You peered down from the large tree limb the two of you were perched on, becoming slightly dizzy at the vast distance between you and the ground.

"Hey." Wooyoung spoke up quietly, gaining your attention.

"What?" When you looked up at him, his face was close to yours—too close.

"Let's kiss."

"What?"

"Kissing in the Forbidden Forest is kinda romantic, don't you think?"

"Actually, I think it's just another way to get detentio-"

Wooyoung's lips shut you up, cutting you off as he kissed you. Your body stilled, eyes blown wide in surprise at his actions.

It took your brain a moment to process what was happening and even then, you couldn't figure out how to respond. Wooyoung's hand came up to grab the back of your neck, keeping your mouths firmly connected as he continued kissing you.

Then ever so slowly, your eyelids began to slide shut while you reciprocated his actions and started to kiss back. Your hands made their way to his hair, letting your fingers tangle themselves in the lengthy strands, really letting yourself feel the softness of his locks. However, the top half of his hair was still tied up from earlier, so you couldn't exactly get the full experience.

Without parting ways, you felt for the ponytail and pulled the elastic out, successfully freeing the rest of his hair so you could bury your digits in it. Wooyoung let out a small noise against your lips when you grabbed a handful of his hair, the sound sending a rush of butterflies into your stomach. You took another handful of his two-toned locks, tugging lightly at the roots so you could hear that beautiful sound again. This time, the noise was deeper, a low groan that vibrated against your lips.

Wooyoung wished he could pull you closer and hold your body flush against his like he wanted to, but the fact that you were both in a tree prevented him from doing so. Instead, he kept one hand around the back of your neck, the other wrapping around your waist.

Squeaky laughter filled the air, the sudden high-pitch sound causing you and Wooyoung to part ways, ending your steamy kiss. Peering below, you found San, a friend of both yours and Wooyoung's, standing at the base of the tree laughing loudly and clutching his stomach.

"San!" You yelped in surprise.

"Y/n and Wooyoung sitting in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g." He sang, dancing in place.

"Knock it off!" Wooyoung hissed, his ears turning red from embarrassment.

"I've been looking everywhere for you guys."

You exchanged glances with Wooyoung.

"You have?"

"Yeah. I thought I saw you guys come up this way so I followed you."

Your shoulders sagged in relief. It wasn't a creature that you'd heard, it was San.

Wooyoung then burst out into a fit of laughter.

"We were hiding from San this whole time. Isn't that funny?"

You let out a sigh. "Let's just get out of here."

Carefully, you made your way down the large tree, placing your foot on each branch in a diligent manner as you slowly reached the forest floor.

"I've never been so grateful to be on solid ground." You commented. "I'm so happy I could kiss it."

"Why kiss the ground when you can kiss Wooyoung?" San remarked with a cheeky smirk.

"Shut it." Wooyoung hissed, elbowing his fellow Slytherin in the side, earning a loud ack! from him in response.

San pouted, rubbing his side to soothe it.

"Fine. I'll walk ahead and let you two have your time alone."

You and Wooyoung stood and watched as he made his way down the faint trail in the forest, the both of you following a few moments after, making sure to keep a few feet of space between the two of you and San.

"So." Wooyoung murmured.

"So." You repeated.

"That kiss was something, huh?"

"Yeah. It was."

You mentally slapped yourself for sounding so stupid. Could you not have come up with a better response?

"I liked it." You spoke up.

"Me too." He agreed quietly.

You found it just the slightest bit endearing that he was so bold just moments earlier and now he was being timid, unable to look at you without his cheeks and ears turning red.

"If it wasn't already obvious, I like you." He blurted.

You huffed out a chortle. "If it wasn't already obvious, I like you too."

Wooyoung pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, suppressing a smile.

"I'm still mad at you for dragging me out here though." You added.

"But it got us to confess to each other so it obviously wasn't all bad."

"I suppose."

Hongjoong ⟡ Seonghwa ⟡ Yunho ⟡ Yeosang ⟡ San ⟡ Mingi ⟡ Jongho

Masterlist ᝰ — enjoyed this imagine? reblogs & comments are very much appreciated!

DO NOT steal, plagiarize, copy, repost, alter, or translate my works in any way

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[babyboybokuto]

Late Nights, Early Mornings

sero hanta x reader : fluff, getting to know each other, weed use

Note: This is my first x reader post so I tried my best. Comments are appreciated but please, be nice. Hope everyone enjoys.

It’s late, close to midnight, and you’re still wide awake. You’re not sure why; you felt tired earlier, but now you were wired. After tossing and turning for the past couple of hours with no success, you decided to take matters into your own hands. You used to be a regular smoker, but you have significantly cut back ever since you started hero training. You still happened to have some weed, so you decided to indulge yourself a bit. You got out of bed and quickly rolled a little joint before stepping onto your balcony. 

The cool night air felt good against your skin, and you quickly made a little spot for yourself on the floor, leaning back against the wall before you lit the joint. You took a deep inhale, savoring the feeling, before exhaling and watching the cloud of smoke roll away from you. You missed this, the relaxing sensation it brought. 

You took a few more hits before you saw your phone light up next to you. You grabbed it and checked your notifications, seeing a text from your neighbor, Sero. 

12:02 AM

“Do I smell what I think I smell 🤔” 

You smiled at the text before deciding to respond. 

12:03 AM

“That depends, do you like what you smell?” 

You watched as the 3 bubbles popped up, indicating he was typing. While you waited, you took another hit and started to feel the effects of the weed through your body. 

12:04 AM

“I like it very much; in fact, it almost feels like it’s calling my name”

You took no time to respond now, liking the idea of some company.

12:04 AM 

“Out on the balcony, feel free to join me”

A few seconds passed before you heard the sound of a door opening next to you. You turned your head and watched as Sero stepped out onto his own balcony. He smiled and waved at you before climbing onto the edge and hopping over to where you were sitting on your own balcony. He quickly made a spot for himself next to you.

“Hey, you.” he smiled.

“Hey,” you smiled back, handing him what was left of the joint. He took it and took a hit before exhaling and handing it back to you.

“So kind for sharing. So what's up, couldn’t sleep?” He questioned.

You shrugged, taking another hit. “Yeah, I don’t know. I was tired during class today, but then I was lying in bed and couldn’t fall asleep. Decided to indulge in this old habit to see if it helped.” 

Sero hummed, leaning back against the wall to make himself comfortable. You both continued to pass the joint back and forth in silence until it eventually burned out. Feeling good but still very much awake, you decided to roll another. 

“Holy shit, how did I not know you were like this?” Sero asked.

“How do you mean?” You questioned. 

“Like, first of all, you smoke. Check. Second of all, you actually know how to roll on your own. Double check.” He said, drawing phantom check marks in the air with his finger. 

You smiled, “And what exactly am I being checked off on?”

“Just a list of things I like about you,” Sero said without hesitation. You felt yourself blush at the comment, smiling and brushing it off. You finished rolling the new joint and handed it to him along with the lighter. 

“There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me.” You said. Sero took the materials from you, smiling,

“I’d love to know more.” 

You gave a genuine smile at this. You already had the tiniest (ok, BIG) crush on Sero for a while, so hearing him say these things made you feel giddy. Not knowing how to respond in the moment, you lightly shoved his shoulder and motioned for him to light the joint already. He chuckled and did exactly that. 

You both sat there together for a while longer, passing the joint back and forth while maintaining light conversation, which consisted of you and Sero asking each other questions back and forth, getting to know each other. You learned about each other's interests, music tastes, families, childhoods, and so much more; neither of you paying attention to the time. It was nice, and you really enjoyed getting to know this cute boy more. You didn’t realize it, but at some point in the night, you and Sero began to lean on each other, conversation dwindling slowly. 

Next thing you know, your alarm is going off, and you wake up in your bed. You quickly turn it off before checking your phone, seeing a text message from Sero. 

7:05 AM

“Morning! You fell asleep on my shoulder last night, so I carried you back into your room and then went back to mine. I had a lot of fun getting to know you :) we should definitely do it again sometime”

“P.S. I’ll roll for us next time ;)”

You smiled, holding your phone to your chest. You couldn’t believe that actually happened last night. You quickly screamed your emotions into your pillow before turning back over and proceeding to text Mina.

7:07 AM

“🚨🚨 MINA WAKE UP THERE’S BEEN AN UPDATE IN THE SCOTCH TAPE CHRONICLES🚨🚨” 

7:08 AM 

“NDCJSNC STFU RN SPILL OR ILL SCREAM”

You took some time to explain last night's events to her, both of you screaming over the developments. It had been so nice getting to know him, and you loved everything you learned. You already craved to know more and spend more time with him. You really couldn’t wait to see him again, and little did you know, he also couldn’t wait to see you.

[napakmahal]

Nobody gets me

Tadashi x Health teacher! Reader

It’s about time I posted this

You’d been grading for what seemed like days. Admin was cracking down on all the teachers to get their grading done before the end of the quarter and you still had several classes unit tests. It didn’t help that this year you’d been ordered to teach two sports medicine classes for your fifth and sixth period.

For a moment, you’d wished you just made the test easier because then it’d be easier to grade. But you knew better. To make the tests easier this late in the year would make your seniors unprepared, and your seniors could not afford to fail a class this close to the end of the year.

All this work for the small amount you made was not fucking worth it. But it wasn’t like you were in the position to just quit and you liked your students. So you sat on your boyfriends bed grading till your hand cramped around your red gel pen.

After a while you let go of the pen to shake your hand out but cramps can hurt like a bitch. You let how and was instantly faced with a sharp shooting pain in your thumb.

“Shit, ow.” You hissed, forgetting about the voice controlled box next to the bed.

A whirring sound followed by a sound of inflating air filled the room. You cussed at the inconvenience and felt the beady eye of the cameras on you.

“Hello, I am Baymax. Your personal healthcare companion. I was alerted to the need for medical attention when you said ‘ow’.” The first time you met Tadashi’s robot was a complete shock. You knew what he did but when you came to visit him on campus to eat lunch with him he left mid meal to use the bathroom. While there you sat directly on the bone of your ankle and whispered “ow” to yourself. Baymax was activated and scared the shit out of you.

“Hi Baymax, I’m alright. I just had a little cramp.” You sighed.

He said in his robotic voice, “On a scale from 1-10 how would you rate your pain?”

“A zero, I promise. It’s gone now, I’m all good.” You try again.

“I will scan you for injuries…scan complete. You have a contraction muscle spasm in your hand. I would suggest taking a break and hot and cold compress.”

You laughed through your nose. “I’ll be sure to do that.”

Then he said the magic words. “I can only deactivate if you say you are satisfied with your care.”

“Thank you, Baymax. I’m 100 percent satisfied with-“

You paused. In the corner of your vision you could still see the stack of tests you were going to grade. “Actually, could you help me with something?”

Tadashi was coming back from a nighttime lecture. He felt bad leaving Hiro at the lab by himself but he’d insisted he needed to do more work and frankly, Tadashi was exhausted. He walked into the cafe with a small amount of customers still lingering getting late night meals and typing away on their laptops.

Aunt Cass was clearing out the remainder of the freshly baked goods into boxes. “Hey rockstar, how was class?”

“I’m tired.” He sighed and reached into one of the boxes to grab himself a donut hole. “My professor decided to write especially small and quickly today.”

“Have you eaten? I think there’s some leftover pasta.” She ran her fingers through his hair.

Tadashi rubbed his eyes. “Hiro and I got food earlier.” He eased her. “Is she upstairs?”

“Hasn’t come down since you left. I tried to get her to take a break but she refused.” Aunt Cass took another pot of coffee off the counter and began doing her refill rounds.

Tadashi made his way up the stairs, basically dragging his feet. He could hear two voices coming from his room, both he knew very well. One voice he loved and another he created. “Hey love…and Baymax.”

You smiled and took off from your bed to greet him. “Baymax is helping me.”

He kissed your forehead. “Yeah I can see that. You guys getting a lot of work done?”

“We are grading Unit test 1B: Macromolecules and nutrition.” Baymax responded robotically.

The two of you laughed and flopped onto his bed. The stack of graded paper was now higher than the ungraded ones. Tadashi scrolled through the questions on the test and was shocked at how surprisingly difficult they were.

He joked, “I’m so glad you feel comfortable using my robot to grade your papers.”

“Well you made him to help people.” You playfully rolled your eyes. “He’s helping me! Right Baymax?”

“Correct.” He simply responded. The two of you laughed and Tadashi joined in on your grading party.

When you were finished, Baymax went back to his cherry red case and you were left to watch a movie with your boyfriend.

“Does this mean I get my girlfriend back?” He asked, muffled into your neck. All the grading had you booked and busy for the past two weeks.

You gently pet his hair and laughed. “Yes, you get her back.”

“Yay. I miss her.” He pressed a few lazy kisses to the side of your neck. “Your kids are doing good. You’re doing good.”

You often vent to Tadasi about your students scores and potential. Your philosophy being: if they did bad you were doing a bad job. “Thank you. How was class today?”

“Tiring. My professors are being especially difficult this time around.” He said still pressed against your neck. “But this is nice.”

You kissed the top of his head and pressed your nose into it. Both of you exhausted from your weeks resting and recharging against one another. You breathed out with relief and calmness, “Yeah, this is nice.”

[kickingitwithkirk]

Paschal Moon 2.0 -1/2

Summary: Jensen finds love the second time around can be bumpier than an armadillo-laden roadway in Texas.

Pairing: Jensen Ackles x Fiancé!Reader

WC: 2120

Warnings: fair amount of drinking and flangst, relationships are hard, insecurities, cursing, sexy teasing, arguments, family issues, reader still saying shit like me IRL

*Please read Paschal Moon first. This story is a continuation of it.

A/N: It's been a minute since I've been up to writing after Covid kicked my arse, but I had this sequel idea bouncing around and splitting into two parts.

A/N II: I based readers home on this property I’d love to live on in Utley, Tx

A/N III: This is a work of fiction, and no intentional disrespect to the real-life persons contained within.

Square Filled: @jacklesversebingo -“I’ll always take care of you as long as you need me” in bold @j3bingo -Foreplay

*Moldavite

*divider by @firefly-graphics

*no Beta-all mistakes are mine

*photos found online

The screen doors creaking made Jensen look up from the sheet music he was working on and saw his fiancée couldn't help but smile. Six months ago, he was so deep in divorce drama that it was providence meeting this nerd-hot astronomy professor who lives in the boonies.

“Hey, sweetheart,” he said, sitting his guitar on the couch, expecting her to reciprocate, but she just walked through the kitchen door. Okay, that’s not good, Jensen thought. Crossing the main room, he found Y/N’s messenger bag lying on the floor, her jacket carelessly tossed on top, and shoes kicked in opposite directions.

Jensen heard a cabinet door slam shut in the shoebox-sized kitchen as he gathered the items and placed them in their usual spots before entering the kitchen to find Y/N leaning against the old butcher block countertop with a finger crooked in a bottle of Fireball Whiskey's handle, chugging it like an old moonshiner made him remark, “Guess you've had a day.”

Pulling off she bitterly responds: “It’s been crapdamntastic. And how was yours, dear?” This shocks her fiancé. Y/N never called him that, once saying the endearment had a negative connotation from her childhood when she suddenly stomped off. When the hundred-year-old farmhouse’s pipes rattle, it snaps Jensen out of it, and, like the last time Y/N had guzzled that much alcohol too fast, he sees the trail of clothes left in her wake.

Now concerned, he gathered the articles and deposited them in the bath hamper. “Gonna tell me what set you off this time?”

A very unladylike snort came from behind the shower's glass door, “Check your phone.” He retrieved it from the charger in the bedroom and plopped on the large bed, thumbing through multiple missed text stops at the one from his manager marked urgent opens the included link. “Wha…Motherfucker!”

In an exclusive interview, OTH star Danneel Ackles reveals the real reason her ex-husband, Supernatural's Jensen Ackles, deserted his family.

A bath sheet-wrapped Y/N sat down cross-legged, facing Jensen as he continually tugged a hand through his long hair while reading the article full of falsehoods. Jensen suddenly dropped his phone and reached for the bottle copied her earlier chugging, “You know those paparazzi that've been harassing since Inks Lake?”

Jensen acknowledges, remembering the night a few weeks ago when Y/N’s astronomy class took a field trip, secretly arranging to take her camping instead (something he wouldn’t normally do on a dare) and proposed during the celestial event.

“Well, today, they got into the auditorium during my lecture and began shouting those derogatory accusations from that piece when several of my students took it upon themselves to intervene. Long story short, I’m on unpaid leave until the school finishes its inquiry.” His following words this is my fault made Y/N snap. “Oh, the hell you say! You’re absofuckinglutley not at fault here! Danneel acting like a snake in the grass!”

“Danneels pissed because,” but Jensen didn’t finish, instead guzzling on the last of the bottle.

“Because beg-a-bitch badly miscalculated you’d come crawling back and trying to save face! Peaches, I knew being together would have bumps, but this?” She points to his phone, “Face facts, Jensen. Your ex is a Regina George who’s gone too damn far covering her swamp ass!” Jensen sputtered on the cinnamon whiskey burning down the wrong pipe, “Swamp ass?”

“Urban Dictionary, page two, definition four.”

Jensen began to speak, but Y/N placed her fingers against his plump lips. “You’ve always been inclined to let a lotta crap slide to keep the peace because she’s the mother of your children. But Jensen, it’s time to redraw the boundaries of what is acceptable and what’s not ‘cause I don’t want your kids to grow up with resentments like I have towards mine.”

“Ohhh my god! Keep giving it to me just like this Peaches!” 

Y/N, sucking on her fingers, moaned in ecstasy, then pulled them out with an obscene pop before reaching for another slab of the ribs Jensen fixed in the outdoor smoker. “Good thing we’re not in public; otherwise, you’d get an obscenity charge.”

“It was one time, and I got off with a warning.” She cheekily remarks, “Besides, my meat man deserves props.” Jensen’s fair skin flushed; his tell when embarrassed but also when aroused makes Y/N grin and tease him by sucking the bones clean.

“Y/N, I wanted to talk about something, and don’t take this the wrong way.” Jensen takes a long swig of his beer before tackling the tricky subject. “Since we’re staying with my family for dad’s birthday, could you tone it down? Your personality can be a bit much.” Y/N got that expression, which he still wasn’t sure how to interpret.

“Calling me extra, that’s rich, considering your profession is full of fake people.” Jensen suppressed his automatic response. “Y/N, it’s just my parents; they’re very conservative.” She dropped her uneaten ribs and sat back.

“I might’ve grown up po-dunk,” her tone signals he’s close to stepping over the line. “But I know how to act around those types; otherwise, I wouldn’t have my position at UT Austin, let alone be headhunted by SpaceX for their new facility coming to Texas!” The flash of surprise crossing Jensen’s face didn’t slow Y/N down. “Would working for Elon Musk be acceptable to the high-fluttering Ackles clan? Or do they consider his personality a bit much?”

Hitting his limit, Jensen’s near-perfect features morphing into I’m done with your shit expression irked her more.

“You know what? We’re a couple of liquorlip loaded guns and better table this conversation till capable of being civil. Thank you for dinner, it was delicious.” Y/N gets up and grabs the rest of the six-pack. “I’m gonna polish these off in the guest house.”

“This is your house.”

“I know.“ Y/N says, twirling her engagement ring around her finger. “Kinda hoping sleeping alone in my bed will clarify whether you had a holy fuck, I’m over forty and single again moment and jumped the gun proposing or really ready for this life with me.” She laid the ring on the table before Jensen, and staggering slightly down the porch steps, disappeared into the moonless night.

Jensen was sitting on the kitchen banquette, watching the ancient oak leaves dance on the breeze through the window, when Y/N padded in barefoot, clad in one of his T-shirts, damp hair hanging loosely down her back, and no makeup.

God, he loved how she rocked the all-natural look, so different from Danneel, who always had to be camera-ready, watches Y/N sleepily fumble around, realizing the kettle was already heated, she added the tea diffuser, steeping it before pouring it into an oversized mug.

She shuffles and plops across from him, leaning on an elbow, waiting for Jensen to speak. “It wasn’t a knee-jerk reaction. You are the person I want to be with for the rest of my life.”

“Why?”

That one-word question hung in the air because Jensen knew what Y/N wanted.

It wasn’t the usual platitudes of I love you or can’t live without you. She wanted him to be open, raw, vulnerable, something he always had trouble with, exposing his innermost self.

“Figured after a decade in the industry, I had a grasp of how to tell fake people from real ones. I believed I knew Danneel because we’d been friends. Then she kissed me in Ten Inch Hero and we,” Y/N quirked an eyebrow as he ran a hand through his long hair, “I knew her boyfriend but did all my thinking with the wrong head. It wasn’t my finest moment.”

Jensen picked up the mug he’d already drunk and refilled it. “Looking back, I realized there were signs; our normal banter changed at some point. It was stupidly easier to ignore our issues in Vancouver or at cons.” Y/N remains quiet, so Jensen wouldn’t stop opening the hurt box and acknowledging the truth.

“I let Danneel manipulate me, thinking she supported my career by encouraging me to take on more roles. After getting pregnant with JJ, said she wanted to move back to Texas to be closer to family. Then pushing for more kids, ignoring what I wanted, to secure her position. And the other duplicity’s to get financial support for whatever project interested her.”

Jensen didn’t notice Y/N sliding across the seat beside him as he buried his face in his hands, “I've been her lifelong meal ticket. How could I have been so fucking stupid?!”

“Jensen, you aren’t stupid, you were in love. And some marriages work better with a bit of separation. What’s making me hella pissed is Grade A Cunt going around acting like butter wouldn’t melt and blaming you for her cheating!”

Y/N softens her approach, “Those weeks you didn’t call, figured you lost my number cause you’re another Hollyweird dickwad who didn’t wanna get caught with Ms. one-foot outta the trailer park.” Jensen shook his head, “I wouldn’t have taken you bar hopping to the ones I frequent if being seen together was the real problem. Why didn’t I call,” he shook his head again. “I didn’t know how to respond to you crashing through my insecurities like a…”

“Two by four in a tornado?”

“Pretty accurate and disturbing description.”

“Peaches, wanna know what I see when I look at you?” Jensen turned toward her, eyes loaded with apprehension. “A guy who feels too much, so he hides behind this reserved veneer and Da Vinci perfect face, kinda like his alter ego.”

Jensen pushes the mug over and takes her hand, placing the ring back on her finger. “I don’t know how to be without you anymore, so do me a favor. Don’t take this off again, okay?”

“Okay,” she reaches up, cupping his bearded cheek, "Peaches, I’ll always take care of you as long as you need me. So, we done with this emotional colonic?” Jensen laughs and kisses her. “That’s my girl.” He then licked his lips, “How about heading back to bed? We have a few hours before picking up the kids.” Y/N got up taken both mugs to the sink.

“I guess, since my propensity to get laid is about to greatly diminish staying with your parents, the con, then you heading off to finish up The Winchesters afterwards.”

“You have the weirdest technique for enticing a guy, sweetheart.” Jensen’s T-shirt smacks him in the face, and he's about to give her what for is gobsmacked at a completely naked Y/N standing in the doorway striking a seductive pose.

“This technique work for you, Peaches?”

Jensen glances in the SUV's rearview mirror to see which of his kids are acting up. But Clif, without looking, knows what’s happening and loudly asked, “Do the adult children need a timeout?” The noise abruptly stops as Jared and Y/N point at each other and simultaneously say, “He/She started it!”

****

The trip ended up taking a lot longer due to road work slowing traffic on the way to dropping Jared and Clif off at the hotel, and Jensen was relieved to pull into his parents' driveway. Getting out, twisted his torso to loosen up tense back muscles froze when the squeals of mommy rang out, and heard Danneel say she was also staying for the weekend.

Y/N grabs Zeps's backpack before stomping to the vehicle's rear, and when Jensen rounds the SUV, he is greeted with obscenities that would make a sailor blush and luggage hitting concrete. “Sweetheart, I have no idea why Danneel is here...”

“Because I invited her,” Donna Ackles says from not three feet away, and Jensen becomes frosty.

“Mom, we discussed this. You knew I was introducing Y/N to the family this weekend.” Donna comes back with, “Just because you abandoned your marital oath doesn’t change the fact that Danneel's family. And I had assumed your friend would be staying at that hotel, too.”

“Well, you know what they say about assumptions, Mrs. Ackles.” Donna’s eyes widened at Y/N's flippant remark, “You are a very impudent!”

“No, ma’am, inviting your son's lying whore ex to stay in the same house without his knowledge, that’s impudent," Y/N retorts. “I’d bet the farm your intentions are to demonstrate to everyone how dime in a dollar store I seem next to Danneel, hoping Jensen will be embarrassed enough to send me packing. Hate to disappoint you, but I don’t intimidate easily. So,” She stepped into Donna personal space and, with hands on hips says…“Bring it on, Grandma.”

SPNTAGS:  @donnaintx  @lyarr24  @flamencodiva @lassie-bird  @nancymcl  @spnbaby-67 @leigh70 @b3autyfuld1sast3r

Sam/Jared: @idreamofplaid

Dean/Jensen: @thoughts-and-funnies  @stoneyggirl2  @beabutterfly987   @smoothdogsgirl @deans-spinster-witch

[hollywoodroses]

Teacher’s Pet (A Duff McKagan FanFiction)

a/n: I originally wrote this fanfiction for another fandom which I posted and then deleted in 2020. I am the original writer of this storyline, this is my idea. This story has been re-written and edited. I am sharing this story earlier than expected because the text post about it was popular.

a/n #2: If you blink you’ll miss the appearance of axl.

warnings: smut, alcohol & drug use. Minors, do not interact please. Also there is no age!gap in this story. Everything will make sense when you read it until the end.

It was the first Monday after summer vacation. You were walking down the hallway to get to your classroom so you could greet your new students for the year at Vista Clara High School.

You had your hands full of folders with the new reading, projects and assignments material. Once you got to the room, you unlocked the door and put your bag and work on the desk. 

Ten minutes later and the bell rang, you walked to the door and opened it to say ‘hello’ to your students as they walked in. Once the last student walked in and took their seat you shut the door.

“Good morning class and welcome to AP English 12, this year we will be studying the work of…” A knock was heard at the door, cutting you off mid sentence and everyone stopped listening to look. 

You opened the door to see the principal and a young man with him. “Hello Y/N, I am sure you had a good summer. Please let me introduce you to Duff. He just moved here from New York. He shouldn’t be a problem for you as he was transferred from a college level prep school”. 

“Welcome Duff.” You said to him with a smile as principal McDonald left the room. 

Duff gazed at you as he walked past your desk and winked at you as he took the empty seat in the front row. 

You brushed it off as you started your lecture on The Great Gatsby.

During the long lecture, Duff would fool around with his classmates. This made you really upset but you didn’t want to say anything to cause a scene.

“Please write a report on the first five chapters of The Great Gatsby to be due in two weeks”. You explained to the class as the bell rang.

“See you on Saturday for the pool party, Duff”. Axl said as he was the last student to leave the room. 

When Axl left, Duff shut the door and looked at you with a smile. “Listen, I want to apologize for the way I acted in class today. I hope it wasn’t a bad first impression.”

Before you could respond with an answer, Duff cut you off. “Why don’t you come to my apartment on Friday night and I’ll cook you dinner to show you there are no hard feelings.” You knew it wasn’t right to meet your students outside of school but Duff seemed harmless. You were intrigued by him so you nodded in agreement. 

“See you then, Y/N.” Duff told you as he left you speechless. You sighed as the next group of students entered the room. It was going to be a long week.

**********

It was Friday evening and you were getting ready to meet Duff. You wore ripped jeans, t-shirt and a neon blue cardigan. You left home after an hour and drove twenty minutes to Duff’s apartment. 

When you got there, you parked your car and proceeded to walk up to his building. You looked up his name on the list and pressed three numbers to call him.

“Hello”. Duff answered after three rings.

“Duff, it’s Y/N from school. I am waiting downstairs”. You replied.

Duff unlocked the door and you opened it. You walked to the elevator to take you to the fourth floor where Duff lived.

When you finally exited the elevator, you noticed that the door to Duff’s unit was opened and he was waiting for you.

“Hello.” You said as you entered his apartment.

“Hey, you just made it and just in time too!” Duff explained as he walked over to give you a hug. 

After the hug, you took off your cardigan and gently put it on the couch that was near you. You sat at the dinner table as Duff poured you a glass of wine. 

While enjoying your meal together, Duff told you stories of being a small child in New York. He even mentioned how close he was to his little sister, whom he protected as they got older. 

Once dinner was finished, you helped Duff clean up and then moved to the couch to continue the conversation.

“So after university I settled in Los Angeles and started a job as a substitute teacher in an elementary school. My dream was always to teach in a high school. After gaining some experience, I applied at different school districts and finally got a call from Vista Clara. The rest is history.” You told Duff as you smiled.

“You are amazing, do you know that?”

You blushed and didn’t say anything. You were lost for words. 

“Listen, let me show you something. Do you trust me?” Duff asked.

You nodded, not knowing what you were getting yourself into.

Duff stood up for a few minutes and took out a plastic bag that was hidden in his bookshelf. 

The bag contained four small pink pills with the face of a devil. You started to get nervous as Duff sat beside you and took two pills out of the bag. He put both of them in his mouth and pulled you by your t-shirt. Duff kissed you softly and you felt him push one of the pills into your mouth with his tongue.

After a few moments, you suddenly felt a haze as you went under the high of the drug you took. As you were deep in the feeling of ecstasy you put your arms around Duff’s neck as the kiss deepened. You laid down as Duff got on top of you. You took a break from the kiss to take your shirt off as Duff unbuttoned his. Once your skin was bare, Duff kissed down your chest as he unhooked your bra. When he got to the button of your jeans you became wet as you thought of how far he would go. Suddenly, you felt Duff pulling your jeans off. When he finally got to your underwear, he licked them as they were covering your clit. You moaned as Duff replaced his mouth with his finger and you held your breath as you climaxed. 

Once the drug faded away, you both moved to Duff’s bedroom to cuddle until morning.

**********

On Monday morning, You entered the school with a bright feeling. You couldn’t believe that you spent the whole weekend with Duff.

While in your day dream, the bell rang for the first period. You quickly rushed to your classroom. Once you shut the door and organize your desk, you overheard your students whispering about something.

“Do you remember that weird guy Duff we met last week?” Britney said as another student nodded in agreement.

“Rumor has it that he is really 25 years old. He had a very sad childhood where his parents left him alone with the nanny and she seduced him for years. Now as an adult, he goes around different states pretending to be a high school kid. He does this to get close to his teacher and seduce them. I heard he seduces male teachers too. Then, before he can get caught, he runs off with a student.”

You couldn’t believe what your students were saying about Duff. You now noticed that not only was Duff missing from your class but also your top student Cheryl was absent too. 

You decided to brush off what your students were doing. “Attention students, please continue to work on your Great Gatsby report.” Once your class started working, you took a seat at your desk. As you got settled, you looked out the window and hoped Duff would be caught in his wild ways once and for all.

end

[solsticeswackstuff]

College! Angela requested by @thesixthimmortal :)

Ok-they said College!Angela, so I am going to take that and RUN. if you know me IRL just a warning this is cringe

Angela flung her bag onto her bed, scattering its contents across the floor. She hummed loudly as she danced and buzzed around the room, tossing clothes into the laundry basket with exaggerated flourishes. She gallivants around the room loudly tidying up her side, but your voice cuts through her commotion, "Hey, could you keep that down for like 10 minutes? I really need to prepare for my next lab." Angela freezes, looking you over as you are hunched over your desk, paper spread out all around you. Angela can't help but notice that you've moved the coffee machine from the kitchen to your desk and she eyes your two cups, one actively filling coffee and one you are finishing. "Yeah, for sure, I will just head out for a bit," she responds.

You watched her rush out, a familiar pattern for you two. Typically, when she goes out this late, Angela brings someone back, and you are forced to room with one of your friends for the night. You silently pray that Angela doesn’t continue that part of your routine. This lab isn’t just any lab; it’s the one that could make or break your grade. The pressure is immense, and studying with distractions is the last thing you need.

As Angela wanders to the store near your dorm, her mind can't help but wander back to your slumped form and disheveled appearance. Mindlessly wandering the aisles, Angela half-haphazardly tosses things into her cart. She abruptly stops as she realizes she's in the soup aisle, she begins hesitating as she realizes you haven’t eaten all day. Angela had always admired your dedication, and seeing you so stressed tugged at her heart. Maybe she hadn’t always been the most considerate roommate, but today, she wanted to show she could be more. With that thought, Angela tosses a can into her cart.

When Angela enters the room, she makes sure to be as quiet as possible, a complete reversal of her earlier actions. While you work, she puts away her groceries, except for the soup. She prepared it with meticulous care, even tackling the dishes—a chore she usually avoided unless you told her to. As Angela stirred the soup, she couldn’t help but think of how she often took your friendship for granted. Angela also thought back to when you shared your notes and coffee during her rough exam period, this small act was her way to give back.

You are so completely engrossed in your work that you don’t hear her set the bowl down until she clears her throat. Angela’s voice was soft, almost hesitant as she said, "I brought you some soup. I know you’ve been working hard and… well, I just wanted to make sure you ate something." before quickly flopping down in her bed, not knowing how to respond to your silence. A brief pang of doubt crossed Angela’s face as you returned to your work. Had she overstepped? Did you even appreciate her gesture? Angela's doubt stopped when you looked up you gave her your thanks, before diving in. As the warm comforting liquid falls into your throat, you can’t help but think that this is the best thing the best soup you have ever eaten.

The alarm you set to go to class blares and as you are physically (and mentally) preparing for this hell of a lab Angela, no louder than a whisper asks “Would you want me to walk you there?”. Surprised by her sounding so timid you can’t help but find it endearing. You nod and you two walk out together and begin discussing your days, busy but in different ways. Angela wishes you luck as you head in and you can’t help but appreciate how much she has been there for you today.

After the lab, you were extremely exhausted. As you walked out of the building, you saw Angela waiting for you. She had her usual energy returned and told you humorous stories about her day while gesturing wildly. Feeling tired, you started to wobble, so Angela supported you by holding your waist—just to support you, she repeated herself. You leaned on her for the rest of the journey home, grateful for all she does for you.

The door opens with a creak, and Angela practically drags you into bed, waiting for you to let go. As you cling to her, she hesitates before climbing in beside you, watching the tension leave your body for the first time that day. She holds you close, pressing a gentle kiss to your forehead and watching for a reaction. You pull her closer, and she gives you a small nod. You close the gap between your faces, which had always seemed too large. At that moment, you realize that the soup was good, but this—this closeness and unspoken understanding—is something far more precious.

[tordylover]

★ 𝐻𝑜𝓌 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓂𝑒𝓉 𝒥𝒶𝓎 ★

How you met Jay: You met Jay during school.

It was a rainy day and you were walking to your school. You had grabbed your umbrella before going outside. So you didn't have to get wet by the rain.

As you were walking, you saw a blond-haired male. He looked like he was taking care of some little dogs and one big dog while having trouble holding his umbrella. You smiled at the sight that you saw and continued taking your walk to school.

Tho the blond hair male felt eyes on him. Then turned to see who was looking at him. He then saw a female with [hair color] walking away to the other side.

Jay felt confused but either way, he continued to do what he was doing. After he was done taking the dogs for a walk he went back to his place to leave them there.

Jay soon came out of his house and realized he was gonna be late for school. So he ran to school and forgot his umbrella so he was getting wet when he was going there.

(time skip time when Jay arrived at school)

When Jay entered the classroom, he noticed the same girl that had [Hair color] in the park. He then went to his desk where he sat. Which is right next to a window and just starts to look outside.

Y/n noticed the blond-haired male that she had seen earlier when she was walking to school. But then went back to her own business, using her phone.

Y/n felt bored and stopped using her phone. She then looks at Jay and decides that she wants to draw him. Since she thought Jay wasn't paying attention, she took out her pencil and notebook.

Y/n then starts sketching out Jay in her notebook. While she is doing that, she doesn't know that Jay noticed her doing something.

Jay was confused about what Y/n was doing but continued to stare outside the window. He noticed that it's gonna be raining all day today as the sky was gray and very dark but bad luck he had because he forgot his umbrella.

Y/n then finished drawing Jay, and she was happy with how it turned out to be. She then puts her things back in her bag.

(Another time skip to after school)

It was then after school, Y/n noticed that it was still running. She was happy because she enjoyed the rain and the aftersmell of it.

She then stops looking at the window outside and starts to walk away from the classroom. Y/n was then outside of the classroom and noticed that there weren't many students around. She would usually see a lot of students around, but then she thought that they maybe left early or just skipped school.

She then made it to where the exit was for the school until she noticed a blond-haired male again. Y/n takes notice that the male didn't bring an umbrella. She also realizes that was the male that she saw and was also drawing him in class.

She felt embarrassed but walked up to him.

"Hi there! What's your name?"

Y/n asked cheerfully at the blond-haired male.

"...."

Jay just stared back at her and didn't say anything as he always was quiet.

Y/n felt nervous and awkward when Jay didn't respond.

"Ummm... Uh, I noticed you didn't bring an umbrella. Wanna head with me?"

Y/n asked him, while she still tried to remain happy. While Jay just continued to stare at Y/n, then finally nodded his head to her.

"Okay! Let's head out!"

Y/n said cheerfully and dragged Jay with her. Until they made it outside. She then took out her umbrella from her bag and then opened it. Y/n then tried holding the umbrella but she was too short and couldn't cover for Jay.

She let a small giggle and then faced Jay.

"Um well that didn't work, could you grab it for the both of us?"

Y/n asked Jay, while Jay just nodded his head and took the umbrella for them. While their hands brushed a bit Jay didn't seem to notice while on the other hand, Y/n did and blushed a bit.

"Thank you!"

Y/n happily thanked Jay, and then Jay started walking while Y/n followed right next to him.

"Hmm, I like your hair"

Y/n said to Jay, and he then turned his head to look at Y/n. Jay just nodded his head while he gave a small smile to Y/n. She took that sign in a thank you way and smiled at herself for doing that.

She then felt her shoulder getting wet. So she went closer to Jay.

"Hope you don't mind me being a little close to you"

Y/n said and Jay just smiled at her. Y/n read the smile as a sign saying that he was fine with that. As they continued walking Y/n stopped walking and so did Jay.

"Well, this my stop"

Y/n gave a smile to Jay, while Jay nodded his head.

"Say, before I leave. Can I have your number?"

Y/n asked Jay, Jay was a little surprised but he gave a small smile and gave her his number. Y/n looked happy when Jay gave her his phone number.

"Thank you! See you next time!"

Y/n happily said to Jay. Jay was gonna give her umbrella back when she said.

"You keep it, you're gonna get wet if you don't take it"

Y/n said and then walked away, but then she got a text from Jay. She then opened the text.

"Thank you again, Jay! See you at school!"

Y/n turned to face Jay and gave him a smile while showing a thumbs-up to him. Jay just smiled at how funny Y/n was nodded at her and then walked away with her umbrella.

[makethemhoesmad]

liability (pt. 1)

in which paige stayed for azzi, and azzi thinks that if it goes wrong, it’s her fault

—

“sadly, this will not be my last senior night!” paige yells, causing cheers throughout the gym. azzi stands and cheers too, but she already knew. yesterday night, while paige was at her house, in her bed, she told azzi the wonderful news that she was staying another year, so they could play together. while azzi was happy she would be there, she couldn’t stop herself from thinking about what paige could do if she left. she’d be a top three draft pick, for sure. as her mind wandered, she realized that it was her fault. she was the one holding paige back. that thought made her shudder. paige, still asleep, pulled azzi closer to her, kissed her forehead, and started whispering nonsense to try and calm her down. azzi lay stiff in her arms, distraught from her discovery. eventually, paige playing with her hair put her to sleep.

azzi had been distant all day. it was the day of the senior night game, and azzi had barely spoken to her. she left early in the morning, making up a bullshit excuse about class work, then didn’t respond to any of paige’s texts. it was odd, after what paige told her last night. she’d planned to spend all day together, then come home together after the game. but she’s asked azzi three times and she hasn’t answered once. 

games were paige’s favorite. today, when the team ran out of the tunnel and paige got her first good look at what azzi was wearing. she didn’t say anything, still hurt by being ignored all day. 

after the game, which uconn won 85-44, and after everyone’s senior speeches, which consisted of both tears and cheers, the team went out for drinks, as is custom after a home game win. paige decided that if she was blackout drunk, she didn’t have ti worry about azzi. from the way azzi was drinking, it looked like she had the same idea.

when azzi got drunk, there was rarely anything she wanted more than paige. the little part of her that was still sober enough to care told her that she was ignoring paige, but it couldn’t tell her why. she stumbled through the bar, looking for the blond. she finds her next to the bar and promptly wrapped her arms around her and tucked her hands under her shirt. “hey paigey, wanna get out of here, like, now?” 

paige spins in azzis arms, meeting her face to face. she was about to say no, remembering her anger from earlier, but when she was met with azzis glazed over eyes and flushed cheeks, the only thing on her mind were the lips in the middle of all of it. “let’s go. i’ll call an uber. there will be no messing around in this uber, right baby?” paige asks, running her finger over azzis lip as she spoke. azzi nodded quickly, flicking her tongue out to touch paige’s finger. “good, i know you can do it for me”

in the uber, azzi was tortured. paige was sitting so close to her she could feel every shift in her body, and all she wanted was for paige to shove her fingers in her mouth. she took ahold of paige’s hand and leaned against her neck, mouth right by her ear. she started messing with her fingers pulling on them and whining into her ear. paige snatched her hand away. “what did i tell you pretty girl? no funny business, or you can watch while i get myself off tonight.” azzi leaned further into her, just trying to wait it out.

once the uber dropped them off and they had made it to paige’s apartment, she didn’t have to hold back anymore. paige pushed azzi into the wall by her shoulders and started undressing her, kissing her way down her body as more skin was revealed. she left her panties for last, wanted to make her wait, like she did when it came to talking to paige. she moved down to her knees and pulled off azzis panties with her teeth, while she herself was still fully clothed. she threw the soaked panties somewhere into the bedroom and made soft contact with her pussy. “drenched for me, darling. and so perfect, so pretty, all for only me.” azzi whined and rotated her hips, trying to force more feeling. paige started to pump her fingers, fast and experienced. 

azzis legs started to shake. she gripped paige’s hair, warning her she was about to release. paige pulled her fingers out and pushed azzi onto the bed. “WHAT THE FUuuu” azzi started to say, but was cut off by paige’s fingers in her mouth. “i think you should get these a bit more ready for me angel” azzi moaned around her fingers, tasting herself on them. paige takes out her fingers and reaches back down to azzis pussy, keeping them face to face and she inserts them in again. almost immediately, azzis back arches off the bed, and she leans down to bite paige’s shoulder. she’s about to scream in climax, when she pulls out again. azzi releases paige from her teeth and slams her head into paige’s chest instead. “shh, it’s okay, it’s okay. you’re doing so good.” paige starts to crawl herself down to between azzis legs, leaving a trail of kisses behind. she attaches to azzis clit again, which has azzi promptly screaming. “paige, keep going, don’t stop, i’ll be good, fuck fuck fuckkk” 

god paige thinks. azzi is so fucking pretty when she cums. azzi is breathing heavily against the bed, lips red and swollen, a sheen of sweat on her forehead. all it takes is for her to beckon with one finger and paige is naked and at her side, in bed, under the covers. “you were such a good girl for me today baby” paige says, pressing against azzi. “baby,” azzi says with a look of concern on her face, “ you didn’t tell me how wet you were” it was true, paige needed azzi, but she wasn’t going to say anything. “you got so wet, just from watching me. you act so tough, but you’re actually just a little bitch all for me” she ducks under the covers and starts eating paige out with a fervor. “oh, come on azzi, right there, keep going, azzi azzi AZZI” paige yells, climaxing quicker than she had in a while. she’s boneless against the bed, curled up into azzi, falling asleep face to face. 

azzi wakes up before paige. she looks at the beautiful blonde next to her, both arms still holding tightly to azzis waist, face tucked into her neck. azzi sees an update text come through from instagram on paige’s phone. 

2024 mock draft

caitlin clark

paige bueckers

that’s all azzi needs to read. that’s a top three draft pick, and she’s giving it up all for azzi. she tries to remove paige’s arms carefully, but it’s lucky she’s a deep sleeper. azzi puts on the first clothes of her own she can find, and flees out the door before paige can wake up and realize how much of a liability she really is.

[obx-archives]

impulse - jj maybank

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

warning: sexual content. drug use. +18. minors DNI. unprotected sex. laguage. public sex. oral sex,female receiving. public sex.

word count: 1.3 k

author's notes: this was so fun to write! it took me a couple days but its finally here! hope y'all enjoy.

masterlist

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

it’s safe to say that having jj as your coworker wasn’t a brilliant idea, specially working around kooks, serving food and with all the flirting and conversations both of you didn’t get a lot of work done around unless there was someone being a pain in your asses. Today is one of those days, three arguments with your boss and by the end of the third one you felt your face turn red with anger.

JJ was your best friend since day one so he pretty much knew your next move as you exchanged looks with him smirking, you tossed your apron into the floor as you stormed out of the room giving your former boss the finger and a proud smile.

as the sun starts to set you walk to the beach, you go to your spot which it’s far from figure eight and far from people. The sound of the waves and the beautiful view of the sun pays off all your exhaustion, your clothes are now in the sand as you run to the oceans in your white bathing suit, the cold water hits your feet causing goosebumps, you swim further feeling your body melt away the tension from earlier.

While you’re floating in between the waves, you spotted a motorcycle approaching JJ, he gets out of the bike and starts walking in your direction, you get out of the water and meet him halfway.

“classic y/n, quits with class and now acts like nothing happens AND still manage to look hotter than ever”.- jj says smiling and clapping

“i swear to god, if i had to listen to that asshole complain for one more hour and i would kill myself”.- you said, rolling your eyes.

“here” jj says, throwing a towel, you half dried yourself and put the towel on the floor to sit on it “please tell me that you have weed on you.” you ask him pouting your lips 

JJ scoffed sitting next to you, he patted his pockets carefully getting a lighter and a pre rolled cigarette. “I'm offended that you even questioned.” 

you hugged your legs waiting patiently, jj lips turned into a smirk watching your mannerism.

“you look like a kid waiting for candy.” he says lighting up the joint “that’s my type of candy” you responded shrugging your shoulders “there ya go cupcake.” he hand you the joint, you pinch the cigarette to your lips inhaling the smoke and releasing a few seconds later, you pass it to JJ who copies your actions.

“What would I do if you weren’t my best friend. Maybank?.” you asked laid down

“probably would be in love with me or trying to get laid by me”. he answered chuckling, you grin at his comment.

A few moments later, a comfortable silence grew between you two, jj was sitting staring at the waves and still hitting his joint, you narrowed your eyes to him as your mind came up with intrusive thoughts.

“you know you’re pretty hot right?” 

“jesus, how high are you?” jj responded lazily

“would mind if i kissed you right now?” you blurred out

“nah, but i don’t think you mean it-” jj was interrupted as you sat in his lap, legs wrapped to his side.

“hi” you whisper

“hi y/n” he replies hesitantly, staring at you, he bites his lips as you tighten your grip around him.

“y/n, what are you doing?.” 

“letting the weed give me courage.” you whispered as you leave wet kisses on his neck, JJ groans placing his hand to your waist as a response “I think it’s time for us to quit flirting.” you said in between kisses.

“jesus” he breathes out  “fuck it.” he curses, laying you to the floor, his lips met yours eagerly, tongue slipping into your mouth grewing the urge between you two. JJ grinds his now, hard dick into you, your fingers reach his shirt pulling over his head, he attacks your neck sucking your skin sending chills through your spine.

“You don't know how long I've been waiting for this.” JJ rasped to your ears

“JJ….” you pleaded, he kept marking your neck, you close your eyes yearning for his touch, you reached the back of your bikini and unties, JJ pulled back, eyes falling to your boobs.

He stare at your state of vulnerability, topless with legs spread open, you filled with lust, your fingers trails your figure ending at your wetness, you pushed the fabric of your bikini to the side and slide your fingers to your folds, you lock eyes with him who has a sinful look in his face.

“princess you're gonna make me cum so fast if you keep doing this...look how perfect and soaked you are.”

“i'm showing you how much of a good girl I am.” your doe eyes stared up at him, softening as you rub your fingers to your clit.

the desire overtake your mind, you brought your fingers to your lips and sucked the liquid out of them, jj was painfully hard watching you taste yourself.

“then show me how well you can ride my dick”.- JJ growls

you climbed on top of him, he quickly removes his shorts and underwear, you stroke his length up and down before adjusting his cock to your entrance, a filthy noise escapes your lips as you feel him throbbing inside of you, JJ move his hands cupping your breast, you fasten your pace , JJ throws his head back of pleasure.

“You feel so good baby, goddammit.”

his thumb teases your clit rubbing circles as you bounce on him  “gosh jj, yes, don't stop.” you cry loudly forgetting that you're in public.

“you like having my dick inside you, don't you? look how amazing you take my cock.” JJ moves his waist helping you ride him, JJ switches positions bending you over this time.

“shit, your pussy feels so good as it looks.” he rasped, flicking his tongue at your cunt.

you shiver as jj goes down on you from behind, you arch your back giving him plenty of space to taste you, his tongue moves through your hole and clit, he wraps his lips around your clit relentlessly.

“jj, please.”

“you taste fucking delicious princess, let me feel your tight pussy again.” 

he lines his cock to your entrance teasing with the tip on your opening, before pushing into you.

“jj, fuck me, please.” you begged again

“So needy, patient baby.” jj says as he speeds up his movements. his hands made way to your clit rubbing vicious circles into it as he let his cock please you.

“right there J, yes”.- you sob, your moans were making him slam his cock inside you harder and faster.

“fuuuuck y/n.” jj cursed, your walls fluttering around his cock, eyes couldn't stay open, the euphoric feeling of being close plus the hint of weed on your system made your entire body shake. JJ cups and squeeze your boobs firmly, bucking his hips deeper.

the sound of your butt slamming on his skin was echoing loudly through the beach.

“shit, you take my cock so well princess.” his hands grips your hips so hard marking your skin.

 “J, I'm c-cumming.” you whined desperately clenching around him. “oh god, yes.” you gasped repeatedly, the familiar frenetic feeling takes all over your twitching body drenching the towel below you.

“yeah, such a good girl.” jj moans his final curse, his thrusts become slower and sloppier, he grunted pulling out painting your ass with his cum.

both of you stumble down and collapse to the floor breathless, you look around making sure one more time that you were both alone, at this point both of you were loud enough to not make any person approach the area.

“goddamn.” JJ rasped as both of you come down off your highs “what was that?” he turned to you 

you chuckle, panting “ I don't know, i just think this type of weed gave me way too much energy.” you spoke

“Then I'll save more for later.” he grabs your face, pulling you into a kiss.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

© obx-archives 2023 — no one has permission to copy or translate any of my works, if you see any of my work being reproduced in another platform please contact me! :)

[redninjaoutfit]

"why don't you hang out with your brother?" "he's at his new girlfriend's house"

You genuinely do not understand the emotional impact these two sentences had on me. I didn't respond sooner because this ask actually pushed me to write a whole ass oneshot about Colt and Lucky based on this. I've been sat here in my pajamas doing nothing but writing.

SO. ENJOY. IDK IF ITS GOOD BUT I HOPE YOU LIKE IT AND KNOW IT DESTROYED ME EMOTIONALLY. (below the cut cause its long as shit)

4386 words of unfiltered angst hurt/comfort.

His brother's soulmate

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

The bell signalling the beginning of the next class rang out loudly, piercing the ears of nearby students and rousing birds out of the branches of surrounding trees. In their rush towards the main entrance, no one detected the hasty, light steps and delicate gush of wind passing through like a ghost, unaware that someone fortunate enough to avoid the oppressive authority of the school prefects had slipped through the front gate, completely unnoticed. The truant in question darted absentmindedly towards nearby shrubbery leading to Bullworth Town, unlit cigarette sitting patiently between his paint-blotched fingers, other hand smoothing the copper mane his older friends enjoyed tussling so much.

Colt De Luca, a Bullworth freshman and member of the feared and respected Greaser clique, could feel his legs moving yet had no idea where he was headed. He let his body take him wherever as he busied himself with searching his pockets for a lighter acquired off Ricky in the parking lot mere moments earlier.

After successfully retrieving the small object and lighting the tip of his very last cancer stick, Colt took a vigorous drag and felt his lungs burning, instantly relieving some of the stress off his mind. Granted a moment of clarity, the Greaser looked around. He found he’d already made his way over to the main road leading towards the path heading to New Coventry, his own place of residence.

Looks like it was yet another day of aimless wandering ahead of him.

While Colt was not usually one to skip school, having been brought up to value education and consider its impact on his future, today was different - much different - he thought to himself as he bitterly kicked the pebble which had the audacity to find itself in his way. Colt’s mind seemed preoccupied with thoughts and anxiety from the very moment he woke up and rose off his paper thin mattress and continued through the few classes he chose to attend and do badly in. Frustration kept him on the edge of his seat as the teachers talked and talked and asked invasive questions and refused his requests for a bathroom break (which they rightfully suspected would turn into a smoke break). Not even his trusty sketchbook helped soothe his irritable mind and upon hearing the dreaded ring of the bell, nothing could keep the boy inside the confines of the stone walls of the academy.

Colt’s anger was not unfounded yet as he traversed the decrepit streets of New Coventry he could not help but cringe at the memory of his friends’ concern throughout the day. Many of them have come around to inquire about his well being, sought him out of their own volition while he hid and ran. Norton offered to lend a comforting ear. Ricky asked if he wanted to ride around town after school. Lefty remained on his tail break upon break, attempting to get him out of his own head with chatter. Hell, even Johnny, the aloof, tough king of the Greasers said they should ditch and talk. Colt, regretfully, dismissed them all. He didn’t need their help, he could do this on his own, he was grown now.

Grownups don’t mope about the anniversary of their parents’ death.

Colt took a final drag of his cigarette and tossed it onto the side before its remains could burn him, stomping it out with his dirty loafer. He looked at the pitiful bud for a moment before averting his eyes, reminded much to his dismay of his current appearance. “I probably looked like a pathetic kicked puppy right now, damn it.” He thought to himself bitterly and headed for one of New Coventry’s many sketchy alleyways.

He’s fourteen years old, fifteen in a few months. Practically a grown man, hanging around the most dangerous and intimidating group in the whole school (excluding the Jocks, but Colt didn’t like to think about the roid monkeys if he could help it). He should have already learned how to deal with grief a long time ago, should have forgotten about the whole ordeal either way since he was merely a baby by the time he became an orphan. He had no right to miss the people he didn’t even know. Yet the stabbing in his heart and tightness in his throat he felt at the moment were just as intense as when he was first yelled at by his uncle after bashfully handing him a Father’s day card he was forced to make in school. Or when neighbourhood children tripped him onto a busy road and asked if he’d tattle to his mommy. Or when he was scowled at by teachers for being brought to school by a boy not much older than him instead of an adult. 

In previous years though, as juvenile and immature as it was, he had someone to share that grief with. None of his friends could understand better than that person did, for good reason too. He’d take young Colt out to do anything to get their minds off their parents, visit their favourite hotdog stand, wander around surrounding fields with no purpose at all, ride around on bikes from sunrise till dawn. They’d religiously visit their parents’ joined grave, year by year, and talk. Touch on things they normally would, couldn’t, and those conversations brought them closer than ever before.

This year was different, however. Colt would have to grow up and be brave on his own, since the jerk didn’t care about him-

Just as Colt was about to descend down the winding path behind the Tenements a small, familiar hand roughly grasped his upper arm, violently ripping him out of his own thoughts. He smelled the smoke before he even turned around to glance at the person with irked, surprised eyes.

Standing behind him was Lefty, his best friend, in all his jean jacket-clad, greased up glory, though the intimidating effect of his appearance was dampened by how out of breath he looked, coughing small droplets of black tar onto the pavement below their feet. Yet his grip on Colt’s arm never weakened.

“Dude, why do you have t’ be so fast?” Lefty gasped, straightening his back yet still appearing winded “Ya got a bounty on yer head or somethin’?”

Why was Lefty even there to begin with, though? Colt knew the little Greaser still had two more classes and though he often skipped school, some days entirely, he usually hid away from the prefects in the labyrinthine path toward the Autoshop. That, or he hung around the Blue Balls Casino, smoking it up to the point where they had to let it air out before entering.

He chose not to pry, however. He just wanted to hide somewhere, even if it was from who he considered a brother from another mother. Especially since his real one…

Colt sighed and looked away, feigning interest in nearby anti-Greaser graffiti.

“Not that I know of. Why are you even chasing me, shouldn’tcha be getting your beauty sleep in Slawter’s class right now?” retorted Colt, more venom in his voice than he would have wanted. He couldn’t even control himself with his best friend, what a child, he chastised himself, fists clenching.

Unbeknownst to him, Lefty had begun moving away from the alleyway as they talked, grip firm on his brooding friend as they slowly traversed the sidewalk rounding their designated yet dilapidated hangout spot. Truth be told, the chainsmoker had been worried about his childhood bud for a few days now. It was not uncommon for Colt to grow snappy and sad as they neared this time of the year, when leaves grew yellow and air crisped yet the avid painter found no drive to capture such picturesque sights. That was usually when he and the other Greasers stepped in - though emotional maturity was decidedly not their forte - to mitigate the bad moods of two of their clique members. That was when they partied the hardest, laughed the loudest, got up to most comedic hijinks they could think of and led actual in-depth discussions about things left untouched any other time of the year. The 50’s enthusiasts had their own, unique ways of showing each other they cared and, though unconventional, they usually worked.

This year was different and Lefty spotted it instantly. As the mid-October grew closer, nothing seemed to soothe Colt and the desperation Lefty felt witnessing his best friend’s pain was unlike any other. Unaware, or rather left in the dark about the reason for such an abrupt change (because he asked, many times at that!) he tried everything to make it better, which, ironically, did nothing. Which is why, having lost sight of Colt, Lefty turned to his friends to see if they’d caught wind of him anywhere in the academy.

Ricky, the ever-worrier, was the first person Lefty approached. He knew their resident mechanic usually had the most intel on all of their whereabouts since he usually obsessed over the people in his life to an unhealthy degree (such as his ex, but he didn’t like to talk about that). When asked about Colt, the older Greaser looked around the Autoshop’s entrance tentatively where he could only see Peanut and Vance having an animated conversation, upon which he leaned in, cigarette nearly falling from behind his ear.

“Don’t tell Lucky but I saw him dashin’ out of the front gate and haven’t seen him return since. Also might have given him a lighter, I ain’t proud of it but the kid was insistent.” Ricky confessed bashfully, smoothing the back of his pompadour, concerned expression never dropping from his face.

“Big deal, like we don’t all smoke.” Lefty muttered under his breath, shaking his head curtly. That was one thing he’d never been able to see eye to eye on with Lucky, he and Colt were barely four years younger than him and the rest of the Seniors yet when they smoked like a chimney it was okay. But enough about that.

“Why would Colt skip, though? He’s too nerdy for that, even on this day…” Lefty wondered.

“Don’t know dude, I’ve just been waitin’, hoping he’ll return before Luck sees and loses his shit. Hey, it wasn’t that long ago that he scrammed, maybe YOU can go bring our baby bro back since you seem to, ya know, be playin’ hooky too?” Ricky quipped playfully, looking at his watch to see it was already fifteen minutes since class began.

Which is how Lefty found himself in his current predicament, meandering the dirty streets of New Coventry, Colt in tow, head down as they traversed quietly. The silence was not awkward yet held an air of tension and sadness Lefty tried his best to signal a will to converse about through his pointed stares which, unfortunately, went completely unnoticed. Colt seemed lost in his own head, even more so than usual around the date of the anniversary. Lefty did not want to press but could simply not allow his friend to silently suffer any longer.

He led Colt towards a familiar, comforting path towards the abandoned, destroyed playground behind an old pizza parlour in a similar degree of upkeep. Since the closure of the restaurant many years back, the playground on its premises had been used exclusively by its undesignated audience of troublemakers, urban explorers and junkies who sought a secluded place to shoot it up in. It also just so happened to be where Lefty and Colt hid away since childhood when all seemed too overwhelming, when the world was just too big, their family issues too stifling.

The jean-clad Greaser moved the large carton box covering the entrance hole out of the way and bent down to pass, looking back at Colt as he went. His friends seemed aware of his surroundings at least, in his state of depression, as he mimicked Lefty’s movement and soon they stood in front of the hazardously rusty playground equipment, unmoving. Lefty saw it as his chance.

“OK dude, trust me, I know today’s rough on ya but I can see it’s worse than usual. What’s gotten into ya?” Upon receiving a deafening spur of silence in response, Lefty continued, attempting to look his friend in the eyes “I mean… skippin’ school, smokin’, ignorin’ us, to hell with the guys, ignorin’ me. It’s just… If something’s eatin’ ya up I wanna be able ta help and it clearly is.”

Desperate for any sort of answer, Lefty felt himself beginning to ramble, getting closer so he could put his hand on Colt’s shoulder in a - hopefully - consoling manner.

“And if you don’t wanna tell me, why don’t you hang out with yer brother? You know Lucky would be down to skip and drive around with you, he don’t like Maths anyway, you’d be doin’ him a favor.”

That seemed to finally get a reaction out of the artist, not one Lefty was hoping for, however, as the mournful Greaser sucked in a breath too quick to conceal and stiffened up under his arm. In the mere seconds their eyes met, Lefty saw pain and frustration and an unexpected glisten and moments later, Colt made a dash towards the entrance they had just breached.

Lefty hurriedly dove after him, grasping his arm much akin to how he caught him earlier in front of the Tenements.

“No gettin’ out of this one now buddy. Tell me what’s goin’ on and what’s it got to do with yer bro.” he stated, uncharacteristic severity in his voice as he led Colt towards the nasty, rusted swing set, other hand instinctively reaching for the full pack of smokes in his pocket “We’ve got all day, I may not be patient but for you, Imma sit here in silence till spooky hours till you’se in the mood to spill.”

Though the last part of his sentence may have been humorous, not even a hint of a smirk graced his face as he lowered himself carefully onto the squeaking swing and took out a cigarette out the box. His friend mimicked him wordlessly, sagging against his own seat’s cable, hand reaching out in unsaid request of his own cancer stick. Lefty did not hesitate before handing it over, bringing the tips of the cigarettes together before lighting them at once.

For a few solemn minutes, the two friends sat and filled their lungs with smoke, the only sound penetrating the silence between them being the croaking of the playground equipment around them and cars whooshing by on the other side of the fence. A light gust of wind tousled their hair from time to time, blowing the smoke back into their eyes, though neither gave it much consideration, lost in their own thoughts. Lefty wondered and pondered, unused to deep thought processes and obviously unaware of what exactly went down between the brothers on a day to day basis. To him, they seemed as in cahoots with one another as they usually were, albeit more glum with the anniversary of their parents’ passing around the corner. Having practically grown up alongside the De Luca siblings, Lefty felt he could confidently judge when the two had just had a falling out and despite Colt’s terrible mood Lucky appeared his regular self.

“He wouldn’t.” A meek voice disturbed his train of thought.

Lefty glanced over questioningly at his best friend who was mid cigarette drag, hands visibly shaking, brimming with anxious energy. Colt pushed himself absentmindedly back and forth on the swing with the heels of his loafers, the motion soothing to the Greaser, albeit barely. Noticing Lefty’s steely, concerned gaze, he coughed and continued.

“He wouldn’t. Be down to hang, that is. He uh… he’s goin’ over to his girl’s place today. Stayin’ the night too…” Colt mumbled and twisted his head away completely from his friend, cigarette long forgotten, burning dangerously close to his fingers and trailing ash on his pants.

Why had he even said anything at all? He wasn’t the only one who was growing older, Lucky, who’d always taken care of him, who’d always been there for him, who'd given up so much to raise both of them since their uncle couldn’t give a rat’s ass about them. He had grown too, into a respectable young adult at that, as respectable as he could be given their life circumstances. Despite being a notorious ladies man in the past, in recent months he’d been trying to actually make things work with a girl he met in their uncle’s shop. His undisputed charm worked its magic on her but contrary to his usual flings, so did hers. Lucky was actually serious about this girl, introducing her to his way of life, to his friends and (until that point, at least) the most important person in his life, his little brother Colt.

He was not jealous. At first. Jealousy is juvenile, after all. He enjoyed her presence, rather motherly, she was the calm to his fiery nature, the ying to his yang. She liked all of his hobbies and shared her own with him, some of which Lucky would never have considered uptaking in fear of them not being manly or tough enough. She was there for him through thick and thin, helped him destress and relax and take his mind off things when burnout approached since he was such a terrible workaholic. In turn, he showed her real fun, a rough, dangerous edge of the town and the Greaser way of life. Encouraged her towards spontaneity previously foreign to her.

They were a fantastic influence on each other, one could (and did, such as Lola) call them soulmates who healed a little bit each time they gazed into each other's eyes.

And Colt selfishly wished he could be such a person for Lucky.

Hence why, upon receiving the news of his brother spending the anniversary of their parents’ death, which the two of them usually bonded on, at his girlfriend’s place in a little village some distance away from Bullworth, something inside of Colt broke. The little boy inside of him, so painfully and tenderly helpless, desperately grasping onto his big brother’s hand like a lifeline fell onto the grainy sidewalk and watched his only support crutch walk away without looking back. He could not cry, he could not show weakness, yet he could not get up on his own either, left to rot and slowly melt into the pavement beneath.

He knew he had to be mature. To grow up one day. Let go of Lucky who did not deserve to have been forced to play parent for so many years. Let him lead his own life after he’d already shaped so much of himself to accommodate Colt's unseemly form. But he didn’t feel ready. Despite his desperate, unfair battle against his own feelings and his tormentor’s allegations, Colt knew deep down he was still just a silly, desperate child, incapable of fending for himself in the real world just as they had suspected all along.

He felt a hot, fat tear rolling down his cheek before he quickly rubbed it away with unwarranted force. Impulsively confessing something ridiculous to his best friend was one thing but letting him see him cry? Colt couldn’t handle that level of embarrassment. He’d already wallowed in self-pity in front of other people enough for his liking.

Before Lefty could form a response, Colt tossed the remains of his cigarette down into the sand below them, burying it with the tip of his shoe and standing up abruptly, not regarding his friend with the slightest of glances.

“I’m okay though, don’t worry ‘bout me man, ‘s just the usual. At least he’ll be havin’ fun. Let’s go back to school, I’ll mope ‘round a bit and then I’ll be good.” Colt began moving towards the exit of the playground, a faux smile plastered over his features. He knew it showed in his eyes which were still as mournful as before and although he realised that Lefty was not dumb enough to believe him, he’d hoped he was negligent enough to drop it.

The other Greaser had different plans, however.

While Lefty would not argue with the others saying he had the emotional intelligence of a fruitfly, he also considered it one of his greatest weaknesses and felt nothing was worse than when he wanted to comfort a friend and failed miserably due to his attitude of actions over words. His own upbringing and parents did not grant him much opportunity to develop a sense of maturity required to handle such intense situations and he fumbled with his words, stumbling and landing head first before he could even attempt to console the other person, which had ironically happened with Colt more times than he could count. The artistic Greaser was much more mature in that sense yet never judged him for his inadequacy.

Today was different.

Lefty caught up with Colt, placing a tentative hand on his leather-covered back, his long hair just barely tickling his fingertips as the other came to a half, short of bending down to the hole in the fence.

“‘S that why you’ve been so depressed these past couple ‘a days? ‘Cause Lucky ain’t gonna be here today fer you today?” Lefty inquired carefully, not a drop of judgement in his voice.

Colt spared him a measured glance, insecurity clouding his judgement as he convinced himself he saw humour within the icy gaze of his friend. He shrugged off his hand.

“I know it’s fuckin’ ridiculous and childish of me, okay. Let’s just move on and go back ta class.”

Lefty, indignant, stopped the advancing boy in his tracks with his elevated tone.

“Dude, FUCK class.” He spun Colt around to face him directly without a hint of hesitation “You need to hear this right now, you ain’t ridiculous, you ain’t childish, and ya certainly don’t gotta force yaself to be okay today. I’m not gonna sit here ‘n listen to ya talk about my friend like that.”

Both held uncertain breaths, not looking away from each other, one set of steel meeting sky blue in a desperate attempt at reading the other’s mind, hoping to make the message stick. Lefty knew deep down that if he let his friend go, he’d never let himself live that fact down. He clicked his tongue and continued, struggling to think of the right way to articulate his thoughts.

“It fuckin’ sucks, that you’se breakin’ a tradition like that. I know yer bro means the world to ya and nothin’ will ever replace him. But… you ain’t alone, with or without Luck. Maybe we don’t tell ya enough but you got the guys, you got me, I’m not gonna let you forget.” Lefty felt the corner of his own mouth twitch upward for a moment “Matter of fact, since you’se not busy with Lucky, I’m takin’ you out, gettin’ yer mind off it all-”

Colt attempted to butt in, shaking his head adamantly, a horrified blush gradually spreading across his features. “I couldn’t make you do that! You don’t gotta-”

“But I wanna!” Interjected Lefty, growing giddy by the second “Man, I want you to be happy. I want you to see you’se not alone. And I wanna hang out!” He assured, smiling with his teeth now.

“We can do whatever you want man, throw firecrackers at the coppers, ride ‘round the town, stay out ‘n sleep outside somewhere like bums. Hell, we can even go visit yer parents together… if you’se good on that…” Now was Lefty’s turn to smooth his hand over his pomp nervously, hoping he didn’t cross a boundary.

A quick glance upon Colt’s awestruck expression told him all he needed to know.

“Just… don’t isolate yerself from me, Colt. I’d rather see you bawl yer eyes out than have’ta wonder what’s got you down in the dumps. Lucky’s not the only one who cares about ya you know.”

He did know now.

It took a moment for Colt to collect himself after such an outburst from his usually humorous and emotionally unavailable best friend. The shaking in his limbs subsided as he carefully considered Lefty’s spontaneous stream of consciousness, gratitude clouding the sheer awkwardness of the moment and the embarrassment he felt at his impromptu venting session. While he still missed Lucky and felt lost without him by his side, he could now approach the situation with more assurance, his dearest companion in clear support even through his withdrawal and depressing attitude.

Therefore, after exhaling deeply, his gaze traversed over to his friends wherein he nodded, more enthusiastically than he thought possible mere hours before, agreeing to Lefty’s primitive yet endearing idea of consolation.

The rest of the day, albeit undeniably sombre and glum, was spent by the two best friends on their feet, causing unwarranted mischief to their beloved neighbours, wandering aimlessly and basking in each other’s presence. They did, to Colt’s alleviation and Lefty amazement, visit the marble headstone of Mr. and Mrs. De Luca and though Lefty’s presence in Lucky’s place was strange at first, it felt natural, as the chainsmoker encouraged him to retell tales of their childhood afore the couple’s passing, a request with which he complied enthusiastically.

Colt felt no need to remark that most of them he'd only learned from his brother.

Hours later and much after curfew, Colt and Lefty laid on a patch of desolate green grass outside of the dirt path surrounding New Coventry. Fully clothed, not caring whether the blades stained their garments green, they conversed calmly, though the events of the day were starting to take a toll on their energy levels. Conversation drifted lazily, their faces only illuminated by the wide array of stars visible to the naked eye outside of their polluted neighbourhood and the glow of the moon bestowing upon them the ability to look each other in the eye from time to time, snickering at one another’s drained expressions.

From where he resided, Colt was sure that through squinted eyes he could see his mom and dad smiling down on him from up above, telling him it was all going to be okay.

He hoped Lucky saw that too, wherever he was.

[avis-writeshq]

DETENTION — Damian Wayne 

inspired by ‘detention’ by melanie martinez

a/n: HELLAUURRR!! returning with a damian wayne fic, how typical of me hehehe >:D i actually wrote + worked on this fic for a while now, maybe two months ago? so i'm glad i've been able to post it!! i haven't edited it that much aside from the times i had to reread it to continue writing, so if there are any issues, lmk!!

tw: guns, stalking, kidnapping, s3xual assault, blood, psychopathic tendencies (not by reader or damian), arson, prayer talk, if there’s more lmk!

rating: 16+ for mature themes, coarse language, and mutual pining

wc: 6k

“Morning, Damian!” You smile, waving in greeting as you fell into step beside him. “Did you finish the maths homework?”

He nods, muttering a quiet greeting before fishing his exercise book out of his bag. “Of course I did.” He relishes in the way your eyes lit up as you grabbed the exercise book, quickly turning to the current chapter you were on. “How are you never able to do your homework on time but–”

“– But you’re the one protecting Gotham, yes, Damian, I know.” You roll your eyes as you finish his sentence, having heard the ‘lecture’ one too many times. “I was busy providing sanctum to the sad citizens of Gotham through cheese, garlic, and tomato.”

Damian was well aware of your job at Maria Pizzaria, one of the best pizza places in all of Gotham, and he was happy that you were enjoying your job — even if it did mean you couldn’t do any of your homework for the next day.  

“Alright, hurry up and finish your homework,” he says, chuckling at your frantic scribbling. “What time did you sleep last night, anyway?”

You groan, not ceasing your writing as you respond, “you don’t want to know. Ms Sanders decided to give me a one-thousand-word essay to complete, so estimate on that.”

Silence settles between you for a few moments before you snapped the books closed with a grin. “... and done! Thanks, Damian, you’re a lifesaver – literally. Oh! Did you hear about the new student? Her name’s Lilith, I think. I’m surprised you didn’t tell me about it earlier.”

Strangely enough, the name didn’t seem to ring any bells in his head. Maybe this student was incredibly new, but it’s weird that he hasn’t heard about it from his role as vice president. 

“I actually wasn’t told about any new students,” Damian remarks as the two of you enter the classroom. 

“That’s… weird.” Your brows furrow in confusion. “Did you turn up to all the meetings? Read all the emails?”

“Who do you take me for, of course, I did,” he huffed, taking his usual seat beside you in the centre of the class. “I never heard anything about it.”

You hum, taking in his words with full confidence that he was telling the truth. If there was one thing Damian never did to you, was a lie (aside from when he hid the fact that he was Robin from you – but that was on Bruce’s call, not his). 

“Alright class, can I get your attention please!” The teacher claps their hands with a broad smile. “Everyone, we have a new student today! Lilith, why don’t you introduce yourself?”

A girl, mousey looking with dark brown hair with blonde ends, piercing brown eyes, and she looked innocent enough. Just your average high schooler. But her eyes seemed… off. It was almost like she wasn’t all there. At least, it looked like that to you. Nevertheless, you were never one to judge a book by its cover, so you quickly offered to show her around the school. 

Lilith, as the girl was named, took the offer happily, saying in her thick Maine accent, “thank you, Damian. Oh, and Y/N.” Which you thought was weird, seeing that neither of you have introduced yourselves yet, but you figured that if she talked to the student council, they must have mentioned the both of you at some point. 

“No problem!” You smile, but Damian was unmoving, his eyes narrowing at Lilith and you notice the way his jaw clenches. “Damian…” You hiss under your breath, “welcome the new student.”

He doesn’t say anything, instead choosing to nod in acknowledgment. He moved his seat so that it was almost as if the two of you were sharing a table while Lilith sat in front of you. 

“Anyway,” You turn your attention back to Lilith who was staring a bit too hard at Damian for your liking. “I can show you around the school after class. Can I see your timetable?”

“Sure,” Lilith pushes her glasses up, digging into her bag. “Here you go.”

You read through her timetable, humming and nodding at the subject choices. “I have a few classes with you! That’s good, I can show you around then as we head to class. What do you think?”

“Is Damian coming with us?” She asks, raising an eyebrow. 

“Uh…” you falter, trying to ignore the small stab in your heart the statement made. 

“I’ll be there,” Damian cuts in quickly, and you don’t miss the way he brushes his pinky with yours from under the table. 

You notice how her smile widens at his announcement, and you shift awkwardly in your seat. There was one thing you knew for sure – 

*** 

“I don’t like her,” you announce to Damian over the phone, “she seems sketchy.”

“What happened to ‘I never judge a book by its cover’?” Damian snorts, and you hear a page being flicked in the background. “But, I do agree.”

“Maybe she’s just nervous,” you say, more to yourself than to him as you move to sit on your bed. “I mean, she is at a new school. Maybe she just feels awkward about it.”

You can practically hear him nod as he reads his book. Today was one of the rare times he didn’t have a patrol. Instead, Dick decided to take his place, saying that ‘a kid like him needed some down time’ which, to be fair, you couldn’t deny. 

“I agree with you,” Damian says before continuing, “give her a few days though to adjust. We can see her true nature then.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” You say, eyes glancing at the digital clock that was glaring at you from your bedside table. “Sorry. You’re probably tired. You go get some sleep – you always sleep past midnight.”

“Coming from you that means nothing,” Damian remarks, and he laughs when he hears you groan in frustration. “Okay, I’m going to bed soon. I just have to change Titus’s litter box and finish the physics homework Mr Daven gave me.”

You grin at his words, “imagine taking physics. And you’re supposed to be the smart one.”

“Why do you think I’m taking physics?”

“Shut up.”

You hang up on the phone a few moments later, falling backwards on your bed with your back against the pillows. What you didn’t know – and who would have thought – were two brown eyes who stared into your window. 

*** 

“I didn’t know you work here.”

A familiar – albeit, annoying – voice enters your ears and you do your best not to cringe. Lilith seemed to be following you everywhere. The mall, your classes, your hangouts with Damian, and now here. At Maria Pizzaria. When you saw her at the doorway, you felt the bile in your stomach begin to rise.

This has been happening for weeks now and you doubted that it was a coincidence. Damian understood your worries, saying that he’ll do a background check on this so-called Lilith Hart-Stone. So far, nothing. He did checks on her family, on her previous schools, on her life in general and it all points to one thing: completely and utterly normal. Even still, you couldn’t shake the uneasiness you felt every time she walked into the room. Damian would do his best to reassure you every time saying that she was ‘harmless’ and that he ‘wouldn’t let her hurt you if it came to it’. 

“Aneko can you take her order, please?” 

“No problem, do you mind sending this over to table 5?”

You nod, wordlessly taking the margarita and pepperoni pizzas to the table. You feel a sinking feeling in your chest, and you really hope that this ‘bad feeling’ is just you being paranoid. 

Your shift continues, long and dragging, throughout the night until 10:30PM sharp. Grabbing your bags and leaving through the back alleyway exit, you make your way to the main street. 

“So, you really do work here.” 

You flinch, spinning around to meet eye to eye with the one and only Lilith Hart-Stone, the very person you were told not to worry about. Her hair was put into two messy space buns, and an eerie grin stretches across her face. She reminds you of someone – some anime character or something – from the way she’s dressed. It’s nothing too crazy or abnormal: just her school uniform with her skirt rolled up a few times too much so that it rests a couple of inches above her knee. Even still, she looks weird. Scary, even, and you remind yourself to be on your guard.

“What about it?” You ask offhandedly, taking a step back. Bad move.

The twisted look on her face seemed to grow, and you do everything you can to not show fear, but the look on your face must have translated what you were feeling. 

“Oh, come no, Y/N. No need to be aggressive.” She giggles, high-pitched and jarring, and it takes everything in you to not cover your ears. “Don’t worry, Y/N. It’ll only hurt for a minute.”

And before you could question it, you feel a harsh blow to the back of your head, and everything fades away into yellows, greys, and blues. The last thing you see before fully slipping into unconsciousness is the evil glint in her brown eyes as she steps toward you. 

*** 

Damian doesn’t see you the next day in school. He waits outside the school gates well into the first period, and when you don’t arrive by the second class, his stomach doesn’t settle. Lilith didn’t come to school either, he notices, and he feels the burning in his chest worsen. Something was wrong – very wrong – and he pulls his phone out to call his father. Bruce answers immediately, knowing full well that Damian never calls during school hours. 

“Father, I fear something happened to Y/N.” Damian is running now, away from the school, ignoring one of the teacher’s cries of disapproval. “It might have something to do with Lilith Hart-Stone–”

“Talking about me, are we?”

Damian spins around, his eyes meeting the sinister eyes of the girl he was just enquiring about. 

Bruce asks through the phone, “Damian, what is going on?”

But he doesn’t respond. Instead, he focuses on the girl in front of him. The mousey, innocent-looking girl who didn’t seem to pose a threat. But, of course, nothing is ever as it seems.

“What did you do to Y/N?” He demands, eyes narrowing to slits as he slips his phone into his pocket.

“I’m insulted that you’d think I’d do anything to little Y/N.” She smirks. “Not that you’re wrong.”

Damian clenches his jaw, balling his hands at his side, ready to strike. His tone is dangerous as he demands, “What did you do to her?”

“Temper, temper,” she cackles before clicking her fingers, the smirk on her face never fading.

In an instant, two men are at Damian’s side and he twists around to land a sharp punch to one of their faces, and a harsh kick to the other’s torso. The men retaliate accordingly: one aiming for Damian’s head and the other aiming for his side. ‘They’re amateurs,’ Damian scoffs to himself, jumping out of the way and landing a blow on one of their necks, effectively knocking him out. The other man was not happy over the fact that a kid – even if he is almost 18 – knocked his partner out in the time span of five minutes, and aimed for another blow to Damian’s head. But Damian was quicker, and smarter, too. He grips the man’s fat wrist, pulling him down and socking him in the nose. 

Easy. Too easy. Something was amiss. Then he feels it. He swings around, just in time to dodge another attempted blow to his head, but not in time to dodge the knee that hit his stomach. 

Damian chokes, falling back on impact, his school bag as a cushion. The one who hit him in the stomach takes a hold of Damian’s collar, punching him across the face (finally landing the blow), before pinning him to the floor, face first, while another man pins his legs to the ground. There’s no escape. 

Lilith fishes his phone from his pocket, eyes flashing with excitement. Bruce, on the other end, is chanting, “Damian? Damian?” To which she responds with pure malice:

“Damian is a little busy right now. This is Lilith, by the way, but I’ll call you back soon. See you, Batsy!” She hangs up. 

“What do you want?” Damian asks from the floor, cheek scraping against the gravel with each word. “Unhand me!”

“I don’t think you’re in the position to be making demands, little bird,” Lilith squeals at her own words before nodding to the men. “You know what to do.”

Damian feels the pressure on his legs leave, and the man who gripped his collar lifts him one more time, and he takes in the smell of chemicals on cloth.

***

The cold air whips Damian’s face as he awakes, his eyes blinking as they adjust to the bright city lights. It is dark now – around 7, Damian figures – and the bright city lights flash in his view. Lilith stands over him, grinning ear to ear. It is only then that he realises the situation he is currently in: wrists chained to a pole on the roof of some skyscraper, and you sat in front of him, seeming to be in the same position.

“So the little bird finally decided to wake up after all.” She shrieks with delight as his eyes open. 

Damian grits his teeth as he fights against the metal chains. “What are you trying to do?”

Lilith hums sadistically, playing around with the gun in her hands. “You know what? I’ll amuse you. I’m doing it because I’m in love with you.”

Her words make him sick. His stomach churns and he tries not to gag. She thought that he’d be in love with her too? After all the stunts she’s pulled? What kind of person did she think he is?

“I know, I know… ‘I don’t even know you’ and all that.” She rolls her eyes, flicking her dyed hair over her shoulder. “But what you don’t know, my love, is that I know plenty about you – everything – about you. I know what time you go to sleep, what your hobbies are, how many pets you have, all your brothers, and where you came from. I know the exact route you take to get home, I know your favourite food, your secrets, everything.”

She lets out an almost sad sigh as she says, “I just don’t know how you feel.”

“That’s an oxymoron,” Damian scowls, eyes narrowing to slits, “and I feel disgusted.”

Lilith laughs, and the sound is like nails on a chalkboard. “My naive little bird. I mean… physically.”

She’s close to him now, her face was in front of his and their noses are almost touching. Her free hand tiptoeing up his chest. He pulls away, baring his teeth in retaliation. 

She scoffs, “you put me on too low a pedestal, Damian, while you make her out to be an angel. Tell me, Robin, why is that?”

The boy spits back, “Someone like you could never understand.”

She scoffs in surprise. “Don’t tell me… you’re in love with her! Big, bad, Damian Wayne – Robin himself! – is in love with poor, little, Y/N.” Lilith laughs a manic, psychopathic laugh, and Damian suppresses every feeling of wanting to lash out and yell. She continues, “and to think of all the trouble that could happen if this little… scandal came out.”

Damian doesn’t hold back as he tries to lunge at her in anguish, the cold metal chains digging into the flesh of his wrists. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Oh, but I would,” she smirks mockingly, and Damian watches in horror as she lifts your chin with the barrel of her gun. “Y/N was so nice to me, too… but she’s the one who’s taking you away from me.” Her eyes flash dangerously, “But if I can’t have you, no one can.”

She drops your chin, and Damian sucks in a breath of relief – at least now he had a little time to come up with a plan. His father should be here any minute, but she’s armed and dangerous. She has two hostages, himself and you. There’s a fire escape on his left, but it seems to be barred and chained, preventing any sort of escape. Damian swears silently to himself. He should have seen the signs. He could have prevented all of this but he didn’t. He knows exactly what you would say to him if you heard him – “it’s not your fault” and “you couldn’t have known”. 

Lilith chuckles darkly, “you should see your face! Your look of regret…” With a powerful swing, the hilt of her gun made contact with the side of Damian’s face. “Pathetic,” she muttered, and Damian watches as she checks her watch, a sinister smile stretching across her face. “Oh don’t worry. I’ll be back soon. I just have to get your father’s permission to be yours.”

She snorts, “not like it matters! You’ll be mine either way – especially if you value your life.”

His eyes widen, Father. Of course, all his father was doing was buying him some time. He watches as Lilith skips away, swinging the gun haphazardly as she leaves the rooftop. Now was his chance. Pressing a button on his watch, letting out a breath of relief at the feeling of the machine turning on, preparing for usage. Seconds later, he was free from his bonds, and he shook out his wrists, muttering quietly to himself, “thanks, Pennyworth.”

He rushes over to you, shaking your shoulders in an attempt to wake you up. “Come on, Y/N…”

A quiet, almost inaudible, groan squeezes past your lips and Damian’s heart relaxes. He got to work at your bonds, and they gave way relatively easily – the chains that were wrapped around your wrists were rustier than his. You fall forward into his arms, shaking you awake, and you grunt in discomfort. 

“Damian…?”

“Y/N…” He lets out a breath of relief, helping you up to your feet as you massage your temples. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” You mumble, clutching your head as you adjusted to the bright city lights. “What’s- what’s going on?”

The boy pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, his gaze shifting to the barred fire escape. “You remember your friend Lilith?”

Your expression changes with the blink of an eye. “She did this? Are you okay? What did she do to you? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine,” He says gently, brushing some hair out of your eyes. “But that’s the least of our worries. We have to get out of here.”

“Damian, wait. You have to know what I heard.” You let out a breath, catching his arm. “When she knocked me out, she didn’t do a very good job at it. I went in and out of consciousness and- and I could hear everything.”

“What are you talking about?” Damian demands, holding your arms as he searches your eyes for an answer. “What do you mean?”

“She’s going to set the whole building on fire. She’s going to–” the words get caught in your throat and you shake your head in disbelief. “She’s going to burn us alive. Damian, there are people in here – civilians.”

The vigilante freezes at your words as he processes the severity of the situation. How many people could be in this building right now? There are around fifteen stories, from what he could tell, but it was already past the average working hours. Maybe five on each level? That’s still seventy-five people inside the building. He had no way to contact his father – Lilith and her lackeys decided to take his phone – and from the looks of it, you didn’t have anything on you either. 

From down below, he could hear the commotion of police officers with their loud sirens and bright lights. One of them was holding a megaphone, ready to state their claims, while firetrucks and police officers readied themselves if anything were to go wrong. 

“We need to get out of here and evacuate everyone,” Damian says, eyes flitting from the locked door and the officers on the ground. “I’m going to jump off the building.”

Your eyes budge out of your head at his words, snapping your head to look at him so quickly you got whiplash. “What do you mean you’re doing to jump off the building?” 

“There’s a hose next to the fire escape, we’ll use that. It’s bound by a metal fire reel and you’re going to hold onto it. I’ll scale down to the floor below us and break the glass. Then I’ll open up the fire escape.” He lets out a breath, blue-green eyes looking at you intently. “(Y/N), can you do that?”

“I-” you stammer, head reeling with the fact that you needed to support Damian, an almost 18-year-old who was mostly muscle and reached six foot two last Tuesday. “I- I don’t know, I’ve never–”

“(Y/N).” He says your name in a way you’ve never heard him say it before; with a softness and a kindness that sounded strange coming out of his mouth. “You can do it.”

You exhale, eyes shifting from the ground, to the hose, and finally to him. “Okay.”

He smiles, and you can tell it’s meant to be reassuring, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Okay.”

In moments, he’s attaching the hose to his belt loops and you’re testing the strength of the hose. The thick plastic is enough to give yourself a heart attack – what if itsn’t stable? What if it breaks? What if it unties? – but you have faith in Damian. He’s Robin; he can do this. You can do this. 

“On the count of three,” Damian says carefully, standing on top of the balcony wall. 

“One…” He tightens his hold on the hose. 

“Two…” You widen your stance against the brick safety wall that separates you and the 150 feet fall. 

“Three!” 

He begins to fall, and on his command, you grip the hose as tightly as possible, your feet digging against the wall. You feel him come to a stop and your heart lurches as you feel the pressure sink into your stomach. 

“I’m going to swing now!” You hear him yell and you wonder how his voice doesn’t waver. 

“Okay!” You scream back and your grip tighter. 

He swings, and you can feel weight of the hose shift with each movement. You’re praying now, you don’t know who’ll hear you, but you’re praying that he’ll be okay. 

Once, twice, three times he swings and finally, the fourth time you feel him swing back towards the building you hear a shatter. The glass gave way. He’s in the building. 

You’re still gripping onto the hose just in case until you hear him call, “I’m in!” 

The adrenaline is still pumping through your body, and you release the makeshift tether, collapsing backwards onto the harsh floor of the rooftop. ‘He’s okay,’ you repeat in your head, trying to calm the quickening pace of your heart. ‘He’ll be here soon. He’s going to evacuate everyone then we’re free. We’ll be okay. We’ll be okay, we’ll be okay, we’ll be okay…’

The rattling of the lock on the fire escape snaps you out of your thoughts and your heart quickens in your chest. ‘Please, please, please…’

Your gaze doesn’t shift from the door, begging to whatever higher entity there is that it’s Damian. And when the red metal door finally swings open so that your eyes meet with blue-green ones, you’ve never felt more relief in your life. 

“You’re okay.” You breathe, and you shake as you get back onto your feet, stumbling towards him. “You’re okay, you’re okay…”

He chuckles, reaching out and bringing you closer to his chest. “I’m okay. You did good.” His lips brush against your forehead and you can feel the tears in your eyes begin to fall. “You did really good.”

He pulls away from you, his gaze softening and he cups your face in his hands, swiping his thumbs over your cheeks. “We have to get out of here. I don’t know how long father can stall her for.” He pauses before continuing, “are you okay?”

You nod, head still spinning and heart still pounding in your chest. “I’m okay.”

“Let’s go.”

He doesn’t risk using the elevator, instead choosing to run down each flight of stairs and ordering for everyone to leave before the building to erupts into flames. The loud screams of the workers fill your ears as you continue to go down each floor of the skyscraper, but when you finally get to the lobby, everything seemed to be eerily quiet. 

“There’s no one here…” you pant, hands on your knees as try to catch your breath. From the corner of your eye, you can see the civilians running outside and being questioned by the police. Luckily, all were safely escorted outside while you and Damian trailed behind just in case someone was forgotten.

The crashing of a vase makes you whip around behind you, only to be met with the sinister eyes of Lilith herself. She lets out a strangled scream, her hands pulling at her hair as scrunched up her face. Her breaths heavy and her eyes narrowed dangerously into slits, she whips the gun from her belt, pointing at the two of you.  

“You!” She screeched, hands trembling. “You little bitch. You always want to make my life miserable!”

Damian pushes you behind him and you know what he’s really trying to say. Get out of here. But you know better than to leave him here by himself. 

“Always getting in my way,” Lilith rattles on, glaring at his actions. “Always acting as if you’re better than me. Well jokes on you! This building is going down, and you’re going down with it!”

“Lilith, let’s talk about this…” Damian says slowly, and he side eyes the exit. “You don’t have to do this.”

Another scream of anguish escapes from the girl, and she fires a shot into the air, hitting the ceiling. You jolt at the sound, eyes widening at the hole in the roof. 

Damian’s gaze darkens. “Drop the gun, Lilith.”

“I have to do this!” She screeched, hands trembling. “The building is about to catch on fire anyway! Burn in hell!”

“Lilith, you don’t need to do this!” You try, “we can–”

She lets out a laugh at your words. “There is no ‘we’ in this equation! And you’ll never understand because you get everything you want in life! So shut the fuck up!” 

The sound of something exploding from the floor above you makes you jump and you feel your heart jolt in your chest. Damian’s hands find yours as another explosion sounds. Bigger this time, and Lilith’s lips stretch to a wide grin. Smoke begins to billow from the doors and so does the fire. Another bang! on your left near the exit, and it promptly lights up with reds and oranges. Waiting area is quick to catch flames and the smoke fills your nose and lungs. 

“Ooh, it’s almost done! A few more explosions to go! You know, I thought you were going to be on the roof by the time I was done, so I rigged the whole thing to start at the top floor but…” She trails off, swinging the gun around again before meeting your eyes, “now I can watch you burn.”

Damian scoffs and he pushes you towards the exit. You start running just as he speaks, “Over my dead body.”

Lilith shrugs, lifting the gun and aiming it directly at the Wayne heir. “That could be arranged. But…” the smirk returns. “I’d rather kill her.” 

“Wait-” 

She doesn’t. Instead, she points the gun at you and fires. You try to move, you try to get out of the way. Your mind is screaming at your legs to do something – anything – to avoid getting shot. Damian is running after you, trying to take the bullet, but it’s too late. 

A searing pain burns through your abdomen and you press a hand to where the pain sits. Crimson stains your shirt and you look up. Your head is spinning and a metallic taste settles in your mouth. You stumble backwards, just in time to fall into Damian’s strong arms. A sharp beeping sound starts screaming in your ears along with Lilith’s loud cackling. In a quick movement, he picks you up and starts running out the door, only for the building to erupt in flames seconds later. Black spots line your vision and you see people in dark blue uniform surround you. Damian is yelling something, you can’t make sense of it, before he presses his forehead to yours. 

“You’ll be okay,” you hear him whisper, “I’m so sorry.”

You want to ask, ‘what are you sorry for? It wasn’t your fault.’ But as the noise starts and you feel someone take you away from him, the only thing you can do is close your eyes. 

*** 

“Thank you…” you mumble, taking the glass of warm water from Alfred. 

He smiles in return, “of course, Miss (Y/N). Let me know if there is anything else you require. I understand it must be difficult to be here.”

Your current situation involves one of the many spare rooms at Wayne Manor after your surgery, and despite how loud the manor usually was on your visits, the area Alfred placed you in was all too quiet. In fact, you would think that the entire family was avoiding you – best friend included. 

“It’s okay. Thank you for letting me stay here.” 

“It is our pleasure to have you here,” Alfred responds graciously, and you know he isn’t lying. “I’ll have Miss Barbara change your bandages tomorrow if that is alright. Ring the bell if you require any assistance.”

“Thank you, Alfred. And you know you can just call me (Y/N) right?”

He chuckles, shaking his head. “I am aware. However, I believe that calling you Miss (Y/N) is more suitable.”

With that, he bids you adieu, and you’re once again left to your own devices. The silence of the room has you shivering despite the warm cup in your hand. The books you half-finished lay haphazardly on the bedside table, and the tv on the other side of the room deemed itself to be useless when you’ve watched every good Netflix show in the past two and a half weeks. 

You glance at the clock; fifteen past one. You would usually be asleep at this time, but it hasn’t always been easy. The pain medications make you drowsy, sure, but the feeling of sleep doesn’t wash over you like it once did. Before Lilith. 

The newspaper sits on your bed, the front cover bearing words you so desperately wanted to read. ‘The perpetrator who kidnapped the youngest son of Bruce Wayne alongside local teenage girl pronounced dead in skyscraper fire’. To you, those words released the weight from your shoulders. You didn’t have to be scared anymore. You shouldn’t have to be scared anymore. But you were. No one in the Wayne family, except for Alfred and Barbara, have spoken to you since the incident. To be fair, Dick was in Bludhaven and was probably still caught up in his work to even notice what was going on in Gotham. Jason hasn’t been to the manor in a while doing some sort of undercover mission. Tim was with Stephanie on a mission (to Greece, of all places!) while Cass came and went as she pleased. But out of all of them, you would have at least expected for Damian to show up – even if it was just for a moment. 

The quiet creaking of the door lulls you out of your thoughts, and your eyes widen at the sight of the person in front of you. 

He doesn’t say anything for a moment. Neither do you. But like everything, the silence must be broken. 

“You should be asleep,” Damian says curtly, stepping out of the doorway. 

A scoff exits your voice. “You shouldn’t have to wait for me to fall asleep to visit me.”

He flinches at your tone, a tone that you’ve never taken with him, and he closes the door. “I didn’t think you would have wanted to see me.”

Anger replaces your faux disappointment and you shoot him an icy glare. “I was knocked out, kidnapped, almost a victim of arson, shot, and you don’t think I would have wanted to see you?!”

You throw the covers off of you, stumbling as you stepped over to him. “I almost died, Damian, and you didn’t think I wanted to see me best friend?” Your chest aches and you can’t tell if it was from the gunshot or from your heart. “You thought I didn’t want to see the person who went through the same thing as I did?!” 

You jab a finger at his chest, tears falling down your face, blurring your vision; you can’t see his reaction. “I saw you jump off the fucking roof! You jumped off the roof and- and-” you swallow the lump in your throat. “You could have died! We could have died and you avoided me! I haven’t seen you in weeks, Damian! You could have been dead for all I know! And the last time I saw you was the second before the doctors took me and-”

He gently brings you into his arms, effectively rendering you speechless with surprise. With his arms wrapped securely around your waist and his nose against your jaw, you wonder if this really is the same Damian you knew before the incident. 

“I’m so sorry,” He breathes, pulling away to look you sincerely in the eyes. “This never should have happened, I– (Y/N), I failed you.”

“You didn’t fail me–” he scoffs in protest but you continue, “–you saved me.”

He shakes his head adamantly, squeezing his eyes shut before opening them again. “You shouldn’t have needed saving in the first place. You got hurt out of my own inadequacy and my own misjudgments. You got shot because of my incapabilities and foolishness. None of this should have happened.”

“No.” The word comes out harsher than intended but you speak nonetheless. “Lilith fooled everyone. It’s not your fault she did what she did. And you saved me, Damian. You saved so many people that day. Without you, none of them would have made it out of the building. We wouldn’t be here right now. You got us out of that mess – a mess that you didn’t make.”

He’s quiet for a moment, gently leading you to your bed to sit down and he sits besides you. He dries your tears with his thumbs, cupping your face gently with his palms as he does so. 

“You shouldn’t have to look at a failure.”

“Dames, you’re the furthest thing from a failure.” You rest a hand over his, gently stroking the back of his hand with your thumb. “You’re a hero.”

You press your forehead against his and you feel him lean into your touch. “I love you.” He whispers, not an ounce of shame or guilt or embarrassment in his words. “I love you so much.”

You smile, your heart bursting in your chest at his words. “I know. I love you, too.”

reblogs are always appreciated!!

no hate to people who have the name lilith 😭😭

[ghoulelegy]

A Ghoul's Sick Day

Summary :You wake up one morning feeling rather ill.

Pairing: Copia x Sick Reader

Words: 2222

Contains:

Comfort Gender-Neutral Reader Fluff Cuddling

Read A Ghoul's Sick Day on AO3 - If you prefer that.

Edit: so I am dumb and I couldn't figure out for the life of me how Tumblr works but credit goes out to @ghostussy for a major source of inspiration when it came to writing this fic. Please show them your love too <3

Meant to publish this earlier because I wrote this a while ago but editing my work took a whileeeeee - thank you for your patience <3

The blaring alarm pierced the sanctuary of sleep, yanking you from dreams that seemed to slip away like smoke. Clutching your head, you squinted at the digital numbers on your phone, plugged in to the outlet next to your bed, which is laying on your bedside table, struggling to make sense of their meaning through the haze of fatigue. Your bedroom remained dimly lit, the remnants of night clinging to the edges of the curtains. You'd called it an early night, seeking refuge in your dorm after an exhausting day of work.

Yet, as you pushed yourself to sit up, a realization dawned like a cold shower. A wave of nausea and fatigue had descended upon you the previous evening, rendering the simplest tasks a struggle. Your bones ached as though they'd been beaten, and your head throbbed with each heartbeat.

Fumbling for your glasses on the nightstand, you slid them onto your face, expecting the world to come into focus. Instead, you were met with a blur, the edges of your vision smudged and unfocused. Even the soft light filtering through the curtains felt like a searing stab, forcing you to squint and shield your eyes.

You sighed, propping yourself against the pillows, your thoughts tangled in a web of concerns. The day ahead promised a demanding schedule—classes, music practice, dinner duty, and library work. Your mind raced, thoughts colliding like stormy waves in the vast sea of responsibilities. A pang of dread nestled itself in your chest, coiling like a serpent. The urge to retreat back under the covers was strong, but the echoes of expectations and commitments held you captive.

As you stood, the room swayed slightly, the ground beneath your feet feeling more like a ship's deck in a storm. Each step required a conscious effort, as if gravity itself had conspired against you. With painstaking determination, you moved towards the bathroom mirror. A face stared back at you, the reflection drawn and weary. Dark circles marred the skin beneath your eyes, despite the early bedtime you put yourself through the day before.

A mental checklist formed, a reminder of all the tasks that lay ahead. But first, you needed to combat this relentless headache. You reached for the painkillers, hoping they'd provide a brief respite from the throbbing torment. The duo of pills slipped down your throat, followed by a quick gulp of water from your bottle - a bitter reminder of your body's protest against its own demands.

In your university attire - an oversized hoodie, worn black jeans, sneakers—you slung your backpack over your shoulder. The weight felt heavier today, each strap a reminder of the commitments you had to fulfill. You pushed open the door of your dorm, stepping into the common area of the ghouls, your fellow dorm mates. Laughter echoed, a stark contrast to the turmoil within you.

The hallway beckoned, a corridor of decisions and responsibilities. Yet, fate had its own plans, for as you turned the corner, you collided with none other than Copia, the enigmatic lead singer of the Ghost Project – and its frontman.

"Morning, Papa, I'm off for the day," you greeted him, though the words wavered slightly.

His dark eyes, framed by his unique presence, scanned you with concern. "Mio Dolce," he responded, his voice holding a touch of warmth and inquiry. "Sathanas, you don't look too good."

You smiled, the expression an attempt to reassure both him and you "I'm fine, papa," you claimed, though even behind the glasses, he could likely sense the discomfort that painted your features.

His eyebrow arched, skepticism lacing his gaze. "You sure about that?"

"Of course," you replied, your conviction wavering as his gaze held steady.

In the midst of your exchange, a notification chimed on your phone. The class you dreaded facing had been cancelled, granting you a temporary reprieve. Copia's lips curved into a faint smile. "Good. You can go rest. You seem like you need it."

You hesitated, your fingers toying with the strap of your backpack. Guilt whispered in your ear, reminding you of all that remained to be done. Yet, Copia's concern was genuine, his insight piercing through the facade you'd built.

“No, no, it’s okay, I’ll get some work done since I’m up I suppose”

His voice held a note of finality. "Try again. You don't look good."

This time, you nodded, surrendering to the truth you'd been reluctant to admit even to yourself. The unspoken weight of expectations, both your own and those of others, settled heavily on your shoulders.

"Fine" you replied.

"Good. Feel better soon, mio dolce"

"Thanks, Papa"

You head back to your room, and collapse on your bed. You haven’t bothered making it this morning. A wave of nausea enthralls your entire body once again, forcing you to bury your head into your soft pillow in an attempt to quench the sickness.

Your thoughts whirl, you feel guilty for resting. You just can't get your head to shut up. You were still rather new to the ministry, and rather terrified of disappointing any of the staff members, especially since they took you in. You see them as family.

"Ah fuck this shit. I'm fine" you talk to yourself, a habit you’ve picked up as a child and carried into your older years. You forcibly prop yourself up again and head off to the library to get some work done, and to return a book you had borrowed the week before – a book on mushroom spotting and fungi. Your head still throbs, but the painkillers eased the pain slightly.

As you approach the library, you’re struck with the sudden remembrance of a commitment - you need to do some sorting and book counting, an assignment given to you by the head librarian the day before. As a university student, you often found yourself curled up in the library researching on whatever topic intrigues you, or strange information that is needed for your coursework. The library at the ministry was quite smaller than the one on the University Campus, but it had some works that were a rarity, it was also much quieter, allowing you to focus more. The head librarian was none other than Sister Claire – one of the older Siblings. She’d allowed you to sometimes work as an assistant librarian when you weren’t too busy. It was nice work, flexible and allowed you to get some extra pocket money. She assigned you to finish stacking some books while she wasn’t there, she was gone for a couple of days. Trip or something.

A couple of hours of you stacking and organising books goes by. You notice more nausea every time you get up from a kneeling position and vice versa. You don't care.

As the early afternoon sun filtered through the windows, your fingers finally set the last book in place on the shelf. Despite the sense of accomplishment, weariness weighed heavily on your bones. Your head throbbed in an unrelenting rhythm, each pulse a reminder of your body's protests. The lyrics of 'Square Hammer' seemed to echo in your mind, a fitting soundtrack to your pounding headache. With a resigned sigh, you recognized that the painkillers had lost their battle against the relentless ache. You pressed a hand to your temple, a feeble attempt to quell the growing nausea that threatened to engulf you."

You open the door out of the library when you come face to face with Copia once more.

"What are you doing here, Mio Caro? Weren't you supposed to be resting?"

"Oh..uh I had to return a book" *it was technically the truth*

"Were you working here all morning?"

"No"

"I came in the ghouls' common room to check in on you just now. You weren't in your room. Swiss told me you were out for most of the morning" he sighs, as he places his thumb and index finger on his forehead.

"Please...rest" Copia continues "you look like you're going to collapse."

"What--no I'm not. You don't need to worry" *a wave of dizziness and nausea hit you right as you say that*

"You're taking the rest of the day off. That is an order" Copia says, a hint of sternness in his voice.

"...fine.."

"I'll call Sister to tell her that you're unwell, and you can spend the rest of the day with me. Resting.

"Y-you don't have to do that" you shuffle out those words, feeling guilty for taking up space.

"Nonsense, Tesoro."

He took you to your room, waiting for you outside your bathroom while you change into your fluffy pyjamas. You walk outside into your dorm, surprised to see him holding a one-metre-long stuffed shark in his arms.

"This is your favourite plushie right?" He asks, his eyes gently gliding over yours.

"Yeah. How did you know?" You let out a chuckle, before losing focus due to yet another wave of vertigo hitting you.

"You told me, Caro."

"Did I?" You choke out, surprised he remembers these little details about you.

"You remembered"

"Of course, I did, Caro. I care about you, you're one of our ghouls."

He leads you to his chambers, holding your arm in case you collapse, while you're holding your Blåhaj in your other arm.

"You don't think I'm weird or childish?" You ask.

"Nonsense. If it brings you comfort and you're not hurting anyone or yourself, why should I think you're weird?" he chuckles as he leads you in his chambers.

Immediately you were struck by the cocooning feeling of comfort, a gentle light dancing from the window onto the bed. There was a television facing the bed, next to the door you had just entered from. You notice yourself holding in a bit of a giggle as you notice Copia’s beloved tricycle.

"Bed or couch? What do you prefer?" He inquired.

"Umm.."

"Bed it is, it's more comfortable. Trust me on this, Caro"

He gently leads you on the king-sized bed, propping your head up with soft pillows and ploughing a blanket on top of you. You snuggle into a fetal position, holding your stuffed shark. He brings you a glass of water and some more painkillers.

Upon you taking the water and medicine you drop your Blåhaj.

"Nooo! Sharky!" you whine, grabby hands towards the shark.

"You named it Sharky? That's cute" he speaks, as he picks up the shark and gives it back to you.

"Do you want to watch a movie? Maybe something that brings you comfort?"

"Sure?"

He lets you pick a DVD of your choosing, before propping it into the DVD player. You pick your childhood favourite.

"Our technology is a bit ancient here" he chuckles "sorry about that”.

"It's fine, papa" you smile. In all honesty it brings you comfort and nostalgia for your childhood days, when your mother used to leave you at your grandparents when you were ill.

Papa takes a seat next to you, laptop on him, typing next to you, while you watch the movie. Every once in a while he'd ask if you're feeling okay still.

Halfway through the movie you feel your eyelids getting heavy. Copia takes away his laptop and removes your glasses.

"Shhh it's okay, rest."

"Mmmm" you find yourself snuggling into Copia for warmth, before waking up. "Oh shit sorry Papa" you say, a wave of embarrassment further reddening your already flushed face.

"It's alright, Caro, you can snuggle with me all you want" he says as you rest your head on his shoulder “bring it in”.

Copia's touch was a symphony of reassurance, his fingers gliding with feather-light grace over your skin. As his arm curved around your shoulders, his palm settled gently against your upper arm, creating a cocoon of security. You could feel the warmth of his touch seeping into your bones, a soothing balm that eased the ache that had settled there.

His thumb brushed against the fabric of your pyjamas, a delicate, almost absentminded gesture that sent ripples of comfort through your senses. With a tender grace, his fingers traced gentle patterns, a silent lullaby against the canvas of your arm. The pad of his thumb brushed over your skin in languid strokes, creating a hypnotic rhythm that synced with the steady beat of your heart.

As the Blåhaj plushie nestled between you, Copia's touch remained a constant, grounding force. His fingertips brushed against the curve of your shoulder, a gesture that held both tenderness and protection. It was a touch that defied words, offering solace and support in its simplicity.

With every inhalation, his chest rose and fell against your head, the sensation a soothing cadence that lulled you into a sense of calm. His arm around you created a haven—a space where vulnerability was not met with judgment.

"You'll feel better in no time" Copia whispered to you gently, his tone taking an almost fatherly whisper.

As the room bathed in the soft glow of lamplight, the tactile connection between you and Copia transcended the physical. It was an exchange of comfort, of trust, of emotions that words could scarcely capture. And within the cradle of his embrace, you found a haven of acceptance, where the language of touch spoke louder than any explanation ever could. You found yourself drifting into sleep once more.

“Good night, ti amo.”

~ Fin ~

[lonely-eli]

Trippin' On Hallucinogenics - Chapter 4

Barty and Pandora walked into Potions class and sat down in the front of the classroom, something Barty was looking to avoid. A scrawnier girl with curly blonde hair that she pulled back into a ponytail, sat behind them. She was wearing a bandana over her hair that was covered with small rainbows. She stared at Barty with misty eyes, he stared right back at her, though he had to twist uncomfortably in his chair which didn’t give it the full effect he had wanted.

Slughorn the teacher introduced himself as, was a plump man who had thinning hair. He basically had a comb over, Barty cringed at it, “I am the head of Slytherin, and will be your teacher for your first to fifth year, at which point you can decide to take N.E.W.T. classes for potions. Though that’s a while in the future.

“Today we will be starting with learning some herbology, specifically the different types of mushrooms and their uses in potions. Are there any questions?”

The class was silent. Slughorn nodded, “Good. Now what is a mushroom?”

No one raised their hands, they all looked at one another nervously. Finally, Pandora sighed and raised her hand, Slughorn called on her, “Ms…”

“Rosier. Pandora Rosier, sir. It’s a fungus.”

“Ten points to Ravenclaw,” Slughorn responded. As it was explained, teachers and other leading figures in the school could give and take away points from each house and the house that had the most points at the end of the school year won. Hufflepuff had won last year because they were apparently the most behaved house.

Slughorn asked his next question and a Hufflepuff raised their hand, surprising the class, Slughorn called on the Hufflepuff who answered correctly and got their house ten points.

It went on like this for the entire double period, they didn’t even touch the cauldrons that they had brought. Barty ran his finger around the rim of his while zoning out, he had already read the book about mushrooms and their uses. Finally class was over, and they could all breathe a sigh of relief as they left the classroom.

“What’s your name?” Pandora asked the girl behind them as they were packing up. Barty looked down at his notes only to find he had written “BEAT ROSIER AND BLACK” in big bold letters. He closed the notebook and put it in his bag.

“Sybil Trelawney,” the girl said, “We’re roommates I think.”

“I didn’t see you there this morning,” Pandora said.

Sybil nervously fidgeted with her fingers, “Well I went to the quidditch pitch early—”

“Oh! That’s so much fun!” Pandora said with a clap of her hands, “You know, I really want to go, it seems like such a good place to get my reading in!”

“It is!” Sybil said with a burst of passion then she quietly said, “I mean… yeah, it really is.”

“Maybe we can hang out together sometime,” Pandora replied. Sybil turned a bright red.

“Yeah, that sounds cool.”

“Do you want to eat lunch with us?” Pandora asked. Sybil just nodded, so Pandora threaded their arms together, like she had with Barty earlier, “This is Barty Crouch by the way.”

“Don’t forget it,” Barty said with a wink, then he cringed at himself, why did he just do that? He felt like a house elf who should punish itself.

They walked into the Great Hall where students were already sitting down and eating. Barty tapped Panda on the shoulder, “I’m going to talk to the boys.”

Panda nodded, “Tell Evan that we need to meet up later in the library.”

Barty snuck over to the Slytherin table, he wrapped his arms around Evan and Regulus’s shoulders, “Wassup, boys?”

“Crouch, get your hands off me,” snapped Regulus. Barty sighed and took his hands off Regulus, choosing to wrap them around Evan instead. Evan just completely ignored him.

“I’m offended, Regulus, I thought that we were friends,” Barty said.

“Just—” Regulus sighed, “Just leave me alone right now, okay?”

“Fine,” Barty said, he poked Evan in the cheek, Evan smacked his hands away, “Your sister wants to hang out.”

“Where?” Evan asked, “Is she okay? Did you do something to her?”

“She’s fine,” Barty said, rolling his eyes, “She just wants to hang in the library. I’m going to the bathroom, you two are boring.”

“Okay,” Evan said, looking at his sister.

“Now if you don’t mind, Black—” Snape started. Barty quickly retreated before he heard the garbage that left the kids mouth. 

***

By the time that Friday rolled around, Barty had gotten twenty points for Ravenclaw by asking questions in class, successfully high fived Evan, and memorized every section of the library.

“Look at this,” Pandora giggled, she turned the book towards him, he stared at it then grinned. It was a detailed picture of a unicorn being eaten by a— well he wasn’t sure what it was being eaten by.

“You are a mystery, Pandora Rosier,” he said. She giggled harder, then turned the book back.

They were sitting in the reading nook in the library on opposite ends of the couch with their legs tangled. Barty was reading a book for class. Emmeline was laying on the ground in front of the couch, doodling something in her notebook.

“What are we going to do this weekend?” Pandora groaned, “I mean we won’t have a schedule or anything.”

“Finish homework, hang out with the other houses—” Pandora, and Barty by association, had become friends with some of the other Ravenclaw girls due to shared classes. They had studied with them and Evan in the library, which turned into more of a gossip session.

“Paxton Green totally likes you,” Hestia Jones said, addressing Pandora, who turned a bit red. Aurora reached out and grabbed Pandora’s hands.

“We could ask if you’d like.”

“Yeah, Panda,” Barty said, snickering behind his book, “Paxton Green.”

Paxton was a confident boy whose hair fell in his eyes and he was constantly pushing it back, and he was Barty’s roommate. The second out of four of them that Barty had actually met, the first of which was currently standing on his head while singing a song backwards. Not even a specific song, Lovegood was just mixing lyrics.

Pandora scrunched up her face, “No…”

“Well if you don’t want him,” Hestia said, sitting back in her seat, “I’ll take him.”

Aurora raised an imaginary glass, “Here here, sister.”

The two laughed and collapsed into each other. Barty tapped his book, “I think I’ve noticed you getting looks from 

“What did you think of Regulus Black getting Slytherin?” Inaya, the quieter of the three girls, asked.

“I heard Sirius was disappointed.”

“Who cares?” Barty asked, “that boy is a traitor.”

Barty used air quotes on the word, the girls all sighed, “Maybe, but he’s hot too.”

“Panda!” Barty said, looking at his friend, who stopped and smiled, “What would Reggie say?”

“With his family’s track record he’d probably agree,” Evan said, Barty jumped, completely forgetting that Evan was at his side.

“That’s not nice,” Pandora told her brother.

“So, Evan,” Hestia said, running her finger up and down the spine of a book, “who do you like?”

“No one, it’s been a week of school.”

Barty gasped, “Not even me?” “I hate you,” Evan replied easily. 

“My life is over,” Barty mourned. The Ravenclaw girls patted him on the back sympathetically.

In the present, Barty laughed to himself. He actually liked it at school, it was nice to be able to sleep without waking up to a house elf in your face, nervously hovering over you. It was also nice to not have to worry about your father coming home and discovering what a mess you’ve made of your room.

Pandora tapped Barty’s leg, “Move.”

She hopped up and walked over to the bookshelf to get something new. Barty leaned across the arm of the couch giving her an upside down smile. She noticed him staring and turned around.

“What is it?”

“Nothing, I’m just happy,” Barty said, putting it into words for the first time. He sighed.

Pandora smiled, “That’s good.”

Barty had already gotten a letter from his mother, it was telling him that she and his father said hello, and that she expects him to write to her weekly. Then the letter went on a long rant about how her friends had accidently spilled tea on her white dress.

Pandora sat back down and laid her head on the back of the couch, smiling at Barty.

“Let’s hang out with the others this weekend.”

***

“You better shut up, Snivellus,” Barty heard a voice saying on his walk to the library. He ducked behind the corner before peeking out.

Sirius and Remus were standing with their wands ready, pointing it at the greasy Snape guy from earlier. They both looked blood lusty. Snape reached into his pocket, when Slughorn suddenly appeared and broke up the fight.

“Mr. Snape, Mr. Black, and Mr. Lupin, this is shameful behavior in the hallways!” Slughorn shouted, “10 points from Gryffindor and Slytherin.”

Barty chose this moment to walk out and try to get past them, but he was stopped by Slughorn, who massaged his temples, “Mr. Crouch please say you had nothing to do with it.”

“I had nothing to do with it, sir, I was just trying to get to the library,” Barty responded. Slughorn nodded.

“Then get on your way,” Slughorn said. Barty nodded. He started to walk away just as Slughorn started berating the three second years again. 

The library was quiet, and he spotted the twins and Regulus already sat down at their usual table in the corner. All of them seemed to be silently reading, or Pandora and Regulus seemed to be reading, Evan was simply staring at the book boredly.

“I ran into your brother in the hallway,” Barty said as he sat down, Regulus stiffened, “He was fighting with Snape with that Remus kid. The one with the scars.”

“I know who you’re talking about,” snapped Regulus. Barty held up his hands in an innocent gesture.

“Calm down, I just thought you should know.”

“Did you do anything?” Regulus demanded.

“Well I was going to wink at him, but then realized that no one was around to get the joke, so no. They did get points taken away from Slytherin though which means that RAVENCLAW IS IN THE LEAD.”

“Let’s go!” Pandora reached out to high five Barty. Regulus squinted his eyes.

“If you think I care about something so—”

“Oh lighten up, Black,” Evan said. Barty smiled at Evan, who also needed to lighten up.

Regulus glared at the two of them before going back to his book, ‘Just stay away from my brother, okay?”

“Fine by me, he’s annoying as hell,” Evan said. Barty nodded.

“I think they’re delightful,” Pandora interjected.

“You would.”

“What’s that supposed to mean, Evan?” Pandora was glaring at her brother, her hand slipping into her pocket.

“Nothing, Panda,” Evan said quickly.

“Good,” Pandora grinned, then pulled a piece of candy from her pocket and popped it into her mouth.

“Classes this week have been horrible,” Evan groaned, “There’s too much homework.”

“It’s not that bad,” Regulus said.

“Are you sure you’re not a Ravenclaw?”

“Yes,” Regulus said with a dark look in his eyes. Then he grabbed the newspaper and threw it onto the table between them. Barty eyed it curiously, “Me being Slytherin was in the news, apparently I’m not going down the same path as my brother.”

Barty flipped through the pages and found that it said that Regulus sat down at the Slytherin table crying when he had shown so little emotion it was scary. It also said that the Rosier twins had a heartfelt goodbye after being broken up in different houses. But then again, it never really showed what happened.

Barty put the newspaper down and they didn’t talk about it again. Instead moving onto topics of Quidditch which Barty found extremely boring, his favorite part of Quidditch afterall was when the players got knocked off their brooms.

Instead, Barty found his mind wandering to the points system and how he had done nothing but do good this week. Just like his father would have done.

  When everyone started to go, Barty got Pandora to hang back.

“What is it, Barty?” Panda asked.

Barty paused with an open mouth then decided against it and shook his head, “Nothing. Nevermind.”

“Okay,” Pandora said, she looked confused and kind of nervous.

“Why don’t you go ahead, I’ll catch up,” Barty said, “I still need to look for a book.”

Pandora shrugged and headed on her way while Barty started looking through the books for a Disillusionment charm.