#I should start tagging stuff as shower thoughts cause a majority of the shit I come up with

[flumpermergen]

Very important very canonical list of what BSD characters would say “urm what the sigma” either ironically or unironically

Dazai and Ranpo both say it ironically often back and forth to each other or to confuse the rest of the agency. Dazai especially would say it after a ten minute lecture by Kunikida in which Kunikida would respond with another ten minutes of yelling at him for not taking anything seriously.

Yosano says it once or twice when the moment’s right mostly to tease Kunikida for taking it so literally but not nearly as often as the other two.

Kyouka and Kenji heard Ranpo and Dazai say it and started repeating it even though neither of them understand what it means but it sounds funny.

Lucy joins in with Dazai and Ranpo in saying it especially towards Atsushi who doesn’t get it but just awkwardly laughs it off cause he doesn’t know how else to respond.

Tachihara said it once with the black lizards and again with the hunting dogs and both times was met with confused silence. He was trying to get a laugh but ended up just feeling hella cringy and never said it again out of embarrassment.

Gin actually did giggle when Tachihara said it but no one heard it under her mask. Now she mumbles it under her breath occasionally and once said it in front of Akutagawa who was also very confused.

In another life I firmly believe that Q would be an IPad kid who laughs at skibidi toilet jokes. If he ever were to canonically gain internet access he would defo laugh at and use the phrase unironically.

Take one look at Kajii and try to tell me he doesn’t say the most cringy chronically online shit every time he opens his mouth.

Nikolai starts saying it all the time the minute he hears the phrase. Everyone else just assumes it’s something he made up to annoy Sigma so they don’t question it. Meanwhile Sigma himself is initially confused as to why Gogol keeps using his name in vain like someone would to god. He increasingly gets more and more annoyed at it because it’s very obvious Nikolai is only doing it to make him upset. Once Sigma is at peak annoyance, Gogol starts replacing the word sigma with other words that start with the letter S like scallop or something to subvert his expectations. This only makes Sigma more annoyed as it’s obviously just a replacement for his name and its meaning remains the same. Although Sigma acknowledges how silly getting all worked up over something stupid Nikolai did is, he still can’t help it. Gogol uses the excuse that he’s not saying his name anymore so he can’t get mad at him. Finally one day Nikolai airdrops Sigma multiple TikTok’s about “sigma males” causing Sigma to have an existential crisis over what his name means and the implications of being named after such a thing cause he would never treat women that way all while Nikolai laughs about it from afar.

Natsume because of the vibe and I think it would be really funny

Come back next week to learn which kids 2000’s/2010’s virtual world each bsd character played on obsessively and why.

[hwangsies]

LIMERENCE

(n) the state of becoming infatuated with another person

pairing: hyunjin x female reader

summary: you haven’t spoken a word to hyunjin since he ghosted you after a fun new years eve together, so what’s the worst that could happen when fate (or chaeryong,...well, same thing) pairs you up for a road trip across the country?

warnings: e2l (ish), university student!au, non idol!au ,a lot of swearing. alcohol consumption,long flashback, mentions of infidelity, hyunjin is a giggly sweetheart, smut as in: dom!hyunjin, unprotected sex (wrap it up luvs),fingering, oral (f recieving), slight choking, praise kink, hand & strenght kink (manhandleing oopsie), slight overstimulation, hyunjin is really enthusiastic about consent (as you should be, periodt), reader is nervous and scared of hyunjins big pickle (ew i hate myself), motel sex (but it’s not trashy i promise!)

8.6 k words ,meaning grab a snack and a drink,

and enjoy!<3

---

"alright everyone" your professor rubs his hands together "that was it for today... i hope you all have a great break and i'm very exited to see all of you again next semester. hopefully in person again" he chuckles.

You and your classmates exchange goodbyes with him before one after the other exits the zoom call.

"fuck" you sigh after closing your laptop and lean back on your bed.

"you did it girl" your dormmate chaeryong claps, at which you giggle before shifting your eyes to her on the other side of the room.

She's sitting on her bed, folding her clothes before putting it in her suitcase thats placed in front of her.

"finally" you sit up and watch her roll up a pair of socks.

"my last class was yesterday and mrs kim teared up" she giggles "it was kinda cute not gonna lie"

"oh god" you snicker.

"hey did you find someone to take to yongin?" you ask, remebering chearyong talking about wanting to find someone to share gas expenses with in exchange for a ride to her hometown.

"oh yea, i did" she turn to you "i think you know him, seo changbin?"

You furrow your brows in thought, you feel like you've heard of the name.

"he's a music major, one year above us, hes also from yongin" she continues folding a pair of jeans "funny you'd ask actually cause he told me one of his friends was looking for a ride to seoul, isn't that where you're going?"

"Yea i was thinking about finding someone honestly because gas is really fucking expensive if you aint rich" you say, placing your laptop onto your nightstand.

"Mm you aint gotta tell me girl" chaeryong mumbles, folding a sweatshirt.

"so who's that friend?" you ask, stretching out on your bed.

"he's in his grade, hyunjin"

Your neck almost cracks from how fats you whip your head “hwang hyunjin?”

"Oh yea" she points at you "you know him?"

"unfortunately" you huff.

"o-oh, what"s the tea?" your roommate wiggles her brows at which you shake your head.

"nothing much really" you sigh, leaning back again "he's just like the most arrogant and stuck up fuckboy ever"

"wow, well thats not nothing" chaeryong laughs "any reason as to why you think that?"

"you could probably ask any girl on campus and she'll tell you the same" you scoff.

"really girl?" chaeryong squints an eye at you playfully "cause i've only heard of him being hot but never of him being a hoe. And you know i'm the first to know the hot gossip" she winks.

Laughing defeatedly, running your hand through your hair.

"it's just- we hit it off at the campus' new years eve party, like really hit it off- at least thats what i thought"

"oooh spill it spill it" chaeryong leaps over to your bed to sit at the end of it.

"well there's really not much to spill, i gave him my number and he was talking all that smack about taking me out and stuff aaand to make a long story short i never heard from him again"

"well" chaeryong speaks slowly, biting her lip guiltily "i dont think you'll be very happy about me giving changbin your number for him, then?"

"you did what???" your eyes almost pop out of your head.

"sooorryy" she jumps up from your bed, clutching her hands apologetically "i didnt know"

"aaaaarghh" you whine, burying your face in your pillow.

"maybe he won't even text you though" chaeryong tries to console you, but the damage is already done...

-

unknown number - hey i got this number from changbin, i heard you're driving up to seoul, i'd love to tag along if you're looking for someone to share expenses with -recieved at 9:12 am

You huff looking at the message on your phone.

After chaeryong had left last night you really convinced yourself that he couldn't possibly dare to reach out to you.

But here you are reading his message after just waking up, and your day is already ruined.

you - who is this? - sent at 9:56 am

You know who it is, but you're not going to give him the satisfaction of thinking that you do.

Scoffing when he answers almost immediately.

unknown number - this is hyunjin, did i reach the right person? - recieved at 9:57 am

You have two choices at this point.

1. be petty and bitter about a boy who probably doesn't even remember you.

Or 2. move on and help someone who is also just trying to get home and also maybe get some closure.

So you curse your mother for rasing you so well and suck it up.

you - yea sure, i planned on leaving tomorrow at around 6 pm - sent at 10:02 am

Damn you and your common human decency.

he sus - oh okay great :) i only have one suitcase and a backpack btw so i wont take up alot of space or anything - recieved at 10:05 am

he sus - also i feel weird bc i dont know ur name or anything changbin literally just sent me the number and nothing else lol, also 6 sounds good should we meet at the main building then? -sent at 10:06 am

You're quite honestly not shocked that he seems nice over text because he was the same when you met on new years eve.

you - sure lets meet at the main building, my car is white and my name is y/n - sent at 10:09 am

Cringing as you press the send button because you are 99% certain he won't answer anymore; not that you'd care, obviously.

he sus - alright y/n see you tomorrow at 6 then :) - recieved at 10:14 am

You raise your brows when your phone lights up with his message, does he really not remember you?

Was he that drunk?

Well, it doesnt matter because you don't want to pay for all this gas alone and he seems to be the next best option to fix that.

So you shrug it off and get out off bed to run some last errands and start packing.

-

Your heart is beating unreasonably fast when you take a turn towards the main building at 5:55 pm the next day.

Calm down y/n it’ll just be 5 hours and who says you have to talk to him?

However you do know deep in your heart that you only wanted to arrive just a little early so you could complain about him being late.

That plan got cut short because your eyes fall on him as you pull up to the main building.

He’s- oh my god he’s blonde. You stop your car and he looks up at you.

“it is you!” hyunjin smiles at you when you step out of the car.

“who else would it be?” you ask, a little irritated at his reaction.

His face drops a bit when he sees you clearly annoyed by him, but the doesn’t blame you; he’d be mad too.

You open your trunk for him to put his weirdly small suitcase into, looking him up and down as he lifts it inside.

He’s wearing dark baggy pants and a windbreaker jacket, the top part of his chin-length blonde hair is pulled back into a messy ponytail.

He seemed to have bulked up as well, shoulders looking broader than what you remember.

The hair is different than the jet black hair that you remember on him, but it suits him very well; to be honest he would look good in any hair colour, not that you’d care though.

The first thirty minutes of the ride go by agonizingly slow and in complete silence.

When you drive onto the freeway you can’t take it anymore and mumble something among the lines of ‘wanna listen to some music?’.

You don’t wait for an answer, pressing the radio button right as you finish your sentence.

“uh, actually” hyunjin starts, his hand lifting to turn the radio back off, your eyes snap towards him, is he serious? Turning off your radio in your car?

“I wanted to address this situation” he says rather quietly.

You scoff “what? You realized that this is awkward just now?”

“no- I mean- yes I understand why you would think that but I just really want a chance to explain myself” he stutters.

“explain yourself” you repeat after him before mumbling “sure because there’s so much to explain”

“listen, I know you think I’m an asshole who just ghosted you b-“

“listen, I can handle rejection, you could’ve just said that you weren’t looking for something serious and I would’ve accepted that. The thing I’m mad about though is you literally making false promises and shit” 

Hyunjin blinks at you “can I please just explain to you what happened?”

You let out a long huff “sure” you wave your hand “go ahead”

“when you and your friends left at around 4, you wrote your number on my arm with your eyeliner, correct?” he asks.

Glancing over at him, you nod.

“after you where gone, I was already pretty drunk but then my friends decided to drag me with them to a different party that was still going” you see him fiddling with his hands in your peripheral “well I got super fucking shitfaced at that party and ended up puking on this one guys shoes”

You raise your eyebrows and hold back a laugh, which he notices.

“its okay you can laugh” he chuckles as well.

“anyways that guy was not very happy about it and busted my lip before kicking me and my friends out, so then back in the dorm my roommate sat me in the shower because I was full of alcohol, blood and puke”

“ew” you chime in.

“and when I woke up the next morning your number was gone” hyunjin looks over at you “we don’t have any mutual friends, I didn’t know what your major is so I couldn’t even asks for you in the administrating office, and then the covid lockdown happened and here we are”

“you called the administrating office?” you look over at him, he nods a little smile on his stupid pretty lips.

“yep, so, sorry to tell you but your eyeliner is not waterproof” he jokes at which you playfully knit your brows at him.

“believe me, I wanted to text you. I really wanted to take you out; and when you sent me your name yesterday I didn’t know if this was a lucky coincidence or if you’re a different y/n, that’s why I didn’t say anything” he explains.

You take a deep breath as you realize you have to apologize for going off on him just now, you believe him but you hate apologizing.

“well, I feel like an ass for going off on you like that after hearing all this” you chuckle “I’m sorry” you eye him shortly before looking back on the road.

“it’s okay, you don’t have to apologize I get how it looked, very much sus” he laughs with you.

-

Coming back to your car after you took a bathroom break on a highway rest-stop, you see hyunjin sitting in the drivers seat.

“what do you think you’re doing?” you smile as you sit down on the passenger seat.

“I thought maybe you’d like to sleep since its dark already and you’ve been driving for almost 3 hours” he suggests while putting on his seatbelt.

“well, I wont say no to that” you shrug and put your seatbelt on as well.

“so when did you go blonde?” you ask curiously.

“uh- around end of june” hyunjin chuckles “it was a dare if I’m being honest but I ended up liking it and got it redone”

“oh okay” you check out his profile once more and follow his hair with your eyes “I like it”

“yea?”

“yea, which is weird cause I’m usually not into blondes at all” you wonder.

“hm” he grins “must be me then” he says before winking at you.

“pfff, in your dreams” you rebuttal playfully, at which he laughs and mumbles a ‘true’.

You don’t react to it because you think your ears are playing tricks on you.

“hey I have a question too” hyunjin says.

“what’s up” you lean your arm against the window as you look over at him.

His face is slightly lit by the lights of the other cars, no seriously, how can a side profile be so perfect?

“why did you even agree to take me with you if you thought I ghosted you?” he grins.

You laugh “well, I’m a nice person and I know not a lot of people there are from seoul and my mom raised me right, okay?”

“okay okay” he giggles, the way his eyes crinkle when he does makes you smile everytime.

“or…did you have such a good time with me on new years that you just had to jump on this opportunity?” he quips, carefully stealing a peek at you.

“sure, why do you think I was so upset when you didn’t text” you feign sadness.

The both of you laugh before falling into comfortable silence.

When looking outside your window, you think back to said new years eve.

-(flashback)

“oh my god” you said, stepping into the big hall that usually is the universities gym. But whoever planned this outdid themselves.

A dj was placed on one of the tribunes and a whole buffet of drinks and punches on the other, as well as a big disco ball hanging from the ceiling, making the room shimmery and shiny.

You could see people coming out of the doors that connected into the universities hall on one side and into the locker rooms on the others, as if it wasn’t already packed.

“this is fucking insane” lia, your roommate from last semester, squeaked while grabbing your arm and jumping a little, her voice overpowering the blasting music..

“I wanna get fucking hammered tonight” you turned to her.

“oh babe don’t worry,  we didn’t come here to drink soda” she laughed before spotting some of your other friends.

About five minutes before midnight you and some more girls gathered at the buffet of drinks and started doing shots.

You all had decided that instead of kissing someone at 12 o’clock you’d ring in 2020 with a shot, because alcohol can’t cheat on you.

You were laughing at something when some people started the countdown.

10!

9!

8!

7!

6!

5!

4!

3!

2!

1!

“HAPPY NEW YEAR”

Every one shouted and celebrated in union as you downed your shot.

“happy new year babe” lia hugged you after downing hers.

“happy new year!” you shouted into her ear, full of relief that this stressful year was over.

“lets do another one” she grinned widely after your whole friend group had shared their wishes with each other.

A girl you didn’t know very well handed you another shot, just as you emptied your glass you heard a guy yell something before stumbling into your back.

“jesus” you stumbled forward a bit before turning around, ready to throw someone a dirty look.

“I’m so sorry, are you okay?” in front of you suddenly stood a tall dark haired young man with almost too perfect facial features, frowning a little out of concern.

“nothing happened” you smiled, taking a step towards him so he’d hear you better.

“I’m glad” he replied, a grin slowly stretched across his handsome face

“I’m y/n” you giggled as you held out your hand.

His eyes crinkled with his smile as he took your hand in his “I’m hyunjin” he said before pressing a kiss to the back of your hand.

“okay guys let her have her fun lets go over there” you hear lia usher your friends away from behind you.

“happy new year y/n” he said before instinctively pulling you a little closer to him when a group of people passed behind you.

“happy new year hyunjin” you replied, a slow blush creeping on your face from how intensely he was taking in your appearance.

“well yea happy fucking new years to me for running into you” he joked before taking a sip, your brain wasn’t able to function anymore so you just giggled and nervously pushed your hair behind your ear.

It had been way too long since you’d talked to a guy, especially someone as attractive as him

“you’re fucking stunning” hyunjin complimented you and lifted your hand with his to make you spin for him, to which you complied because you took a long time getting ready and always appreciate being appreciated.

“thank you” you were crimson red by now but hoped he wouldn’t see because of the dimmed lights.

“how come I’ve never seen you around? I would’ve remembered you” he tilted his head.

“oh this was my first year here and I live on the other side of campus so…” you nodded slowly “but yea I would’ve remembered you too”

He grinned before downing his drink and putting on the table next to the both of you.

“wanna dance?”

That’s how you found yourself on the dance floor with hyunjin pressed against your back.

Slowly but surely the alcohol made you braver; and it didn’t take long for the dj to play perfect songs to grind yourself against his toned body to.

His reaction was instant, hands gripping even harder at your waist and his own movements matching your own.

You looked back at him just to have the air knocked out of your lungs, a barely there sheen of sweat was covering his forehead; his pupils were dilated and his lips were slightly parted before his tongue swiftly swept over his lower lip.

He looked like sex on legs and moved like it too.

His plump lips formed into a grin when he noticed you staring, you didn’t know if it was the alcohol running through your system but you so desperately wanted to kiss him.

“can’t stop looking at you either, pretty” he lowered his head to mumble against your cheek before pressing a kiss there.

“you’re so goddamn sexy” you blurted out as you turned around to face him, running one of your hands through his dark hair before positioning them on his firm chest.

He threw back his head as his chest vibrated with laughter.

“don’t laugh at me” you laughed as you locked eyes again.

“you’re cute when you’re drunk” hyunjin brought one hand to your face to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear.

“you dont even know me sober” you giggle “also i’m not drunk!” you protested playfully, his hands found your waist in the meantime to pull you flush to his body; at which you gasped almost inaudibly.

“oh really?” he looked down at you, clearly amused “didn’t you drink like 5 shots half an hour ago?”

“well well well, I didn’t know I had an audience” you countered, looping your arms around his neck.

Hyunjin prodded at the inside of his cheek with his tongue before looking away for a swift second, slightly embarrassed because he just exposed himself.

You felt yourself gush a little when he licked his lips again after bringing his gaze back to you.

“so you almost knocked me over on purpose?” you grinned even bigger when he shook his head laughingly.

“listen” he chuckled, leaning down unnecessarily close because you could hear him perfectly fine but you weren’t going to complain.

“I actually didn’t run into you on purpose, that was my friends doing after he saw me notice you” he said.

You mouthed an ‘ahh’ while nodding, feigning disbelief.

“I’m serious” hyunjin laughed “I still have to thank him later; I would’ve probably chickened out”

He got quieter at the end of his sentence, his eyes jumping to your lips when you wet your lower lip with your tongue quickly.

“i-m glad he pushed you then” you replied, trying to hide the fact that your heart was pumping your blood in record time.

“yea” he inched his face closer to yours as you tilted your chin up to meet him in the middle “me too”

His eyes switched from your lips to your eyes one more time before closing the gap between the both of you.

His lips were firm but soft at the same time in the way they moulded against yours, you swore you could hear lia squealing from somewhere but maybe you were just hearing things.

But when his tongue touched yours in the most tentative way you lost contact to what was going on around you, slinging your arms tighter around his neck and deepening the kiss.

A tiny groan escaped hyunjins throat when you carded your fingers through his hair to tug on it and release some of the adrenalin that rushed through you.

He was slow and explorative and let you take control from time to time before sucking on your lower lip and making you loose it.

You didn’t know how many songs had passed; to be honest you didn’t even remember what song was playing when you started kissing.

All you knew in that moment was hyunjins lightly flushed cheeks, swollen lips and dark glistening eyes.

“let’s go somewhere else?” he questioned in a whisper when you bit your lip, nodding at his question.

He grabbed your hand in his before manoeuvring the both of you through the dancing and celebrating crowd.

Before you knew it, hyunjin pulled you into the entrance hall of the university where multiple people had the same idea as you.

Couples scattered across the big room, some just talking, most of them however making out heavily.

“come on” he softly tugged at your hand, smiling when your gaze falls on him.

He lead you up the big flight of stairs onto a floor of the building you’ve never been to, stopping in front of a random room before pulling a small set of keys out of his back pocket.

After unlocking the door, he opened it to let you step inside.

It was a dance studio, the wall right across from you was just one huge mirror through which you could see the big couch in the back of the room and the water dispensers next to it.

“why do you have the keys for this room?” you asked, giggling.

Hyunjin grinned as he closed the door “I’m a dance major, we all have keys for the practice rooms”

“that’s so cool” you beamed “I wish I could dance” you looked around the room, walking towards the mirrored wall a little bit.

“you were moving just fine earlier” hyunjin came up behind you, nimble hands finding your waist as he looked you up and down through the mirror intensely, now that you were under the bright lights of the room.

You couldn’t help but to smile a little at that, the tight little glitter dress that you had chosen really did accentuate your curves in the best way possible, paired with the cute black heels which made your legs look way longer than they actually are.

“but that was like club sexy dancing, you know?” you elaborated.

“hm” he hummed amusedly “whats wrong with sexy club dancing?” you turned around to him.

He didn’t look to shabby himself, all in black, a chic button up with some jeans and a belt; accessorized with rings on his pretty fingers, a  dainty silver necklace and some small earrings.

Some might say he was underdressed, but the way he carried himself with such confidence, and that face of his must for sure be a panty dropper, you thought.

“nothing but… I don’t know, teach me something” you pleaded.

“what do you want me to teach you?” he laughed.

“I don’t know a pirouette or something” you suggested, laughing as well.

“okay” he grinned “this is like the base stance” he positioned himself correctly before looking at you to see if you were following his instructions.

“mhm” you hummed, replicating what he was doing.

“and then you get momentum with one leg to be able to swing yourself around, like this” hyunjin explained before executing a perfect pirouette and ending it back in the base stance.

“that was fast” you chuckled.

“your turn” he grins before moving behind you “try to keep your eyes on yourself in the mirror otherwise you’ll loose balance”

“okay” you said unsurely.

“I’ll catch you if you fall” he winked at you, at which you scoff playfully before carefully swinging yourself into a pirouette.

You landed on wobbly legs but before you could tip over hyunjin stabilized you with a firm grip on your hips.

“you’re a natural” he grinned at you through the mirror.

“well thank you” you playfully feigned cockiness before he spun you around himself.

A few seconds pass of the both of you taking in each others features in silence, the only thing you could hear was the faint music of the party downstairs, before hyunjin spoke up.

“can I kiss you?”

You fell into giggles again as you let your forehead rest against his collarbone before looking up again “we’ve kissed before”

“yea but that was like a moment and I don’t want to catch you off guard or anything” he mumbles cutely.

“mm” you nod “ you can kiss me”

And with a smile, he does.

You weren’t surprised when his first gentle ministrations turned into more desperate ones rather quickly because you could feel the warmth spread in your lower regions as well.

He walked the both of you over to the couch, only parting from your lips when he sat down on the black leather material of the couch.

“come here, pretty girl” he took your hand to help you straddle him, your dress riding up but you couldn’t care less if he saw your safety shorts, and he didn’t seem to care either by the way he feverishly connected your lips again.

His hands travelled down to squeeze at your waist before smoothing over your ass and grabbing a handful of each cheek, you moaned into the kiss when you realized how big his hands were.

Your own hands were squeezing at his shoulders before one moved into his soft hair while the other softly rested on his cheek.

The kiss was messy and desperate, teeth clinking together and tongues licking at each other.

The things that riled you up the most however were his groans and praises.

“you’re so fucking sexy” he groaned before moving down to kiss at your jaw and down your neck.

A needy whimper escaped from your throat when he started suckling the sensitive skin at the base of your throat.

“fuck-hyunjin” you moaned when his teeth grazed over your clavicle.

Your hands fumbled before landing on his belt, at which he pulled away from your skin, gently taking your hands off of his belt.

“I’d love to take you out first, actually” his pretty kiss swollen lips twitched up into a shy smile as he pants.

“oh” you were taken aback, you were almost certain that this was something regular for him “I thought-“

“I mean if you just want to fuck we can fuck of course” he chuckled “but- I actually think you’re really cute and fun and I’d love to get to know you better”

Your mouth stood a little agape “uh- I mean-I” you stuttered, your brain not functioning properly because of the alcohol running through your veins but also him!

“its okay if you just want, you know-“

“no!” you blurted out all over sudden, making him flinch a little “sorry, uhm- its just been a while since I had a date” you smile apologetically.

His expression visibly brightens “that’s okay” he giggled “so is that a yes?”

You grinned, leaning in to just barely brush your lips with his, his head twitching upwards in an attempt to connect them fully.

“yes” you whispered, at which he smiled brightly before pulling your in for a kiss by your neck.

-(flashback end)

“y/n”

“hey, y/n” you grumble when you feel someone gently rocking your shulder.

“mmm-what?” you peek your eyes open just to see hyunjin smile at you.

“good morning sunshine” he teases as you sit up in your seat when you realize you aren’t driving anymore.

“just kidding its not morning” he says as you look around your car, realizing your on a parking lot.

“where the fuck are we?” you whip your head towards him “did you bring me here to kill me? kidnap me?”

“wha?- no” he laughs “no, I’m sorry. Right after you fell asleep there was this huge traffic jam because of an accident and we stood there for almost 3 hours so I drove off and found this” he points out the rear window, where you see a small motel building.

You look back at him before checking the time on your phone, seeing it was indeed almost midnight.

“fuck” you swear to yourself.

“I didn’t know if you wanted to keep driving because I was getting tired so I thought maybe-“ hyunjin starts rambling guiltily, not wanting you to thing that this was an attempt to get in your pants.

“hey” you put your hand on his shoulder after taking off your seatbelt “this is good, you made the right decision I think we both could use some sleep” you say.

You each take your suitcases and walk inside, it’s an old building but it looks pretty clean for a motel off of the highway.

“good evening you two” an old lady sits behind the, probably just as old, reception.

“good evening, could we get 2 single rooms, please” hyunjin speaks up politely.

“I’m afraid we only have 2 double bed rooms available, if you’d like to take them, they will however be more expensive than the rooms for one” she explains politely.

“its okay, we’ll take one of those, please” you decide, hyunjins head snapping towards you.

“is that okay?” you ask him.

“yea- sure” he nods.

“alright, room 301 it is” she hands you the key before stating that you’ll have to checkout before 12 pm and what the room costs.

“do you accept card?” hyunjin asks at which the friendly old lady nods before taking his card and swiping it through her little machine.

“I’ll venmo you half of what you paid” you say after unlocking room 301.

He tsk’s at you before shaking his head “don’t, it was my idea so I’ll pay”

“are you sure?” you ask closing the door behind you when he turns on the lights.

“yup-oh” he exclaims.

“this room is cute” you say, it’s small but the walls are a soft sunflower yellow, decorated with paintings of autumn leaves .

The bed looks clean, and when you smell the mouse gray blankets and pillows, they smell fresh as well.

“stop smelling the pillows” hyunjin laughs.

“I’ve never been to a motel, I thought everything would be dirty or ancient” you confess comically.

He chuckles as he comes out of the small bathroom “the bathroom is clean too, don’t worry” he says when you look at him expectantly.

“I’ll sleep on the floor if you want” he offers as you open your suitcase to get out your toothbrush and pj’s.

“it’s fine, hyunjin I’ve slept in the same bed as a male before” you joke.

“well how am I supposed to know that?” he counters, at which you throw your pj shorts at him out of reflex.

When you realize what you had done it was too late, he was already holding them out in front of him before giggling.

“very cute choice” he mocks the small white shorts with red hearts all over it.

“stoop” you whine, trying to fish it out of his hands but he holds them over his head like a kindergartener.

“I remember why I don’t like you” you pout, crossing your arms.

His face drops alongside with his arms “I thought we were past that”

You use his moment of weakness to snatch your shorts out of his hands “gotcha”

-

“see I told you I was gonna take you out” hyunjin beams at you before looking down at the various snacks he took from the motels vending machine, which were laying in between the both of you on the bed.

“and so luxurious too” you joke, crossing your legs.

“only the best for you” he grins when you open a pack of fruit jellies.

“you know, I was thinking about new years” you say “ and I realized that it was your fault!”

Hyunjin throws his head back as he groans playfully “why?”

“if you hadn’t lost your phone when we got back downstairs, I wouldn’t have had to write my number on your arm; or you could’ve just given me your number and I could’ve text you. But you didn’t even know your own number!” you laugh in reminiscence.

“listen” he laughs “I was drunk and you’re hot! I couldn’t think” he defends himself before taking a bite off a chocolate bar.

You blush a little but play it off with a laugh.

“but yes, I admit, it was indeed my fault” he dramatically holds his hand in front of his eyes.

“yeeees!” you exclaim victoriously.

“I’m kidding though” you pat his knee “I forgive you”

“I’m glad” he smiles.

After the both of you are done eating way too many sweets, you find yourself being really comfortable when talking to hyunjin.

He’s funny, doesn’t seem like he’s full of himself and just in general seems like a very kind person.

“I thought you were a fuckboy when me met” you confess, looking at him.

Propped on one elbow looking down at you, while you lay on your side towards him, his face illuminated only by the little lights on each of your nightstands.

“you did?” he asks confusedly.

“yea” you chuckle “you were so confident and…sexy I don’t know” you place your hand over your face in embarrassment.

“oh that was the liquid courage talking, I’m usually pretty shy” he shakes his head smilingly when you peek through your fingers.

“don’t lie” you push his shoulder softly.

“I’m serious!” he laughs.

“you were the first guy to approach me at a party” you pause “like ever”

“no way, you’re lying now” he furrows his brows.

“nope” you shake your head.

“but I was really close to not talking to you as well, I’m sure there were many guys before me that just didn’t have the liquid courage, like I did” he speculates.

“maybe” you say.

“have any exes?” he asks after a few seconds.

“yea, one”

“well how did you meet him?”

“he showed me around on my first day of freshman year, I transferred like in the middle of the first semester so I wasn’t with any other freshmen” you tell him.

“why’d you break up if I may ask?” hyunjin asks carefully.

“oh we were only together for like three weeks, you can’t even call I relationship. He used me to make his hot ex jealous and cheated on me with her” you say “but hey they’re back together at least” you scoff.

“i’m sorry” he mumbles at which you look up at him.

“it’s not your fault” you chuckle.

“well, still no one should feel that way” he says “you know that you were way too good for him right?”

You nod.

“what about you? Have any exes?” you ask back.

He snickers “only one in seoul”

“why didn’t you last?”

“it was a long distance situation, she was super jealous and couldn’t trust me. which I can understand to a certain degree but everytime I went out she wanted me to facetime her and show her what kinds of people were there with me. That was just too much” he explains.

“wow” you chuckle “that doesn’t sound fun either”

Hyunjin shakes his head “nope, but hey we got rid of ‘em, didn’t we?”

“yea” you giggle “plus if I hadn’t broken up with him I would’ve probably never gone to the new years eve party”

“I guess I owe him something then” he grins as you scooch up on the bed.

“can I kiss you?” you ask after a few seconds of silence.

“hm?” hyunjins eyes almost spring out of his head.

“I don’t want to catch you off guard” you grin as you repeat his words from the night you met, sitting up.

He licks his lower lip as a grin stretches over his face as he sits up as well “do your worst”

You get up on your knees to shuffle over to him, when you get close enough hyunjin grabs one of your thighs and lifts it over his legs so you’re straddling him.

Once you sit down on his lap, your eyes lock again and you’re once again baffled as to how someone can be so god damn attractive.

His eyes flicker from your eyes to your lips expectantly, a shaky breath leaving his lips when you lean in.

Your lips connect and it feels like all the pent up energy of liking him since that night finally gets set free, sparks glowing behind your lit and his hands leaving a trail of fire where ever they go.

They squeeze at your thighs and waist, pulling you impossibly close to himself.

A whimper tears from your throat when his tongue licks at yours, he tastes like chocolate and what could only be described as him.

He moans into the kiss when you tug at the blonde locks that weren’t pulled back into the ponytail; before pulling the hair tie out of his hair to free it and finally card your fingers through all of the blonde glory.

Before you realize what’s going on, hyunjin lifts the both of you before dropping you on your back and crawling above you.

The fact that he just lifted the both of you from a sitting position as if you weigh nothing makes you feel all types of hot.

“you’re so hot holy shit” you pant as you push his long hair out of his face.

“ditto” he only grins before attaching his lips to your exposed collarbone and sucking a bruise into the skin.

“take it off” you moan as you tug on the dark blue calvin klein shirt he’s wearing.

His lips release the skin of your collarbone before sitting up to pull the shirt over his head.

If your mouth wasn’t already open from your heavy breathing, you would’ve opened it now because his body is more sculpted and toned than you had expected.

Your hand lifts to smooth over his abs, muscles flexing as he connects your lips again.

His one hand slides from your waist up to cup one of your breasts, gently palming the soft flesh.

“I know I said I wanted to take you out first but-“ he mumbles against your lips.

“you bought me a lovely dinner” you interrupt him, threading your fingers through the hair that’s falling down into his vision.

He grins, dropping a short peck to your lips before his the grin gets wiped off his face “I don’t have a condom with me”

“I’m on the pill” you let him know “I got tested before the lockdown and I haven’t been with anyone since soo…”

“yea, me too, I was tested a few months ago” he nods.

You nod back, biting your lip as you absently play with his hair.

“do you trust me?” hyunjin asks, observing your demeanour.

“yea- yea I do I’m just nervous” you smile awkwardly.

“no” he coos before kissing you “why are you nervous?”

“just haven’t been with anyone for a while” you confess.

Hyunjin nods understandingly “if you don’t want to do this we’ll stop”

“no I really want to” you look into his eyes as confidently as you can.

“okay” he smiles, planting his lips on yours again.

“can i?” his voice gives you goosebumps when he mumbles against the sensitive skin under your ear, his fingers slowy undoing the loose knot of your heart shorts.

“yes” you say when he locks eyes with you.

“I love these shorts” he softly presses a kiss to your knee, trying to calm your nerves a little, before he gently rocks your hips to pull them off of you.

You blush a little out of embarrassment but smile when you lift your hips to help him.

“cute” he whispers when he see’s your panties have a little bow on the front.

He chuckles when you hide your face in embarrassment, pulling you closer to him again by your thighs before you let him kiss you again.

“can I take this off too?” hyunjin whispers, softly pulling at the fabric of the tank top you’re wearing, at which you nod.

You are still wearing a bra when he pulls it off so you take it into your own hands and unclasp your bra.

Your nipples stiffen a little at the sudden exposure to air, as well as to hyunjin’s admiring gaze.

“fuck” he muses when palming your breasts in his big hands, gently pushing them together an running his thumbs over your nipples.

A whimper involuntarily leaves your lips when he wraps his plump lips around one of the perked up nubs and sucks gently.

“so fucking pretty, princess” you feel yourself pathetically clench around nothing at his praise.

You feel one of his hands wander downwards to provide some friction for you, he slots his lips against yours when you tentatively roll your hips against his hand.

Hyunjin feels his cock get even harder when an almost desperate moan tumbles from your lips against his. So he ads a little more pressure and starts circling your clit with two fingers, your sighs of pleasure mixing into the kiss.

“you’re so sensitive baby” he whispers as he parts his lips from yours “can I go down on you?” he grazes his lips over your chest, looking up at you seductively.

You nod as you bite your lip, hyunjin placing a few kisses on your tummy before shortly sitting up to also free you from your soaked panties.

The first stripe he licks up your slit, and how he swirls the tip of his tongue around your clit expertly sends you to heaven.

His hands are gripping your thighs to prevent you from closing your legs, your hands are tangled in his hair and the sheets.

“hyunj-fuck” you cry out when his tongue enters you.

He carefully prods one finger at your entrance “is that okay?” he asks, his voice hoarse and dripping with lust.

“yea” you sigh.

Once you adjust to one finger, he adds a second one, curling them upwards to search for that specific patch inside of you.

“yes-fuck right there” you moan when his fingers press onto the sweetest spot inside of you, tugging at his hair a little harshly. But you feel him moan against you, getting lost in your taste as he sucks your clit in between his soft lips.

Your hips buckle against his mouth as your eyes roll backwards, feeling the warmth of your orgasm approach rapidly.

“fuck fuck yes-hyunjin” you cry out just before he tipped you over the edge with his skillful ministration, your orgasm rushing up your spine and into your head, endorphins spreading everywhere.

A cry of pleasure fills the room as your thighs starts trembling with the aftershocks, clamping around his head when he drives you into overstimulation.

“oh-shit-“ you pant as you softly pushed on his forehead to get him away from your clit, his fingers still inside you, guiding you through your high.

He nibbles on your inner thigh apologetically. You can still hear your heartbeat in your ears after hyunjin removes his fingers from you and sits up, gently holding your legs together to help you calm down.

“fuck” you mewl, a soft smile tugging at his lips.

He’s wanted to do this for so long and there you are, with all of your naked glory in front of him.

While he’s daydreaming about you, you sit up and start fiddling with his sweatpants.

“you want more?” he quips, once he realises what you’re doing, leaning in to kiss you.

“mhm” you humm into the kiss affirmitavely when his hand holds you close to him by your jaw.

With a quick last peck to your lips he simultaneously shimmies the soft black sweats and his boxers off of himself.

You apparently visibly gulp at the sight of his cock because hyunjin smirks cockily “like what you see?” as he crawls above you again, his lips finding yours again and not waiting for an answer.

“I don’t know if you’ll fit” you mumble when he suckles at the soft nook of skin under your ear.

“we can stop here” he offers softly before locking eyes again.

You shake your head as you reach down to fist his length, slowly pumping it and smearing the few drops of precum around.

“no, you’re just really big” you huff with a shy smile on your lips at which hyunjin groans.

“you’re gonna be the death of me, you know?” he mutters against your lips before kissing you deeply, his hand smoothing over the slope of your waist before coming up to gently pinch at one of your nipples.

Eliciting a soft high pitched moan from you, this only spurs him on.

Rolling his tongue against yours desperately and making you taste yourself before sinfully sucking at the wet muscle.

All the while you’re stroking him with your small hand before cupping his balls, as if he didn’t already feel like he’s gonna blow his load way too early.

“please” you whine, guiding his reddened tip towards your entrance.

Hyunjin releases a shaky breath before replacing your hand with his, rutting his hips against yours a few times, coating his length in your wetness.

This already had your toes curling, suppressing a whine as you lock your legs around his waist.

“tell me if it hurts, yea?” he breathes, only pressing inside you after you nod, dropping a kiss to your swollen lips.

“fuck” he swears softly, tucking his face in the crook of your neck when he breaches your tight walls for the first time.

Your fingers tighten in his hair at the back of his neck when a subtle sting flares up inside of you.

“ah-“ your body flinches a little when he presses further inside, hyunjin notices, observing your expression before kissing your cheek and sitting up slowly.

“you’re doing so good, baby” he lifts his thumb to his lips, swiftly kitten-licking the digit before bringing it to where your bodies join.

Gently rolling your clit under his thumb to distract you from the pain.

“you look so perfect like this” his other hand travels over your stomach to gently squeeze at your breasts “all spread out for me”

You whimper, arching your back when hyunjin thrusts into you carefully; the pain slowly subsiding and the ache to be fully filled up by him growing exponentially when his cock rubs against your g spot.

“hyunjin” you moan, gripping onto his hand, which is resting atop your breast.

“yes baby, I’m here” he groans at how tight you feel once he’s balls deep inside of you, abandoning your clit to grab you by the hips for leverage.

His other hand resting on your cheek now, after a few trusts you moan “harder, please”

Hyunjin groans and fulfils your wish, at one particularly harsh thrust, you latch your lips around his pointer and middle finger, sucking at them.

“oh my god-that’s so fucking hot” he grunts through clenched teeth.

His cock dragging along your walls deliciously, filling you up to the brim as you hum around his slender fingers in pleasure.

“you like my hands that much baby?” his jaw is clenched and the grip on your waist is rough , the contrast to how sweet he was just a few minutes earlier had you clench around him furiously.

“fuck-“ he breathes when you nod to the best of your abilities, eyes wide open and holding his gaze.

You only release his fingers from in between your lips in favour for a loud high pitched moan when his other hand finds your clit again, rubbing harsh circles into the bud.

“-gonna cum-huynjin” you dig your nails into his biceps, eyes squeezing shut.

“yea?” he grits through his teeth the fingers that were previously trapped in your mouth now wrapping around your bared throat.

Not squeezing tightly, just resting there as if to show you that you’re his now.

Your thought gets confirmed when he rasps “you’re gonna date me after this, right pretty girl?”

You do look so pretty right now, tits bouncing and skin slapping because of the fast rhythm that he’s snapping his hips into yours, not to mention the subtle sheen of sweat that’s coating the both of you.

A desperate breathy chuckle tumbles from your lips “ yes-yes fuck” you feel your second orgasm creeping up on you.

“cum for me princess, all over my cock” he urges you on, his tip hammering into the sweet spot inside of you repeatedly before you crash into your second high of the night.

Your body convulses in pleasure as you call out his name mixed with profanities, your toes curling so hard you’re not sure if you can ever uncurl them again, and your nails probably leaving painful indents in his skin.

His thumb on your clit slows down until you grab his hand for him to stop, his hand around your neck grabs your free one, holding both of your hands over your head now.

“so good, baby” he mumbles, kissing your lips; mostly just breathing into each other as he rocks you through every wave of your orgasm.

Hyunjin looses himself in you not long after with a guttural moan and his eyes squeezing shut.

You coax him through it when he rests his face against your neck again, running your fingertips through his damp hair and over his broad back, muscles tensing under your gentle touch.

i“don’t fall asleep on me” you whisper sneakily, grinning when he chuckles against your neck, tickling the soft skin there.

He props himself up again to scan over your features, pushing some hair out of your face before kissing you tenderly.

“you okay?” his hand resting at your temple as he gently runs his thumb over your hairline.

“more than” you assure him, cupping his cheeks to pull his lips onto yours again.You think you can never get enough of his lips, anything about him for that matter; not when he makes you feel so cared about and safe.

“so does this mean we’re dating now?” he whispers after he has cleaned you up and tucked the both of you in bed.

“hmh” you nod your head sleepily, positioned on his bare chest.

“so I can spoon you once we fall asleep?” he asks, grin evident in his voice.

“you can spoon me but you can’t wake me up in the middle of the night if you get horny” you mumble jokingly, enjoying his fingers running down your spine as your eyelids get heavier.

“okay” he giggles softly, pressing a kiss to the crown of your head before you whisper your good nights to each other.

And as promised, he doesn’t wake you up in the middle of the night because he’s horny.

It’s you who wakes him, because after 10 months of wasted time, you have a lot of catching up to do.

-

a/n: oml this is my first ever long fic so pls pls pls give me feedback, i had so much fun writing his even though it made me feel even more single but hey :))))

allsooo i waited til after work to publish this and i just saw i hit 500 followers?!?!?! thats crazy to me omg i started this like 2 months ago and so many ppl liked my stuff so much that they decided to follow me?? so i just wanna say thank u thank u thank u for hitting the follow button even though im very unorganized and everything i do is spontaneaous and not thought out well. but hey i guess there is a reason that u followed me so thank u!

(i’d love if u sent me an ask with the first one of my writings that u stumbled across, and how <3 ...only if u want tho no pressure) 

anyways thank u so much for reading if you’ve made it this far! i hope you have a great day/ night! much love

-aj

(this is a work of fiction and does not represent the real actions of stray kids or hwang hyunjin)

[ethanesimp]

THE OAK TREE // TWO E.T.

Pairing: Ethan Torchio x GN! Reader

Summary: Everyone at the Oakes Academy is aware of the rivalry that exists between two of the school’s best students, Ethan Torchio and Y/N L/N. What nobody knows is what a brilliant team they are when they’re at risk of their reputations being damaged and a killer’s on the loose.

Word Count: 3.8k

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of death and murder, mentions of blood, mentions of death and descriptions of it, mention of suicide (pls read with caution, ily <3).

Masterlist // Taglist link in bio

CHAPTER ONE

A/N: Again, I apologize for the delay, life has been a lil bit crazy this past week. I also wanted to apologize for any possible typos because I’m working on a project but decided to take a break to finish this for you guys! I promise I’ll proofread this as soon as I get some time. Also, in the part where they’re texting, I recommend you check the texts on the Google Drive for context. Otherwise you might get a bit lost.

DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT TE AVAILABLE MATERIAL IN THE GOOGLE DRIVE WHICH YOU CAN FIND ON THE SERIES MASTERLIST

Taglist (strike means it won’t let me tag you):  @oro-e-diamanti @gretavanfleetlove @victoriadeangeliswifey @cheese-toastie-11 @selenophiliaxx @superchrystaldrug @petit-poussin @bidet-and-legolas @fallingforyou123 @ethaneskin @soft-boy-ethan @teenyweenynightghost @reputationdamiano @cantaraiilmionome @tabi-toast @queen-of-brokenhearts @geklutst-ei @juststalking @cruz-ata @ohtorchio @ethan-torchio-angelo @unitermoonshine @everythingisdefinitelynotfine @marriedwithmarktuan @its-afucking-mess @juststalking @goldenpeaxh​

LAST CHAPTER’S WINNING DECISION: They believe it is all real and go search for the body the finger might belong to. (The impact of this decision will be reflected next chapter).

Let the games begin. 

You had to read the last part once more, so consumed by the shock that barely any words had registered into your brain. Your hands were shaking as you held it closer to yourself. Maybe it was all part of the disbelief because you found yourself scanning the words over and over again until you had the first paragraph memorized. 

But then… then Ethan started laughing. 

Short, breathy laughs escaped past his lips, immediately followed by sharp inhales, as if he were desperate to get more air to reach his lungs. You brushed it off and went right back to reading the last few phrases that were on the very back, even said them under your breath to try and make them become real because everything seemed like nothing but a dream, no, a nightmare.

Then it slowly dawned on you after you finished reading the letter. All worry subsided and you had no doubt in your mind you would’ve started laughing too if you weren’t seeing red. Consumed by the sudden rage, you turned to Ethan and didn’t hesitate to tackle him into the ground.

In any normal instance, you wouldn’t have been able to do it, but you’d caught him off-guard, which was confirmed by the surprised yelp he let out as his back collided with the muddy floor and dry leaves crunched underneath his weight. You moved to straddle him the second you felt him shift beneath you, as if he wanted to get up. 

You looked at him for a split second. His face was illuminated by the soft glow of the red light. His distress was apparent. He was thrashing around to try and get you off him when you started hitting his chest over and over again. Your hits weren’t hard nor were they intended to cause any damage to him. In fact, he could have easily pushed you off him effortlessly if he wanted to, but Ethan didn’t even try. Instead, he let you continue hitting his chest.

“What the actual fuck is wrong with you? You’re… a… fucking… psycho!” Each word was accompanied by another frustrated hit to his chest as tears slowly fell down your face and sobs rattled your body, “You were the only one who knew that. The only person in this goddamn school I ever—ever was stupid enough to tell it to. And you use it for one of your sick and twisted pranks? Fuck you. Fuck you!” 

Your head fell and rested on his chest as you kept on crying. However, your words seemed to pull him back to reality. Only after a few seconds of you speaking, Ethan had already rolled the two of you around until he was on top of you. 

You firmly held his stare as you tried to get him off you. For some strange reason, it sent shivers down your spine to see his eyes so full of fear. Ethan was always centered and glued firmly to the Earth. No matter the issue, he was always capable of keeping his cool, but now was far from being the case. His voice trembled as he tried to speak up, “Shut up Y/N! You’ve got no right to blame me for something that is clearly your doing. I have no fucking clue what your stupid letter said but mine said something that has me convinced it was you!”

His accusation was followed by him shoving his crumpled up letter into your face. You had to squint in order to see it better with only the aid of the red light. When you read the words placed at the very bottom, your eyes went wide and immediately looked for his in a desperate attempt to convince him it wasn’t you, but he had his head turned away. You firmly grabbed him by the collar of his hoodie so he’d look into your eyes, “I-I didn’t. Ethan I don’t like you one bit but I’d never. Not this.”

Ethan scoffed and shook his head. He got off you and turned around so his back was facing you, “You know what? I don’t give a shit what you did or didn’t do. I’m going to wash this disgusting stuff off me and report this in the morning.”

“What the hell? Are you crazy? Ethan, we're in the middle of a crime scene. We cannot leave it like this. I mean, look at you! You’re covered in blood because, let me refresh your mind, you fell into a fucking puddle of blood and found a finger!” You flailed your arms around furiously at his stupidity and started followed him the moment he started walking away, “What if this is real?”

He stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look at you, “What is real? A threat that looks like it was written by a thirteen-year-old who just finished reading The Analyst? And the blood… it belongs to an animal for all I care,” He didn’t seem an ounce convinced by the way he took a second to come up with an excuse, and he couldn’t even look you in the eyes, “Besides, what do you want us to say, huh? Oh yeah, sorry. We’re out past curfew because of reasons we can’t tell you and we casually found a disembodied finger lying in a pool of blood. Ah! And I almost forgot the most important detail. We’re being threatened with things that are not only good enough to get us expelled but also get us thrown in jail. But everything is fantastic.”

You rolled your eyes, “Fine, do whatever the hell you please.”

Ethan nodded nonchalantly and walked away from you. A long and deep sigh escaped your lips at his stubbornness. You wanted to scream out in frustration at how stupid he was being, but decided it was pointless to stay behind, just in case someone arrived and found you standing there, with your clothes filled with blood. 

——— ☆ • ��� • • ♧ • ☆ ———

When you arrived back at the dorms, the first thing you did was take a hot shower as you tried to assimilate everything that had happened. Despite the water being so hot it almost burnt your skin, you still spent the whole time shivering and hugging your arms to your body. 

You had washed the blood off the hoodie in one of the sinks and still threw it in the washing machine afterwards. You didn’t know what was going on and part of you was convinced you didn’t want to know. Either way, you weren’t going to risk being roped into a crime investigation as a suspect.

Afterwards, you collapsed into bed. Your whole body was aching and, if it weren’t for the fact that your phone had exploded with notifications after you connected it, you would’ve fallen asleep. You lazily felt around the small bedside table for your phone and picked it up. Most notifications were just memes Will kept sending to the group chat you had. However, you’d also received a message from Ethan.

Upon reading the first few words, you already felt the urge to throw the phone out the window. He was being annoying, not like that was a new thing at all. You responded to the text nonetheless and left the phone back on the bedside table. You turned around in your bed to try and find a spot that was comfortable and cuddled deeper into the sheets. Then, just when you were about to close your eyes, the phone vibrated again. You groaned and picked it up once more. After reading those texts, you were unable to sleep all night.

——— 

You spent the great majority of the night crying and shivering despite being covered by layers and layers of warm blankets. Those few hours before your alarm sounded extended into what seemed like an eternity and you didn’t want to leave the room, afraid you’d find something like what you’d just seen at the oak tree. 

You only managed to sleep for about half an hour before your alarm went off at exactly six AM. Any other day, you would’ve snuggled back into bed for a little longer, but on that particular day, you’d jumped out of bed and hadn’t wasted a second before getting ready. You’d run out of the building to meet your friends at the dining hall, where you were currently at.

Damiano, Rory, Vic, and Will were already sitting at your usual table in front of the large window when you arrived. The curly-haired boy was practicing for a presentation while your three friends listened and made a few comments here and there on things they thought he should change. 

“Good morning everyone,” You murmured, then took a seat in between Damiano and Will, who turned to look at you and frowned, “Are you feeling okay, Y/N?” You nodded and put on the best smile you could manage. Then you stole one of the berries from his plate even though you weren’t hungry at all. 

You turned to look at Rory and Damiano, “Hey Ro, has the new phone you ordered arrived yet?” You questioned. After your conversation with Ethan the previous night, you needed to make sure it wasn’t them who had sent the text. Just the thought alone made you shudder in disgust and fear, but you just took a deep breath in and kept a soft smile on your face as your best friend shook their head.

“Funny that you ask that because yesterday I got an email from the store saying the delivery was going to take longer than expected because of the weather issues, so I gotta survive with this piece of crap for a few more days,” They sighed and placed the cracked phone on the table. You wanted to stop holding back the tears right then and there. Rory’s words were the confirmation that someone else had sent the text and you doubted it was Emilia. As much as you didn’t want to, with each passing second you started to believe the threat was true and that someone had died or was terribly hurt somewhere, and you needed to find them before it was too late to save them. 

Then you remembered another one of Ethan’s texts and had to resist the urge to get up and go search for him because you needed to talk to him as soon as possible. Instead, you distracted yourself by listening to Will’s presentation practice.

You were close to nodding off at some point as he kept on speaking, “Back in earlier civilizations, it was believed that any type of illness was caused by demons and—Hey, Y/N!” You hummed softly as Will called your name. He poked you on the rib and you swatted his hand away, “Are you sure you’re alright? You look terrible.”

“Thank you,” You mumbled sarcastically, “I’m doing fine. I just stayed up working on a project and barely got a wink of sleep,” You let your head rest on Damiano’s shoulder and yawned.

“I wish I were that productive,” Victoria said as she played around with her food. Everyone had insisted on her eating at least a few bites even if she was still sick, “I never do shit.”

Thomas piped into the conversation, catching everyone by surprise as he took a seat next to Victoria, “To be fair, Y/N always complains about feeling half-dead from lack of sleep. I’ll never be crazy enough to sacrifice my sleep for a stupid assignment.”

“Yeah, and that’s why you’re one project away from failing Year 12,” Victoria laughed and Thomas rolled his eyes, “The other day I put him in charge of finishing this essay thing for philosophy and by the time I went back to check on him, he was already asleep. I honestly still wonder how we’re at this school. I would’ve thrown us out a long time ago.”

“Look who’s decided to join us today!” Damiano exclaimed with a large smile on his face as Emilia and Ethan took a seat right in front of you. It was an unusual occurrence for him to eat with you because, well, you were there and he couldn’t shut his mouth for half an hour while you ate, which usually ended in an argument that made the whole table annoyed. 

You frowned at his appearance. He was struggling to keep his dark eyes open and his hand wouldn’t stop shaking. It was very apparent that he hadn’t slept much either from the bags under his eyes and his slow steps. Ethan was almost like a zombie. 

He shook his head the moment his eyes met yours and your shoulders slumped. It hadn’t been Emilia either. You got up from your seat abruptly and walked away from the table without an explanation. You desperately needed a breath of fresh air before you went insane. So with quick steps, you moved down the hall until you reached one of the open windows next to a couch. You let yourself fall onto the couch and tightly shut your eyes as you breathed the fresh air in.

“You seriously need to calm down. Otherwise everyone will start to notice just how suspicious you’re acting,” You sighed at the sound of Ethan’s irritating voice and up straight on the couch. You rubbed your eyes with the back of your hands and looked up at him with an annoyed expression.

“You cannot ask me to calm down after what we saw last night. When will it get into your thick skull that whatever this shit is, it’s real. Those threats were real and if we don’t do something we’re both going to end up in jail, or worse, people are going to die. We don’t know who this psycho is nor what they’re capable of doing. We need to do something now before it’s too late,” The words rushed out of your mouth desperately. The urgency in your tone and your voice quivering as you spoke made his face fall. It wasn’t often that he took you seriously, but by the look in his eyes, you could tell he was just as scared as you were and that was enough to make him shut up and listen to all you had to say.

“Shit Y/N, can you lower your voice? We have no clue at all who could ev—” Before he could even finish the whole sentence, the Head Professor cleared her throat. But your heads snapped in her direction and you gulped in fear at the thought of her overhearing the conversation.

Your heart fell to your stomach the moment she spoke, “Just the two I was looking for. I need you in my office right now.”

Your eyes went wide as you turned to look at Ethan, who already had his head turned in your direction. He nudged his head in the professor’s direction and you both followed her as she walked to her office but stayed a few steps behind.

“This is it, we’re going to jail,” You mumbled loud enough so only Ethan could hear. He hushed you and pulled you along when you stopped walking. People were looking at you as you passed by and that only made you feel worse. You loosened the tie around your neck and gulped.

“We are not going to jail unless you don’t pull it together. Now breathe and keep on walking. I’m not your fucking babysitter,” He whisper-yelled and quickened his pace. You sighed and did the same thing. It surely couldn’t be that bad, could it? You were probably just overreacting and the events of the night before had nothing to do with this impromptu meeting. 

You kept those thoughts in mind as the professor opened the door to the small office and you took a seat on one of the two squeaky chairs. The room smelled clean in a comforting way and you let your shoulders relax as you played with your fingers nervously and looked around the place. 

Her office had always been your favorite out of all the professors’. The place was always warm and during the mornings, you could hear coffee brewing in her old coffee machine in the corner of the room. There were books scattered everywhere and piled in a way that didn’t look messy but inviting. During your first weeks at the academy, when you still hadn’t made any friends, you’d go into her office and read while you sat curled up on the couch and enjoyed the warm and calm atmosphere of the place.

Things used to be so much easier back then and you had no clue how things could’ve changed so fast. Back then your relationship with Ethan was decent and you had no trouble with anyone or anything, now you were being threatened into being framed for murder and being sent to jail.

“You totally forgot about our meeting today, didn’t you?” She asked calmly as she poured coffee into one of her cups, filling the room with the delicious and strong scent. The professor pushed her long dark hair out of her face and straightened out her uniform before sitting down opposite to you, “You looked quite shocked. I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything important.”

Ethan sat there, speechless, just like you. But then realization hit you and you realized you were just being paranoid and stupid. She’d told you about this meeting weeks in advance. It was supposed to have something to do with your chance to get the sought-after 100% scholarship to study your career at The Oakes. 

“Nothing important whatsoever,” You replied quickly and sat up straight as you placed both hands on your lap. Ethan copied your actions and tied up his long hair with the black elastic that had been on his wrist.

Your eyes followed the professor as she dumped a small spoonful of sugar and mixed it around with the dark liquid. You couldn’t help but notice her hand shaking as she poured the milk and even spilled a bit of it down the side of the cup. 

She cursed under her breath and apologized as she got up to search for a napkin. With furrowed eyebrows, you shared a look with Ethan, who shrugged. 

“I apologize. I’m afraid I’m quite distracted today, but let’s continue. Shall we?” She smiled sweetly and opened up one of the folders on her desk as she sat back down. She grabbed two papers from inside and placed one in front of each of you. 

You picked it up and examined its content. It seemed to be some sort of permission slip, “So, as I’m sure you both know, our academy offers a program for all our brightest students that gives them the opportunity to continue their college studies with everything paid. You two are the people with the highest grades amongst the whole generation. The semester is—.”

Her words were interrupted by a few quick knocks on the door before a professor pushed it wide open. He couldn’t stop fidgeting with his hands and playing around with his tie as he spoke, “The council wants to have a meeting, professor.”

“I cannot do it right now, I’m—”

“They want to have it now.” 

The professor turned to the two of you nervously and laughed awkwardly. She stood up from the chair after quickly pushing it back, “I’ll see you another day, okay? Meanwhile, please send a scan of that permission slip to your parents and have them sign it, as soon as possible.” 

Once both professors were out of sight and had closed the door, leaving the two of you alone, Ethan spoke, “Something’s wrong.”

“No shit. Neither one could stop shaking. I say we go and try to listen to what the council members are saying,” You suggested and stood up, but he grabbed your arm and pulled you to sit back down.

“We need to go back to the oak tree first. Y/N, if this is all real and there’s something going on, we need to find that body before they do,” He said firmly. Both his tone and stare were serious and you could tell that there was no way in hell he’d take no for an answer. Instead of arguing, you agreed and walked out of the office right behind him, but then you paused as his words registered into your brain, “Why do we have to find it before them?”

He didn’t stop walking to respond, so with a groan you started to walk faster until you were right next to him, “You weren’t even attending the school when it happened,” Ethan began to talk under his breath, so quietly you could barely make out the words he was trying to say, “It was years ago so I cannot remember exactly how the story went. You can ask Thomas though, he has better memory than I do,”

“Either way, there was this boy who’d just gotten into college and during the secret society’s initiation, he was told to climb the highest tower at that campus but he slipped and fell like ten stories. Like I said, it was a secret society that neither the public nor the parents knew about. If the story of what had really happened got out it’d ruin the school and some of the most important students would’ve been sent to jail, so they twisted it to look like a suicide and got away with it. The only reason we know about it is because one of Will’s cousins, the duke, was involved in it all and Will told us all about it.”

“I refuse to believe that’s true. C’mon, it’s Will,” You laughed, “The same guy who convinced everyone in class that your family secretly ran part of the Italian mafia.”

Ethan only shrugged and stopped walking to knock on the door of the greenhouse. You’d left yours at your dorm that morning from how distracted you were, so you had to wait for Mr. Murphy to open up and let you through.

When he finally opened the door, his eyebrows shot up in surprise as he looked at the two of you in confusion, “What in God’s name has happened to get you two in the same place without fighting?” He mocked. You rolled your eyes and shook your head as a smile appeared on your face.

“I assure you, we can both be perfectly civil. Besides, it’s for a homework we need to do. And believe me it’s the last thing I want to be doing,” You lied and walked into the greenhouse with Ethan following behind, “Anyways, we’re gonna go to the lake to get some water and—”

“I’m afraid you cannot go out there,” He interrupted. You frowned at his words and tilted your head to the side.

“Why? Did something happen?”

“Nothing you should care about, kids. Just go to class, yeah? There’s someone coming and if you want to stay out of trouble you better leave before they arrive.”

YOU CAN VOTE ON THIS CHAPTER’S POLL RIGHT HERE. THIS POLL CLOSES AT 12:30 PM CDT ON TUESDAY.

[thelittlestcheshire]

Self Para 005: The Reminders Pull the Floor From Your Feet

Note: For starters, this takes place on Saturday. This involves the Leo plot, and for the most part it’s...  lots of Ches’s thought process leading up to her visiting Leo. Any interactions with people are lead up / not really... the majority. So please, tread carefully. I was careful to avoid going too deep into her more... brutal thought processes in hopes of ensuring it’s not too triggering but given the context I do feel a need to mention it. I do discuss her finding her brother after his attempt a little bit too, so, please pay heed to the tws and if you think it may be an issue, I strongly urge you skip this self para. I love you guys, and your safety is the biggest priority always <3

TWs: Suicide / Suicide Attempts, Decapitation / Murder (mentioned in a comment about how displeased Leo will be to see her), Hanging, Amputation, Ches’s thought process while shopping does include her making considerations about what she can buy Leo can’t hurt himself with so I don’t know how to tag that but I am aware it could be triggering.

For once, Ches didn’t know how she was expected to react, but she was sure it didn’t align with how she currently felt as she tore through her wardrobe to try to find something to wear. What even was appropriate to wear today? Colors were too cheery, white too saintly, black was a staple in her wardrobe and entirely off the table. Everything in her closet was practically getting thrown without care as she desperately tried to find anything. Even as her front door opens, she doesn’t glance to see who was coming in until she hears Balo squeak as she tries to avoid yet another thrown object.

“Sorry! I just was wondering if I could maybe borrow a pair of shorts?” The blonde squeals and the redhead pauses her frantic search for something appropriate to wear. Was Balo really trying to carry on like normal when her friend was in the hospital after trying to kill himself? Sure, people were saying it was an accident, but that didn’t mean it was.

Emmett had told everyone it was an accident after his attempt, a prank gone wrong, that she had to cut him down from the ceiling after. And at this point, she simply didn’t believe in accidents.

“Of course, they’re in the dresser. Let me know if there’s something worth wearing to the hospital in there while you’re at it.” She glances away from what she was doing to wave her friend toward where the dresser was. She would have to rearrange the room to the way she liked it eventually, but she hadn’t exactly been happy about much of anything since they arrived in New Zealand. 

“Is going to see Leo a good idea?”

Balo’s question throws her off, as it was one she had been asking herself over and over again. She still didn’t know the answer herself, and she just turns away from her friend to go back through her closet, tossing yet more things in the direction of her bed as she fails to find something worth wearing. “This is my fault. I have to go.” She finally speaks as she tosses the last item of clothing in the closet onto the floor. “If I had done more....”

“It was an accident, remember? Just breathe, okay? You dress like you usually would. Maybe ask if I’m allowed to visit if you think he’s up to it?” She shakes her head, grabbing the shorts she came for from the drawer before she tosses a pair of ripped jeans and a tank top her way. Ches catches it, grateful for the answer so she could move onto the next method to tear herself apart with. “Just promise me you’ll be gentle with him. He’s going through a lot.”

“I’m not going to be mean. I figured he might like some comfy clothes and stuff. If someone else already thought of it, great, but...” She glances at her shoe rack as she talks. Maybe she should wear sneakers instead of heels for once, it’d make her look shorter and left her feeling more vulnerable, but perhaps it’d ease his fears of her just showing up. She doubted she was the first person he wanted to see; in fact, she was likely the very last, perhaps Balo was right, and this was a horrible idea.

But she needed to do this. How else was she going to live with the guilt?

“Well, if you need to talk later, come find me. I’ve gotta go, but I love you.”

“I love you too.” And with those words, Ches was alone with her thoughts again. She takes a deep breath as she walks over to her dresser to set the clothes she was going to wear down. Stepping over multiple piles of discarded clothes carefully as she realizes just how much money she’d just carelessly thrown to the floor as if it didn’t matter. Perhaps, in the long run, it didn’t. Still, she kneels down and starts to sort through the discarded clothes on the floor, slowly beginning to put everything back onto hangers. How was she supposed to make intentions clear from the moment he saw her? 

Maybe the gifts would help, but she was just going to have to accept that whatever she did, Leo was likely to be hostile. Emmett was after his attempt, and he liked her. Ches was entirely unwelcome, and she knew that, but she supposed that was well deserved. If the roles were reversed, she would have made Leo’s visit a living hell for daring to breathe near her after a failed attempt. He had every right to do the same to her now. She carefully puts the last dress back where it belongs, going through the motions of getting dressed and making herself presentable, throwing her hair up in a ponytail, grabbing her bag, and just leaving the dorms. 

She would have to go to the store and try to find things Leo would be allowed to have. She was already starting a shopping list of things in her head, things he’d need, things he’d like. 

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

Could she trust Leo with colored pencils, or was she going to have to stick with crayons? As Ches looks over the shelf of Crayola products, she ponders it for a few moments before she grabs both the washable crayons and the twistable colored pencils, glancing around before she tosses the bath crayons in too. She always got her worst thoughts in the shower. Maybe giving him a creative outlet he could take with him would be beneficial. On second thought, she tosses a box in for herself too. Her roommate was simply going to have to fucking deal with it.

The notebook had to have no wires, nothing he could pull off of it and cause harm. Any bags needed to be paper so he’d be allowed to have them. The slippers had to be sturdy yet stringless. She’d broken into his room in an attempt to figure out sizes, so she was hoping she was doing well on the clothing. She didn’t want to bring anything of his, not only because it’d require her to be honest that she had broken into his bedroom, but because she already knew how easily things got lost. The last thing she needed was to grab something that mattered and something happening to it. That was a problem she had no intention of being blamed for.

What else could be needed? Pre-paid call cards just in case what she’d read was wrong, and he wasn’t allowed to have his cell phone. If he did, she supposed it never hurt to have prepaid international calling cards either way. 

He liked pen and ink, not paint, right?

For a moment, she tries to remember the art of his she had seen, none of it had been paintings, but maybe that was just simply because he couldn’t carry it around. She could ask, offer to make a second trip. She tosses comfy clothes into the cart as she goes, trying to find the most comfortable stringless things she could find, socks and underwear, because people probably weren’t thinking of it when they grabbed stuff. Toothbrush, he definitely needed a toothbrush. And inpatient units were usually cold, so a massive plush blanket probably help. He probably would be allowed to have zippers. Shit, what was his jeans size? Maybe Elizabeth would know, although was it a good idea to bother her at work with how busy she was. She glances at the racks for a minute, considering it for a moment.

Stuffed animals were usually taken in her experience, but if she could prove he wouldn’t hurt himself with it, maybe getting him something he was allowed to punch would be nice. After all, he did seem to enjoy his fights. Was Winnie the Pooh punchable? Balo was onto something when she said Leo looked like Christopher Robin. And he was a baby toy, so if Leo got him apart and found a way to hurt himself with it, it would be a feat. Still, she considers it a moment longer and puts an elephant in the cart instead.

She could always come back for it later if he’d appreciate the joke. What else would he like? Would the ward he was on allow her to drop by and grab him fast food? She probably could find a McDonalds’.

She takes a deep breath, already trying to find the number to find out. Hopefully, they’d allow outside food and drink. After all, what made someone’s day brighter than cheap junk food? 

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

[To Momma Everett 😍😍:] I’m dropping by to see Leo, so I’m gonna put my phone on vibrate to avoid him ripping my head off, but I love you so so so so so much, and please don’t hesitate to call if you need anything. I’ve got everything handled here, I promise. I’m going to tell the front desk I’m your daughter, so that should get me in long enough to drop him off clothes and stuff. Hopefully, he won’t correct them? 🤞

Ches puts her phone into her purse after she’s done, tossing the bag over her shoulder before she goes around to the trunk of her rental to grab the stuff. It felt like it wasn’t enough, but it wasn’t as if she could bring him nearly as much as she wanted to, just essentials and a few small things in hopes of making him smile. She goes to the hospital’s front desk, explaining why she was here and that she had no idea where she was supposed to be going. As they led her in the direction of where he was, she tries to take deep breaths. Leo was going to kill her for this, wasn’t he? Maybe she should have dropped by to steal a kiss from Elliot before she left before he literally ripped her skull from her body.

Of course, nothing could have prepared her for what was to come after she got on the unit. She hands over the stuff to the nurse’s station for them to check over, insisting it’d be better if she waited to go in to see him until she had it back, and for a brief moment, she sees Leo, and everything comes crashing down. Where had his arm gone? Why hadn’t anyone told her?

“Your brother didn’t tell you.” The nurse guesses, and she glances over to the man and the art supplies she’d brought. Was it a dick move? Perhaps, but she wasn’t going to let anyone even dare suggest he couldn’t do art. It was only a matter of adjusting how he approached it, and suddenly she didn’t care if she had to import a physical therapist willing to try to help him. If anyone tried to tell Leo he wasn’t doing something, they would have to fight her. 

“No, but that’s okay. He can still whomp me for bringing him children’s bath crayons after he gets home. He’ll be fine.”

If the nurse says anything else, she doesn’t listen. She just quietly waits for him to sticker the stuff and hand it back to her before she enters to see Leo, trying to keep her hands from shaking as she hopes that for once, maybe she wouldn’t say the wrong thing to him. 

[etherealwaifgoddess]

What He Wants (Pt. 10)

Main Characters: Bucky Barnes x Enhanced Reader

Summary:  On going series of Bucky getting his shit together and falling in love with you.

Warnings/ Content: Nothing major. Our boy is still a little sad but he’s doing better. 

Word Count: 1518

Author’s Note: Hello again lovelies! Like I would really leave ya’ll with a short little 700 word installment on a Friday?? Pffft. It’s a double post day! Mainly because the last part was super short, but it’s also Friday, and honestly I’m in a really shitty head space right  now and making ya’ll happy will make me feel a little better. 

If you missed the previous parts you can find them here: One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine

XOXO - Ash

What He Wants, Pt. 10

The next morning you wake before Bucky and take advantage of being the first to grab a shower. You are squeaky clean having used almost all of the complimentary bottles in the bathroom and know you’ll have to get new ones so Bucky can get a shower too. You slip down to the lobby and procure the extra supplies as well as two cups of coffee. Bucky wakes up with a start, you are beginning to suspect this is a habit with him. He sits up in the bed, eyes darting around wildly for a moment until he catches his bearings. 

“Morning Bucky.” You say to him over the rim of your coffee cup. 

His eyes fix on you and he groans, rubbing at his face. The sight of you in a pair of little grey shorts and a T-shirt, wet hair falling around you in waves, is the last thing he needs to see right when he wakes up. He is already dealing with morning wood from hell and the sight of you makes him want to double over. 

“Not a morning person?” You continue, assuming he is grumpy. “I brought you coffee, black.” You point at the mug next to the night stand. 

Bucky’s issue remedies itself when he goes to reach for the cup with his left hand and realizes he is not waking up as he had fallen asleep. His shoes are off and so is his left arm. He wants to vomit at the idea of you having to do that for him. Your delicate, perfect fingers having to navigate the wreckage of his left arm; where the scars and metal still riddle his skin from HYDRA using him as their own Frankenstein’s monster. It is a never ending reminder of how fucked up he is both inside and out.

You watch his distress and feel guilty at having been so bold. “I’m sorry.” You blurt out, unwilling to wait for him to start berating you, “You fell asleep so fast and I wasn’t sure what to do. You’d had it on all day and I figured it would be more irritating to leave on and I just wanted to help so you didn’t have one more ache to deal with today.” You take a breath finally, waiting for him to start in on you.

Bucky watches your rambling efforts and how you brace yourself, ready for him to do his worst tongue lashing. Of all the emotions running across your face Bucky doesn’t see any pity or disgust and he’s grateful. He can’t bring himself to reprimand you. As much as he wants to keep you from that ugly part of himself, you had only been trying to help and he’s impressed you figured out how to get it off without waking him. “You were right. It would have hurt like a bitch today if I left it on that long.” 

Your eyes widen and you try not to smile, taking a quick sip of your coffee instead. Bucky slides himself to the edge of the bed, testing his right left and finding it still too tender to stand on. He carefully slips on his prosthetic and grabs the crutch to help himself up and to the bathroom. He knows showering is going to be a challenge but he has to at least attempt it. Carefully he maneuvers himself, balancing on his uninjured leg and quickly scrubbing himself clean before he needs to sit back down on the edge of the tub. It takes longer than he wants it to but in the end he is clean and smells like a human being again. He stares at his reflection in the large behind the sink mirror and cringes. He knew he avoided mirrors for a reason. Bucky runs a towel through his hair once more before popping his head out of the bathroom to ask you to throw him his bag. You hand him the black duffel through the crack in the door, careful to avoid seeing anything you don't need to. Dressing is awkward but he manages and he changes his bandage noticing the wound was already looking better. 

By the time he is done in the bathroom he is desperate for coffee, already a little worn out. You are sitting at the small table still drinking yours and flipping through a newspaper. He notices you had gotten changed for the day into a baggy white T-shirt over faded blue jeans. Bucky settles in on the edge of his bed to enjoy the coffee, watching you read. Curious as to how someone so young could be so wrapped up in SHIELD, he asks you.

You look up from your paper, amused he thinks you are so young and glad he is making an effort at conversation. “I’m thirty two.” you inform him, “Though I guess compared to a hundred something that is pretty young.” 

Bucky is surprised, he wouldn’t have put you past mid twenties, “You look a lot younger.”

“I get told that a lot.” You shrug. “Just one of those faces, I guess. SHIELD helped me out after the attack on New York. I didn’t know how to control my ability and I probably wouldn't have made it if they hadn't found me. So after all their help I signed on as a freelance agent” 

“You got lucky. That’s good.”

“I don’t know if it was luck. I watched my best friend get murdered in front of me and then the thing turned on me which is why I ended up with this ability.” It is a painful memory and it stings to think of it.

Bucky wishes he could swallow his words back up, knowing he caused you pain from the memory. “I’m sorry, doll. I didn’t know.” 

“And now you do.” You stand up, ready to move past the somber topic and start your day. “Are you up to grabbing breakfast downstairs? They have a decent restaurant that makes pretty much everything.” 

“Lead the way.” Bucky says, grabbing his crutch and pulling himself up. 

You are impressed with how much better he is moving after a good night’s rest. In another day or two he would be almost as good as new at the rate he’s going. You slow your pace down to walk with him down the hall to the restaurant, thankful for your first floor room. 

Bucky eats like a starving man and you have to keep yourself from chuckling a few times. “Do the Avengers not feed you?” You tease as he tears into his second plate of French Toast. 

Bucky looks up at you and then down at his plate, “Super soldier” he says simply between bites. He sets his fork down after a moment, “You should have seen Steve. Or Thor. I thought Pepper was going to faint at our first grocery bill.” 

You do laugh then, trying to imagine that situation. “Good to know. I’ll have to set up another grocery delivery then. I only have my usual stuff coming tonight.”

“You can order groceries? Why not go to the store?”

“Normally I’m just too busy. By the time I’m able to go out I’m exhausted from work and it makes it harder to turn off my ability. With so many people around, it’s just… a situation I’d rather avoid.” 

“Makes sense. I’ll try not to eat you out of house and home.”

“It’s fine, I can place another order. I have a feeling that a week of stuff for me is going to last about two days.”

Bucky grins, “If we’re lucky.”

You shake your head and start back in on your omelette. Breakfast with Bucky is strangely normal. He seems at ease after he’s eaten something and it’s like he forgets that he is supposed to guard himself around you for a minute. You pay the bill once you both finish and slowly make your way back to room to grab your things. The taxi you arranged arrives right as you are turning over your keycard to the front desk and Bucky loads your bags into the trunk while you take care of checking out.  

The bright October sun blinds you for a moment when you step outside and you remember why this was your favorite time of year. The air is starting to lose the humidity of summer but isn’t cool enough to be uncomfortable yet. You hop in the taxi next to Bucky and hand the driver your address on a slip of paper. The man looks at it for a moment “This is a two hour drive, lady.” He says, concerned. 

“Here, take my credit card and run it. I know it’s far but my car broke down.” You tell him. 

Bucky gives you a look, wondering if the bit about your car is a lie. You raised an eyebrow at him, it is a lie but covering your tracks on the location of your home is critical. 

“It’s your bill.” The taxi driver grumbles and pulls away from the curb into the busy city traffic. 

Tag List Lovelies: @my-current-fandom-is @blacklightguidesnic @amazonianbeauty @ladyemofhousestark @abswritesfandoms

[canarhys]

If you write a valdangelo college AU I’ll perish

“nico, you’re staring at him again.”

“huh?” nico looked back to his best friend, turning his gaze away from the boy near the window to percy jackson, sitting sideways in his chair and sipping his energy drink, a monster can that he finished with about three gulps. “i’m not—”

“yeah, i’ve heard that before dude.” percy crushed the can tossed it like a basketball to the nearby trash, nearly missing by an inch. “score. and you had those big goo-goo eyes. just go talk to the guy.”

nico stared at percy as if he had grown a second head. “i am not.”

“okay, well, aren’t you two minoring philosophy this year? you see him, what, twice a week in the afternoon?”

“percy, just because i can see him at a different time of day doesn’t mean i can talk to him.” nico stared at his coffee, significantly cooler enough for him to take a sip. it still left a burn on his tongue, though not as strong as when he mistakenly took a sip before. “besides, he sits in the front. far from me.”

“meet him after class,” percy suggested. “or like talk to him. he’s not a demon or anything. you’re not going to die if you start a conversation.”

“yes, i will.” nico looked back at the boy at the window, busy typing something on his laptop. he was wearing a flannel as it was autumn and not yet too cold for light wear, a beanie discarded next to him on the table. nico traced his outline with his eyes, already sketching him out with his deep rich skin and his curly hair, dark and wispy, his sweet caramel eyes scanning the paragraph he was currently writing. nico suspected it was for philosophy, which was his class later in the day and they had been assigned a book report a few days earlier. the sun was starting to peek over the buildings, showering a curtain of golden light on the boy and making him glow. he was radiant.

“you seriously have it bad,” percy interrupted, silencing his train of thought. “we need to find you a better outlet for your creepy stalking.”

[[MORE]]

nico sputtered. “i’m not stalking him!”

he said that a little too loudly, causing a few patrons at the campus coffee shop to stare at him. his face flushed. at least the guy wasn’t staring, as he seemed extremely hyperfixated on getting that paper done. nico and percy began talking again when everyone went back to doing what they had been doing.

“you’ve been staring at him for the past two weeks, every day until he leaves or you leave. it’s got to stop!” percy stood up, causing the chair to stumble and nearly fall if percy hadn’t caught it at the last second. “go talk to him.”

nico sighed. well, it was better now than never. percy wouldn’t stop pestering him, and the guy seemingly got cuter every day. he’d probably combust if he would never see that boy again. so he stood up and was about to walk over to the guy when—

“shit!” the guy exclaimed after he checked his watch, hurriedly standing up from his seat and shutting his laptop closed, placing it in his carry-on bag and quickly rushing out of the shop, almost bumping into people on the way. nico was frozen. he didn’t know which was worse — the boy having left, or the fact that the boy looked at him at the last minute before running away. well, there goes that opportunity.

and... he’s gone.

“well.” percy whistled. “that went great.”

“you’re a fucking idiot.” and nico almost went back to his seat before something caught his eye on the guy’s desk. he had left his beanie.

he went over and picked it up. it was black, and had a small texas flag patch imbedded into the center front. he checked the small tag on the inside of it.

leo valdez.

“hey, you know his name now!” percy exclaimed, slapping a hand on nico’s back. “ya know, this gives you a great opportunity to—”

“percy, shut up, you were literally oblivious to annabeth showing you hints that she liked you since day one.” but nico stuffed the beanie in his bookbag anyway.

percy blushed. “it’s not my fault her hints were so obvious that they were unnoticeable.” he shook his head. “and don’t change the subject. at philosophy, you march right up to him, give him back his beanie, and ask him out somewhere.”

easier said than done, but because this was too good a chance to waste and because percy was somehow bringing his hopes up with every encouragement, he finally agreed.

“but if he rejects me, you’re buying me seventy happy meals.”

“deal.”

—

leo couldn’t believe it. he has forgotten his beanie again.

as if the day couldn’t get worse. he had barely finished his philosophy report while hanging out with piper and jason, whom he had rushed to get to in time for their scheduled study group. then he had accidentally spilled orange juice on piper’s homework. piper said it was chill since she had a backup one on her computer (one of the few times she had it, thank god) but leo had apologized immensely. then, as he was listening to aminé on his headphones, he had realized that he had forgotten his beanie at the campus café. he rushed over there in nearly a minute, and cursed loudly when he saw that it was gone. he had checked the lost and found. gone. he had asked one of the employees, and they said all they saw was a guy stuff it in his bookbag and leave with a friend.

so, yeah, his gifted beanie from frank was stolen. just great.

he sighed, exasperated with the day, and already hoping to head back to his dorm at the end of the day and fall asleep in his own misery. he rested his head on the desk. he was in the philosophy classroom, the first one because... well, he just didn’t want to be late again. he took out his phone to check the battery. 17%. he hates god.

he rested his head back on the desk when he heard a pair of footsteps enter the classroom. he suspected it was octavian, who was usually first (leo couldn’t wait to tease him about it) when he heard the footsteps enter his row. octavian sits in the back, next to that one kid with the baby bat wing hair.

“excuse me.”

leo looked up. his eyes widened, his heart stopped, his breathing stopped. it was was baby bat wing kid, but up close, and leo never even realized how hot he looked up close. the guy was freckled all over his face, with obsidian eyes and a usually grim expression that was morphed currently into one of... nervousness. he holding his backpack in one hand, which was slung over his shoulder, and the other clutching...

“is this yours?” he asked after good minute. he seemed frozen too, but leo felt a grin grow on his face.

“dude, holy shit!” he grabbed it, staring at it to make sure it was his. black, texas flag, and his chicken scratch written name on the tag inside. definitely his. “thank you! were you the one the employee said took it?”

“yeah, i, uh, wanted to give it back to make sure it wasn’t stolen,” nico answered. “i remembered you were in my philosophy class... because i look at you— i mean, you’re in the front, so you’re face is kinda hard to miss and... sorry.”

oh god, the guy was adorable too. leo felt his face flush.

“it’s fine,” he replied. “your name is... nico?”

nico blinked. “you know my name?”

“i mean, the professor calls roll every class,” leo said shrugging, seeing nico’s shoulders droop. “i remembered your voice.”

“my voice?”

“accent.”

“ah.”

they fell into an awkward silence. leo looked from side to side before sighing, already knowing his messing up his only conversation with a beautiful man that he was literally trying not to ask out. “i’m sorry, i’m a bit awkward,” he apologized.

“no, it’s fine!” nico replied. “i’m not that good at communication.”

“mood.”

nico gave a small laugh, sending a torrent of butterflies flying amock in leo’s stomach.

“hey,” nico started, shuffling his feet, “i’m, uh, a major in photography? and we’re doing a project right now, people studies and shit like that. i need a model for it by next week and...”

leo blinked. was he asking him to be a model for him? leo felt jittery, a thousand jumping jelly beans already ready to burst with the amount of blushing leo was doing.

“you want me to model for you?” nico nodded, and leo laughed.

“that sounds great dude, but, i’m not really visually pleasant for a camera—”

“but you’re beautiful!”

leo froze, looking at nico with a gaping mouth and darkened cheeks. nico covered his mouth, and leo could see him blushing hard. leo probably wasn’t any better. the two stared at each other, nico struggling to come up with an explanation and leo struggling to reply.

“sorry, uh, i should go—”

“wait, don’t!” leo stood up and grabbed his hand before he could escape (to where, leo didn’t know, but he wasn’t going to let him go). nico craned his neck towards him, and words nearly came in a jumble. “i’m... i’m free for this week and the next except saturday night and other things. i—” he took a deep breath. “i think you’re beautiful too.”

nico turned to face him, his face equivalent to a surprised puppy. he was quiet for a second. “you mind if we start tomorrow?”

“hell yeah! i’m free!” leo opened up his hand to nico, who looked at it with a raised eyebrow. “uh, phone? so we can contact each other?”

nico seemed to realize this and went “oh,” fishing out his phone and unlocking it, handing it over. leo opened up his contacts and added his in before giving it back. nico took one look and snorted.

“bad boy supreme?”

“it’ll grow on ya. text me later, i’ll see if everything on my calendar is cleared.”

“cool,” was all nico said. he looked back down at his phone, smiling the most precious smile leo has ever seen. “cool. thanks leo.”

leo frowned. “wait, you know my name?”

nico looked embarrassed, gesturing vaguely to leo’s beanie. “the beanie.”

“ah.”

leo checked his watch. five minutes till class.

“you need to tell me what to do tomorrow, or else all your pictures are gonna be me falling off a building or something,” leo joked. “and do not take any nudes of me. the last thing i want is a college scandal.”

nico grinned. “i won’t,” he said.

“good.” then leo moved on his own, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek. nico sputtered adorably as leo leaned back, making leo laugh. “you’re cute. text me later.”

nico looked like he forgot was oxygen was. leo felt a little guilty. a little. “yeah.”

halfway through professor aristotle’s lecture, leo looked back to see nico staring at him. he wondered if nico had ever looked at him from up there, noticed his dark hair and busy hands that could never stay still. he wondered if nico had ever noticed him in any other occasion. regardless, he felt his heart beat faster and his brain become pudding in his skull.

nico noticed he was looking back and startled a bit, looking to the side in embarrassment. leo laughed silently, giving him a little wave. nico gave him a little one back.

—

“are you two dating?” octavian questioned, seeing nico look starry-eyed at leo in the front.

nico stared at him. “no?” he said, knowing it sounded less like an answer and more like a confounded question.

“sure,” he said, the blonde turning back to his notebook before adding, “he likes hot chocolate.”

nico didn’t know why octavian was giving him advice but he took it with no grain of salt. the guy was weird but he was also pretty helpful at times. he leaned back in his seat, stifling a yawn when suddenly his phone buzzed on the desk. he grabbed it and checked the notification.

bad boy supreme, 6:39 p.m.

hey

[killervibe]

Where the Love Light Gleams

I’m sorry this is 2 days late!! 

Written for 12 Days of Killervibe and gifted to @ciscoscaitlin

Notes: This was supposed to be my big! Christmas! Fic! but then Candy Canes and Silver Lanes sort of spiraled out of control.  

Summary: Cisco needs a perfect gift for Caitlin. 

~.~

“This is a disaster!” Barry rolled his eyes at Cisco, shifting the weight of his twelve shopping bags with a weird little hopping motion. “Cisco, calm down.” “I can’t!” Cisco exclaimed, throwing his empty arms out wildly, nearly knocking down a row of Bath and Bodyworks perfumes.

 “If I don’t find something in the next fifteen minutes Christmas is ruined.” “Not finding a gift for Caitlin in 15 minutes will not ruin Christmas,” Barry muttered, beating a lady from snatching the last Vanilla Bean Noel shower gel from off the shelf. “Caitlin doesn’t even technically celebrate Christmas.” “That’s not helping,” Cisco snapped, “that means that I’m already late in giving her a gift.” “I thought you agreed on just swapping gifts at our Christmas party at Joe’s?” “We did.” “What’s the big deal, then? Just get her some nice soap or something. That’s what I’m doing.” Barry waved a bar of soft lilac in his face before depositing it in his basket. Cisco scoffed, “I can’t buy Caitlin soap.” “Cecile says you can If it’s very nice soap.”

“Ohhh my god.”

Barry stopped his frenetic shopping to pause and give Cisco a funny look. “Am I missing something? You’ve never been bad at presents.” Cisco studied some pine scented hand lotion and shrugged. “I guess I just want to get her something special this year.”

“Why?” Cisco shrugged again. “I don’t know. I just feel like I should. Don’t you feel that way with Iris?” Barry lifted his 13 bags sheepishly. “Iris is easy to shop for. She usually says I spoil her too much.” Cisco glared at Barry’s haul. “You’re kidding,” he deadpanned. Barry missed his sarcasm by a mile, “Oh yeah, I mean Christmas is just that time of year where you get away with buying way too much—It’s fun and—“ Barry stopped abruptly in the queue for the cash, causing Cisco and then a series of five other people behind them to stumble into each other like dominoes. “Barry,” Cisco warned, pushing him forward to prevent a public outcry. Barry shuffled forward but spun on his heel to give Cisco a feral smile. “What?” Barry hummed, looking smug. The cashier called for the next in line and Barry started to unload his basket. Cisco leaned his elbow against the check-out counter, frowning at Barry suspiciously. “What?” he asked again. “Nothing.” That very clearly did not mean nothing. “That’ll be $56.98, sir,” the employee chirped, and Barry tapped his card with his charming Barry Allen smile. “Merry Christmas!” Barry beamed at her when she handed him his 13th purchase of the day. Cisco watched him struggle out the door. “You need help with that?” “Nah, I got it,” Barry replied, looking left then right and Flashing away. Cisco blinked and then blinked again to find Barry back, red faced and empty handed. Clearly he put his stuff away in the car. Barry smirked at Cisco, folding his arms over his chest. 

“You’re stressing over finding Caitlin the perfect gift.”

“A little,” Cisco agreed. “Because you want to impress her.” Cisco scratched his hair, “Uh...no? Because I want to get her something she deserves?”   “Because...?” Barry prompted. “...Because I love her?” Cisco replied in the same tone. Barry waggled his eyebrows triumphantly. “Say that again?” Cisco’s brain lagged, “Because I love her—Oh shit.” Barry cackled At Cisco’s dumb struck face. “I’ve been waiting five years for this.” Cisco stopped to drop onto a bench in the middle of the mall meant for the sick and elderly. “Oh Barry. This isn’t news. I know.” Barry’s mouth dropped open to talk and Cisco held out his hand, interrupting him. “I didn’t mean to tell anybody.” “What? Why not?” “Because Barry, no offence, but I’m friends with people like you and Ralph and Sherloque. You suck at secrets. Please don’t blow this up.” Barry sat down on the bench beside him. “It doesn’t have to be a secret. You should tell her.” Barry started to grin, “Do it on Christmas!” Cisco bristled. “Don’t say that.” “Why not?” Barry supplied, “This is amazing. You can get her something romantic and then confess your feelings.” Cisco looked at Barry as if he had three heads. “....No?” “No?” “Rejection on Christmas? I don’t think so.” “Oh come on, Caitlin won’t reject you. She has feelings. Trust me.” “Yes, she can, she absolutely can. She’d be allowed to, and she might.” Barry put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Dude.” Cisco crossed his arms over his coat and shook his head. 

“Can we just work on trying to get her a good gift? I want her to have that regardless of my feelings.” An old man with a cane hobbled down the mall, and Cisco quickly hopped up to offer him his seat. Barry bumped his shoulder with his own as they made their way back to the centre of the mall. “Sure. Where to next?” Cisco twirled around, taking in all of the commercialism and wrinkled his nose. Nothing about this screamed Caitlin to him, and of course it shouldn’t, none of this was Caitlin at all. Besides, he doesn’t want to fall upon the perfect gift for her because some salesperson smoothed talked him into it or because it was on sale. It needs to be more than that. They passed by a Build-A-Bear full of children and a swamped Pandora. An idea struck him, and he tugged Barry along the way to the nearest exit. “You know what Bear, let’s go home.” Cisco waited for Barry to drive down the road after dropping him off at home before he breached back to Star Labs. He switched on the light to his workshop and plopped down at his desk, carefully depositing all of the materials in front of him. He pulled out his tools, then looked at the time. Two days. That was enough to turn these scraps into something special, right? Of course it was. He’s made gizmos that defeated evil villains in less than a half hour from scratch. A gift for Caitlin couldn’t be that hard. He’s made Iris’s explosive earrings and Caitlin’s solar power dampener necklace. This shouldn’t be a big deal. Two hours later, Cisco was banging his head against his desk with a long drawn out groan. It was. It was. It was. ~.~ What Cisco liked best about Christmas time, was the smiles on everyone’s faces. He sat nursing a strong cup of eggnog as everyone opened their gifts around the West’s tree. They were being lazy, knowing that the majority of the boxes here were for cute little Jenna, who was too young to open them anyways. She’s barely a year old, but that doesn’t stop them from catering the infant like she’s royalty. Cisco was guilty himself, having got her both a play pen full of age appropriate stuffed toys and custom made The Flash, Kid Flash, Vibe and Killer Frost onesies. Cecile lifted her up in the air from the floor where she had changed her into the sixth outfit of the day and blew a raspberry into her belly. “Oooh look how cute this hairband is!” She cooed. “Thank you, Caitlin! Say thank you Caitlin, baby! Yes, we’re saying thank you!” Cisco pressed his socked foot against her folded legs on the couch they were sharing. She smiled at Cecile. “It’s my pleasure. She’s adorable.” “It’s yoooooour turn,” Iris sang, rummaging under the tree for a gift with Caitlin’s name tag. That’s how they made it work. Whoever gifted a present were then next to receive, unless it was for Jenna, then they placed the baby in front of the gifts and picked whichever one her chubby fingers reached out for first. She picked a simple green box. She shook it, “Oooh, this one’s from Cisco.” Caitlin took the gift from Iris and inspected the red bow. “Complimentary colours,” she commented, giving Cisco a little smirk. Barry shot him what Cisco could only assume was Barry’s idea of a sneaky look. Cisco pressed his toes into Caitlin’s legs again, and she swung her leg out to retaliate as she opened the box. A simple purple scarf tumbled out. “Wow,” Caitlin said, “this is very nice.” Everyone oohed and ahed. Except Barry. His eyes bugged out like Cisco just infected her with a terrible disease. What stunned Cisco the most was that she wasn’t faking it, even though that scarf had very obviously been the plainest gift anyone had received today.

Cisco fiddled with the box in his pocket, aching to just stop and swap them all with a “gotcha!” but he knew that he couldn’t do it properly with everyone’s eyes trained on them. 

He had meant to, but then chickened out, and ran to the mall last minute yesterday to grab a random nice scarf and wrapped it to put under the tree instead.

“Thank you, Cisco.” She leaned forward to give him a hug. “You welcome,” he replied, looking down at his lap. Iris went digging under the tree for a present for Cisco. There only was one left for him, having had already opened most of them a while back. Iris handed him a decently sized gift box.

“And this one is from Caitlin.” He glanced at her, who was staring back anxiously, her nails close to her mouth. He lifted the cover and removed the tissue paper. A beautiful expensive black leather jacket. She knew his old one was although well-loved, worn out and not warm anymore. “Oh, Cait,” he murmured, picking it up in his hands. It was gorgeous. He could wear this everyday. “Try it on,” she urged him. He had to shrug himself out of the swaddle of blankets they were cocooned under, and slipped his arms through the sleeves. Joe whistled, damn impressed. “Mr. Ramon, look at you.” “It’s really very nice, Cisco,” Iris agreed, a little distracted at how it fit against his biceps.   Cisco was slightly alarmed by that, giving Barry a look, which Barry shared with him in equal measure. “Barry you should get one of those.” Barry coughed. “Hey! I think Iris that present is for you! Nora, help me find one,” he said quickly, speeding under the tree for one that was for her. Iris frowned. “But it’s Caitlin’s turn again.” “Nope! This one’s for you. It’s your turn. Caitlin won’t mind.” Caitlin shook her head, visibly amused. He got off the couch to pull Caitlin into a real hug. She held him tightly when he thanked her, and it made his heart thump in his chest. He took the jacket off and folded it back neatly, placing it next to Caitlin’s new scarf. 

Now he just felt crummy.

 He knew that wasn’t all he had for her, but she didn’t yet, and he very much hoped she didn’t feel disheartened by it. A half hour later, presents were over and everyone had dispersed throughout the house. Cisco stretched his arms over his head as he untangled himself from the couch and had not had even four seconds of peace before Barry came barreling into him, Flashing him outside in the cold. “What the hell, man?” Cisco groused, shivering in the snow. “A scarf!?” Barry seethed, “A scarf? That’s what you call special? You may as well have gotten her the soap!” Cisco took a step back, rolling his eyes at Barry’s self-righteous anger. “Okay, first, relax. Second, I appreciate your protectiveness of Caitlin, but you don’t have a clue as to what you’re talking about.” “Oh yeah? Because it looks to me like you just gave Caitlin the most pathetic excuse of a gift after a whole afternoon of giving everyone else nice stuff.” Cisco cringed. When he put it like that... “I get that’s how it looks like, which is on me, okay, I know. I panicked so the scarf became a deploy.”

“So you have a better gift then?”

“Yes, Barry.”

“Good, because Caitlin deserves better than that from you.”

That was a tad too intense for just a concerned friend invested in his bffs’ relationship.

“Okay,” Cisco replied patiently, “But let’s say I did give her the scarf and that’s it, why are you so mad?” Barry’s face screwed up. “Um...” “Oh no.”

“Uh…”

“Barry!” Barry scratched his head. “It may have come up in a conversation yesterday.” Cisco’s felt his heart drop to his shoes and became overwhelmed with dread. “Bartholomew Henry Allen, what did you tell her?” “Not that you’re in love with her!” he shouted out quickly, to which Cisco smacked him hard. “Just that you were stressed about getting her something special. And then you proceeded to get her something lame. And very un-special. And then she gave you that jacket!”

Cisco groaned, burying his head in his hands. “Barry. I love you and it’s Christmas, so I’m going to be nice, but this is exactly why I didn’t want to tell anyone anything about this.” “As long as you’re not lying about that scarf not being the only thing you have.” Cisco’s hand went straight to his pocket, clenching the box in there. “I’m not.” “Then good,” Barry repeated.

The two stared at each other before cracking smiles, beginning to laugh. “Also what was that back there? Were you actually jealous that Iris, your wife, was looking at me in that leather?” Cisco shoved Barry and Barry shoved right back, rolling his eyes at his own stupidity. “Yeah, yeah. Caitlin knew what she was doing. You looked good!” “Hey Bear,” he said, freezing to pieces, but struck with the sudden need to tell Barry. “Yeah?” “You know how Dante and I never really got along...” Barry leaned against Joe’s brick house, furrowing his brows. “I thought that’s just what it meant to have a brother. That there’s just always animosity and friction underlying the relationship because that’s how things were.” Cisco smiled at Barry. “And then I met you. I guess what I’m trying to say is, Merry Christmas, hermano. You annoy me to no end but you call me out on my shit and still do your best to protect and encourage me. It’s what I love best about you.” Barry was a bouncing ball of grinning fluff. “You’re my brother too, man. Can we hug?” Cisco laughed, opening his arms, “yeah, I better get a hug if I end up catching pneumonia because of this.” Cecile opened the door. “Boys, enough with the bromance out in the cold, I’m not sending anyone to the ER this Christmas.” They stomped off the snow from their shoes obediently and singled filed back into the house. Cisco went beelining to the kitchen for some of hot chocolate as an attempt to regain feeling in his fingers. He found Caitlin there, messing around with the fillings of one of her pies. “Hey you. Want a pie assistant?” She startled, nearly dropping her spoon of chopped apples. She looked up and bit her lip. “I’d never say no to a man offering help in the kitchen.” Cisco took a chug of his hot drink then rolled up his sleeves. “Can you poke holes in that one so it can breathe?” Cisco took the fork and began stabbing. In ten minutes, they had all three pies in the oven. Caitlin washed the dough off her hands as Cisco refilled his lukewarm mug. His other hand went back to the box in his pocket. It made sense to do it now. There wasn’t anyone else in the kitchen, the turkey still needed an extra hour and a half anyways, and the last Cisco heard was that they were setting up a movie to watch in the living room. Cisco leaned against Joe’s creaky cabinets. “So, I’ve got to be honest with you. I didn’t give you your present yet.” Caitlin’s hand stilled over the soap dispenser, leaving the water running down the drain. She turned her head over her shoulder. “What do you mean? You got me that lovely scarf.” “Not really. That’s the fake gift.” Caitlin looked down at her wet hands and frowned. “Oh,” she said softly, her face falling even more. “Do you want it back?” “No no!” Cisco rushed, “Keep it, it’s for you!” “Then what do you mean?” “I mean, what I really want to give you, I wanted to be in private. Not in front of,” he made a frivolous gesture with his hand, “All of this.” Caitlin took off her apron and twisted her hair to the side, uncertain. “Okay.” “Okay,” he said, and closed the door to the kitchen. He pulled out a chair from the kitchen table.  “Sit.” He took the opposite chair and sat across from her. Cutting straight to the chase, he asked, “Be honest. What did you think of the scarf? I know Barry spoke to you about my gift. Did he rise your hopes up?” Caitlin dug her fingers in to ends of her dress’ sleeves. “A little. I really do like the scarf, but it was a bit...Bland...compared to what you gifted everyone else. It made me feel a bit.” “Icky?” Cisco guessed. Caitlin shrugged. “I didn’t want to feel that way. It just happened.” “Yeah, Caitlin that was never my intention. Barry shouldn’t have said anything. I wanted to surprise you.” “With what?” “Close your eyes first.” Caitlin raised an eyebrow. “Really?” “Yes!” He insisted, it would be easier for him to say what he needed to without her eyes all tender and pretty on his while he did it. She listened to him, closing her eyes with a little smile played on her lips. “Hold out your hands.” She cupped them in front of her. Cisco removed the box from his pocket to place it gently in the palm of her hands. Her finger instinctively curled around the edges. “Keep them closed,” Cisco said, as he put a hand over her jiggling knee. “So, there’s a few things I want to explain first. Before you see your Hanukkah/Christmas/Holiday present. The first is that Barry was right. I was stressing over your gift. I usually do, actually, but this year was different. You had a tough year, losing Killer Frost, then finding your dad. And I wanted you to—I don’t know, it’s silly, I guess, because it doesn’t have to all go in a gift, but I wanted something for you to see how much I cared about what you went through. Something that was special enough to be uniquely for you, so that you looked at it, you’d always know it was from me.” Her fingers twitched against the box, her mouth parting open slightly at his words. “The second is that you are absolutely my best friend in the entire world, and so you should know that I’d always treat anything for you from me as important. You’re never an afterthought, Caitlin. You’re my number one on speed dial, my go-to. My partner in do good, instead of crime.” “Cisco please let me open it, this wait is killing me.” Cisco chuckled, “Alright, fine. Open your eyes.” Caitlin did, and he watched her eyelashes flutter as she blinked down at the box. She took off the cover and picked up the bracelet fastened on the little cushion inside. “Is this a....” “A charm bracelet.” “It’s gorgeous,” she breathed. It took him 18 hours to wield, carve and meld the bracelet and each intricate charm. It wasn’t pure gold or silver or bronze, but he had alloys sitting around in his workshop taken from shrapnel of tech, suits and finite Earth 2 metals. It was still shiny, and beautifully made, if Cisco thought so himself, gleaming in the light. Cisco unclasped the bracelet when she held out her arm for him to put it around her wrist. She inspected it as all the parts clinked gently against each other. She picked up the first charm. A slim, delicate C, that ended with a swirl. “C for Caitlin,” Cisco explained. “For Cisco too,” she said. He shrugged, fighting his blush, “If you want.” Caitlin dropped her elbow onto the table, laying her arm in between them. Cisco took the second charm, holding it up between his index finger and thumb. “A snowflake for Dr. Snow, Killer Frost and your powers.” He dropped it and went for the third. “A star for Star Labs. Where we first met everyone.” “Our home,” she smiled softly. “Exactly.” The lightening bolt that dangled next to the star was self-evident. “Team Flash?” She guessed. “Team Flash and Barry,” Cisco confirmed. “Who knew our coma guy would become our family?” Caitlin shook her head fondly, and picked out the charm shaped as glasses. “They’re my vibe goggles. For me. You know, when Barry first suggested the name, I was like, hmm, that’s not bad, but...It was when you repeated it, whispering it brightly, your eyes all aglow that I knew it was the one.” “Cisco...” She said, sounding speechless. “And of course, because this is me, I connected an itsy bitsy extrapolator in the goggles so you’d have a way to breach.” “Wait, you made this. The whole bracelet. From scratch.” “Yeah.” “Oh my god,” Caitlin sat up straighter. “No! Really?” 

She turned the figuring in her hand. It was the metal switch on the arm of goggles. To anyone else, it’ll just look like they fold open and close, but truly, that was the signal of a breach opening.   She opened the arm of the charm and sure enough that vibrantly blue swirl of a breach popped up in the middle of Joe and Cecile’s kitchen. She closed the arm and the breach disappeared instantly. “That’s amazing. Cisco this is just...You’re fantastic.” There were two more charms left. Caitlin studied the miniature microscope. “Your STEM roots,” Cisco supplied. 

“We wouldn’t be here without them. You’re intellect and strength in medicine has saved us all so many times.” “You have too!” Cisco tapped his knuckles against the green tablecloth. “But this is about you.” There was only the last one left. It was by far the most detailed and noticeable. A showstopper piece that would make someone pause to say: Wow, that’s really nice. It was the charm Cisco spent the most time on, pouring all his feelings into it. He debated whether or not he should even include it on the bracelet. Despite what Barry said, Cisco genuinely planned this to be simply about Caitlin and their friendship, not what Cisco was grappling with. But that wouldn’t have been honest. They fell silent, looking at the heart charm, the soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas seeping through from the living room. He played with the bracelet, avoiding her actual hand. “That one,” he started. “Um.” “You can tell me.” Cisco knew he was a sensitive person, but this was making him feel vulnerable unlike anything before. Caitlin lifted her free arm and took his hand. He looked at her, surprised to see the tears welling in her eyes. “You have my heart, Caitlin. You always will. I just thought you should know.” A little noise escaped from her mouth, and she let go of Cisco to cover it. In that moment, he knew that she knew. “Please tell me if that’s not okay.” She retreated her arm with the charm bracelet from off the table to throw them around his neck.

Cisco held her burying his face into the crook of her neck with baited breath.

“Cisco,” she whispered, “how could you think I don’t love you too?”

“What?”

She leaned back, wiping the tears from her eyes as she looked at him like he hung the moon, like, Cisco realized, how he’s always looked at her.

“Caitlin…”

“I love you.”

Barry opened the door, startling both of them violently. “Hey guys—I just wanted to know if you wanted to watch—“ 

He stopped abruptly, assessing them, how close they were and their particularly irritated faces. 

“Oh.” His face lit up and he pumped his fist. “Yes! I’ll give you another fifteen minutes! Yes!” 

He closed the door and they heard him holler, “Nobody go in the kitchen for the next 20 minutes!”

They stared at each other after Barry closed the door, growing slow smiles.

“Cisco,” Caitlin said softly. ��Close your eyes.”

He did, feeling her hands brush against his neck, the charms chiming next to his ear as she kissed him breathless.

He inhaled sharply, wrapping his arms around her waist against the smooth velvety material of her sweater dress. He tried to convey the way his heart was bursting, his head was floating, how she made him feel, how she has almost always made him so indescribably happy.

He broke the kiss only because he seriously wasn’t sure he’d make another ten seconds of her mouth on his without dying. He was already addicted to her taste.

“Wait,” she panted, after grabbing his face to kiss him harder. She leaned her head against his, brushing their noses together.

“Having you is better than anything I could ever ask for.”

FIN

[granpafrisbee]

Truth or Dare Part 1

Warnings: Cussing                    

Word Count: 3,752 (it’s gonna get longer tho)

Pairing: Bucky x OFC           

Masterlist

Summary: After going to Italy and avoiding any romantic relationships for pretty much all her life Joey comes back to the U.S. to move in with her life-long best friend, Sam Wilson, and his two closest friends from college. Joey’s met Steve but is apprehensive to meet the elusive Bucky, whom she’s always missed despite having visited Sam consistently throughout college. Once she meets him, however, she wonders how she’ll be able to run from love when they share a bathroom.

A/N: Hey, so I'll be updating this most Wednesdays. I'll try my hardest to stay regular. 

I wrote this using an OFC bc I cannot work my brain to replace my name with fucking Y/N and I know I'm not the only one. (I always end up reading it as fucking "yuuhnnumm"). I am fully in love with Zazie Beetz so our OFC is completely based on her except maybe a lil chubbier because why not. Really for the apartment just picture the layout of the New Girl loft.

I always have a confusing time picturing characters in fics so I'm gonna lay it out for y'all. Steve is full nomad, them honey brown locks and the full beard. Joey's hair is natural like Zazie so often wears it. Bucky is just Seb in fall/winter 2017 because I am weak for the I, Tonya press tour look. Sam is Mackie's classic look. The rest of the characters can be left to the imagination.

Also  I mention good music so listen to that if you want. Please let me know if you like this and follow my hot garbage tumblr.

Special thanks to @buckybarnesxoxo for asking to be tagged!

the AO3

Stay Sexy

It’s the bathroom that really impresses Joey. She believed Sam when he said the apartment was nice. On seeing it for the first time when moving in, she discovers that her best friend is distinctly incorrect. A working sink is nice. A proper heater is nice. A nearby laundromat is nice. This loft, this four-bedroomed palace, is exquisite in comparison to her previous abodes. The kitchen has all its necessary appliances. There are a washer and dryer in unit. The walls are thick enough that if Sam was stabbed in his neighboring room, she would maybe hear it. Four bedrooms with their very own closets. All of these have her speechless as she tours around. However, as stated above, it’s the bathroom that is killer. The idea of sharing said room with three men is maybe one of the more foreboding aspects of her new sweet digs, but once she sees the giant clawfoot shower and tub, she is sure the positives will heavily outweigh the negatives.

She immediately slides down into her new porcelain palace. She’s a medium height at 5’6”, and even she has to point her toes to touch the far end of the tub. She sighs comfortably and is already planning an essential oils combination for her first real bath when the door swings open and her fantasy is interrupted by one her new roommates. He’s the one she hasn’t met yet but Sam and Steve have shown her plenty of pictures. His hair looks soft and well-coiffed and he wears a tank top under an unbuttoned striped short sleeve button down. Rather than judgment appearing across his abnormally handsome face, he smiles like there was nothing else he could have expected when entering the bathroom.

“You see I specifically told Steve to get a bathtub that doesn’t come with a human.”

“Oh no, you got it all wrong. I’m actually a ghost here to haunt you but hygienically. Instead of boo, I say floss.” She says without a beat and he nods, very seriously, in response to this.

“You know I’m pretty sure I just carried in a bed to our fourth room that might be more comfortable than the tub, but who am I to judge one’s preferred sleeping arrangements.” His quip is followed by another fantastic smile, and based on the past ten seconds of her life Joey is absolutely sure that this is her kind of human.

She smiles back and extends her hand from the tub. “Joey.”

“Bucky,” He shakes her hand and nods again.

“You guys brought up my bed? I told Samuel to let me handle that shit.”

He laughs and scratches his beard, “Ah just gave me another opportunity to show Sam how much stronger I am than him. And Steve the chance to show up both of us.”

Joey chuckles and silently appreciates how Bucky balanced his dig on Sam with some light self-depreciation of himself. Although it would be unrealistic to pretend that anyone was stronger than Steve. The man is built. “Seriously though, I’ll come help y’all out. I’m not gonna be the useless roommate.” She gets out of the tub and starts out the door.

“Oh I wouldn’t worry about that, I think Sammy’s got that title covered, Darlin’.” He follows her out and therefore doesn’t see her face cringe at the pet name.

She considers calling him on it when Sam yells from the front door, “I know you’re not in there besmirching me to my very own best friend Barnes,” He enters view sweaty and smiling, “And I especially know she wasn’t participating, because she is my best friend and therefore automatically on my side.” He wraps his arm protectively around her shoulders causing her to shrug away from him with her nose scrunched.

“Consider our friendship on sabbatical until you take a shower, Wilson.” Joey continues backing away.

“Jesus I always knew your personality stank but I guess the inside always comes out huh.” Bucky mirrors Joey’s disgusted face as he walks towards the door.

Sam rolls his eyes, “Not funny.” Although the involuntary “Hah!” Joey lets out at Bucky’s comment seems to contradict his statement. Sam just flips her off.

“Thank you, Doll. You see Sammy, even your best friend thinks I’m right.” Bucky mocks as he heads back outside.

This time Sam sees her face twist in reaction to the nickname. Misinterpreting it he grumbles, “Oh come on there’s no way you can smell me from over there.” He starts to head to his room, presumably for deodorant.

Joey follows Bucky downstairs to help with some more furniture moving. Steve is outside their building, ass in the air, bent over picking something up. “Damn Rogers,” Joey calls out appreciatively, “If I knew I’d be getting a view like that I would have shacked up with you years ago.”

He stands up, holding up an entire bookshelf on his own, further challenging the poor under armor shirt that is being stretched to hell on his giant frame. “Hey killer, thanks for joining us.”

She picks up a lamp and smiles at him, “Well I figured you guys needed the extra muscle.”

His smile is bright against his beard as he walks into the house with the ease of a man who isn't carrying a bookshelf.

The four of them finish loading their sporadic furniture into the loft and the afternoon fades to early evening. An old but amazing and huge high-quality leather sectional provided by Steve’s mom. Sam’s flat screen, whom he’s named Esmeralda, and may or may not have a near sexual attraction to. Bucky’s records and a player that’s older than any of them, plus a big wooden dinner table his Dad handmade. Steve’s varied level of completed canvases and paint stuff. Joey’s shelves and chairs she found on the side of the road her senior year in college. A mix of plates, bowls, and utensils have been loaded into varying drawers and cabinets. As well as cooking instruments, although, beyond Joey’s waffle iron and an old cast iron from Steve, it’s all Sam’s. Everyone’s personal boxes and furniture is piled in their own rooms.

Joey sits on the kitchen island as the boys lean against it, all sipping the cheap beer Joey bought as penance for them carrying her bed in. She takes that moment to appreciate the weird chain of events that got her where she is now. She and Sam have been friends since grade school. They went to different colleges but remained good ol’ buddies throughout. When they graduated Joey traveled around and did an apprenticeship with an Italian glassblower. Sam went to Culinary school, and when he graduated the second time around Joey was offered a job with a world-renowned blower (god she will never get tired of calling her profession that) stateside. After little luck finding a two bedroom inexpensive enough for the two of them, Steve, one of Sam’s old college buddies Joey had met many a time during visits, mentioned his friend's dad owned a couple lofts in the neighborhood they were looking in. Sam toured with Steve and Bucky and the three of them signed the lease that day. Sam called Joey that night and announced he was so confident that he forged her signature. He was insistent that it was the best option they’d find, all Steve is a good guy and fellow artist, and even Bucky is sometimes bearable but don’t tell him that. Steve paints and sketches in his free time and works as a personal trainer to pay the bills. Joey knows he isn’t passionate about it, but with his perfect body and matching attitude, she is sure he is fantastic at his job. Sam is starting at a new restaurant with a name Joey can only pronounce thanks to high school French. A plus for living with Sam is that he brings work home with him. Although Joey had visited Sam plenty over the years and even struck up a solid friendship with Steve, she always seems to have missed Bucky. They had never met but she knew he was a language major with a focus in Eastern Europe and Russia. Sam had told her Bucky translated English books into Russian and vice versa and made more money than he should. Earlier Joey had heard him curse in some sort of Slavic tongue when Sam “accidentally” dropped his end of a coffee table on Bucky’s foot. She also had heard a few stories about Steve and Bucky’s childhood, the rambunctious troublemakers lived up to every tall tale. As the four nursed their beers she felt confident that this was going to be a very important group of people in her life.

“Joey?” Sam snapped her out of her thoughts.

“What?”

“Barnes suggested we get more beer and pizza and invite some friends over. Are you down?” The three men looked at her expectantly.

“I say hell yeah. Who are we calling?” She looked down at her watch and was surprised to see it was only 6:30.

“Well there are the couples, Nat and Wanda and Thor and Bruce,” Steve suggested.

“I told Shuri I’d pay her in alcohol if she set up all the tech shit,” Bucky adds.

Steve nods, “Now that you mention it, we should probably invite Tony, he’s the reason we got this place.”

“Tony means at least Rhodey and probably Pep, Clint is a must, and if we invite Wanda we should call Pietro too.” Sam finishes his beer and scrolls through his messages.

“Brunnhilde and Okoye are in town too.” Joey hops off the counter and recycles the empty bottles collecting on the island.

“Alright you guys decide who to invite, and I’ll go get libations and sustenance,” Bucky grabs his keys.

“With the list we’ve got you’ll need some help, I’ll come with,” Joey volunteers.

Bucky smiles vibrantly and nods towards to Steve, “You okay babysitting Rogers?”

“As long as Killer doesn’t mind your unreasonably picky ass,” Steve’s retort is so quick that Bucky and Sam raise their middle fingers simultaneously at their aggravator.

Joey and Bucky decide to start off to the pizzeria three blocks away and pick up the beer on the walk back. The walk begins in mildly uncomfortable silence.

“So… you’re picky?” Joey asks to spark some sort of conversation.

“Nooo..” Bucky’s defensiveness creates an endearing drawl, “Those two pompous asses just don’t understand that I like my pizza simple. Margherita pizza is a fucking gift. Who am I to screw it up with a bunch of American bullshit?” He gestures widely as he speaks.

“You’re kidding right?”

Bucky’s must have misinterpreted her smile as he quickly responds, “Alright I’ve been judged enough in my life, I know you lived in Italy and-”

“No, no, Bucky!” She grabs his forearm, “Margherita is my favorite! I ate it all the time in Italy, judgment-free.”

“Jesus Christ Doll, where have you been all my life?”

She smiles and they continue a brisk pace to the pizza place. “How did you know I lived in Italy?”

“Ah, I know plenty about you. Sammy talks about you non-stop, has since I met him. Steve even thought he was secretly in love with you until he hung out with you in person.”

This makes Joey raise her brows, “Really? Wow. What, if I may ask, ultimately caused him to accept our relationship as extraordinarily platonic? Was it the sibling-like side hugs? The lack of sexual tension in our banter? The fact that I knew him during his first mustache phase?”

“Are you telling me there was a skinnier mustache than the one we know and mildly tolerate?”

“I’m talking Prince but pubescent. It was so thin models asked his mustache for dieting tips. It was so thin his first girlfriend thought he had an eyelash over his top lip. I mean you would’ve thought he drew it on with a ballpoint pen. In fact, it’s very possible it was. Just because I never saw doesn’t mean he never-”

Bucky is laughing uproariously, “Please, please, you’re killing me. I’m gonna need pictures as soon as possible.”

“No can do. I will recite the epic of the mustache homer-style until the day I die, but any physical evidence shared will prompt an all-out war between Samuel and me. That is just something I can’t afford.”

“Oh now I have to see them. What’s your secret shame, sweetheart? Bangs? Braces? Please tell me it was an emo phase,” As he lists off he starts walking backward, the goofy smile didn't dim once.

“I’ll never share, but trust me when I say if you find something behind my back, I’m sure Steve will be more than willing to share some pictures of your past. Emo phase is a good guess, but if I didn’t know any better I’d say that was a projection, hmm?”

That does a good job of replacing his smile with pursed lips and a quirked eyebrow, contemplating his next move in this battle of embarrassing adolescence. “Steve would never betray me.”

“Don’t be so sure, all men have their weaknesses,” She smiles deviously.

“Oh yeah, you gonna seduce him for a picture of me in eyeliner?”

“First of all, I would seduce Steve for much less so thanks for confirming my emo theories. Secondly, I may not know Steve like you do, but I know him well enough to see that seduction would hardly prove fruitful.” She holds the door open for him and they both bask in the practically orgasmic scent of the pizzeria, “Steve is so suspicious of anyone who wants to sleep with him that he’d see through me. My method would be to trick him to do some sort of high school ‘Where are they now?’ portrait. He’d be so inspired he’d paint your lined eyes and black, I’m guessing, over parted hair in a second.” The line is moving slowly and he admires how she never lowers her volume or hides from strangers eyes.

“Damn, Doll, you’re good.”

“I minored in manipulation.” The store isn’t too packed for Saturday night and Sam Cooke is playing lightly in the background. She’s nodding her head and he’s mouthing along to words and when they both realize this they share a smile at the music.

“So Steve is a suspicious mind in your book?” She chuckles at his reference.

“I’m not the biggest drinker and neither is Steve, so when Sammy went hard when I visited, Steve was always good for a tipsy talk. The poor guy has the same self-esteem he must have had in high school. Unlike us three cool cats Steve will show me pictures of his past self. I know you were there through it all, but just because the outside changes doesn’t mean the inside follows suit. I have seen the most dedicated and gorgeous women throw themselves at him and yet he remains sure that she was ‘just being friendly’. It’s actually impressive.”

“I know what you mean. To be fair though a lot of that is just his college girlfriend. She really did a number on him.” He runs a hand through his hair but doesn’t hide his contempt for whoever she is.

Solemn surprise covers Joey’s features, “I never knew. Never met her on any visits.”

“She wasn’t big on him talking to other girls, probably hid him anytime you came around. Although that isn’t my story to tell, I’m sure the punk will tell you about it sometime.” She follows his eye line down to his shoes. He’s drawing stars with the tip of his shoe, a tic she’s just noticing.

“What about you? You have a girl hiding you away, distracting you during your collegiate years? She the reason our meeting was so unluckily delayed until today?”

He thinks about the answer for a second or two. “Nah, no anchor to this ship. At this point, I’m just convinced Wilson just didn’t tell me you were around because he knew you would like me more than him.”

“Well turns out I like Steve better than both of you.”

He puts his hands up and reassures her, “I don’t need to be first, Sweetheart, just as long as I’m on your radar.” As he lowers his hands the song changes and they simultaneously recognize the song, both begin humming the initial notes. “Penny & The Quarters fan huh?” He asks.

“Nobody, baby, but-” she sings before quickly turning her attention to the cashier, “We’ll have two large Everything Pizzas and one large Margherita.” Facing Bucky again she smiles and drops another line that makes his heart race, “Just for you and me, huh?”

The pizza is out quick, and a trip to the local gas station provides them with more than enough beer. They continue discussing music, Joey is surprised at their similarly irregular taste. He describes his favorite Etta James songs, but can’t forget the Simon and Garfunkel song that he thinks is his first love encapsulated. He lists his top three favorite rappers after ranking contemporary folk bands. She adds in her opinions sporadically, and he apologizes twice for dominating the conversation when they get in the elevator.

She is being honest when she says, “There’s nothing I want to hear more than whatever you’re going to say right this moment.” He thinks that every lyric in every song he’s just listed doesn’t have shit on that sentence.

He’s about to tell her so when an alarming large hand last minute catches the elevator as it closes. The doors open to the Thor and Bruce. The couple is the lynchpin of every good party, from rager to kickback. Thor is the greatest hype man in history but is never hammered, probably because it would take two handles of tequila to get him there. Bruce is much more chill but a secret god at beer pong, not to mention he always has weed. Bucky’s favorite part of their presence always happens when Bruce is particularly high and begins a lecture on some sort of subject no one else understands. He isn’t exactly captivating, especially not to anyone far from sober although his passion is palpable, but Thor will plop down on the couch next to him and watch him like he’s the only thing in the universe (while rubbing Bruce’s neck to keep him from getting too wound up). Bucky loves those guys.

“Looks like we arrived just in time, wouldn’t you say Thor?” Bruce shakes Bucky’s hand and smiles at Joey.

“Of course! I was worried we got too much pizza, but now that you’re here Thor I’m sure you’ll help us with any surplus.” Joey sets the pizzas down before Thor pulls her into a bear hug.

“Joey, you know I never leave a damsel in distress,” Thor agrees as he sets her back on her feet.

Joey’s eyebrow playfully shoots up, “Who are you calling damsel, Odinson?”

“In this case, definitely Sam. I’m surprised he even let you order out.” Bruce answers for his boyfriend.

“My love is right in my insinuation. Never ever have I seen you anywhere near damsel status Joe.” Bucky watches their interaction with curiosity.

The elevator dings and Bucky asks, “This may seem like a dumb question but how do you guys know each other? Just through Sam?”

Joey picks up the pizzas as Thor holds the door open, ”Thor’s siblings and I were all in a group home together as teens. I’ve known this big lug long before he was the Nordic party god we see before us.” Thor laughs and he and Bruce go to greet everyone inside.

“Are you telling me Thor hasn’t always been a blonde beefcake?” Bucky whispers in Joey’s ear as they set the pizza and beer on the counter.

“Sadly no, he’s looked like that since I met him. I just like making that joke because he’s too humble to care.” She makes note that he doesn’t question the foster home part of her story. She wonders just what Sam has told him about her past.

People start to crowd the food and drinks, so Joey and Bucky greet everyone who has arrived. Nat is there sans Wanda, who is at home sick. Bucky knows this means Nat will be leaving early. Pietro made it despite his ill sibling, but he still looks pretty sick of the conversation in front of him. Shuri and Clint are mid-argument about the chicken and the egg when Bucky thanks them for coming. Clint gives him a smile and points to a fake succulent on the table and mumbles, “Got you guys a housewarming present,” before returning his attention to telling Shuri that the Chicken is the obvious choice. Shuri tells Bucky she set up the wifi and the apple tv and Clint doesn’t even register that she’s talking over him. Bucky kisses her cheek and hands her a beer.

Steve is sitting with Bruce and Thor on the couch, all of them engrossed in conversation and pizza. Sam is chopping fresh onion for his pizza when Bucky asks, “These are the few you could bribe to get here?”

“These losers are the only ones without any plans on a Saturday night,” Sam says without looking up.

Clint and Pietro both look up and say a simultaneous, “Hey!” Before turning their attention back to their conversation.

“T’Challa and Nakia are in Paris. Brunnhilde has a gig tonight. Okoye hung up on me when I said pizza and beer. Parker has an exam. Tony named six events he was invited to tonight and would’ve kept going if Steve hadn’t hung up. Pepper and Rhodey are probably plus thing one and two wherever Tony ended up at. Thus, this motley crew is all we got.” Sam sprinkles his diced onion on top of his already spilling slice and when he bites into it his groan stops the conversations surrounding the apartment.

“Lame. Your intestines are not going to be thanking you for that monster you are devouring under the alias of pizza.” Joey makes a face as he continues to stuff his face.

“Like eating just mozzarella and basil is enjoyable at all,” Sam dismisses her and joins the rest of their crew.

“Heathens,” Bucky dramatically admonishes their friends, “You ready Doll?”

This time he catches the tightening of her expression at his comment, ”Born ready.” They both grab a piece of their untouched pizza and taps crusts in cheers.

Part 2

Part 3

Thanks for reading!

[gaylotusthatexists]

fit for a prince

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Pairings: Platonic Lamp

Rating: General

Brief Description: It’s Roman’s birthday! However, the other three sides have completely forgotten, and must quickly prepare a surprise party that is fit for a prince.

Word Count: 2345

also on ao3

Notes: I’m a couple days late, but this was written for Roman’s birthday! @emo-sanders-sides-loving-unicorn and @trash-can-so-do-i asked to be tagged in this, so here ya go, hope y’all enjoy :D

Sunlight poured into the room through the slightly opened curtains, causing Roman's eyes to flutter open. It took him a moment or two to realise that he was not in his bed - his head was lying on his desk, on top of an open notebook. He must have fallen asleep whilst working. Again.

Not that he cared about that. He had gotten so much work done last night! It had been a truly successful writing session!

Of course, he was half asleep during the majority of it, so he was kind of afraid to read it through, but he could leave that for later. For now, he had a full day of surprises ahead of him! What day was it again?

Roman looked up at the calendar pinned to the wall above his desk. It was the fourth of June. His birthday! He squealed in delight. Surely the others would have a bunch of amazing things planned for him, a day of fun fit for a prince.

Smiling, Roman left his room and went downstairs to the commons. Logan was already awake, drinking his morning coffee. Roman smirked, and went over to the kitchen side, leaning over the counter to look at Logan.

"Morning, nerd," he greeted.

Logan looked at Roman for a second, and sighed. "Please don't tell me you stayed up until the early hours of the morning last night."

"And why would you think that?" Roman questioned.

"You are wearing the same clothing as yesterday, and it does not look as if you have changed. Also, there are slight dark circles under your eyes," Logan pointed out. "I am also inclined to believe that you feel asleep at your desk rather than in bed, as when I came into your room this morning to collect dirty washing, and the like, you were asleep at your desk."

Roman frowned. "You come into my room in the mornings?"

"I go into everybody's room in the morning. Why do you think you always have fresh sets of clothes?"

"I kinda just assume they show up by magic," Roman whispered.

Logan rolled his eyes. "No, Roman, that isn't real."

"You're not real," Roman retorted.

That didn't phase Logan in the slightest. "Well, yes, I am a figment of Thomas' imagination. Neither of us, nor Patton or Virgil, are real."

Roman was silent for a moment, before deciding to change the subject. "In any case, do you know what day is it today?"

"It is a Monday," Logan stated. "Fourth of June."

Roman nodded. "Yes, and is there anything special about that day?"

Logan shook his head. "I do not believe so."

"You sure?" Roman said. "Do you not have any plans?"

"Yes, I have no plans."

Roman pouted. This was supposed to be his day! By this point, Logan should have at least wished him a happy birthday! But no, he's pretending that nothing of important is happening on this day. Roman could not believe it.

He left the room without another word, thinking that he could maybe go back up to his own room in order to make himself look presentable - shower, make-up, a fresh outfit. Yes, that would be good. However, he paused upon seeing someone sitting on the stairs. Virgil. Ugh.

"Move, you peasant-" Roman stopped himself. "I mean, uh, person."

Virgil looked up, and rolled his eyes. "What's up with you, Sir Sing-A-Lot?"

Roman sighed, and sat down next to Virgil. "Logan."

Virgil raised an eyebrow. "Logan?"

"It's nothing, really," Roman said. "I'm just... frustrated." 

Virgil nodded, slowly. "Ok? Sure. You should probably try to fix whatever is making you frustrated."

"I can't do that. Not if he's..." He trailed off, looking over to Virgil. "Hey, do you know what day it is?"

Virgil blinked. "Mon...day?"

Roman groaned. "Yes, but what is special about today?"

Virgil stared at him, blankly.

Roman sighed. "Ugh, not you too. I'm leaving." He stood up, and continued to walk upstairs, leaving Virgil alone and confused. He heard his name being called, but didn't respond. Roman just continued walking, never looking back until-

"Hey, Roman!" A cheerful side enclosed Roman in a hug. "Good morning!"

Roman looked down at whoever had hugged him, and smiled. "Hello, Patton." Maybe he had remembered.

Patton pulled away slightly, and looked up at Roman. "How are ya?"

"Oh, fine..." Roman sighed. "I should be happy, at least. Considering what day it is."

"Yup! It is Monday! We have a whole, fresh new start to the week, isn't that wonderful?"

Roman started at Patton. "Oh." There was a hint of anger to his voice. Patton, as well, of all people? He couldn't believe this. "Well, I should get going."

Roman continued to walk towards his bedroom, ignoring Patton's confused calls.

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

Virgil looked up from his phone as Patton entered the living room. It had been a couple hours since Roman had, essentially, ran away from him, and he had since moved from the stairs to the sofa. He still had no clue what Roman had been on about - what was so special about today? Why did he seem so angry at him? Why was he also angry at Logan?

"Hey, Virgil!" Patton greeted, a huge grin across his face.

Virgil shot a single finger gun at him. "'Sup Pat."

Patton took a seat next to Virgil, leaning back onto the cushion. "Do you know what's up with Roman?"

"You too?" Virgil groaned. "I don't know. He was acting kinda weird this morning."

Patton nodded. "Yeah. And he hasn't left his room." 

Virgil frowned. "Seriously, what is up with that guy..." He continued to scroll through Tumblr, before coming across a particular post. "Oh, shit."

"Language, Virgil!" Patton exclaimed.

"Sorry, Dad," Virgil murmured, before adding, louder, "but, uh, look at this post."

He lifted his phone up to show Patton, who's eyes quickly skimmed over the text. Virgil could almost see his heart drop. "Oh, God, how could I forget? No wonder he's so upset!"

"We-" Virgil turned off his phone. "-are terrible people."

Patton shook his head. "No! We can still fix this! We can host Roman a surprise birthday party later, and it will all be fine!"

Virgil raised an eyebrow. "And how exactly are we going to plan an entire party in a few hours? This is a really bad idea, y'know. Shouldn't you have remembered his birthday?"

"We can make it work!" Patton insisted, completely ignoring Virgil's second question. "But, for now, at least, we need to... we need to go out and buy supplies."

There was dead silence in the room as Virgil stared at Patton, before he said, "We are figments of Thomas' imagination, Patton. We can't 'go out and buy supplies'. We could literally just summon decorations and presents and stuff.” 

"Yeah, but neither of us are Roman. Also, it's way more fun this way." 

He stood up, and made his way over to the door, leaving Virgil alone on the sofa. Logan came out of the kitchen and looked at Patton as if he were insane. 

"Where are you going?" Logan asked. 

"I'm going to buy party supplies."

"We... Patton, that isn't how we work," Logan pointed out. "Just get Roman to conjure some up."

"I can't do that!" Patton exclaimed. "We're hosting a surprise party for him!"

Logan frowned. "Why are we-" His eyes widened in realisation. "Oh, God, it's his birthday today, isn't it? No wonder he seemed so agitated with me this morning."

"Yes! And that is exactly why we have to get this party ready for him!" Patton tapped his foot against the ground. "So, I'm gonna go out and buy presents and stuff. One of you two decorate, and the other distract Roman. We can do this guys!" He exited out the front door, walking down some imaginary street. 

Logan turned to Virgil. "This is never going to work."

Virgil rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it."

"However," Logan continued, "I believe there are some decorations stored in Patton's room. I would be happy to retrieve them and begin decorating whilst Patton is gone, if you are happy to... distract Roman."

He sighed. "Seriously?" Virgil leaned back. "Fair enough. I guess. I'll go, like, force him to watch a Disney movie, or something."

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

Roman brought his knees up to his chest, burying his face in his knees. He couldn't believe the others had forgot. Well and truly forgot. Surely they should have been showering him with love and affection on a day like this, but no. They have barely even talked to him. He had been sitting in his room, cold and alone, for hours, and had any of them come to check on him? No. They didn't care. Nobody cared about princes anymore. 

He heard a gentle knock on the door, and immediately shot up, climbing out of his bed. Had someone finally realised that he was in distress? Had someone finally remembered what was so special about this day, and had come to apologise and give him all the attention he deserved? 

He opened the door, only to find Virgil standing on the other side. 

Roman smiled. "Hey, Virgil! What's up?"

"Uh..." Virgil held up a DVD case. "Wanna watch a movie?"

Roman's heart immediately sank. He wasn't here because of the birthday, huh? Virgil just wanted to do another one of those movie sessions. Of course. Why had Roman thought any different?

"Why now?" Roman asked, his voice regaining the same annoyed tone from earlier.

Virgil sighed. "The others are busy downstairs, and, like, kicked me out, or something. And, uh..." He hesitated for a moment. "I don't want to be alone in my room," he murmured, "and you're the only one free. Besides, we still have, like, fifty more Disney movies to get through."

Roman looked up at the ceiling. At least this way someone else would be with him on his birthday. Even if it wasn't specifically for his birthday. "Come on in." Roman moved out of the doorway, and went to sit back on his bed. Virgil moved over to the TV and placed in the disk, waiting for the movie to load up before pressing play. He then joined Roman on the bed, and they began to watch the movie, sitting in silence. 

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

As he walked into the living room, Patton's jaw opened in shock. Red hearts on a silver string had been hung up on the walls, the stairs, the ceiling. A red carpet had been laid out coming from the top of the stairs down into the room, with glittery gold stars strewn all the way across. An assortment of party snacks were set out on the coffee table, on top of a clean, white table cloth. Cut out letters in red and gold had been stuck to the wall, reading 'A PARTY FIT FOR A PRINCE'. Logan stood in the middle of the room, smiling at Patton. 

"Lo, did you do all of this?" he asked, still staring around the room in wonder. 

He nodded. "You told me to decorate. Virgil is with Roman as we speak, and I do not think they will be joining us for at least another hour. Did you find any presents?"

Patton nodded, and placed several bags down on the floor. "Yup! I need help wrapping them, though."

"If you have wrapping paper, I am more than happy to help out."

"Awesome!" Patton took some wrapping pater decorated with thousands of tiny crowds out of one of the bags, as well as some tape and scissors. The two began to wrap the presents that Patton had brought - mostly just a bunch of clothes, make-up kits, and a few books (which Logan in particular was pretty happy about). 

After they had all be wrapped, Patton laid them out by the table, and sent a quick text to Virgil.

WE R ALL READY HERE COME ASAP 

Patton and Logan sat down together on the sofa, patiently waiting for the other two to arrive.

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

Roman felt Virgil nudge his shoulder. 

"Hey, uh, I think dinner's ready," he stated. 

Roman frowned. "Already?"

"Yeah, already," Virgil clarified. "We should, like, go downstairs, or something."

Roman groaned. "But... the movie!" Then, he realised that this could be his chance! He could tell the others that it was his birthday, and then they would be forced to apologise and shower him in love and affection! "Never mind, lets go." He paused the movie, and stood up, heading out of the room. Virgil slowly followed him.

Coming up to the top of the stairs, Roman noticed that something was... different. The carpet on the stairs wasn’t usually that colour. In fact, it appeared that a... a red carpet had been laid out.

“Why is there a red carpet?” Roman asked, mostly to himself.

Virgil came up besides Roman, and shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe the others have something planned. Like, a prank or something. That would be pretty traumatising.”

“Shut up, Virgil,” Roman said, beginning to walk down the stairs. Virgil groaned, quietly, and followed behind Roman.

As soon as Roman reached the bottom of the stairs, his face lit up and his heart almost burst of his chest. On the wall read the words ‘A PARTY FIT FOR A PRINCE’, and the entire room had been decorated with his signature colours - red, white, and gold. He smiled. Had... Had Patton and Logan done all this for him?

“Happy birthday!” Patton greeted cheerfully, grinning at Roman.

“Yes, happy birthday, Roman,” Logan added, quieter.

Roman walked further into the room. “I... I thought you had forgotten. But... you did all this for me?”

Patton nodded. “Yup! Nothing but the best for our resident prince!”

He looked around in wonder. “Thank you, guys. Like, seriously, I... I love you. All three of you idiots.”

Virgil smirked. “Happy now?”

Roman turned around to face Virgil. “Happy? Happy! Heck, this is freaking amazing!”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Patton said, bringing all the group together by the coffee table. “Let’s get this party started!”

[irregulardiaryposts]

00:53 21/06/2021

Hello again <3

so i think im gonna write about my mental health today because i dont feel like i have anyone who understands fully apart from myself maybe so i need to Organise my Thoughts. as a kid i had a pretty normal childhood, a mum a dad and a brother - pretty nuclear right. but as a child i felt like my family maybe wasnt quite right, that this wasnt supposed to be what family is? perhaps. - i was scared of my mum a lot because she wasnt very understanding of me - and i was a great kid, never getting into trouble, very good at school, no issues whatsover. the thing that really shows how i thought of my relationship with my mum was when i was like maybe 8 or so having a parents night and at it my teacher had nothing bad to say apart from i was kinda bossy in group settings (im sure i dont need to explain how misogynistic that actually is- i was not bossy i was a natural leader) and when i got home my mum told me off for that and i felt like she was kinda cold to me and not taking all the good things about me into consideration when telling me off for that.

i feel like thats a really defining moment in my life when i realised i cant expect adults to Understand me, realised how people treat young girls, also started my defiant behaviour maybe or was kinda one of the key moments that made me dislike certain authorities in my life, that if people wont understand me regardless of how i explain myself then i wont bother trying to be understood by people who wont matter to me. anyway yes i was scared of my mum-like petrified sometimes- but my dad wasnt great either, he also had his shortcomings. i feel like he never really cared about me like he was kinda apathetic towards raising me like a parent - i feel he would be better suited as an uncle to someone rather than a dad - the funny childish guy that makes kids laugh -not the uncaring dad that cant be bothered to really learn about his kids. and i feel im sitting here complaining about my parents when the fact is that a lot of adults should never be parents, society has conditioned people into thinking the only way to be fulfilled in life is to live vicariously through your kids when life gets to such a boring and monotonous place where you feel the need to create a new life to spice things up lmao. i feel a lot of parents regret having kids but they cannot express that regret because it was their choice and they should deal with that, also saying you regret it would be pretty horrible to the kid.

so while yes i am complaing about my parents i dont think they were Bad in any way just not that great yaknow. also i just notice all these things growing up and i feel its been pretty impactful to understanding myself and my parents. also just some anecdotes from my childhood - i used to watch my dad play video games like the uncharted games i think theyre called, and whenever i got scared i used to hide behind the couch until the scary part was over (usually a lot of guns and high energy fight scenes thats too much adrenaline for a 7 yo) and sometimes when i would take out my dad/brothers game i would get them to fo the hard parts and do other stuff myself - i dont remember many games i played apart from one of the spidermen games where u could just web around the city and not progress apart from sometimes you would come across some strippers and i accidently got into a fight with them (also hot women with umbrellas they use to fight- maybe i went near them on purpose) i would yell to my dad and get him to do it for me. also on new years eve whenever my mum was working and we werent going to any family parties we would make a bunch of food and put it out in the kitchen - wed make like homemade onion rings, chips, have crisps and dips, and a bunch of junk basically and watch like austin powers or some shit and genuinely miss those times they were so simple. but a lot of thats tainted now from what happened. also my brothers always been annoying as shit but when we were kids we couldnt be in the same room without arguing which like whatever thats how kids are esp brothers and sisters for some reason.

i think thats majority of the background needed for the rest. wait this is a little addition but i meant to mention this here so ill put it in- basically sometimes on holidays i would geniunely think my parents hate each other/ were getting a divorce like once when we were in florida in 2012 my dad convinced my mum (as well as me and my brother convinced her since we liked them) we convinced her to go on a water slide thing that u had to walk up the stairs for, it was outdoors, and it was kinda tall and then we got in one of the big donut things and it swooshed from side to side a lot and was generally pretty scary i suppose for someone who doesnt like rides esp since you had to hold on to the handles there were no buckles or anything, and so when we got off the ride my mum was big mad at my dad and like wouldnt talk to him and stuff like that which was pretty uncomfortable to have to be the 8 year old mediator of that but there was also another occasion i think (maybe also at florida) where they were made at each other and i asked my mum if they were getting divorced and all she said was 'ask ur dad' like???? no sort of consolation to this child who thinks their parents hate each other nooo just petty 'ask him' and theres also been other times when they fight/ are mad and they dont feel the need to hide it from us so i felt quite anxious around my parents sometimes.

so ahnyway . yes. when i had just turned 13 my parents split up and it fucked me up in a multitude of ways. also i cant beleive i stopped being a proper kid at 13, like as soon as i turned a teenager life hit me like a fucking truck. so the context as to why they split is still kinda lost to me ngl but they didnt tell me much anyway since i was young but my mum basically said my dad didnt love her anymore and he wanted to separate. its kinda funny because leading up to this my dad had been sleeping in the living room for like a few weeks and there was on and off fighting i could hear and i basically thought they were fighting over me and that i was in trouble and it kinda used to keep me up coz i could hear loud voices when they thought i was asleep- which is probably the cause of why i get veryyyy mad and angry when i hear my mum at like 1 am downstairs when shes drinking and im trying to sleep, probably something ive internalised (is that the word?) and made me respond so strongly to those type of noises.

anywayyyyy yes i thought i was in trouble when they were actually just getting a divorce so ... yeah you can really tell i was young and didnt understand adult issues or really couldnt figure this out myself from all the arguing and him sleeping downstairs lmao. anyway my dad moved out and it was just me my mum and my brother now and at this point my brother wouldve been about to turn 18, so although still kinda shit, not really as affected my it as a 13 yo, just to keep in mind. so i was devastated obviously and my whole world was kinda shattered but i had to hold it together a bit, also i was sometimes my mothers own therapist having to say things like 'everything happens for a reason' 'itll get better' in response to her deteriorating mental health and her questions that would be really hard for me to answer like 'why did he leave' etc (bish im a child be there for me not wallow in ur own pity, u have ur whole life to sort this out youre an adult, im a 13 you and only months away from wanting to kms hun think of ur CHILD please) anyway this left me feeling like a burden if i were to share my mental state because when my mum shared her stuff she was burdening me (AGAIN i was 13 she is an adult) so that made me bottle a lot of things up also the fact that i had no one to share it with because she works as a nurse and now shes a single mother and so she works almost all hours of most days and i dont see her much, my brother was either working at this time or just didnt give enough of a shit about me to make sure i ate.

i went from being catered to for every meal because i didnt know how to cook to suddenly no one being there for me so i had to learn how to do it myself. needless to say that lead to a bunch of unhealthy eating habbits like eating the same things every day - frozen pizza, cheese toasties, i cant think of anything else probs because i didnt make anything else just ate chocolates or didnt eat breakfast coz i woke up at 2pm. just general unhealthyness both in substance and like how healthy that was for my head yk. also this is during the summer btw so it gave me the option to be incredibly depressed - im not saying that as an edgy teen thing to say im being 100% genuine i was very depressed like textbook style - not eating or overeating, not showering/ taking care of myself, extreme lack of energy and hated doing social things coz i had to put on a farce that i was okay meanwhile i couldnt wait to get into my bed and sleep the next day and a half away.

i very vividly remember at the start of the summer holiday my friend asked me if i wanted to go out and do something and i rememeber just crying at that because i had no reason to say no but i just didnt want to and felt like i couldnt do anything and so i lied and said i wasnt feeling well and then put my phone down and curled up in my bed and cried coz i was frustrated and upset and i couldnt really understand what was wrong with me and why i was Like This.

god i didnt take into account how tired i was and how late it is when i started this huh, this isnt even half of it, but i have obligations in the mornign, the last until uni or whatever so ill put this in my drafts and finsih it somethime. alrigtht it is 02:08 btw z_z. also ive just now decided im gonna re organise my tumblr so if this ends up being an actual blog thing i can navigate it easier by adding tags and such. anywau goodnight.

20:21 30/06/2021

MOTHERFOIUHIFIUDVMKCVKM V

MY LAPTOP SHUT DOWE IN THE MIDDLE OF THSAT SO ITS ALL GONE BASICALLY I WAS DEPRESSED BURTNOUT GIFTERD KID AND IT SUCKED YADDa YADDSZ ANYTWAY

so

23:01- well. yes earlier i wrote a little about the ages 13-16 and how they sucked but whatever it got deleted the more pertinent stuff happened in the last year or so anyway.

um yeah so i started the last year of highschool as a 16 year old with a fucked up brain and never having learned any study techniques or work ethic in the slightest. i took 3 uni-level courses only one i actually wanted to do, most people take 2 at most or even 1/0 but do other classes. honestly it fucking sucked this year for school but i scraped all passes so thank god for that. so i started the year quite optimistic, or as much as i could be and in all fairness the content of this year wasnt actually that bad considering i was doing 3 hard classes but corona really truly fucked everything up and by November i had mentally dropped out of my classes but of course i still had to go to them. i feel like im an oddly independent teen because ive never had a solid parental presence in a while, like i had to do a lot for myself and maybe i should thank myself for getting me through it all because i really did pull through.

my thoughts keep drifting from what im writing coz i wanna talk about different things and im just thinking maybe i shouldve just posted the last one then added a reblog when i could be bothered to write and not force myself because if theres ever a reoccurring theme in my life is that if i force myself to do anything i will hate it with my entire being, so maybe i should just do a short synopsis and write about something else afterwards.

so i took 3 hard classes, slowly lost all motivation because in jan it switches to online classes and i could Not deal with those it was horrible, and i became more of a "troublesome student" in one of my classes *cough* maths *cough* and almost got "kicked out" of taking the class just because the teacher was a control freak but like wanted to control all of our actions and behaviour, also i think i may have adhd and another kid in my class i think he does too and surprise surprise the teacher "dislikes" him too but its only a farce because he doesnt actually dislike him its only so that i cant call him out for singling me out when other students behave "badly" too. but anyways maybe ill come back to this in a while when i can be arsed explaining my complicated relationship with my parents.

the only reason i wanted to write this today was so that i could tag the post with like june 2021 or something and not june/july, but i might make another post later, Anyway happy end of pride month i supose, hope u figure it out me!

[searchingforaplacetocallhome]

Everything About You (Kandomere x OFC Pt 5)

Setting: Bright movie-verse

Characters: Kandomere & Topaz Bennett (OFC)

Warnings: strong language possibly

Background: Topaz Bennett was the brightest student of her class, always the hardest worker in the room and it finally landed her a much coveted spot on Homeland Security’s Magic Task Force. By a cruel twist of fate, her new ‘partner’ turns out to be an elf named Kandomere, who seems to think it is his task not only to train her as the new agent on the task force, but educate her on pretty much anything else as well.

“Now this is a story all about how My life got flipped-turned upside down And I’d like to take a minute Just sit right there I’ll tell you how I became the servant of an Elf called Kandomere”

Word count: 2239

tag list: @echoesandwhispersanddarkthoughts @xtequilaxmockingbirdx @kandomerx

If you wish to be added to the taglist, just leave a message in the comments, and I will add you from now on.

Pt 1 | Pt 2 | Pt 3 | Pt 4

Part 5 - Lady In Red

“Well that was a colossal waste of time...”

Pulling her boots off, Topaz dropped them and groaned as her feet flattened against the plush carpet.  They had spent all night in interrogation and they still weren’t even a sliver closer to finding out where the wand was and who, besides them, was all after it. If she had to take a guess Inferni were involved, but it really could be any coven, as several were represented in the Elven district here. Whatever the case, the Shield of Light didn’t seem to be involved. At least the two in custody didn’t brandish the tattoo.

“Not entirely,” Kandomere spoke as he closed the door behind them.

“We just spent like 7 hours in that shit hole trying to get those schmucks to talk, and they didn’t flinch.”

“Exactly,” he said, and smirked in that creepy way that told her he knew something she didn’t. “They didn’t flinch.”

This caused Topaz to pause, the socks she had just pulled off her feet still in hand and her toes spreading a little as they sank into the carpet. It almost derailed her train of thought. Shifting on her feet a little, she gave a curious head tilt. “They didn’t flinch,” she repeated his words, trying to catch his train of thought, and closed her eyes a moment when she realized the connection she hadn’t made before. “No flinching, because someone trained them, and I know that look. You just had an idea.”

“I do have a few ideas, but they require some preparation.”

Pursing her lips, Topaz debated whether or not she wanted to ask him what those ideas were and what kind of preparation it required, but from past experiences she had learned that Kandomere always gave her just the information he was willing to share, and asking for more only got her frustrated. “Okay. Will this preparation take long?”

“Long enough for you to rest, yes.”

Topaz let out a little sound of excitement, turning to head to her bedroom.

“Topaz...”

Pressing her lips together, she resisted the urge to give him a smart retort and turned around with an annoyed ‘what?’ look.

He had taken off his jacket and draped it over the back of a chair. His gaze went from her down to the discarded boots on the ground and back.

For real?

Balling her hands into fists, she wanted to tell him very much that if the boots bothered him, he could move them, but this was just the first day, and she had a feeling she would have to share a living space with him for the majority of the week. It was probably best not to get into a fight over something as stupid as her boots right off the bat. Swallowing her pride, she snatched up the boots and made sure he saw her flinging them into her room.

Her butt bumped the door closed, her eyes on her phone to look through her messages. Her finger hovered over Genny’s number when her phone started buzzing and her name appeared on the screen. Swiping her finger over the screen she answered the call. “You must have some crazy ESP, girl. I was literally just about to call you.”

“Oh really? I just wanted to check up on you.”

“Uh huh, sure. You want to know things, elfie things.” Topaz chuckled when Genny tried her best to deny it. She knew better though. For some reason, the more Kandomere ignored her, the bigger her crush became on the elf. “Before you hit me with the twenty questions though, I need a favor.”

“Anything, chica. Whatcha need?”

“If I wire you some money, would you mind going by my landlord later and pay my rent? She’s getting antsy and I don’t wanna come home to all my stuff out in the street.”

“Yeah, of course. Just text me when you’ve wired the money.”

“Thank you, you’re a lifesaver.” Cradling the phone between her ear and her shoulder, she wiggled her pants down her hips, Using one of her feet, she threw the garment up in the air so she could catch it without bending over. “I really need to find something cheaper, so if you hear anything, let me know, please.”

“You know, if you’re having trouble making rent, I have an extra bedroom. Splitting rent would make it easier on both of us.”

It was a tempting offer, one she was seriously considering, but she didn’t want to jump right in. She had bad experiences with roommates in the past. “Not sure you’d be able to put up with my messy ass.”

“You don’t have to say yes right away. Just think about it, come by when you get back, get a feel of the place and we’ll talk about it.”

It was a reasonable offer. “Alright. Hang on.” Shrugging her blouse off, she put the phone down long enough to toss her blouse on the chair in the corner and slip on the t-shirt she had brought to sleep in, not wanting to risk Kandomere walking in on her naked again. “Back. Okay, ask away. Just know I am silently judging you.”

“FYI, it’s not very silent when you tell me about it. So what’s it like?”

“It’s Vegas. Loud, in your face, and very superficial.”

“I don’t mean the city, I figured that much.”

“Lush carpet, too much white, amazing bed...” Topaz moaned, sinking back into the pillows and pulling the sheets up to her waist. “The view is pretty decent too. The only downside is I have to share it with Captain Grumpypants.”

“Ugh. You are so lucky. I am so jealous right now.”

“Genny, I love you, but you’re hopeless. Need I remind you he’s my boss?”

“That just makes it hotter. He’s your boss, you’re the subordinate...”

“Okay, I am gonna hang up on you. I need sleep, not nightmares. I’ll text you.” Ending the call, she tossed her phone on the bed beside her. Sinking down further into the pillows, she let out a content sigh. She could definitely get used to these assignments if she got so sleep in beds like these.

Kandomere proved once more that subtlety and tact were not his strong points, when he all but barged into her room and stated it was time to get up. It felt like she had passed out minutes before, but the clock disputed that feeling. Rubbing the sleep from her face, she dragged her unwilling body out of bed, and with toiletries under her arm, she all but sprinted across the living area to the bathroom for a quick shower.

She heard a knock on the door while she was drying off, followed by Kandomere speaking to someone. Slipping on the impossibly soft bathrobe, she tied it up and peeked out of the bathroom before she emerged. Kandomere was carrying a black clothing bag on a hanger, disappearing into his bedroom with it. What on earth was he up to?

Looking in on him, she watched him unzip the bag and reveal an expensive looking suit. Didn’t he bring enough of his own? Things just kept getting more and more curious.

“You should get dressed.”

His voice cut through her thoughts and her gaze shot up to meet his. “For what? Where are we going?”

“Elven district. Those tattoos those guys were sporting weren’t random, or some gang affiliation. There is a club where Elves go to meet humans.”

“I thought humans were servants?”

Kandomere laughed.

It clicked. She had heard about Elves keeping humans as pets before. It was some sort of fetish she didn’t understand, but to each their own. “Oh. I see.”

“We leave in thirty minutes.”

The tone of his voice urging her into action. “Right. Wait, I didn’t bring anything other than work clothes.”

Her comment got a smirk from him. “Check your room.”

Now she was convinced he was up to something. Curiosity got the better of her, so instead of asking him, she went into her bedroom to find a similar bag hanging from her closet door. Unzipping it she revealed a sea of red, her fingertips gliding over the fabric told her it was silk, not satin. This was an expensive dress.

Slipping her robe off, she struggled with the slippery fabric, getting her head through the opening only to realize she had the dress twisted. Muttering some curses under her breath, she finally got her arms through the straps correctly, smoothing out the top which fit eerily perfect over her curves. Having the dress somewhat figured out, she stepped in front of the mirror to look at her reflection.

“This can’t be right...”

The red strappy dress had a plunging neckline, the bodice form hugging, but what didn’t make it look right to her was the full length flowing skirt, with a split running way up the front on either side, so that when she stood there, not only her legs, but her panties peeked out as well. This definitely couldn’t be right.

“Are you sure this is the right dress?” she called out.

Kandomere appeared behind her, wearing black pressed pants, and a white button up shirt, which still had the top few buttons undone, a silk tie hanging loose around his neck. He wasn’t wearing shoes either, which took her a little aback. For a moment she just stared at him in the reflection of the mirror, committing the view to memory because she wouldn’t likely see him like this again.

Looking her up and down, he looked dead serious when he nodded. “Yes.”

Topaz snorted, looking over her reflection, tugging on the dress here or there. “This thing makes me look like you bought me for the night.” The gears in her mind started to work overtime, making the connections she really didn’t want to make, and her eyes went wide. “You want me to play a hooker?!”

“Escort,” he answered as casually as possible, buttoning the cuffs on his shirt like what he was telling her was the most normal thing. His eyes and the little smirk betrayed his amusement.

Her eyes were shooting daggers when she snapped her head to look at him directly, clenched fists ready to wipe the look off his face. He disappeared from view before she could act on the impulse. Growling in frustration, she snatched up one of her boots and threw it at the empty doorway.

How was this happening? Her first assignment, and she was going to be playing the working girl. This was beyond humiliating. She could barge into the other room and demand that they used some other strategy, but she knew he had a point. Her usual attire screamed law enforcement, and Elves in their own district weren’t going to even acknowledge her existence, let alone answer her questions.

So what’s bigger, Taz, your sense of duty or your pride?

Closing her eyes, she counted to ten until the urge to punch Kandomere in the face subsided. “Swallow your pride and do your job. You’ve gone undercover before. It’s just acting.” Talking to her reflection helped, and nodding, she finished up getting ready. She was almost finished when she spotted the one glaring flaw to her look. She definitely needed to wear something else.

Hoping against hope, she dug through her suitcase to find anything besides her regulars, but she found nothing. There wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell she was going out there without underwear, undercover or not. Something told her to look behind the zipper that was lining the inside of her suitcase, and what she found made her both sigh in relief and want to strangle Genny at the same time.

When they had packed up her go bag together, Genny found a way to sneak some of her lingerie in as well. Picking up the black lacy thong, she quickly switched her panties for it, checking her reflection to make sure they didn’t peek out. Satisfied, she flipped the suitcase closed, and pushed it back in the closet.

“Ready?”

Kandomere was leaning in the doorway, now fully dressed, including a black vest and jacket, but one thing was missing. His gorget. It made sense though, it was a very recognizable item, and his reputation might precede him if he wore it. Like her work clothes, it would make the Elves suspicious and defensive.

A pair of strappy heels were dangling from two fingers and he held them out after taking in the view and nodding approvingly. She snatched them from his hand and sat down on the foot of the bed to put them on. Kandomere disappeared from sight once again. “Lord, give me the strength not to kill him.”

Put your game face on.

Standing up straight, she took a moment to get used to the heels, which were surprisingly comfortable despite being inches higher than her usual footwear. The heels did something to her, making her sashay a little, which was one of the reasons she didn’t normally wear them, but it helped put her in character now.

Her eyes narrowed, glaring at him when he offered his arm. Slipping her hand under to curl her fingers around, she let him lead them to the elevator. She could feel his gaze on her as she stared ahead at the elevator doors when they closed. 

“I hate you.”