#I really enjoyed her invading his space XD

[christinebloodwrittings]

I ran into this little darling who wanted this as a request, and I just couldn't help myself hehe, my Hobie Brown brainrot is huge xD

So I hope you enjoy it, I suck at writing his accent so, I'm sorry in advance hehe, and also Y/n is always the victim so let's shake things up a bit.

Pairing: Hobie Brown x Fem!Reader

Warnings: NSFW, unwanted drug, p in v, oral, cursing, a very drugged Hobie.

Words: 2530

Summary: Everything was going great at the concert until he went against a very dangerous perfume.

You've never felt comfortable or safe among so many people, especially in a space as small as the bars where he usually plays. But there you were, supporting him as always.

At some point in the evening, thirst had invaded you, so you asked the bartender for some water or soda, who gladly served it to you and so far so good.

"Hey beautiful, how was it?" Hobie had pushed his way through the crowd and groupies to the chair where you'd cornered to watch him play. "Loud and protestant, perfect" with emotion he hugged you, pressing your whole body against his chest, his chin resting on your head.

"I'm goin' to go to the back, store some things with the band, I'll be back to pick you up in a bit, 'kay?" Despite the fact that nothing between you and Hobie was formalized, there was a lot of affection and consideration towards the other, however he always presented you as his friend.

And how much it hurt

He always came to your rescue when some jerk made a move on you, but after that you were just his friend, and he did it because he had your back, but nothing more.

That was really getting old.

Hobie made his way through the fans again, when a girl dressed in leather and a mini stopped him, one of her hands took his face, the other grabbed the back of his neck to force him to bend him down to kiss him, but he resisted, separated from the girl's hands with a push, and he moved away fast.

After managing to get past the stage, he tripped on his feet, his mind was all over the place and his spider-sense told him something was awfully wrong. A cold feeling caught on his neck, panic crawled up his spine, he put his fingers to the back of his neck, scooping up some of a watery, clear liquid, it had a nice smell so he just assumed it was the girl's cologne.

He was in denial, so he just wanted to think there was a raid outside and he´ll have to take you round the back so you wouldn't be hurt by mistake. He didn't exactly convinced himself but it was enough to get him a bit calmed through the whole packing the band stuff up.

Right at the end, when he was picking his makeup supplies off, his sense froze him up and made him look up, in the mirror he caught on the sight of the girl that had tried to make a move on him.

The fans were leaving, soon the place was empty, Hobie was taking a lot of time more than usual, thus why you began to worry and why you went to the dressing room to find him.

That was the moment when you saw his panic eyes and the girl attempting to get her tongue down her throat. "Get the fuck away from him, bitch!" you pulled her hair and punched her on the gut to get her out of movements.

"You're my savior" he put his arm around you, being that the only way he could make a decent step, "Get out of the way whore, it will last long after I'm finished with him, then you can get your way with him" she stood up hardly, but didn't approached further, since you got out a taser, "You know, I bet no one will miss you if I just shock your senses into oblivion and toss your bitch body into the garbage" she opened her eyes to your lashing and stood there.

With a few extra help from members of the band, they managed to get him to your place in one piece, you weren't going to let him go off alone in that state.

That's when you understood, she drugged him somehow. "It's okay, Hobs, let's get you in the shower" cold water seemed to be the less weird way to handle his condition.

His hand found yours, pulling by it you hit his chest, looking up you found his face all blushed and sweaty, "It's okay, it will wear itself off, just stay" you cupped his face with your free hand, he leaned over your touch with his eyes closed, "Please?" His voice was so smooth and whiny, never in your life have you seen him like that.

"I'll stay, let's get you into something more comfortable ok?" He nodded, lazily getting out of his leather jacket and vest, leaving you to slip away his shirt, "Woah baby, if ya' wanted to get me naked, you should've asked" he had a shit eating grin, ear to ear, "Shut up, you're out of your senses" you folded the shirt lazily and left it on a chair he has discarded on a corner, so did his pants and socks, it seemed to you that removing his underwear was going a little too far, so you ignored them.

You tried to guide him to the bathroom, but he just wouldn't move from the bed, "C'mon Hobs, let's go" he refused with a whine, so you leave him there to go fill up the tub in the meantime.

You figured he would be in a different disposition when you returned to the room. A couple of minutes went by, *he probably passed out asleep* you hoped, but as soon as you opened the door of the bathroom, the sound of his moans filled your ears.

"Ah~ Y/N~♡" you couldn't believe what was happening. Taking a quick peek at him you noticed his boxers were discarded somewhere in the room, and he was stroking himself, his rather large self.

And moaning your name, *Oh God, please tell me this is a test! * heat was crawling up from your legs to your face, his moans were incredibly sexy and erotic, that was going to be well fit material for a lot of nights in the future.

"Y/n please, I need you, pretty please darling~♡" He sounded so desperate. You stepped outside the bathroom, and as soon as his eyes caught sight of you, a loving smile was painted on his face.

"I'm in a tight conundrum" he fought with his own tongue to word that out coherently, but you understood, "I feel like I'm taking advantage of you" He shook his head, making grab gestures with his hands.

As soon as you were in within his reach, he pulled you into his lap, emitting a hiss when your pelvis brushed his hard dick. "Please, I need you" He peppered kisses under your jaw and cheek, every contact on his lips and his piercing made you shiver.

His hands found the hem of your shirt, toyed with it for a second before looking up into your eyes for permission, after your embarrassed nod, he pulled it off, carelessly taking your bra as well and throwing both items away.

He started by nibbling at your collarbone, leaving small red marks along his way up to your neck. "I've wanted to do this for a long time" He panted, biting softly at your earlobe making you shift on his lap.

"You're so beautiful, so sweet, so lovely, you're always there for me" he said before kissing you, taking full control of your mouth. His hand circled your waist and the other held your neck in place, making you melt into the kiss. He then tilted his head back a bit, taking in the way you looked.

The he pulled up your shirt, he was clumsy while at it, so you finished for him, the bra following it into the darkness of a corner. The festival of kisses and bites started from your neck to every inch of your collarbone, working his way down to capture a nipple in between his lips.

His hands rocked your hips against his bulge, making his voice sing with moans and sighs, calling your name.

"I need you to say it"

"What?"

"I love you too much, say I can do this"

"Do it Hobie"

He released you, reluctantly. You tried to put yourself in a comfortable position, so you got rid of your jeans, his eyes followed each of your movements, even more so when you stood next to him.

"Where do you want me?" He didn't think twice, he pulled you by the waist to accommodate you, with his muscular body on top of yours. It was kind of silly, saying that, but with the few sexual experiences you'd had, none of them 100 percent complete, you really didn't know what to say or do. He, even in his drugged and frenzied state, noticed your shivering hands and how much you avoided looking into his eyes.

"I wish I could make it slow and special for you, but I don't feel like myself" you agreed, it's what you could do, the truth, you were uncomfortable because of the situation, the heat, not that any of those factors made you forget to have a condom nearby.

As he sensually kissed your neck, his fingers worked to open you up, slow and steady movements, his thumb brushing against your clit from time to time. Your senses were being attacked simultaneously, his teeth and his mouth sucking at the skin of your neck, and his fingers caressing your G-spot with the dexterity of a guitar player. Your back arched against his torso, an opportunity he took to hold your waist with his arm and lead you to sit on his lap, his hand still pleasing.

"Hobs, I need you" you whined, he smiled, mouth still latching down your neck, leaving several red spots along the way. Your legs were straddling his hips as he helped you get down on his dick, the length and thickness made you squirm and stop midways, he always reassured you, “You’re doing it very good, my love, just a little bit more, I’ll let you accommodate to it” speaking sweetly, brushing your hair away from your face and caressing your cheek.

When it was all the way in, very painfully so, he didn���t made any single attempt to move or you on it, he wanted to wait for you to be ready. As soon as you were, giving that you were rocking your hips slightly, he started pulling you up and down at a slow pace.

Moans and whines were filling the room, “Fuck, you feel so good” he bit gently into your shoulder, “I’m gonna lay you down princess, I need a-“, you pointed to your night stand, “Prepared are we?” he purred as he softly put you down on the covers, grabbed the condom and put it on.

“You can be more aggressive if you need” your voice came out almost as a whisper, but he caught it anyways, “It’s not that I don’t want to, I just want it to be decent” he was holding back, “Hobie, we need to get the drug out, please” Bad way for you to find out, but he had a creative thought, without thinking twice, he put your hands on your head and used his webs to tie your wrists together. Obviously your thoughts were snatched away when he propped inside again, soon the fact that he was Spider-Punk was long forgotten.

His pace accelerated, your whole body tensed up and you just wanted to be connected to him, you just wanted to keep kissing him, hugging him, if it ended and you were never like that with him again, you wouldn't know what to do. You just wanted to be like this with him, hitting every place that mattered, sending electric shocks through your body.

At some point you seemed to have passed out, but the change of position woke you straight up. On your fours, his hands pushed his shaft right into you by your hips, then he pulled you up, his arm working like an anchor across your chest, which by the way, was covered in saliva, red spots and bite marks, and so will your back as soon as he is over with it.

He wasn’t behind with the hickeys, you subconsciously left him lots of open mouth kisses, bites, he was fairly happy with each and every one.

“I know you’re tired, my love, but I’m almost there” your moans didn’t even sounded as such, they were grunts, sloppy non sexy at all choked grunts. You guys started around eleven, by the time he was almost there the clock marked three in the morning.

He finally came inside the condom, the one that by some miracle stayed on and unbroken though all the abuse the thick shaft made in your insides. Speaking of which, he was considerate enough to come out of you carefully and lovingly accommodate your body into his.

“Thank you, love” he slurred the words, his body was so big next to yours, so he easily surrounded you, arms around you, legs intertwined, he wanted all you to be with all of him.  

“How do you feel?” your voice was hoarse, “Better, tired, you?” you made a sound, it confirmed to him that you were the same as him.

"I'm still very on, I wanna eat you out" he hugged you tightly, "Maybe let me sleep a bit and then you wake me up with your face in between my legs" he laughed at you, "I'll take you up on that, love".

Around seven pinches on the insides of your thighs woke you up, turns up he really was in between your legs, hickeys adorning both inner thighs, "Good mornin' luv" he wasn't drugged anymore, just horny and hungry, giving on how he was licking and grinning.

Your back arched as soon as your brain connected with the rest of your senses, "Hobie, jeez fuck! Too damn early" you whined, getting hold of his hair, "I just obliged to your wishes" the vibrations made the assault even more intense.

"Don't talk with your mouth full" he was kind of liking the slight yanking you were taking on his hair, furthermore the tremble down your legs as you came.

"I love your sounds" he crawled up your body, gently laying down on top of you, his weight never fully on you though, he was careful, and his head fell down on the crook of your neck.

"Thank you for last night" he laced his voice with kisses behind your ear, "No problem, now please for fucks sake, sleep" he chuckled at your groggy voice, "I meant it, by the way" given your lack of response he pulled his body off of you for a bit, just to get a fair look at you face when he spoke those words that died already to come off his lips again.

"I love you" and then he smiled.

"And I love you" somehow, him being all bare for you, your case as well, made the confession deeper.

"Just so you know, you're trapped now, I'm not letting you go now" his smirk made you giggle a little, "Good, there's just nowhere I rather be than here...with you".

The end.

[inkspottie]

BONJOUR SPOTTIE. You're fic is invading the brain space get them out because I have one too many AU ideas.. I can't gatekeep I'm sure some would love them :3 A sort of Subnautica inspired AU where they're gigantic creatures that are mostly animalistic and just.. live? but with Urbanshit spying on them (and getting eaten lmao, skill issues ig)

A dragon trainer AU inspired by HTTYD where Sadao is human (omg) and Sebastian a whole fucking beast and they just have that Toothless and Hiccup vibe And some other minor AUs about some potential other out comes like AUs that are more of "What ifs" than the rest, so not important.. Anyways enough me rambling! Question time!

Watcha think of Confluence OCs? I've made a silly expendable girly (still need to draw her) that got her back bitten off by Angler or one of his variant as her first death, crystal growing out of her back, shoulders and back legs and neck! Her second death was by something like poisoning and her mouth filled with crystals that ressemble teeth and she managed to break free once from the control to beg to be mercy-killed, and I really wanted to know what you thought of OCs of your fic~ :3

I ate chapter 21 one up and can't stop reading that Fishbug snippet, I need more (I Fishbugged my friends, they don't read Confluence but they like the gays)

Oooo I love it. I’m a sucker for aus if you guys didn’t know. For those who’ve followed me since the beginning you definitely know xD

Ohh confluence ocs! That’s a neat idea! I wouldn’t mind having some red shirts to be in the background cuz they will be dealing with crystal expendables…

She sounds neat!

And I’m glad you’re enjoying the chapter. I had a stroke of inspiration with the Lopee scene and had to lay on the fishbug properly. Hehe

[slashingdisneypasta]

I was thinking about your fairytale/cottage idea, and I thought of my own possible Fairytale scenario for the wolves and Y/N if you'd like to hear! This one falls more under the Red Riding Hood category instead of princess, and inspired by how they treated Ricky.

Similar to Red, you travel through the forest for your own reasons. Visiting family, scavenging around. Or you just enjoy spending your own time in the woods. But you have a made little arrangement with the wolves; you bring them food, and they'll leave you alone. Or rather, they won't eat you.

It's hard to pinpoint exactly when and how this deal had been made between the four of you. Maybe you just knew that the dogs would be good to their source of food and prepared for this. But either way, now everytime you go through the woods, you can always expect the trio to show up soon enough. You just roll your eyes at the invaded space, used to it by now as you offer them the contents of your basket and sit with them for a while whenever they invite you to. You were initially surprised at how often they, especially Big Bad, tell you to stay with them while they eat, but now it's become something you look forward to. They may be baddies, but they're pretty nice to hang around, actually ^^

Though lately- or maybe it's always been like this, and you're just really noticing it now. They all seem particularly attached to you. Big Bad and Granny are calling you all kinds of sweet nicknames, and trying to pull you close to either of them- Big Bad throwing a strong arm around you and pulling you to his side, growling when Granny tries to pull you onto his lap. And Kiddy always greets you with a sloppy lick-kiss, and he always sits so close to you, almost cuddling you, regardless of whose arms are around you.

What do you think?

SARAH I LOVE THIS! XD

Like, Y/N's just there thinkin that she's got nice, dangerous, kinda hot wolf-pals when suddenly she's realising these wolf-pals are sortof... treating her like their mate?? Or a potential mate?

Imagine how they each react, noticing you starting to realise this... how you suddenly start to look nervous when Big Bad's arm is around you, and you fluster at Kiddy's kisses, and look all stiff in Granny's lap XD Imagine how Big Bad and Granny exchange dangerous looks, knowing they'll have to do something about this now (Talk to you, officially make you theirs, take you, mark you). How Kiddy starts to kinda follow you around now, electing to go with you on your journeys (Not even with-with you. Literally just trailing behind you, following your scent. Stalking you. He doesn't want to be away from you now- you're basically his mate!). How they start to turn up at your home (You didn't even know they knew where you lived!). How talking about outsiders, people you know but they don't, starts to illicit negative responses (You shouldn't know anyone but them- especially other males).

Eventually your door gets locked and Granny's there in front of it (you cant leave) and Kiddy's breathing heavy with excitement and Big Bad gestures for you to sit down- now. They have something to tell you about, sweetheart~...

[kyuuzuchiha]

Watching Sasuke's meditative posture, Ryū's brow furrows slightly. Something's still keeping him tense. "You have to balance both your mind AND your body," she instructs quietly as not to interrupt his progress. Kneeling at his front, one palm finds his brow, the other pressing to his chest. Both flare softly with warm, calming chakra in an attempt to help him focus. But she might be doing more harm than good, being so close. (:3c)

@kusunokihimeUnder cut for length, totally sfw!

Sitting quietly just irked Sasuke, even though he was so used to it. In fact, he preferred silence, and he preferred to be alone with himself. Yet, when he tried to sit quietly in these lessons, he got angry.

Perhaps it was the niggling need to be perfect and the fact that he couldn’t meet that need with this.

Perfection was key. If he was sloppy enough to let his faults get ahead of him, then he could lose everything he’d been working toward in an instant. All it would take was one slip during the inevitable reunion with Itachi for his life’s work to be entirely nullified. That, of course, stoked a mighty need in him. Being in tip-top shape wasn’t a desire. It was a necessity. But he wasn’t perfect at this. In fact, he was barely catching on.

Perhaps it was the fact that he couldn’t force this one thing to go the way he wanted... or, rather, needed.

He’d like to pride himself on patience, but this endeavor proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that his patience was lacking in practice. Usually, when his body didn’t respond to his training how he wanted, he tended to beat himself into submission rather than let it come to him in its own time. Patient, huh? He couldn’t do that with this, though. He had to let it come naturally.

Perhaps it was the fact that he was good at silence but so bad at peace. 

He just couldn’t seem to center himself. Even though it was mostly background noise these days, the riotous turmoil roiling in his head seemed to get the better of him at the worst times. He’d become rather adept at skimming the surface of the dark thoughts that tended to fill his silence. He could never truly get away from it all, but he was quite good at redirecting. He knew how to take problematic mental energy and transmute it, sure, but that was topical at best. The root was as rotten as ever.

He was getting deep into this train of thoughts when Ryuu pointed out the obvious. He wanted to snap at her, but he bit his tongue. He could say something sharp like, ‘I know,’ or ‘Of course,’ but the fact that he wasn’t actively doing it remained, and a sharp reaction would simply be moot.

He tried to inhale a deep breath, but it was sucked in sharp when he felt Ryuu’s hands on him. He almost recoiled, but what would be the typical reaction never quite came. Yes, his heart came to life and, yes, his skin set ablaze, and his eyes snapped open quickly. But even though his heart was hammering in his chest, and even though his gut was twisting with anxiety, and even though his eyes were wide with uncertainty, he managed to keep calm when he murmured, “Please don’t touch me.” Then, as an afterthought, he added, “At least ask first.”

[riddle-me-ri]

My cat fell asleep on my arm and that got me thinking of you could write a fic about reader falling asleep on the various ozzies XD how would they react and what would they do?

(Btw I absolutely love your writing I check your blog everyday to see if you've written anything new and it's always such a treat when you do 💝)

A/N: first off I am absolutely here for the cats invading everyone’s personal space and claiming human limbs as beds, as well as the fact there were two similar themed requests (same anon? Maybe possibly?) I hope y’all don’t mind I sorta combined the two of your requests because…yeah they were really similar rip. I will link the backstory to Farrell!Penguin’s drabble in his section, and the other Ozzies will be original.

Penguins Reacting to Reader Falling Asleep on Them:

Arkhamverse Penguin: 

Well, what was he to expect? That coat he wears is comfy inside and out. 

You were sitting beside Oswald at the head of the long dining table. 

You heard some parts of the conversation, but it didn’t take long between the dullness of the topic and the cacophony of voices to all sound one in the same. You barely make out what Ozzie’s saying as your eyelids eventually get too heavy to hold open any longer.

Oswald was in the middle of giving an order when he felt the slightest weight on his upper arm. Everyone grew silent when they notice you’ve actually nodded off. Some men stared in shock, if they were to fall asleep during a meeting…Oswald wouldn’t hesitate to knock them out for good. 

They weren’t you though. You had him wrapped around your finger like a vine to a branch. He glanced over to you. The scowl on his face perking up to a soft endearing smile towards you. He immediately lowered his voice, but still delivered the order in a stern tone. If any of his men raised their voices even the slightest, he’d shush them. 

“Keep your bloody voice down!” He hissed. “Can’t you see my love is sleepin?”

Reevesverse/Farrell Penguin:

Click on Farrell Oz's header for the full backstory on how the reader managed to pop a squat on Oz’s lap.

Needless to say, you got pretty comfortable in Ozzie’s lap. You reveled in the closeness, being wrapped up in his warmth and clean but not overbearing cologne. You even gained the courage in your newfound comfortability to put your hand over his that was cupped around your waist. Oz quirked an eyebrow at the gesture, but smiled and let you hold his hand. 

Once his friends went off to go dancing with their dates for the night. You enjoyed the one on one time with Oz.

Between the stories shared and the drinks sipped. Time passed faster and it got really late. You don’t remember how or what, but your eyelids were slowly closing like the red curtains at the end of a play. Oswald was so soft, warm, inviting. No matter how hard you tried you couldn’t resist. 

Selina walked passed handing Oz a wad of cash but not before giggling softly. “Looks like your date’s decided to take a cat nap.” 

Oz furrowed his eyes until he looked down. Sure enough, you were snoozing away. You hand on his chest, the hand on his hand slowly losing it’s grip on his. He couldn’t help but mimic the smile you had on your face. He moved his hand that was on your waist over your free hand, to keep holding it to your side. Oswald grew to like holding your hand. 

He chuckled softly. “Yeah, it’d appear so.” 

“You want me to clear a spot on the couch in your office, boss?” Selina offered. 

Oz looked up at her and nodded. “I’d appreciate that.” 

Selina nodded back with a smile, but not before stealing a glance at you. “I think they’re a keeper. I’ve never seen you smile so much in one night.” 

Oswald glanced back down at you. Your body completely lax against his, you’re breathing even. You must feel so content with him. He must make you feel safe…

He brushed a stray hair off your cheek and tightened his hold on you. “Yeah…I was just thinkin’ the same thing.” 

Gotham Penguin:

“What I’m trying to say is…this war CANNOT and should NOT persist. Why must we shed MORE blood, WASTE away more lives!” Oswald was on another passionate rant, to no one in particular but it always helped his mind come up with the solutions. 

“Ehh..boss…”

“What, Butch?” 

Butch pointed to you on Oswald’s left side. He turned to you and almost jolted out of his skin. 

Y-You were asleep. Gently resting along his shoulder. Your steady breathing caused the tiniest of hairs on Oswald’s pale skin stand up. 

“H-How long was I talking?” 

Butch glanced at his watch. “A little over 2 hours, boss.” He gave his employer a lopsided smile. 

Oswald’s eyes widened. No wonder you dozed off, but he didn’t suspect…he never suspected. You would find him…cozy…inviting. 

“O-Oh…that..that explains it..” Oswald whispered, worried that even the slightest hitch in his voice or twitch in his body will jostle you awake. He can’t say he’s quick to remove you away from him though.

Butch chuckled. Fully aware of the feelings you and Oswald had for each other but refused to act on. Whilst it was adorable, it was equally infuriating. 

“Good night, boss.” Butch began making his way up the stairs to the spare bedrooms in the mansion. 

“W-Wait! B-Butch..” He hissed. “W-What do I do about them?” 

Butch shrugged, but continued to walk off. 

Oswald was about to yell at Butch to come back and help him, but the slight tension in his body caused your head to squirm on his shoulder. 

Well, this wasn’t one of the most uncomfortable places to fall asleep. He leaned back in the plush cushioned chair, your head still glued to his shoulder. Oswald reluctantly laid the side of his face on top of your head. 

He couldn’t help but chuckle in warm delight. 

Yeah, there were way worse conditions to take a nap in. 

BTAS Penguin:

“Oh look, my dear! A gorgeous little dove–oh!” 

He looks down to see you nestled into his chest, with one hand clinging to the lapels of his suit jacket. 

You and Oswald were taking a small rest on a park bench. You enjoyed these special little moments with Oswald. Just the two of you taking a stroll through the park, talking about nothing, looking at all the birds that come your way. 

It was still early in the evening, and it was fair to say you didn’t get the best sleep last night. 

Oswald gulped at the close proximity. W-Why would you sleep on him? Surely he wasn’t the most..comfortable cushion. You had a better chance leaning your head over the bench, or resting on the bench’s armrest. 

Yet, you didn’t do any of that. 

You sought out for him, resting your body into his without so much as a second thought. 

You…you really do like him.

Oswald couldn’t help but smile widely in glee. He could jump up in joy, but he will refrain so he won’t wake you up. He noticed the birds nearby chirping more than usual, as if they’re sharing in his delighted mood. 

He wrapped his arm around you and gently squeezed you, so you were closer to him. His heart almost swelled when he saw you smile and snuggle your head closer to him. 

Oswald kissed the top of your head before resting his chin on top of your head. 

TNBA Penguin:

The night was electric. It was a special night at the Iceberg Lounge. Oswald was premiering a brand new performance act for the club. It took months of preparation and discussions, but it was finally happening. 

The night couldn’t have had a better turn out. 

Oswald was seated next to you in one of the half circle booths facing the stage. Once the act was over, Oz couldn’t help but notice you went rather quiet and his shoulder felt more heavy. He glanced down to see you snoozing away. 

Any other time and if it’d been any other person he would be offended at such a rude display. However, he knew the cause, and how he was part of it. You put just as much hours into setting this up and getting this to work more than anyone. 

Plus, he couldn’t help but enjoy the small palpations his heart was doing. He always enjoyed the idea of having you by his side. The idea of you being intimate enough with him to hold his hand, kiss his cheek, or…doze off on top of him. 

This…this was a good start to making his idea…his dream of you two become a reality. 

Oswald leaned up slightly off the back of the booth. As gently as he could, he readjusted himself so that he was laying back into the booth instead of sitting up straight. He grabbed your spare jacket that you rested on your lap and wrapped it around your upper body. 

Oz gave you a small peck on your cheek. 

“Thank you, my dear…for everything.” He whispered softly in your ear, silently hoping you heard him. 

Telltale Batman:

You were so excited to see Oswald when he said he was coming back to Gotham City. Tossing and turning in your bed from excitement it was safe to say the rough three hours of sleep you got were finally catching up to you. 

You and Ozzie were hanging out in his new apartment. After getting him settled in to his new digs. You guys ordered take out and grabbed a couple movies to watch on the couch. The food was long gone and you were in the middle of the second film. 

Oz couldn’t help but notice you had gone uncharacteristically quiet. He glances down and sees you snuggled up against the pillow and his lower abdomen. Your breathing was even and your eyes were closed.

Always the one to mess with him, earlier you had rested a pillow on Oz’s lap and laid your head there to watch the films. Oz scoffed at you but didn’t make you budge. Now he was sort of regretting that decision. Only a little bit though. 

One of your hands was gripping the edge of his black shirt and the other was wrapped around his waist. 

God, you really were so adorable. Why the hell did you ever hang on to a low-life like him? No assets, no money, no estate…just a name that used to mean something…be worth something. 

Even if he never quite understood you. He appreciated your presence in his life all the more. Oswald did not ever want to think about a life without you. He’s already lost Bruce, if he lost you too…he really wouldn’t have anybody else. 

Oz leaned over you as best he could. Snatched the remote he turned the TV off and he gently slid his lap out from under you. He watched to make sure the sudden movement didn’t wake you. You ended up just nuzzling into the pillow. He chuckled. 

Oz scooped his arms under your body and slowly lifted you off the couch. He carried you into the one bedroom with a king mattress. He recalls the small argument with you over his sheet and comforter colors matching the pillow cases. It makes him laugh internally to himself. 

He pulls back the covers and sheets and laid you down gently into the mattress. Oz tucked you in, occasionally glancing at your eyes making sure you weren’t waking up. Before he left to crash on the couch, he took another glimpse of your sleeping face. 

Oswald smiled, brushing your hair gently out of your face. He got up to his feet, but not before kissing your temple. 

“Sweet dreams, love.” 

One Bad Day Penguin:

The Iceberg Lounge had just closed after another successful night. You were helping Oz with his book keeping. Everyone talks about counting sheep to fall asleep…but what about counting and crunching numbers. 

It had to have been about five in the morning, when Oswald all of a sudden felt a sudden weight on his back. You two were sitting back to back of each other, occasionally checking in on each other and making sure everything was in order and adding up. 

However, he never expected you laying back and nestling in his back. Oswald couldn’t help but admit, you were warmer and more inviting than any blanket he’s ever owned. 

“Hey, sweetie…you wanna call it a night?” He asked softly. 

Your only response was some slight squirming and wordless murmuring. 

“Ah..I see.” Oz responded sarcastically. In moments like these he wished he was more physically capable. He would carry you up to your room in the upper floors of the lounge. 

But maybe I can make it to that couch…

There was a violet loveseat on the other side of your office. As quickly but seamless as he could, Oz spun around on his chair to catch you before your body fell from the lack of support from his back. Oswald jumped off from his seat, and slowly used the wheels of your chair to roll you over to the couch. 

Once the wheels met the edge of the couch, Oz cupped his hands around your neck and lower waist. Using all his strength he moved you from the chair to the couch. Thankfully the transition didn’t disturb you. 

Oswald took a deep exhale in relief. Now he got to take a good luck at your sleeping face. 

It should be a crime to be this cute. It should be an even harsher offense to have someone so precious like you work for the likes of him. However he enjoyed your company too much, call him selfish but you made him happy. You made him feel like a human, deserving of happiness and love. Call him selfish if was ever going to give that up. 

He didn’t even notice him crossing his arms on the couch. Slowly, he lowered his head to rest on top of his folded arms. Just watching you peacefully sleep. 

You were able to peacefully doze off in his presence. Oswald began reminiscing on all his memories with you, and just how joyful and content he was in each one. 

Oz slowly drifted off to sleep too, dreaming of the past with you and the future that has yet to make itself known. But if you were there with him, Oswald was more than ready for whatever the future holds.

[primofate]

2K Followers Event: Pancake and Waffle Cafe Masterlist

Nutella Waffles (overhearing and misunderstanding a conversation/situation) MODERN AU ANGST

Characters: Childe, Kazuha, Thoma, Albedo, Kaeya, Zhongli, fem!reader

Warnings: not proofread :D, cheating, fighting, insulting, misunderstanding (duh), pregnancy, sexual innuendos, implying sex, mentions of sex, still SFW though, of course I bent the lore since it’s an AU

Notes: I had trouble with this so I decided to make it a modern AU. That’s also why it took so long. I think my brain is starting to run dry XD I mean, there’s only so much situations/conversations I could think of that could be misunderstood. Still, enjoy!

Childe

"Ah, sorry, Y/N, I can’t walk you home today... Maybe tomorrow?” Childe smiled at you, scratching the back of his head, his school bag swung over his shoulder already. He looked like he was in a hurry. 

It’s been a few days like this and you really didn’t know what was happening. You asked him if he needed help with stuff at home or if he was having a hard time with his homework and if that’s why he was always rushing off. He would just give you the same smile and wave a hand. “It’s nothing like that,” and then off he’d go. 

The next day, as you walk towards his classroom during lunchtime you hear him and his friends talking before you even reach the classroom door. 

“Zoe is totally cute,” Childe says. The voice he uses is something that he’d never used on you before. You freeze in your tracks and try to listen in more. “Wow, she really is! Great job picking her!” one of his friends said and it sounded as if they’d hit Childe on the back as a congratulations. “Let me see, let me see,” another one says followed by a gasp. “Have you taken her out yet?” Childe laughs nervously and you know all too well without even looking at him that he’s probably scratching his head. “No, not yet,” 

“Does your girlfriend know yet?” Someone else asks.

And then you hear a laugh that’s all too mischievous. All too playful. All too heart-wrenching. “She doesn’t know!” and they continue to laugh.

You turn away and try your hardest not to let tears escape from your eyes. It felt as if you were being laughed at. Like everyone knew that he was cheating. Everyone except you. It doesn’t help that there was a Zoe in the other class too. The way his friends laughed made your cheeks heat up in embarrassment and the tears you were so desperately holding back to finally flow through.

You ended up staying in the washroom for the whole of lunch time, staying in a cubicle for an extra few minutes, late for the next class.

Somehow you didn’t expect Childe to still show up in your classroom to pick you up for the day and walk you home. You stare at him at the classroom door, your eyes had already gone back to their normal shade, but still glossy. He doesn’t notice, he has a big smile on his face that mocks you. Ridicules you. 

“Y/N! Let’s go together today!” Does he feel guilty? Is that why he finally agrees to walk home with you? Cause he’s had his fill of Zoe already? You don’t say a word and exit the classroom, going past him. Childe blinks, and turns to watch you walking away from him. “Y/N?”

He walks after you, and takes his place next to you. He touches the strap of your backpack, as usual, and says “I’ll take this--”

“I got it,” you reply curtly and move away from him. He’s dumbfounded, eyes still a little wide at your sudden coldness. Now he’s getting anxious. Did he do something wrong? “H-Hey...Y/N, are you mad because I didn’t walk home with you the past couple days? See, I was just--”

“I’m not that petty!” You nearly growl at him, holding his gaze for a few seconds before walking off again. Your eyes are starting to prickle with more tears. You just wanted to get home. As soon as you can. Away from him. You didn’t have the heart to break up with him face to face. You liked him too much, you knew you wouldn’t be able to do it while looking at his handsome face. 

Then, he snatches your wrist and pulls you back towards him. The school hallways are emptying out, there’s a few students walking by who ignore the two of you. “Then what’s the matter? I don’t like it when we fight. At least tell me what I did!” 

You wrench your wrist away from his and start sniffing. He stands there, shocked at where your tears are coming from. Until you start talking. “I heard you, during lunch time,” his eyebrows furrow. “Lunch...time?” He mumbles, not following. “When you were talking about your cute Zoe!” He doesn’t say anything for a moment and that only confirms your fears. 

He’d been looking at other girls, and probably wanting them.

“...Y/N, Zoe is...” Childe scratched his cheek, averting his eyes away. 

“I don’t wanna hear it,” you try to turn away, but he doesn’t let you and holds your shoulders with his hands, staring straight at you. “My dog,” You were crying at this point, and when you hear his next words your eyes narrow. “W-What?”

“Zoe is my new dog,” 

“B-But your friend asked if you took her out yet...”

“Yeah,” Childe tilted his head, “for a walk?” As you start to connect the dots he takes out his phone and shows you the picture of a cute miniature poodle, it had a collar and a silver tag on it that said “Zoe”. You thought that you might cry again at how cute she was but you just glare up at Childe. “Well, I didn’t tell you cause I was gunna surprise you. I’ve been going home early these days cause we had to go visit the pound a few times and finalize the papers and everything...” 

“I-Is that true? Is that all it is?” You sniff, now wiping your stupid tears away. Childe smiles down at you and takes your hands away from your face, replacing it with his, thumbing away the streaks of wetness. “Y/N, no one can ever replace you,” you sniff and let him dote on you. You’d been missing him for a while anyway. 

“...Well except Zoe, maybe Zoe can,” he’s clearly teasing you and you don’t hesitate to lift your fist and punch him on the shoulder, earning a small “Ow,” from him followed by a laugh. “I’m just kidding, how ‘bout you come over and visit her today? It’s only her second day home!”

Thoma

You’d made an appointment with your friend a long time ago. Just a quick lunch and catch up date. Thoma had graciously volunteered to drive you to the mall where you were meeting up with her.

“You sure you don’t need me to pick you up? It’s Saturday. I’m free,” he flashes you a smile, his eyes darting towards you only for a second before going back to the road. “I’ll be fine hun, I’ll take the bus home,” you reply to him.

Halfway through your journey he says that he needs to buy something from a convenience store, and so he parks the car properly and grabs his wallet. His phone is on the car phone stand and you pay no heed to it until a soft ‘ding’ makes you pick your head up to look at the screen. 

Your best friend’s name pops up, she’s messaged him and your blood runs cold.

“I’ll come over when Y/N’s gone,” the message read. Your heart is already at your throat, and you don’t know what to think. What is this make-believe situation that you’re suddenly in. Is this really happening? Your eyes dart upwards to look at the door of the convenience store. You could see Thoma was still looking at the shelves.

You gulp and you wonder what the right thing to do is. Invade his privacy and peek at his messages? Let it go? Confront him? Cry? Another ‘ding’ fills up the car.

“How long is she going to be out? The longer the better. So...” you couldn’t read the rest of the message, it being cut off but you were already spiraling down the hole of despair. How could he? Your sweet and loyal Thoma ended up going behind your back with your best friend. You thought you were going to be sick, you actually had to roll the windows of the car down to get some fresh air, just as Thoma came out of the convenience store door with a plastic bag. 

You couldn’t look at him. You couldn’t even be in the same space as him. You were going to cancel today with your friend, you didn’t think you’d be able to function properly. When he sat on the driver’s seat and saw you looking out the window, he didn’t think much of it and revved the engine up. “Ready hu--”

“Take me to my sister’s place,” Thoma blinked and turned to you, confused. “But, what about your lunch date today, dear?”

“I don’t feel like going. My sister’s place is nearby, just drop me off there,” Your hands were already typing a reply to the friend that you were about to stand up on, but you couldn’t even think of what to do or say. 

“Dear is everything okay?” He asked while backing the car up, arm outstretched to your side while he’s looking at the rear. He was appalled by your sudden mood change. You didn’t answer but he hears you sniff and he immediately stops the car again. “Y/N? What’s wrong?” He’s alarmed that you’re crying and he reaches to cup your chin and tilt it towards him but you move your face away from him. 

“Y/N?” he asked, the confusion in his voice is actually genuine and you can hear a bit of panic in it. “How long have you been seeing Aya?” you spit the words as if they’re poison and the car is quiet. You laugh bitterly. “I thought so, cat got your tongue, huh?” 

Thoma shook himself out of his confusion to say, “No, wait, I don’t know what you mean,” You scoff at him. You’re shocked at the amount of resentment you had, you trusted this man and yet this is what happens. “Yeah? Why is she sneaking into our house then?” You point at his phone, the screen is still lit up because of the messages and there were more coming in from your best friend. 

Thoma snatches the phone away from the stand and looks at it. Then, he deflates and slumps back on his seat. “Y/N, it’s not what you think,” You hate that line so much. You cross your arms and say, “Just drop me at my sister’s house,” 

“Y/N--”

“NOW!”

The drive was quiet. You didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to push you but didn’t want to drop you off to your sister’s without explaining as well. So, just before your sister’s block, he parks on the side and unbuckles his seat belt, then opens your side of the door. “Y/N, listen to me,” he’s rarely this assertive, but you still don’t listen. He’s blocking your escape path. 

“It’s your birthday today,” Thoma starts and you blink, completely forgetting about it. “Ayu is sneaking in our house while you’re gone because we were going to set up a surprise for you.” He says slowly, as if he’s talking to a child. Your eyes widen, and you relax in your seat. He gives you his phone and urges you, “Go on, Y/N, you know my passcode right? I don’t hide anything from you, you can read the rest,” 

You hesitate, but accept his offer and type it in. 

“How long is she going to be out? The longer the better. So we can set up the balloons,”

“I got the cake don’t forget the candles and lighter,”

Thoma picks up his other hand that had the white plastic bag from the convenience store, he picks up the two items from inside. Birthday candles. And a lighter. 

Your mouth opens, but you can’t say anything and you only bury your face in your hands out of shame. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry Thoma, I--” He manages to let out a laugh and kisses the top of your head. “I’m so stupid. I trust you, I really do, I just--” now you’re not sure if you’re crying out of relief or embarrassment. “I’m so sorry,” You can’t say anything else and he only kisses you on the forehead again.

“It’s alright, you can make it up to me by going on that lunch date, okay? You deserve the rest. You haven’t cancelled yet have you? Let’s freshen up at your sister’s place and I’ll send you to the mall,” 

You nod your head, small smile on your face. This was gunna be one story to tell in the future.

“Oh and it would help if you act surprised when you come home,” Thoma adds with a full laugh that you join in on. 

Kaeya

"So how are you and Y/N?”

It’d only been a couple of months of the two of you dating. Kaeya was handsome, gallant and he knew exactly what to say to people. It wasn’t a secret that he was quite popular in school. 

Little old you was just another girl in just another class.

“Good, I think,” Kaeya responds, you smile around the corner, hidden from sight, knowing that he was taking a juice box break with his friends. “It’s a little annoying though,” your smile drops and your head tilts sideways in question. “I can’t keep her away and she doesn’t even realize how annoying it is,” 

Keep me away? You think. Am I too clingy? You hear them exchange words a bit more, but none of the other words process in your head. Their laughter spurs you out of your thoughts and you return to your classroom dumbfounded. 

When the bell rang for dismissal you immediately packed and walked home by yourself. Kaeya was confused when he arrived at your classroom door, and found that you weren’t there anymore. “...Hey, did Y/N go home?” he asked one of your passing classmates. “Yeah, she went out pretty fast,”

Now he was worried. Did something happen at home? He takes his phone out as he’s out the school building, tapping your name and calling, only for the call to not even connect. His brows furrow but nonetheless, he goes home for today and types in a message for you.

“Hey, you okay? Talk to me if you need something,” 

The next day, when he usually waits outside your door for you to come out, he realizes that you’re a little late and further realizes that you weren’t going to come out. He wasn’t about to knock on your door, your parents didn’t know about him yet. 

He tries to call you again but he’s met with the same result as yesterday. He sighs and looks up at the sky while he’s walking. He hasn’t seen you for nearly a full day now, and he doesn’t realize how long a full day is until now. He just wants to see your smiling face again and he starts to wonder if he’d done something wrong. 

By lunchtime, he’s sprinting towards your classroom as soon as the bell rings, wondering if you were there. Indeed, finally, he spots you in your classroom and his shoulders slump in relief only to tense up again when he sees a guy in your class talking to you, and you, smiling happily. 

“Y/N,” he calls out to you, waving his hand. You look away from your conversation to him and he notices how your smile turns into a tight line on your face. His own smile drops, but you walk out of the classroom anyway and address him. “Yes?” He blinks down at your tone of voice. “U-Uh... Wanna have lunch together?” 

“...But it’s annoying that I’m clingy right?” The two of you unconsciously move away from the door to out in the hallway, so that you’re not blocking the way of people coming in and out. He narrows his eyes in confusion. Where is this coming from? “I--No, what do you mean? I never said that,” 

“Yesterday, you said you can’t keep me away and it’s annoying,” you averted your gaze, feeling your eyes start to water. Kaeya reels back a little, replaying things in his mind, trying to remember if he said something like that. And, with a light bulb moment, his face breaks into a grin and slight laughter. You glare up at him, “What? It’s funny?”

Kaeya places a hand on your shoulder and explains while smiling. “Y/N, you didn’t listen to the rest of the conversation, did you?”

---What really happened---

“It’s really annoying though. I can’t keep her away and she doesn’t even realize how annoying it is,” he sips on his juice box again.

One of his friends pipe up, “Dude that’s a little harsh,”

Kaeya blinks. Once, twice and thrice. Until it dawns on him. “Oh, no, I meant that I can’t keep her away from other people,” he grins and leans both his elbows on the windowsill. “She doesn’t realize that she’s super friendly, and other people like talking to her a lot. Whenever I go to her classroom she’s always talking to different people.”

His friends make a sound of understanding. “I wish I could just keep her to myself,” and continues sipping on his juice.

“That’s really cheesy, even for you, Kaeya,” one of his friends say and the lot of them starts laughing.

---That’s what really happened---

It was your turn to blink at him, confused. “S-So...”

Kaeya pats your head and smiles. “You can ask my friends if it makes you feel better,”

A small blush crosses your cheeks and you duck your head to hide it. It earns yet another chuckle from him. Your moment is interrupted by another guy who approaches the two of you. “Hey, Y/N, if you’re free, do you think you could help me out with this? I don’t really understand it,” 

Kaeya just looks at the guy and sighs, then turns to you again. “See what I mean?” to which you just goofily smile at. 

Kazuha 

“You saw what?”

Your hands freeze, holding the book you were reading open. The living room had gotten lively again, seeing as your little brother had come home from school. “I saw Kazuha with a girl,” 

You try to keep your face composed. It was a school day. You’d stayed home because you weren’t feeling too well. Your brother was saying it without a care in the world. He was just a grade schooler and telling you about the things he observed. He was looking through the fridge for something to drink. 

You didn’t ask more, but you were DYING to know more. Kazuha didn’t mention going anywhere today... You picked your phone up and wondered if you should ask him. Your phone had blown up this morning cause he didn’t see you at school and he was wondering if you were alright. 

But it seems that Kazuha himself was having a grand time too.

“So...T-The girl...Did they look close?”

Your little brother closes the fridge and looks at you while drinking from a milk carton. “Mm...They were holding each other...” You bit your lip as tingles run down your spine. They weren’t the good kind. It was the kind that you get when you watch horror movies and or a drama movie and a revelation had just happened. You were silent for a moment, but in your mind you were already thinking of how Kazuha looked with another girl. Holding each other? What did your brother mean? Like...hugging? Or...? But you couldn’t ask him about that, could you?!

You sighed out loud and slammed the book you were reading down on the table, just as your phone started ringing. “Kazuha,” you whispered under your breath and looked at your phone screen. Well...you believed in him, and you thought the best way to clear this up is to talk to him about it.

So, you grabbed your phone and retreated into your bedroom to talk to him. You picked up the call, “Kazu-kun?”

“Y/N,” he greeted. Even apart, his voice has this effect on you. Like he was really there and breathing into your ear, sending shivers down your spine. You were sure that you were blushing. “How are you? Are you feeling better?” His voice is smooth and calm and you melt into your bed. “Yeah, a little,”

“Could I come over later? I just want to check on you,” You smile into your phone and close your eyes. Kazuha could never do that to you, you think to yourself. But still, you really wanted to ask. “Of course, I don’t think my parents would mind...Hey,” you start, your fingers nervously drawing circles on your pillow. “My brother said he saw you...with a girl,”

There’s silence on the other line, and you can hear him shifting a little. “A...girl?” He repeats the question and you bite your lip. He sounds unsure and now you were unsure too. “Yeah, he said that you were holding on to each other...or something,” Again some silence, until he makes a sound of understanding.

“Ah, he must mean Sango,” there’s a little lilt to his voice, like he was happy and you were a little jealous. “Sango’s my cousin, she came to surprise me for my birthday week.” Kazuha laughs nervously and adds a little hesitantly. “She...uhm...would like to meet you actually, is it okay if I bring her over today?” 

Your heart sighs in relief, as do you and you don’t realize that you’ve done that out loud. In the next moment though, you smile and nod, even though he can’t see you. “Of course! Bring her over!” 

Albedo (More fluff than angst)

Cleaning at home was one of the things you did to get your mind off of things. Some people would call it tedious, but to you, it was sort of relaxing. It was something easy to do, you didn’t need much of your brain, just motor memory. Folding. Laundry. Ironing. Sweeping. Basic chores.

But when you clean up in the bedroom you shared with your boyfriend, and found a neatly wrapped present, red wrapping paper and blue ribbon tied on the top with a tag that said “To: Leila” you’re a little dumbfounded.

Who’s Leila? Is your first thought. Your second thought is, what’s inside? You hold the nicely wrapped box in your hand and turn it all over, trying to get some type of hint. A flash of doubt seeps into your mind but you shake it away. Albedo isn’t like that...Is he? He’s always so dedicated to his scientific research and sure he comes home late sometimes but he always makes it up to you on the weekends...

So who’s Leila? You ask yourself again. And why hasn’t he mentioned it to you? Why didn’t he ask YOU to wrap it? Menial tasks like these were usually passed on to you. You bite your thumb just thinking about it, but in the end just leave the present where you find it.

Later that night as you’re fixing dinner, you aren’t as bothered by the gift as when you first saw it. But it’s still there at the back of your mind and it resurfaces to the front when you hear the familiar keys rattle. Despite that, as he snakes his arms around your waist from behind you can’t help but smile and melt a little, pressing back against him as he leans over to kiss your cheek. “...Smells nice,” he simply mumbles and closes his eyes, enjoying the warmth of both you and your home.

“Welcome back,” you say, while closing the lid on the pot and turning around to give him a proper kiss on the lips. He hums into the kiss as a response and pulls you away from the stove. “How’s your day?” he asks you first and you smile, because your day is nearly the same time and time again. “Fine, I did find a little secret though...” you start and peek up at his beautiful eyes. 

He nods to ask you to continue. “A present, nicely wrapped. and it’s addressed to someone called Leila,” He looks down at you and you stare at him. A moment passes by before he takes his arms back and go into his thinking pose. “...Leila...?” he asks, eyes averting from your gaze. You wonder if he’s pretending. You wonder if he’s trying to make an excuse up. “...I don’t--” and then his eyebrows twitch. “Ah,” he says and drops his arms to his side.

“We were invited to a birthday party, remember? By a co-worker,” he tucks in strands of your hair as he talks. “It’s her daughter’s first birthday...I don’t care much for such things but you insisted it’d be alright to go.” he chuckles a little. “Her daughter’s name is Leila,” 

You make a sound of understanding. Suddenly your hesitant thoughts wither away. “Hmmm? You could’ve asked me to wrap the present,” Albedo pulls away from you and towards the fridge, wanting a glass of water. “The wrapping wasn’t done by me, it was the shop, free service,” and so it made more sense.

And although you want to ask more questions, like where he got it, when and what’s inside, you realize it’s such a trivial thing. It was not worth that much time. A gift is a gift, and you turn back to continue making dinner while making idle conversation with him. 

Zhongli (Warning: Suggestive) (but this is also my personal favourite... aha...)

“Zhongli?” You arrive home a little early today, dropping your keys at the front shelf. You don’t hear him anywhere and you shuffle around your living room for a while, looking at the letters for today. 

He was on a work from home arrangement today, and he would usually be in his office. You were quite sure that he would’ve come out to greet you though, if he heard you. He must be busy at the moment. 

You’d wanted to wash your hands as soon as you came home, and went for the guest washroom. When you open the door, your eyes land on something on the counter, next to the sink. This bathroom was always kept clean for visitors. You liked to host people once in a while, or just invite friends and you took pride in having them comfortable in your house.

Your eyes narrow as you go closer and your hands pick up a pregnancy test that was lying there. 

It was positive.

You put it back down and shudder a little. You don’t remember getting a pregnancy test. You bite your lip and look at yourself in the mirror. You’re already jumping to conclusions, and you can’t help it. Who the hell would leave a pregnancy test in YOUR guest bathroom? Zhongli didn’t mention anything...

You sigh a breath out and close the bathroom door behind you, taking your phone out to text your best friend.

“There’s a positive pregnancy test in our guest bathroom,”

After a moment, there’s a reply.

“OMG Are you preggers?!”

“No, it’s not mine,”

The next reply takes a moment more. “Oh, maybe ask him?” and you know that your friend hadn’t known what to reply at that moment. Because a random positive pregnancy test in your guest bathroom was NOT a good sign. To top it off, you didn’t announce to Zhongli that you were coming home early today.

Your perk up when you hear noise from the other room. You open the bathroom door slightly, and hear the unmistakable low voice of your fiance, coupled with...the voice of another woman. You close the bathroom door again, not bothering to lock it, and sit on the closed toilet seat. You’re sitting there with nothing in your mind, unable to think.

A few minutes later the voices are louder, they’ve moved to the living room, right outside the bathroom you were in. You tense up, and your jaw tightens. You don’t want to see them. You don’t want to hear them. For a moment you wish that you didn’t come home early, and just pretend this didn’t happen, but the door to the bathroom door opens, leaving you eye to eye with a woman you recognize.

Luna was a beautiful woman. Long cascading brown hair, they’re wavy and stops right at her waist. Doll-like blue eyes and a slender body. She sees you sitting there and you feel stupid, but she just breaks into a grin. “Y/N!” she grabs you by the wrist and pulls you out of the bathroom before you could even say anything. You’re numb, so you don’t respond to anything around you.

Zhongli turns around wide-eyed to see you standing there meekly, not meeting his gaze. He still goes to you though and asks curiously. “When did you come in? I didn’t hear you,” he places a hand on your arm while Luna releases you, but you still don’t look up and he wonders if something happened at your workplace to make you come home so early. “Luna and Childe stopped by,” Zhongli says, in at attempt to cheer you up. You look up, and only then did you realize that Childe was there too, talking animatedly to Luna. You tilt your head sideways, “They came with a surprise. Ah, but it’s not mine to tell,” 

That’s right... Luna and Childe had been together for a while and then it hits you when Luna shows you the same positive pregnancy test you saw on the counter, and announces that she’s pregnant. Your eyes are wide. You can’t tell if you’re more relieved that it wasn’t what you thought or more happy for your friends. You feel horrible about it but you manage to crack a smile and went along with the festivities. The more time passed the more you were able to enjoy their happiness and by the time they left, that was the only time you sighed and let your shoulders slump, exhausted.

“Is something the matter?” Zhongli asked. He noticed how your smiles were a tad bit forced. How you seemed to enjoy everything but also seemed to be on edge. You turn to him and shook your head. “It’s...stupid. It’s my mistake,” but he holds on to your waist and urges you to tell him.

And you tell him. How you came home and saw what you saw in the guest bathroom, what you thought it was and how you felt. The only thing you can feel now is embarrassment and shame. You couldn’t even feel happy for your friend. Zhongli only smiles and combs his hand through your hair. “It’s the normal reaction,” he reassures you, again trying to make you feel better. You only respond with your own hug but his next sentence makes you flustered, all thoughts of earlier gone as he whispers into your ear.

“Would you like your own positive pregnancy test?”

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[kiki-shortsnout]

Intimacy prompt 34 and 37 for IronStrange pleaze?.

Oh I think Have I Ever is my favorite work of yours in intimacy because there's no way those 2 will get together without being dramatic first haha XD

Hey! Thank you for the ask, and thank you for the compliment, I'm happy you're enjoying these prompts!

Whew! I'm making some progress on these prompts!

***

‘Do you regret it?’

Tony pulled up his sunglasses so he could give him the full effect of his unimpressed stare.

‘Am I supposed to pluck the context out of thin air, Strange? Regret what?’ he asked, flicking his sunglasses back into place, and sinking his feet further into the scorching sand. He heard the breath leaving the wizard’s lungs as he sat up on the blanket, the shift of bare skin across the fibers of it.

‘No, because you know exactly what I’m talking about.’

Groaning dramatically, Tony flung his arms out behind him to support his weight as he leant back, palms stinging from the heat of the sand, glorious, smoldering heat. He didn’t answer straight away, keeping his gaze locked on Morgan leaping through the frothy waves, Peter a few seconds behind her, just as excited.

‘No. No, I don’t regret it.’

His divorce with Pepper wasn’t something he liked to talk about, but their relationship was well past the point of idle chitchat. Hours wedged together on an alien spaceship would do that. They’d stared at death incarnate together, had given everything they could to stop Thanos, and that formed a connection between people, regardless of their backgrounds.

Magical or not.

Tony sat up, inching closer to the shade Stephen had refused to leave the whole time they’d been at Malibu, and taking a moment to eye up his milky white skin. The man looked like he could get sunburnt in the shade. Using magic to tilt the umbrella so Tony could share, Stephen scooped up the seashells Morgan had found earlier, gleaming treasure she had entrusted him with their safekeeping.

It made him smile, how seriously Stephen treated her, and it made an unusual sensation stir in his chest, a feeling he hadn’t felt in a long time, not since he’d first started dating Pepper.

‘I think she loved the idea of me, what I could be, what I would’ve been if not for Iron Man,’ Tony said suddenly, watching his kids screech as the Cloak chased after them, shaking water from its fabric, indicating it’d been dunked in saltwater.

‘I wanted to be that man for her, I really did, and she’s still one of the most important people to me, not because she’s the mother of my child, but because I love her. I always will, just not in the way she deserves.’

‘Tony, this wasn’t an excuse for you to start tearing your self-esteem into ribbons,’ Stephen scolded.

‘I’m not, I’m answering your question. I knew, we both knew as soon as I leapt aboard the alien doughnut that it was over. We tried to work past it, all of us left behind in the five years you guys were gone tried to cobble our lives back together, but it…’ Tony sighed, scooping up a handful of sand and gazing at the millions of sun-kissed gems, fragments that created a whole.

‘I get it, I suppose it’s hard to love a hero, it’s hard to understand…unless you’re one yourself.’

‘I don’t blame her for wanting me to give up Iron Man, I get it, I just…couldn’t. I tried, but as soon as you came to me about Thanos, I knew I had to go…I didn’t stop to think about how it might affect her, jumping on another suicide mission.’

Tony reached over Stephen’s ridiculously long legs to reach his can of lemonade he’d left there earlier, grimacing at the warmth of the liquid, but grateful for the way it soothed his dry throat.

‘What about you, asshole, you got a special lady?’ Tony asked, deflecting the conversation.

‘Nope, no special someone,’ Stephen stressed the last part, watching the kids in the water and inhaling deeply.

Now that Tony didn’t know. He should’ve really, after the flirty little wink he’d given when they’d first met, but Tony had chalked that up to the man showing off his impressive skills. Tony wasn’t arrogant enough that he couldn’t admit Stephen had an extraordinary repertoire of skills, and the man could fight…but he didn’t have to verbalize it.

Strange had a big enough head already.

‘You were right, this…this was needed,’ Stephen said, waving a hand at the beach, indicating the this. Tony was distracted by the tremble in his fingers, the slender scars across his fingers and the back of his hands, revealing the trauma, the pain he must have felt having pins in his bones.

He could understand that, the story scars left behind, the proof of their hubris.

‘Well, I promised you both, didn’t I? Once we got back to Earth and everyone was saved, we were going to have a holiday. No outer space travels, no insane alien overlords trying to destroy us. Just us, the sun, sea and warm lemonade,’ Tony held his up in a toast, grinning as Stephen grabbed his own can and clinked the side of it.

Morgan had stopped running in the sea and was now digging a hole in the sand with her bare hands, watching as the tide came in and filled it, trying to create a moat of sorts. Lifting her head, Tony watched the briny breeze tease her salt-crusted tangles away from her face. His love for her startled him at times, how he could love another being as much as this. He loved Peter too, the kid had been his driving force to discover the trick behind time travel, and he’d risked everything to bring him home.

Thinking about them both made other feelings surface too, black oozing things that he tried to suppress, negative feelings about why his own father couldn’t have felt the same, if one day he would treat Morgan and Peter with the same cold-hearted disregard.

‘Tony, hey douchebag, you alright?’

The sun overhead burnt his gaze gold as he lifted his eyes, leaving him dazed and blinking back tears.

‘Yeah, sorry, I’m good.’

‘You drifted away there…anything you want to talk about?’ Stephen asked, his tone careful, trying not to probe.

‘Nah, Doc, just my daddy issues rearing their ugly head again.’

Stephen looked at him then, his aquamarine eyes glowing from the sun’s reflection, and Tony felt like his gaze was burning back the layers he swathed himself in, piercing his body and reading his mind. He couldn’t explain it, but he’d always had the sense Stephen knew more than what he revealed, that he could see things in the fabric of the universe that Tony was blind to.

Fourteen million futures, each a glimpse of a possibility, how many more of them were out there? What else had Stephen seen?

‘Tony, you��re a wonderful parent,’ Stephen argued.

‘How would you know!’ He regretted the snap, knowing it was part of his self-defense mechanism, but Stephen didn’t know him that well yet to recognize it for what it was, and he opened his mouth to apologize when he suddenly found a trembling hand across his mouth.

‘Because I’ve watched you with them. I saw you with Peter on the ship, the sheer horror in your eyes when you thought you’d brought him to his death, I could literally hear your brain trying to think of a way to send him home. With Morgan, Tony, you worship the ground she walks on, you’re caring, attentive…’ Stephen trailed off, a slight redness to his cheeks as he let his hand fall.

Tony went to warn him that he was burning from the sun when he caught sight of Stephen’s gaze fixed on his lips. Feeling daunting, he let the tip of his tongue come out to wet his bottom lip, suppressing his laugh when he saw Stephen’s blush deepen, his gaze turning back towards the sea.

He could do one of two things here. Ignore what had just happened and go back to the carefree attitude they were enjoying at the beach, or address the issue and explore the possibilities of what it could mean for them. Despite how quickly his brain tended to work, the way it could create possible scenarios and see them through in order for him to select the best one, Tony found himself hesitating.

‘When you said it’s hard to love a hero…were you referring to yourself?’ Tony asked.

Stephen didn’t answer for a moment, his gaze now on the Cloak shielding the kids from the worst of the sunshine, its collar dipping down as it tried to examine the castle Peter was building beside Morgan’s moat.

‘It’s not hard to love you,’ Stephen answered, his words nearly lost in the breeze.

‘I’ll have you know it’s near impossible to love me,’ Tony joked, his mouth moving faster than his brain. ‘I’m a mess, I forget about people when I’m inventing, I’ll always put the safety of Earth before my partner-’

Stephen’s mouth on his made his ramblings stop, the touch of shaking fingers on his jaw felt like wind brushing over sunburnt skin, blistering and soothing in equal measure.

‘It’s because of those things that I like you,’ Stephen murmured against his lips. ‘It’s not the idea of you I love, Tony Stark, I know who you are. Fourteen million versions of you.’

Despite the surprise he felt at this revelation, the clench in his gut from the anticipation of what this could mean, Tony smiled against his lips, leaning closer.

‘Sorry I didn’t ask,’ Stephen whispered across his mouth. ‘Can I kiss you again, Tony?’ His free hand covered Tony’s on the sand as the other continued to sweep across his jawbone, down to his throat and back again.

‘I could be persuaded,’ Tony agreed with a laugh, pretending to fight off Stephen’s tongue invading his mouth, falling back to the ground dramatically. ‘Why, Doctor Strange, I didn’t know you had it in you!’ he mock gasped, wriggling away from Stephen’s lunge, and getting to his feet as he scrambled down to the water.

‘Prepare to eat seawater, Stark,’ Stephen growled from behind him, giving chase.

He’d never seen himself in this position five years ago, hadn’t been able to see past the frigid metal walls of the doughnut ship as he hurtled forward on his suicide mission, but he was glad events had led him here. Looking over his shoulder at Stephen’s skin gleaming in the light as he pelted after Tony on the beach, he screamed for Morgan to save him, cackling as she ordered the Cloak to stop the Sorcerer Supreme.

This wasn’t where he saw his life at all, divorced, a beautiful daughter, an all but adopted mutant child, a sentient Cloak and a potential wizard boyfriend, but he was happy.

For the first time in years, he could say with complete honesty that he was content with his life.

[purrincess-chat]

My Chosen’s Keeper CH1

Here is a silly Lila revenge AU I came up with a while back where Tikki catches Lila in her attempts from the Ladybug episode. This AU is mostly meant to be crack and kwami mischief, so don’t read to much into it. XD

Read on AO3

Summary: When Tikki catches Lila in a scheme against Marinette, she decides to teach her a lesson about messing with her chosen. Lila quickly learns that the k in karma stands for kwami.

Chapter 1

There was a rule for kwamis bound to a Miraculous: follow the orders of your master. On most days, Tikki had no problems with this rule because her master was kind and granted her as much freedom as she wanted. It was why she’d become so fond of her. Out of all the Ladybugs to cross her path, she felt the closest bond with Marinette. She shared her joys and triumphs as well as her failures and sorrow, and when necessary circumstances arose, she fought to protect her.

Normally, she wasn’t one to meddle in the affairs of humans, but when her master’s honor was at stake, she couldn’t sit by and do nothing. Marinette had a lot of friends, but even the kindest of people are bound to have enemies—and boy did Marinette pick good ones.

Lila Rossi was evil. It was a fact Tikki and Marinette knew quite well, but she learned firsthand how dangerous Lila could be one fateful afternoon.

It was an ordinary day. The weather was tepid and clear. She’d taken a nap during Marinette’s exam in Mlle. Bustier’s class, enjoying the quiet while it lasted. No akumas interrupted their morning, and she was just getting to the good part of the book in Marinette’s backpack when her space was abruptly invaded.

She peeked her head through the fabric. Marinette was staring quizzically at her phone while an orange blur slipped up the aisle unnoticed by anyone but Tikki. Her eyes narrowed, and she leaned back as Marinette shut the locker door. A packet of papers had been shoved into the bag, and Tikki recognized Mlle. Bustier’s handwriting and…the test answers!

Why would Lila put them in Marinette’s bag? What was she up to? Was she was scheming to get Marinette in trouble? Sinking down to the floor of the bag, Tikki chewed her lip.

Should she say something and warn Marinette? She didn’t like meddling, but she couldn’t let Lila get away with whatever she was planning. What if Marinette got akumatized for it? Then there would be no Ladybug to save the day, and Hawkmoth would get her earrings. Tikki couldn’t let that happen at any cost!

Marinette had visited the teacher’s lounge once before to deliver some papers to Mlle. Bustier, so Tikki retraced those steps, toting the folded exam papers. Teachers were gathered together around a table, discussing how their students had faired on their recent exams. Sneaking past humans was risky, but the fate of the world was at stake.

Taking a deep breath, she flitted over to Mlle. Bustier’s bag, phasing through the fabric with the answer sheets. She waited a few seconds, listening, but none of the teachers had seen anything suspicious, so she relaxed. Marinette never noticed her absence as Tikki slipped into her purse in the lunchroom, and her chosen was none the wiser to what had transpired as she headed back to class.

“Good afternoon class, I’ve graded your exams from this morning, but before we get into that…Marinette, may I see your schoolbag for a moment?” Mlle. Bustier asked, and Tikki dropped to the floor to watch as Marinette moved to the front of the room. “I received an anonymous tip in my mailbox that someone had taken the test answers.”

“What? But I’d never do something like that! Why would you suspect me?” Marinette said as Mlle. Bustier rifled through her backpack.

“I know you wouldn’t, Marinette, but I have to investigate to be certain because you did receive a perfect score on my exam,” she said, and Marinette’s face lit up.

“I did? Yes!” She cheered then more soberly added, “But not because I cheated. I studied really hard for that test.”

“Yeah, Mlle. Bustier, Marinette always scores really well on your tests,” Alya added.

“And we all know it’s not like her to cheat,” Adrien said, and several other classmates voiced similar sentiments.

“Everyone, please calm down. It seems as though this anonymous tipper was mistaken. I’ve found nothing incriminating in your bag, Marinette, and I apologize for the inconvenience. I’m proud of you for studying so hard,” Mlle. Bustier said, passing her bag back with a smile.

“Thanks, Mlle. Bustier,” Marinette said, returning to her seat.

No one noticed Lila’s face harden in the back row, but Tikki hadn’t taken her eyes off her through the whole ordeal. Confusion, annoyance, anger. That wouldn’t be the last attempt Lila made to frame Marinette, and as much as Tikki hated interfering, she needed to keep Marinette safe.

A few minutes into class, Lila asked to be excused to the restroom, and Tikki followed. Her heart hammered the whole way, but she pressed on, driven by a sense of duty to her owner. As expected, Lila had another trick up her sleeve. She carefully picked the lock on Marinette’s locker then pulled a small box from her pocket and placed it inside before closing the door and returning to class.

Tikki phased through the metal and lifted the lid of the box to find the fake fox pendant Lila bought to fool Adrien on her first day of school. Why would she put it in Marinette’s locker? Tikki didn’t trust it, so for the second time that day, she broke her vow and moved the box to Lila’s locker just to be safe.

The decision wore on her conscience until Marinette was called to the principal’s office an hour later. Lila was there wearing a pout, and although Lila couldn’t see her, Tikki glared from Marinette’s purse.

“What’s going on?” Marinette asked as she took the other chair in front of Mr. Damocles’ desk.

“Well, Marinette, I received an anonymous tip that someone saw you taking something that didn’t belong to you, and now Miss Rossi has reported that a necklace was stolen from her locker during lunch,” Mr. Damocles explained.

“What? But I didn’t take anything!”

“But someone saw you, Marinette. I just don’t understand why you’d do such a thing. I’ve always tried to be your friend, but you’ve been so mean to me ever since I moved here,” Lila said with a fake sob, covering her face.

“I didn’t! Mr. Damocles, you know I’d never steal anything,” she said, and he held up a hand to silence her.

“There’s only one way to prove this. Marinette, please show me your locker,” he said, and Marinette shot Lila a glare.

“Gladly.”

The locker room was packed with students preparing for their next class, and all eyes turned to them as they entered. Lila trailed behind them as they walked, playing the perfect victim. Marinette opened her locker and gestured inside to her various books, and Mr. Damocles scratched his chin.

“See?”

“Well, I don’t see anything out of the ordinary,” he said, and Lila’s façade crumbled.

���But-” She gasped, catching herself and puckering her lips once more. “Well, if Marinette didn’t take it then who did?”

“Why don’t you open your locker, Lila?” Marinette suggested, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I already checked my locker. The necklace wasn’t in there, and someone saw you take it. She must have hidden it somewhere, Mr. Damocles,” she shot back, but Mr. Damocles turned to her with a stern expression.

“Lila, why don’t we open your locker and see if maybe you just misplaced your necklace inside?” He asked, and her lips shriveled into a sour purse.

She stalked to her locker and pulled open the door, and at the sight of the small box situated neatly atop her books, her jaw dropped. “But that’s not possible!”

“Well, it looks like your necklace was in your locker after all,” Mr. Damocles said, squaring his shoulders. “Sorry for the inconvenience, Marinette. You’re free to go, and Miss Rossi, do be more careful in the future when searching for your belongings.”

“Yes, Mr. Damocles,” Lila said through gritted teeth.

“Whoa, talk about a crazy day,” Alya said, draping an arm around Marinette’s shoulders.

“Yeah, first someone accuses you of cheating, now they accuse you of stealing.” Nino shook his head. “Someone’s got it out for you, Marinette.”

“Yeah, someone,” Marinette said, shooting a pointed glare in Lila’s direction.

The bell rang, but as students filed off to class, Tikki hung back in Marinette’s locker. While it was unlikely that Lila would try anything a third time, Tikki wanted to be ready just in case. She’d been right to interfere before. If she hadn’t then who knows how bad things would have gotten?

How could anyone be so evil? Somedays, Lila gave Hawkmoth a run for his money. She even hated Ladybug as much as he did. A girl like her was dangerous, and with her around, people were bound to get hurt—people like Marinette. The thought made her eyes water.

One thing was certain: Lila Rossi needed to be stopped.

Tikki jumped at the squeal of the locker room doors, following angry footsteps to the girls’ bathroom. Phasing through the ground, she peeked into the bathroom where Lila stood in front of the mirror with a dark expression. She grumbled to herself about Marinette getting lucky this time, and without thinking, Tikki entered the faucet.

The pipes screeched, and water shot from the nozzle, drenching the girl in front of it. Lila stepped back with a shriek, scrambling to turn the knob. With a huff, she examined the front of her romper then stalked from the room with a growl.

Tikki popped out into the empty room, hands cupping her mouth. Had she really done that? What was she thinking? Was she thinking? Hearing all of those nasty things about Marinette had made her so angry that she just…

She’d sunken into a pit of revenge, and she needed to dig herself out before it was too late. No one could ever know about what she’d done. She needed to get back to Marinette and-

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?”

[hello-nichya-here]

Zucest - Is It Really Flirting?

(Originally posted on AO3 as chapter 43 of Defending and Analysing Zucest)

@azdaema-does-art asked: So I think a big stumbling block for me with this ship is that I very much adhere to the reading of the show that holds:

Quasi-Seducer!Azula (as seen virtually anytime) and Quasi-Seducer!Zuko (as seen in "The Waterbending Scroll") are not actually expressions of desire from them. Rather, this is Zuko and Azula trying to be intimidating by modeling their behavior off their father (circling, personal-space-invading, low seductive tones, etc)

When actually trying to flirt neither Zuko nor Azula acts anything like that. When Zuko goes on that date with a girl in the Earth Kingdom, or Azula flirting with that guy on Ember Island, they're both awkward disasters.

I'd be curious to hear you address this. (Or point me to some awkward disaster!zucest fanfic.)

***

That is a really good point and I'm glad you brought it up. While I understand that reading of the show, I disagree with it slightly for a few reasons (beyond my own bias).

Need to be in control: No one can argue against the fact that neither Zuko nor Azula know how to have "normal", healthy relationships with others, mainly due to how unequal 99% of the relationships in the Fire Nation are since imposing your own will over someone else's has become part of their culture. Both Zuko and Azula accepted being treated like mere tools/punching bags by their father, Zuko was constantly insulting Iroh over the smallest things and Azula full on threatened Ty Lee's life to make her join her on her chase after her brother and the Avatar - both were scenarios where desire wasn't a factor at all (thought I know many fans that would like to think otherwise XD)

However, during The Beach, we saw how both of them try (and fail) to deal with romance. Zuko was extremelly paranoid that Mai was interested in another guy, for no real reason, and was constantly trying to intimidate her into either admiting to it or into saying she disliked the guy, even though she had clearly said she was completely indifferent to him. And Azula, after her kiss with Chan, decided, on her own and not giving a damn about his feelings on the matter, that not only would they be officially a couple, but that they'd dominate the earth together. Control is, more often than not, a major factor in all of their actions and relationships, so Azula wanting to intimidate Zuko in the bedroom scene (which she very much tried to do and succeeded at) doesn't automatically rule out the possibility of atraction.

Mixed feelings: While "I wanna fight/kill my sibling" is sort of these two default state, there are moments that show that they do have at least some positive feelings for each other. Zuko doesn't give a shit that Aang is going to kill Ozai, but seeing Azula falling "to her death" and then chained up and defeated after their Agni Kai quite clearly made him emotional, even if he tried to control himself. Azula's positive feelings for Zuko are so obvious I had to do an in length discussion of it in chapter 12 "Is Zucest just about sex?" Combine all of the conflicting emotions they have for each other with their need to control the other, and some scenes end up getting some connotations the writers weren't planning them to have... supposedly (I'll get into that in a bit)

Awareness and familiarity: Don't get me wrong, Zuko and Azula are two extremelly traumatized, socially awkward teenagers who have no idea how to flirt (or how to fit in with people their age) but we also need to take context into consideration, especiall when it comes to Zuko's date with Jin and Azula's interactions with Chan.

In Ba Sing Se, Zuko was outside of his comfort zone, away from home, in enemy territory, and so paranoid that he assumed Jin came into the tea shop so often because she knew they were Fire Nation, not because she had a crush on him or simply enjoyed their tea. And while he liked her and the date was nice, Zuko was very "stiff" and even looked a bit uncomfortable (not to say very uncomfortable) at some points - which is oddly simmilar to how he was acting during the bedroom scene (hell, Azula was quite clearly looking at him just like Jin did, as I pointed out in "The most important parallel in Avatar"). Finally, we cannot forget that, even though he was awkward as fuck during 90% of the night, Zuko did manage to do something kinda romantic by lighting up the place, meaning he isn't completely oblivious to the concept of flirting (which is proved by his relationship with Mai).

Now, when it comes to Azula, the poor girl has almost no idea how to flirt. Almost. Talking about Chan's sharp outfit shows she's got some of the basis down, like "say something nice" - the problem is that her concept of "nice" is very different than that of most people. She did sort of know what to do once Ty Lee gave her some tips... but she quickly reversed back to her regular ways - which once again shows that flirting/seduction has an element of control and intimidation for her. She probably doesn't always mean to act in ways that could be considered flirty, but that doesn't mean she is completely oblivious to the implications of, let's say, invading her brother's personal space and talking to him in a low tone while wearing nothing but a robe.

And since I mentioned Azula going back to what she knows, that leads us to another thing to take into account: the fact that Zuko and Azula quite literally knew each other their whole lives - meaning if they were to ever flirt with each other, it would probably look at least somewhat different than when they were out of their element. Azula was the one in control, so she was far more comfortable and confident than she had been with Chan, and Zuko was the one being intimidated, which explains why he kept his guard up. Once again, that "theory" is sort of confirmed if we compare how Zuko acted while flirting with Mai on The Headband versus how he tried to interact with her in The Beach - when he used a non-traditional, but very Mai-esque "You're so beautiful when you hate the world" he got her equivalent of an "I love you" when she told him she didn't hate him, but he tried to do more "normal" things like getting her a pretty shell it blew up on his face. He knows Mai since they were both kids, meaning he usually knows how to deal with her, just like Azula usually knows how to deal with him.  

Intensity: While a lot of Azula's behavior can be explained by her copying Ozai, we need to remember that there's only so much he could affect, especially since her way of "intimidating" Zuko was far more touchy and incestuous than his, and lasted a lot longer. Azula gets close to people when she's intimidating them (see how she toyed with Aang in The Drill), but not as close as she did with her brother. The sole exception to that being Sokka on The Day Of Black Sun - but that is on somewhat shaky ground despite the accidental sexual tension since the first time she got close to him she was being launched by the Dai Li and he just happened to be standing a little bellow the direction she was launched at, and the second time had him pinning her to the wall (which is in character since Sokka usually goes straight at his foes to intimidate them while fighting), and as soon as she had her firebending back she pushed him away. On top of that, she was trying to distract him, Aang and Toph, meaning he wasn't her focus at all, and she ignored him on all the other times their groups were facing each other.

With Zuko on the other hand, she was going full force, like I said on my analysis of the bedroom scene. She played coy, stared at him in a very intense, weird way, circled the pillar on her bed, stretched in front of him, got on his personal space touching his shoulder and chest, and bit her lip while talking basically purring her words. That is all a bit too much for me to believe it was just about intimidation. And the touching gets even more suspicious when you notice Azula does enjoy and is willing to give physical affection - she hugged both Mai and Ty Lee after seeing them again, pulled Ty Lee close while conforting her and apologizing for her harsh words at The Beach... and put her hand on Zuko's shoulder while saying he restored his own honor to reassure him after he was feeling bad for betraying his uncle.

Intention of the actors/writers/animators: Avatar is no stranger to parallels. It also isn't a stranger to adult themes/jokes, fanservice, and ship teasing. For instance, even thought they didn't end up together and were never canonically interested in each other, there was A LOT of hints/teases of Zutara - dude fucking took lightining to the heart for her.

Just like the writers and producers were aware of Zutara, Tokka and many, many other ships, they were also aware of Zucest and even jokingly shipped Azula and The Blue Spirit at a panel. The animators habit of sexualizing the characters speaks for itself, so I won't even go into that. Finally, Grey Delisle, Azula's voice actress is a Zucest shiper, has brought it up many times, asked people to send her fanart and fanfic of it, created the phrase "Zucest is best cest", and has full on said she voiced the scene as if Azula was trying to seduce Zuko,  - which regardless of whether or not the writers intended for the character to be doing, means that there is a very strong incest subtext to the scene and that, in a weird way, "Azula" herself confirmed her motives to act the way she did.

[berrysweetboutique]

𝓢𝓸𝓯𝓽 𝓞𝓒 𝓐𝓼𝓴𝓼  ♥  𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓵𝓵𝔂 𝓛𝓪𝓬𝓮 𝓒𝓱𝓲𝓯𝓯𝓸𝓷

@dragonplumbobs @alicesimblr @magical-happenings @rebelangelsims

How would your OC decorate a notebook or journal? What kind of things are written in there? Could you give an example of a nice entry?

Lacey is a doodler! The book itself is white, it’s covered in little rainbows and hearts of every imaginable color and even a few colors she tried to create herself xD she documented her entire childhood all the way up to 18, but did less after moving out. 

Here’s a fun one!

“Dearest friend,

Tonight my seemingly uninteresting existence was disrupted by a handsome stranger in a letterman's jacket. I think he was more terrified than I was to discover someone living here. The way he stumbled over his words filled my heart with an unexplainable happiness. How is it possible to love someone you’ve only just met? Mother would call it reckless, but something tells me it was no mistake. Somehow he and I were meant to find each other. He says he will come back again tomorrow. Sweetness above I hope he does... I have more to say but I should probably end here if I plan to get any sleep before my lessons.

Until then,

Lacey ♥”

🌳 What is your OC’s favorite way to relax after a stressful day? Do they have a favorite book to curl up with? A hobby? Or do they have a nice bubble bath and have an early night to bed?

Lacey is an artist through and through and feels most at home behind an easel. Long day? Time to paint. Feeling good? Time to paint. Having a hard time? I think you get the idea!  She enjoys reading, but has a difficult time pinpointing a favorite. Her favorite is usually her current read.

🍂 Does your OC enjoy hugs? What do they do as a show of affection for: their friends, their family, their significant other(s) or for strangers? Over all what are they like with receiving affection from others?

Oh yes! The girl is a hugger! And most people are too infected by her bubbly personality to realize they’ve just had their space invaded by a complete stranger XD She gives good hugs too. The kind you can melt into ♥

🍄 What are your OCs favorite snacks? Their favorite comfort food which always cheers them up when they’re down? Favorite meal to make? Do they enjoy baking and cooking and are they any good in the kitchen?

The girl loves potato chips! Doesn’t really matter the brand she’ll snag up whatever's available and start munchin. Lacey loves pancakes. It’s one of those distant memories she has of her father, so when she eats them, it’s a way for her to feel close to him. She’s fairly skilled in the kitchen when it comes to your basic family style meals, but not much of a baker.

🌺 What does your OC do to calm down when they’re scared or after a nightmare? Do they have any special comfort items or need to be reassured by a specific person? How do they handle this if they’re alone?

She learned from an early age to handle things of that nature by herself. When she was really young, she would go to her mother, but as she got older, her mother seemed to believe she was too old to be having such experiences, so Lacey learned to comfort herself through painting. Thankfully it wasn’t a common occurrence though.

🌸 What are some of their favorite things and why? List as many as you can think of!

Her teddy bear Roz. Her easel. Her garden. Things that evoke a sense of calm energy really mean a lot to her. Roz was a gift from her father and probably the first item she ever owned that wasn’t white. So he was symbolic in a lot of ways.

💫 What is your favorite fact about this character and why?

I guess I love the fact she is super flawed and impulsive hahah! She makes dumb decisions and her narrow view life really set her up to fail... a lot. I love her for that. Out of everyone she seems the most real to me. She tries so hard, but sometimes it’s not enough and I know for a fact we’ve all felt that way at least once in our life.

🌠 On a scale of 1 - 10 how Baby is your OC? BONUS when asking this question rate the OC yourself as see if the reply matches up!!

10000/10 She is beyond baby lmao and without a doubt loves every second of the attention.

[kingofthewilderwest]

Hi! here's part 1 of the ask XD: So I have this friend whom I try to love unconditionally but she is not as involved in the friendship, but I wanna try to still be there for her just in case something happens to her in the future plus, but most of my friends say that I should leave her if she is not as invested and I started thinking maybe there is something wrong with me? I consider my loves ones my purpose/goal, meaning and dream, I can't leave her! Since you are very insightful, thoughts? XD

Hey there. <3 <3 I'm so so so sorry you had to wait this long for my response. I've been thinking about you and chewing over the right words. Sometimes it's hard for me to muster up words. I hope these words are slightly okay and aren't coming too late. Also sorry that it's long. XD

I've been in friendships I consider imbalanced; one of us feels a much greater love for them than vice versa. I've been in both directions: as the person feeling the greater love, and as the person receiving that love.

Loving another person is beautiful. I think it's the most beautiful part of the human soul. Wanting them to be happy and being willing to help them through challenges is some of the purest things a human can feel. The fact you are someone filled with love and devotion shows that you have some beautiful things in your heart. <3

Unfortunately, I do believe that imbalanced relationships are not healthy until they get handled. It doesn't have to mean there's something wrong with you. Sometimes it just be. But it might indicate the relationship is not in good, stable equilibrium; it might indicate you will have to adjust your behavior; it might indicate there are psychological things you have to process (depends on your situation); and it might indicate both of you are getting unintentionally hurt by this current imbalance.

Several times I've been in relationships where I loved that person way more than vice versa. In both notable cases, they were uncomfortable with me. I felt like I was straining to be around them because I loved them so much, but I felt in pain too because I didn't get enough good time from them. I wanted my happiness in them, but I couldn't actually get secure happiness from them because they weren't invested in me in a level that'd satisfy my emotional-psychological strainings. And when I wanted to help them and got turned down, I felt extremely frustrated. I wanted!! to!!! help!!!!! them!!!! :(( One time the friendship would have been healthy if we'd both felt the same, but it wasn't meant to be. Another time, while I believed I was acting out of the right amount of devotion, that devotion was good and correct, I actually had insecurities I had to deal with. My devotion was an inability to accept my reality. I was emotionally unstable. I am not saying this is what you have; I'm just saying this is what happened to me one time.

On the other hand, I've had multiple situations where people adored me. Either I felt so-so about them, or they were friends, just not to that extent. And I will admit, it's very unfun being on this side, too. I knew I couldn't give them what they wanted. I didn't want to hurt them, but I couldn't magically create a type of love in me I didn't have for them. I didn't want them to be the people I was confiding in or relying on for my worst struggles; I had other friends who fulfilled those roles and I was sufficient that way. In the imbalanced relationships, I'd enjoy hanging out and going to the coffee shop once in a while, sure! I wanted to be casual or everyday friends with many of 'em! But it could easily accidentally feel like they were hanging over me and not giving me breaks I sometimes needed. Or it felt... I mean... there's times where someone who is romantically in love with you makes you feel awkward, and I absolutely believe there's the platonic equivalent when it's that unrequited level of friendship-love. And because the intensity is unrequited, the level of love the lover feels is never going to be matched, and nothing you do will make that change. The only thing you can do is adjust yourself and your actions and try to get that unrequited straining tampered down over time.

I'm not saying you are obtrusively hanging over the other person or annoying them. I don't know your situation's details and I'm not going to presume them. <3 It very well could be the case that other folk is just indifferent. It could be the case you're simply at a miscommunication about basic balance needs. So I'm agnostically covering all scenarios. But when I hear about situations like these where the love is imbalanced, my go-to response is: the person who's in further has to back off.

Because at this point: it's about boundaries of comfort. You have to prioritize the comfort of the person who feels their space is being (for lack of better words, sorry) "invaded".

Perfectly fair friendships sometimes need to readjust their boundaries so everyone feels comfortable. Backing off doesn't need to be cutting your friend out of your life. I think it depends on the situation. If you're actually friends where both are willing to work with the other, sometimes it can be successfully communicated out. I've had that work in my friendships.

You can learn what your friend's boundaries are, and then you'll have to learn how to stick with them. It might feel unpleasant when your heart is screaming to do and be more, and I sympathize. I know we can't turn our hearts off. Hearts will continue to yearn. But I think you and I can both understand that ultimately, in loving our friends, the most loving act we can do is make sure they feel comfortable with us. If that means your buddy only wants you as a sometimes-go-to-the-mall-with person, then that's the role you do; to go further is to breach into an intimacy they don't want. Over time, by acting carefully, hopefully your screaming heart will not scream so bad, and you and your friend will both feel happier with how your day-to-day interactions go.

In other cases, the imbalance might be irreparable. If the other person is legitimately indifferent or disinterested in you, you are investing a ton of spoons and emotional energy that are taxing you and helping nobody. They're not actually your friend. This type of person doesn't want your devotion, and while that kindness is wonderful, you're not actually going to be able to help them. In such a case, your other companions could be right, and that leaving the person is the best choice you could make. Kindness takes a lot of energy, and we are only hurting ourselves if we are over-investing in someone who literally doesn't care. It's not healthy emotionally, it means you don't learn how to move on and allocate emotions, and you burn yourself out for someone who wouldn't bat an eyeball and help you. Good friendships are ones where people are going to help each other to at least some extent, right? Because you deserve that, too!!!

I've seen plenty of one-sided "friendships" where the endless lover gets manipulated, taken advantage of, and abused to serve the other, uncaring person. I would be really sad if you ended in a situation like that one, because damn, those mess folks up. In such a worst case scenario as that one, "helping" the person, "loving" them, just perpetuates and "justifies" their bad behavior to you (and probably others), and means every action you do doesn't help them... it hurts you, and that's the only result. Again, I'm not saying this is you. I am NOT. But fucking hell, I've seen it happen a lot, and it's dangerous, and it's why love also involves knowing when to say "no" and step aside, right?

There was one time I was deeply in love with someone who was toxic. But even though she was toxic, I couldn't leave her! I wouldn't abandon her!! That's what I thought. [sigh] Leaving her ended up being the best thing I did, and the best thing that happened to her, too. That was a greater, more loving, more humble choice than the anxious (frankly very unhealthy) paranoia I had trying to keep her in my life. And I have majorly psychologically healed and gotten better, stabler relationships with everyone around me since making that choice.

Human love is like a candle. It's a beautiful light shining for the edification of others and everyone's happiness. But what good is it if you burn yourself out in an empty room? All you do is harm yourself, lose your light, and nobody else receives it. And if you're a candle, you probably need other candles to relight you, too; we're reciprocal beings. Considering your loved ones your entire purpose, meaning, and dream ergo could end up to nothing but personal harm if you pursue something like that empty, dark room. It doesn't even have to be a malicious room... just... indifferent to anything you could do. </3

I hold a huge value to devotion and loving friends. None of my answers are intending to say, "curb love!" I do believe in sacrificing for others when they need it, and I do believe in showing kindness to folks who'll be buttheads to me. But I also believe that we need to make sure we are in good relationships where we're being cherished too. Whether your situation is one where the friendship can continue after a good conversation about comfort, or it's one where you're better off investing your heart elsewhere, I believe this might be a hard case of learning restraint.

I'd say it's restraint in how we channel our love.

We can still love unconditionally while knowing there are boundaries we won't cross and energy we won't extend. We can always give people love to the degree to which each relationship merits it. Sometimes someone is out of our boundaries and that's just how it is. All interactions can be made with love in mind. A best friendship and an acquaintanceship both involve love, but each type of relationship has different actions we can and cannot take to make the other comfortable, or make the relationship solid and balanced. This is not limiting love. I believe this is using love right.

Because there's so many instances where friendships aren't bad, aren't toxic, aren't shitty, aren't doomed or something... they're just imbalanced, and balancing is hard! Nobody is doing anything wrong-wrong, and love is good, we just aren't channeling our love right or designating our emotional energies well. There are successful cases where folks I know initially made me uncomfortable but stepped back to my comfort zone. We stayed friends and have had a good time. I've felt better about being with them after having conversations and making adjustments. Sometimes it took a while because hearts HAVE EMOTIONS, but! We refound balance! Our friendships returned to a stable, healthy state. And I've felt better after receiving feedback from friends saying I've exceeded their bounds, and learned (ever-so-painfully) to step back and tell me heart there's places I cannot go.

I wish you the best with finding balance. Take care, have an awesome one. <3 Rock on.

[aesthetical-bucky]

Three’s A Lucky Number

Pairing: Bucky x Female!Reader

Summary: You’ve sabotaged Bucky’s dates three times, but what happens when the super soldier finally confronts you about it?

Requested by @hailmary-yramliah​ -  Hey! So I love the fic Hungry Heart and wanted to request again since you're an amazing writer! XD Could you do a BuckyxReader where the reader is jealous of Bucky's date because she has a crush on him and he's oblivious? Maybe he finds out when the reader sabotages his date and he confronts her? Or you could go a whole different route hehe thanks in advance! ❤️

Warnings: Language, sex toy play (at the end), implied smut, a smidgen of confrontation in a confined space. If I’ve missed anything, please let me know! 

Word Count: 2,220 (oopsies)

Authors Notes: This was requested by the lovely @hailmary-yramliah​ and I’m sorry because I got so carried away with it but it just wrote itself? Hehe! Hope you enjoy reading :)

If looks could kill, the blonde-haired bitch Bucky invited over would certainly be dead by now. You were sat next to Steve when Bucky walked in with her hanging off his arm as they sat on the opposite couch. Truthfully, you didn’t understand why she was here and if you were honest, you didn’t want her here. His date had spent the entire day at the compound, mingling with the others and trying to fit herself in and they had reservations for dinner in an hour at some fancy top restaurant. You hated it and you knew jealousy was an ugly look, but at this point, you couldn’t care less. “Oh, is this Chloe?” You smirked pointing to the lady. Bucky’s eyebrows creased as he tried to figure out what you were up to. 

“Y/N, what are you doing?” Bucky seethed, giving you a warning look which you blatantly ignored.

“Who is Chloe?” The dragon with the voice whispered, her hand grazing his thigh and it was making your blood boil.

“Some girl he brought here last night to fuck. No big deal.” You shrugged nonchalantly, earning a warning nudge from Steve.

“Y/N, Come on.”

“It’s true and then the night before that he brought home that… uhhh what’s her name…” You clicked your fingers and smirked as you continued. “Fiona from statistics!” 

“Y/N!” Bucky warned. Your eyes flicked over to hers and grinned. She was shifting uncomfortably in her seat and scoots away from Bucky, something he easily notices. “I’m so sorry Jess. I don’t know what her problem is.” Bucky scoffed, interlacing his fingers with hers. A lump formed in your throat at their hands, your anger and frustration building up. 

You harboured a crush on the soldier pretty much since the day you arrived in the tower and officially became an Avenger. But you knew he was out of your league but it didn’t stop you from trying. Bucky had reservations for the type of women he dated, the same type that was sat opposite you right now biting her lip like the seductive horny bitch she is. 

And sometimes you felt really angry towards Bucky because that bastard was so oblivious to your attempts. You even told him he looked like sex on legs when he strolled through the kitchen in his sweats and that tattered old henley of his. His hair dishevelled and sticking up so high you could probably pick up a clear WiFi connection. His response? He just told you to be quiet. It broke your heart every time, your crush was turning into feelings and you wanted nothing more than to protect him from all the other single women in the world. You wanted him to be yours, not hers.

You watch as he whispered something in her ear. A blush forming on her cheeks as she twirled her curly hair around her finger. A loud pitched laugh invaded your ears. Anger boiled up when you saw the blonde-haired bitch throwing her head back, Bucky eyeballing her exposed throat.

Bucky was driving you crazy and he wasn’t even aware of what he was doing. 

“Fuck sake.” You cursed with an eye-roll. Though your eyes widened when you realised you just said that out loud, but at least the bitch stopped laughing.

“What’s wrong, Y/N?” Tony smirked when he sauntered in the room adjusting his bracelet. Tony was probably one of the few who knew of your love for the soldier. It was hard to deny it when he found your journal full of desires and inner feelings for Mr Barnes. You made the mistake of writing a dream you had in the journal, a dream where you became Bucky’s wife and bearing his children. Tony hasn’t stopped bringing that up ever since and you hoped he wouldn’t now. “Is your husband annoying you?” He cackled. 

Fuck

“Don’t encourage her Tony.” Steve interfered.

Wait, did Steve know about it too?

“Y/N, come with me please,” Steve ordered, walking into the kitchen and pouring a couple of glasses of wine. 

“Please don’t lecture me, Steve.” You sighed. 

“Was those lies really necessary? You know about Bucky’s past Y/N. You should be happy for him so why on earth are you trying to sabotage his third date this week?” He demanded in his ‘Captain’ voice.

It was true, you knew Bucky wasn’t actually sleeping with anyone because he wasn’t that type of man. But when he brings different girls to the compound, you knew it was only a matter of time before he took a dip in their manhole.

I’d be happy with him. God, if only you knew Steve.

“Now please take this glass of wine to Jess and apologise. It’s not a request.”

“Fine.” You mumbled, taking the glass from his hand and reluctantly going over to them. Bucky watched you with careful eyes and as you neared Jess, you pretended to trip over your feet, sending the full glass of wine down her white dress. 

“Oops.” You shrugged with a grin as she desperately patted down her dress. 

“Oh my GOD! BUCKY! Your friend is a fucking lunatic!” She screamed and Bucky growled and you took it as your cue to leave the room. Only to have a large metal hand wrap around your wrist and march you both out of the room.

You were stumbling hopelessly behind Bucky towards the elevator, his fast walk pace was impossible for you to keep up with. 

“Buck! Slow down!” You hissed as his grip tightened. Bucky repeatedly pressed the elevator button and more-or-less threw you inside once the doors eventually opened, you backed away from him when he stood in front of the buttons, again repeatedly punching his floor number.

“FRIDAY, shut the fucking doors!” Bucky snarled, clenching his hands into fists and breathing heavily. 

You stood there on the other side of the elevator nursing your bruising and sore wrist as Bucky stared straight ahead with his arms folded over his large chest. He almost looked identical to a dragon, minus the smoke flailing out from his nostrils and the tips of his ear turning a bright red. You knew you were gonna be in for it just by the thunderous look on his face. 

The elevator ride to his floor was intense, to say the least. The quiet hum of the elevator, the heavy breathing and the tension surrounding you was so thick it was scary, almost like a severe gas leak, you’d just need one little naked flame to make an explosion. You almost couldn’t stand it. 

You turned to face Bucky and sighed. “Buck, I’m really sor-” you flinched when his large hand suddenly moved towards the big red STOP letters above the numbers and he punched it. The elevator came to a halt and now you didn’t know what to expect. 

Bucky faced you, then stalked slowly towards you, prompting you to take a step back until your back was flushed against the wall. 

“Why are you sorry, Y/N? What did I ever do to make you hate me so much that you took it upon yourself to ruin any chance of happiness?” Bucky seethed, his steps not faltering. “I want to know, what did I do? Did I hurt you? Did I upset you? WHAT DID I DO?!” He growled and your eyes screwed shut, your body tensing from his tone. His flesh fingers gently held your chin. “Look at me, Y/N.” Your eyes opened, his anger replaced by confusion. “Please tell me what I did.”

You felt guilty and you knew Bucky could see the guilt whirling around in your irises. “Nothing,” you whispered under your breath with a shake of your head. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t believe you, Y/N. Didn’t you once have a dream about me? About being my wife and having my beautiful children?” The corners of his lips lifted into a sly smirk. Your eyes widened to the size of planets. 

“How did you KNOW about that?!” You cringed. 

“I may or may not have stumbled across your little journal. Mrs Barnes.” He chuckled, but not in a tormenting way. Bucky wasn’t teasing you, he was just actually quite flattered. “Why did you keep your feelings from me for so long huh? We could have been married and having our babies right about now.” He smirked. “Tell me doll, did you think about us making those babies, hmm?”

And really, you wished for Hell at this point to just open up and take you. This was a nightmare, the one person who definitely wasn’t supposed to read that journal, did. And you had an intuition that Tony may have had something to do with it. 

Bucky dipped his head downwards. His face was so close to yours that you could feel his breath fanning against your lips. 

“I’m so embarrassed right now.” You mumbled

“I’m actually really flattered but I wished you would have told me sooner because I have been going out of my mind over my feelings for you.” His usual ocean blue eyes are a darker shade. You can feel his heartbeat under the palm of your hand. “Do you still want me?” He asked and your eyes are drawn to his plump pink lips. With no words spoken, your hands wrapped around his neck and crashed his lips to yours in a heated passion. Bucky’s hands slithered down to your waist and behind your thighs, giving them a gentle but firm pinch silently asking you to jump. Your legs wrapped around his waist as your tongues and teeth clashed against one another. 

“FRIDAY, my room!” Bucky panted against your lips. His hard member feeling so constricted in his pants.

“Yes, Sergeant Barnes,” FRIDAY responded and the elevator started moving once again.

Once the doors to Bucky’s floor opened. He carried you down the hall, your lips attacking his neck on the way. Bucky kicked the door open with his heavy combat boot and stumbled inside, kicking it shut harder than necessary. Bucky stumbled over to the bed and threw you down. You giggled when you bounced and saw the hungry look in his eyes. 

“FRIDAY, lock my door and alert the team that Y/N and I are busy for a couple of days.” He ordered and the AI beeped in acknowledgement. 

“Of course, Sergeant Barnes.” The AI responded. Leaving you and Bucky in total silence once again. 

“Now then.” Bucky taunted, removing his Henley and kicking his boots off. “I believe a certain someone sabotaged not one, not two but three of my dates.” He tutted with a shake of his head. 

You brought a finger up to your lips and pleaded with doe eyes. Knowing full well it wasn’t going to help you in this situation. 

“Three dates. Three possible relationships ruined. I think you need three different kinds of punishment, doll.” He smirked, pulling a few items out from his bedside table drawers. Your eyes widened when you realised they were, in fact, sex toys. And you didn’t entertain the idea of those being used on you when they could have been used for the other women in this very room. 

“Buck- no I don-”

Just as though Bucky can read you like a book, he interrupts. “They’re brand new, doll. See? Still in the packaging. I haven’t even slept with anyone.” He reassured. “But you already knew that. So tell me, do you want this Y/N? Do you want me?” He asks for a second time. 

“I do.” You answer with a nod. 

“Ah, preparing for our big day huh?” He chuckled, tearing the plastic off with a simple flick of his wrist, inserting the batteries to the rabbit. Bucky presses the buttons to make sure it’s working and a wide Cheshire cat grin grows. “Perfect.” He throws it down on the bed and his fingers work on the button of your jeans and zipper and swiftly pulling the tight material along with your soaked underwear down your legs and throwing them somewhere across the room. 

Bucky lubes the shaft of the vibrator with a generous amount so you don’t feel any pulling. He grins as he gently pushed the plastic toy inside. The rabbit ears snugged against your clit as Bucky works through the first vibration. He grins, laying down on his stomach with his knee slightly bent, working through the different vibration sensations, sending you into a whole new dimension of pleasure. And if that wasn’t enough, he pressed the rotary button so the shaft wiggled around inside of you, occasionally touching your G-spot.  

Bucky set the vibration on the highest setting and your toes curled into his comforter as you neared your orgasm. And you were almost there when he suddenly shut the rabbit off completely. 

“Bucky!” You whined, which earned you an eye roll as he disregarded the toy. His breath hitched when your juices ran freely from your entrance. Bucky pulled you up to your feet and he sat himself down on the edge of the bed. He motioned to his lap and you went to straddle him but he shook his head. 

“Lay across my lap.” He ordered and you complied. “Second punishment, I hope you’re ready, Y/N. You’re in for a long few days.”

Taglist: @jobean12-blog​ @criminal-cookies​ @nano--raptor​ @marvelgirl7​ @godofplumsandthunder​ @the-wayward-robot​ @littleredstarfish​ @becs-bunker​ @evanstanwrites​

[clownao]

Some ChibaHaya thoughts <333

What makes me like them so much is their entire thing with respect. They believe they’re equals and they strive to keep it that way. They each have their own strengths but they don’t think they’re superior or inferior. And I think that’s really important in a relationship (be it platonic or romantic).

And they’re partners as well! In addition to sniping, I think it’s mentioned that they tutor each other as well (Chiba helps Hayami with math, Hayami helps Chiba with Japanese Literature). They’re doing their best to help each other out and be a little more well-balanced, and apparently they succeed because Hayami’s math grades improved significantly as time went on (it was said that it was like her math grades was “dragged” by Chiba lol)

It was stated in canon that they were both “taken advantage of” before 3-E, and people would order the snipers to do their work for them. So I headcanon they didn’t really like group projects before since they knew they would be the ones doing everything, but in 3-E, they meet someone as serious and responsible as them. They don’t have to carry the whole group. (Of course, this also applies to the other 3-E kids who are decent people that won’t abandon their group mates, but I just want to point out Chiba and Hayami because of their similar past.)

They look towards each other for comfort. Literally. I think it’s super sweet how no one sees Chiba’s eyes, but Hayami still makes an effort to make (partial) eye contact with Chiba. Like she can really see him for who he is, or at least she attempts to. And she’s certainly not bothering Chiba or invading his personal space. She’s just looking at him. And he’s just looking at her. He doesn’t have to show his eyes at all but you can still feel the intimacy between them.

She had seen his eyes before, but that’s only confirmed in the 7 Years Later part. Which kinda shows that in the future, Chiba trusts her enough to show her his eyes UwU

And it’s one of the things they do when the class succeeds at something. So whenever they find something worth celebrating, they want to celebrate it with each other <3

Now I’m rewatching scenes and rereading the manga, it feels like Hayami is always looking at Chiba lol (and he doesn’t look back as often).

^ continuing from the above, I genuinely think they can really comfort each other. Not maybe in the touchy hugging way, but in the “there’s someone like me” way. One of the features of their relationship is that they’re both so similar (they’re serious, hardworking, quiet, etc), and while they definitely should meet different people, I think it’s nice for them to have someone who’s a lot like them, especially since they’re young and in middle school. They really need a support system. They even went out during the winter break to discuss Korosensei’s past and whether they should continue their assassination, which is a pretty personal matter. It shows how they grow to be more comfortable around each other.

This is rather personal, but I like how “lowkey” they are? They’re not very physically close, but you can see that they clearly enjoy each other’s company by how much time they spend next to each other. Matsui’s shiptease for them doesn’t include blushing and internal freaking out (kind of like Kayano’s crush on Nagisa). You can see they share a pretty solid friendship, and friendship is the foundation of every long-lasting romance. You can interpret them as being platonically close (as in canon), but you can also easily headcanon them to romantically like each other.

Unrelated but damn they really do share a red/green colour palette XD (at least in the anime)

[renlimotroll]

Love by Daylight

Summary: Siruko-san was forced to cosplay as Feng Min for a gaming convention, and there he finds his me-meant-to-be.

Pairing: Limone-Sensei x Siruko 🍋🐶

Warnings: BL, Personification, Out of Character because it’s my imagination, Cursing courtesy of Sensei’s potty mouth, male cosplaying as female character (does this count as crossdressing?)

A/N: This was a prompt given to me by my internet younger sister Aki, who imagined Siruko-san cosplaying as Feng Min. It was too good of a prompt not to write! But I’d like to apologize for the delay; I’ve been writing this since December 1 and I am a professional procrastinator XD 😅. (Please excuse my pun for memento. I like to think I’m funny hahaha 🤣)

The art you’ll see here is made by my beloved friend and babe Sarah. Check out her twitter and instagram here! Thank you so much babe for bringing to life what I’ve just been imagining. 💙💜 (Please don’t repost or grab without permission as a respect for her hard work)

Enjoy~

"I hate you all." Siruko declares angrily while adjusting his clothes with a little more force than necessary. He wants to burn these clothes and maybe hit his 'friends' too.

Who wouldn’t, when they forced him to wear this China dress.

"Siruko-san kawaiiiiii~" Jiraichan squeals and everyone nods, even his younger brother. Siruko feels betrayed.

Today is TGS day. Tokyo Game Show is one of the biggest video-game expo and conventions in all of Japan, held at Chiba. Everyone wanted to go, even Minben-san, and Siruko was the only one who didn't want to. The Bintroll leader knows that he's being a party pooper by refusing, but he hates crowds with a passion. He told them to just go by themselves, but by true Bintroll fashion, they refuse to listen to their leader.

Siruko didn't even realize he was being baited into coming through that stupid bet. They were playing DbD and suddenly Hakotaro (his own brother, nonetheless! traitors, all of them!) made a suggestion that whoever gets memento-ed first should cosplay as their character. Jiraichan added that the loser must come to TGS cosplaying. Naturally, Siruko-san's gamer pride refused to let him back out of the stupid bet, and they even had Ichihachi-kun be the killer. There was no way Siruko will be memento-ed, he thought, and he was confident enough in his DbD skills. There's no way he will lose.

Or so he thought.

"Can you all stop staring at me!! Let's just go!!" Siruko stomps out of the hotel room grumpily, sulking in the entire drive. Thankfully, or maybe they all felt sorry for him, but everyone in Bintroll cosplayed as their mains too, so Siruko wasn't out of place. The Double Morell keeps snickering at him, and Siruko-san glares daggers at them, vowing to never unhook them next time.

Siruko sighs deeply as he begins to see Makuhari Messe. TGS might not be as big as Comiket, but holy shoot this was a lot of people. He doesn't even know why Bintroll wanted to go here--every single one of them are not good with crowds and people in general--but Siruko can admit there's some sort of element of excitement here. There were so many cosplayers and booths filled with merch, action figures, and so many more. It's truly a feast for the eyes and even Siruko starts to look forward to buying something. Maybe new gaming PC gear!

He just hopes he'll be able to survive the crowds. Siruko takes a deep breath and enters the convention hall.

Limone-sensei blinks at the flash of the camera but maintains his smile. The female fans thank him and he thanks them back for supporting his channel. He waves at the limojos and they giggle. Sensei sighs inwardly.

It's his first time attending TGS as an invited participant and not a normal attendee, and even though he's happy that he became famous enough as a game commentator to be invited here, he kinda misses being able to walk around normally without all the people recognizing him. His face is even half-covered with a black mask, and yet people still know it's him. Limone loves interacting with his fans, but being stopped every few meters for a picture is kinda tough.

On his way to the toilet, he sees some men gathered around something. He pays them no mind, but then he hears this.

"I said leave me alone!"

Sensei doesn't know why, it's not even a woman's voice, but it sounded so nervous and desperate that Sensei wants to come to this person's rescue. Upon closer inspection, he sees a person in a (really well-done) Feng Min cosplay, although the bright red China dress kinda clashes with the pretty purple hair tied up in a bun. Sensei can't stop thinking it was really cute, and then finds himself weirded out by the thought of calling a guy cute.

“Ne neesan, just one picture, come on! And maybe your LINE too!” A guy (who’s as ugly as Hillbilly in Sensei’s opinion) invades Feng Min cosplayer’s personal space and Feng Min cosplayer is obviously uncomfortable. Limone doesn’t know why but it makes him seethe in anger. It’s not in his nature to meddle, but a group of guys surrounding and overcrowding someone is not a pleasant sight. 

“Aho janai ka?! I’m a guy!” Sensei is impressed that even though Feng Min cosplayer looks so anxious, he still manages to fight back. “Heh really? You’re cute tho, you’ll do.” Buzoku-no-buzu presses closer to the purple head and gropes his butt, and Feng Min cosplayer squeaks. Sensei’s vision dims and he sees red. His feet bring him forward and he grips the guy's shoulder so hard he crumples down in an attempt to get away from him.

“Get lost.” He says simply, but his fierce eyes tell a different story. The other guys distance themselves immediately upon one look at him. Sensei doesn't wait for a reply and pulls Feng Min cosplayer to his side, staring down the wimps who were clearly more suited to gaming than engaging in real-life fights. At the back of his mind, alarm bells are ringing--he shouldn't be making a scene, especially someone with popularity like him. But Feng Min presses closer to him and he smells good and Sensei couldn’t think straight.

“Chill man, we didn’t know he had a boyfriend. We’ll leave.” One of the smarter idiots surrenders and tugs a complaining buzoku no buzu away, who was itching to take revenge. Sensei rolls his eyes inwardly; Hillbilly wouldn't even last a second if he fought Sensei. The pro-gamer was so worked up with adrenaline he didn't even realize to correct the guy about them being boyfriends. He glowers at them until they leave and disappear, and after that he hopes no one recognizes him. He can already see the tweets: "Limone-Sensei picking fights for his secret lover!" He groans inwardly.

“Ano… you didn’t need to do that, but thank you I guess.” Feng Min cosplayer says reluctantly even though he clearly was relieved, and he plays with his lovely fingers nervously. Sensei sees faint pink dusting his cheeks and has a split-second to think cute before he realizes he himself is blushing too, and he coughs slightly. Thank goodness he has a mask.

“What were you thinking, going to something like this alone, in a cosplay like that nonetheless?! Didn’t you know cosplayers are often harassed like this?! You should’ve at least brought a friend! Bakagayo omae?!” Sensei doesn’t know why he’s scolding this stranger, who in return gets surprised at Sensei’s strict words and squares his shoulders up as if preparing for a fight. “I have friends, okay?! I was just going to the toilet when I got stopped by those weirdos!” Purple head raises his chin defiantly and crosses his arms across his chest grumpily, and even then, at the back of Sensei’s mind, he thinks it’s cute. Sensei blinks, what is wrong with him today?

“Then go with your friends next time!”

“I will!” Feng Min raises his voice in return. “Thank you again and sorry for the trouble!” Feng Min stomps his way to the toilet, not looking sorry at all. Left alone by himself outside the toilet, Sensei shakes his head in disbelief and decides to go to another toilet.

That Feng Min purple head sure is interesting, he thinks, and hopes that he never has to see him again.

Siruko washes his hands in annoyance. What was that all about?! And he was starting to enjoy the convention too! He learns to cope with the crowds and get his anxiety to a manageable level, and with his friends he starts to enjoy looking at what each booth has to offer. He’s even bought some cute DbD stickers from this cute fanartist who was so grateful to have her first sell-out of the day and a comfy Lifeline hoodie he can wear all the time. Save for the crowd, the convention was really fun and nice and he was looking forward to watching some of the events on stage or even look at the indie game developers booth later.

And those weirdos just have to ruin his day! Mou!! He dusts off his China dress as he tries to shake his irritation off. But, in retrospect, the guy who just saved him, he’s kinda hot. His deep sexy voice sounds familiar, but Siruko can’t place where he has heard it. The way he stared down those weirdos even got Siruko’s goosebumps to raise, and even when he was scolding Siruko he kinda liked it. I didn't even get to ask his name, Siruko regrets. He decides to call him ear-piercing oniisan, because he has a gold piercing on his left ear that just makes him more seductive.

He comes out of the toilet back to the place where he last left Bintroll in, only to find no one there. No need to panic, Siruko calms himself. He tries looking around and waiting in the area, hoping that his friends will come back for him. But after a few minutes, no one came. Siruko starts to get restless, fear creeping up his throat and he tries to swallow it down but it’s like glass, and it’s getting hard to breathe.

Suddenly, it occurs to him that he just needs to call them. He pats his pockets for his phone, only to find out he has no pockets. Kuso China dress! Is this why girls always carry purses? Siruko thinks, because dammit why doesn't this cosplay have any pockets! He remembers that his phone is in his red medkit, an accessory to his cosplay, and he gave it to his brother coz he didn’t want it destroyed by bringing it to the toilet. AAAAA what is he gonna do now?!

Someone passes by with a burger in their hands and it smells so good, Siruko’s stomach rumbles loudly. The people walk by in a blur, and suddenly he feels so drained and alone. He finds a spot by the wall and slumps down, hugging his knees as much as his tight China dress allows him to move, hoping one of his friends finds him. Suddenly the crowds are too scary, and he can feel his panic rise up. What if they don't find him? How will he get home? Why are there so many people?!?!

He doesn't realize that he’s been spacing out until his view darkens, and he looks up to realize that someone was standing in front of him. Siruko looks up and sees ear-piercing oniisan, and it feels like he’s talking to him but Siruko can’t process anything he says. His chest hurts and it feels like an anaconda has been squeezing his body and there’s the sound of wind rushing in his ears. Ear-piercing oniisan crouches in front of him and tells him to breathe, to follow him… inhale… exhale.. Inhale… exhale…

“Oi. Oi. Daijoubu ka teme?” The voice snaps him awake, and Siruko responds, albeit too late.

“Hai?”

Ear-piercing oniisan sighs in relief, and Siruko realizes he was almost on the verge of a panic attack earlier and this handsome stranger had just helped him out of it. He didn't even realize there were tears pooling at the corner of his eyes, although thankfully they didn’t fall down. He blinks them away and tries to breathe properly again.

“Um…..” he tries, avoiding eye contact with the stranger who had just saved him twice now. Siruko clears his throat.

“What the hell are you doing here, alone again?! Where are your friends?!” 

Why does a stranger scolding him make him feel calm? Siruko forgets his anxiety and relaxes immediately.  “I don’t know. When I came back, they weren't here. They have my phone so I couldn't contact them.”

Ear-piercing oniisan huffs. “Bakagayo. You should always bring your phone and wallet. Seriously, are you a kid?”

Siruko tries to pout in protest, but then his stomach rumbles loudly again. Heat floods his cheeks and he looks away in embarrassment. Is it possible for the ground to swallow him up right now? Entity-sama! Please take me! Siruko begs in his imagination.

He thinks he hears ear-piercing oniisan laugh but it might be his imagination, because suddenly handsome oniisan stands up and offers him a hand. Siruko stares at it (and thinks, wow, it’s so pretty, how does a man have hands as pretty as this?) and ear-piercing oniisan rolls his (really beautiful) ocean eyes and moves his hand in a gesture that means he wants Siruko to stand up.

Siruko feels silly and takes the hand (and somehow his stomach flutters but not because of hunger) and ear-piercing oniisan helps him up and tugs him to somewhere. “Ne, where are we going?” He tries to ask. “I don’t even know your name.”

Ear-piercing oniisan looks back at him and smirks, and holy shit Siruko’s heart clenches. What the heck?! “Just call me Sensei.” Ear-piercing oniisan replies, and somehow the nickname fits him. Siruko doesn't know why but he trusts Sensei. At the very least, there’s only maybe 4% chance he’ll be taken to a yakuza hideout or something.

Sensei stops in front of a food cart and the smell of yakisoba cooking hits Siruko’s nose. Sensei greets the ojiisan like a friend and the ojiisan laughs, pleased to see Sensei. Ojiisan packs two big boxes into a plastic bag and hands it to Sensei, winking at Siruko. “Enjoy your date Sensei!” Ojiisan calls loudly while laughing and Sensei tells him “Uruse na!” but he’s also laughing. Siruko has a moment to think what kind of relationship they have for Sensei to reply so rudely at the older man but Sensei drags him away and Siruko scrambles to thank the ojiisan and bow. Sensei tugs him again and Siruko realizes they didn't have to wait in line for a long time to get some food (and maybe he saw some people in the queue glaring at them). He’s late in realizing that Ojiisan just said they were on a date… and Sensei didn’t correct him.

(Maybe Sensei… likes him a bit?) (Because he kinda likes Sensei too, maybe)

When Sensei finally stops walking (just when Siruko was about to whine. Sensei walks so fast and he’s wearing these really cool sneakers but Siruko is wearing a dress, you know!! Please be considerate!!), Siruko realizes someone was calling his name. He turns around and sees Quartetchi waving at him a few meters away from them, but since there’s too many people Siruko has to crane his neck to see him and he waves back. Sensei follows his line of vision and lets go of Siruko’s hand (wait, they’ve been holding hands the entire time? aaaaa)

“Ahh good, your friends found you.” Sensei says, but his tone seems to be disappointed. “I have my own event to go to, so please don’t get lost or be harassed again. I don’t have time to babysit you.” Siruko grumbles and complains that it’s not like he wanted those to happen!! Sensei scoffs in response and fishes his yakisoba out of the plastic bag. He pushes the plastic bag of food to Siruko’s hand and leans close to his ear. Siruko feels like all the air has been knocked out of his chest. “Ja na, mata ne.” Then he disappears into the crowd like Wraith turning invisible at the sound of the bell while Siruko tries to reboot his mind which just short-circuited. His heart is beating out loud in his ears. He doesn't know why but he feels like he lost something now that Sensei left. Before he has time to process why he felt that strange feeling even though he just met Sensei, his friends arrive to his spot.

“We finally found you Siruko-san!! Mou where did you go?! Don’t leave on your own like that!” Quartet chides.

“I told you guys I’ll be going to the toilet, and when I came back you all were gone! Mou don’t leave me like that!! I almost panicked!!” 

“Maa maa the important thing is we found him now.” Jiraichan intervenes. “C’mon, let’s go eat lunch! Minben-san’s waiting in line right now so we gotta find a table to eat at.” The pink-haired guy pauses and notices Siruko’s food, then squints at the purple head. “Siruko-san, do you know who you were just with right now?” Jiraichan asks suspiciously.

“Eh? He said his name is Sensei but I don’t… really know…” Siruko trails, noticing the shocked looks of his friends. Jiraichan was the first to react. “EEEHHH?!?! How could you not know him???? Limone-sensei da yo! Limone-sensei!!”

“Dare?” He asks dumbly.

“Niisan, you seriously have no idea? He’s a famous gamer! I watched some of his DbD videos and he’s seriously, insanely good. How could you not know him?”

“NANI?!?! I knew his voice sounded familiar! How could I know, I was too busy being in trouble to remember that!! And I’ve never seen his face!!”

“Well, he doesn’t really show his face much.” Ichihachi agrees. “Wait, what do you mean you got into trouble?”

"N-nothing! Who said I got into trouble??" Siruko sweat-drops. "C’mon, let's just go!! I'm hungry!!" He herds them all away to eat lunch, all the while trying to look back to the sea of strangers in the crowd, wishing he could see Sensei at least one more time.

He never even got to thank Sensei.

Being invited to judge a cosplay contest is a huge honor, and Limone-sensei was really excited about it. Or, at least, he used to be, because now he's pretty distracted with the thoughts of Feng Min cosplayer. He wonders if he plays DbD too, if Feng Min was his main, and suddenly he thinks he would like to play with him someday. Now everytime he sees a Feng Min cosplay he gets sort of excited, but then they don’t have purple hair and he gets disappointed. He tests the guy's name on his lips. Siruko. Sensei thinks it fits the guy and is kinda cute like him. 

The event was about to start soon and he was on the backstage talking to one of the event organizers. Or he pretends to be listening, because Sensei’s mind was wandering back to that voice. He wouldn't mind hearing it again, but in the midst of these many people in the arena, Feng Min cosplayer--no, Siruko-- is just one of those one-moment encounters that'll never happen again. He feels sad about it and he doesn’t know why.

Until he hears that voice again. For a moment he thought it was his imagination, and wonders how weird it was for him to have hallucinations of a voice of someone he just met. But the voice rings out again, and Sensei strains his neck to look everywhere for it, not realizing how rude it must have looked for the event organizer talking to him. Hope rises to his chest, despite him trying not to.

Beautiful purple eyes meet his, and for a moment Sensei is mesmerized, lost and drowning in them. But then he sees they were eyes calling out for help. Sensei excuses himself rather abruptly to the annoyance of the event organizer and stalks forward to Siruko. How can he resist those pleading eyes? He'd do anything in his power not to see those again, because despite his bravado, his online persona of being a badass who can do anything, Limone-sensei is actually a softie, especially for cute things and Feng Mins in distress.

"We don't have any time, Sir. Please go to the backstage!" The fierce-looking, small lady organizer drags Siruko-san to the other side of the stage where the cosplayers are lining up for the competition.

"A-ah! Wait!! I told you I'm not in the cosplay competition! Matte--"

Sensei grabs the shoulder of the small lady, who shoots him a nasty look before realizing who he was. Sensei knows the organizer was just doing her job, but dammit Sensei is annoyed. "Excuse me, I think you got the wrong guy."

Organizer-san takes a double look at Siruko, who withers under the intense scrutiny. He somehow senses that Sensei is in a bad mood as he fiddles with his fingers nervously.

"Wait, you're not Takahiro-san?”

"I've been telling you for the last five minutes!" Siruko tries to shake off the woman's frankly death grip and runs behind Sensei as if taking cover. Sensei glares a little at Siruko as if saying, "You got into trouble again?!" and Siruko scrunches his eyebrows together and purses his lips in indignation, as if protesting that "It wasn't my fault!"

"I assure you, this person is just cosplaying for fun. We're sorry for the trouble." He forces Siruko-san to bow together with him, and the event organizer-san apologizes too, although she really looked stressed about finding the missing cosplayer. But Sensei doesn’t feel sorry for her; blame his lack of anger-management control. He’s too keyed up now, and everything is too sharp, and he doesn’t understand his feelings.

Sensei snatches Siruko's arm and drags him to the nearest corner, as private as the backstage could allow them to be. He's really pissed that all these bad things keep on happening to Siruko-san. It's frustrating and infuriating! Why was the world so out to give trouble to Siruko-san?! What if he wasn't there to save Siruko-san?! He remembers the blank look Siruko-san had earlier, when he found him beside the wall, gasping for air and trying so hard to breathe, and Limone hated that. He never wants to see Siruko's pretty purple eyes being so helpless and scared. His anger bubbles up like steam and he wants to lash out at something.

“Itetete Sense----!! Stop pulling me!”

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Sensei shouts, and Siruko stills. “Didn't I tell you not to make any more trouble?! What would you do if you were suddenly shoved onto the stage?! Don't you know how big this event is?! People would boo you out there and there’ll be pictures of you all over the internet and they’d make fun of you--”

“But it’s not my fault--” Siruko tries to protest.

“But you still should have been careful! I can't come to rescue you all the damn time! It’s like you’re looking for trouble just to see me! In that case, I don't ever want to see you again!”

Sensei freezes. It’s not what he wanted to say at all, but the damage has been done. He sees Siruko’s hurt look and he stiffens. In his frustration and anger, he took it out on the very thing he wanted to protect. He sees Siruko’s face close off and become distant, and he wants to take back the words, to apologize. “I- I didn’t mean--”

“I actually just came looking for you to give you this," Siruko thrusts a box to Sensei’s hand. “To thank you. But don't get me wrong, I never asked for your help in the first place. I never wanted ANY of that to happen in the first place. Anyway, thanks for everything. I’m sorry for being just a bother to you.” Siruko bows 90 degrees stiffly and runs, and Sensei tries to catch his hand but he doesn’t reach it and grabs air instead. He's too shocked at himself for saying those mean things and too shocked at seeing himself hurt Siruko-san.

He realizes he still has the box in his hands and he opens it to see a rabbit mask. The one that one of his favorite DBD killers have, which means Siruko knows who he is now. It was thoughtful, really, but right now it’s breaking Sensei’s heart. 

If only someone could shout “Bakagayo!” at him now, because he really messed up.

Siruko wasn’t going to cry, nope. He was a man, goddammit! And it’s not like he and Sensei were friends--they were two strangers who met in a coincidence. So it’s totally understandable that there’s a possibility that Sensei hates him. It was Siruko’s own goddamn fault for thinking he could be friends with Sensei, for his unrealistic expectations that maybe, Sensei would like to hang out with him (that maybe Sensei even liked him).

He reaches his friends and they see that something’s wrong by looking at his face, but since they’re the best people in the world and they’re his friends, no one comments on it. They try to distract him by pointing at interesting booths, and they even get to try some techie stuff and unreleased games even though they had to stand in line for a long time. It was almost fun, if Siruko wasn't distracted with the thought of how painful it was that Sensei never wanted to see him again. He just wants to go back to Tochigi now and maybe never ever leave his bed ever again.

Time passed by really quickly, and before they knew it, it was almost closing time. They were about to leave and go back to the rental car when Ichihachi-kun suddenly tugs him back. Turns out everyone stopped walking while Siruko kept moving forward. Siruko grumbles “What?” a little bit angrily and Ichihachi-kun points him in another direction.

Apparently Sensei’s been calling his name a lot, and now Sensei is wading through this huge mass of people just to get to him.

Siruko wants to ignore him, to just forget about everything and move on. Who was he anyway, to be friends with Sensei, who’s really cool and awesome and famous? Nothing will ever bud in their relationship, so there was no use hoping. Come daylight, they will be just two people who just happened to cross paths in a gaming convention. Nothing more.

But Sensei pushes back with all his might against the angry people who yell at him, and he sees Sensei's bright blue eyes, desperate for a chance to talk to him. And Siruko hates himself a little for not being able to turn him away, because he’s really weak for kind people. And no matter how much Sensei hated him, he finds himself unable to hate Sensei.

Sensei reaches them, gasping for oxygen like he just ran a marathon. People around them get annoyed at them stopping in the middle of the hallway, so they try to move to the side walls. Siruko sees Bintroll instinctively place themselves between him and Sensei, as if telling Sensei that “Nope, we’re not gonna let you hurt Siruko-san again”, and he feels so touched.

“Siruko-san.” Sensei gulps for air then tries, “I was… hoping we could talk… please.”

“Ehhh, I don’t know,” Jiraichan crosses his arms pretending to think, “...tell me, Sensei, why would I let you talk to my friend, hm?”

Sensei looks into Siruko-san’s eyes directly, and Siruko feels it… the sensation of the world being pulled to one person. His cerulean eyes were like magnets, and Siruko finds himself unable to pull away, attracted to it. “Actually, you shouldn't,” Sensei states seriously. “I’ve been a horrible person, and I’d even let all of you punch me right now because I deserve it. But please believe me when I say that I didn’t mean any of what I said. It’s true. I… I’m sorry, Siruko-san.”

And Sensei looks actually sincere. Siruko wants to stay angry for a little bit, but how can he resist an honest apology? He comes forward and makes gestures for his friends to leave them for a bit, that he can handle this. Mou, curse him for having a weakness for ikemen with glasses..

“Okay, you have 5 minutes to talk, then we really need to go back to our hotel. It’s been a long day, and I’m tired.”

“Right, right, of course of course.” Sensei looks flustered as he scratches the back of his neck as he stands awkwardly. "I… I didn't actually think I'd make it past the apology so I got nothing prepared… umm…"

Out of all the things Siruko expects, who would have known that Sensei is actually really very shy? Siruko giggles at the back of his mind. And because, contrary to popular opinion, he can actually be a little shit if he wants to, Siruko replies, "Well if you have nothing to say then I have to go pack my bags, Tochigi is a long way after all…."

Sensei repeats “Tochigi” as if trying to take note of it in his mind then shakes his head, almost raising his hand as if he wants to grab Siruko's hands but decides it was too embarrassing so he drops it. "Ano…. Let's exchange LINE?"

"Are you ordering or asking?"

"Asking?"

"Because you want to talk to me?"

"Yes?"

"Are you asking or answering?"

"Answering."

"And you want to talk to me because?"

"Because…. You're interesting?"

"You sound like you're not sure."

"I AM SURE!"

"THEN ARE YOU ASKING ME OUT?"

"YES!! IM ASKING YOU OUT BAKAGAYO!" Sensei yells, then blinks. Siruko couldn't stop himself anymore and laughs out loud. He wipes the tears in his eyes while holding his stomach. He can tell Sensei is blushing because his ears are red.

"Okay, but only if you beat me and my friends in DbD. What do you say, Sensei?"

And even though he's hiding behind the mask, Siruko knows Sensei is trying hard not to smile right now. Don't ask him how, he just knows. "Oh, it's on! I'd love to hear you scream when I memento you."

"Haha, you wish! You haven't played with me and my friends, you don't know how good we all are. We can fix the generators faster than you can blink, we'll be out in no time."

And Sensei actually laughs, the bastard. "Why don't you show me instead of telling me, Siruko-san." he says in a low dangerous tone, and it makes Siruko shiver in delight.

"I'd love to, Sensei." he whispers back.

Later, much later, after Sensei comes over to their hotel and sets up his laptop on Siruko's bed while all his friends are sprawled all over the floor in varying positions, and they're screaming and laughing and eating pizza and one match became five and suddenly it's dusk and they're all too tired but no one wants to miss Day 2 of the convention so they all go together with bags under their eyes, Siruko decides that may be conventions aren't too bad at all. Heck, even cosplaying as a girl character wasn't that bad, coz he slayed that look. And if it brought him to this moment, where he's dragging Sensei to all these booths amd Sensei rolls his eyes but obliges and he's being ridiculous trying to make Sensei laugh and Sensei, ever the straight man, says he's ridiculous even though he's also smiling, Siruko would gladly cosplay again.

He's being too cheesy, but he does think what's memento-be will be. 

The end.

Omake!!

Two years later.

"I AM NOT WEARING THAT RIDICULOUS THING."

"PLEASE SENSEI, IT'S TOO CUTE!! PLEASE PLEASE JUST THIS ONCE!!"

"I SAID NO!! GO TO HELL!!"

"I'LL GO THERE BECAUSE YOU'RE THERE YOU LITERAL DEMON!! IF YOU DON'T WEAR IT I'M NOT GOING!!"

"ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE! WE'VE BEEN PLANNING THIS FOR MONTHS! IT'S OUR FUCKING ANNIVERSARY GODDAMIT"

"YES AND THIS IS THE BEST WAY TO CELEBRATE IT!! MOUUUUUU YOU'D THINK AFTER ALL THAT SIRUKO-SAN ENDURED, THE LONG-DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP, THE MY-BOYFRIEND-IS-TOO-FAMOUS-SO-WE-HAVE-TO-MAKE-OUR-DATES-DISCREET, THE BASHING I GET FROM SOME OF YOUR CRAZIER FANS, YOU’D THINK SIRUKO-SAN DESERVES A REWARD BUT NOOOOO…. MOSHIKASHITTE, ORE NO KOTO KIRAI KA NA….”

“.........”

Siruko tries not to chuckle as his boyfriend, aka Limone-sensei, glares at him through the webcam. He’s playing dirty and Sensei knows it well, but in the end Siruko will win. It’s not his fault Sensei crumbles at the sight of his pien eyes, and he’s not above using it. It’s his perk, and he gotta use it to his advantage. 

“Fuck you.” Which, in Sensei language, means yes. Siruko lets a whoop of joy and Sensei bares his teeth at him like an angry animal. 

“I love you~ See you tomorrow!”

“Go to sleep, bakatare. I love you too.”

After a year of being friends and getting to know each other, and finally, finally Sensei asking him to be his, and them going out for a year, it’s nice. They’ve been through ups and downs, sure, but just like any game, they learn from their mistakes and improve. It wasn’t easy, it never was, but Sensei was the yin to his yang. Where Sensei was cold and easy to get angry, Siruko was warm and quick to forgive. Where Siruko has insecurities and anxieties, Sensei was the confidence that pulls him through and fights the negativity away. It was easier because of that. Even if they’re opposites, they complement each other. They don't even fight about anything, because despite his badass reputation, Sensei is a softie who’s very very weak to Siruko’s attempts at being cute, and Siruko had always been patient and understanding and it was easy for him to accept the downsides of dating someone as famous as Sensei.

And tomorrow, they’ll go back to where it all started, the gaming convention where they met. Siruko was planning to wear Feng Min’s bunny jacket as a lowkey cosplay and Sensei needs to wear that bunny Huntress mask if he values his life, so they can both have something bunny-like and DBD-like. It’s cute and ridiculous, exactly like his relationship with Sensei. Siruko can't help but giddy about it. It’s Love by Daylight after all.

THE END.

[devintrinidad]

As for your dark head canons, hehehe. I don’t know, it seems like a waste of potential if you stop now… ;D -

A waste of potential it shall be then! 1146 is best boy!

Eh well maybe there’s a middle ground. I mean it’s not unbelievable he’s got a dark side. I believe all immune cells have it thanks to their harsher upbringing and lack of expecting anything like say, 3803 in their lives (not to say they’re angst machines. They all seem pretty content and happy too). They are encouraged to be ruthless and single minded when doing their jobs. So yeah that same instinct/behaviour could translate to their personal life too.

Again I don’t see 1146 as a handers character. But I do see him,as a well meaning guy who might forget other people’s povs when he’s chasing his own. Afterall as we’ve said before, 1146 does not know failure very well. He’s used to having unconditional friends his whole life and being on the winner side. If he thinks some thing is the better option for the sake of others by goly he’s going to do it. He’s always really impulsive and reckless so say he goes behind 3803’s to ask NC stuff. Right after he does the deed he might start feeling bad right away because he has this empty feeling he learned something so private about 3803 from a more…. Unlikable source. Not only that he knows the extent of how much Cancer lied to her and invaded her personal space and disrespected her wishes. Which is something he kind of just did.  But it’s too late. He acts more cold to NC. More protective of 3803’s space and feelings. She notices the change and might guess on her own or learn from Cancer. Either way 1146 comes clean. He knows he messed up but (kind of a parrelell to NC who’s now realizing the same thing) he’s realizing he didn’t really how much. 3803 is still in a dark place. Any other time she’d think about it but forgive him because she’d get he means well. But she’s really frustrated and upset by how this keeps happening and needs to put things together on her own. 1146 backs off because she asks him too and because he really doesn’t know how to handle this new situation. 

1146 is a ruthless professional. But he’s also gotten pretty sensitive and a bit more willing to admit he did a bad thing. He goes the extra mile to respect 3803 and 3803 tries to sort out how to handle this without letting what Cancer did affect her. Honestly 3803 could start even really lashing out at NC because she’s so upset what he had done to her is now messing up her friendship with 1146. This could be a period where NC starts to really admit to himself how much he hurt her. Of course NC goes to 1146 and is like ‘so uhm what are you suppose to do when you feel gross inside over what you did to someone’ =/ 1146 is like Idk do whatever they want? Also I’m still restraining myself from beating you so keep your distance NC. ¬_¬

I imagine somewhere down the line of trying to figure out how to make things right with 3803 (because apparently just leaving her alone after awhile isn’t going to cut it). Someone finally has it and tells them they need to ask her to forgive them and they won’t hurt her like that again. The someone is probably the platelets. XP 1146 has a epiphany that he said sorry to 3803. He never asked for forgiveness which may have looked like he wasn’t regretful. He does so and the two make up because 1146 really goes all out begging for forgiveness and is willing to ask for it every single day of his life. To be more dramatic the forgiveness moment could happen when the two are alone after 1146 saves her from a germ. She’s hurt so despite his own injuries and her concerns for him to be careful - he princes carries her through the rubble and he really apologizes and lets get know how much their relationship means to him. That moment of asking her for forgiveness helps 3803 sort out her feelings and forgive him and mend things between them. 3803 really hated she was letting her pain from Cancer’s torture affect her feelings and actions to such extent she was worried he’d always have a hold on her. She had no idea if she was feeling her own honest feelings or burns of suspicion and grief tainting everything good in her life. But 1146 is not like Cancer. Even if he hurts her he always tries to make things right and attempt to do better by her. 

She remembers again she’s safe and valued and takes out a handerchief to start wiping 1146’s dirty face to show he’s valued and safe with her too. Maybe even pecks his cheek with a kiss to go a step further how much she’s happy things are good between them again. Then he drops her in shock and apologizes a ton and nearly kills himself with high emotions. XD

Oh wait. Can you imagine if this is the time 3803 starts realizing she has deeper feelings beyond friendship for 1146? Like later on 1146 tries to kiss her on the cheek to also show his gratitude over their making up (he really is a social duckling repeating after her). He leans down but she has no idea what he’s doing so her head turns just the right way to for both their lips to lock. 1146 goes into shock and he can’t even move away. 3803 is blushing but she’s also thinking 'Oh my gosh is he making a move. O-okay I’m doing my best too!’ So she closes her eyes her presses deeper in and grabs his shirt and starts going all out. After a few minutes or so he finally breaks away and starts breathing so hard he can’t form proper words for what he did (he completely misses 3803 was legit hitting on him and enjoying it) and then runs off after some bacteria. He’s extra violent because he’s so pumped up on frenzy adrenaline. He then sulks because he thinks he acted stupid and is nervous about apologizing (his friends find out and the way 1146 describes it he makes himself sound like he forced himself on her accidently. They’re all like, 1146 none of that makes sense). He gets her a ton of presents to apologize - even though the more he thinks about it the more he really enjoyed it. 3803 meanwhile is like wow my first kiss was so great. =D 1146 comes bearing gifts and before he can apologize and explain what really was suppose to happen. 3803 jumps him and is like Oh wow WBC you’re so sweet are these all for me! Is this your way of asking me to be your girlfriend! You’re so cool! Of course I accept! Then she hugs him tight and starts kissing him a lot. He’s highly confused and thinks about explaining things again. But then he quickly shrugs and hugs her back to return the affection. From then on 3803 gushes about how 1146 asked to go steady and how romantic he was. 1146 either just nods or tells his friends/aquientences that 3803 technically made all the first moves. >_>;

~~~

My emotions reading through this post:

An Epic Journey:

Featuring Me:

Maybe when Abnormalities is over, I’ll actually make a proper shipping fic. XD

[tracybirds]

gumnut-logic replied to your post “okay I’m coming off of three days of nothing but writing physics...”

Well you know who I’d like a story about. :D How about we team up John and Virg and the case of the missing marshmallows. Other brothers optional, but there has to be at least one apple and Eos has to butt her head in at least once :D That sound like something?

@gumnut-logic This may be the most bizarre writing prompt I’ve attempted but I had a heck of a lot of fun with it!! I hope you enjoy it and I make no promises for consistent characterisation xD

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The sun was by no means high in the sky when the insistent beeping in Virgil’s ear broke through his slumber, but the early haze of morning had been burnt off in the crisp southern sun. He groaned and rolled over, dragging linen sheets up and over his head, reaching out a hand to grope at the accept call notification that shone bright in his eyes.

“Someone had better be dying,” he growled into the comm, his eyes still squeezed tightly shut in denial of the day. “I swear John, if this is your god-awful circadian sleep cycle alarm, I will revoke cheeseburger privileges on your supply lists.”

“Virgil,” hissed John. “Virgil, I need your help.”

That got his attention. He cracked one eye open and peered at the hologram through the sheet.

“Shit John,” he said, propping himself up on one elbow and pulling the comm closer so he could see his brother more clearly.

“John?” he said sharply when his brother didn’t respond. “What’s going on?”

“Okay, don’t panic,” said John, “but I think I need you up here, Virg. I’m either hallucinating, or maybe it’s my memory, but Virg, I can’t find the marshmallows.”

Virgil, who had leapt out of bed and was hurriedly pulling on a new pair of jeans at John’s words, paused. “The… marshmallows?” he replied weakly.

“You know the ones,” said John agitatedly. “You sent them up last week, and I put them away and they’ve vanished.”

Virgil could already feel a headache developing behind his eyes. “John, when did you last get some sleep?”

“Two hours ago,” said John. He looked past the Virgil at something beyond the holographic display and his holo drained of colour. “Virgil, I can hear Gordon.”

Virgil knew for a fact that whatever John was hearing, it was not their brother who had crashed on the couch immediately following their last mission, slept through a horror movie marathon, and more importantly, who Virgil could see at that very moment from his window, cheerfully chatting to someone on his own comm.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can, Johnny,” he said, hurrying down to the docking station where the space elevator was ready and waiting for him. “Tell EOS to put us in emergency shutdown until we get this sorted.”

***

John met him at the airlock. He was still looking pale and his eyes were slightly bloodshot as he floated in the microgravity. Virgil grimaced at the weightless feeling, the sensation automatically sending red alerts to his brain. It would never be the comfort to him that it was to John and it was a relief when his brother engaged the gravity ring.

“I may have overreacted,” said John sheepishly, leading him into the galley. “I mean, about the marshmallows that is.” He pressed on one of the walls and the pantry doors opened to reveal an decorated tin. He pulled it out and offered the homemade marshmallow to Virgil before replacing it in the pantry and shutting the door. “I swear I left these in my room, I can’t explain it.”

“Maybe you’re sleepwalking again?” suggested Virgil.

John huffed a laugh. “Have you seen the way I’m strapped to my bed at night? I guess it’s possible, but I doubt it. Besides,” he said, lowering his voice. “Between you and me, if I were, I’d never hear the end of it from EOS. She’s developing a sense of humour.”

“Oh,” said Virgil, staring at the fond, proud look on John’s face. “Uh, congratulations?”

“Thank you,” he said beaming. “It’s an important step in her development.”

“Right,” said Virgil. He still wasn’t quite sure how to approach John’s attachment to EOS, and as far as he knew, there was no book titled What to Expect When Your Brother Adopts A Formerly Evil AI But Evil Implies A Morality She Hasn’t Yet Developed And He Won’t Shut Up About It. He quickly changed the subject. “Let’s get you checked out.”

There was an infirmary on Thunderbird Five, tucked away between the observation deck and the gym, but John led him instead to his room. He sat down on the bed that was still pulled down from his previous sleep cycle, blankets awry and scattered around him. Virgil frowned as he squeezed into the precious remaining space and grabbed the medical equipment that John tossed him.

“So, aside from the marshmallows, what’s really been going on John?”

To his surprise, John flushed and tensed under his careful hands. “It’s hard to explain,” he murmured, allowing Virgil to check his vitals. “It doesn’t sound like much, but put all together…”

“Hey, no judgement here,” said Virgil with a gentle smile. “You’re talking to a guy who once spent three hours convinced he could talk to the giraffe outside his bedroom window.”

“Wasn’t that a palm tree?”

“Exactly.”

John laughed, his shoulders relaxing slightly. “It’s just lots of little things,” he said. “I think I’ve toasted a bagel and I hear the ding, but it turns out I never turned it on. I programme a game of handball and suddenly I’ve pulled up space invaders. Nothing’s happened during a mission, but it’s only a matter of time.”

“Hey, it’s okay Johnny,” said Virgil, laying a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “We’ll solve this. You got your sleep records around?”

“There’s nothing I can see in them,” said John, turning around to pull up the file on the holoscreen beside his bed. He froze, hand hovering in mid-air.

Virgil followed his gaze and his eyes widened. Sitting on the shelf that jutted out from the wall, serving as John’s bedside table, was a small decorated tin.

“Okay, you see that too right?” asked John, not yet daring to reach out and confirm his sanity.

“That’s your tin of marshmallow,” exclaimed Virgil in surprise. His words broached a boundary that John was holding himself back from crossing and he snatched up the tin and pulled the lid off in one movement.

“It is,” he said, staring at it. “I’m not crazy right, we left this in the galley?”

“You put it back in the pantry,” Virgil confirmed. “You don’t have two tins?”

Without looking back, John sprinted out of the room and Virgil raced after him. With trembling hands, he opened the pantry to reveal a red apple sitting in the place the marshmallow tin had sat not twenty minutes earlier.

His mouth dropped open in confusion but before he could comment, John’s face had contorted in sudden frustration and he snatched the apple up and brandished it at Virgil.

“These are real,” he said. “Tell me these are real Virgil, I keep finding these all over the damn place.” With that, he threw the apple at the wall and Virgil winced as it bounced and rolled onto the floor between them, battered and bruised.

“Where are they coming from?” he asked Virgil desperately. “There weren’t any apples sent up on the last delivery, I’d have seen them on the supply list.”

“There’s something strange going on here,” said Virgil, looking suspiciously around them. “The good news is, it’s probably not hallucinations or your memory failing you.”

“Then what is it?” John cried.

At that, a ghostly laugh floated into the galley from the corridor beyond. A very familiar laugh.

“Gordon,” called Virgil angrily. He didn’t know why and he didn’t know how, but suddenly he was certain Gordon was the mastermind behind these events.

“Gordon’s on down on Tracy Island,” snapped John. “I looked into that already.”

A loud thud on the galley doors made them both jump and they rushed through the automatic doors to see another apple rolling away from them. Another echoing laugh drew them down the corridor, following a trail of red fruit and mockery into the module room, the globe spinning in the centre of the room and the communications array glowing dimly.

“Good morning, John,” came EOS’s bright voice. “Good morning, Virgil Tracy.”

“EOS,” gasped John. “I need a scan done, tracking all human presences on Thunderbird Five.”

“There are two humans present on Thunderbird Five.”

“Where’s Gordon?” demanded Virgil.

“Gordon Tracy is on Tracy Island,” said EOS automatically, pulling up a camera feed to show them Gordon cheerfully trying to dunk Alan in the pool.

She laughed brightly as Alan dragged Gordon under the water and he emerged spluttering with a wide grin on his face.

“This is fun, John,” she said happily. “Can I try this in the future?”

“Absolutely not, you’ll damage your hard drive,” he said with a fond smile. “And since your hard drive is my home, I will not let you take the risk.”

“You could get a mobile array built for me which could experience this in my stead,” she persisted hopefully. “I could merge our data following the experience and undergo recombination of our memories.”

“I am not getting you an android for Christmas if that’s what you’re asking,” said John, absently and EOS laughed again.

There was something in the cadence of her laugh that tugged at Virgil’s memory and he stared at EOS as he tried to unravel the sound.

“EOS,” he said slowly. “Have you asked John about the new book he’s reading?”

EOS tilted her camera array to one side and Virgil had to suppress a laugh of his own when he saw John do the same thing.

“John hasn’t mentioned this.”

“No I haven’t,” said John, looking bewildered. “Tell her Virgil, it’s a good one.”

“It’s on anti-gravity,” he said with a grin. “It’s apparently impossible to put down.”

There was a beat of silence and suddenly he heard it again, her laugh following the intervals of his younger brother’s, so open and cheerful and so very different to John’s huffing chuckle.

“It was you,” he concluded.

EOS gasped and swung her array around to look at John and his reaction.

“What?” asked John. “What was EOS?”

“The marshmallows, the space invaders, the apples. John, it’s been EOS all along, I guarantee she’s been talking to Gordon.”

That pealing laughter rang out again, this time mixed with Gordon’s own familiar laugh echoing around the room.

“I have,” she said happily. “John, he’s taught me so much about humour, you’d be so proud.”

John looked a little shellshocked.

“All this time?” he asked weakly. “EOS, I thought I was losing my mind.”

“Isn’t it funny, John!”

“No! EOS,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I mean, now I know they were pranks, this all makes a lot more sense, but…”

“What John is trying to say,” said Virgil, jumping in, “is that pranks are a very particular branch of advanced humour.”

“Yes, thank you,” said John, waving towards him. “Perhaps, we can work our way up to pranks. There’s very specific pranking algorithms that need to observed for maximum impact. Search parameter “prank wars” for examples.”

Virgil snorted. Leave it to John to immediately teach his daughter the importance of retaliation. He would let that piece of information make its way to Scott on its own.

“You going to be alright now?” he asked in an undertone.

“Yeah,” said John, shaking his head as EOS pulled up video after video on the screens surrounding them, alternating between laughter and critique. “Oh man though, a prank war? Gordon’s going to regret teaching her anything in a few weeks, I can promise you that much.”

“I’ll see myself out,” said Virgil with a grin. “Have fun wrangling my niece.”

John waved him off and Virgil left, still thinking fondly of EOS throwing herself into the world of humour with all the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old child. There was no book titled What To Expect When You Adopt An AI, but Virgil was confident that they’d be there to help him muddle through.