#I have a serious case of “the slightest facial difference makes me look like an entirely different person”

[2pen2wildfire]

Our perception of reality will always be warped by the lenses we view it through. I mean that 100% literally, I've got multiple mirrors in my bathroom and I just realized that one of them makes my face visibly rounder than the others do. That's so fucking weird.

[inlustrissss]

What about a fluff one shot of L falling in love with his friend and work partner... but he has no idea how to declare his love for reader so L decides to ask for misa's help.

Also, can i get a Goth and Gender Neutral reader? 👉👈

you asked, you got it! Although I am just a little bit late, I hope you won't be mad at me for this 🥺💕 I tried my utmost best with keeping it respectfully gender neutral so I hope you like it!!! Love, Inlustris

Monitor

L Lawliet x GN! Reader

warnings: none!

summary: After solving one case after the other, in the most dangerous moment the famous detective known as L finally starts to realize what is most dear to him. Though never being involved with feelings or touchy subjects, L asks an outsider for help. 

My requests are open! Submit here!

Throughout the big room no light shone through the thick curtains which had separated the working place from the window that lead to the outside world. 

As the busy streets in the afternoon spring sun, came to an end, only the tired clicking and ticking could be heard. The static of the TV wired to one of the main bodies of the computers flickered and played over the loud chirping of the long-billed plovers. As the rainy days came to an end, the smell of fresh gras was almost visible, though the headquarters seemed to only know serious work. 

The (H/C) haired only sighed, noticing their long friend and colleague working on a file absentmindedly.  Normally, a person who didn’t know the infamous detective L, they’d always find his behavior questioning, but would never interfere- thinking the male would work that way. Though (Y/N) knew, this wasn’t his 100%, something must be on his mind.

Glancing, almost stalking him for a while, they thought the genius would notice their stares, which he usually does, but for some reason his nail biting only intensified. Having talked to Watari, L’s personal butler, both of them ad agreed on trying to remind the man to stop his habit. Even this genius is human and gets trapped by simple anxious habits.

“Ryuzaki-”, calling him with his alias during working time and while on the open, he tensed up, “Stop your nail biting.”.

Even with their soft tone escaping their rosy but now colored in a beautiful darker shade he seemed to grow more nervous. “Besides, isn’t it time for a break? I’ve noticed the past couple of hours you’re not acting like yourself.”, looking around, the noticed they were alone. “Are you okay?”, they asked in a hushed tone.

Looking around, L noticed the big, round and innocent looking (E/C) orbs,  staring back into his dark irises, worry etched on their face. Their make-up and unique style fitting and contradicting to their profession as always, L rushed his thought that they’d probably make a better model than Misa-Misa.  But it would be a waste to their current investigation and future cases, due to their outstanding performance as his right hand.

Inching closer to L their (E/C) eyes narrowed, squinting ever so slightly. L didn’t make any movement, not a flinch. Their eyes would notice everything, even the slightest squirm. Quickly turning around though, L shrugged “Whatever you are talking about-”, taking a hold of his sugary cup of tea, the male stood up to leave, ”You’re right, it is indeed time for a break.”, opening the door, he left the dazzled one behind: “Monitor each fottage I left please, thanks (Y/N)”

Taking a long sip out of his plain white cup filled with a half of tea and the other half of sugar, L placed down the now empty cup on to a silver tray, that mostly Watari used to transport little sandwiches for each hard working inspector and treats for the detective. Taking some time to think about the events, L let his hands slide into his pockets, though stopped mid way as he had noticed that certain ping sound coming from the elevator.

Looking up, it was the said model: Misa-Misa, with her blond hair swaysing each step she too and the extraordinary Lolita-Goth look he oh so liked on his partner. Meeting her sea blue eyes, her facial expression lit up and her friendly and happy go lucky demeanor showed: “Ryuuakiii!”, waving her hand at him while dragging the letter “i” into an annoying laughing fit, she revealed a fashion magazine in her left.

“Good afternoon, Misa.”, waving back to the blonde, though with less enthusiasm, he asked, “Were you on your way to see (Y/N)?”, mentioning the magazine in Misas hand. “Oh yes!”, holding the magalogue into view, showing proudly the front page which contained the last few shootings the model mentioned the week before her last visit, “I wanted to show them the new copy we’ve been waiting for and--”, L cut her off by raising his hand, “Sorry, you can’t see them right now, it’s still working time, Misa.”

“Aww, seriously? You probably just want them all for yourself!”, pouting, Misa just crosse3d her arms before her chest, but L remained silent, softly repeating her words to himself “All for myself?”. The blonde looked up, a curious gaze meeting the raven haired, “So you do want her all to yourself!”, giggling, the model covered up her red lips with her free hand. “I’m not quite sure what you mean by that, they are a person on their own, I can’t simply restrict and own them.”

“Of course you know what I mean, you’re a genius, you should know!”, sighing, the blonde twirled a lose strand of hair between her middle and pointy finger: “Maybe all of that sugar did get to you..”,mocking the male, L just shrugged, “I don’t think so.”

But this did got him thinking: Does he truly want them all to himself? It indeed has been now quite the long time he was restless while working, not entirely there. His mind wandering off into an imaginative world or worrisome state whenever (Y/N) wouldn’t be around- no, scratch that, it didn’t matter, he quickly noticed.

Wether they’d be there or not, his mind was partly fixated on their well being. Though wasn’t it always like that? They’ve been partners for a really long time, longer than his knowledge of Naomi Misora for sure, and friends too. 

He read a lot of things during his early days, a lot about solving different puzzles and games, but he could never wrap his hand around when they came.

His experimental time with how feelings would work while (Y/N) were partners were over, he saw himself to them as an equal by now, but what if- “Helloo, earth to Ryuzaki!”, waving the magazine in front of the famous detective, Misa huffed, “Man, bet you’re thinking about (Y/N) if it takes you that long to get out of your dreamy thoughts”, gifting him a look of her tongue, she mocked him again, “You should try that brain-work on finding Kira! I wanna go on a date with Light already again, he promised!”, a date?

Maybe a little trip, spending the day with his friend would make the situation a bi8t lighter- finding out about his true thoughts and feelings that hid in his clouded mind. “Can’t believe I’m saying this-”, he murmured, “But: Misa, I might or might not need your help with something.”, he bluntly responded, ignoring her witty comments., “Help? With what?”, again, her airy head. Sighing, L explained another time, “You see, you’re such an emotional person, where I’m more technical.”, shoving his hands into his pockets, in a hunched position he began to walk, motioning her to follow him into a room across the hall, “The past few days I might’ve felt a little bit under the weather and I do have my suspicion, but to be honest, even as a detective, I can’t help but not be able to solve this mystery on my own, Misa.”

Opening the door, he held it open for the young woman to step inside. “What do you mean under the weather? Are you sick?”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it sick, when it’s just a feeling, I believe, and not just a condition.”, he stated, scratching his had as he continued to stay while Misa took the opportunity to relax her legs and sit down on to a couch. “Wait, was I maybe right when I said you might have a thing for (Y/N)?”, noticing how L had perked up by hearing their name, Misas sea blue eyes seemed to sparkle a few shades lighter, already rosy cheeks deepening. “Awww~ Ryuzaki, really?”, she cooed at the usually emotionless acting detective. 

Like previously mentioned, he’s also just a human.

“For a long time now, I want to find out about these thoughts that were kept in the back of my head.”, especially now the most dangerous case since Beyond Birthday, everyday might as well be the last day that he would glance at their beautiful eyes, and their wonderful perfume reaching his nose. “I’m just not sure how”

Eyes softening along with her features, Misas excitement toned down and switched with a warm smile, noticing how lost the male was when it came to the most basic human needs, “It’s fairly easy on finding out how you feel about them, Ryuzaki.”

“If it would be that easy, I wonder why I can’t put my finger on it”, lifting his thumb to his mouth he began biting down on his nail, eyes following the trail of the skyline, visible due to the opened window.

Standing up and entrusting her weight back to her feet, Misas smile never wavered, “Why don’t you just ask them out?”

Dark eyes wandering back to the model, he raised a brow: “I work with them every day, I see (Y/N) every day.”

“I don’t mean as a colleague or as a friend, Ryuzaki. I’m sure they’ll say yes regardless and besides, spending a day with (Y/N) will give you surely an idea if not a start of your thesis on how to feel about them!”, looking up at the taller male with a determined look, Misa Amane was more than sure: “And if the firt time won’t be enough, the ask them out again and again and again, until you got your answer.”, making her way to the door, she stepped out. “It’s not too late and not too cold to go yet.”, winking to the male she laughed one last time

 “Take them out-”, she waved, “There is this pretty nice café down the block! I’ll come around another time!”, with that, she had left.

Thinking over the blondes words, she must be right. Besides, some time off shouldn’t hurt, it never does. Slow steps were heard as L Lawliet made his way towards the ain investiation room, where he had left (Y/N) to continue his work, so none of the progress was lost.

Not forgetting any manners, he knocked, signaling that someone would come in and not startle them. “Oh, you’re back.”, their angelic like voice greeted the male. “Yeah, though it’s now you’re turn for a break, it’s time to wrap things up.”

Swallowing his build up lumb which seemed to sit tight above his adams apple, he stood straight, expression not changing: “Would you want to go out with me?”

Turning around swiftly, (H/C) hair danced around their pretty head in the process as their eyes widened and cheeks reddened.

“There is this pretty nice café down the block.”, he said.

Seeing them smile set her at ease, nodding (Y/N) only laughed, “Sure, L. Let’s go.”

Turning off the computers, (Y/N) stood up to join L’s side and walk down the hall towards the elevator. Smiling the whole way towards the Café and while being with him, (Y/N) couldn’t be happier.

Happy that Misa had come with her obnoxiously loud voice, gaining (Y/N)’s attention on the other side of the door and happy that the whole building is bugged.

No, they didn’t neglect their work- (Y/N) did monitor the fottage, though L did not necessarily mention which one. 

Just like spring had brought the most wonderful flowers, a relationship blossoming would soon follow up.

[desertno3]

everything comes back to you (sean wallace x fem!reader)

Sean Wallace is the love of your life and had been ever since you were both sixteen. This is why, in the aftermath of his father’s murder, you do everything you can to make sure no one lays a hand him.

5.4k words.

A/N: To think this all came from me watching this scene of Joe from Volume (2012) and thought… I need to write about bb Sean. There’s also this post which is mostly what was in my head when I wrote this. Also, I was going to say Sean being soft around the people he loves is my own personal headcanon but like… it is actual canon, lmao. It’s so easy to forget because the man is cold most of the time. Anyway, I clearly have too many thoughts about this character. Enjoy. (also formatting on tumblr is shit so if you want to read this with the formatting I intended, head over here to AO3)

prologue.

“What the hell are you up to?” Sean demands as he watches you bustle around your shared bedroom, effectively turning it upside down as you stuff your belongings into a travel bag.

“Business,” You say, hardly pausing to look at him.

“Business?” He scoffs like he doesn’t believe you. You don’t blame him. Finn died mere days ago and every day since then you’d been acting strange. Between consoling Sean and helping the Wallace family with the funeral arrangements, you’d been answering calls at random hours of the day and going off to meetings even though nearly all business operations under the Wallace Corporation had been halted. Sean had been too caught up in everything to question it but now that you’d just told him that you were flying off to god knows where for alleged business, he was suspicious.

“You know something, don’t you?”

You don’t reply.

“Tell me.”

When you remain silent, you see his jaw clench in anger but that’s not what makes your heart squeeze painfully in your chest. What gets to you is the hurt you can see in his eyes, hurt that his fiancé of all people is keeping things from him. You know it’s unfair to be doing this to him right now but you had no choice.

You walk up to him, taking his face in your hands.

“You just have to trust me on this, Sean,” You say softly. “Please.”

“I can’t trust anyone right now, y/n.” He says it like a plea. He needs you to be the one person he can trust one hundred percent, wants to be able to put you apart from the rest of the world who seemingly had it out for his family right now. He can’t do that when you’re acting like this.

The statement doesn’t hurt you in the slightest. You understand where he’s coming from, understand why he can’t even trust you, but still, you wish he did.

“You can always trust me,” You tell him but you know it won’t be enough. That’s confirmed when his gaze goes steely and he pries your hands from his cheeks.

“If you step out that door, don’t bother coming home.”

You step back like you’d been burned by the ultimatum. “Sean, don’t-”

He shakes his head.

“Whatever you’re doing, I hope it’s worth it.”

_________________________________________________

one.

“It’s just so annoying, you know?” You huff, falling back onto Sean’s bed and pressing the heels of your palms into your eyelids. You’re sixteen and in the throes of teen angst, irritated by the confines of your parents’ demands regarding what you currently could and couldn’t do at that age.

“Yeah, I know,” Sean replies in solidarity from where he stands near the window.

You let out a sigh, the anger that was bubbling in your chest starting to dissipate now that you’d finished venting about it.

You’re so lost in your own thoughts that you don’t realise Sean has moved from his spot across the room to the bed beside you. The mattress dips a little as he sits and slowly lies back so he’s parallel to you.

You move your hands away from your eyes and your heart jolts when you crane your neck to look at him and realise how close he is.

“Thanks for listening to my ranting,” You murmur, starting to feel guilty that you’d come over to hang out only for it to end up being just him listening to your tirade.

He lets out a small chuckle. “Anytime.”

You smile gratefully, your heart rate accelerating as you continue to stare into his eyes. God, you like him so much. You have for a while now. As he inches closer, and you don’t know whether it’s deliberate on his part or not, you wonder what it would be like if you just kissed him right there.

“Y/n…” He says hesitantly, his gaze flicking down to your lips for a fraction of a second. “Can I-”

“Ooooh, Sean and y/n,” Billy sing-songs obnoxiously from the doorway - the doorway that both you and Sean had forgotten was wide open.

Sean leaps up from the bed and growls at his brother, who continues to tease him unfazed.

“Fuck off, Billy!”

He slams the door shut and everything descends into silence once more. You sit up and watch as Sean remains at the door, his shoulders tense. You get up and make your way over to him, feeling bolder than you ever have in your life.

“Sean,” You say softly, grabbing his attention.

He turns to you, the look in his eyes hesitant, and you use that opportunity to press your lips to his. You pull away just as quickly, gauging his reaction, but then he pulls you towards him again and this time the kiss is deeper, needier. Your hands steady yourself against his chest as his own move up to cup your jaw.

You’re both breathless when you pull away, sporting matching shy smiles as you look at each other.

“I really like you, y/n,” Sean confesses and your heart feels like it could burst.

“I really like you, too, Sean.”

~

When you and Sean get accepted into different universities, it worries you more than you let on. It would be the furthest away you’d ever lived from him and you were worried about what that meant for you both. You’d spent your last years of high school falling deeper and deeper in love with him and you weren’t ready to let him go. Not now, not ever.

“Hey,” He murmurs, noticing you’d spaced out again. “What’s wrong?”

You shrug it off but he’s not buying it. He shifts on the couch so that he’s sitting facing you and takes your hands in his.

"Talk to me.”

You end up telling him everything. How you don’t like that you’re not going to be able to see him as often as you do now, how you’re worried that the distance might put a strain on the relationship, how you really, really don’t like the idea of breaking up with him.

You half expect him to brush it off or to tell you that you’ve got nothing to worry about but he doesn’t.

“I don’t like it either,” He admits. “It’s going to be awful being so far away from you but it’s only a couple of years, yeah? We can do that. And then I’ll start working for my dad and you’ll start working for some cool startup and we can move into a flat in London. You and me.”

While your boyfriend’s vision of your future together warms your heart, you’re still hung up on the ‘couple of years’ you were going to be a good distance from each other.

“Babe,” He says, bringing your attention back to him. “We’re going to be okay.”

You nod, finally relenting and agreeing with him. There was no point in letting yourself get eaten alive with worry, not when he clearly loved you just as much as you loved him. It was going to be okay.

“I love you,” You tell him and he smiles, pressing a kiss to the back of your hand.

“I love you too.”

~

Sean’s vision of the future wasn’t too far off. You manage to secure a flat just before you both graduate and by the end of the summer, you’d moved in. Sean starts working immediately alongside Alex at the Wallace Corporation and you spend about eight months working for a new tech startup on the other side of London before Finn Wallace offers you a job. It goes over with Sean just as well as you expected it would - which was not well at all.

“Are you really going to throw away everything you’ve worked hard for? To be my dad’s fucking assistant?”

You sigh in exasperation. “I’m not throwing away anything, Sean! Do you think I’m that stupid? I’m going to use more of what I learned at uni as Finn’s assistant than I am now at that fucking sad excuse for startup and you know it!”

Sean knows you’re miserable where you currently work so you don’t know why he’s so against this.

“You don’t want me working with you, is that it?”

He sighs, palms pressing against his eyelids in frustration.

“No,” He says eventually. “No, it’s not that. It’s just… I don’t want my dad having a hold on the both of us. You’re supposed to be free from all the Wallace Corporation shit, out doing your own thing.”

Oh.

You step towards him and he instinctively wraps his arms around your waist. You press a light kiss to his lips, your fingers ghosting over the facial hair he had recently started sporting.

“Sorry to tell you this, Sean, but your dad’s had a hold on the both of us the moment we started dating. Maybe even before that. I’m sure if he didn’t approve of me, I would’ve been out of your life a long time ago.”

Sean grumbles at the realisation but he knows it's true.

You lovingly run your thumb over his cheek. "Nothing in London is out of Finn Wallace's reach."

You’re not a fool. You know Finn offered you this job for a very specific reason. If you were going to continue being with Sean, and at this point, everyone knew that was absolutely going to be the case, you were going to have to know how the company worked. And you weren’t against it. If Sean was to be the CEO one day, you refused to be the kind of wife who was oblivious to their husband’s dealings.

~

Gone is the youthful innocence of the lanky boy you fell in love with when you were sixteen. Sean is filled out and a lot more serious, trying to be more than what he is for his father’s sake. You suppose you're the same, too. It's not easy, being primed to eventually take over a multi-million dollar organisation (connected to an insidious underground one to boot) and Finn put just as much pressure on you as he did his son.

“It’s not my blood,” You mumble when Sean walks into the bathroom to find you soaking in the tub, the water around you a deep red. “Mostly.”

Wordlessly, he comes over and drains it before filling it back up with fresh water. You don’t move as he does so, still shaken and borderline catatonic from having just killed somebody for the first time. Sean doesn’t have to ask, he can just tell that’s what you’ve come back from. As he silently washes the blood from your skin, you look over to see his lips set in a tight line. You know he’s mad. Not at you. At his father, maybe. But there’s nothing he can do now. There’s no going back from this.

~

Everyone thinks you’re the power couple of the Wallace Corporation, steely and unfeeling, and you suppose in many ways you are but you also know that in other ways, you’re still the teenagers you were before, still completely and utterly smitten with one another.

“Hey,” Sean greets you, kissing your cheek before pulling out a chair and sitting beside you in the empty boardroom.

You look at him in surprise as he starts digging into some pre-packaged salad. “Hi. What are you doing?”

“Thought I’d have lunch with you.”

“It’s three in the afternoon.”

“The meeting ran overtime.”

You give him a sympathetic look and he rolls his eyes. “It’s fine. C’mere.”

You shuffle closer to him and let him tuck you under one arm while he forked salad into his mouth with the other.

“What have you been up to, hm?”

You let out an exhale, resting your head against his shoulder. “Meetings, same as you.”

You’re interrupted when Alex pops his head in with an apologetic look on his face, knowing he was disrupting a rare moment between you and Sean. Usually, the both of you would be so busy you’d only see each other in passing at work.

“Finn’s looking for you, y/n,” He tells you before disappearing again.

You sigh, getting up but not before kissing Sean on the cheek.

“I’ll see you at home.”

“Mm, see you.” He mumbles, swallowing his mouthful of salad before his hand shoots out to grab your wrist. “Wait, give me a proper kiss.”

You smile and comply, laughing when Sean pulls you back in for another and another.

“I have to go, Sean!”

“Alright, alright,” He says, letting you go. “I’ll see you later.”

~

"What's all this?" Sean asks when he comes home one night to find you in the kitchen looking like you’re in the middle of making a more elaborate dinner than usual.

"Just something to celebrate you finishing up that contract," You say, smiling when his arms circle your waist and his lips press a kiss to your cheek. "I was also thinking now that the contract's done, you've got all the time in the world to fuck me."

You all but squeal when he picks you up and carries you to the bedroom without a second thought.

"The food, Sean!"

"The food can wait," He murmurs, dropping you onto the bed. You giggle when he moves to hover above you, his lips brushing against yours. "I've got to take care of my fiancé first."

~

It’s those memories of your relationship with Sean that flood your mind as you lean against the brick wall of a Soho back alley, the hand pressing against the wound on your side not doing much to stop the blood seeping from your body faster than you would like.

Dread had filled you the moment you heard about Finn’s death and it had less to do with what happened to him and everything to do with the man you were engaged to, the one who was set to take over the company in his father’s wake. Despite Sean being the clear successor to the business, you knew Finn’s death would still leave a power vacuum in both London’s corporate and criminal worlds. You knew people would be out for Sean, trying to off him so that they could step up and take Finn’s place. And so, since the day Finn had died, you’d done everything you could to ensure Sean wouldn’t be harmed. Even after Sean’s heartbreaking ultimatum, you’d left and had been all over the country and London trying to stop the people that needed to be stopped. This last job you’d just carried out would have been it. It would have sealed the deal and would have kept Sean safe for good. Too bad you were probably going to die because of it.

You wince as your back slides further down the wall, your legs giving out and leaving you to drop unceremoniously onto the concrete. Each inhale felt like a billion knives entering your side and you knew you weren’t going to last much longer.

It was worth it, you think to yourself. It’s the last thought you have before your eyelids get too heavy to keep open, Sean’s last words to you echoing back in your mind. It may have cost you your life but was worth it if it meant you’d just ensured Sean would keep his for a long while.

_________________________________________________

two.

Despite the number of people crammed into your hospital room, the only sound to be heard is the steady beeping of the machines that had been attached to you. It had been a hell of a night for all of them and one that wasn’t over yet. Jacqueline’s frantic call to Sean about seeing you get wheeled into emergency surgery had cut short the tense discussion the Wallaces and Dumanis were having around the dining table. Sean had all but sped to the hospital, everyone else trailing behind him. Despite everything that had just been revealed to him that night, it all became secondary in comparison to the fact that Jacqueline had told him you were practically dying.

Everyone but Sean looks up when Ed steps back into the room, shoving his phone into his pocket.

“That was Jevan,” Ed announces to all of them. “Things have changed.”

“What things?” Marian asks, the tone in her voice still bitter. It’s a wonder neither she nor Sean have kicked the Dumanis out of the room but it was because there was still so much to be discussed - especially now that you were back in the picture and what happened to you remained unclear.

“The investors now want to keep Sean alive.”

A silence settles over the room at Ed’s revelation. It was mere hours ago that Alex had revealed it was the investors who wanted Sean dead.

“She knew,” Sean mutters, finally speaking up. His eyes raking over your nearly-lifeless face as you lay unconscious on the hospital bed and his mind thinks back to the last conversation he had with you. Business, you had told him then. Now, he had no doubt you had something to do with the investors’ most recent decision. “She knew they wanted me dead.”

“How?” It’s Alex who asks, vocalising the same thought Sean had been turning over and over in his mind. “How did she know where to find them? Who to talk to?”

No one has an answer. The machines beep steadily, filling in the silence until Ed sighs, a realisation dawning on him.

“Finn,” He states like that alone makes the answer clear. “She would’ve known through Finn. Think about it. When she was his assistant, he made her go with him to nearly every meeting he had.”

Everyone in the room was aware of the latter, of course. It was part of your job. It had even been a point of contention between Sean and his father at one point, why you were let in on meetings that he should’ve been in on too if he was going to take over the company one day. "She’s just there to make the coffee, son," Finn had laughed but that wasn’t true in the slightest. You were the one who took down the minutes, noted down anything of importance, kept tabs on any and all of Finn’s dealings with everybody. That was your job and through it, you ended up knowing more about the business than anyone else and you didn’t even realise it. You didn’t realise just how much you knew, how much knowledge you could use as leverage, as blackmail, until Sean’s life was on the line.

After Finn died, you did wonder whether he knew what he was setting you up for when he hired you, wondered if he always knew Sean would eventually need protecting and knew that you would do it without hesitation if you had the capability to do so.

It’s Ed, here in the hospital room, who comes to the realisation that he absolutely did.

“She knows more about Finn’s dealings with the investors than all of us in this room combined,” He continues. “Because he never actually needed her to be his assistant. He needed her to be someone who would know how to talk to them. To protect the company and its successor from them if need be.”

“Successor?” Marian asks. “You mean Sean?”

Ed nods and everyone jumps as Sean suddenly throws his fist against the bedside table in anger before whirling on the older man.

“You knew about this,” He seethes. “You knew he was doing this and you just let it happen.”

“I didn’t know this was his reasoning behind it, Sean, I promise you. But it makes sense. As his son, protecting you was a priority. Through her, Finn made sure you’d be kept safe.”

"Fuck that.” Sean spits in anger. “Fuck that. She's a priority too. You hear me? She needs to be kept safe too because if she's not alive I may as well be fucking dead."

_________________________________________________

three.

“I should’ve fucking realised that’s what she was up to. I should’ve fucking known,” Sean mutters as he looks at you, still lying there unconscious. “She risked everything for me.”

“Are you surprised?” Marian asks him. It’s just the two of them in the room now.

She, for one, isn’t surprised in the slightest. Having known you most of your life, she knew you had it in you. Maybe Finn saw that too, since it was what he ended up priming you for.

Sean sighs. He’s not surprised either. What he mostly feels is anger - at his late father for putting you in that position to begin with - and shame. He’s ashamed that while you were bending over backwards to try and keep him alive, he was doing fuck all for you. He'd even broken your fucking heart in the process. He’d regretted it the second you’d left the flat but he couldn’t get into contact with you afterwards. Either you’d changed your number or you weren’t answering his calls. He’d even hired a fucking private investigator to find out where you’d gone and what you were up to but they hadn’t come back with anything solid enough that could lead him to you. It was like you’d disappeared off the face of the earth.

"She paid you off,” Sean says bluntly the moment the PI enters the hospital room. It’s not a question. After everything that had surfaced in the last twenty-four hours, it clicked into Sean’s mind the reason the private investigator couldn’t find anything on you.

"She did,” They confirm.

Sean swears under his breath. He curses that fact that you were too good at this and curses the fact that it was probably Finn that taught you how, the same way Finn taught him. He should’ve fought harder to stop you from accepting his dad’s job offer. All those years ago.

“She paid me off,” The PI says. "But that doesn’t mean I didn't do my job."

Sean is handed a folder full of notes on your movements and a flash drive full of photos they’d snapped from a distance.

"You are a very lucky man, Sean Wallace. To have someone like her in your life."

_________________________________________________

four.

To say you’re surprised when you open your eyes to a sterile hospital room is an understatement. You were so sure you had no chance of getting out of that alley alive. Still groggy, you briefly wonder if it was the investors who managed to get you here in time - the strange puppet masters that they were - but your train of thought is halted when you realise Sean’s sister is in the room with you, sitting beside your hospital bed.

“About time you woke up,” Jacqueline says softly, a kind smile on her face. “How’re you feeling?”

Her question brings your attention to the relentless ache you feel all over your body.

“Like shit.”

She hums. “Well, you’re lucky you aren’t dead. You gave us all a scare getting wheeled in here the way you did.”

You shift a little, trying to get yourself in a position that would ease the pain somewhat. “How’s Sean?”

Jacqueline has to stop herself from rolling her eyes because of course that’s what’s on your mind right now. You coming back from the verge of death asking about Sean ran in a similar vein to the way Sean had been adamant about not leaving the hospital since you’d been admitted. Like two peas in a pod, she thinks. Always have been.

“He’s just out in the hall, actually,” She informs you. “On the phone to mum. He’s not going to be pleased he wasn’t here when you woke up.”

“But he’s okay?” You ask her.

“He’s okay.”

You let out the breath you didn’t realise you were holding, your head sinking further into the pillow.

“Good,” You say, shutting your eyes in relief. “That’s good.”

Only a few seconds pass before you hear the door open and shut and a heart-achingly familiar voice break the silence.

“How is she?”

Again, Jacqueline has to keep herself from rolling her eyes. Her brother would always ask that same question every time he returned to the room, no matter if he was gone for an hour or for just a couple of minutes. At least this time, she was glad to give him an answer other than ‘she’s the same as she was when you left’.

“She’s awake.”

Your eyelids flutter open and your heart jumps when your gaze lands on Sean.

“I’ll leave you both to it,” Jacqueline smiles when she looks between her brother and yourself. She comes over and rests her hand on yours. “I’m really glad you’re alive, y/n.”

You give her a grateful smile and watch her leave before your eyes flicker back to the man standing at the door. He looks healthy, you note to yourself. Exhausted, but healthy.

“Sean,” You whisper, breaking the silence.

“Hey,” He says softly, approaching your bedside. You slowly sit up and tears start to pool in your eyes at the sight of him here, so close to you. Safe and alive. He notices and reaches out to wipe away the stray tears that had rolled down your cheeks.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” He murmurs and you have to hold back a sob.

"I did it for you, Sean," You can barely get the sentence out, your voice catching as you start to get choked up by emotion. "Everything I did-"

"I know," He says, cupping your face tenderly. His eyes are glassy too. "I know."

“I couldn’t let them hurt you. I couldn’t-”

You stop as your tears start to flow uncontrollably. You’d kept so much of your emotions at bay as you dealt with everything and now that it was all done, they were spilling over in waves. He gently pulls you into his embrace as you cry, mindful of your injuries. One hand strokes your hair comfortingly as you cling to him, soaking the front of his shirt with your tears. You keep muttering apologies into his chest and he has to tell you to stop because you have nothing to be sorry for. He should be the one apologising, he thinks. No matter what he does for you for the rest of his life nothing would come close enough in magnitude to what you’d just done for him.

You sniffle as your sobs finally start to subside but you don’t let go of him just yet.

“I want to come home, Sean,” You say quietly, your cheek still pressed against his chest.

“You are home,” He assures you, his arms affectionately squeezing you ever so slightly. "You're here with me. You're already home."

_________________________________________________

epilogue.

Sean barely leaves your side while you recover - not for business, not for anything.

“The company needs you, Sean.”

He shakes his head. “Alex has it covered. You need me.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“Believe me, I know. But still. In sickness and in health, right?”

You snort. “We’re not married yet.”

His arms wrap around your waist.

“But we will be,” He murmurs. “I would’ve married you a long time ago if I had it my way.”

“My mother would’ve murdered you.”

Sean chuckles, all too aware of it.

It was about a year and a half into your university lives that Sean decided he genuinely wanted to marry you and, of course, he had run it by your mother.

“I’ll give you my blessing, Sean,” She had told him. “But only if you promise me you’ll give it a few years until you propose.”

“Just trust me on this, okay?” She said after Sean had frowned and asked her why. “I know you love her and I know she loves you but there’s no need to rush.”

Sean had agreed reluctantly but now, years later, he understands where she was coming from. At the time, he had naively been sure there was nothing the two of you couldn’t handle. You’d both handled being at different universities so well, after all. Now, he cringes at the fact that that was his metric but he figures he couldn’t blame himself. At that age, he definitely never anticipated having to deal with all the shit life had thrown at you both in the last few months alone. He’s somewhat grateful your mum told him to wait because now, after everything, he’s more sure than he ever was about the fact that he wants to spend the rest of his life with you.

~

You’re finally back home, in your own bed, lying on your back because it’s the only comfortable way you can lay down with all your stitches and injuries yet to fully heal. You turn your head to look at Sean and you smile. He’s on his back as well, the both of you craning your necks awkwardly to look at each other.

“What?” He asks.

“This is very familiar.”

He snorts, knowing exactly what you’re referring to. He props himself up on his elbow and looks down at you.

“At least this time I’m not scared to do this.”

Your eyelids flutter close as he leans down to press his lips to yours. You reciprocate, leaning up to deepen the kiss before pain shoots up your side, making you hiss.

“Sorry,” He murmurs, pulling away.

“It’s fine, just the stitches.”

His thumb grazes over your cheek. “Rest.”

He smiles at the way you huff. You never did like staying still.

~

You let out a content sigh, sinking back in your office chair. It had felt like a lifetime since you’d been in here and finally being back felt like you were putting in the final piece in the puzzle. It was the last thing you needed to feel like everything was starting to go back to normal.

A knock on the door grabs your attention, Sean popping in to check on you. “You ready?”

You nod, gingerly getting up and following him to the boardroom for the family meeting.

~

“So you know Alex and I have been talking,” Sean says to you once everyone had filed in and taken their seats. “About what will be best for the business going forward.”

You nod.

“Things have settled down and we’ve managed to broker temporary agreements with everyone to keep them in line. However, we need to guarantee they won’t act out in the future. So we need someone heading the company who they will listen to, someone who they trust. Alex wants to continue doing the finances and I’m better off sticking to making the buildings so… we were wondering if you would be the CEO.”

Your expression goes slack in shock. “What?”

“We’ve run it by Ed and mum and they agree, too. You’re our best bet.”

You look between everyone in the room, bewildered. “Why?”

“Because you know more about dealing with the investors and shareholders than any of us,” Alex says. “You saw first-hand how Finn did his business with them, something me and Sean rarely did. And they not only know you personally but they trust you, too.”

“Y/n,” Ed pipes up. “Whether he did it deliberately or not, Finn taught you everything he knew about the most important part of running this corporation. Alex knows finance and sales, Sean knows property and asset management but you? He specifically taught you how to bargain. And bargaining and making deals is part of what keeps the Wallace Corporation on top.”

“All our shareholders, the investors, they’ll be okay with this?” You ask.

Ed gives you a look, “You tell us.”

The weight of the responsibility hits you in full force but you’re surprised when you don’t feel scared. You feel sure. They were all right, you’d been doing this already.

You nod. “They will be.”

And it’s not a threat so much as it’s just pure confidence on your part. You knew their strengths, their weaknesses, you knew you would be able to keep them in line with your words, either finding mutual ground or using certain things as leverage to get what the company needed. You could bargain with them the same way you’d bargained for Sean’s life. You could do this.

You meet Sean’s eyes across the boardroom table and he smiles at you, pride blooming in his chest at the thought of his girl, the one he had fallen head-over-heels for at sixteen, being the CEO of his dad’s company. You smile in return. God, you loved him. Your entire world, your whole heart, belonged to him. And his to you. It always had been, and it always would be.

_________________________________________________

End notes: The first kiss setting in one. I took straight from Volume, lol, and then two. is set after that meeting scene at the end of Episode 7 of Gangs but I’ve taken some liberties with that meeting and diverged from canon right before Ed tells them Finn never wanted Sean near the business because Sean’s reaction to that hurts my heart. So that’s not a thing in my fic world. Anyway! Too many thoughts about this show. Let me know if you enjoyed this fic!

[yvainegelinemarie]

🖤🌸𝔐𝔯. 𝔏𝔬𝔳𝔢 𝔎𝔞𝔯𝔪𝔞 2021 𝔙𝔞𝔩𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔢𝔰 ℭ𝔞𝔯𝔡 ℜ𝔢𝔳𝔦𝔢𝔴 🌸🖤

I’m late I’m late for a very important dick appointment, date!

✨ 𝕳𝖊𝖑𝖑𝖔 𝐒𝖕𝖔𝖔𝐤𝖎𝖊𝖘!!~ ✨

Idk about ya’ll BUT these new karma cards got me all 🤰🏻🤰🏻🤰🏻

TW: Proceed with cation!! Do NOT open if you do not wish to soak your panties and/or cry your eyes out at my appalling sense of ‘humor’ 

*Today I will be rating the new Valentines Day art for the Karma cards. The rating process was done by comparing them to their previous valentines day cards and how they went against one another on their level of sexyness within each card. 

🌸 𝕷𝖚𝖈𝖎𝖊𝖓 | 7/10 | 2nd Place

⚰️ My daddy he be lookin fine a FOULK this evening with his tiddie out. My baby knows how to keep me fed if ya know what I’m sayin.😏💦

⚰️ This beautiful, breathtaking, princely, lavishing work of art!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHGHJTE5LILO; (srry, orgasim seizure). 

⚰️ It’s just *pats eyes with handkerchief* I have never in all my life, witnessed a man of this design. Please, don’t mind me. I just need a moment to bask in the glory of this angel. 

⚰️ The 💦water droplets💦, his bedroom eyes, that CHEST- I-I...I just need a moment...

⚰️ Lucien has once and always stolen my heart BUT I do have to say that based off of some past cards, last years valentines card, and compared to Victor’s card this year that my Lulu has to come in second. 🤧

⚰️ His sultry, princely and sexyness is all there but we all know that Lucien can pull off a very dominating demeanor. Yet here he’s just giving me very submissive vibes this valentines. (Not that there is anything wrong with that.)

⚰️ And then this card has the AUDACITY to turn into this?!?! 👀👀

⚰️ Sighhhh...It is just so hard to watch MC living your dream... 

⚰️ This card just looks so sweet. The carressing embrace, Lucien’s calmly surprised expression, it’s just all so gentle. awwwwwe!!

⚰️ Although this card is very romantic Lucien still looks very submissive and sweet. (Like homie looks like he’s never done this before which. LIES. BITCH I KNOW YOU) 👏🏼👏🏼

⚰️ One of the things I love the most about Lucien’s character is his very teasing and dominating aura and last years valentines card sucked that up and did a beautiful job of expressing his teasing personality in the artwork. I am hoping that maybe where this art is lacking the date itself will make up for it.

⚰️ I do find this card to be the second most sexy out of all the boys but I feel like it just doesn’t feel as Lucien as I would have liked it to. 

⚰️ I do however find the artwork to be very beautiful and embracing. Especially when the card is evolved. The way Lucien holds MC in the second card creates this very innocent and warm embrace that reminds me of two people just on the verge of falling in love.

⚰️ It is a very sweet and romantic card and it is quiet cute to see Lucien all blushing and off guard instead of his usual impassive self.

🌸 𝐊𝖎𝖗𝖔 | 6/10 | 4th place

⚰️ The bestest boi of them all!!! 🥰

⚰️ Litterally nothing gets sweeter than Kiro!!

⚰️ So sweet, so fun loving! This sunshine of a boi makes life worth living! ☀️☀️

⚰️ Kiro is definitely the one who shows up at just the right time to make life a little better and brings out the inner child that my sun in capricorn tries to repress so intensely. 

⚰️ And this card does that sweet and playful image justice. Always stay warm Kiro!!! AWWEEE!!!

⚰️ All I can say is I wish I was that dog so I can paw Kiro’s chest too. 🤭

⚰️ Now, It pains me to put Kiro last but it is just that I feel that his card lacks a lot compared to the valentines card from last year. 

⚰️  We were hit with a very sexy Kiro and there has been plenty of other very VERY sexy Kiro cards up to this one that it just causes this one to hit different, you know? 

⚰️ This one really captures Kiro’s loving and boyish personality so I definitely love it over all as a Kiro card. I think that it does wonderful in that aspect. But for valentines day? I expect something a bit more saucy...like an underwear model shoot maybe... 😜

⚰️ BUT THEN we get THISS!!

⚰️ S-Shirtless Kiro *Internal screaming* kahhhh!!! I can’t take it I. 😝

⚰️ Sometimes I forget just how HORNY Kiro issss.... 

⚰️ I think it’s safe to say that MC is only making that face NOT bc Kiro took that magazine but bc she be getting poked sitting in that lap like that.- 👀🍆

⚰️ Shirtless Kiro is an upgrade from what we had before BUT I still feel like this compared to the other guys and other very sexy kiro cards before that this still only gives a very innocnet and homey vibe.

⚰️ I do think that this card is very cute but when rating it on it��s quality of sexyness comapred to the other boys, I sadly have to put Kiro as last place. 

⚰️ I am just hoping that next year all the Kiro stans get rewarded with a nice Calvin Klein underwear shoot. (I know I’d be happy)😌😌

🌸 𝐕𝖎𝖈𝖙𝖔𝖗 | 8/10 | 1st Place

⚰️ Tall, dark, and handsome AS FOULK!!!

⚰️ Victor never comes in to play no games yall!!!  👏🏼💦

⚰️ Did I say Kiro was horny? because I take that back. Sometimes I forget how BADLYYY Victor is trynnnaaa FUCK in EVERYYY date. 💀

⚰️ But like I ain’t mad. First off, Victor, daddy, can I have that designer bag? I’ll suck your di- 

⚰️ Just the abs, that boujee ass robe even the cute ass fucking ties on his arm I-

⚰️ Victor be putting the standards for guys really fucking high in my book. AND I AIN’T MAD.

⚰️ I just love this card. It is honestly my favorite out of all of them (sorry Lulu) It’s mature, it’s sexy, it’s elegant, suttle, and EVERYTIME I look at it my heart flutters. This card is VERY Victor and a beautiful design of his character and it makes me VERY horny happy. 💦💦

⚰️ T-That angle... *blushes* He is ready to go to town if ya know what I mean.

⚰️ But given that facial expression he’s already busted it- 👀🤧

⚰️ On a real note tho. Victor looks so sweet and vulnerable here (*what a pussy) it’s so cuteee!!! Like I ain’t ever seen him look so sweet. (*fucking bitch.) 

*I have a love hate relationship with Victor since he always likes to piss me off!!! But he cute so.

⚰️ Again I think that this card is my favorite out of all four of the valentines cards this year. I feel like the intimacy in this one is there. The imagery is very sexy but soft. I love their pose and I think that this card sells where we all like our minds to wonder off too. 

⚰️ My absolutae favortie part is the simple pull on Victors unbuttoned shirt. It is just so sweet and so soft of an embrance.

⚰️But also Victor’s hand on the counter. I want that hand to smack my ass so hard fuck. 😋

⚰️ If I had to (and I do) make one complaint about this card it is that I honestly HATE Victor’s expression in the evoled. It’s just too soft and sweet for my liking. And as a Capricorn myself I can assure you that any slip up of us expressing even just the slightest bit of our vulnerability to anyone we will rip ourselves apart head to toe for years on that one single event and I assume that even during Victor’s most intimate times that stone cold look would not fade as easily as it does in this card. 

⚰️I think that it is beautiful and no hate to the Victor stans who think he looks hot AF in this card. I am all for it. I just personally like my capricorns whipped into shape. 😌

🌸 𝐆𝖆𝖛𝖎𝖓 | 7/10 | 3rd Place

⚰️ This one gave me the most and best shock.

⚰️ My favorite Gavin cards are by far this and his valentines card from last year. 

⚰️ There is just something about Valentines day that gets Gavin in a sexy mood. (you’re secretly a hopeless romantic, aren't you Gavin huh...huh???)😏

⚰️ First off, GAVIN!!! I ain’t ever seen you look so SEXY. Sending me Eboy vibes to the MAX ughhhhh!!!! 

⚰️ I love the straps on his shirt and the fact that it’s wet and the glove PULLLLL!!! FUCKK GAVINNNNN!!! 💦🔥💦

⚰️ Gavin for me is everything that’s hot that I just can’t get behind but I WANT to get behind. You know? haha.

⚰️ He’s just such a good boy and a sad boi all at the same time and he holds a soft place in ma heart (but he’s definitely a one night stand and then I never call him again haahaaaa ahhhh) 🤧

⚰️ And then this card!! It is so cute! SO sweet!!! and just very beautifully intimate. They look so in love!!!

⚰️ I just know for a fact that this night is very gentle and very passionate. 

⚰️ S3x with Gavin may not be intense, but it is love that we all at one point need okayyy!!. *cries* 🥲

⚰️ Gavin’s card is probably my 3rd favorite out of all of the boys this year. I do really love his pose and they are very sexy and very sweet and also very Gavin for his event cards. I also enjoy that his expression is still very true to his character in the last card (I’m looking at you lulu and vic) 

⚰️ I just feel like the art lacks a lot of story in Gavin’s cards (even his ones last year too) They just look like they took valentines day photos together lol. 

⚰️ I don’t hate them and they are very beautiful I just wish there was more going on then what looks to be like Gavin modeling for a brand of Makers Mark Whiskey lol. 

⚰️ I actually haven’t played a single Gavin date🤭...so I don’t have much to say on how he reacts to MC outside of the regular story line and I am sure that his valentines date for our English Sever with him was very wonderful. Based off of Gavin’s main story character I wouldn’t consider him very romantic or at least not the one in control of planning their dates. I think that of all the boys Gavin’s Valentines would be the most laid back and I would like to see more of Gavin’s character coming through with the artwork of these dates if that’s the case.

ENDNOTES: 

⚰️  On a serious note these cards are very beautiful although...I think I honestly enjoyed last years Valentines cards more than this one (the ones we got this year in the english server)... (omg...no way...she said it)

⚰️ Don’t get me wrong! All these cards are VERY sexy and I do like it but I feel like they almost lack intensity that last year SOLD us. 

⚰️ I guess what I am trying to say is they all feel too vanilla if you know what I mean... Gavin’s card is the only one that gives me a sense of spice despite him being the sweetest out of all the boys. I just feel that these in comparison to how lavish last years cards were that I want to see more intensity. 

⚰️ I am curious to know if the cards will ever get to that point (I know that the game wont give us full blown porn scenes...*sigh* lol) but I am looking forward to seeing some imagery to withhold the imagination of such. 

⚰️ Basically I’m sad that Lucien had no scratch marks. That-That’s it! You caught me!! I just want to see my daddy’s skin all scratched up!! Is that too much to ask for?! 

⚰️ ALSO I WANT FULL SHIRTLESS (WITH NIPPLES) SSR CARDDDSSSSSSS AHHHFGJGKRIGKECGHGERMCHM!!!!

⚰️ This is all written for shits n giggles. Please take this lightly and kindly let me know what karma card you liked the most. 

Thank you for stopping by, 🖤 Yvaine. 

[random-imagines-blog]

Scars {Maria Hill x Reader Oneshot}

Requested by: Anonymous Wordcount: 3266 Summary: You’re afraid of your own fire powers; Maria, however, is not, even when you do accidentally burn a house down. Notes: Swearing; Minor Death

You were careful to never leave your hands, or your arms, exposed to others. The SHIELD uniform did a good job of that, covering your body like another skin, and then the gloves which slipped over your fingers smoothly. They had heat sensors wired inside of the fabric that helped to tell your body temperature, particularly if you were heating up. It warned you by shining lights inside, changing the color of the glove as a warning that you were getting too heated. Dangerous things could happen when that was the case. It was a handy little suit that they gave you, full of such technological innovations. If only other aspects of your life were as helpful; like if only you had powers that were more useful than accidentally starting forest fires, or burning marshmallows when attempting to make smores.

At least the carrier that you worked on, alongside many other agents, wasn’t made of wood and timber, but rather many different types of metal which didn’t easily melt. You weren’t considered a total liability. SHIELD, Nick Fury in particular, believed that your brain was better than your powers, and wanted you to work by his side, as his third in command, just in case something was to happen to Maria Hill.

Ahh, Maria. She was one of the reasons why you wished life could be just a little bit simpler. If all you had to worry about was SHIELD’s disapproval of employees dating one another. Where the worst thing that could happen was getting fired if you were caught sneaking around during off-shift hours. You were in love with the woman, and had been since you met her. God, she was absolutely beautiful, even though she held the same stern facial expression ninety percent of the time. But occasionally, if you caught her in a good moment, she would smile or she would laugh and it was like a field of butterflies on an already beautiful day.

“There you are!” A loud voice said, coming to you from across the hallway. You looked up to see Nick Fury walking towards you, and you instantly straightened up your posture, going from daydreaming to work mode. “I wanted you in the control room five minutes ago!”

“Yes sir. Sorry sir,” You said, chasticizing yourself. There were many rules on board the aircaft, but there was one that was especially important. Always, always, always be on time when Nick Fury wanted you somewhere. You strode beside him, small steps, hands by your side. Your eyes always seemed to wander to them, making sure that they were the color that they were supposed to be. “Is there anything in particular you needed me for, Sir?”

“There’s a mission that I need you and Maria to do for me.”

-

The terrain under the vehicle was far from easy to drive on, and the jeep kept bumping you around. You had to hold on tight to the exterior in order to keep yourself from getting hurt. How Maria was handling it, while driving, was beyond you. A large bump nearly set you falling from the seat, seatbelt be damned. “Now this is what I call off-roading,” You muttered to yourself, but Maria’s keen ears caught you.

“You don’t know the half of it,” She said, eyes forward. “Hold on-” She put her arm out, catching you in the chest as you went over what must have been an ancient log or something, since it broke under the wheels and sent the jeep careening forward. You fell back with a deep breath against the seat.

“Thanks,” You said, taking note of the faint yellow glow coming from your gloves. It was far from orange, so you felt that you were safe from exploding, but you weren’t sure how much more stress that you could take. Being around so many flammable trees didn’t help your nerves in the slightest. “Do you know how much further until we hit a road again?”

“Another minute, I can see it from here,” Maria said. Her tone gave you a hint, and you held onto the door for dear life as the vehicle roared towards the asphalt, did a quick u-turn with the tires squealing and protesting all the way, then rushed forward. Once you were on smooth ground, you were able to relax once more, and put your hands onto your lap.

“You should be a stunt driver in movies if SHIELD doesn’t work out for you,” You said, looking out the window at the jungle that you had come out of. That made Maria laugh, just a single time, then go back to concentrating on the road. Her hair had come out of the bun that she had put it in before driving, and was hanging in her face, framing it wonderfully. She pushed it out of her face, sweat helping to make it stick back.

Yeah, you were smitten.

Since you were on a steady road now, heading towards the destination, you brought out your tablet and went through the mission details again. You were to bring in someone who had done a number of things to violate SHIELD’s protocol. A disgruntled former employee, who had been caught pulling pranks, which was a serious waste of resources. The guy had apparently been spilling secrets, out of date secrets but confidential none-the-less, to criminals who were willing to pay for that sort of information. Blueprints of old carriers, inventories, any weak spots that SHIELD might have.

The guy was clearly an idiot. He was hiding out in Peru, thinking that would keep him safe. As if the renowned SHIELD wouldn’t be able to track him down easier than finding a fly in a web. At least he was in the lowlands, rather than up high. Making the climb up to Macchu Pichu was on your bucketlist, but not like this.

“Obviously, the more alive the guy is the better,” You said, reading about how he was wanted dead or alive. You didn’t like to hurt people unless it was necessary. “Though how he’s still alive is beyond me. Keeping companies with war criminals is a dangerous business.”

“They’re just using him until he has nothing more to give. Then they’ll kill him. Hardly seems worth saving.”

“Everyone deserves a second chance, Maria,” You said, avoiding looking at her. Instead, you kept your eyes on the tablet, opening up the map to see how far it was to your destination. She would know what you meant. She knew why you kept yourself emotionally unavailable despite the strong feelings between the two of you. She knew why you wore the gloves at all times. Because as long as you were safe, you were worth the second chance that SHIELD had given you.

“Not everyone,” She stated. She pressed her foot down on the gas pedal and the Jeep roared in response, speeding you to your destination. You bit down on your lip, seeing the yellow in your gloves glow all the brighter.

-

With searing red hands, the gloves having burnt off by now, you pushed Maria out of the path of the falling ceiling. You were beyond the thought of hurting her, just making sure that she didn’t get killed was enough for you right now. It was getting harder to breathe, even to you, so it must have been nearly impossible for her.

A lot of people talk about the way that fire feels, how the warmth surrounds and it suffocates. They never talk about the way that it smells. It wasn’t pleasant, like a campfire, though a lot of wood was burning around them right now. The Cabana paradise that the traitor had fled to had a lot of wooden insides, but brick walls with insulation inside, for hurricanes were popular in this region. The smell of burnt plastic, of hair burning on exposed skin, it was heavy, and overbearing.

Maria coughed as she got back up from where you had pushed her, but didn’t hesitate for a moment to ask what you were doing. She knew you. She knew that you loved her, and that you would do nothing to harm her on purpose. As the ceiling fell down behind her, you managed to burn it into ash, causing it to look like a black snow that landed on your shoulders. Your hands were pure white, like the hottest flames, for that was what was coming out of them. You could destroy the whole building if you had wanted to, but that was not your intention coming into this house.

When you arrived a half hour earlier, you played dumb. Just two girls who were out and about on a beach vacation. The guy, seeing right through it, invited you in nonetheless. He couldn’t help but take his chances to brag about getting away with everything, about how he knew that you were coming for him, about how he was going to make you regret coming here.

You exchanged looks with Maria. Men and their bragging monologues. You were anticipating this, counting on it in fact. You played scared as he tied you down to a chair, though you could easily burn through the ropes. Maria did the same, but stated that she was going to report him to Nick Fury, and oh boy, would he be in trouble then. The perp laughed right in her face. “Oh, you won’t be talking to Fury ever again,” He gloated.

The plan was to wait until he made a further move. Let him implicate himself even further. The speaker inside of your hoodie was recording everything. It would be played at his trial and he’d get sentenced to life in a dirty prison.

But then something happened that got rid of the plan entirely. A knock on the door. Neither you, nor Maria, were expecting any sort of backup since this was meant to be an easy but important job. You looked at one another again, not with annoyance, but with confusion.

“I’ll be right back, don’t you move,” The perp said, then laughed as if he thought that it was funny. He turned his back on you, which was never a good idea. And considering that you were off of the beaten path, it was a bad idea for him to get the door since it seemed unlikely to be a pizza deliveryman.

You thought of something infuriating. You thought about how you were never going to be able to touch, or to kiss Maria, in the way that you wanted, all because of these stupid powers. And that caused enough heat for you to be able to burn through the ropes, and get to your feet in the stealthiest way that SHIELD had taught you. You hid behind the wall, peering out towards the front door where the perp stood, unlocking it, then opening it.  

He was greeted with a bullet to the head.

It was an unexpected sound, and made you jump, which of course, triggered your powers. You began to feel your hand growing warm, and your glove was nearly burned off by the time the body hit the floor. You held your hand out to shoot fire at the gunman, but hit the wooden door instead, which started to burn. “Shit!” You swore, looking back to see Maria escape from her own constraints and get to her feet, pulling her gun out. “Come on, let’s find a back way out, we might be able to catch him still.”

Maria nodded, then turned to go through the kitchen to see if there was a back way. She then returned then shook her head. You really fucked this one up, since the flames were spreading towards the cheap curtains. Everything would be going up in smoke within a few minutes. Given the wooden and polyester furniture, you would guess you had maybe ten minutes.

You went over to the body, ignoring the heat of the door. You could handle it without getting burned. It was all a part of your ‘gift’, or mutation as you called it. The shot was perfect, right through the forehead. The victim didn’t even have the chance to be surprised. He died with a smile on his face. You took a picture with your phone, which sent it right to SHIELD, then called in a potential SOS. It meant that someone would be keeping an eye on your situation, and send in help if necessary. It was starting to seem necessary.

Maria was kicking at one of the windows in the living room, but it was screwed shut, and the glass wasn’t cracking. “So they spend the money on bulletproof glass, but nothing else?” She complained, pushing her hair out of her face once more. If it wasn’t such a dangerous situation, it would be hot. But pay attention to the task. The door was a pillar of fire, going up to the ceiling. It was starting to spread up there, with it warping. Smoke was coming out in plumes. If you didn’t do something soon, you were going to die in here. You sent out the SOS.

Maria came to your side, and crouched down where the air wasn’t as smoke filled, and you joined her. It was then that you looked up and heard the cracking of the ceiling. That was when you used your bare hands to push Maria out of the way. She sprawled on the ground, looked at you in surprise, then got up, slowly.

“Thanks,” She said, then started to cough as the smoke affected her. “We’re going to have to try to go through the doorway, there’s no other way.”

You nodded, knowing that she was right, as scary as it was. And you knew that there was only going to be one way that you were both going to get out of here alive. So you started to do it without thinking or worrying about how Maria was going to react.

Bare hands were the only option that you had. You grabbed onto her wrist, pulled her against your chest, and made yourself as big as you possibly could be by spreading out your arms. By doing this, and pushing her forward with your body, you went through the flaming doorway and out into the fresh air, taking all of the damage from the fire around you. It burnt through your clothes, and affected your skin, though you couldn’t feel it much. You still had the potential of infections though, and it was a huge risk.

You rolled onto the ground after getting out, doing the old ‘stop, drop, and roll’ technique that you learned in elementary school. Maria was beside you, slapping out some of the leftover flames. Now that - that, you could feel.

Something flew over head, spilling gallons of water over the fire that you had started. The fire that put you and more importantly, Maria in danger. You sat up after being sure that you were no longer on fire, with tears in your eyes. You fucked this up completely. The killer was who-knows-where and you had no clues. You hadn’t even been able to see a face. If you had aimed properly, if you had gone for your gun instead of a fireball, you might have caught him. You pulled your knees up against your chest and rested your head on them in a fetal position, trying not to fully cry out of frustration.

“It’s okay,” Maria said in a voice that she very rarely used. One of comfort. One of compassion. You looked at her out of the corner of your eye and saw that she was holding a hand over her arm. Right where you had pushed her to get her out of the way of the falling ceiling.

“Did I hurt you?” You asked, feeling the guilt shower over you once more. You wouldn’t be able to live with yourself if you marked her like this.

“It’s nothing. I’m more worried about you,” She said, circling around you to take in the extent of the damage. “It’s not so bad. You won’t need skin grafts.”

“Thank Thor for that, I don’t want to go through that again,” You mumbled. “I showed you mine, now show me yours.”

Maria stared at you, hard enough for you to feel like she was cutting through you like a damn boulder. She clearly didn’t want to move her hand away, but she did slowly. You could see the imprint of your hand seared against her skin. “Oh shit. Oh fuck, Maria, I’m so sorry-”

“Don’t apologize,” She said, sharply. “You saved my life in there. This is just a scar that proves your love to me.”

Your breath caught in your throat. You knew that she knew about your feelings, and that you would do anything to save  her, hence why Fury often put you on missions together. “It sounds abusive when you put it that way.”

“It’s not.” Maria said. The heavy noise of a rotating propeller took over the calm landscape, as a helicopter hovered nearby, touching down to send out the medics and other officers. You didn’t have a chance to talk to Maria alone, since you were both rushed in and had to sit down to let the doctors take a look at your burns. You couldn’t stop watching her as she revealed the burn not only on her upper arm where you had pushed her, but on her wrist where you had grabbed her. Two perfect hand-shaped burns, on her forever.

She didn’t avoid looking at you. As soon as you were both cleared for flight to be taken back to SHIELD headquarters for further assessment, she sat beside you, strapped in tight to the seat. “Do not feel guilty,” She ordered.

“That’s not something you can just command someone to do,” You retorted back, hiding your hands in the pocket of your sweater. Somehow, it had retained enough fabric to stay on, though most of the back was destroyed. It was a shame, this was a nice sweater, bought for you by the much-loved Coulson.

“Well, I’m commanding it anyway. As your superior officer, I am ordering you to not feel guilty, because by doing this small amount of damage, you saved me. There was no other way. I will be putting that in my report.”

Professional as always. You rolled your eyes, then leaned back against the seat. You were heavily bandaged by the medics so as not to bother the burns until they could be looked at in a more sterile environment. “Now do you understand why we can’t be together?” You asked, just loud enough for Maria to hear.

“No,” She said, staring straight ahead. “I can handle a few burns, y/l/n. Can you?”

It was enough to make you think on the ride back to base. You couldn’t handle the thought of hurting her, you were barely coping with the reality of it all. But Maria remained as cool and as calm as ever.

You were having second thoughts about denying her now; perhaps her strength was beginning to rub off on you.

[karihighman]

Unexpected

yet another Upstead one-shot, as requested by @cpdhalstudfan​ 😋 so here goes nothing. prompt is below (from IG i believe):

“What the hell is your problem?!” Jay screamed after dusting himself off in the alleyway.

He and Hailey had been doing an undercover buy, when their main suspect came barreling through the small alley in a giant 4x4, right at Jay. 

Thankfully, Hailey knew the corner street from the alley, and literally threw herself at Jay to knock him down onto it. She knew it was a risk, as she was tiny in stature compared to her partner who stood at 6′ even, but she wasn’t about to let him have another near-death experience. 

“My problem? Are you kidding me? Jay, you were thisclose to becoming roadkill because of that maniac! You were lucky I pushed you out of the way!” She yelled back her response as she fixed her jacket, which thankfully cushioned her fall to the concrete. Well, that, and Jay’s rock-hard body. But Hailey couldn’t think about that right now. 

No, because right now the face that attached to said body was blazing anger, and it was all directed at her. His usually soft green eyes were darker, rage-filled even. The overcast clouds above them only served to intensify the effect. 

“I had it handled, Hailey. I didn’t need saving.” 

“Well, someone had to do something, since you obviously don’t give two shits about your own wellbeing–” 

He cut her off. “Me?! You can’t be serious right now, Hailey. You could’ve gotten yourself killed!” He’d taken a step forward, gesturing towards her when he said the second “you.” 

“–But I didn’t! And I just saved your life again, I might add. So, I believe the next words out of your mouth should be thank you.” 

It was her turn to take a step forward, as she mimicked his previous gesture on the second “your” that passed her lips. She swore she felt a raindrop hit her cheek, but she was distracted by Jay’s face. 

He had one of those looks in his eyes, the ones that held more meaning than his callous words would to her. It was the same look he gave her almost two years ago now, after his dad died and Voight made her take his keys and two-way radio. 

He was so incredibly pissed at her, and honestly, she didn’t blame him for it. Well, not until he uttered those words: the ones that cut her so deep that he may as well have pushed her like he looked like he intended to do. That would’ve hurt less than what he said next: 

No, you’re just projecting whatever daddy-daughter crap got you so screwed up. 

He scoffed, which brought her out of her own thoughts. She narrowed her eyes at him, waiting for him to say thank you, or better yet, apologize. He ran a hand through his hair, almost like he was contemplating what he was going to say. Hailey hoped it was the words she requested. 

“Sure, okay. Thank you, Hailey Upton...” She bit her lip to keep the corners from turning up into a smile when she realized he wasn’t done.

“...for being the most infuriating person in my life right now!” 

“What the hell, Jay? Huh? You have the audacity to be mad at me. Mad at me for doing what a partner is supposed to do. God, you know what? If anyone deserves to be mad, it’s me at you!” 

“Why? Why can’t you just let it go!” He asked. 

“Because you’re the one that’s being difficult. I don’t know if it’s like an ego thing, or if you’re just on edge, but whatever it is, you need to quit taking it out on me.” 

She had taken a few more steps towards him, even though she felt like it was pointless as their height difference gave him the advantage. It always did, but for whatever reason, they were standing closer than usual. 

Even so, she stared him down, trying to prove her point. She knew she was right, she was only waiting for him to realize that. Too bad he was just as stubborn – if not, more so – as she was, so he could play the stare game too. 

She was standing in such close proximity to him that she could hear his sharp breaths, and that his eyes were fiery, not muted and nice like normal. She felt like she could hear her own heartbeat in her ears, the pulses drowning out all the white noise. Or maybe that was the rain, as it had definitely begun to pour.

Normally, she’d be just fine with focusing solely on Jay, but not right now. Not in this moment. Because in this moment, she was tempted to do one of two things: smack him silly, or kiss him. Neither of which she figured would go over well. 

At least, she didn’t think. 

“I don’t have to do anything! If anyone needs to stop doing something, it’s you that needs to stop the overprotective partner shtick.” 

He raised his voice at her, but she didn’t back down. She wanted, no, needed to finish this fight with him. She was desperate for him to see her side of things because the only other time he came at her with the trust and security thing was with the Booth case. And that was about her; this was about him. 

“Well excuse me for caring about you, Jay!” 

“Why, Hailey? Why the hell do you care so much?!” He was undoubtedly yelling, so, adding fuel to the fire, albeit, unthinking, she yelled back. 

“Because I love you!” 

She didn’t gasp, or make any sound for that matter. She could only watch the teeniest tiniest changes happen on his facial features; the ones she could only see from this close up. 

Like how his pupils dilated, or how his lips parted ever so slightly, the same way they did all those weeks ago in the hospital. Well look at us now, she thought to herself. 

She saw his mouth open the slightest bit more, like he maybe, just maybe, was going to say something back. She was certain he uttered a sound, like an “I” or an “Uh”, but apparently she was too focused on her mouth moving faster than her brain to come up with a response to de-escalate things. Or make them more awkward, whichever. She didn’t have anything to lose anymore. 

“Yeah, I’m in love with you, you asshat. Don’t ask me why now because right now you’re obviously making me mad–” 

His lips were on hers before she could finish her sentence. She could still feel how soft they were even if they were drenched in rainwater (the idiot never wore his hood on his coat). She was in the midst of kissing him back when her foot slipped on the slick pavement, and she faltered a little. 

In all his pent-up aggression, he’d pushed her against the brick wall of the alleyway, where of course, it was slippery. Another thing she could get mad at him for. Later, Hailey, much much later...

They broke apart, laughing lightly at the predicament, but also looking at each other in awe of what actually occurred. They kissed. In the rain. 

“I, um,” she couldn’t quite put her words together anymore. She was dizzy with him. 

“I, um, love you too, Hailey.” He said, his lips curving into his famous half smirk. The one that made her want to roll her eyes, but instead she had a better idea. 

She kissed him again. 

Aaaaaand didn’t hesitate to playfully blame him for them getting colds later in the week. Damn rain. It was worth it though. So very worth it. 

[leviathanswingman]

Touch Up; Solomon/Asmodeus

TW: eating disorders, body image issues

Asmodeus was lounging on the couch, lost in thought in the middle of flipping through a fashion magazine as he felt the most peculiar feeling. It was uncanny, an unbearable tickling filling him from head to toe, prickling almost to a painful degree.

Almost immediately, he knew he had been hit by a magic spell. Although judging from the way he was feeling right now, he could safely say that the culprit hadn't been Solomon. He had been spelled by him a couple of times already, and could safely say that Solomon's magic felt entirely different after all, more intoxicating and not this clumsy. The spell Asmodeus had just been hit by gave him the impression of a toddler taking its first shaky steps.

He sighed deeply as he put down the magazine, stopping dead in his tracks as his gaze fell upon his hands. Instead of seeing slender hands with perfectly manicured nails, he was now faced with slightly more pale, rougher hands, the purple nail polish that was decorating his nails chipping away roughly.

„What in the,“ Asmo mumbled as he rushed towards his full body mirror. What he then saw choked the air out of his lungs.

The only thing that had remained closest to its original form was his face. His body however, had been badly compromised.

Asmodeus studied himself with wide eyes. Going off the clothes he was now wearing, there was no mistaking it. Whoever had hexed him had put him in Leviathan's body, switched out like someone had ripped off the head of a mattel doll and sloppily glued it onto a no brand barbie's body.

„This can't be,“ he muttered in terror. A certain kind of anxiety took a hold of him, heavy and dark, weighing him down so much more intensely than his own occasional bouts of panic would do. His heart was beating up to his chest as shaking fingers travelled over that body that wasn't his, taking note of dry hands, gangly limbs and ripped abs.

Not that Leviathan had a bad body, he was surprisingly ripped for a hikkikomori, and after all, Asmodeus had no problem finding beauty in any kind of body, no matter the shape or form. However, even though he knew how hypocritical it sounded, Asmo couldn't apply those principles to his own self.

As the demon of lust, he was known across Devildom as the most perfect demon to walk the grounds. So to maintain this title, he was stuck in a circle of strict training regimens, daily weigh-ins and caloric restriction to keep up this unattainable perfection. Asmodeus stuck to the perfect calculations of a weight slightly below average, followed by immense guilt and shame whenever it surpassed a certain point. After all, he knew everyone desired him the most when he looked tiny and dainty.

For the majority of his life he had believed otherwise, had clung to the assumption that he would be loved, no matter what, but after a certain incident, his mind had been reset.

The imagine in the mirror looked disturbed to him. Sharp collarbones and slender hands with small wrists, a slightly protruding ribcage and soft yet firm muscles were nowhere to be seen. Asmodeus could practically feel his self worth going down the drain. Everything he had worked for so passionately and desperately was gone. How could people love him when he wasn't the poster child of perfection?

With shuddering breaths, he touched his face, his imagination already painting pictures of decaying skin and rotting teeth.

He stayed like that for a minute, just staring at that version of himself in the mirror, so common yet so painful.

Then, he suddenly heard noise coming from the common room. He took a deep breath, picked himself up and headed towards the door. Considering the fact that he himself had changed so drastically, it was quite logical to assume that he wasn't the only person this had happened to. In the least, Leviathan had to be compromised as well, judging by the fact that Asmo was currently residing in his body.

Before he could even reach the common room he already heard his brother's voices overlapping in a chaotic chorus.

As he entered the room, the first thing he saw was Yuuta trying to calm down his brothers. They all looked incredibly messy.

Mammon was clad in Lucifer's clothing, his body looking more broad and less lanky, looking incredibly inappropriate. He was currently arguing with Satan, whose body had apparently been switched with Asmo's. Levi, sporting Satan's ugly lime green sweater was eyeing the books on the shelves with an uncharacteristic sort of interest.

Asmodeus turned his head, looking for the rest of his brothers. Beelzebub and Belphegor were sitting next to each other in comfortable silence, observing the room, their bodies switched out as well. They seemed to be dealing with this strange situation the best.

Yuuta was standing in the middle of the room as he cleared his throat nervously, looking properly ashamed. “Guys!” he brought out, his voice cracking slightly. “Ahem, guys,” he repeated himself, this time with a sturdier voice. “So I don't really know too much about what happened, but it's my fault, I'm so sorry! Solomon taught me a spell which was supposed to make you switch bodies with the person in front of you.” He worried his lip as his eyes darted from brother to brother. It didn't really work out the way it was supposed to, I'm really sorry.”

Satan sighed in slight annoyance. “It is what it is. Nothing much we can do about it now, so don't feel too bad. Speaking of feeling bad though, shouldn't he feel more guilty?” Satan pointed his finger in the direction of the accused. “Solomon, why did you go ahead and teach Yuuta something like that? Such a spell practically begs for trouble.”

Sitting on one of the couches, one leg crossed over the other, Solomon chuckled quietly. “Hmm, you could say I did it out of  childish curiosity. Anyway, I didn't expect it to turn out like this either. What an an interesting development.”

“I just want my own body back, FML!” Levi cried, looking decently uncomfortable. “Lucifer, fix this please!”

Lucifer, who had just entered the room, not perplexed in the slightest, looking completely out of place in Mammon's bad boy attire, crossed his arms and tilted his head to one side in exasperation. “Levi, I can't just snap my fingers and fix everything. Besides, I already attempted to reverse the spell. It did not work.”

“Huh?!”

“Even Lucifer can't fix it? Then it's that serious?!”

Leviathan pulled at the edges of that horrid lime green sweater which, in Asmo's humble opinion, deserved to be burnt to the prettiest pile of ashes. “Man, this dumb normie sweater is so itchy! I think I need to- Huh?!” Levi stopped in his tracks, pulling at the sweater once again. “ Stupid piece of crap! I can't take it off!”

Lucifer sighed once again. “At least that gives me some kind of reassurance that none of you will cause the bodies any harm.” For one reason or another, Lucifer's gaze was locked on Mammon as he mentioned this.

Asmodeus pulled on one of his sleeves testingly. The fabric really did not budge.

His heart was still racing to his chest and he could feel cold sweat running down the small of his back. In a state like his current one, he couldn't help feeling unclean, dirty.  All he wanted to do was lose himself in the routine of his facial care or the familiar warmth of a bath until he felt perfect and pure again. Then suddenly, realization hit him.

“Wait a sec,does that mean I won't be able to take a bath? There's no way I'm taking one with my clothes on. This hoodie is so heavy, I'd probably drown in it anyway,” Asmo ranted, throwing  himself onto the couch next to Solomon in a moody little fit. “How much more cruel can life get?”

As he sat down he shuffled uncomfortably. He was hyper aware of the feeling of his stomach when he was sitting down and it made him nauseous to the core. Subconsciously, his fingers wrapped around his wrist, measuring the width of it, checking whether his thumb and his pointer could touch.

Instead of sitting normally, Asmo changed his position and leaned against Solomon instead, his body sprawled partially over the couch and partially over Solomon's body.

Lucifer watched his little brother and cleared his throat with a raised eyebrow. At this point, Asmodeus was pretty sure Lucifer had caught on to the fact that there was something going on between Asmodeus and Solomon, but was kind enough to not ask about it. Even if he did ask about it, Asmodeus probably wouldn't know what to say. His relationship to Solomon was special and not easily definable.

“That leaves us no other choice.” Lucifer's eye twitched slightly. “Solomon, if you're not too busy putting your hands all over my little brother, would you mind telling us if there's a counter spell you could use?” he asked as he was tapping his foot on the ground impatiently .

Solomon smiled at Lucifer as he threw his arm around Asmo's shoulders and inched even closer, that challenging smile still on his face. “There is no counter spell, I've already tried everything I could.”

In response, Lucifer's finger's twitched in warning as a dark look crossed over his face. Although surprisingly, he kept quiet in face of Solomon's obvious teasing.

Sensing the weird atmosphere, Yuuta quickly cut in. “Isn't there any other way for them to get their normal bodies back?” he asked Solomon.

For a moment, Solomon simply sat there, thinking about the possibilities they had. ”A way to return everyone back to their normal selves...” he mused. “The best option would be to let those affected know that you care for them, no matter how much their bodies and personalities may have been temporarily altered. In this case, honesty is key. If you lie it won't undo the spell.”

Lucifer nodded his head in understanding. “So what you're saying is that we have to convey our true feelings? That sounds simple enough.”

Asmodeus perked up, his head shortly lifting off Solomon's shoulder. “Oooooh! It sounds like something straight out of a fairy tale,” he gushed half-heartedly. He had spent the last five minutes of their conversation slowly and inconspicuously slouching lower and lower until his head laid on Solomon's chest, listening to his heartbeat. It helped distract him from his own mind when he listened to the rhythmic thumping. To his brothers, it would just look like he was being clingy, which was nothing new for them. After all, in the same way that Asmodeus attracted attention, he was also suspiciously good at evading it.

Belphie rolled back his shoulders to ease any sore muscles, apparently not tired for once. “As long as it's not too much of a hassle. Let's all give it a try.”

For a moment, silence filled the room and the brothers eyed each other awkwardly. “Yeahhh, no. I don't think that's' gonna happen,” Mammon threw in and Beel nodded.

“I don't think we're capable of expressing stuff like that, I agree with Mammon.”

“I don't know if I can agree with you two,” Asmodeus threw in. “But I think someone in this room certainly cares enough about us to be fitting for the job.”

The room was filled with silence as most of their gazes shot to Yuuta. Solomon was busy checking his fingernails as the brothers sat there in momentary awkward silence.

“Why is everyone looking at me?!” Yuuta panicked. “Stop looking at me like-” he paused and then pointed at his chest, eyebrows lifted high. “Do you mean me??”

Asmodeus made finger guns towards him. “Bingo, it's you! It's safe to say that we're all counting on you to break the spell!”

They all started talking all over each other again until Lucifer announced that the first turn would be his. He lead Yuuta out of the room, his hand hovering inches apart from Yuuta's back, both of them looking quite uncomfortable.

“Damn, I would pay good money to see this,” Mammon drawled as he leaned against the door frame, looking after the two. “Lucifer better not try to do anything dirty to my dearest Yuuta!”

Picking up a book and putting it down almost immediately after, Satan chuckled. “There's no one more emotionally repressed than these two. I can ensure you that the only thing happening over there will be awkward small talk. Anyway, I don't feel like wasting my time waiting, so I'm heading out.” He waved with one hand as he left the room.

Slowly but surely, they all trickled out of the room, minding their own business.

In the end, Asmodeus and Solomon were the only people left. A heavy sigh left Asmo's lips as he snuggled against Solomon for a moment more, taking comfort in his warmth.

“Will you now tell me what's been bothering you?” Solomon eventually asked as he slowly let his fingers run through Asmodeus' hair.

The demon went stiff in his arms and suddenly sprung up. “You're imagining things!” he quickly brought out, turning his back to Solomon. “There really is nothing wrong with me, I just remembered I need to be somewhere, that's all!” he yapped on before turning around for a second, flashing Solomon a blinding, yet obviously put on smile. “I have never been better!”

“Asmod-” Solomon started, but Asmo had already bolted out of the room.

Although Asmodeus was dazzling in person and character, he was a terrible liar, had always been one and would always stay one.

Perhaps, Solomon had grown used to the demon after having spent so much time with him, had grown used to deciphering the hidden messages which were out in plain sight and had learned to figure out Asmodeus' true character, not the persona he put up so effortlessly.

After all, he could tell that Asmodeus was not coping well. He had been twitchy and on guard ever since the spell had gone backwards, a state that seemed rather unusual for him.

With all of their bodies and possibly also parts of their personalities swapped, Solomon knew he wouldn't find Asmodeus at one of his usual spots. He had to find him though. Solomon reached inside his pocket and pulled out his spell book. Of course, he could just summon Asmodeus through their pact, but something told him that that wouldn't be the correct approach at the moment. He flipped through the pages, looking for the tracking spell he knew had to be in there.

After having fled so cowardly, Asmodeus found himself taking refuge in Levi's room. He couldn't tell what had led him there, but he found himself feeling slightly less panicked over there, alone and encased by four stony walls, the room softly illuminated by the giant aquarium. Pulled over his head was the thickest blanket he could find, bringing him a childish sense of security. He tried not to think as he trembled under the weight of his thoughts.

If there was one thing he couldn't deal with, it was his emotions. Usually, he'd carefully repress them, wouldn't think about them on purpose and lose himself in the safety of a warm body worshipping him. Now, that safety had been taken from him, mixed in with Levi's feeble state of mind, forming a whirlwind of disaster.

Without thinking, Asmo grabbed a controller that was near him on the ground and switched on one of Levi's consoles, almost as if he'd been doing this for all his life. Mindlessly, he started playing a game which didn't require too much attention, thankful for the distraction.

After a while, he heard footsteps behind him and paused the game, pulling the blanket further over his head as he took his knees closer to his body. Maybe if he stayed like this the intruder would mistake him for a rock or a gigantic pillow and just leave him be. All of a sudden, he felt someone touch the blanket on his head, hand resting there before the person stepped around Asmo's body.

The first thing Asmo saw were boots, followed by legs clad in their school uniform. Then, the person kneeled down in front of him, hands grabbing either side of the blanket that had been framing Asmodeus' head.

“I think we both interpret 'there's nothing wrong' in different ways,” Solomon said as he stared at Asmodeus' face. “You look like there's plenty of things wrong, so don't fault me for being worried.” Carefully, he placed his hand on Asmo's cheek, only for Asmodeus to turn his head away from it.

“Stop it with the act,” he mumbled, letting go of the blanket and hugging himself tightly before dropping his hands quickly down onto his lap. “I'm disgusting, aren't I? It must take you so much effort to even look at me. I wish nobody could see me like this, I'm a nightmare!” he forced out, limbs trembling as he shook his head. “See?! How can I live looking like this! I am the Avatar of Lust, and look at me! I am not perfect, my skin is breaking out and my hands are dry! I am the definition of a disaster! How could people ever love me when I'm not the picture of perfection? I worked fucking hard to have the perfect weight, the most agreeable personality and the most alluring of presences. No one can lift the spell when I'm like this! Everyone-”

Solomon inched closer as he shushed Asmodeus, eyebrows drawn together. “No one will think of you any different. Your emotions are being negatively influenced right now since you are in Leviathan's body. If you would just-”

Terror was painted on Asmo's face. “If I would do what? What, if I would just calm down everything will be alright? Is that what you're trying to say?” A dry laugh escaped his lips as he tilted  his head backwards, staring at the ceiling. He took in a shuddering breath to calm himself. “Do you know what happened the last time I got sidetracked and let myself go a bit?” he asked, his lips trembling. “It was all over the tabloids. The whole thing was more of a scandal than that one  time someone had secretly taken a photo of Lucifer sneaking into Diavolo's chambers late at night. All the magazines were all over me, saying the same thing over and over. Asmodeus is losing his charm! The Avatar of Lust has gained weight! Asmodeus is looking more healthy and less thin these days?!” A tear rolled down his cheek and he wiped it away furiously. “ There's no pleasing them, no matter what I do I am not enough. So excuse me if I can't believe you when you say blatant lies like you're worried about me. I've learned and I now know better. People love me for my body and that's it. They see what I want them to see and whatever's left just doesn't matter in the end.”

Solomon gripped Asmodeus' face, forcing him to look him in the eyes. Asmodeus blinked back at him out of teary eyes.

“Look at me, Asmodeus. We are in a pact, aren't we?”

“Y-yes.”

“And you know me. Would I form a pact out of grossly superficial ulterior motives?” Solomon asked bluntly.

Slowly, Asmodeus shook his head. “You would never do that,” he muttered as Solomon started to stroke his cheek. Subconsciously, Asmo leaned in to the touch.

“You're right. After all, I formed a pact with you because you are powerful and dangerous. The way you look couldn't bother me any less. You are charming and you elude the most alluring of energies, that's why I find you so irresistible. What other people say does not matter, they don't know you like I do,” he said firmly. “They don't need you like I do.”

In the blink of an eye Asmodeus threw his arms around Solomon, burying his face in the crook of his neck. Wet tears started to stain Solomon's clothes, yet he remained in place, putting his arms around Asmodeus as a soft light started to surround them and the spell finally lifted itself.

“There, there,” Solomon mumbled as he softly let his fingers run through Asmo's hair. For several minutes the demon didn't move an inch. He simply took solace in the comfort of Solomon's body. Eventually, he lifted his head again and distanced himself a little.

Solomon took Asmo's hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it lightly. “All better now?”

Asmodeus simply stared at Solomon until his gaze wandered over to his hand. Now, he saw nothing but his perfectly manicured nails,chipped purple nails nowhere in sight. He had changed back.

“How-” he started, but then froze in place as realization hit him. His eyes widened. “Solomon...” he whispered as the man in question still held his hand softly. “Did you just-”

“Use magic? No.”

“Then why did I change back?” he asked reluctantly.

Solomon froze in place and shifted slightly uncomfortably.

He was one of the greatest sorcerers the world had ever seen, yet dealing with intimacy and most of all honesty was incredibly difficult for him. He generally preferred to be seen as a mysterious, unreadable man. For Asmodeus however, he had to make an exception and jump over his own shadow. “I figure the requirements to lift the spell have been... fulfilled,” he finally said and Asmodeus' face lit up reluctantly.

He already felt much better, taken the fact that he was back in his own body. His thoughts were still racing, his insecurities much too obvious, but the missing presence of Levi's anxiety helped alleviate his mood a whole lot.

For a moment, Asmo pondered over Solomon's words. The wheels in his head were turning until he finally came to a conclusion. “Oh!” he exclaimed softly, feeling uncharacteristically shy. Slowly,he reached out towards Solomon, grabbing the jacket of his school uniform. “Can I-” he nodded towards Solomon's chest.

Solomon simply nodded. “Go ahead.”

Quickly, Asmodeus took off Solomon's coat before starting to work on his shirt, hands that were still shaking undoing the buttons skilfully. Seconds later, Solomon was sitting there, chest exposed, countless of sigils littering his skin. On his chest,right over his heart was the one Asmo had been looking for; the sigil that had sealed the pact between them.

Carefully, he let one finger run along the dark lines as he felt a light buzzing running through his body. Looking at the sigil, at the sign that depicted the importance of their bond, filled Asmodeus with the gooey-est feeling of pride. A deep sigh escaped his lips as he lowered his head to plant a soft kiss on Solomon's chest, right over his heart where their sigil was. He planted a few more butterfly kisses all over until he pulled himself up, one hand on Solomon's shoulder, the other on the base of his neck.

“Thank you,” he mumbled as he closed in, brushing his lips against Solomon's in an innocent manner. Solomon smiled against his lips in relief.  

“My pleasure,” he simply said, knowing that when he was with him, he didn't need to explain himself for Asmodeus to understand. They didn't need big words or empty phrases. Their bond was strong and alive. As long as they could support each other without any limits, they would be fine, since from the moment they met, they'd been connected by the string of fate.

Asmodeus deepened the kiss, his hands roaming over Solomon's body lazily. Time around them seemed to slow down as they simply relished in each other's company. Solomon parted ways with Asmodeus' lips as he made his way down his neck, leaving soft kisses before he started to softly suck on the skin, taken over by a certain kind of possessiveness. Noticing what Solomon had in mind, Asmo simply tilted his head to the side, granting him better access.

After all, Solomon found himself to be quite possessive when it was about Asmodeus. He wanted to mark him all over so the world could see how loved he was and how appreciated he was, no matter what everyone else thought or said. Asmodeus was, after all, perfect in every way and deserved to be treated accordingly.

Just as Solomon brushed his tongue over a big hickey he'd just left, someone knocked on the door and they both jumped a bit in surprise. Seconds later, Yuuta entered the room. “Asmo?” he asked  before his eyes zoomed in onto Solomon and Asmodeus.

For a split second, they all just stared at each other without saying a word, Yuuta standing in the doorway, Asmo straddling a shirtless Solomon who had one arm wrapped tightly around Asmodeus' midsection and the other on his neck. None of them moved.

“I- I guess I'm not needed here!” Yuuta finally blurted out, slamming the door behind him as he rushed out of the room.

Solomon and Asmodeus stared at each other, perplexed for a moment before breaking out in laughter.

[linyi-is-dreaming]

The Drop Of A Tear - 09

BTS V x Y/N (Reader)

Summary: Tae meets a woman who is very manipulative. Before he even notices anything, she got him around her finger. He decides to leave his wife Y/N and his four kids to start a new life with the new woman. This perfect house of cards that he had just started to build, starts to unfold as she starts to show her true face. Piece by piece it makes him feel sick. Tae notices his wrong doing as his house of cards starts to fall apart. Regret and hate towards himself makes him wish to turn things around. Will he be able to safe his house of cards and to get back what he once threw away?

CHAPTER 09

“Okay, I think I got it all cleaned.”, Jungkook states satisfied as he wipes the last shelf in his apartment clean. “Note to myself, never let the apartment look like this again! Tomorrow I will start to make a plan for a cleaning schedule...” He stops to speak as soon as the doorbell interrupts his thoughts. Nervously, he checks the time on his phone. In the moment in which he hears the doorbell once again, he starts to walk towards the front door. “I’m coming! Just a second.” Just to be sure that the person he is waiting for is standing outside, he looks through the door viewer. The first thing his friend sees when Jungkook opens the door, is the stressed facial expression by him which is getting replaced rather quickly with a smirk.

“I already wondered if you got lost. Did you not say you would come by earlier?” 

“It is not so easy to get out of the house on time once you become a father.”  

“I can’t see your daughter. Did you forget her in the car?”  

“It does not mean, that my child is with me necessarily.”  

“So, you could not find the building?” The way Jin looks at Jungkook says it all. He would like to ask Jin why he seems to be so stressed but as he can see himself, it might be better to push any sign of sarcasm to the side.

“I might not have been here often, but I still remember how to get to your apartment.”

“I am just joking.”, Jungkook smiles as he opens his front door wider. As he looks at the floor, he notices the water that seems to come from Jin’s jacket. “Is it raining outside? You are soaking wet.”, Jungkook wonders as he looks up and down Jin’s clothes.

“No, it did not rain.”, Jin answers sarcastically. “I thought I’d jump in a lake before I come here.”

“Sorry.”, Jungkook laughs. “Come in. I will give you some clothes that you can borrow.”  

“Thanks.”, Jin says as he enters Jungkook’s apartment. “I hope you started to prepare your apartment to be kids ready.”

“Tsk. Do not worry! I got it all under control.”, he tells him as he walks into his living room. “I mean, take a look around.” Jin does not need to be told twice. Slowly, he checks the living room before he turns back Jungkook.

“Wow! You cleaned this place very well. It has been a while since I saw your apartment this clean.”, Jin says as he continues to check dinner room. “That must have taken you at least two hours...”

“My home has always been clean.”, Jungkook says defensively as he watches Jin walking into the kitchen. “Now, it is just a little more clean than usual.” Jin nods as he walks back to into the living area.

“Yeah, well… Usually it is single-man-apartment clean but not so extra clean.”

“I know I should feel hurt by your comment, but I am not feeling like that at all.”

“Good.”, Jin states as he hands him the bags that he had placed next to the couch. “Anyway, I brought the beds for the kids which you asked me for. You will really need them if they stay at your place as you said.”

“I already wondered what you have got in those bags...”

“It is really kind from you to let her stay. I just hope you know what you are getting yourself into.”, Jin warns calmly. He watches Jungkook’s facial expression very carefully. The fear that Jungkook may have not understand what he is about to get himself into, stays in the back of his mind lately. Jin knows that Jungkook is capable of taking care of them, but he also hopes that he is mentally prepared. He does not man only the feelings he has for Y/N, but what it means to be the man in the household. The words of his daughter is going through his mind as he watches Jungkook leaving the room.

“Namjoon got me kind of into it... He probably told you about it already.”, Jungkook says loudly as he gets the spare clothes for Jin from his bedroom. Irritated by Jungkook’s words, Jin looks at Jungkook as he places his hands in his wet jacket. “I confronted Namjoon about it, but he also says that it is better that she stays with her kids at my place. I do not mind having them around.”

“Namjoon? I am not talking about Namjoon, Jungkook. I am talking about a specific kid that I heard some news from.”, Jin clarifies as he takes the spare clothes from Jungkook. “Thanks.”

“One of Y/N’s kids? What kind of news?”

“Yes, one of hers. Why did you feel the need to ask who I am talking about?”

“How was I supposed to know who you were talking about?”

“Anyway, you noticed that her kids were on your mind first, right?”

“I really try to understand what you are trying to say, but I can’t understand what you are trying to tell me.”

“Well, let’s try it differently. Y/N’s princess called my daughter and told her how amazing it would be to have you under the same roof as when you were there for Y/N. She is totally in love with the idea and she keeps talking about it.”

“I am her favorite uncle, am I or am I not?”, he winks jokingly. Jin sighs deeply as he changes the clothes. “Something wrong?” Even though he might not say a word, Jungkook notices that it must be something serious. “Come on. Just say it.”

“Take a seat.” Jin suggests as he takes a deep breath. “Listen carefully. Listen and take it to heart, okay?” Jungkook nods as he sits down comfortably. “This little girl sees you more than an uncle. She is talking about you as she used to talk about Tae. You noticed that, right?”

“What are you talking about? Okay, maybe I am her favorite uncle but still-” Jungkook stops himself as he sees that Jin is shaking his head.

“I am trying to tell you that she told my daughter that if she could pick a new father or a new man in her mother’s life, it would be you.” Jungkook’s eyes move immediately into Jin’s direction as the words fell from his lips. “Jungkook, she sees you as a father, not as an uncle. Therefore, I am warning you, be careful with your actions.”  

“You must have misheard something...”, Jungkook tells him as he shakes his head.  

“No, I did not. I am hundred percent sure about this. Jungkook, you know how close her daughter is with my daughter. They tell each other everything and yesterday I knew that she moves in with you before you even called me.”

“But those are only words.”, Jungkook says as he starts to imagine to be a father figure for them. Of course, he would not mind being like a father to them but to be a father like an actual father figure? Even though he loves them with all of his heart, could he even be a good fit to replace a father? If he could, would he be able to be a father to them, he wonders. He sighs as he wipes his palms over his face. Jin watches how Jungkook is obviously struggling with himself. “I could never be their father. I am not father material, let’s face it.”

“You have been in Tae’s shoes since he started to treat her like shit. The kids are smart, they noticed it. They may have even heard more than you think.”  

“What about Tae though?”, he worries. “If Tae hears a slightest thing about it, you know what is going to happen. This mess right now, would only be the beginning.”  

“That is a worry for another day. Let’s keep it as our secret for now.”, Jin suggests as he sees the worries on Jungkook’s face. “It will only be a secret for a while and afterwards, it will not even matter.”  

“For how long? For how long shall we keep him in the dark?”  

“Definitely until after the divorce.” Jungkook’s eyes become bigger as Jin’s words go through his head. “You’re okay?”  

“After the divorce? You know that Tae still has not signed the final paper, right? The final paper has not been signed by anybody yet.”  

“I thought Tae signed the paper...I thought that only Y/N did not.”  

“Y/N did not sign the divorce paper written by his lawyer yet, as she needs approval from my lawyer that there is nothing negatively for her in the paper. The mentioned single-parent-custody that Tae’s lawyer mentioned, is nothing Y/N would put her name on.”, he explains slowly. “The lawyer I found, is already writing a new one. I should receive it soon. If I am lucky, it should arrive today.”  

“Your lawyer will find a great solution for her and her kids, I am sure. I will inform the others personally about keeping it down. Who knows about it already?”  

“Jimin and Namjoon.”  

“Nobody else?”  

“Not as I am aware of.” Jin takes out his phone to take some notes. “Okay, I guess I will be busy today.”  

“Me too. I have to pick them up and let them settle in. I hope the kids will be okay by sharing one room.”  

“Settle in?”  

“Is it not what you call it?”

“I will not answer that question... Will you need help? If you need help, I am sure that I can help.”

“No, we can get everything their need in two cars. The rest will be picked up later on.”

“Okay.”, Jin says as he nods. “Call me if you need anything else.”

“Thank you, Jin.”, Jungkook says as Jin packs his wet clothes into one of the empty bags.

“Just a little idea of mine, maybe you should ask Yoongi and Namjoon for help as well. You will be much faster if you would consider more helping hands.”

“I thought about Hoseok at first. But now then you mentioned only Yoongi and Namjoon...”

“Well, it cannot hurt to ask all three of them.”

“What if Tae is suddenly there?”

“Do you think he will drive to her house?”

“He has not shown up lately. It would be a surprise if he would not appear soon.”

“Namjoon is working on a song by the way.”

“What does his songwriting to do with this situation?”

“Maybe, you could tell Namjoon to be ready, just in case he shows up.”

“Uh, you mean that he calls him into the studio?”

“You finally got it!”, Jin praises as he pats Jungkook’s shoulder. “Okay, I got to go. Call me if you need two more hands.”

“Thanks!”, Jungkook says as he accompanies him out the door.

💧💧💧

“Everybody ready?”, Y/N asks as her kids place their last bag on the floor within the soon to be former living room. “Are you dressing up your brother again?”, Y/N asks as she watches how carefully her younger daughter picks out clothes for her baby brother. As her daughter looks up at her with this angelic smile, warmth is filling up her heart. The eye contact maybe lasted only five seconds, but Y/N notices that when her daughter looks away that her daughter's smile seems to drop off of her face immediately. Worriedly, she walks to her daughter to comfort her. “Something wrong, lovely?” Slowly, her daughter gets up with the little jacket of her brother in her hands as she gets up to stand in front her mother.

“Mom, can I ask you a question?” Her voice was so quiet, but still so tender. The insecurity is clear to hear within her voice. Not knowing what to expect, Y/N pulls her arm around her shoulder to pull her into an open hug.

“Of course, you can.” The question from her daughter does not come as fast as she expected. The long breath that leaves her daughter’s lips, makes her even more worried if something might have happened that she is unaware of. Questions are starting to fill her head. Did she miss something? Did she not notice anything that she should have had? Are the kids getting worried? As she sees her daughter opening her mouth, she tries her best to push all the worries and thought to the side. Too strong are the doubts that her daughter is doing alright with this situation. Y/N knows that she is the one child that misses her father the most. Since she had her first phone, she used to text her father poems, jokes or whatever was on her mind whenever she felt like it. This girl depends so much on her father that it hurts to see her fight with her older sister about their father. The atmosphere in the house is usually comfortable until one of her kids start to ask for the father. The change in the atmosphere is immediately to feel, which is why she is hoping that her child will not ask anything about their father.

“Why do we have to move again?” Instantly, she feels relaxed. Relaxed that she did not ask about Tae, but her question is not much easier. Moving for the third time within a year, how do you explain it to a kid? To a kid that is sensitive and still does not understand what happened between her mother and her father.  A girl who still waits for her daddy to come home for dinner. A girl who still does not want to believe her big sister that their parents are going to be living separated. Y/N thought a few times about an answer, in case one of her kids would ask her a question regarding moving out. As she looks at her kids’ faces, she can see that her son seems to be waiting for an answer as well. Her older daughter on the other hand keeps staring at her little brother just the way she did the day before with her stuffed animal. Y/N takes a long breath before she looks at her daughter’s face.

“See, the thing is that this has nothing to do with you. Once you are older, I will tell you all about it but until then, I will not be able to give you any answer.”, she explains. “I hope it is okay for you that we live with uncle Jungkook for a while though.” Disappointed by the answer, her daughter sits down once more in front of her baby brother. “Do you not want to go to uncle Jungkook’s home?”

“It is okay mom...”, her daughter mumbles as she picks another jacket for her brother. “Sis, I like this one more.”

“Are you ignoring me?”, Y/N wonders as she walks closer to her daughter. But before she is even able to speak with her again, her son interrupts her.

“Will you be locking yourself in a room again?”, her son asks sadly. Her eyes immediately find his as she hears the worries and sadness within his voice. “The last time you did that, I wanted to come into your room but uncle Jungkook meant you needed to sleep... Will it be like that again? I am scared that I will not see you outside your room again.” Disappointed in herself for her former behavior, she sighs as she sits down next to her daughters on the floor.

“I am so sorry for what happened a few months ago. I wish things would have not been this way... But no, it will not be the same again. I promise you that.”, she promises as she notices that her son seems not to believe her words. The doubts are clearly all over his face. Y/N watches her son getting up to walk towards her. “Are you finally deciding to sit with us on the floor?” Her son says nothing as he hugs her tight.  

“If you promise it will not be like that again, I am okay with it. I want everything to be alright again.”

“Thank you, my sweet boy. I am trying my best to get everything back to normal, but it is not so easy.” Just as Y/N puts her arms around the torso of her son, her phone starts to ring. “Wait a minute. Mommy has to check her phone.” Her son nods as he puts his arms off Y/N.  

“Do you think we should let him wear the blue jacket or the yellow one?”, her younger daughter asks her son. Y/N smiles to herself with a tear in her eyes before she looks away from her kids to pick up the phone. On the inside she hoped to read one name. One name only, but it turns out to be the name that she did not want to read.

“What could he want?”, she asks herself as she reads the caller’s name. Tae. She clears her throat quickly before she picks up. “Hello? You want to pick them up today? I know you want to see your kids, but today is a bad day. You are almost here?” She can feel how the sweat is starting to escape her body as she turns around to see the kids within all the moving boxes. “Tae, I am sorry but can we arrange something within the next few days...?” As Tae keeps asking the ‘why’-question, she takes a few steps away from her kids. “Why do I need to mention a reason? Tae, please. I will text you later or you text me later in case I forget and we will arrange something. I am not trying to keep the kids away from you! Listen, the kids talked about this new amusement park, maybe that would be nice. You could spend a day with them there. I am glad you like the idea. Uh huh. Bye.” As soon as she hangs up the phone, she leans against the table as she takes a few long breaths.

“Mom, are you okay?”, her oldest daughter asks. “Was it him? What did he want?”

“It was your dad, yes. He wants to see you four.”, Y/N explains slowly.  

“You mentioned the amusement park. Why do we have to go there with him? I wanted to go there with you.”

“Sweetheart, I needed to say something to keep him away from us today. You understand that dad should not know to where we move to, right?”

“Yes, I do. I just do not think it is fair that I have to spend time with him...”

“Please do not start to pout.”, Y/N says as she hugs her kid. “You are my smart girl, aren’t you?” Just as she kisses the top of her child’s head, the doorbell rings. Curious, if Tae is already here even though she asked him not to come, she looks towards the window next to the door. “I bet you already know who it is.”, she comments with a wink as she notices the faces. Before she can even tell her daughter to open the door, she can see the other kids running to the door.

“Uncle Jungkook! Uncle Hoseok!”, her son screams joyfully.  

“What a greeting! Hello everyone!”, Jungkook says as he waves at them.

“Hello!”, Hoseok greets as he steps inside. “I heard this household is moving, is that true?” Her son nods joyfully. Hoseok smiles as he gives the kids a group hug before he turns to Y/N. “Okay. So Y/N, here is the plan. You and the kids stay here and we will drive your stuff to Jungkook's apartment until we are done.”

“If you plan to transport our stuff like that, be careful! Tae called me. He meant he is near the house.”, Y/N warns.

“I planned that already too. I will call Namjoon asap though. He meant he has some lyrics which could fit his voice. I will be right back.”, Hoseok tells her as he pets the boy’s head.

“Are you alright?”, Jungkook wonders as he sees her pale face. “Have you even eaten anything today? Your face is so pale.”

“I did not find the time to eat yet.”, Y/N confesses. Jungkook nods as he takes out four chocolate bars.

“Here is one for you and who else wants a chocolate bar?”, Jungkook questions the kids as he hands a chocolate bar to Y/N.

“Thank you.”, she says as she watches her kids coming together to get their chocolate bar from Jungkook.

“Thank you, Jungkook.”, her oldest child says as she takes the last piece. “Those are my favorites!”

“How could I guess that you would love the strawberry-chocolate-bar, huh?”, he jokes as he takes the sweet soft cookies from his bag. “You did not think that I will forget about you, did you?” Jungkook’s voice sounds very childlike as he sits down in front of the toddler. “Does the champ want a cookie?”, Jungkook asks as he holds it in front of the kid. As he starts to kick his feet, Jungkook decides to give the cookie to the little boy. Y/N could not help herself but to stare at Jungkook’s interaction with her little one. Tae never paid that much attention to him in comparison with Jungkook. It hurts Y/N to know that Tae never bonded with him just like he did with the other kids. As she watches her kids eat, she takes a seat to take a bite from her chocolate bar.

“Dada!”, her little one says loudly.

“I told you, I am not Dada. I am Jungkook. Can you say that? Ju-ng-ko-ok. Jungkook.”

“Dada!” Just as Jungkook wanted to try again, Y/N places her hand on Jungkook’s forearm as she sits down next to him.

“I am so sorry, but I think he will need longer until he understands not to say this word to you no more.”, she apologizes. Jungkook’s eyes immediately fell on her hands. Without thinking twice, he takes her hand in his. “What are you doing?”, she stutters as she looks into his eyes. The sweat that starts to build on Jungkook’s back, makes him worried if he is starting to blush.  

“I wanted to give you the cookie bag, but I guess I forgot the bag...”, he lies as he removes his hands from her to give her the bag.

“Uncle Jungkook?”, her older son calls. “Do you want to play soccer with me as long as we have to wait?”

“Sure. But we should keep it down this time, okay?” Quickly, her son opens a box to take the black and white ball out.  

“I will win anyway!”, her son yells as he storms outside with the ball in his hand.

“Wait! I want to play too.”, her younger daughter yells as she runs behind him.

“Princess? Do you want to play with us too?”, Jungkook wonders as he sees her looking after the others.  

“No. I want to listen to music.” Jungkook nods before he runs to the other kids outside.

“Alright. Tae is handled, now we have to bring everything to the car... Where is Jungkook?”, Hoseok wonders as he sees only Y/N with two of her kids.

“He decided to play soccer.”

“Do not tell me that he leaves all the work to me again.”

“Don’t worry. I will take some boxes too. Sweetheart will enjoy her music whilst she keeps an eye on her baby brother, right?” The only answer Y/N gets is a thumbs up. “With which box do you want to start with?”

💧💧💧

It was for the first time in a while that her kids seem so tired from a car ride. It was not a long ride but the food from the drive thru seems to make them even more tired. With her toddler in her arms, she follows Jungkook to his apartment. She is very thankful that they do not even need to carry their suitcases at the moment as they already brought it to his place. “Welcome everybody into my home!”, Jungkook says proudly as he opens the door to his apartment. “I hope you will feel comfortable.”

“Uncle Jungkook, did your apartment get bigger?”, Y/N’s younger daughter asks. “I cannot remember that it was this big...”

“No, don’t worry. It did not become bigger.”

“Where will I sleep?”

“Come with me and I show you the bedrooms.”, Jungkook says as he takes her by the hand to lead them to the bedrooms. Curiously, the kids follow Jungkook into the first room. “As there is not so much space, you three will share this one room and your baby brother will stay in the room next to you.”

“Thank you for your effort, Jungkook.”, Y/N says as she checks out the children room. “It looks very nice.” As the three kids are discussing which bed should belong to who, Y/N walks into the toddler’s room. Jungkook smiles to himself confidently as he sees that the kids seem to like the room. Jungkook’s eyes follow Y/N until she disappeared into the other room. “Look, you even got a stuffed animal. Do you see what it is noted on the scarf? C-H-A-M-P. Do you know what it means? That means champ.”, she explains to him as she places a kiss on his cheek. “Let’s see if your siblings decided on their beds.”, she comments as she tickles him.

“I guess he likes it.”, Jungkook adds as he hears the giggle of the little boy. Surprised by his voice, she turns around to face him.

“I am sorry. I thought you were still in the other room.”

“I just explained them the rules of my apartment and now I am here.”, he smiles as the little one shows that he wants to be hold by Jungkook. “Do you want to come to me?”, Jungkook asks as he steps closer to him. “Your laughter is so adorable.”  

“Wait, I am going to put him on the ground.”, she says. As soon as his feet touch the ground, he makes his way to the stuffed animal.

“You want it? Here you go, my friend.”, Jungkook comments as he placed the toddler on its bed.

“You bought him another stuffed animal?”, she wonders as she discovers another one behind the penguin.

“I thought it might make it easier for him to sleep in this room alone.”  

“Look, you have a penguin in your bed. Yes, a penguin.”, she repeats as she puts the stuffed animal closer to her kid’s hands.  

“And over here we also have another stuffed animal. Do you know what that is? It is a bear.” The little boy grabs both stuffed animals as he gets off the bed to sit on the ground.

“Do you hear how loud he giggles? He likes it.”, Y/N says cheerfully.

“What a relieve. I thought he might not like them.” Y/N smiles as she notices how the eyes of her son seems to fall shut. “Is he about to fall sleep?” Without even asking, Jungkook takes the blanket to put it over the lying child.

“We should leave him alone to sleep.”, Y/N announces as she walks towards the door. “Good night my little bear.”, she says as she closes the door until only a gap remains. As they walk pass the other room, Y/N peeks into their room. “They are about to fall asleep too.”, she says as she can hear them talk quietly.

“You think he is going to sleep in his room alone right away?”

“Well, for now he will.”

“Do you want a tea or anything?”

“Not really, but thanks.”

“Sounds like a ‘yes’ to me though.”  

“What?”

“The way you said ‘not really’, it tells me that you are unsure if you should or not.”

“How did you know?”

“If anyone would pay attention to how you say things, then anybody would understand what you were really trying to say.”, he explains as he prepares the tea.

“Am I this easy to read?”  

“It takes some time to read into your words.” Y/N’s eyes look at the floor before she looks towards the bedrooms. “Hard to believe that they wanted to go straight to bed...”

“Yeah, that surprised me too.”, she admits as Jungkook places the cups of tea in front of her on the coffee table.

“I still do not know if you like the fruity or the herbal ones more...”

“Herbal tea. I only buy the fruit teas for the kids.”

“Well, then I will drink the children’s drink.”, Jungkook jokes as he takes the cup in his hand.

“You decorated those two rooms very well. Thank you for the effort.”

“Nothing to thank for.” Just as Jungkook takes a sip from his drink, Y/N’s youngest child starts to cry. “Somebody is awake.”

“I will be right back.”, she says as she gets up from the couch. Jungkook looks in her direction for a moment before he walks into his bedroom to get some documents for Y/N. He places them next to the tea cups on the coffee table. “My little bear is already asleep again.”, Y/N announces as she walks back into the living room with the toddler in her arms.

“Is he?”, Jungkook asks as he checks on him. “He is. That was quick.”

“The other kids are already asleep as well.”, she says as she points to the room in which the kids are sleeping in. “I guess a drive thru food is more than enough for them.”

“Well, sometimes food is all it takes to knock some kids out.” Y/N smiles as she looks up at Jungkook.

“Thank you for organizing the help. I am glad that Yoongi and Jin were also able to help us even though we did not tell them that we might need them.”

“Sure thing. Uhm, do you not want to lie him down?”

“I do not want to wake up the other kids.”

“They will not even realize that you are walking past their room.”

“I can hold him.”

“All night?”

“They are sleeping so peacefully.”

“Shall I put him in his bed whilst you make sure that there is not too much light shining into their room?” Y/N nods as she surrenders the little boy to him. “Come here my little champ.” Too distracted from the paper on the coffee table which says her name, she stops in her tracks to read a little from the first two pages. It did not take long until she knows what they are. The divorce papers which Jungkook’s lawyer seem to have prepared.

[anangelicday-mrwolf]

Wolfsbane : Noblesse Fanfic (post-ending)

(previous chapter)

Chapter 45 – Suspicion with Good Cause

“Miss Lunark, what was the codename of that agent you ran into? Was it Kespar?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

“Are you sure? Are you sure it was Kespar?”

“She specified it herself. And my ears are more loyal than you’d think.”

Lunark added a touch of playful sneer in her reply, but in turn Tao’s face was rendered much more serious than she had envisioned.

Making a slight regret that perhaps she sounded more aggressive than she had intended, Lunark lifted her gaze to find the largest monitor blinking with life.

Immediately she cocked her head, upon the sight of a woman she had never seen before.

Judging by the color tones of the screen and the faint noises, she presumed she was looking at a screenshot of footage from a security camera.

“Is this what she looked like?”

Lunark’s bouquet-like hair waved side to side.

The picture could have used some magnifying, but difference of appearances of the rat she met and the one in the screen was so very obvious. Even the blind would have noticed they were two different people.

“Eyes, facial line, hair color, hair length... I could go on forever to point out the discrepancies I see. Who is this?”

Tao squeezed his lips for a second upon her retort.

“...This is Kespar.”

Say what?!

Her exclamation silently echoed inside her voice box, having contracted regardless of her will.

“This is Kespar...?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure you’re not mistaken?”

“I’m positive. I give you my word I’m not the one with a misunderstanding here.”

“...Are you absolutely sure? I know what you can pull off with computers and all, but there’s possibly no way that you’d know every single agent ever registered in the Union.”

Her argument was legitimate; despite the fact that she was once the elder of the Union, during her history as one she had never once memorized names and faces of all agents.

And with the topmost personnel not setting a good example, things were nothing different for lesser agents and researchers.

Not to mention there was no need to stress out one’s brain to do the job, with computers readily available to provide A to Z for whoever they seek.

However, Lunark had overlooked one thing – she was talking to none other than Tao.

“Since my time at the Union, I have taken a liking to hacking. It’s both my specialty and hobby. I used to surf through and collect all sorts of data stored at Union whenever I could, to nobody’s knowledge.”

“...You mean you already knew about this agent?”

“Yep. It took me some time to remember ‘cause I first got to learn about her long time ago, but a conversation with you managed to refresh my memories. And based on what I know, the one you met is not Kespar.”

“...Any chance that you might have learned wrong in the first place?”

“There’s none. This screenshot is not the only file I have to show you what she looks like, and most importantly... Kespar died several years ago during a mission.”

By the end of Tao’s sentence, the invisible net that had been keeping Lunark’s heart barely safe from downfall at last snapped.

In an attempt to somehow retrieve her heart from plummeting towards the soles of her feet, Lunark posed one last question.

“You swear that... That Kespar is dead...?”

“As much as I’d sound like I’m joking, I can swear upon this mansion and everything under its roof. Kespar is dead.”

Nobody would ever swear upon Frankenstein’s possessions as a joke or a lie or an assumption.

Upon processing the fact into her brain, Lunark suddenly felt like the entire world began to shrink into the vortex centering on the bottoms of her feet.

Kespar is actually dead.

However, that orange-haired modified human dubbed herself as Kespar.

Just like the list of dossiers she received.

“But why...?”

Her lips mumbled on their own, momentarily cut off from her cognition.

Tao interpreted the situation as how he viewed it and began to spill the unasked.

“Probably because she had to hide herself – but not too much. Because Kespar is the best alias you could make use of if you want to conceal your true name but maintain your identity as a Union agent.”

<What do you mean by that?>

Tao asked, his curiosity nudging at his mouth.

“According to what I found out when we were still part of the Union, most people there had considered Kespar as a missing-in-action or a renegade, instead of a deceased. And I believe that hasn’t changed.”

<But how is that possible? Even when a random agent that nobody really needs goes dead in no man’s area in Antarctica, Union would have no problem finding out who-when-where-what-why-how and composing detailed record in less than a week.>

“That would have been the case for any other agent. Or should I say, any other time? In Kespar’s case, however, she died at a wrong time, in a way. Back then there was a political struggle of a sort within the Union, and they decided to make Kespar’s death handy. So Kespar’s real data – which happens to be in my collection – is the only record containing her death; any other data have her marked as missing. And they did a really good job of veiling her current status. If you even blink during your search, you’ll end up with the faux data.”

“And with Union’s system completely tattered as of now, nobody would be willing to correct her information. Does that mean it’s safe to suppose she will be remembered as missing-in-action or renegade?”

“Precisely.”

Tao nodded in agreement, with Lunark still frozen in silence.

She could not spare even the slightest of her attention to her surroundings, her mind caught up in review of anomalies that finally started to glint.

During her first encounter with the agent who called herself “Kespar,” she voluntarily flung the name at her, even demanding that she will keep it stuck in her head from now on.

Which is against the fundamental rule and value for any Union agent: anonymity is the greatest treasure.

Now there was more than enough reason for Lunark to suspect that she wanted her to believe she was Kespar.

To top it off, there was another reason why Lunark has come to recognize the orange-haired modified human as Kespar.

On the list submitted by 3rd Elder, the picture of the woman with orange hair and blue eyes was labeled as Kespar for codename.

And there was only one conclusion she could draw from such fact: 3rd Elder and the false Kespar deceived her, and the odds are terribly high that they are as a matter of fact in secret alliance.

“Why, you sly fox... You dare to play tricks on me?”

Just like that, the lab was hit with an unseeable blizzard, her tone throwing delusions at them as if they are stranded in the middle of Siberia during winter.

They kept their eyes fixed on the werewolf warrior, not moving an inch.

“I gave you a warning, and you know it...! You took all that hospitality that you did not even get close to deserving, and you decided you’ll stab Frankenstein in the back! You useless piece of unrecyclable garbage...!”

“W-what do you mean by that?”

Lunark gave them a brief explanation; now she could see no reason to hide it. She could see hiding would be no good at all.

She told them about help she requested from 3rd Elder to deduce who could be shutting down Crombel’s secret facilities, along with the list he produced for her.

She also told them how on that list she read the real Kespar’s dossier adorned with false Kespar’s picture.

The RK’s faces turned awfully beyond pale upon her confession.

“If this is true... There’s no telling what he could be plotting behind our backs as we speak.”

<And there’s no telling what he’ll do to Frankenstein in the future.>

“That does it. I’m going to see Frankenstein right now.”

And make sure I give that sneaky little bastard an unforgettable kiss with the Earth’s core.

Lunark was about to turn upon her heels as she gritted her teeth, before Tao yelled, “Wait! I know you’re in a hurry – and for a good reason – but could you please give me a moment? There’s something I’d like to give you.”

“Do you have to do it now? Can’t you see I’m busy?”

“It’s something that can help my boss. So please...”

“Spit it out. And be quick.”

Bewildered at how fast Lunark changed her stance, Tao grabbed the USB on his desk.

‘Sorry, boss.’

Tao knew that if Lunark is to walk up to 3rd Elder now, chances are more than high that there will be a physical skirmish.

And chances were horribly high that Frankenstein would be made part of the skirmish.

At the same time, Tao knew what Frankenstein is going through because of the Dark Spear.

Which is why in preparation of cases that require Frankenstein’s participation in a combat, he had been picking and sorting data that could prove helpful for him.

‘I know you made me promise not to tell anybody. But I’m afraid I can no longer keep your secret.’

Sighing with guilt tugging at his conscience, Tao began to unlock the USB.

The screen shimmered with several programs, and the lock was nearly removed when Tao lamented, “Oops, my bad. Wrong USB. Sorry about that. Seriously, my mind is not in its right sta...”

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep...!!!

Out of blue, red-toned noises spread throughout all monitors.

They noticed what this was about; it was similar – no, identical to the phenomenon they witnessed when their computers and communications were made useless on the day they first initiated the QuadraNet.

“No...!!”

Luckily, they had Tao, a master artisan like none other in computers, who experienced this before.

With him as the firefighter, the fire was put out in no time.

“What just happened? Why did we see reenactment of trouble from the QuadraNet incident?”

“...Miss Lunark, did you see how I was trying to remove the lock on the USB just now?”

“Of course I did, though I failed to recognize what exactly you were doing.”

“What about you, M-21? Did you identify the steps I was following?”

M-21 merely tilted his head upon his inquiry.

He would not have recognized it, if Tao did not tell them what he did just before was unlocking the USB.

The only thing Tao did ever since he implanted the USB was playing around with basic programs installed in every computer, in the following steps:

Opening and closing MS Paint for 3 times.

Entering what looks like a secret code on Notepad and saving the file.

Opening a new Notepad file and typing in the same code.

Opening Calculator and deleting the first Notepad file in the meantime.

Entering a certain calculation into Calculator before closing it, to go ahead and close the second Notepad file.

The moment his mind retraced the last step, M-21 felt something knocking on his head.

“Wait a minute...”

“That’s right. It’s the unlocking procedure for the secret USB.”

“Secret USB...? I don’t think this is my first time hearing it.”

“I bet it isn’t. A secret USB is the Union invention created for agents in the old days, when they were sent for infiltrations. If you plug them in like a regular USB, they will display files that seem no worthy of interest. But once you follow a special procedure, it will yield hidden files. And to unlock it, you must carry out the exact steps that make use of basic programs that are installed in every computer available in public.”

“Yeah, now I remember. The procedure is less than a yawn for modified humans proficient in device control like you, but it was deemed inefficient for cases of battle or emergency. Hence it was abandoned by Union long ago.”

“Quite. Which is why I chose it as a method to unlock my USB. At least the current Union agents wouldn’t even dream of such method to dissect my kits.”

The moment Tao’s speech was marked with a period, the lab was enveloped by a dreadful silence.

Because the USB Tao just used was not the one he had kept for Frankenstein, but the one that was laid right next to it, wrongfully chosen by the supreme computer technician due to his lack of coherence.

“...So this is the USB that Yuhyung gave?”

“...Yes.”

It turned out the mostly-new USB that belongs to Yuhyung is to be unlocked like a secret USB.

With new revelation came a new missing link for the occasions they could not dare point out or discuss.

And their question grew into suspicion with good cause.

Now that they have found what could serve as an evidence, they realized evasion is not an option anymore.

Even though some mysteries remain, they will soon be deciphered, once they capture and investigate the human who is to return home.

“I believe I can leave him to you guys. Isn’t that right?”

“You can count on us. You go ahead and give Frankenstein a claw he needs.”

(next chapter)

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen - it’s not Adne but Yuhyung who is the traitor! Very soon his past progress as a traitor will be revealed, via the hints I inserted in the previous chapters. By the way, the secret USB and its unlock procedure are my creation, unrelated to the original webtoon, so I hope there won’t be any confusion regarding this. And we’re slowly moving on to the highlight of this fic. Even though this is a Noblesse fic, I’m aware that there were battles on rare occasions. Which will be made up by the highlight that is approaching. It’s always a challenge to compose battle scenes, but I’ll do my best with this! :)

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #329

“i keep it all inside because i know that man is everything but kind”

What is the best thing about your life right now? Uhhhhh... I guess from a realistic standpoint, my partial hospitalization program. I'm learning very important coping skills and have some social interaction almost every day. How was your second serious relationship different from your first? Did you approach relationships differently with some experience under your belt? My first serious relationship was made deeper than what was safe because I was 100% obsessed with him; meanwhile, with Sara, I feel I loved her in a wiser way and with a sense of self still present. I was definitely more hesitant to "let" myself fall in love again, though, and was very insecure at the start. Whose death affected you the most? My dog's, Teddy. What was the best time you’ve had with a complete stranger? I don't exactly make a habit of hanging out with complete strangers... Who has seen you at your absolute worst? How did your relationship change afterwards? Mom, Jason, Girt, and Colleen, probably. Girt showed up at the ER after my overdose (I was a dramatic fuck and wrote a suicide note on Facebook so I didn't just... go without telling some people things I definitely wanted to), and that's when my crush on him really kicked into gear again. He was and is just always there for me through everything. For Jason, I am quiiiiiiiite sure seeing me have an absolute catatonic breakdown the night of the breakup just pushed him away more. I probably looked crazy. Colleen also showed up at the ER after my suicide attempt, and it brought us closer. Then there's Mom, who's, you know, my mom, and my darkest times have always grown our incredible bond, too, because she would never fail to be there for me. What’s your favorite planet? Saturn is dope. What’s your favorite pasta dish? Just spaghetti with tomato sauce and meatballs. What color do you really want to dye your hair? My top three are pastel pink, light/creamsicle orange, and silver, but there are more. What’s your favorite eye color? Sapphire blue or emerald green. What’s the weirdest place you’ve ever broken into? Um, I don't break into places. What’s something really cute that one of your friends does and is totally endearing? Sara gets super squeaky, bouncy, and just in general wordlessly excited at reptile shows. Going with her to one is one of my favorite memories, mostly just by watching her. Tell us a story of something that happened to you after 3AM when you were with friends. Have I ever been (awake) with friends past 3AM...? Idk. Do you have a favorite coffee shop? Describe it! Not a coffee gal. Who was the last person you gazed at the stars with? Sara. (: When was the last time you remember feeling completely serene and at peace with everything? Now THERE'S a fuckin question. I don't have the slightest idea. What was your biggest fear as a kid? Is it the same today? Thunderstorms; definitely not. Have you ever been to a Pride festival? No, but I'd love to. How open are you with your parents? I don't tell everything to my dad (though I know I could), but I'm an open book with Mom. Is there anything you’re more open about on the internet (such as on LiveJournal) than you would be in “real life”? I guess my sexual history. I'm just in general pretty open online. What is the most petty thing you’ve ever done? Oh, I'm CERTAIN it involves Jason after the breakup, but I don't know the "most"... What is the longest you’d be willing to wait to have sex in a new relationship? I myself don't want to until we're clearly serious and long-term by that point, and I know for a fact they're in love with me like I am them. I don't care how long they want to wait, though. I said in a previous survey that sex just... isn't that important to me. It's not my most cherished form of intimacy. Who has had the most positive effect on your life? My mama. Are there any relatives that you are not on speaking terms with? What happened? Most of the family doesn't talk to my aunt's literally psychotic, manipulative fuck of an ex-husband. I don't feel like it's my business to share exactly what happened, but yeah, fuck him with a chainsaw. :^) Who was the last person to ask you to hang out? Did you agree to hang out with them? It was more like an open invitation to all of her friends, but I guess you could say Summer. I did. I honestly wanna hang out again. Have you ever had to take a stool or urine test? Why did you have to do this? Urine ones, yes: to 1.) test for UTIs and 2.) ensure I wasn't pregnant before surgery. Is there a food that you eat basically every day? What food is that? Not every day, no. Can you remember the first video game you ever played? What about your first video gaming system? I don't. It was probably something with few controls, like this Barbie horse riding game my sisters and I loved, or an Elmo game that we had on a demo disc. I think you had to follow a path on a pogo stick picking up letters? We had a PS1 when I was born, so that was my first. The last video game you played - did you play alone or with someone else? By "video," I'm going to assume you're not including the computer, in which case I think it was The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon, which I was playing alone. It does have a two-player option though that I wanna do one day. The controls are definitely meant for two people. If there is a disc in your computer, what disc is it? There is no disc. Do you shut down your computer every time after you use it, or do you leave it on? I always leave it on... Do you know anyone who has ever been in a movie? Who and what movie were they in? What was their part? Hm, I don't believe so. Describe the last shirt you saw that you really liked. Where did you see it? It was definitely some sort of graphic tee on Facebook, I'm sure. It was something with an opossum design and a short phrase. When was the last time you brought a pet to the vet? What was wrong with it? The most recent vet visit was when we got Roman neutered. Do you have any bug bites on you right now? If so, where? No. When you go fishing, do you make someone else get the fish off the hook? When I DID fish, yeah. Not because I was afraid to touch the fish, but because I was afraid of nicking myself with the inevitably dirty hook. Did you go to daycare when you were little? Only very briefly; my incredible separation anxiety from my mom made it extremely difficult. She very quickly chose our neighbors as my and my sisters' babysitters. I could handle that because I loved "Uncle Donny," the granddad of the family, and I could see my house from their front door. He was/is (idk if he's still alive) a wonderful man. Do you know what you’d have been named had you been born the opposite sex? No. Would you ever visit a nude beach? NOOOOOOOO THANK YOU. Who was the last person you dreamt about? I don't remember. Where is your favorite place to be kissed other than the usual place? Don't touch my neck if you don't have free time lmaooo. What is your favorite memory with one of your grandparents? I'm going to be completely honest: I have none that are exceptionally important to me. I only knew one grandmother most of my life, and we had a turbulent relationship. Would you date someone who has cheated in their previous relationships? Naaaaah son. What was the most drastic change you made to your appearance? Chopping 8+ inches of hair off. Is there anything you hope your significant other/future significant other never finds out about you? No. I don't want to keep secrets from them above all others. What are most of your Facebook posts about? If you're talking things I actually compose myself and not share, probably pictures of my pets, haha. Or small statements regarding political issues or mental health. What’s your favorite part of the song that you’re listening to? The beat. Who was the last person you got into a small argument with? Probably my mom, idk. How warm do you like your showers/baths to be? Pretty hot. In the past year, have you lost weight or gained weight? How much? Gained... and I'd rather not share. What year was the last car you rode in/drove? I have zero clue, but it's old. What’s your worst/funniest experience with one of your neighbors? The neighbors at my childhood home had two wonderful rottweilers, but one day they got loose and killed at least one of our kittens. It died in my hands. Mom was fucking livid and sobbing. Besides this occasion though, we got along with them. How much alone time is too much for you before you start going crazy and want to be around people? It depends on the day, really, and how entertained I am in my alone time. Generally, one day of total isolation (from people, anyway) is enough for me to want my mom's company at least or to be texting Sara. The last time you burned your tongue or mouth, what were you eating? A pizza roll burned my tongue just a tad. Honestly, are you shallow? Not at all. Besides clothes, shoes, and accessories, what’s your favorite thing to shop for? S N A K E S ! ! ! I could LIVE on the Morph Market website and "window shop." I love planning out the next morph I'm most interested in adopting. If you have/had any facial piercings, what side are they on? Any reason you chose that side? If you don’t have any, if you had to get a facial piercing what would it be and what side would it be on? I have a vertical labret on my lower lip that goes directly down the center of my face. I chose it because I love the symmetry. I've had my right nostril pierced twice, just because I preferred that side for whatever reason. What, would you say, is your sexiest/most provocative article of clothing? I don't own anything like that. I have zero interest in showing off my body. Do/did you have attendance problems in school? I was notoriously tardy for the first class of the day a lot because I was an absolute beast to drag out of bed all the way up to college. Does/did your parents ever go through your computer or cell phone? Mom did. What song reminds you the most of a particular day in your life? Why is that? "Where the Wild Wolves Have Gone" by Powerwolf is a strong one. I played it again and again the day Teddy was put down, even before we went to go euthanize him. It was my inspiration to one day spread his ashes at Yellowstone in wolf territory. As much as I'd love to keep his ashes forever, like, what happens after I die? And my sisters? Eventually, that container will lose meaning and probably be discarded, so I want to return him to nature. Do you have any close friends that were adopted? No close ones. Who, in your opinion, is the best thriller writer? Idk. Does your Mom eat meat? Yeah. Do you prefer thick or thin crusted pizza? THICK. Thin crust is an utter disappointment. Do you have any friends with the same name as you? No. Who has the prettiest middle name you know? Ha, I mention Alon a lot when it comes to beauty... I can't remember what it is, but I do know hers wins. Do you prefer it when it gets darker earlier? No. It makes me go to bed earlier. Can you touch​ your nose with your tongue?​​ No. Is there a particular sport you follow on a regular basis? No. Are there any shows that your friends seem to be obsessed with, but that you just don’t get? Oh, loads. How old was the last child that you spoke to? She's six. What’s a song that makes you feel happy? "Pretty Woman" by Van Halen, for one. How far in advance do you prefer to plan? It depends, but generally kinda far. Do you always smile for pictures? With other people, yes. Some selfies, no, but usually. What are you most excited about right now? my MOTHERFUCKIN tattoo appointment in MAY!!!!!!!!!!! Do you prefer the aisle, middle, or window seat on a plane? Window seat, zero doubts. Where would you like to volunteer? I wanna help at an animal rehab. What was the last thing you ate? A strawberry and grain granola bar thing. How do you find new music? Usually YouTube recommendations. What’s your favorite city? I don't have one. What makes your bedroom special to you and what is your favorite part about it? It's a total nests of my various interests. My favorite part is my meerkat collection. Have you ever had a crush on someone “too young” for you? No. Do you shave your legs more than once a week? God no. I haven't shaved my legs since October lmao. Would you get married if you could right now? Definitely not right now. I don't have a job or my own place. What is your favorite type of jewelry (i.e. bracelets, necklaces, etc.)? Chokers. Do you regret losing your virginity to who you lost it to? No. I was wholeheartedly in love with him. What was the shittiest hotel you’ve ever stayed at and why? I've never stayed in a bad one, to my recollection. Have you ever gone on a boat and been sick the whole time? No. Have you ever kept something from the wild as a pet? A turtle for a little while, yes. Don't do that. Ever win first place for something? Yeah, a few things. What was the last thing you fell off of? Idk. Do you have a favorite local band? Who are they? No. What’s the most confusing book you ever read? The style in which Johnny Got His Gun is written is very confusing, but you adapt to understand it. Jumping back and forth from the past to the present can give ya some metaphorical whiplash. Do you have a funny last name? Does anyone make fun of it? No. Has anyone ever called your personality dull? Do you agree with them? No. Have you ever personally witnessed a drug deal before? Possibly. Ever have an ultrasound performed on you? What was it for? Yes, for my liver. I can't remember what they were checking for, but I was fine. Have you ever been kicked out of somewhere? Colleen's house, yes. Have you seen all the Lord of the Rings movies? Nope; got no interest. Would you ever consider getting a piercing in your septum? Nah, not for me. Do you enjoy being outdoors? Only if it's cool out, in which case yeah. Do you enjoy watching fireworks on the 4th of July? Not anymore. I just think about the terrified animals (wild and pets alike) and traumatized veterans. Do you enjoy tanning? Not at all. Which of the seven deadly sins do you commit the most? Sloth. Did you have a Furby when you were younger? Yeah. Creepy fuckers. How long was your first relationship? I actually don't remember how long Aaron and I were together... other than it was just a few months. Who was the first person to break your heart? My dad, generally speaking. Romantically, Jason. What’s the biggest lie you’ve told someone? I don’t know. Has anyone ever drawn a picture of you? Yeah. What did the last key you used go to? The car's trunk. Is there anything, any event, you wish you could remember more clearly? I honestly do wish I remembered my "first time" because that's a pretty big deal to me. What’s your biggest priority right now? My mental health. If you’ve stayed overnight in a hospital, how did you entertain yourself? I've done that numerous times, and given there was nothing good on the TV ever, I just slept time away or read. Since every time I was suicidal, there were very, very few things you were allowed to have. Have you ever rubbed anyone’s feet? EW no. Are your hands unsteady? Yes; I have what's called an essential tremor in both. Are your legs long or short? They're proportional to my body. Is there a bookshelf in your room? No. Do you own a robe? What color is it? No. Who’s the last person you smoked weed with? I've never done it. Ever had a person who was obsessed with you so much that it scared you? No. Has anyone ever mistaken you for someone else? Yeah, my sisters in the past. Is there anything you need to talk about with someone? No. Who was the last person who cried around you? My mom. Who’s the last guy to give you roses? Tyler. What band was on the last band t-shirt you wore? Korn. What piercing do you like most on the opposite sex? Maybe snakebites. Do you stick your tongue out often in pictures? Nah. I only ever really did once or twice when I had snake eyes. Honestly, have you ever purchased something, worn it, and then returned it? Possibly? If you could have your own house anywhere in the world, where would it be? In the mountains in a nicely wooded area with a waterfall close by. It'd be nice to have a small stream or pond too to sit or swim in. If you could create a holiday - what would it be? I wish the legalization of gay marriage in America was a legitimate holiday. Are you shy about singing in front of people? OHHHHH YES. Do you own a robe? Do you sleep with a sleep mask? No.

[ranma-rewatch]

Episode 12: A Woman's Love is War! The Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge!

AAAAAhhhhh! After 10,000 years, I’m free! Time to watch more Ranma 1/2! We’re getting ready for the middle part of what I guess you could call the Kodachi introduction arc, and like I intimated last time, she’s not exactly my favorite character. That said, I am interested to see how this can play out over the course of two episodes, so next paragraph I’ll have watched the episode.

Uh, so, I don’t think an episode has surprised me by being this much better than I was expecting so far in this rewatch. Like I said before, low expectations, but I really enjoyed this one. The episode starts with Akane and Ranma heading to school on the day before the marital arts match, only for Kodachi to show up and attack Akane.

This has nothing to do with the match, though. She literally just came by to see Ranma, who she has fallen completely in love with, but decided to attack Akane on-sight because why not. After Akane literally throws her at Ranma, he is suddenly confronted by our old friend Tatewaki Kuno, who is surprised to hear of Kodachi’s affection for this rapscallion. After a few seconds of thought, he makes it clear Ranma has his permission to date her, but when Ranma snaps about now being asked about this, Kodachi gets sad, feeling like maybe Ranma hates her.

Trying to avoid her wrath, Ranma runs and hides behind Akane, pointing out that he is her fiance, which would put a hamper on dating. When Akane confirms this, new stakes are given to their upcoming fight: if Kodachi wins, she gets Ranma. Kuno is totally down with that, since with Ranma out of the way, he sees himself easily winning Akane’s (and Ranma’s) affection.

It’s as Kodachi runs off, laughing, that Kuno finally reveals why he jumped into this conversation in the first place: Kodachi is his little sister. He’s aware that she has quite a few terrible qualities, and so warns Akane that she is likely to cheat quite a bit before and during their fight. As he walks away, Ranma and Akane reel from this family revelation, and Ranma notes that he can actually see the resemblance now.

From there, we cut to Akane practicing that night in the dojo with Ranma. She’s clearly gotten a lot better, though makes it clear the new stakes have nothing to do with why she wants to win so badly. Just as Akane notes that she hasn’t had Ryoga’s assistance in training for the last few days, or seen P-chan, the piglet runs into the room, carrying evidence that he’d been in Hiroshima and Kyoto. (Fun fact: my best friend went to Hiroshima while she was studying abroad there!)

There’s some banter over Ryoga’s reappearance, but then Akane trips on a tool, injuring her ankle in the process. It’s bad enough that Kasumi makes clear there’s no way she can play in the match, which means they need a substitute to avoid giving up. They consider that they’d need to find someone with great marital arts skills, who is really acrobatic, and looks like a girl. All eyes go to Ranma just as Ryoga enters the room, having once again used Soun Tendo’s hot bath to change back to human, and throws cold water on Ranma.

He offers to train Ranma through the night, though it’s clear quickly that Ranma’s general skills do transfer pretty well. The only big hurdle is that in Rhythmic Gymnastics Martial Arts, the fighters aren’t allowed to deal direct blows, only use their themed weapons to fight. Akane observes at first, but they both tell her to go and get some sleep, which she ends up agreeing to. Once she’s gone, Ryoga gets serious in fighting, and reveals why he’s really doing this: he wants Ranma to lose. If he does, Ranma has to date Kodachi, which leaves Akane open to date him. He’s not trying to spar with Ranma, he’s trying to injure him bad enough that he can’t fight.

Akane wakes up the next morning and quickly hears the fight is still going on, heading into the dojo to find they’re going at it, though they’re both clearly exhausted. Oh, and the dojo is wrecked. Ranma is delirious from lack of sleep, and almost falls for a thumb tack in the hand trap from Kodachi when they go to the match at her school. Meanwhile, Ryoga is amazed to find that he’s managed to get from Akane’s house to the school without getting lost, and chalks the miracle up to the power of love. There’s another trick from Kodachi in the dressing room, and Ryoga is hit by random cold water while trying to get to the gymnasium, leading to Kodachi kidnapping him for some scheme.

Soon, it’s time for the match to begin, and Kuno is watching in the stands, ready to root for his sister for what he admits is the first time ever. Kodachi descends from the ceiling in a wedding dress while having rockets fired at her new opponent, all very on-brand for her. Ranma is asked what his name is, and he just gives them his real name, to Akane’s confusion. The Kuno’s both just take this as Ranma somehow having the exact same name as, well, Ranma, and some of their classmates in the crowd notice that they do look alike, pondering on how they’re connected.

The fight goes to start, but Kodachi begins by dazing Ranma with a twirly ribbon and an onslaught of black roses, then uses that opening to attach a chain to Ranma’s wrist. On the other end of that chain is P-chan, which Kodachi thinks will ensure she ends the match. But we don’t get to see that yet, because that’s for next episode!

So, a lot of thoughts, actually. First things first, I feel like this is the first episode of the series so far that’s really gone whole-hog into what a lot of people think of as the series’ main premise. For this whole set-up, Kodachi loves uncursed Ranma but hates Akane and cursed Ranma, Kuno loves cursed Ranma and Akane but hates uncursed Ranma, and Ryoga loves Akane and hates Ranma whether he’s cursed or not. This creates a network of alliances that all work against Ranma and Akane’s wishes. He doesn’t want to date Kodachi and Akane wants to get a victory for her school after Kodachi unfairly beat up the actual gymnastics team.

It all feels very farcical, in a good way. Throughout this rewatch, there have been times when the humor doesn’t really land for me, usually because it just gets too silly for me, if that makes any sense. But this worked perfectly, it was all very character driven while also being deeply ridiculous. Things like Kuno having the sense of mind to see that his sister is a weird one while not being cognizant of his own strangeness kind of brought it to earth in a way, and it was all just a good time.

I also quite enjoyed a lot of the animation, the changes to character designs, and the general dynamics on display. There was something weirdly smooth to how Ryoga entered Akane’s room and put his arm around Ranma’s shoulder that just felt cool to watch. The facial expressions in that scene, and throughout, were also in top form. The way he goes from clearly coming in with an ulterior motive, to revealing what he’s really up to, it all felt a little more devious than we get from Ryoga, but in a good way.

I’m not usually a big fan of leotards, but, uh, Ranma and Akane can both really rock them. (I’d also love to see uncursed Ranma in one, I’m sure his butt would look just as good.) Akane showed up to the match dressed like a ringside coach, and it just radiates powerful butch lesbian energy. The referee to the match is also dressed in a pretty masculine way, and similarly gives off wonderful vibes. Just a really aesthetically pleasing episode for me.

The pacing was also really tight. A lot of stuff got packed into the episode’s runtime, and I’d love to compare it to this section of the manga to see if that’s because it’s a particularly dense storyline or because they made the decision to just stuff the episode with as much manga as they could. We’ll get to my rating after the Character Spotlight, but this is just a treat of an episode, and one I have to say again that I wasn’t anticipating in the slightest. Major kudos to everyone who worked on this episode.

Okay, so, now let’s do a Spotlight on Kodachi. The big reason I held off on doing one last week is that her last name hadn’t been revealed, and her Kuno-ness is kind of a big part of who she is, I didn’t want to wait for the next time I decided to give her a Spotlight to cover that part of her.

Alright, so, as usual, let’s start with voice actors. In English, she actually had three different VA’s over the course of the series run. I’ve actually decided that, going forward, with cases like these I’m just going to focus on who the current voice actors are, and talk about the new ones when they appear. Her first actress in my native tongue is Teryl Rothery, who is actually more well known for her live-action work. She appears to play a main character in Stargate SG-1, which I have never seen, and has filled the role of Jean Loring in Arrow. (Which I have seen, but never noticed that Ray Palmer’s ex-wife was in the show in the seasons I saw of it.) In Japanese, she’s portrayed by Saeko Shimazu, who has actually played a role in every Rumiko Takahasi anime adaptation from that era, so that’s neat.

They definitely play the character a little differently. Shimazu is genuinely fantastic at playing Kodachi as the well known anime archetype of the Ojou. The way she does Kodachi’s laugh might be the best Ojou laugh I’ve ever heard, and she’s generally good playing the character oddly seriously. Like, if you didn’t know Kodachi was a dangerously violent person, her voice acting would just make you think she’s a soft spoken, very feminine girl. It fits her whole aesthetic really well, honestly. Rothery went in a very different direction. I feel like it’s hard to think of Kodachi as anything other than a villain in her voice, she’s more clearly malevolent, like a Sailor Moon villainess. Her version of the laugh is a lot more unhinged sounding, for lack of a more appropriate word.

That kind of leads into one thing I was kind of surprised to notice. It feels as though the Dub and Sub versions of this character differ quite a bit. In the English Dub, they frequently use words like ‘crazy’, ‘unstable’, and ‘mad’ to describe Kodachi, and in a way it kind of dominates her characterization. I’ll talk more about that in a minute, but I’ll say for now I had to sigh at those bits. But imagine my surprise to see the Sub instead talk about her being ill-mannered, stubborn, tenacious. As far as I can recall, they didn’t use any mental health-related words, instead just focusing on the idea that she will do anything to get what she wants.

This creates two fairly radically different versions of the character, at least for me. And I actually greatly prefer what I’m finding in the Sub. Kodachi there is played much more as a dark mirror to her brother. Ranma might say they’re the same, but they clearly aren’t. Kuno is a jerk, and doesn’t seem to take the objects of his affection’s input. But he also, at the very least, sees himself as honorable, a man of culture, and doesn’t seem like the type to cheat in a competition.

Kodachi has no such scruples. She is utterly ruthless, while also sadistically delighting in causing pain to other people. She is, in a way, defined by the fact that she is constantly trying to cheat, to get any victory she can, even while acting as though there’s nothing wrong with what she does, that’s she’s just a beautiful girl doing what she has to. The way they each fall in love with a different form of Ranma, while hating the other, is also a nice touch.

That was all a lot of nice stuff I said, but sadly it’s alls I gots for ya. Going back to the whole ‘crazy’ thing, that’s definitely the thing that, at least growing up, dominates her character. As far as I can recall, the fandom generally thinks of her as the ‘craziest’ of all the main cast, and that’s...not very good? I feel like, at least among some sectors of culture, we’re trying to be more aware of other people and trying to take in feedback, and ableism feels like one of the last big areas where a lot of people, even those who are otherwise far left, struggle to get past their prejudices. I’m including myself in there, I screw up all the time. But yeah, I think we need to kind of think a lot more about the ‘crazy’ tropes in media, especially the ones that associate with violence and evil characters. So far at least, I don’t really have a lot to dig into with Kodachi especially, but it’s something I’ll have in mind going forward.

The other area I feel like I have to rain on this Spotlight a little is just what Kodachi brings to the dynamic of the show. Which is mostly...not a lot. Of all the main characters who are a part of the primary love dodecahedron, she is the one who feels like could generally just not exist without impacting anything. She basically just does what Kuno does, but in the opposite direction. Ranma is going to end up with a lot of suitors, and someone else generally fills the role of ‘violent and amoral’ much better than Kodachi, plus she’ll be appearing pretty soon from where we are now. At least as of now, Kodachi is a character I find doesn’t hurt the show at all, but also doesn’t particularly make it better.

If it wasn’t clear from all the gushing before, I really liked this episode. But how much? Where does it fall among the ranks of all the episodes I’ve seen thus far? After some careful consideration, I think I’m actually going to put this at the number two spot. It really was that good, I have very little bad to say. The only reason it didn’t take the top spot is that I just love episode 7 too much. That makes the current standings:

Episode 7: Enter Ryoga, the Eternal ‘Lost Boy’

Episode 12: A Woman's Love is War! The Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge!

Episode 9: True Confessions! A Girl's Hair is Her Life!

Episode 2: School is No Place for Horsing Around

Episode 6: Akane's Lost Love... These Things Happen, You Know

Episode 8: School is a Battlefield! Ranma vs. Ryoga

Episode 11: Ranma Meets Love Head-On! Enter the Delinquent Juvenile Gymnast!

Episode 4: Ranma and...Ranma? If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another

Episode 5: Love Me to the Bone! The Compound Fracture of Akane's Heart

Episode 1: Here’s Ranma

Episode 3: A Sudden Storm of Love

Episode 10: P-P-P-Chan! He's Good For Nothin'

This has been a really fun one! Next time, we’ll be covering lucky episode number 13, “A Tear in a Girl-Delinquent's Eye? The End of the Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge!”, which will also be the ending to this little arc. I’m excited to join you then, and see if that episode fulfilled the promise in this episode’s set-up! See you all then!

[i-guess-im-a-fanfic-writer-now]

A better life (Chapter 8, Avengers x reader)

hello fellow humans, here’s chapter 8

chapter 9 shall be posted on the 29th of September 

please like/comment/reblog if you enjoy this,, also, tw: kinda panic attack but everything turns out fine, arm grabbing (like once but no harm is meant, and not by a parent), swearing

thank

After having lunch with Peter, you both headed to the floor where Tony and the others would be. You made sure your sweater was covering your arms, trying to avoid further incidents. You weren’t ready. You weren’t sure you ever would be.

When you walked into the kitchen, a black man you hadn’t seen before was sitting in a wheelchair, and you discovered that his name was James Rhodes, but Tony called him Rhodey. He looked pretty happy, but also very serious. Around Tony, he liked joking around, but usually kept to himself more. You said hi to him, he smiled and responded, and you had a nice conversation. Then you put the water on to boil, and offered him tea. He eagerly accepted.

Just then, Wanda walked in with a man by her side. He introduced himself to you as Pietro Maximoff. They were twins, you quickly realized. The two went on joking around, pushing each other around like siblings usually do, but all without bad intentions.

While you were observing them walk away, you heard the kettle boiling, and began making tea. Rhodey, sensing you’d be too nervous to do so, simultaneously told everyone in the room that the water was boiled in case they wanted tea. You sat close to him until you both finished your tea, wanting to be polite, and put away your mugs. He thanked you with a smile on his face, excused himself, and went over to Tony, who kept throwing seemingly concerned glances at you. You ignored it.

Suddenly, Peter sneezed really loudly, apologized, and then you all heard a booming voice coming from the vents say “Bless you”. You laughed quietly as Tony yelled at Clint to “get the fuck out of the vents!” You saw Natasha smile, leave the room, and minutes later, there were sounds of a struggle in the vents. A few more minutes passed by and she came back, dragging a kind of scared and laughing Clint behind her.

“I swear I didn’t do anything!”, he said, raising his arms in an “I’m innocent” way.

Tony and Natasha stared at him, both trying not to burst out laughing as Clint walked backwards to the coffee machine, immediately getting everything together to make a fresh pot. Loud conversations in the room quickly resumed, and Peter and you decided to go back to the archery room to practice more and just hang out.

When you got there, the door was locked. Peter turned to leave and go somewhere else, but you touched his arm and then took a small leather case out of your sweater pocket: your lock picking set. You had a few picks that you always had with you, just in case, you told yourself. And while you knew that picking the lock of any room in the Stark Tower would probably be a bad idea, you just couldn’t help yourself right now. You slid a tension wrench and a pick in the lock. In mere seconds, having practiced picking many different locks, you already had the door open. While putting away your case, you noticed Peter looked really surprised.

“Y/N, how did you -“

“Maybe eight hours of practice and a lot of frustration”, you said, smiling shyly.

He nodded after a brief pause and you entered the room, turning the lights on and closing the door behind you.

Right as you were picking up the bow and arrows you used, you heard the door slowly open. A chill crept up your spine and you hid behind the nearest pillar, Peter rapidly doing the same with the one closest to him. You heard quiet voices that you slowly realized were Tony, Clint, and Natasha. They walked slowly and quietly, but you could still hear them after spending years being silent enough to hear the lightest of footsteps, the slightest of breaths.

You realized they were probably alerted of the break-in and came around to investigate. Peter looked at you and signed a queen at you: “Should we say it’s us?” You answered him with an uneasy shrug.

Then, he spoke loudly, but sounded not too sure of himself. “Mister Stark? It’s us, Peter and Y/N.”

Tony sighed heavily and you heard him put away his weapons, Natasha and Clint doing the same. You and Peter came out from behind the pillars. You already felt a knot of anxiety forming in your throat, but you were overtaken by a deep sense of dread when you saw Tony’s facial expression. He looked really angry.

“What the fuck?!”

Peter started mumbling something you couldn’t quite make out, but then you stepped into the conversation.

“Please don’t be mad at him, mister Stark, it’s honestly my fault. I, uh, I was the one who picked the lock. He had no idea I was going to do that. It’s not his fault, and I’m to blame for this. I didn’t mean to scare you by doing this, I’m sorry, I won’t -“

“First of all, Y/N, mad is a bit of an understatement, second, I’m going to reinforce the security so people can’t pick the lock, and finally, you could’ve just asked for someone to open the room. It’s that fucking simple.” He grabbed your arm and you winced: he had grabbed the exact place where your bruise was. Maybe he saw it, maybe he didn’t, but he kept holding on in his anger. He then took Peter’s, leading you both out of the room. You were starting to get a bit dizzy from having your arm grabbed angrily, but you tried not to show it.

A few minutes later, you and Peter were sitting in an interrogation room: soundproof silver walls, a table, and a few chairs. On one of the walls was what you were sure was a two-way mirror: in your room, you saw your own reflection on it because your room was brightly lit, but on the other side, people saw through it, as their room was dark. The door to the room was locked from the outside, and Tony had confiscated your lock picks, and even though you knew you could pick it with a hairpin and a few other things you had, you weren’t going to do that.

You were walking around, restless and anxious, Peter watching you. He was fidgeting with his hands, sat in one of the chairs in the room. The room was beginning to seem too bright to you, and your breathing was getting shaky. You sat down onto the cold metal floor, your back against the wall, closing your eyes and trying to take slow deep breaths, inhaling through your nose for four seconds, holding it for two, and then exhaling through your mouth for seven seconds.

When you finally opened your eyes, Peter was sitting next to you, on the floor, trying to be a comforting presence. You sat there for maybe 10 more minutes, quietly talking about what could happen.

Suddenly, Tony entered the room. You quickly got up. Peter took a few seconds longer than you had. You were too scared to look Tony in the eye right now, and you just had trouble making eye contact in general, so you just stared at his general figure, switching it up every once in a while to not be too awkward.

“Alright, so we’ve decided that it’s fine. Just don’t do it again. Y/N, you’re still welcome here, but you have Natasha and Clint to thank for that. They’re the only other ones aware of this incident. Nat thinks you’re a good influence on Peter, and you two”, he nodded at you and Peter, “are friends. So I don’t want to be an asshole. Clint enjoys your company during his archery practice, and just in general. Alright. Go off now.”

“Thank you so much, mister Stark, I’m really sorry.” You looked down at the floor and began following Peter out of the room when Tony put his arm to prevent you from leaving. Caught off guard, you took a few steps back. You looked at Tony. His eyes seemed to have that sadness in them again.

“Kid, your hands are shaking”, he said softly. “And you know that’s a two-way mirror, right? I know a panic attack when I see one. That breathing exercise, I’ve used it too.”

You looked away and tried to speak, but the words weren’t forming, and you didn’t quite know what to say anyway. You quickly put your hands in your sweater pockets, staying so quiet you could hear Tony’s breathing.

“It’s okay. Also, Nat told me. About last night.” He looked at you, probably hoping to get something out of you. An explanation, a confirmation, anything.

Instead of saying anything, you felt a deep sense of shame. You couldn’t explain it, but even though you wanted to be helped, you didn’t want people to know, especially not Iron Man, who’s dealt with much worse than bad parenting. While you were a bit zoned out, he approached slowly. You didn’t back away, but leaned slightly backwards.

“Would a hug help right now? Even a bit?” He smiled warmly.

You hesitated, but ended up nodding. 

“Come here”, he said, coming closer and hugging you tightly, but gently, making sure you can get out of the hug if you need to. You relaxed your shoulders and awkwardly tried to hug him back. He didn’t feel like the kind of person to hurt someone or do something unexpected during a hug, not in this context, anyway. The hug felt warm and comfortable, and you weren’t afraid like you were when your relatives hugged you.

“Look, I don’t know what happened to you, or what’s going on with you, but whatever it is, you didn’t deserve it. Trust me.” He paused. “We’re all here for you if you need to talk. A lot of us get anxiety and panic attacks, and that’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with that. Also, Y/N, listen,I’m sorry. For grabbing your arm like that. I shouldn’t have done that. It won’t happen again.”

You stayed silent, closing your eyes for a brief moment.

“And you can stay here for as long as you need or want to. At the Tower, I mean. The room I gave you will be there whenever you need it. You can bring anything you want over there, as long as you don’t make a mess out of it.”

“Thank you, mister Stark. I really appreciate all of that.” You stopped hugging and he smiled at you.

“Anytime, kid. I’ve got your back. We all do. I have to go take care of some stuff right now, but I asked Clint to get Peter to the archery room, so you can go over there now, they’ll both be there. Clint might want to talk to you though”, he warned you.

You smiled back at him and made your way to the archery room after Tony left the interrogation room.

You opened the door and stepped inside.

[rollinsbabe]

Well, Since You Begged (Sami Zayn) - the reader suffers from an injury and her best friend Sami cares for her. Afterwards, Sami mentions feelings he has, leading up to some domineering Sami plowing her into next week

let me know what you think, y'all. also, i have tons of free time now, so i’m going to start taking requests. enjoy the read, hoes. it’s a long one, buckle up for the ride

WARNINGS: smut, language, spanking! 

“Get dressed. I’ll be over to your room in 10 minutes and then we’ll go get some food.” I reread the text from Sami one more time before finally pushing myself out of bed.

I went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror, groaning at my disheveled appearance. I didn’t sleep well last night and it showed quite obviously in my knotty hair and under eye bags. I combed through my hair vigorously with my fingers before giving up and throwing it into a messy bun. I peeled off my pajama shorts and walked into the bedroom to get some pants out of my suitcase.

When I was walking out of the bathroom, I rounded the corner too fast and the next thing I knew, the room was getting black and my body hit the floor hard and I was unconscious. 

***************

I heard a faint voice calling my name, but I wasn’t able to move or respond. A cool rush of water ran over my face and gave me the push I needed to wake up from whatever the hell had happened to me. I licked my lips and started getting the feeling back in my fingers. 

Whoever was sitting in my room with me grabbed my hand and pulled me into them, so I was leaned into a sitting position. 

“Deep breaths, take 5 of them,” a deep voice whispered into my ear. I could smell him now; I knew it was Sami and I obliged to his orders. After my deep breaths, I felt confident enough to open my eyes and was met with Sami’s worried eyes. I was still processing what happened so it took him asking what was wrong a few times before I could respond. 

“I-I don’t know,” I said. “I was coming out of the bathroom and I rounded the corner and everything just went black and the last thing I remember was hitting the floor.”

My whole body ached. I must have fell hard and fast onto the rough hotel room floor. I rubbed the back of my neck tenderly. That’s where it hurt the most, that much I was sure of. Even though I was knocked unconscious, I didn’t feel fuzzy or unnerved in that sense. My body just hurt.

“You probably tweaked your head funny. I told you that you needed to get that pinched nerve massaged out last night.” Sami glared at me, his facial features saying that he was right and I was wrong. “You idiot,” he added, just to prove my point. 

I looked behind him, focusing on anything but his disapproving gaze. I hated when my ego got too big for my own good and I didn’t listen to his advice. It made me feel as though I let him down and I hated letting Sami down. “I know,” I mumbled.

To my surprise, Sami let out a throaty chuckle. “If you weren’t so goddamn stubborn, girl.”

I smiled and shook my head softly. Glancing down at my hands in my lap, I suddenly became very aware of the fact that I never got the chance to put pants on. I blushed deeply, hoping that Sami, who was squatted over my body, was too distracted by my fainting to notice. 

Just in case he hadn’t, I chose to change the subject. “How did you get in here?” I asked, raising my eyebrows skeptically at my sweet ginger. 

He seemed to blush slightly before he answered me. “Well, I tried knocking on your door and calling your phone, but you didn’t answer either and I began to panic so I bribed the maid down the hall for her key so I could check on you.” He scratched at the back of his neck, bashful. 

I hit his arm playfully. “Sami Zayn! You dirty dog. Did you flirt with the maid for her key card?” I shot him a smirk and watched as the notorious animated man became insanely animated with a deep laugh. 

“In my defense,” he said in between breaths, “I did it for you.” We both continued to share an in-the-moment laugh when Sami brought his hand up to my face, pulling a loose hair behind my ear. His voice dropped in volume and his body language got serious. “I’d do anything for you.”

It took me a while to process what Sami said and the seriousness of it. Of course we’d said things like that, it’s what best friends do. It was always lighthearted and playful, unlike this time. My breath caught in my throat and Sami gave an uncomfortable fake cough before he stood up above me.

I laid back down on the floor so he was standing directly above my center, his feet on either side of my hips. I looked up at him from my position on the floor and I took the chance to bask in his beauty. He was in tapout pants and a grey hoodie and his hair looked unbrushed. I always thought he looked most handsome like this; he looked the most like himself. 

His glossy brown eyes stared down at me and a small smile played on his lips. I couldn’t help but smile when Sami smiled. His entire personality was contagious and I was definitely infected. Staring up at him from my place on the floor, I wanted nothing more than to kiss him right now.

Sami extended his hands to me and I reached out for them. He pulled me up in one swift move, but perhaps a little too quickly because our chests smashed into one another and our faces were just a few inches apart. I snaked my arms around him, a silent thank you. He returned the hug, but his hands landed a little lower than he anticipated and he flinched back when he grazed the bare skin of my ass.

I had forgot about my lack of pants, again, and the contact jolted me back to reality as well. We both took a few steps away from each other, Sami sheepishly looking everywhere but at me. I made no effort to cover up this time. After Sami’s comment, this seemed like my only chance to test the boundaries of our friendship without losing him. 

“You, uh…” Sami stuttered. “Um, you… I mean, I don’t know if you know this, but you, you don’t have any… um…” Sami’s gaze finally met mine for a few seconds and then his eyes trailed down my body and to my center, where he stared for longer than a friend would. 

I raised my t-shirt slightly, allowing more skin and underwear to be shown. I thought I heard Sami let out a small moan, but it was so low it might have been my imagination. I looked down at my lace white panties and thanked God for giving me the good sense to put these on after I got out of the shower last night.

“Yeah,” I laughed, playing with the hem of my shirt. “I kinda fainted at an unfortunate time.”

Sami took just the slightest step forward. “Not entirely unfortunate,” he whispered. He looked pained, like he wanted desperately to do something, but thought it was against his better judgment to do so. 

“Rami,” I murmured and then more clearly, “Just do it.”

He looked confused for a half of a second and then decided that my word of approval was the only thing that mattered. He took two bounding steps and grabbed either side of my face and kissed me hungrily. 

I brought my hands up and tugged on his hair and he let out a moan, walking me backwards so the back of my knees hit the bed and laid me down. His hands began to roam my body, starting at my thighs and teasing the waistband of my underwear before tugging my shirt over my head. He tossed his head back in pleasure when he took in my breasts, bare and ready to go.

“Strip,” I moaned in anticipation and he threw his sweater and joggers off faster than I’ve ever seen him move in my life. When we were both down to our underwear, he slapped my pussy and I cried out at the mixture of pain and pleasure that I felt.

“Fuck,” Sami growled as he ran a hand over his erection. “Scoot up further, now.” This was a different side than I’d ever seen of Sami and I was definitely turned on. I did as he asked and he leaned down and kissed me again, taking his time to bite down on my bottom lip.

He pulled away and slapped my pussy again, harder this time. I whimpered again, my hips bucking up to him. He stared down at me, lust in his eyes. “Do you like that baby girl? Do you like when I smack you?” I nodded my head yes, desperate. He smacked me again. “Say it.”

“I-I love it when you smack my pussy, Sami,” I breathed out breathlessly. 

He leaned down over me, attaching his mouth to my breasts. I arched my back, lessening the space between our bodies. My hands reached up to him, nails digging into the skin on his shoulder blades. His tongue swirled around my nipples and if he kept it up, I probably could’ve came right then and there. 

Soon his fingers were at the band my panties, teasing the area slowly. “Sami, please,” I moaned. He grabbed my face in one hand and forced me to make eye contact with him. 

“What do you want baby girl?” His voice was harsh and primal, which only added to the wetness pooling between my thighs. 

I brought a hand up, my fingers digging into his beard. “I want you to fuck me, Sami. I want you to fuck me so hard I feel it for weeks. Please, please please,” I begged.

“Oh, well, since you begged me.” He winked at me before pulling my underwear all the way off my legs and pulling off his own. My mouth watered and my chest tightened when his dick sprung up and slapped against his stomach. From the looks of it, Sami was packing some serious heat. 

He hooked his arms around my legs and pulled until my hips were hanging off the edge of the bed. He began to kiss up my thighs, the anticipation welling in my chest. I pushed my pussy towards his face and he slapped it again, causing me to squirm under his touch. 

“You don’t move unless I tell you to move. Do you understand?”

“Y-yes.”

“Good,” he said just before bringing his mouth down onto my clit. My right hand flung up into his hair, the other gripping violently at the sheets. He continued to lick and suck at my folds, pleasing me in every way possible. After a few minutes I felt my orgasm rise and I tugged even harder on his hair. 

“Oh my God, please Sami, I’m so close.” 

He moaned, sending deep vibrations into my clit, adding to my pleasure. He sucked harder and faster, inserting two fingers into me with ease. He pumped in and out of my pussy vigorously, focusing in on my little bundle of nerves.

“Come all over my face, baby girl,” He said against my skin. That’s all it took for me; my orgasm shook through my whole body, my walls tightening around his fingers. Sami kept kissing my clit, letting me ride out my high. 

When I was done, he pulled out his fingers and stuck them into his mouth, spending time to taste me on each one. The sight alone made me drip with desire all over again, so I dropped to my knees on the floor and grabbed Sami’s hard dick in my hand. He groaned and reached down to fist my hair. I flattened my tongue and dragged it across the underside of his dick, moving quickly and with a purpose. I began to suck the precum off the head of his dick, spending extra time there; slow, teasing. 

“Holy shit, baby,” he breathed out, closing his eyes. “You’re so good with that mouth of yours.”

I smirked before taking Sami completely into my mouth, the tip of his dick touching at the back of my throat. Sami began to use my hair to guide my head to his own speed. While he fucked my face, I reached up and grabbed his balls. 

Sami pulled out of my mouth immediately and I thought I did something wrong, but his face told me I was doing everything right. 

He pushed me back onto the bed and ordered me to get on all fours, which I did. He reached up and played with my nipples. I bucked my hips back into him, my begging and desperation quite obvious. He shoved my face into the bed and brought a hand down harshly onto my ass. The crack sounded through the whole room and I moaned into the comforter. 

“I said you only move when I tell you to, baby girl. You don’t know what you just brought down on yourself,” he said before thrusting his full length completely into me. I cried out and his thrusts got harder and faster. His hand occasionally came down on my ass and the pleasure was almost unbearable. 

“Oh fuck babe,” he moaned, leaning down to whisper into my ear. “I’m so close. Are you close?” 

Unable to speak, I nodded into the blanket. I could feel my orgasm getting close again. He pulled out and my body immediately ached for him. Much to my surprise and excitement, Sami sat up on the bed against the headboard and pulled me onto him, so that I was straddling his lap. 

“Ride me.”

I grabbed his cock in my hand and slowly eased him into me, taking it slow at first, allowing for the deeper penetration from position change to stretch me. I bounced and swerved on his dick and Sami grabbed my hips, helping me to move quicker. It didn’t take long before we were both throwing around curse words and each others names, our highs coming up quick. The thrusts grew messy on both parts and my breath was getting short.

“Fuck Sami,” I moaned into his neck, “I’m going to cum.”

He pulled the loose hairs around my face behind my ears and forced me to make eye contact with him. Looking at his face and seeing the love and lust there added to my arousal, being that one thing I need to push me over the edge. “Cum for me, baby girl,” he muttered.

I let myself go, my orgasm sending vibrations and pleasure throughout my body. “Sami!” I screamed and continued to grind my hips on his dick, my forehead pressed against his. He reached down and rubbed my clit, giving my orgasm another kick, my pussy clenching around him. 

“Oh fuck, babe,” he groaned, eyes focused on mine. “I’m going to cum.” And not a second later, I felt him release his load into me while he yelled my name.

I let him finish completely and then pulled him out of me, slumping against his chest. His arms wrapped me up and I had never felt more safe or electric in my life. He smoothed out my hair while I trailed my fingers along his skin, tracing the scar on his shoulder. We laid in the quiet for a long time, just enjoying the closeness. 

“Well…” Sami began. We both laughed and I pulled back to stare at him. “That was fun.”

I nodded, a big smile spreading across my face. “Yeah.” But then I took on a more serious tone. “Sami…I-I…” I stuttered, trying to find the appropriate words.

He placed both hands on either side of my face and pulled me in for a kiss. This one was much slower and sweeter than the ones I had just experienced. 

“I like you,” he whispered when he pulled away. “I like you kind of a lot. I’ve wanted to say something since I met you.” He closed his eyes and his skin flushed red. 

It was hard to believe that the Sami that dominated me during sex just minutes before was the same Sami sitting here now, blushing while admitting that he liked me. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him for another kiss… and then another and another. 

“Rami, Rami, Rami,” I chided. He beamed at me; I knew he loved when I used his real name. “I like you a lot too, you goob.” 

“Hey now, watch what you call me. You don’t know what names will turn me on yet.” He smirked at me and gave me a wink. 

“As long as you’re turned on, I don’t think I care when or where or what does it for you. That was quite the good surprise you gave me.”

It was true. No one had ever had me spent and turned on like that before. Sami flushed again and my heart swelled with adoration. 

“Yeah, yeah,” he brushed the compliment off. “Let’s clean up and get dressed so we can go get some food. If I wasn’t hungry before, I sure as shit am now.”

I agreed and we both got to our feet. My phone pinged and I walked over to the dresser to check it. Now it was my turn to blush bright red, embarrassed by the message I read. 

Finn - Hey, can you animals keep it down next time? We share a wall, you know. Glad you guys finally did something though, congrats to you and Sami ;)

[theforgottengn]

England’s Dreaming

Characters: Tango, Yankee, Bravo, Charlie, Whiskey, Theresa May, and Chris Grayling

Word Count: 2,185

Trigger Warning: Swearing. A lot of swearing. Lots of yelling too.

Summary: Instead of working on part two of Pain Without Love I decided to write some Tank stuff… Tango and Yankee are maintaining surveillance during a mission in England. They need to get a recording of PM Theresa May’s confession. And their ticket in is her right hand; Chris Grayling.

xxxxx

Tango sat at the small wooden table in the cheap, dirty, and sticky hotel room. His right leg was rapidly bouncing up and down underneath it with a restless impatience. He had everything set up perfectly, he triple checked the recorder just to make sure it worked, and kept a headphone in one ear. Tango did not leave his comm in his other ear but instead it lay on the table in between the equipment and his gun. His right hand was lying ready on the table, close enough to the gun for a quick grab, while his left was poised above the record button.

Problem was there was nothing to record.

“Bollocks,” he muttered angrily under his breath. This is what he hated most of all. This was the one thing he couldn’t stand above all else.

Waiting.

He could handle the loneliness that came with this part of the job. He wasn’t alone per se at the moment as Yankee was in the room too; sitting cross legged on the bed. But, then again, being stuck in a room with someone who doesn’t speak is pretty much the same as being alone.

What the bloody hell is taking Charlie so long?

He took the headphone out of his ear and angrily got up from the table. As he began to pace the aroma of stale cigarette smoke and week old urine rose from the carpet to meet his nostrils. It was disgusting but he barely registered it in his blind fury as he tapped out a rhythm on his thigh. It started off as nothing special but turned into an instantly recognizable punk staple.

The Sex Pistols’ Anarchy in the U.K.

“He was supposed to get the bleeding bugged phone to that tossing arsehole an hour ago!! What the fuck is he doing?” He yelled, as he paced the room, waving his hands about in meaningless gesticulation.

“Drinking a pint with the man? That’s fine. If he’s doing only that… Or is he getting bloody well pissed and becoming best mates with him? Maybe fucking around just for shites and giggles? I mean he knows that everything's depending that fucking mobile in his damned hands! Doesn’t he? He fucking has to, right? Right?!”

Yankee naturally looked up in response to Tango’s ranting. His expression wasn’t the slightest bit surprised. What is it now? mixed with a bit of a smirk, and maybe a twinge of annoyance; but definitely not a drop of surprise.

“Aaah!!!” Tango screamed in frustration as he stopped pacing and pulled his hair. He couldn’t handle this anymore. I’ll go mad if something doesn’t happen soon, he thought. Tango felt Yankee’s eyes on him and turned to face the man. “What!? … Oh,” he said with a shake of his head. “Don’t you dare give me that fucking look, Yank.”

Yankee's facial expression was undeniably What look?

Tango pointed an angry finger at the other man and muttered through clenched teeth: “You know bloody well what look you’re giving me.”

All Yankee did was smile innocently in response.

“Don’t fucking test me, mate,” Tango warned; voice dripping venom and hand twitching with fury. “I will punch you in your fucking goddamn perfect teeth.” Yankee smiled and stretched out his arms: the universal sign for come at me. Tango shook his head, trying to clear the anger out, and walked back to the table; back to his equipment.

He plopped down in the chair with a sigh.

Yankee’s job was pretty much done; all he had to do was get the rest of the boys the paperwork to place them where they were at the moment. It all worked perfectly but the reason Yank stayed behind was in case he needed to hack the traffic lights, or CCTV cameras, or something or other. That’s why he sat cross legged on the bed with his sleek, all black, laptop open in front on him.

Tango looked over his shoulder to see Yankee hunched over the laptop. He watching something with the type of intensity only a hacker could have and was rapidly typing away. Tango shrugged and turned back to his equipment. Putting one of the headphones in his ear Tango grit his teeth when there was absolutely nothing on the other end.

Not even static.

Tango’s job, on the other hand, was just beginning. He successfully bugged a decoy mobile that looked just like the one the target owned. Yank hacked the real mobile so the fake included everything that was on the real one. Contacts, pictures, apps; everything right down to the bleeding cheesy pop tune the wanker set as his ringtone. Yank got it all. Impressive.

He just had to wait for Charlie to get a little friendly with him and switch the phones. And then wait again for the guy to call the person they needed him to call. Or better yet have a real life meeting. Their target was Chris Grayling. And the person he needed to call was Theresa May; England’ s current Prime Minister. She was the second female PM after Thatcher but wouldn’t be for long if they played their cards right.

So much fucking waiting.

Picking up his ear comm off the table he tapped it, turning it on, and inserted it into his ear. “Tango!” immediately through the comm link came Bravo’s annoyed yell.

“Shout my ear off, why don’t you? What’s going on?”

“Charlie and Grayling are on the move. They just left the bar, The Goat, Whiskey saw them walk out.” Tango rubbed his hands together in excitement; “Now, we’re getting somewhere. Where they headed?”

“North on Kensington High Street. Do you guys have visual?”

“Charlie switch the phones, yet?”

“Do you have visual on them or not?”

He looked over at Yankee who had the biggest and proudest smile on his face that Tango had ever seen. Yank turned the laptop around so Tango could see the footage he was receiving from multiple CCTV and traffic cameras. Around ten or twelve different angles of Charlie and Grayling walking down Kensington High Street; visibly plastered.

“Yeah, we have visual. Quite a few of ‘em actually.”

From the footage it at least looked like Charlie was pissed out of his mind. His pace was slow, stumbling when he walked, laughing at nothing. Classic signs of a drunk man. But there was no telling with Charlie; he was far too good at his job. He could convincingly pretend to be anyone or anything. To top it off he pretty much has.

Tango grimaced as they watched multiple lovely shots of Grayling being sick all over the sidewalk.

Just what I fucking needed.

Grayling was a strong Conservative so he most likely did not drink. And how Charlie managed to get Grayling that plastered was beyond Tango’s comprehension. The man was a magician sometimes. A fucking wizard. He could get anybody to give him whatever he wanted. Or do whatever he wanted.

“Good.” Bravo’s voice flowed through the comms again; “Maintain that surveillance while Whisk and I…”

“Oh my god! Am I everybody’s fucking mum or something?!”

Yankee snickered loudly.

“Oi! Shut the fuck up, Yank, or I swear I will smack the shite out of you.” Yankee responded by throwing a pillow at Tango’s face but he expertly blocked it with a hand. The pillow silently hit the floor.

“Look here, I need to know, alright! Did. Charlie. Switch. The fucking phones or not?!”

Bravo sighed loudly and the staticky feedback that came through the comm link annoyed Tango. It reminded him of white noise and he hated white noise. “Tango, buddy, all I’m trying to say is you should be focusing on surveillance right now.”

Yankee nodded in agreement with a smug smile on his face; That's what I said.

Tango scoffed; “Oh! Look here, Yank, there’s the fuck I give about your opinion. Oh. Hang on, where’s it going? It’s flying away… aaaannnddd it’s gone. Well,” he said with a shrug, “that was my last fuck.” Then he gave Yankee the finger.

“Tango. Stop it,” Bravo warned.

Yankee shot him a look that could only mean: Stop being an asshat.

“Oh, am I being an arsehat? And you don't like it? Well, since I only aim to please... tell me, what kind of hat would you like me to be, Yank? A fucking trilby? Maybe a porkpie? Or how about a top hat?”

“I’m serious. Stop it!” Bravo yelled but Tango wasn’t listening at all. He was on a roll and he wasn’t going to stop until he accidentally said something he’d regret later.

Yankee shrugged and shook his head; Be whatever. I don’t care.

“That’s just bloody great, innit? Just great. Nothing but a shrug from you. Shrug and shaking your head. That’s it. Wonder what I was expecting from somebody who refuses to speak... You listening to me? I know you are cos you sure are bloody stupid but you’re not deaf. REFUSES TO SPEAK! We all know you can talk, Yank. SO FUCKING TALK YA WANKING MUTE!!”

The comm link went as dead as the hotel room. Yankee looked at Tango with a dead blank stare. Tango immediately regretted saying that. He couldn’t believe he let himself say it but, then again, he also completely believed it. He had said things that were far worse in the past.

Fucking dammit!! Good going you stupid bleeding arsehead!! You grade A cock up!

Tango wiped his hands down his face in shame and disbelief. “Sorry,” he muttered. “I didn’t mean it. I’m a fucking arse and I’m sorry.” The apology, though, he fully meant. Yankee sighed and nodded; accepting the apology. Then he apologized too, in his own way.

“You guys done yet?” Bravo asked in Tango’s ear. Tango shook his head and looked over at Yankee; “Yeah. Sorry. We argue like an old married couple sometimes.”

Yankee scratched the back of his neck and made a face: Awkward.

“Yeah, we know," replied an annoyed Whiskey. "Speaking with only your eyes and all that… You always being the first to know exactly what Yank’s saying. I have to admit you two do seem like quite the pair. Maybe you two should make it official.” Tango could hear the smirk in Whiskey’s voice over the comm link.

“Oh har bloody fucking har,” Tango said as he began to tap out another tune on the wood table. This time it was London Calling by The Clash. “Only if Bravo and Charlie shack up first.”

Silence on the other end.

“Exactly. Point made. But... speaking of that goddamn prick, and you know I say that with all the love in my heart, did he switch the phones?”

“I don’t know,” came Bravo’s reply; truth ringing through his voice. He really had no idea.

Tango clicked his ear comm again, turning it off, and ripped it out of his ear. He grabbed the headphones and jammed them in. Then stretched his left arm over the recording equipment. All in one swift silent moment and the angry tapping of his foot.

Then he interlaced left hand with his right. Clasped tightly together he laid his hands on the table in front of him. Then tapped them on the wood surface. Then he brought his intertwined hands to his forehead and angrily hit them against it.

“Fucking wanker!” he screamed as loudly as humanly possible.

The cheap bed squeaked as Yankee rose from it. He crossed the short distance to where Tango sat. But his presence didn’t register to Tango who sat there shaking angrily. Yank reached out a hand; rested it on Tango’s shoulder and the shaking immediately stopped. He patted Tango’s shoulder and slightly rubbed; a reassuring gesture that Tango immediately understood.

But it wasn’t true. At least not yet.

He shrugged Yankee off with an angry jerk; “It won’t bloody be okay until I get what we need.” Yankee shrugged and walked back to the bed where his laptop lay.

“You better piss off with all that touchy feely nonsense.”

You know you love me read Yankee's expression.

Suddenly he heard a click and Charlie’s voice through the headphones; the bugged phone was activated. Tango punched the record button as fast as humanly possible. He did not want anything important to be missed.

“Well, this has been fun but, I better be off. See you later, yeah?” Charlie said in a fake British accent.

“Really? You can’t be leaving so soon, Thomas, we barely got to catch up.” Tango could hear the frown in the man’s voice. Charlie had him right where he wanted him and they all knew it. Well, everyone except, Grayling of course. Instead of messing with the man or anything like that he did exactly what he was supposed to do.

“Yeah, mate, I’m really sorry. I got work in the morning.” Then he went in for a goodbye hug and when Grayling embraced him Charlie slipped his hand into the man’s pocket. Quickly and expertly grabbed his phone and swapped it for the bugged one.

“See you around then, yeah?” he said with a nod and then walked away.

Tango smiled; they had him.

[theliterateape]

Santa's Gift

By J. L. Thurston

RICKY STOOD IN THE SNOW WITH ONE SNEAKER UNTIED AND HIS BACKPACK HANGING FAR TOO LOW ON HIS BACK. His breath misted in the frigid December air. He shook, but not from the cold. His mother taught him to layer up, making it almost impossible to catch a chill.

No, his shivers were from fear. A fear he had every year. But this year was going to be different.

Ricky was afraid of Santa. Granted, at age ten he realized he didn’t need to sit on Santa’s lap to get what he wanted. As long as his mother would mail his letter to Santa, he’d find what he needed most sitting by the Christmas tree.

But there could be no letters this year.

It was the day before Christmas Eve and it was the last night Santa would be in Walmart. Then he’d have to fly back north to get ready for his big night. Ricky had this last chance to get what he wanted most in the whole world. It was now or never.

Ricky mustered his courage and entered the giant glass doors of Walmart. Instantly, warm air blasted him. A giant fake Christmas tree greeted him at the entrance along with the smell of Subway’s baking bread and the constant background roar of shoppers as they scurried for last minute items. Exhausted cashiers mechanically moved items across the scanner. And, above it all, was the clanging of a Salvation Army bell-ringer.

Ricky ducked his head low, praying none of the guys from school were there. He pointed his wet sneakers toward the Lawn and Garden department and marched as quickly as possible through the crowded store.

The glass doors to Lawn and Garden opened up. He was welcomed with twinkling lights and holiday music. A Christmas display stretched out before him. Fake trees of all shapes and colors lined a mock snowy lawn. Sitting on a throne of Coke-a-Cola cases was the big man himself. He laughed “Ho! Ho! Ho!” and he shook his fat belly. He took a photo with each child whether they be screaming to leave or screaming to stay.

The line was forever long. Ricky stood at the edge of wanting to run, his legs bobbing oddly as he waited behind a lady with five kids. As child after child confessed their wishes and moved along, Ricky’s stomach began to clench. The closer he got to the Santa Claus the bigger the man looked. His “Ho! Ho! Ho!” seemed impossibly deep and loud. The glint in his eye appeared to be more hungry than happy and why did Ricky smell the feint stench of rotten meat?

Ricky was next. Santa had just sat a small boy in his lap.

“Why, hello, little boy! What’s your name?”

Instantly, the boy started crying and reached his arms out to his mother. She struggled with her phone, trying to snap a picture. She grinned impossibly wide and coaxed him into a tearful smile.

Ricky lurched into a sprint. The sidewalk was treacherous with ice. He just knew he’d slip and fall and Santa would get him.

Without even telling Santa what he wanted, the mother took the boy away.

Ricky stood alone. He was the last in line and suddenly he realized what a terrible mistake this all had been. The entire department was empty except for Ricky and Santa.

Santa sat expectantly, his black eyes twinkling through a mass of white facial hair. Ricky stared. All was quiet around them except for the faint twinkling of Christmas music. Santa was breathing loud and long, like a snake’s hiss. No, it wasn’t breathing. He was sniffing. He leaned forward, on hand on his knee, and sniffed Ricky’s scent like a homeless man sniffs a steak dinner. The skin beneath his beard seemed to blacken. His eyes twinkled red. The smell of decaying flesh grew stronger.

“Mmmm, yes,” he said with satisfaction. “Tell me what you want, little boy.”

Little boy came out as a hungry growl.

Ricky spun around and ran out of the department. He pushed his way past holiday shoppers, nearly slamming into more than one overburdened cart. His legs flew, carrying him out of Walmart and down two blocks.

He stopped on the corner, bent over to catch his breath. A broken stoplight blinked red, the flashing like an alarm on a sinking submarine. He looked around, feeling the cold pinpricks on the back of his neck, a warning of someone not far behind.

There seemed to be no one outside. The houses were lit up and outdoor decorations shimmered over the snow. As far as he could tell, he was alone. No, wait. There was a man standing just in the darkness, down the sidewalk, facing Ricky. The man was fat and wore bulky clothing. He began taking long strides forward.

It wasn’t until the flashing red light began to illuminate the man that Ricky’s scream caught in his throat. The shiny boots, the furry beard, and the glimmering red eyes. Santa was following him.

Ricky lurched into a sprint. The sidewalk was treacherous with ice. He just knew he’d slip and fall and Santa would get him.

He veered off the sidewalk and cut through two yards. The alley behind them was layer upon layer of untouched snow. He bounded across, safe from the ice, his ears perked to the sound of crunching snow behind him. Almost there. Almost home.

There it was. His house, his safety. The only one on the block barren of twinkling lights and decorations. Never had Ricky been so relieved to jump up to his front porch. He wrapped his gloved fingers around the knob and turned to look around. There, standing just twelve feet behind him on the street was Santa, looking calm as though he hadn’t sprinted ten blocks to chase Ricky from Walmart.

Ricky shrieked and threw himself inside. His sneakers slipped and he fell in a tangled mess on the floor.

“He’s got me! He’s got me!”

The stomping of boots came in from the living room and Ricky’s dad was standing over him, looking as bewildered and angry as he always had when dealing with his son.

Ricky was sprawled on the entryway in tears, panting and covered in melting snow.

“What is this?” The question was a warning.

Ricky twisted around to point to his stalker on the street but there was no one there.

“Dad, I mean it, he was just there!”

Ricky’s dad’s unshaven face couldn’t even muster the energy to frown. “Shut the door, we aren’t heating the whole neighborhood.”

He stomped away, leaving Ricky to shut the door and turn the bolt. He threw his bookbag and coat in the corner and squished his feet out of his wet sneakers. He was immediately too hot with his scarf, sweater, and double socks. Lots of layers, just like Mom likes.

Dinner found Ricky twitching at the slightest sounds, his eyes flickering to every window in sight, half-expecting to see Santa’s face in the darkness outside.

“Dad. I’m serious,” Ricky tried again.

“What are you even talking about?” His dad didn’t look away from the television screen.

“Dad, I,” he swallowed. “I went to see Santa today.”

This got his father’s attention. He rolled his eyes and sighed. “You what?”

“Yeah, I saw Santa, I had to ask him for-”

The hand shot up. Just a flat palm. An effective silencer. “You’re a little old for this kind of thing, Rick.”

“Dad, that’s not… Dad, Santa followed me home.”

He stared at him. “Run that by me again?”

“The guy is totally creepy, Dad. He practically chased me down the street! I don’t know how he moved so fast but he was right there I swear.”

His father rubbed a hand against his face. “Ricky, I’m too tired for this. I still have to give Annie her bath and put her to bed. I need you to clean up the kitchen and brush your teeth. You need to tuck in early tonight, we have to go to your grandparents first thing in the morning.”

Ricky’s eyes glanced to the window. He could only see blackness. “Dad, please! I’m not making this up! He was really scary, his breath smelled and he looked at me really mean.”

But his father had already tuned him out. Ricky lost all interest in food. He could only stare out the window and wait for a face to materialize.

He was too afraid to be alone so he cleaned up the kitchen as fast as he could and helped his father give Annie her bath. He even put her in clean pajamas and begged his father to read them both a story in her nursery. But when his dad stumbled half-asleep into bed, Ricky was on his own.

He ran down the hall and climbed in bed with his light on.

The red glowing numbers on his alarm clock slowly flicked the time away. He wasn’t sure how long he stayed awake but the next thing he knew his eyes were snapping open at the sound of the front door opening downstairs. He looked at the clock. It was three-thirty.

His bedroom light had been turned off. Ricky lay on his bed, petrified in fear. Footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs, then down the hall. His bedroom door creaked just slightly. Ricky could smell dead meat.

He closed his eyes and held his breath. He’d seen too many movies where loud breathing got somebody killed.

All was silent for just a moment. Then, he heard a long, hissing intake of breath next to his bed. The smell was almost unbearable.

Then he heard Santa’s demonic voice. “What do you want for Christmas, Ricky?”

Ricky’s stomach turned to stone. He swallowed sour bile. His eyes were shut so tight he saw little bursts of light. Somehow, he managed to speak.

“I w-want…”

“Yeeeesss?”

“I want my mom to come back. Please.”

The hot breath on his cheek told him Santa had inched closer. A voice like hot gravel replied, “Granted.”

Cool air whipped around and the smell of rotten meat faded. Ricky cracked his eyes open and saw that he was alone once again in his room. He threw himself out of bed and scrambled into his dad’s room. The large bed seemed so empty with just his dad in it. Ricky waited until he heard snoring before he slid under the covers next to his father. He knew he’d get his hide handed to him in the morning but he didn’t care. He let his father’s deep snores lull him into an uneasy sleep.

✶

THE NEXT MORNING, RICKY’S DAD DIDN’T YELL AT HIM OR EVEN GIVE HIM ANY GRIEF FOR SLEEPING IN HIS BED. In fact, his dad had a tiny pep in his step. He sang to Annie while he fed her breakfast and told Ricky to remember his book because his grandparents somehow broke their Wi-Fi router again.

At Ricky’s grandparents’ the horrors of the night seemed to be merely a bad dream. It was so silly with the sun out to think Santa had nothing better to do than chase him down to ask what he wanted for Christmas. He played Uno with his grandpa, Uncle Dave, and James. They opened a few presents and ate a ham dinner. Ricky fell asleep on the couch. His dad shook him awake and told him to help him carry gifts out to the car. Tomorrow was Christmas morning and they’d have to get up to go to his Grandma Regina’s house.

He remained half asleep the entire way home and nearly asked his dad to carry him upstairs to his bed. When he finally sunk under his covers, he found that he was unable to fall into peaceful slumber again.

Bit by bit he grew more and more awake as acidic fear began to eat at his belly. This was Santa’s night. He would be going from house to house, delivering presents. Would he come to Ricky’s house? Would he come back up to his room and talk to him again? Or did the smell of rotten meat on his breath come from eating children?

Ricky kept his eyes closed but he remained awake all night. He barely moved a muscle under his blankets. He was too afraid to even get out and crawl back in bed with his father. He had a paralyzing fear that Santa may somehow be lurking under his bed, just waiting to grab him.

Slowly, the sun began to come out. Once his room was illuminated enough for him to see clearly, he sat up. He had survived Christmas Eve. It was over, at least for another year.

He stretched and stood. He heard Annie beginning to stir in her crib in the bedroom next to his. His dad would soon slump out of bed to get her out. Ricky wondered what presents had been laid out for him. There was no tree this year because it was always his mom’s job to get the tree out and decorated. He guessed his father would just set the presents out on the floor in front of the television. But… what did Santa bring? He hadn’t heard a noise all night and he had been listening intently.

Ricky stepped out of his room as his dad came out of his. He mumbled a good morning and ruffled Ricky’s hair on his way to the baby’s room.

Ricky took a deep breath and slowly descended the stairs. With each step he told himself there was no present from Santa. Santa didn’t come last night. There will be nothing but gifts from Dad.

The smell of rotten meat told Ricky there was something in the living room, and as soon as he saw it, he knew that Santa had done it.

Rocking in the recliner, still in the white dress she had been buried in, sat Ricky’s mother. Though she had only died last week her skin was sagging inwardly and had sloughed off in some places. Her hair was caked in dirt. Her yellow and milky eyes turned to Ricky and her smile released an earthworm.

“Merry Christmas, Ricky.”

[yasbxxgie]

Shock G 'Fesses Up About Humpty Hump

Rap ruses get no better than Humpty Hump. The alter-ego of Digital Underground's leader Shock G, Humpty's mythology has him wearing a fabulously-personalized Groucho Marx-style nose to cover up horrific facial scars incurred during a (fictional) accident with a deep-fat-fryer and rapping about randy escapades that, according to lyric lore, took place in a Burger King bathroom. The persona has also been a profitable jape: Humpty's anthem, "The Humpty Dance," was a number one pop hit around the world and has been sampled by over 50 other artists-- which presumably means that to this day, Shock's cashing royalty checks from one-time girl-power icons The Spice Girls. With Digital Underground's final group release, the Greenlight EP, dropping last week [5/18/10], Shock G took time out to pull off the mask and reveal the four people who've played Humpty in the public eye over the years, plus tell all about the groupie who insisted on wanting to get busy with Humpty, not Shock.

There's a live version of "Same Song" on the EP. Did you perform both the Shock G and Humpty Hump parts at that show yourself?

That was at a KMEL summer jam, in 1991 at the Shoreline Amphiteater in Mountain View. My little brother Kent Racker, who's a rock guitarist, doubled as Shock G on that show so we could pull the double-act off on stage. Kent is the one who was dressed in the Shock G robes, the zebra print and the African-style kufi hat with the dark sunglasses. He walked out on stage with a dead microphone lip-synching the first verse. I'm back-stage dressed as Humpty Hump with a live mic, rapping the Shock G lines: "I came for the party/ To get naughty/ Get my rocks on/ Eat popcorn..." Kent's walking around on stage pretending to rap them. Too $hort and people who swore that they knew me had bought into me being Shock G on stage at that point, but then Humpty walked out--it fucked their heads up!

Obviously Kent didn't sing nothing for the rest of the show, but he was on stage walking around. With 2Pac and Money B running interference, no one figured it out. To this day, those 60 or 70,000 people at that Summer Jam still argue about whether it was the real Humpty or not.

Did Kent ever perform as Humpty on other occasions?

Yeah, he was there in that movie with Dan Aykroyd, Nothing But Trouble, plus when we [Digital Underground] performed the "We're All In The Same Gang" song on the Arsenio Hall Show with Eazy-E and Tone Loc and them. But at that time he was Humpty, cause he could pull the Humpty voice off. If we both had to have live mics then it was better to let him be Humpty. His diction wasn't totally like mine so real fans could tell something was different. But when I was Humpty and Kent was Shock G, everybody bought that as Humpty.

Did anyone else ever play Humpty?

There were four Humptys ever. Michael Webster, an artist who draws for a living in Oakland, looked enough like me to play Humpty. He was Humpty on the cover of B.A.M. [Bay Area Music] magazine, and also in the 8x10 glossy of Digital Underground that Tommy Boy used to circulate in the first two years. One of his upper two teeth was a little darker than the other one--that's the only one you can tell, cause the nose covers up so much and then there's the clothing. Also, in some photos I was Humpty and Kent was Shock G cause he didn't have to do anything but stand there.

In the "Humpty Dance" video, when Humpty would walk by Shock G, that was Rod Houston, the video rep from Tommy Boy who happened to look enough like me. So that's three different Shock Gs and four Humptys.

Who was the fourth Humpty?

I don't remember his name, but it was my ex-wife's boyfriend! I was married around that time, from about '91 to 96, and my wife, Melissa, had a high school sweetheart who was still around and remained friends with her. He was trying to do music and wanted to be cool with me-- he couldn't believe that his little Melissa married Shock G! But the guys in the group, like Money B and 2Pac, they used to joke that not only was he wearing the Humpty outfit but he was gonna be tapping Melissa again! They'd be like, 'Shock gon' come home and find Humpty fuckin' his wife!' They were all cracking up. I mean it was risky letting my wife's ex-boyfriend be all in the limo with us, but to this day I don't believe anything happened.

How many Humpty noses do you have left?

I might have a few in my closet ready to go, but they're all Caucasian. They don't make the brown one any more. I don't make the serious Humpty kit any more. The most at once was six: four gold and platinum and two regular brown ones connected to glasses. These days I paint the nose the day of and sometimes even the hour of the show. I use Sharpies and different designs depending on where we're playing--I might put a Playboy bunny on the side if we're playing the Playboy Mansion, or I might put HH on the side like the Gucci logo, the double letters. I have a lot of fun with it now; I don't take it as serious as I used to with having a case with a variety of noses inside. I just stop at the costume shop or the party store of that city and get some Sharpies and fix it up. Sometimes I'll draw stripes, sometimes make it blue, or if it's a more serious show I'll go with acrylic paint and then a clear coating on it to lock it on.

But they don't even make 'em good any more. They used to make 'em connected to the stern Woody Allen-type glasses, but now it's the cheaper, bendy glasses. The slightest pull and the ear-thing pops off. So I buy 'em, tear the mustache off, pop the ear-strap, whatever, and rest it on my nose and put a real pair of glasses on to lock it to my face.

What happened to the gold and platinum noses?

I might have one of the four gold ones left in a drawer broken somewhere...

Do you ever give the noses out to the crowd at shows?

Yeah, after each show I give the new pair out with whatever night it was, like it might say 'Spring Break '99,' 'Happy Birthday 2Pac,' 'R.I.P. Guru.' I always ask if anybody needs a souvenir from the show and the first hand to reach the sky, I make sure they get it. Even if it's someone right at the back, I'll be like, 'Her in the blue, get her towards the stage.' There's always one hand that's distinctive and that's who gets it. So I figure I have between 500 and 1000 Humptys out there. One day I'm gonna put the word out and get the Humptys to unite. It'll be an army of Humptys!

Did you ever meet any groupies who insisted on the Humpty nose being part of the experience?

Yeah, once, and it was a big joke in the clique. It was the night after we played Drexell's Class, which was a sitcom that was kinda like a less popular Cosby Show. Digital Underground were the featured guests. The episode took place on a cruise ship and we were the entertainment on the ship. Also on the cruise were the Sports Illustrated models. That's the plot. So after the show wrap we all got to know each other, everybody had girls-- the girls were mostly actresses playing Sports Illustrated models. We all wound up shacking up with certain ones.

The one coming home with me is real pretty. I've already spun all my schtick in the club, already rapped to her, already took pictures with the nose on, so I'm assuming that's all dead in the water. Now it's private, just me and her in the room. It's getting touchy-feely, we're making out in the bed, she rolls over on top of me and she looks up at me. I pull her in, her shirt flies off, I get her bra, I reach for her panties and she says, 'Wait! Put the nose on.'

I'm like, 'Ha ha, stop playing!' I pull her in again and start playing. She's like, 'No, I'm serious, don't touch my underwear or even my hip area.' So I get up, go get the nose, put it on, look at her and go [in a Humpty voice] 'Yeah!' I could see in her eyes that she was melting down to me at that point. She'd go as far as I wanted to after that. She actually wanted to have sex with Humpty!

Did the rest of the group find out?

Yeah, when I told them the next day they were cracking up, man: 'Humpty fucked one of your chicks!' I didn't think it was that funny, but they laughed double hard. I wish I never told nobody.

So that was the only time you got busy as Humpty?

Yeah, no other girls ever took it that far. They might ask me to do the voice a little, but nobody else wanted to keep it going into the bedroom. That could officially be the only time Humpty's ever gotten laid. Although I have heard about cats at shows masquerading as Humpty and luring chicks to their rooms that way. And I might have been drunk or at a rave and maybe gone with a quick zip-your-pants-down type thing. But yeah, that time the girl insisted was the only time Humpty took some ass from me.

Photographs:

Digital Underground in 1989

Backstage with 2Pac at KMEL Summer Jam 1991