#I’m so worried I’ll be so visibly nervous it’ll be weird to them

[area51-escapee]

I am going to a. Social gathering. For other transgender people. IN REAL LIFE!!!! A couple weeks from now. I’m rlly scared and my brain keeps telling me all the ways I’m going to mess it up. But I’m going to go anyway. And I’m going to do it scared. And if I don’t like it I don’t have to do it ever again. But it will probably be fine. A success even! I don’t need to worry that much. Is worrying anyway.

[bakugohoex]

“you really have got nothing to do on a friday night”

pairing: keigo takami x female reader

cw: fluff, kissing, slight mentions of nsfw

word count: 4400+

a/n: how the fuck did this fic get so long, this the longest thing i’ve ever made so hopefully you guys like it

summary: in which your friend keigo invites you to a pro hero event as his plus one, the event leads to a lot more than you expected

↞ back to my hero academia masterlist

The invite fell into your palm, the cold metal against your exposed arms, your bare feet against the rigid wood. The wind blew through your hair with the feeling of feathers brushing against your arm to lift your spirits.

A certain pro hero had just finished a patrol and had met you on your balcony, his pro hero costume battered, his feathers moving away from his back, watching him crack his neck the feathers moved around you. You leant further back on the balcony, one more step backwards and the pro hero would have to save you. The red of his feathers fell through your fingers, he took his jacket off leaving him in his sleeveless black and gold shirt, the gloves falling to the ground and his eyes wandering down to the shorts that barely reached your ass.

“Caught you at a bad moment.” He smirks walking towards you, his feathers gliding up and down your arm, you shook them off laughing at the blond.

“God no, I was about to go to sleep, what’s this then?” The invite was between your two fingers as you pushed in into Keigo’s eyeline.

“An invite there’s this event for the top ten heroes to mingle, we can invite someone and you’re coming.” You raised an eyebrow as you leant against the banister, the way Keigo moved his arm around the back to make sure you didn’t fall was always a sweet gesture after his forcefulness at asking.

“Is this to rub it in my face that I’m only in the top twenty so I didn’t get an invite.” You laugh you loved making him feel bad about talking about being the number two hero, but still you were proud of your friend he had achieved a lot.

“Me, never.” He acts shocked, you decided to have some fun with us.

“I’ll go if you…” You lean back further, your hand gripping the balcony you easily somersaulted into the air with your legs in the air, Keigo’s eyed widened as he knew what you were going to do, “catch me.”

Your back straightened and you fell, your apartment was on the 6th floor and the drop to the ground took exactly 14 seconds to reach, it wasn’t like you liked jumping of buildings, but feeling of Keigo’s wings grabbing your falling body just before it hit the ground, the way his arms would reach you, his feathers going back to his back as he flew you back up to your apartment. Could be defined as amazing in simple terms, it was a rush and Keigo’s hands on your back brought joy.

“I thought I told you stop jumping off buildings.”

You pout walking back into your apartment, “you catch me, and we fly.”

He rolls his eyes following, he collapses on the sofa, legs spread as if he was enticing you to come forward, the way his arms laid across the sofa, his legs ready to sit on, the way even his wings were asking for you to come closer. You didn’t though, you went to the other side grabbing the keys to lock the balcony up.

“You coming then it’s Friday night.”

You looked at the empty calendar on the fridge, your life was filled with pro hero work, meeting up with friends and coming home. No dating, no partying and certainly no one night stands, the way that one touch to Keigo anywhere near your chest or thighs would make you cum instantly was worrying to say the least.

“I might have plans.” You lean against the cool glass your head look past the glass to see the chilly night, the black and blues of the sky missing together, it was a masterpiece.

“You really like the sky don’t you.” Keigo notices turning his head towards you.

You don’t say anything a simple hum coming from your lips. “I’ll show you the stars one day Y/n.”

You hadn’t heard the remark, rubbing your eyes as he smiles at you. “You never have plans.”

“Hey, I have a life.” You ruffle his blond hair the feeling bringing warmth to the both of you.

“You really have got nothing to do on a Friday night.” He mocks out.

You roll your eyes at the man slouching on your sofa, he grabbed the tv remote going to put anything on. “I could have a date.”

He was silent no other words as he almost felt hurt, he couldn’t be though, “cancel him, you have a night with me, number two pro hero, any woman would want that.”

“I’m not just any woman though.”

“Y/n come on it’ll be fun, free bar, mingling, dressing up, cameras, it’ll be fun, even Mirko will be there.”

“You’re going to have to do a lot more then persuading and catching me fall.” You lean against the sofa, his eyes move to your neck watching as the necklace dangled against your collar, he had imagined how you’d look with the necklace dangling down as you sucked him off.

Even with the provocative dreams he had had about you, you were strictly friends and that’s how you two would remain. “You’ll be the prettiest girl there and who wouldn’t want a pretty woman on their arm all night.”

“Flattery, now that’s a new level Kei, I’ll come because you’ve gone as far to lie.” You laugh, watching the screen at the show you had no idea about.

He loved being called Kei especially by you, the way the three-letter word brought joy and made him hard at the same time made his head whirl, you had agreed on the falsehood on a statement that was entirely true.

The week progressed, Keigo had left as soon as you agreed to go with him, he had sent a dress and shoes. It was pretty and you needed to remember to pay him back, a car was coming to pick you up in two hours and you had to look at least decent. You were still in the top twenty not as great as Keigo, but it was something and one day you’d reach the top ten you just knew it.

You brushed your hair leaving it out, doing your makeup as you were making sure to not mess up anything was hard with how nervous you were. Yes everybody knew you and Keigo were friends but going together to such a public event would it be weird; would people make rumours?

You had little time to keep thinking about it before time was ticking away, your makeup was perfect for your face and hopefully it was noticeable and not embarrassing. You hadn’t tried on the dress, you had gone to shower and were met with the dress and shoes on your bed, Keigo had creeped in like a perv and left it with a note, his initials on it and nothing else. The manwhore.

You had been staring at it, not even knowing if it was your size, the way the fabric felt against your palms sent shivers, this was chosen out by Keigo it had to be some what decent on you. You slid into it, admiring yourself in the mirror. Your cleavage had perked up filling the top part, as the thin straps held them together, your thighs fell against the material. The two slits to the sides leaving your bare thighs exposed, if someone looked closely enough, your underwear would definitely be visible. The blackness of the dress with the black heels contrasted the innocent look  you always portrayed to the media and outside.

Keigo was trying to fuck you up and you knew it, you wore the same necklace you normally wore, and long earrings dangled from your ears. Rings and bracelets suffocated your arms and fingers and before long you were sitting on the sofa waiting for the doorbell to ring.

You weren’t nervous, you couldn’t be it was just two people going to an event as friends, you played with the black beaded clutch that encased your phone, lipstick and keys. You were fidgeting over one small event; you knew it wasn’t just the event but Keigo in a suit and you on his arms it was something you had always dreamed about. The only thing about the real-life version was that you were friends and that would near change.

The small taps against the wood made your heart drop, you stood up straightening the dress, you stride up to the door with a heavy breath and false hope at anything more than friendship.

The door opened hastily, Keigo stood in front his black suit contrasting his blonde hair, his wings wrapped around his back, you always admired his wings how he could fly up to the sky, something your quirk left you unable to do. Don’t get it wrong you loved your quirk but being able to fly and see the stars and sky was a dream and every time Keigo catched you it was like your dream was becoming a reality.

His eyes flicked from your face right down to your neck, then exposed breasts, right to the exposed thigh and down to the floor where your heels peaked under the dress. He was lost for words, the way your body fit so well in the dress, it was perfect and the innocent eyes underneath it all made his heart melt.

“Yo…You look beautiful.” He smirks composing himself, the suit fitting him nicely, the bowtie looking crooked you’d have to sort it out for him for sure. Even his hands had some rings, you had admired Keigo’s hands they were perfect for you, you often imagined them around your throat or even inside of you pumping back and forth. Your thoughts always ran wild when Keigo was involved.

“Thank you.” The reddening in your face becoming more prominent, you looked down not wanting to meet his gaze, he had been staring and both of you knew it. “You look nice as well, more than nice, you…you look handsome.”

He smirks as he clicks his tongue against the inside of his cheek trying to suppress his want to wrap his arms around you, “the cars waiting.”

You nod locking up, he admired your exposed back, the way the top of your neck and back ran smooth, he wanted to touch it, feel it, stroke it and maybe even lick it. He walked towards the elevator in silence, why was it so awkward you two normally couldn’t stop talking to each other.

“Ugh so.” You both end up saying in sync, he hated how he was reacting to you.

He knew that the dress would be perfect for you as soon as he saw it, he didn’t care about the price and wanted to make you look pretty and now as he saw you in something he chose. His heart couldn’t handle the intense feeling of love he had for you.

You both left the elevator the ride down having been silent, he opened the door for you, nodding your head in a thank you before the frigid air hit your skin, the moon shone bright as you admired the sky just as Keigo was admiring you, he guided you to the car before opening the door. A curt nod from yourself as you looked out the window continuing your fascination with the sky.

“Y/n.” Keigo gently touched your arm bringing you back to reality.

“It might last a while so as soon as you want to leave you can tell me.” You smile facing him again, he really was gorgeous, his rough hand on your smooth skin, the way his wings arched into his body, they looked smaller than usually, he often let some feathers fly around and you could see outside a trail of red in the sky.

“That’s fine, I don’t have anything better to do.” You mutter softy.

“What? You? Don’t you have dates every week?” He smirks as you roll your eyes.

“Ha Ha Ha.” You fake. “I haven’t gone out on a date in months, nobody has my interest.”

He lied back his hand moving up and down your arm, you didn’t mind but it sent shocks down your body, craving more of this touch. “What? The great Y/n Y/l/n hasn’t found anybody interested.”

“Yeah I know right, the girl who gets interested in the sky and museums finds men a drab.”

He smirks he loved everything about your interests, every time you fell he’d catch you and every time you dragged him to any museum after a patrol he’d follow watching how your face went through the emotions at every new piece of art work.

“Your bow tie’s wonky.” You giggle your hands wrapping around the material, you undo it and tie it back up, he loved watching your hands at work. All he wanted was for you to pull him by the bow tie into a kiss but before anything could happen.

“We’re here, Sir.” The driver smiles, Keigo opens his door as you could already see cameras flashing, you weren’t as important as Keigo, so why did the number two hero invite you. He didn’t want to gloat so why you?

The air hit your body as soon as Keigo opened your door, he put his hand out as you took it, the way you could see his feather flow back into his back, they were beautiful you had often dreamt of lying-in bed together, his feathers over your back as your arms moved onto his own. You smile taking his  hand, helping you up, your dress moved in the wind and you prayed the slits on either side wouldn’t expose anything you didn’t want showing.

Cameras flashed, people shouted, they wanted your attentions, and it was only because of the man whose arm you had wrapped yours against. He smiled and relished in it all, you smiled back, not really having done something like this in months, due to rarely being invited to stuff like this.

Flashes occurred in every direction and Keigo’s arm was the only thing you could concentrate on. How he helped you up the stairs, his hands guiding you to make sure you didn’t fall, he was being nice something new to the normal teasing behaviour he had.

Opening the double doors, you were finally away from the chaos of outside, you were met with a cue of people waiting to go inside the main hall. “You okay?”

You turned to face him, his arm around your waist to keep you close, “I’m okay, it’s been a while since I had to experience something like that.”

“Well, you seemed like you knew what you were doing.” He smiles facing forward, you looked up at him the stubble running across his chin, the images of his chin brushing against your bare thighs, his hands gripping them to make sure you stayed still. You shook your head to remove the images before Keigo gave the invite to the man.

“We have to make sure you’re not carrying anything, step through the metal detector, Keigo steps through it with ease as you follow hastily, nothing occurred and you both were free to mingle in the hall.

The doors opened to a grand hall, with tables for pro heroes to eat and talk with other heroes around them. You hadn’t even asked what this event was about, you were about to ask Keigo, but he had disappeared. You looked around your fingers becoming white at how tense you were, you liked people yeah, you were okay with crowds but Keigo had left you with nothing more than silence.

“I go us some drinks.” His arm reappeared along your waist, “Vodka Martini, extra olives”

You smiled at him remembering your favourite before he passed the drink, you held it in your hand as he led you to your designated seat, you seemed to be at the front and were met with Endeavor and Best Jeanist you had worked with both of them less than twice and the people around them were little more than helpful, Endeavor with his son who you assumed had been dragged to this event with the scowl on the youngest Todoroki’s face and Best Jeanist with someone who you barely recognised. You sat down with Keigo, placing your drink on the table.

The younger Todoroki didn’t speak and whoever Best Jeanist was with had preoccupied him, your only option was Keigo. “You never told me what this event was about.”

He turns to face you, a grin on his face, “It’s just a charity event, to help raise money for the public from all the villain attacks.”

You nod they did these a lot and you assumed the invite to the top ten heroes was to gain publicity and for the heroes to spend their money on whatever revenue the charity got. “The mighty Hawks, actually giving back to the people.”

He laughs mockingly before turning to face you properly, “You like the dress then.”

“I do, how did you know my size?”

He looks down playing with his fingers, “I guessed.”

“That sounds like a lie, you perv.” You playfully hit his hands before he entangled your fingers together, a blush creeping up your face. The close contact of the two of you making your breath hitch.

“It should be starting now.” He says nothing else, your grip tightening in his hands and finger, it was an unknown warmth and you loved it.

The event progressed, people coming up to talk, heroes laughing and smiling, before you were able to spend the night eating and drinking to your hearts content. Spotting Mirko you let go of Keigo’s hands as you walked towards the woman.

“Do I spot a Y/n coming over?” She laughs as you meet her at the bar.

“Mirko.” You squeal as you hug her, you missed talking to her she was always busy now.

“What’s my favourite pro hero doing here?” She pauses seeing Keigo watching the both of you, “Oh my fucking god, Keigo fucking invited you didn’t he?”

You laugh as you give a nod, “we’re here as friends.”

“Friends my ass, by the end of the night you’ll be fucking all night.” Sometimes her bluntness would be the death of you.

Both your drinks came, and you stood talking for a bit, catching up on what had been going on in your lives, “still jumping off buildings then.”

“Duh, how did you think I ended up coming?” You laugh before hearing a cough behind the two of you.

His wings slouched as he smiled at the two of you, “care to dance.”

You smiled brightly as Mirko pushed you onto him, him catching you effortlessly, you nodded as she gave a thumbs up. It was soft music something that you and Keigo weren’t used to, you had gone to clubs and bars when you and Keigo first met many years ago but now under the slow songs it was something new. He held your waist as your arms wrapped around his neck.

“Why did you invite me to come?” You finally question.

“I…I wanted to, you’re an amazing friend and I thought we could have some fun.” He smiled the word friend making your heart ache, however.

You nodded resting your head on his chest feeling his heart beat as he smiled looking down at your smaller frame against his own. The song ended and you looked back up to him, your bodies on each other’s connected, you loved it.

“Want another drink?” He asked as you nodded he took your hand walking towards the bar.

You two get stopped by a man before you could even get to the bar though, he smiled at the two of you with what looked like a polaroid camera, “we’re doing polaroid’s would you two want some.”

You smiled as your gave puppy dog eyes to Keigo, he nodded as you both stood in next to each other, fairy lights behind you as it looked magical, the windows showing the moonlight and high-rise buildings. And Keigo, his arms wrapped around your own as you arm fell to rest on his lower back. His wings touching the back of your hand, the man took two polaroid’s for the both of you and as you shook it for the pictures to appear, you smiled. The way Keigo looked at you whilst you looked at the camera was a sight for sore eyes. 

He had been filled with love and comfort and watching you smile cheerily filled his heart even more, a quick thank you came from the two of you before you went to get some drinks. Whilst you were waiting Keigo showed you the photo he had, you both smiling at each other this time, it was something some comforting within it.

“You really do look amazing tonight Y/n.”

“Thanks Kei.” His nickname falling off your tongue.

Another song erupted as you saw a woman come up to the two of you, “would you like to dance?”

She completely ignored you as Keigo had been trying to put the polaroid in his phone case, he looked up as the woman smirked at him. Her dress was low cut, and her body and face were perfect, you didn’t recognise her so she must have paid to come as she seemed to not be a pro hero either.

Keigo looked between you and the woman, almost like he was asking permission, “you can go y’know.”

You smirked nudging him, you were sad to be left along but you weren’t together to feel any jealousy. He nodded politely as she took his sleeve, he looked back at your figure standing alone, the song was slow and she wrapped her arms around his neck, you weren’t jealous.

But you were, a rage filled your heart, he was supposed to be yours, he should be yours. But he wasn’t and he never would be, no longer wanting to see anymore you drank your drink in one sip before walking out of the doors, you saw a door leading to the roof and that’s all you needed.

You took your heels off, finally feeling comfort leaning against the concrete, you admired the sky and how free it was, how beautiful each star was and how you could name them all. If you hadn’t been a pro hero you’d have tried your luck working in astrophysics, you loved the idea of there being something out there. Stars, planets, moons, asteroids the whole lot that you’d never be able to touch.

“I thought you’d be up here.” You turn quickly seeing Keigo standing his wings opened wide as if they finally got the room they needed. You admired how his wings contrasted him so well, they were gorgeous, and you had always imagined running your hand along his back just to feel his wings.

“What happened to that woman?” You question turning back around.

He took his jacket off leaving him in his white button up and trousers, his bow tie loose around his neck. “I didn’t ask her to come with me today, I asked you, so I left as soon as the song was over.”

You nod not meeting his gaze, he walked towards the edge, you could barely see the bottom of the ground from high you were, you wanted to feel even more of the air in your bones.

He could sense the jealousy before when you had let him go, and he wanted to confess, he wanted to tell you he loved you and seeing you walk out of the hall made him want to run up and kiss you so badly.

He ditched the woman as quickly as he could not even caring to ask for her name, whilst running out, he spotted the door leading to the roof and instantly knew you would be there. He knew you and he knew how much you loved the sky.

“Y/n, I…” He doesn’t know what to say, you were perfect and all he wanted was for you to be his, “I…love you.”

The three words you never expected, you quickly turned to meet his gaze. “W…What?”

“I said what I said.” He wasn’t going to repeat himself out of embarrassment.

“Really?” 

He nods as you smile at him, “I love you too Kei.”

He was speechless, the three words he had wanted to hear for years now had finally came out from your mouth. “Can I?” He said his hand moving up to your face.

You nod, moving your face along with his own. His eyes closed just at the tips of your mouth touched, the way your mouth moved in sync, his hands cupping your cheeks. Whilst your own hands went to his hair, the blond locks encasing and being pulled by your hands. It was long awaited, and you craved more, he pulled your face closer, not stopping to breath. You gave a soft moan, allowing his tongue to slip inside, it was perfect everything you had ever imagined your first kiss with Keigo to be.

He finally let go, your breathing heavier as your mouths stayed closer together, he gave a low whisper a command of some sorts. “Jump off the building.”

You face turned to a smile, he had a plan, and you would happily oblige, the building was so much higher than you had ever jumped off of, but just as he helped you stand on the edge, your eyes on his own, your back facing the open air. You fell.

The wind rushed through your body, becoming closer and closer to the ground and then you felt it. The rush of Keigo grabbing you, fulfilling everything you wanted, his wings flew upwards your arms around his neck with him carrying you. He didn’t go straight to the building, instead flying up and up, you were too high to realise that any further the air would becoming minute.

“You trusted me.” He spoke in the air, you looked up to the sky, you could see even more than you ever hand.

It was perfect, “I know you’ll always catch me.”

He smiled kissing you again, you stayed in the sky, kissing him softy, it was less hungry and a start of something even better. The wind brushed against your skin and you could see so much more of the sky, the wisps of black and blue mixing, the way the stars seemed even more closer it brought happiness. And now you had Keigo by your side to show you even more of what you loved.

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[darkacademicfrom2021]

The Dark Team (part 7)

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Join the taglist in here (Taglist: @lucywrites02, @louieboo87, @the-departed-potato, @jesuswasnotawhiteman)

Warnings: mentions of suicide and murder, awfully cheesy petnames (yes I have to put a warning on that).

The streets were so cold you had to rub your hands to your neck as you walked. You had only one piece of information that could’ve been possibly linked to that murder, and therefore that stick.

Saying you weren’t worried about being very undercover was a lie; an almost seven feet tall “man” that dressed like a millionaire, and a man with a metal prosthesis and abnormal sized muscles were not exactly the definition of discrete, much less once they were being categorized as “wanted”.

“Are you sure it’s this way?” asked Loki impatiently.

“No”.

“And why…?”.

“Stop torturing me with questions you know the answer of. Shut it and let me do my thing”.

“What is exactly your thing?”.

“Trying to not stab you in the balls, if you keep being this annoying”.

“Alright, guys, keep it down”, mediated Bucky. His role in the team was starting to be more and more like a third wheel in a car that’s trying to break down purposely, and he hated every second of it. “Can’t wait for this mission to be over”.

“Talking about that, we still have a game of cards on hold”.

“We could never play that with Loki, he has mind powers or some shit like that. He’d cheat”.

“Me?” he held a hand to his chest dramatically, “I would never cheat on a cards game. That is dishonest and I would never do such mischievous thing”.

Your phone beeped and the address changed suddenly. You stopped dead on your tracks and both Loki and Bucky, who were walking in line behind you, stumped with each other and almost made you trip.

“Careful, guys”.

“Are you fucking…”.

“Leave it there, Barnes”.

“What happened?”.

“I don’t know, the address suddenly changed. This isn’t supposed to happen”, you hit a few times your phone after it froze, and realized it wouldn’t work anymore. “Well, we’re gonna have to do this the old fashioned way”.

“And how’s that?”.

“How am I supposed to know? You’re the one that's a thousand years old and he’s a hundred and six. I’m barely around the two decades”.

“I’m beginning to think maybe you’re not one for this job. Aren’t you the one in charge of the planning? How did you even get to this Stank Internship in the first place?”.

“Hey, don’t be mean to them. They’ll cry”.

You rolled your eyes and ignored them. Meanwhile, you looked around. You had to find this person. A person who saw the “death” of the man with the pendrive, but the only one who said nothing about it. Only thing you knew was that he was a worker in a coffee shop. Which coffee shop, you’d ask? Well, that’s a good question.

It had to be in the neighborhood, that was for sure. You looked around a bit more, trying to drink in all the information the streets and its habitants could give you.

“The man was killed being thrown off that building. They said it was suicide. It was not”, you finally said out loud, pointing at the direction of one of the tallest buildings of the city. You were too concentrated to even realize you had stopped talking again.

The man you were looking for had to have a full view of the window the guy was thrown off from, so it would be in… that direction. A reasonable distance to see both guys would be less than two blocks. And it happened in an unreasonable hour for a work break, so… it had to be… alright. I think I got it.

“What are we looking for, then?”.

“There has to be a coffee shop maximum two blocks away from one of these three streets, the counter of the bar has to be near the window (or showcase) and the showcase should be tall enough to see the high part of the building, so I’d say at least three meters tall. I assume the man we’re looking for is old and introverted, quiet, not very friendly. Not less than fifty years old”.

“Alright Sherlock”, said Bucky, patting your back. “I’ll write down not to mock your intellect. Now you don’t have to pretend like you just figure that out all by yourself”.

“Okay”, you said, not paying any attention to his words. You were still juicing all the information you could.

“I got lost in the description of the man, how did you reach that conclusion?”, asked Loki, who apparently was reading your mind, following your thought process.

“Well, he’s the only one who didn’t testify at all. The witnesses in this sort of cases go through a polygraph. If all he saw was a suicide, then he wouldn’t be lying, he’d go through the lie detector and go out as if anything happened. Since he saw more, and didn’t say anything, it’s probably because he wanted to protect himself against the law, or just too lazy to go into all the bureaucracy it’d imply”, you explained. Loki had a full blown smile across his face, not even hiding it. “What are you smiling at?”.

“Nothing”, he brushed it off and pretended to fix his tie.

“No, please, do give me your input”.

“I can’t read whether you’re being sarcastic or not”.

“Wanna find out, dear?”.

“Hey, the aggressive pet names are my thing. Get your own passive-aggressive mechanism”.

“Can you concen…? You know what? Whatever. I’m going there”, cut Bucky. He was so done.

You walked as fast as you could down the nearest street out of the three possible ones, and kept rubbing your (now almost numb) cold fingers.

“Buck, do you have a gun with you?”.

“I don’t think this is the best moment to kill yourself. Let us finish the mission first”.

“Though, honestly, I think it could speed things up a little”, added Loki.

“Wow, you guys are especially mean today. We might need something to threaten the guy with”.

“Just a pocket knife. Do you think it could help at all?”, he searched for more weapons in his pockets, but found none. Going undercover, you all had to leave your suits and armor in the hotel room. Loki cleared suggestively his throat and you gasped.

“Really? You can make it out of nowhere?”.

“No, but give me a weird shaped branch or anything similar and I can transform it. Transfigurations have been my specialty lately, though”.

“I love you wholeheartedly”.

“I’d literally marry you on the spot”.

“In fact, I think I might kiss you right now”.

“You guys have no idea how glad I am to know you’re lying”, said Loki, patting Bucky’s back.

To find the place was way easier than you had anticipated. Firstly, because it matched every single aspect you had predicted. Secondly, because it was the only coffee shop in the whole place.

The clicking bell filled the silent place as the scent of fresh coffee and baked goods infested your noses. There was only an old lady reading a paper and the fifty year old you were looking for. Bucky sat down on a table near the counter and you and Loki greeted the man.

“Hi, how are you?” you said with a fake warmth that would assure you his confidence. “We would like a black coffee…”, you looked at Loki, still acting, and he reached your thoughts telepathically to hear your “act, dude; you’re frowning”. He immediately softened up his expressions. “What would you like to drink, dear?”.

“Same as you, darling”, he smiled even faker than you. “So are we pretending to be a couple, now?”.

“Alright, two blacks, please”, you went back to the barista. “Yes, old people get all softies for young couples. Just follow me, we need him to like us”. “And a strawberry milkshake with extra cream and a cherry on top, for the gentleman on the table”.

“Going right up”, said the old man.

“Do you ever take vacations on mocking people?”.

“Never. It’s a true blessing”.

“So, what’s the plan?”.

“Same as it was before, except we can’t actually cause any harm while threatening him, if we do”.

“Why?”.

“Old lady at twelve o’clock?? Man, you really lack any empathy for innocent civilians, don’t you?”.

“Only with mortals. Don’t really care for them”.

“You’re probably lying. I know behind that shell there must be a big soft heart longing for...”.

“Alright, shut up, here comes our order”.

“Thank you, ah, wonderful”, you said, grabbing the cups. You pretended to just notice the news behind the counter, and Loki made the illusion of a highly realistic periodistic note on the suicide of the man with the stick. “Oh my… is that what I think it is?”.

The old man raised his eyebrows, intrigued.

“Uh, is just… don’t watch that, darling. It’ll make you feel sick”, said Loki tenderly, caressing your shoulder. “We sort of saw that… happening, you know?” he explained the old man.

“Oh, really?”.

“Yes, it was really close from here. Oh God, we saw it all happen, this poor man”.

“Very disturbing. Never seen such a gruesome situation in my short, very, very, very short life”, added Loki.

“Alright, we get it, humans live short lives”. “Believe me, you’re so lucky you didn’t have to see that”.

“Really?”, said again the barista, visibly nervous. “That terrible?”.

“Well, it’s a common tragedy, to be honest. But, you know, the cops and investigators were on our backs all night long”.

“Finally free now”, added Loki, still with his arm protectively wrapped around your shoulders. “You’re truly lucky to miss it”.

“Oh, yes. Sounds terrible. Glad didn’t see it, then”, he lied. And he was a bad liar. You didn’t even need Loki to tell you what you could so clearly see.

“And you know… I didn’t think it’d work, but we…” you chuckled innocently, as a kid telling their devilry to a friend, “we sort of lied to the lie detector, and it worked”.

“Love!”, gasped Loki, and lowered his voice “we shouldn’t be telling this to anyone. What if it spreads around?”.

“But, honey, have you seen this man? Why would you think he could wrong us?” you pointed at him and he, as you predicted, blushed with a smile.

“What did you lie about, if I may ask?”. He fell into the trap. You bent over the counter and lowered your voice.

“We saw it was not a suicide”.

Your expressions drew all seriousness and a terrifying look on your eyes gave the man the trust that you were being honest with him. He bent down on the counter too.

“What do you mean?”.

“We saw… oh God”, you started saying, but your eyes watered and Loki didn’t hesitate to hold your head to his chest, comforting you while you sobbed.

“I know, sweetheart, it’s terrible. I know”, he cooed. “We don’t know what to do with this piece of information. The man was thrown off violently, and the things they did to him before…” Loki hinted. The man swallowed hard and started sweating. Loki muttered nonsense, and you continued his empty explanation with sobs that sounded like words but nobody could actually figure out what you meant.

“That sounds awful, wow”, said the man, pretending he heard. Truth was, he didn’t need to insensitively ask for you to repeat yourself. He knew what had happened.

“We wonder what kind of deals could be behind all that, you know?”.

“Yes, very strange, to try to strip the man like that” started saying the old man, too affected by the situation to actually notice he was spilling the true tea. “It sounds like all a very weird business”.

“And that thing they pulled out of him!”.

“Ah… yes”.

You and Loki had started to lose your patience, and figured the man would be harder to interrogate like this than you’d expected. Loki squeezed your shoulder.

“My love, we should get going, don’t you think?”. And with get going he meant knocking the guy off and getting into his memories through Loki’s magic.

“No, my dearest, let’s stay here”, you insisted, without wanting to cause the fuss this was going to make. Ever since you came into the coffee shop, three other family groups had entered and were waiting for their order.

“But, sweet pie… I think we’re shocking the man enough”.

“Oh, please, I just want a normal day, honey bunny. Let’s stay and drink a cuppa here”.

Bucky chuckled at the pet name war you two were having, and the old man looked at you suspiciously. You sighed.

“Alright. Fuck it”.

“You’re cops, aren’t you?”, asked the old man. You fell off your character.

“No… but sorry anyways”, you said, kicking him on the face and smashing his head against the counter, leaving him unconscious.

“That was unnecessarily violent, I could’ve made him sleep with seiðr”, stated Loki, watching the man drip blood from his nose.

“Guys'', said Bucky, watching how all the clients were running away in fear, “I thought we said ‘keep it low, threaten discreetly’. What happened?”.

“For Fuck’s sake, just get into his head already, sweet muffin”.

“Hold his head, baby cakes”.

[moonyswriting]

Monopoly

Big thank you to @ttylfedora for helping me with this and just writing one of the paragraphs :)

Charcters are by @lumosinlove with minor changes

Requested by an anon on my main blog, i know it took me over a month. But today is the perfect day to post this.

HAPPY TRANS DAY OF VISIBILITY! 💕🥳

TW: coming out

They heard a knock and Finn got up from their couch, reluctantly removing himself from his lovers’ embrace to open the door. That only got Logan told hold Leo tighter, wrapping his legs around the taller person’s body, pulling them down so they were pressed together as close as possible.

“Regulus. Hey, man, how’s it going?”, they heard Finn’s voice from the door.

“Good, good. You?”

Finn and him held up easy conversation on their way back to the living room. “Reg!”,when Leo spotted their friend, they couldn’t help the blush that spread onto their cheeks. Yes, of course, he knew about the Cubs’ relationship and had seen them cuddling more often than not, but Leo still felt like it was an intimate moment. It was obvious that Leo tried to move out of Logan’s hug, to sit up on the couch and greet Regulus properly. Their smaller boyfriend had something else in mind. The blond was now sitting upright on the couch with a human koala pressed into their side. Leo didn’t complain.

“Nice flag you got there.”, Regulus noted as a grin split his face, looking from the trans flag the cubs hung up today to his friend, who had a similar expression on their face. 

Leo looked up at him and answered smugly, “Thanks. I know.” They still couldn’t believe Logan and Finn had just accepted them so quickly. It was surreal really, thinking about how much time Leo had debated about what to do if they didn’t. But they had. They did. They hugged Logan tighter and looked up at Finn, who practically threw himself on the couch and onto his lovers in the process.

After leaving them to a moment of affection – because he knows they would want that – Regulus cleared his throat. “Leo. We have to go.  The reservations are made. We can’t be late.”

It was something Leo had noticed. Reg got extremely anxious at the thought of being late. They didn’t know if it had something to do with his and Sirius strict parents, but he really didn’t need to know. Since they didn’t want their friend to get uncomfortable, the blond tried to get up again, with minimal success.

“Guys, you have to let me go.”, Leo whined, “It’s only for one night. I’ll be back tomorrow.” They turned to Logan, who had a pout on his face, clearly not happy thinking about Leo having a sleepover at Sirius’ and Remus’ place.

“But I need you to cuddle me.”, he whined holding his partner tighter.

“Logan,” Leo wiggled around in their boyfriends embrace to be able to look Logan in the eyes, “You have Finn for tonight and I’ll be back tomorrow, okay?” They leaned in closer and added in a quiet voice, “I’ll cuddle with you the whole day. I promise.”

Logan seemed to be debating their offer, only to squeeze their body one last time and then loosen his arms and press a kiss to their nose. “Fine. The whole day.”

They rolled their eyes, but stood up and walked over to Regulus. “Alright. I’ll be back tomorrow. Love you.” Leo turned towards the door and suddenly felt a heavy weight against their back.

“Love you too, Nutter Butter Baby.” Finn said, kissing Leo goodbye.

Logan moving next to them kissing his lover afterwards “Love you. See you tomorrow, Peanut.”

Leo leaned into the kiss, staying tucked into their boyfriends arms for a second, until Regulus fake coughed behind them and they let go.

“Alright Nutter Butter Baby. Can we finally go now?”

Leo turned around, facing their friend with eyes that could kill, but a slight smile on their lips. “Oh, do fuck off.”

The laughter echoed into the staircase as the friends made their ways into town for a round of bowling.

-

“So.”, Regulus asked picking up a bowling ball from its mount and stepped up to them lane. “Do you know what you want to say?” The ball, as it left his hand, went straight for the side and all the way to the end without hitting a single pin.

Leo swapped places with the other, “No.”, they groaned letting their head fall back for a second. “Is it not weird for you that I’m coming out to your brother before you do?” They both watched the ball hit three of the ten pins, “Ha! I’m in the lead!”, Leo celebrated before sitting back down.

“Okay, first of all”, he carefully selected a ball, “No. For me it’ll just be a spur of the moment thing, I won’t plan it and you’re ready now and he’s your captain. Go for it.” Regulus reassured them and rolled the ball down the line hitting three pins aswell, but waiting for one more to fall at their impact. “And Second.” he started again, “I am in the lead now, bitch.”

Leo laughed and rolled their eyes. “We’ll see how long that lasts.”

They played on for three hours, talking about everything that came to mind and being incredibly glad that they were able to change their shoes again. Leo’s had been a tiny bit too small and Regulus would have been able to fit in his wearing seven pairs of socks. 

-

They arrived in front of Sirius’ and Remus’ place later that night, walking inside, toeing off their shoes and being greeted by the smell of fresh cotton and the sight of the couple sitting at the big table in the middle of the living room. There was a monopoly board on the table and Remus grinned up at them both.

“You up for a game?”, Regulus asked Leo as he got a glass of water for both himself and his friend.

A smile spread onto their face, “Only if you’re up for loosing.”

-

After a while, Sirius noticed the persistent bounce in Leo’s leg – a bounce he knew well enough to associate with nerves. The first thought that flashed across his mind involved the current game, but Leo was, in general, a good player. Whenever they played, Leo would put on the ‘goalie face’ – intense, focused, but relaxed. He turned to the younger one to get a further read on them. Leo had furrowed their brow and was rolling their bottom lip between their teeth – another two nervous habits Sirius had picked up on from working with Leo near on every day.

“Everything okay, rookie?”, Sirius asked.

Leo’s head snapped up from where they had stared at the board, lost in thought. They laughed stiffly, becoming more and more nervous by the second. It would be fine. They had done this once, they could do it again. Sirius and Remus would be fine with it. Leo was sure they would. Well, almost sure. “Yeah, yeah. I’m wonderful.”, they answered, voice a bit raspy.

“Nothing you want to get off your chest?”, Sirius prompted further, giving Leo the opportunity to talk, but not forcing them.

Leo knew he could see their leg bouncing. It was even moving the water in their glasses, there was no hiding it. They let out a sigh. Now or never. Although the statement was not completely true, it provided them with enough courage to actually spit out what was burning on their tongue. “Could you maybe, possibly refer to me with they/them pronouns from now on?”, Leo’s voice got smaller closer to the end but they were pretty sure both other man had understood.

“Of course, Knutty.” Sirius told him, as if Leo had just asked him to pass over the salt. “Whatever makes you most comfortable. Do you want me to tell the team or do you want to do it?”

That was not what Leo had been expecting. Looking over to the other, Loops just smiled at him and continued to stare daggers at his boyfriend, who had just cost him half his money.

“No. No that’s fine thank you, I’ll tell them.”, Leo told him, the surprise still evident in their voice. “Your support means the world to me.” they added a disbelieving smile on their lips, looking at the couple on the other side of the table.

“Yeah, no worries, buddy. We’ll be here every step of the way.” Remus told Leo, which almost made their eyes tear up. How did they deserve a team like the Lions.

-

Sirius rolled the dices and landed on one of Regulus’ hotels. “Pay up.”, Reg told him, with a bright grin. It seemed like the younger was going to win.

Sirius just pouted, turning to his boyfriend and started whining. “This is so unfair! I got onto his property five times already.”

Regulus didn’t even look up from where he had been checking what Sirius was due, just simply  told him “Their property. Agender. They/them, thank you.”

Sirius didn’t even hesitate, before starting his sentence again. “I got onto their property five times already. Come on, this is cheating.”

Regulus often seemed like they didn’t care, but they flashed Sirius a grateful smile, receiving a loving one and a wink in return. 

“Love you.”, Sirius mouthed as Remus continued the game.

Regulus felt it wash over them, warmth spreading through their body. “Love you, too.”

[sukifans]

IT’S ALL LATIN TO ME

ZUKO X READER COLLEGE!SMAU

⏎ MASTERLIST // part III « IV. seduction siri » part V

SUMMARY: you’re a premed student at BSSU and you thought it’d be a good idea to take a latin class, but you’re in way over your head here. good thing your buddy sokka knows a classics major in your section you can study with.

WARNINGS: language, alcohol/partying

Zuko felt... oddly nervous as he pulled up to her apartment building. He sent the text to let her know he’d arrived and anxiously scrolled through his Spotify, flicking quickly through his various playlists. He knew he was far too concerned about what music to play while she was in the car with him but he wanted to get “the vibe” right, as Sokka would say. That, and it gave him something to focus on that wasn’t panicking over conversation starters in case of an awkward lull. When he saw her coming he leapt out of the driver’s seat.

“Hey, Zuko!” (Y/N) smiled when she saw him and then furrowed her brow when he hurried over to the passenger side. Her face heated when he opened her door. “Oh, my gods. You don’t have to do that,” she said as she slid into her seat.

“It’s polite,” he said simply before shutting the door and walking back to his side. In reality he was already freaking out — had he fucked it up by being weird literally seconds into this?

“Making me feel like a princess or something over here,” she laughed, face still red. He looked over at her and she closed her mouth quickly, remembering he was actually a prince. Like, for real. “Sorry.”

She shook her head with a small smile. “Is this a date, then?” she teased and the tips of his ears went red.

“No,” he said quickly. “No, it just... sounds like you’re dating the wrong kinds of guys.”

“Tell me about it.” She rolled her eyes and slumped down into the seat. “My type seems to be chauvinist douchebag.”

“That’s unfortunate.” He never thought he’d ever wish to be a chauvinist douchebag. Maybe her type also included awkward but well-intended ex-royalty and she just didn’t feel the need to mention it.

“That’s unfortunate.” He never thought he’d ever wish to be a chauvinist douchebag. Maybe her type also included awkward but well-intended ex-royalty and she just didn’t feel the need to mention it.

“Very,” she said darkly before perking up. “So are you excited for the party?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Me too. I’m really glad you decided to come.”

“Didn’t really have much of a choice since I live with Sokka,” he joked lightly. She shrugged.

“Still, I’ll be happy to see you loosen up a bit. I know I haven’t known you for very long but you always seem so tense.”

“It’ll definitely be interesting,” he deflected deftly. “I have to say, though, that I’m looking forward to seeing for myself what Suki meant when she said you’re an affectionate drunk.” He shot her an amused smirk that made her stomach feel fluttery.

“Spirits, my friends are such gossips! Yes, I get a little more touchy and I like to dance with people and tell everyone how much I love them. But one time I hit the merlot a little too hard and started feeling sexy — as one does after drinking too much wine — and tried to make out with everyone. It only happens when I drink wine, though!”

He laughed at her animated retelling, her wild gesticulations visible out of the corner of his eye. He grinned over at her after he’d pulled into the store parking lot and turned the car off. “I guess I’ll have to be sure to grab a bottle or three, then.”

She laughed, looking away to hide her flushed face. “That’s on you, then. I’ll be your responsibility for the night.”

“It’d be my honor and immense pleasure.” He waggled his eyebrows and she groaned, covering her face with her hands. He was pretty proud of himself for his flirting thus far. He’d discovered he really liked making her blush, watching the pink tinge spread from her cheeks across the bridge of her nose and creep up her temples. He made her go red again when he made purposeful eye contact with her and slipped two bottles of red wine into the cart as they stocked up on liquor.

When they got back to his and Sokka’s apartment, (Y/N) started giggling at the amount of decorations Sokka had put up — the crepe paper and streamers being the least of it. He had even done a few very interpretative portraits of Suki and hung them. She looked up at the ceiling and laughed, elbowing Zuko and nodding up at the balloons.

“I thought they said Suki was blowing the balloons up?” she said. He looked up and frowned.

“Sokka, do you have helium somewhere?” he shouted into the apartment as he unloaded the alcohol. Sokka and Suki popped out of a room.

“Not anymore,” Sokka answered. “Used it all up. Suki had to do the rest.” He pointed at a few balloons scattered on the floor.

“Where the hell did you get it?”

“Found it.”

“Wh-“ she murmured, looking over to Zuko. He just shook his head. Probably better to not ask questions.

“Katara’s on the way with Aang and Toph,” Suki said as she started pulling cups from the cabinet.

“And pizza!” Sokka added. “Don’t worry, she got Hawaiian for you two.” He shuddered, glaring at (Y/N) and Zuko.

“You like Hawaiian too?” She grinned at him and held out her fist. “That’s what’s up.”

He hesitantly tapped his knuckles against hers. The first time Sokka had tried to fist-bump him he’d just grabbed his hand and shook it. Sokka liked to torment him about it often. “It’s about the sweet and salty.”

“It’s fucked up is what it is,” said Sokka. “Fruit doesn’t belong on pizza. And don’t say tomato is a fruit.”

“But it is,” (Y/N) said.

“That’s a moot point.” She and Zuko exchanged looks and he rolled his eyes, making her giggle.

Soon after the other three arrived, with the food of course. Sokka continued to spout slander about Hawaiian pizza until Zuko put him in a headlock while (Y/N) shoved a piece of pineapple into his mouth. He piped down after that while everyone else laughed. Once they’d eaten, they finished the beers they’d been sipping on started to break into the “good shit,” as Toph so eloquently said. She made everyone drinks, pouring with a very heavy hand. It didn’t take long before they all started getting a little tipsy and Sokka started setting up beer pong on the kitchen island, pouring shots in the Solo cups.

“Okay, so,” Sokka started, “Me and Zuko, (Y/N) and Suki, and Toph and Aang. Katara, you ref as usual. The winner of the first round plays us.”

Suki and Katara shared a look. “Don’t you want to be on my team, and (Y/N) can be with Zuko?” Suki asked.

“Sorry, babe, but Zuko’s the best shot pong player here and I’m not losing.” He linked his arm with Zuko’s.

“Don’t worry, Suki; Sokka doesn’t know that I’m actually the best ‘shot pong’ player here because he’s never played against me,” (Y/N) said, resting her hand on Suki’s arm reassuringly. Suki’s concern was more about forcing Zuko and (Y/N) together, but she nodded anyways.

“Yeah?” Zuko smirked. “Is that a challenge?”

“I think it is, Sparky,” Toph said, egging them on. They would just have to push them together from a different angle and obviously Sokka would be no help.

“You’re going down, hotman.” (Y/N) set her drink down, eager at the prospect of some friendly competition.

“Maybe later, princess. I have a tournament to win first,” he said smugly, grinning at the way she went bright red. Her stomach flipped at his words and she couldn’t even think of a witty response. She downed her drink instead, shuddering when the alcohol burned her throat.

“It’s on,” she growled. Zuko had to shake himself to tear his eyes away from the intense look she was giving him – it made him a little scared, but also a little turned on.

It all started off well and good. She and Suki pretty easily beat Toph and Aang. Though Toph was blind, she was definitely the better player of the two. When it came time to play the boys, Zuko watched, mesmerized, as (Y/N) rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck, shooting him a cocky smile.

“Ready to lose?” Sokka taunted, now starting to sway a little bit from the amount he’d indulged while the other game was happening.

“I don’t think that’ll be a concern, babe,” Suki said, looking on with amusement and, strangely, adoration when Sokka belched loudly and started laughing. Zuko chuckled at the look (Y/N) shot him from the other side of the island.

It was a tough game, they would both have to admit. Neither (Y/N) nor Zuko missed a cup at the start, but the alcohol began affecting the game soon after the start. Toph, Aang, and even the “impartial judge” Katara cheered when (Y/N) or Suki were able to sink a ball into a cup and groaned animatedly when Zuko or Sokka did. Eventually, both teams were down to one cup.

“Watch this,” Zuko elbowed Sokka roughly, knocking the other boy onto the floor. Undeterred, Zuko turned around and tossed the ball over his shoulder without looking. It missed tremendously, bouncing off Toph’s forehead. “Sorry, Beifong,” he laughed as she scowled in his direction. With a wink, (Y/N) easily tossed the ball into the boys’ last cup. Everyone cheered as Zuko drank, including Sokka from the floor. Suki hugged (Y/N) tightly, spinning her around as they celebrated their victory.

“Did we win?” Sokka asked, sitting up with great difficulty.

“Not this time, buddy,” said Zuko as he helped his friend stand again.

“You serious?” Sokka gasped and pushed him, causing both of them to stumble. “What the hell?! (Y/N), you’re officially my new shot pong partner from here on out!”

“Maybe. On the other hand, though, if Zuko and I teamed up we’d be unstoppable.”

“I like the sound of that,” Zuko mused and Sokka started babbling about betrayal and the “coup d’état” they were staging against him. Aang, bored of Sokka’s drunken whining, cranked up the music. (Y/N) grabbed Zuko and pulled him into a dance while Suki went to go comfort a pouting Sokka on the couch. She laughed at how stiffly he moved even when drunk, like dancing was a completely foreign concept to him. He just kind of shifted his weight from foot to foot, hardly even in time with the beat of the music. Zuko filled his cup again and hoped it would help unlock some secret rhythm or skills.

“I’m so sorry, Zu!” she giggled as she wobbled, grabbing onto his bicep for support. She’d bumped into the glass he was holding and spilled it everywhere, including across both of their shirts. Sokka looked over and cackled.

“(Y/N) made Zuko wet!” he crowed, making everyone else giggle at the pair.

“Shut up, Sokka!” Zuko laughed, chucking a kitchen towel he’d been using to mop up the mess on the floor. It hit the other boy square in the face, making a wet slapping sound against his skin. The group was nearly in tears at Sokka’s shriek of disgust. (Y/N) leaned heavily against Zuko to keep from toppling over.

“Can I borrow a shirt?” she asked of Sokka once she caught her breath.

“No,” he pouted. “Get one of Sifu Hotman’s shirts. We’re not friends anymore.”

“You are such a drama queen!” She rolled her eyes, still grinning. “You got a shirt I can borrow, Zu?”

“Yeah, sure.” He felt anxiety pulling in his gut as he led her to his bedroom. She followed closely behind, also feeling rather nervous but clutching his arm still as she wobbled. He tossed her an old t-shirt and, to his immense surprise and embarrassment, she’d already stripped off her soiled top when he turned to her. She giggled when his face went red and he quickly turned back around. Mumbling an apology, he started to pull off his own shirt.

(Y/N) stared as the fabric lifted, revealing a massive tattoo across the expanse of his muscular back. It was a beautifully intricate dragon done in red and black ink and its angry eyes seemed to follow her as she swayed on her feet.

“Whoah,” she gasped and stepped forwards.

He was about to ask what was wrong when he felt her fingertips ghost across his skin, making him shiver involuntarily. “I didn’t know you had such a dope tattoo.”

“I didn’t know it mattered,” he said, closing his eyes and enjoying the feeling of her tracing the lines. It was hard to tell whether it was the alcohol or her gentle touch that was making his head fuzzy and his skin feel hot.

“Of course it matters!” His breath caught in his throat when she slid her hands around to his front and hugged herself to him, resting her cheek against his back. “Tattoos are sexy and cool, and you’re already sexy and cool, so now you’re, like, extra sexy and cool.”

“You- you think that I’m sexy and cool?”

“And warm,” she sighed happily. He turned and she wrapped her arms around his neck as he cautiously settled his hands on her hips. He pressed his forehead against hers in an attempt to bring her face into focus.

“Well... I think you’re sexy and cool.” He hiccuped. “And warm,” he added after a moment of thought. She giggled at the way his alcohol-scented breath tickled her face.

“Hey, c’mere,” she whispered, squishing his face between her palms.

“I’m already here,” he murmured back, pulling her in by her hips anyways so their bodies touched.

“I have to tell you a secret.” He raised his eyebrows expectantly. “I wanna... smooch your face.”

Zuko wrinkled his nose adorably. “‘Smooch?’ You spend too much time with Sokka.”

“Why, you jealous?”

Yes. “Shut up,” he grumbled.

“Make me.”

That means she wants me to kiss her, right? She just said she wants to kiss me and “make me” always means “kiss me” in the romcoms and romance books. But maybe not. “How?”

(Y/N) laughed. “You’re cute when you’re dumb.”

“Hey!”

“What? You are.”

“I’m not dumb!”

“You’re a little dumb. What else do you need, a written invitation? An e-vite maybe? Do you want to RSVP? I’ll need to know if you’re bringing a-“ He cut off her teasing by pressing his lips to hers, squeezing her hips. She responded immediately and enthusiastically, leaning into his chest and threading her fingers through his hair. She hummed contentedly into his mouth when he slipped his hands down to grab her ass. When she pulled back he chased after her lips needily and she chuckled, patting his chest. “We’re taking a long time, they’re gonna get suspicious.”

“So what?” he muttered, pressing a kiss to her jaw instead and trailing more down her neck when she tilted her head to give him easier access. He was feeling awfully emboldened by the kiss and the considerable amount of liquid courage he’d indulged in. “Sokka introduced us with exactly this goal in mind.”

“I don’t know about exactly this goal, but that’s ‘so what.’ I couldn’t stand to see him so pleased with himself.”

He considered this and pulled himself with great effort away from his ministrations at her neck. “You’re right. He’d be unbearable.”

She looked up at him with bright eyes and swollen red lips and he wanted desperately to kiss her again. With a grin, she pulled his t-shirt over her head. He’d completely forgotten how they’d even ended up in his bedroom in the first place. “Put your shirt on and let’s go, hotman. I’m gonna kick your ass at blackjack.” She started to pull him by his hand towards the door but he yanked her back, catching her in his arms she stumbled.

“Don’t think we won’t pick this back up later, princess.” His tone made her gulp, eyes wide. He gave her a wicked grin and led her back out to everyone else as he shrugged on a new shirt.

“Finally! What took so long?” Aang said, a knowing look in his eyes.

“Don’t ask that. I don’t want to hear them talk about making out,” Toph huffed. Both Zuko and (Y/N) blushed in response, looking at the floor. Sokka started cheering and shouting and Katara punched him in the arm to get him to shut up. (Y/N) and Zuko squished in together in the empty spot on the couch as Suki started dealing playing cards. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pretended not to know how to play the game so she could tease him and show him how. They were so engrossed in each other that they missed the satisfied smirks all their friends were shooting each other.

A/N: whenever i add a read more cut on my laptop tumblr freaks out and deletes half the fic so. sorry lmao. anyways this makes me miss drinking with my friends. woulda hugged the homies a little tighter if i knew it was gonna be like this 🥺😪

TAGS: @theblueslytherin @beifongsss @coconutsaiyan @5sos-wdw @silverreading @the-lva-way @cupofnctea @khaleesi-of-assassins @bloomkings @pyromaniac-olive @lil-lex1 @sokkas--boomerang @cece-lives-here @coldlilheart @royahllty @astralsaf @not-a-glad-gladiator @damianwaynerocks @darkskin-buttercup @emogril @plutaars @duh-dobrik @harajukukitsune @kangaroobunny @harmlessoffering @rosetheshapeshifter @past-2am @welovediaaxx @dailytrashypanda @thenutellabreadsticks @sara5208 @whalerus @fanworrior @andrevvminyrd @travvestys @rosesandpines @cipheress-to-k-pop @starryzxko @justab-eautifulmess @mochminnie @whoevenfrickenknows @asianequation @booksandwonderlands @thesstuff @dekumiya @ya-fwiend-rainbow @spookities @394pitterpatterpotter394 @rockinearthbending-marauders @beardsplittler @kurt-nightcrawler @sifucuteness

[doeilovr]

Turn Back Time

-> Pairing: Lee Taeyong x femReader, special guest Kim Doyoung

-> Genre: Angst, Idol Taeyong au, Cheating au, break up au, a bit of smut (like 1 paragraph)

-> Warnings: cheating, cursing, suggestive themes, mention of sex, physical violence, self doubt

-> Summary: And it was moments like this you wished you could turn back time, to make him stop hurting you. Taeyong was your world and all you ever wished for was to be his too.

-> Words: 2.6 k

Disclaimer: this is not how Lee Taeyong is at all! This is merely fiction! Cheating is also not okay, just be kind, people and love truthfully!

You knew something had changed, when you heard Taeyong walk into your shared bedroom.

He was out late again, working on choreography and writing lyrics at the studio.

A month ago he would have cuddled up to you in bed, pecking you on the cheek, before he would fall asleep with his arms wrapped around your body.

But he had stopped doing that and just got into bed as silently as possible, trying not to wake you up. You were awake though. Thinking about what had changed between you two.

In the morning you would get up before him, staring at him sleeping peacefully in your bed, regretting whatever you did wrong.

You were making breakfast for the both of you when Taeyong joined you in the kitchen, his blonde hair messy and his eyes sleepy.

“Good morning”, you smiled at him, tempted to stroke his hair. Taeyong’s cold expression brought you back to reality. “Morning”, he mumbled, grabbing an apple from the counter.

You wanted to tell him you made breakfast for him, but he was faster. “I’m going to the studio. It’ll be late, no need to wait for me”, he announced, not waiting for an answer and disappearing back into the bedroom.

Your stomach twisted, you just couldn’t understand what you did wrong. You weren’t even hungry anymore, putting the freshly cooked food in the fridge for another time.

You were determined to win Taeyong back, even if you didn’t know why you had lost him on the first place. Maybe he got tired of you because you never surprised him. Maybe he wanted you to be more spontaneous. With these thoughts in mind you bought coffee and made your way to the studio.

You entered the recording studio, knowing Taeyong was alone, as it was late already. He stood in the recording booth, practicing some random verses. He looked good, wearing a white tee and ripped black jeans. His blonde hair was messy, as he was constantly running his fingers through it.

To be honest, he just looked tired.

Your breath hitched in your throat, when he locked eyes with you. Taeyong put down the headphones and stepped out of the booth.

“What are you doing here?” He walked past you, pressing some buttons on the computer.

“I brought you coffee”, you smiled, placing the Americano down next to him. Taeyong side eyed you, noticing your black coat. You felt his hot gaze on your body, making your cheeks flush.

“Yeah, actually I’m not just here for that.” Carefully you pushed Taeyong down on the leather chair behind him. He let you guide him, intently watching your every move.

You placed a kiss to his soft lips, before you grabbed his hand, guiding it to open up your coat. It had been a while since you last kissed and you had missed him. The feeling of his lips against yours. Taeyong watched you with intense eyes, opening the coat to reveal a set of white lingerie.

You had bought it just for him and felt nervous to show yourself like this, since it had been a while you two last had sex. Or just any other intimate interaction.

You sat down on his lap, your eyes never leaving his face. Taeyong gulped visibly, before you placed another kiss on his lips, this time using your tongue. His hands roamed around your body and his member twitched beneath you. Fuck, he felt so good.

Your hand traveled down his chest, all the way to the button of his jeans. You stroked him through the fabric, making him inhale sharply. “I want you, Taeyong”, you whispered, a sudden desperation in your voice.

There was a flicker in Taeyong’s dark eyes, his hand moving to yours and grabbing it quickly. Just when you thought you got through to him, he removed your hand from his crotch, pushing you off his lap.

You stepped back, watching him with sad eyes. Did he really not love you anymore?

Taeyong got up, cursing under his breath. “Don’t fucking do that”, he mumbled, his eyes moving quickly.

“Taeyong-“, you tried to reach out to him, but he moved past you and got back into the recording booth. You felt so vulnerable, closing the jacket and hugging yourself.

Was that it? Was that how you broke up with him? Why couldn’t he just explain himself or at least talk to you? You wiped away a tear that threatend to run down your cheek and left the room.

In a quick pace you moved down the long corridor, making your way to the exit, while trying to calm down. On your way around a corner you bumped into someone’s chest.

“Y/n?” Doyoung smiled down at you. You greeted him quickly and hoped he wouldn’t notice your glistening eyes.

“Are you here for Taeyong?” You started shaking your head vigorously, trying to smile back at him, but you looked rather awkward.

“I’m on my way out, actually.” Doyoung’s smile faded a bit. He just knew you too well, sensing that there was something wrong.

“Everything alright?” He furrowed his brows. “Yeah, don’t worry. I’m just tired”, you waved your hand around. “I’ll get going now, see you around.” Doyoung nodded, waving goodbye to you and watching you walk away.

Something for sure wasn’t right. You didn’t look happy at all. And Doyoung wondered why?

Back home you cried yourself to sleep. You loved Taeyong too much, how could he so easily turn away from you? That night he didn’t come home at all.

You just got out of the shower the next evening, when Taeyong texted you. You hadn’t heard from him the whole day and felt beyond disappointed. He could have so easily talked to you, but he chose to ignore you. “I’m out with the boys”, the text read. You didn’t reply and went on with getting ready for bed.

You were lying awake for way too long now, taking a glance at the clock to see it was not even midnight yet. Your phone suddenly rang, it was Doyoung.

“Hey y/n”, he greeted.

“Doyoung.” You often talked over the phone like this, but it had become less and less after Taeyong distanced himself from you. You felt weird being around his friends without him, which was stupid to be honest, as they all seemed to like you a lot.

“I didn’t wake you up, did I?” He gasped a little, probably just now realizing how late it was.

You chuckled. “No, don’t worry.” It felt good to talk to him again. “Are you also at the club?” You were curious. Honestly you just wanted to know if Taeyong had maybe talked to them about you. Who knows, maybe he was more talkative with them than with you.

“What do you mean? Who’s at the club”, he asked confused.

You chuckled nervously. “Taeyong told me he was out with you guys.”

Doyoung was quiet for a moment. “No. Taeyong did go out, but not with any of us. He went out with Jia, she’s collaborating with him, I don’t know.”

Your heart sank and you sat up in your bed, turning on the lamp. “What”, you mumbled. “Which club?”

“Pretty sure they went to Octagon. Is everything okay, y/n? You know you can tell me”, Doyoung reminded you softly.

You bit down on your lips, emotions washing over you. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m going back to sleep now”, you lied. Doyoung didn’t ask any further questions and said his goodbye before hanging up.

You sighed, dropping the phone on the bed. Taeyong lied to you. He had lied. But why? Did he cheat on you? Was he cheating on you right now?

He was. In the past week, while you were waiting at home, doubting yourself and everything you ever did wrong, he was with Jia. So he was now. In the club, dancing and making out with her, trying to get you out of his head.

That’s how you found yourself standing in front of the club the same hour. Dressed in a pair of jeans and a sweater. To your luck, Doyoung showed up too, knowing damn well something wasn’t right. He got you in the club and searched for Taeyong with you.

When you finally spotted him you didn’t feel shocked or mad. No. You were sad. Sad, disappointed and broken-hearted. You still loved this man after all, even if you saw him cheating right here and in front of your eyes.

“Y/n”, Doyoung mumbled, following your gaze to Taeyong. Despite the loud music you could hear him clearly. Doyoung couldn’t believe his eyes either. Taeyong was cheating with Jia. His best friend was cheating on his other best friend.

Fuck.

“You knew?” Doyoung stared at you wide eyed, feeling nothing but empathy.

You nodded, tears prickling in your eyes. Seeing him make out with her so easily made you feel sick. You never thought Taeyong was able to hurt you like this.

You always thought the best of him. He was so caring. You didn’t know where it went wrong, but suddenly he treated you like you were the worst person ever. He replaced you and seemed to not even feel bad about it.

Walking towards Taeyong your steps felt heavy. You couldn’t lie to yourself any longer, he didn’t love you anymore. He hurt you and you wanted him to know that.

Stopping in front of him you waited until Taeyong caught your figure next to him, immediately staring at you with wide eyes. He almost pushed Jia back, startling her, before she also noticed you standing there.

Unlike him, she didn’t look fazed at all. You wondered if she even knew you were his girlfriend. You barely held back your tears and your voice was shaky.

“Whatever I did to you, I’m honestly sorry. I hope you’re fucking happy now.” You stopped for a second, taking in Taeyong’s face one more time, his shocked expression.

Quickly you disappeared in the crowd, making your way to the exit, Doyoung running behind you. As you got out of the club, the fresh air hit your face. Hot tears fell down your cheeks, as you slowly walked down the alley.

Doyoung came up next to you. “Are you okay”, he mumbled, putting a hand on your shoulder. You didn’t look okay. And he hated seeing you this broken.

Another voice called your name and you both turned around to find Taeyong angrily walking up to you. “Y/n”, he shouted.

He looked so angry and for what reason. Doyoung quickly stepped between the two of you. “Taeyong, fucking leave her alone”, he shouted, but Taeyong only pushed him to the side.

“You fucking knew”, he shouted at you and you stepped back, scared. “What sick game are you playing”, he added.

Now you got angry too, poking his chest with your index finger angrily. “I defended you all this time. I made up stupid excuses for you and your behavior, when you didn’t even have the guts to talk to me. This is so fucking low Taeyong, even for you”, you shouted back.

“Please, you’re obsessed with me. You even show up in the same fucking club, knowing I’m with someone else. You’re a pathetic bitch.” You saw the change of expression in his eyes as soon as he said the last words.

“Y/n-“ his face softened and he tried to reach out for you, but you quickly interrupted him, slapping him across his face.

Out of reflex, Taeyong shoved you to the ground and you landed on your butt. You gasped, finding yourself sitting on the cold asphalt. Taeyong realized what he just did and wanted to help you up, but Doyoung had already rushed to you side.

“Y/n are you okay?” Doyoung grabbed your hand. You couldn’t help but burst out in tears, letting Doyoung help you up. “Please take me home”, you whispered and he quickly nodded.

Taeyong watched you two walk away, Doyoung sending him a death glare as you both turned around.

He couldn’t believe how far he had went. He hated himself so much for hurting you. He had hurt you with cheating and now he had even hurt you physically. Taeyong never wanted this to happen either. He had been tired for a long time, stopped giving you attention and touching you. But you did the same.

When Jia came to the studio, flirting non stop, he just let her. He would mindlessly fuck her until you would give him attention again. But when the time came around and you did, he had grown tired of you, too.

He hated himself and he had projected it onto you until he hated you too.

You thanked Doyoung at the entrance to your apartment, watching him drive off with the taxi, before you entered the building. Unlocking the door, you walked inside, immediately aiming for the bedroom, just wanting to go to sleep.

You were shocked seeing Taeyong in your room, examining a picture of you two together. He turned around, looking at you. For the first time in weeks he looked as sad as you. As hurt as you.

“Y/n can we talk, please”, he asked gently, moving towards you.

“It’s too late, Taeyong.”

“I love you so much”, a tear rolled down his cheek.

“No, you don’t. If you love someone you don’t ignore them, or hurt them or cheat on them. You hate me Taeyong. And I don’t even know why”, your voice cracked before you could finish your sentence.

“No, y/n. I don’t hate you.” He stepped closer again, taking a hold of your hand. “I hated myself so much. I was so sick and tired of everything. I let it all out on you. And I’m honestly so sorry. I love you so much, please.”

You cried more, your heart hurting in your chest. His fingers stroked over the back of your hand, a feeling you had been longing for for such a long time.

“You cheated on me, Taeyong”, you whispered.

He nodded, pressing his lips together, to hold back tears. “I don’t have any feelings for her. Please, y/n. Believe me, please.”

“It hurts, Taeyong. I gave you my heart and you threw it away just like that.”

Taeyong’s other hand moved to cup your face, wiping away the tear that had left your eye. “I didn’t. My heart belongs to you, you’re the love of my life.” He paused, breath shaky. “I have no excuse. Cheating on you was wrong in so many ways. I started because I thought I would find my love for you again. But fuck, I realized it was never gone in the first place. I never want to hurt you again, y/n.”

You cried out one more time, before stepping forward and hugging Taeyong tightly. He immediately pulled you closer, rubbing your back and kissing your head.

“I love you so much”, he whispered over and over again.

After a while, you pulled away from him again, sniffling and wiping your tears away.

Taeyong was all you had and wanted, but his actions scarred you deeply. You looked up at him, pecking his lips softly. It was lovely moments like this you wanted to last forever.

And it was moments like this you wished you could turn back time, to make him stop hurting you. Taeyong was your world and all you ever wished for was to be his too.

But sometimes it’s not meant to be. You would find someone else, someone that would love and appreciate you, even if times were tough.

And maybe one day you’d be someone’s world. And maybe Taeyong would be someone else’s.

a/n: I rewrote this so many times lol I hope you enjoy it. It was my first attempt on smut so please bear with me. I’d also appreciate any feedback <3

[nostalgiahan]

Euphoria

word count: 4k (holy shit)

genre: smut

content/warnings: explicit sexual content, threesome, restraints, pillow humping, oral (both receiving,) anal (m receiving,) face sitting, consent, discussion of boundaries, aftercare :)

pairing: dom!chan x sub!felix x afab/switch!reader

a/n: it is heavily implied that felix goes into subspace at the end! however you can interpret it however you want <3

You never planned on having two friends with benefits at once, but it turned out to be better than you could have ever imagined. You were originally just looking for someone to take your emotions out on after a long day, break them down to the bone and then put them back together again. You found that in Felix, your perfect boy; always obedient and eager to please, even if that meant getting orgasm after orgasm cruelly denied or being overstimulated to the point where his lithe frame was shaking and his eyes were puffy and red from tears. In the end, though, you were always there to calm him down, to rub lotion into his sores and to kiss his bruises better, to run your fingers through his hair as he cries into your chest. That’s what makes it worth it for you.

However, soon enough, you became burnt out. Domming Felix was fun, but it was tiring, and sometimes you just wanted to be taken care of. This lead you to Chan; similar to Felix in some ways but entirely opposite in others. Where Felix was timid and obedient, Chan was outgoing and domineering; ready to degrade you and pound you into his creaky bed or call you sweet names and milk multiple orgasms out of you until you were relaxed; whatever you happened to need that day.

So here you were. You had thought for some time about introducing them to each other; after all, they would fit together perfectly. Chan was the Yin to Felix’s Yang; one unabashedly dominant and the other perfectly submissive. You would love to just sit back and watch their dynamic play out. However, you also felt that doing that would make things more than just casual, and you weren’t sure how either of them felt about it. That was, until after one of your sessions with Felix.

You two were in the bath, his back against your chest, and you thought he was asleep until he turned around to press a peck to the top of your breast, his favorite way of getting your attention.

“What’s up, Lixie?”

“Um, I’ve been thinking about… something. Lately.”

“Yeah? What is it, baby boy?”

You maneuver him so you’re both sitting up in the tub, facing each other. At that, Felix averts his gaze.

“What do you think about, maybe, bringing in another dom?”

It’s silent for a bit before Felix speaks again.

“I mean, it’s okay if not. It’s just… you’re a really good dom, but I’ve been thinking lately about how hot it would be to be dommed by… two people at once. I don’t know. I feel like it’s weird.”

You bring a gentle hand under his chin, guiding him to look you in the eyes.

“Sweet boy, it’s not weird. I’ve been thinking about it too.”

You pull him against your chest again, and your hand returns to his hair.

“I have another friend with benefits, you know. His name is Chan. He’s a really good dom, and I’ve been thinking about introducing you two for a while.”

Felix relaxes noticeably against you, nuzzling his face into your chest.

“How about I text him right now?”

“Mmm. Bath first.”

“Of course. We’ll finish our bath, and then I’ll fix you some tea, and then we’ll text him. Sound good, Lixie?”

Felix nods against your chest, and not five minutes later, he’s dead asleep.

About half an hour later, the two of you are in bed, phone in hand. You’ve already shown Felix Chan’s pictures, and he seemed intrigued, given the way he shifted in his spot and gulped a bit louder than he probably intended to.

“Alright, Lixie, what do you want to say? He already knows that you’re my sub, but not much else.”

“Uh, we should probably get straight to the point, I guess. Something like, ‘Hi, my sub and I want you to fuck us.’”

He giggles, a cute sound that makes the air in the room feel lighter.

“Okay, maybe that’s too forward.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

Felix is still giggling slightly as you type out a draft in your Notes app.

“How does this sound, baby boy?”

Hi, Chan. My sub and I were talking about how we might want to introduce another person into the bedroom, and I’ve been thinking about introducing you two for a while. Is this something you’d be interested in?

Barely a minute passes before Chan replies. It’s short, but it’s all the two of you need to hear.

Of course

The three of you settle on a time and date, about a week later. You didn’t have the foresight to set up a group chat or anything of the sort, so you’re going into this completely blind. Whatever. It’ll be fine.

The first one to arrive is Chan, and he has a duffel bag with him. Expected, but a bit intimidating.

“We could’ve just used my stuff, you know.”

“Eh, it’s more fun this way. Then I get to surprise both of you.”

You scoff but walk across the room to hug him. He takes you in his arms and chuckles when he feels you practically melt against him.

“Long day?”

You just sigh and Chan pecks the top of your head, squeezing you even tighter.

“Don’t worry about a thing, baby. Just let go for tonight, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

A few minutes later, Felix walks in, carrying nothing but his keys and phone. He sets them down nervously on the table by your front door before latching onto your side like a shy child might with their parent.

“Hi, lovely.”

Felix makes a muffled noise into your shirt but doesn’t move to greet Chan.

“What’s wrong, baby boy? Nervous?”

Felix pulls away to nod, gaze fixed firmly on the floor. Chan coos before approaching Felix slowly, just trying to get a closer look at the boy.

“You’re more… intimidating then I thought you’d be.”

Chan smiles wide and giggles brightly at Felix’s statement.

“Don’t worry, Felix. We don’t have to go faster than you’re comfortable with. Besides, we still need to have a talk about boundaries.”

Felix nods slowly, seemingly pleased with Chan’s statement.

“By the way,” you say, the two boys perking up at the sound. “I ordered pizza, it’s in the kitchen. We can have dinner and talk, and maybe you two can get to know each other.”

Felix jumps up, nervousness seemingly forgotten as he rushes to the kitchen, a big smile on his face. He rips the pizza box open, grabbing a slice for himself and shoving it into his mouth unceremoniously, forcing a giggle out of you. As everyone gets their pizza and settles down, you turn on some soft music and invite everyone to sit on your couch. You figured it would be better to have this conversation on neutral ground. Felix immediately curls into your side, now staring inquisitively at Chan, who’s sitting on your other side.

“So, uh, I figured we should just establish some hard boundaries first. Lix, do you want to go?”

Felix nods and grabs his phone from the side table, seemingly opening something on it.

“I wrote down what I wanted to say so I wouldn’t forget.”

Both you and Chan smile at that.

“So, uh, I can’t really handle intense degradation. I can do it if you mix in nice words, but I much prefer praise. I like knowing I’m doing well. Uh, and no bodily fluids or gross stuff like that. And aftercare is really important for me. I need a lot of it.”

Chan nods, looking attentively at Felix.

“Pretty much anything else other than those things is fair game.”

Chan leans in just slightly.

“So what do you like, Felix?”

Felix looks back at his phone, the tips of his ears and nose turning a light pink.

“Uh, choking. And pain. And, uh, praise, obviously. I like being marked up, too.”

Felix’s face gets adorably redder as he reads off the items on the list. You look over and notice Chan is trying to cover the outline of his half-hard dick in his sweatpants with a slice of pizza.

When Felix is done, Chan asks him another question which makes Felix choke on his own spit.

“What do you like to be called?”

After taking a moment to collect himself, Felix speaks up.

“Uh, I didn’t write that down.”

“That’s okay. If you remember later, just tell me.”

“Okay. Well, uh, Lixie and Lix are always good. And uh, baby boy, or any variant of that, really. And, uh…”

Felix murmurs the end of his sentence and although you already know what he said, you still lift his chin up with your hand and guide his gaze towards Chan’s

“Go ahead, Lixie. Tell him your favorite pet name.”

Felix looks away, and in a very small voice, says,

“Kitten.”

Chan’s eyes visibly darken and he shifts in his seat, clearly trying to restrain himself until the conversation is over. You smile contentedly, and decide to continue the conversation yourself in fear of Felix becoming impossibly more flustered.

Eventually, the conversation comes to a close, and the three of you stand up to head to your bedroom, Chan grabbing his bag which Felix didn’t notice until now. His eyes widen and he grabs your hand, squeezing hard. You squeeze back to offer him some reassurance as the three of you slip into the bedroom.

Turning Felix around to face you and taking both of his hands in yours, you press a gentle kiss to his forehead.

“Are you still nervous, baby?”

Felix nods and looks away again.

“You know we can stop any time if it gets too much for you, right?”

He nods again.

“I want to do this. I’ve just never done this before.”

“That’s okay, Lixie, just try to relax, okay?”

He nods and you let go of his hands, turning towards Chan.

“Is everyone good with using the traffic light system?”

The both of them nod.

“What is everyone’s color?”

Everyone says green.

“Alright. Lixie, why don’t you sit on the bed for me?”

Felix, ever obedient, sits with his hands in his lap, fingers nervously picking at the sleeves of his hoodie. You approach him carefully and take his face in your hands, leaning down to kiss him gently. He immediately reciprocates, falling into the comfortable rhythm that the two of you share. Chan watches from the sidelines until you pull away, beckoning him with a small tilt of your head. He pads over softly until he’s standing in front of Felix, running his hand through the younger boy’s hair. Felix tentatively places his small hands on Chan’s waist, and the older smiles before leaning in slowly to kiss him. It starts out slow and sweet, but soon Felix is grasping at the fabric of Chan’s shirt, letting out tiny whimpers into his mouth. It’s adorable, watching Felix fall apart like this.

You decide to sit behind Felix on the bed, wrapping your arms around him for a quick hug before dipping your hands under the hem of his shirt, letting them explore the skin there. Felix whines at the unexpected touch but keens into it, prompting Chan to pull back and pull Felix’s shirt off.

He’s flustered at first, covering his chest with his hands, until you pull them away and start brushing your fingertips over his pert nipples. He lets out a long, drawn-out whine, arching into your touch.

“Does my pretty boy like having his nipples played with?” Chan asks, smirking down at Felix. He nods frantically as you increase your speed, causing him to squirm even more in your hold. Chan hums appreciatively before motioning for the two of you to scoot back on the bed, and when you do, he settles in between Felix’s legs and starts to mouth at his cock through the younger’s jeans. Felix cants his hips up into Chan, but the older is having none of it and pushes his hips down violently, coaxing a gasp out of him.

“Stay still.”

Chan unbuttons Felix’s jeans and and pulls them down, along with his underwear, agonizingly slow, relishing in the younger’s sigh of relief. He’s already fully hard, and it must hurt.

“This worked up already?”

Felix nods frantically, just trying to get Chan to get on with it. Chan walks away, and retrieves a pair of pink leather cuffs from his bag.

“I’m told you look pretty in pink.”

When Felix stays silent, you lean up from where you’ve been sucking gently on Felix’s neck to murmur in his ear.

“Is that true, Lix? Tell him.”

“Y-yes, I look pretty in pink.”

Chan nods approvingly as he snaps the cuffs around Felix’s wrists, securing them behind his back. He assumes his position between Felix’s legs again, hands wrapping around his now bare thighs, shocked to find that his hands are big enough to wrap around almost halfway. He can feel his dick twitch at the thought of being so big that he can literally split Felix in half.

When Chan wraps his lips around Felix’s tip, he can tell the sub is using all of his self-control not to fuck up into his mouth. However, nearly as soon as he starts, Chan pulls off, leaving Felix whining for more.

“Tsk. Be patient, kitten.”

Chan’s ego swells when he sees Felix’s dick jump at the pet name. He looks towards you, where you’re still kissing all over Felix’s neck and shoulders, running your hands up and down his sides, and lifts your chin up, giving you a quick kiss.

“What do you think about helping out our y/n? They deserve it for introducing us, don’t you think?”

Felix nods, but tugs at the cuffs restraining his arms. He wants so badly to touch, but he knows Chan won’t let him.

“Go ahead, then. I’ll get you started, yeah?”

Felix can only nod as he watches Chan undress you to your underwear, rubbing his fingers lightly over your slit and reveling in the low groan you let out, completely opposite to Felix’s whining.

“Alright, go ahead, baby boy.”

Felix looks at Chan, confused. How was he supposed to get your underwear off if he couldn’t use his hands? Chan just shrugs and sits back on his heels, undressing himself and palming himself through his underwear as he watches.

Felix tries to be sexy and pull your panties down with his teeth, but he can only get them down an inch or so before he gives up. He eventually settles for just mouthing at your clit over your underwear, but it’s still not enough. He switches between your clit and nipples before just giving up for the second time and sitting back, looking at his knees dejectedly. Chan sighs before moving Felix aside and huffing in fake disappointment, pulling down your panties and unhooking your bra with his hands.

“Hey, that’s not fair,” Felix whines, but he yelps when Chan delivers a harsh slap to his thigh. 

“No talking back.”

Felix sighs and huffs out a “fine” before leaning against you, signaling that he wants you to touch him.

“Poor Lixie. That must hurt, huh?” You gesture towards his cock, angry red and straining against his stomach. He nods and you hum, reaching out a hand to stroke him slowly.

“You remember what Chan said, baby boy?”

Felix nods.

“Yeah? What did he say?”

“Stay still.”

You hum approvingly and continue to stroke Felix lightly, squeezing involuntarily as Chan’s lips wrap around your clit and suck. You try your best to keep going as Chan licks up your slit, making lewd slurping noises that cause Felix to thrust up into your hand. He doesn’t process that he did until he feels another slap on his opposite thigh and your hand move away from his cock. He whimpers to try and get your attention, but both of your hands are tugging at Chan’s hair, and all Felix can do is watch.

Eventually, Felix’s helpless whines catch Chan’s attention and he grabs a pillow from the head of the bed, tossing it in Felix’s direction.

“You want relief that badly, huh? Be patient for us, kitten. For now, hump that. I’m busy. And don’t you dare cum until I tell you to.”

Felix whines but complies, situating the pillow between his legs and rutting into it as he watches Chan eat you out.

Meanwhile, your eyes are screwed shut as Chan picks up speed, letting out loud moans that only make Felix more desperate for you. You can feel your first orgasm quickly approaching, and you make sure to let Chan know. He just hums against you and sticks two fingers inside of you, making you nearly scream in pleasure. Your grip on his hair grows ever tighter as you beg him to let you cum. He pulls away just slightly to give you permission, and almost on command, you’re cumming all over his fingers and tongue. Chan just laps it up eagerly and shifts his gaze to focus on Felix, who’s rutting into the pillow faster and faster.

Chan lifts Felix’s chin up and kisses him hard, almost toppling the poor boy over with the force of the kiss. He slows down, and eventually comes to a stop, panting as tears line his eyes, threatening to fall from how desperate he is to be touched again.

“Come here, baby boy. You were so good.” Chan unclasps the cuffs and Felix takes a moment to stretch his wrists. Chan kisses the spots where Felix tugged too hard and left red marks, causing the younger to look away and blush.

As Chan is leaning Felix back on the bed, kissing down his body, an idea pops into the sub’s head.

“Hey, Chan, uh…”

“Yes, Lixie?”

“I was wondering if, uh.”

Chan cocks his head and rubs his thumb over Felix’s cheekbone as he waits for him to finish his sentence.

“Yes?”

“Uh, if it’s okay with you, I want you to fuck me.”

A short silence passes before Felix covers his face with his hands, trying desperately to backtrack.

“I mean, it’s okay if not! I know some people aren’t really into that, and, uh, it was just a suggestion, but if not-”

Chan silences Felix with a kiss.

“Sweet boy, all you had to do was ask.”

Felix sighs in relief.

“Y/N, why don’t you help prep our kitten?”

You nod and reach towards the bedside table where the lube and condoms are kept.

“Lix, is it okay if I fuck your mouth?”

Felix sputters out an overenthusiastic ‘yes,’ bringing his hands towards Chan’s thick thighs. The older just laughs and discards his boxers before situating himself on Felix’s chest, the sub’s mouth watering at the sight of Chan.

Chan has just started pushing gently into Felix’s mouth when you put your first finger in, slicked up thoroughly with lube. He moans louder than you’ve heard him all night when it’s fully situated, at which Chan groans and pushes in further. You can’t see what’s happening, but the sounds give you a clear enough picture, sloppy and wet and absolutely filthy. When you tease a second finger at Felix’s hole, he groans, causing Chan to buck forward into his mouth.

When Chan sets a steady pace, you push a second finger in, and then a third. You don’t purposefully aim for Felix’s prostate, but you must have hit it because a moan even louder than the ones before it reaches your ears and a gush of precum dribbles out of Felix’s slit. You decide to treat him and wrap your lips around his tip as you stretch your fingers out inside him. Chan just keeps fucking into Felix’s mouth faster and faster, and you can tell he’s getting close, but he pulls out right before he cums, much to Felix’s dismay.

Chan gets off of Felix’s chest and rolls on a condom as you decide he’s stretched out enough.

“Ready, kitten?”

Felix nods, whining desperately. There are tears tracks drying on his face, which must have been from Chan fucking his mouth just moments before.

At first, you just want to sit aside and watch as Chan takes your pretty kitty apart. You do for a bit, reveling in the way that Chan throws his head back as he tries not to cum right away from Felix’s tightness, or the way Felix bites on his knuckles and arches his back as Chan pushes into him. However, once Chan is fully settled inside Felix, resting a comforting hand on the smaller boy’s inner thigh, you have a better idea. Crawling towards the two of them, you give Felix a soft kiss before setting yourself over him, dripping heat right above his mouth. You’re facing Chan and he gives you a look, but when you say in a low voice that face sitting is Felix’s favorite, he nods.

You can feel puffs of air on your cunt as Felix tells Chan to start moving. Then, you lower yourself onto Felix and when his tongue starts circling and gently biting at your slit, you throw your head back in pleasure. Chan grabs the back of your neck and tugs you in for a kiss, and it’s more of an exchange of spit and clashing teeth than a kiss but it works.

Chan starts fucking faster into Felix and the younger lets out a loud, high-pitched moan, his mouth leaving your cunt as he lolls his head back onto the pillow. You reach behind you and grab his hair, pushing his face up into your slit rather forcefully. His licks and sucks get more frantic as Chan thrusts even faster, and he lets out moans into you, wrapping his arms around your thighs for purchase.

You can feel your second orgasm of the night coming on.

“Can you keep holding on for me a bit longer, baby? I’m close too.”

Felix moans frantically, freely fucking himself back onto Chan, nearly screaming when Chan holds his hips up to more easily hit his prostate and wraps a hand around his dick. Chan hammers that spot over and over, Felix letting out helpless moans and screams as he approaches his high. Chan can tell that he’s close, but he knows Felix won’t be able to ask him for permission to cum in his fucked-out state.

“You can cum, Lix. Go ahead and let go for us.”

With a strangled scream, Felix cums hard onto his own stomach. Chan follows soon after, letting out a low, loud groan as he rides out his high inside Felix. You reach a hand down to your clit to finish yourself off, body convulsing as you fall over onto Chan. He pulls you against his chest as he stills inside Felix, the three of you breathing heavily. When you get off of Felix, you notice that he’s fully crying.

“Lixie, are you okay?”

Felix just groans, staring at the ceiling with blank eyes. Chan pulls out and discards the condom as you pull Felix’s head into your lap and stroke his hair. His entire body is limp.

Chan once again returns to his bag and pulls out a big fluffy blanket sporting a paw print pattern and a few extra pairs of clothes. He drapes the blanket over Felix, tucking it in around the sides and brushing some stray, sweaty strands of hair from the younger’s forehead.

Felix’s eyes flutter shut, and you lean into Chan, exhausted.

“That was… really good,” you say groggily.

Chan just nods, putting an arm around your shoulders and kissing the top of your head tenderly. You busy yourself with threading your fingers through Felix’s hair and trying to get all the knots out. Chan reaches over for the clothes and tugs a shirt over his head, wiggling his legs through some sweatpants. The two of you work together to wipe Felix down and dress him in a similar outfit, before you pull on a sweater and a pair of sweatpants identical to the ones that Chan is wearing.

After a bit of maneuvering, you’re sandwiched in between the still asleep Felix and a very, very, tired Chan.

“Do you want to do this again sometime?”

You laugh hoarsely and nod. “We’ll have to ask Felix when he wakes up.”

“Oh, I’m sure he won’t be opposed.”

You hum, and Chan wraps his arms around you even tighter then they were before, pulling you closer to his chest.

“Pancakes and bacon when we wake up?”

“Absolutely.”

[hit-em-with-the-four]

Lifetime of Waiting *Chapter 1*

Anthony Beauvillier and Mathew Barzal X Original Female Character

Soulmate AU (All aspects of the fic are real and in real time except for flashbacks and the aspects of soulmate/aging)

Authors Note: Hey y’all so I’m super nervous about this fic but I know a lot of us are wh*res for these boys and I thought that “hey, why not take a stab at a soulmate fic like this” so I’ve been sitting on this for a while trying to figure out how this goes and have decided how I wish the story to go forward as. So I hope you enjoy and if there’s any feedback or criticism I’d be more than happy to hear as I haven’t written in a bit. Enjoy!

Takes place January 2020 pre covid in New York City, New York, USA

Also I promised @matbarzyy that I would tag them when it came out like a few months ago! Sorry about the delay! I got sidetracked with school and wasn’t happy with the way it was going.

Gif by: samgirard (didn’t want to tag them to have them get notifications but thank you for the gif if you see this 💜)

“Come out with us Tessa, it’ll be fun I promise.” Tessa sighs looking up at her roommates from her case work she was working on for school.

“It’s not like he’s gonna be there or my other one, so what is the point?” She says with no emotion in her voice.

“You’ve got to get out to find them.” Anise exclaims looking exasperated.

“I have this curse on me, you know this! I am alive until I find them and until then I am stuck in my 23 year old body forever! Once I meet them, only then will my body begin to age naturally. Do you understand how long I have been like this? My parents and siblings except for Jonah have been gone for over 100 years” Tessa holds back tears at the thought and mention of her family who she outlived due to a once in a lifetime curse she was born with.

“It’s 2020 babe, anything can happen. You’ve only been searching for them for how long?”
“I was born in 1880.” Anise’s eyes practically bug out of her head.

‘Ooppp.. Well you’ve only been looking for them for 140 years that’s not too bad.” She tries to downplay her own reaction to how old her roommate and best friend was. Anise herself was born in 1925 so she was 95 figuratively speaking but physically, she was stuck in her 25 year old body, plagued with the same curse Tessa has. “I mean Tessa, you have got to be getting close by now right?”

“I’m just convinced they do not exist and I’ll be stuck like this forever.”
“Don’t be so melodramatic girlfriend, they are out there. I promise!”

“I can be as dramatic as I want!” Tessa protests rolling her eyes. Anise glares at her and then looks back at Isabella, another one of their roommates who is just leaning against the island in the kitchen scrolling on her phone.

“We’re not letting you out of this, you have to come with us. Please Tessa, you have to.”
“Fine, let me go and get ready, but you’re buying me some drinks got it?” Anise squeals happily nodding her head.

“Thank you, thank you you’re the best. I promise you’re not going to regret it!”
 When they pull up to the club Tessa has a pit in her stomach, like something is gonna happen but she puts on a brave face and makes her way into the club with her friends. Turns out, her friends had ordered bottle service for the night in a VIP booth.

“You really want me to get drunk tonight don’t you?” Tessa giggles throwing herself down into the booth.

“YES! You need to lighten up and let loose. You’ve been cooped up in that body of yours for so long, it’s time to let loose and live your life! You’re only going to be 23 for so long.”
“Anise, I have been 23 for 117 years. I think I’ve lived enough for all of us!” Anise rolls her eyes at her best friend.

“Relax, you’re going to find your soulmates and you’ll start aging.”
“They better hurry the fuck up.” Isabella pours her friends some shots and shoves them towards them.

“Drink.” Isabella orders both of them before downing her own vodka shot. Anise and Tessa down the shots quickly obeying Isabella before turning back to their conversation.

“They’re probably stubborn like you Tess. Stubborn, feisty and full of life. Maybe they have been waiting for you for a lifetime too.”
“Hopefully, can you pour me another shot. I need to forget about them for a while.” Isabella laughs nodding her head.

“Do not have to tell me twice!” The trio do two more vodka shots before Isabella’s soulmate Ryan shows up.

“We’re going to go dance if you two want to join us.” Anise and Tessa say to the love birds across from them.

“We’re good here, you two go!” Ryan pushes the two girls to go dance. The two girls move to the middle of the dance floor with the sweaty bodies surrounding them. The music playing from the speakers was vibrating through Tessa’s body, amplifying the alcohol that has been consumed by her and Anise.

“Tess, there’s two men over by the bar staring at us.” Anise speaks into Tessa’s ear before making a gesture towards the two men by the bar, each holding a bottle of beer tightly in their hands. While it was dark and hard to see clearly Tessa could make out the two men thanks to the light by the bar. From what she could make out the two men were buff in a nice sort of way. Not the type where it’s so intense but it’s noticeable.

“Should we give them a show?” She asks turning to face Anise.

“We should.” Anise smirks and turns Tessa back around so she can grind into her. Tessa runs her fingers through her hair and down her body in a way that was captivating to others watching her. She closes her eyes and lets herself get lost in the song and how her body is feeling. When she opens them she makes eye contact with one of the men who seems to have a dark and stormy look in his eyes. Like he wanted her in any way he could get her. She shivers but thinks it was due to a breeze and not her desire that slowly crept onto her.

As soon as Anthony Beauvillier and Mathew Barzal entered the club with their teammates they knew something about tonight was going to be different.

“I’m gonna go grab a beer, you want to come with me?” Mat asks.

“Sure let’s go.” The two make their way through sweaty bodies and drunk people to the bar to grab a beer. After they get their beers they are leaning against the bar when they see someone that catches both of their attentions.

“You see that woman over there?” Anthony asks motioning to the woman grinding on another woman without a single care in the world.

“Fuck, you noticed her too?” Mat asks.

“She’s hard not to notice.” Anthony takes a sip of his beer as the girl looks up and makes eye contact with them, specifically Anthony. He smirks and she looks visibly worked up by a single look. Tito’s grip on his beer gets tighter as she licks her lip and turns to the girl she was dancing on. When the woman turns back around both men feel their pants tighten as they watch the show she was putting on.

“Is she driving you as insane as she is me?” Mat asks giving a quick chug of his beer. He turns around and orders another beer.

“Yes, she has been driving me crazy with her dance.”

“I’m gonna go talk to her.” Mat says quickly chugging his second beer.

“Will she be good with both of us coming up to her?” Tito asks worried about her already.

“She should be good.” Mat shrugs. The two men walk over to the girls in the crowd.

“The two men are coming over, want me to dip out?” Anise asks and Tessa nods.

“I’ll be okay, I don’t think they’ll hurt me.”

“If you need me I’ll be over there. Don’t be afraid to pretend you’re friends with other people here.” Tessa giggles and nods shooing her friend away. Mat and Tito stop right in front of her and smile.

“Hey beautiful, if I can call you that?” Anthony asks giving the young woman in front of him a soft smile.

“You may! What are men like you doing here talking to a woman like me?” Tessa asks trying not to continuously check either of the men in front of her.

“Well we just happened to see the little show you put on for us back there.” Mat says coming around to press his chest against her back. Tessa feeling the drinks still coursing through her veins grinds back on Mat and he groans.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She plays innocent biting her lip.

“I think you do.” Tito smiles at her.

“Pfft nah... I’m innocent.” She smiles and Mat puts his hands on her hips. He feels an overwhelming sensation take over and he can tell Tessa feels it to by the way she pushes back into him.

“Soulmate?” He whispers in her ear and she shivers closing her eyes nodding softly.

“Soulmate.” She whispers back and Tito’s eyes bulge out of his head practically. He reaches forward and grabs her hands feeling the same overwhelming feeling Mat felt.

“Fuck, soulmate.” She smiles and nods feeling overwhelmed by what’s going on. She has waited for over a century to find them and now they’re right in front of her. It almost feels like a dream, an amazing dream that she was afraid of waking up from.

“I need to get a drink I’m sorry!” She runs away from the two boys and over to the bar.

“What can I get you beautiful?” The bartender asks.

“Can I get a triple of gin and ginger ale.” She says and he nods going to make her drink. She waits tapping her fingers on the bar running the situation through her head again. She felt different, changed almost in some weird way.

Tito and Mat looked at each other in disbelief as their soulmate ran away from them.

“Why is she running?” Mat asks running his fingers through his hair.

“Couldn’t tell you bud.” Tito shrugs.

“We gotta go after her, we don’t even know her name!” The two men spent the rest of the night looking for the soulmate that got away.

[physicalturian]

Why don’t you listen to me? Law x GN! Reader - Part 2

Spoilers for : Punk Hazard and Dressrosa arcs [No gender used for the reader, no physical description, everyone is +18] Words : 6809 Archive of Our Own A bit of angst, of fluff too! Bad flirting, if you can call that flirting. No warnings, if you feel like I should put some, send me a DM or an ask!

... Part 1

“How did that stranger get here?” A gentle voice said. “That’s super weird, I didn’t see anyone when I brought the Sunny around the island!” This one is so much louder. “Are there any injuries? Should I take a look?” “Wait, Chopper! I’ll go tell the captain, see what we have to do.” This person had common sense, warn your captain first before taking any course of action. Taking a deep breath, I was about to open my eyes when I started choking on the smoke that was around the room. Sitting up quickly, I put my hand on my nose and threw a glance around the room as I saw a man in a suit going down the stairs, the smoke following him. My eyes then looked around some more and I saw a small reindeer next to me, along with two other members of the Straw Hats crew. Giving them a smile, I quickly realized the situation and cursed under my breath.

 Throwing my coat on, I stood up and apologized profusely, “I did not mean- I had planned to wake up before you all came back but I fell asleep and- I’m not hitching a ride or anything I was waiting for my captain- he doesn’t know I’m here though, so that kind of sounds strange-“ I was interrupted by the sound of my name being called by an all too familiar voice. I winced visibly as I turned around, making the three people in front of me chuckle as they stood up from beside the bench. “Captain.” I said in a composed tone, now seeing Luffy right next to my captain, he seemed confused. However, he did not have time to ask any question that the infamous Black Leg told everyone to leave us alone, which they did. It was awkward to wait for them to go down the stairs, but once they did, we were truly alone.

That’s when I felt my heart tighten in my chest. “You lied to me.” He said as he approached, taking his hat off before walking past me and sitting on the bench behind me, his elbows resting on his knees.

“I didn’t, I said I’d get off Punk Hazard and- I did I went on this boat so-“ I was cut off,

“Don’t play with words, do you know what happened out there?” he asked in a way too serious tone. Shaking my head, I took off my coat once more, feeling too hot in this room now that he had joined me. I put it on the ground and sat in front of my captain, trying to meet his eyes.

“A gaz-“ he paused, composing himself, “If you had been out there you could have…” he trailed off, running a hand through his hair before sighing. “It doesn’t matter now, it’s over.” He grunted, putting his hat back before standing up. In panic at grabbed his hand and sat him back down, he wasn’t even talking to me. He was not even feeling angry like before, or frustrated. He was resigned. I didn’t like that.

 “I’m sorry captain-“

“Law, just Law.” He said. I was caught off guard, but nodded before resuming.

“I’m sorry for disappointing you- I… I keep repeating myself but I was just worried and I realize I disobeyed your order and I’ll stop doing that. I’ll just return to the submarine I’m sorry… Please don’t kick me off the crew?” I tried to play the last part off, as a joke but I was truly worried I had unnerved him to the point where he would have had enough. I thought I could make him understand I cared by… well, being worried but I just really had a hard time sharing my emotions.

“It’s too late for that,“ He grunted.

A knot in my throat. I couldn’t really speak when I heard his words but I nodded as I stood up. “Understood, I’ll get my stuff and leave-“ “I meant, to return to the submarine, look outside, we’re already on our way to Dressrosa.” Pointing at the window with his slender hand, I shuffled to my feet and noticed all the blue that surrounded us.

 “I would apologize but, I don’t think I could have stayed at Zou knowing you’d be off on your own, so…” Facing Law again, I saw the small smirk that had drawn itself on his features as a huff laughed escaped his lips. “What has gotten in your head to follow me?” he asked, a bit curious, while leaning back on the bench, his arms resting on it. I hid my grimace, it wasn’t the first he had asked me that question and at some point, I was bound to be honest with me, but that moment had not come yet. “Bepo-“

“Don’t tell me Bepo was worried, he already told me that you were the one that insisted to go.” He stated in his low and beautiful voice- come on, focus, you’re caught, find an excuse!

 Grabbing my coat from the floor, I let out a nervous laugh. “Right, I had forgotten that- I already told you I was worried, that’s all I can give you captain.” His brows furrowed quickly, and I chuckled as I quickly muttered his name instead of his title. Sitting down next to him, I let enough space between us for at least one person to sit; I may have a crush on the man but I did not plan to act on it, so I had to not give off the wrong idea.

“If I’m being honest, I just feel like you’re about to do something crazy. It’s a gut feeling, and maybe I’m wrong, but hey, I can’t go back now, so you’ll have to bear with me until we’re back with our friends.” Tipping his head down, Law laughed lightly but it felt off, almost dark. Then he raised his head and met my eyes with his grey ones.

 “I’m going to kill Doflamingo.” He stated.

 I blinked a few times at his words, taking in what he had said. Kill… Doflamingo, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. The previous smile on his face had disappear in an instant as he looked off to the window, his cool attitude changing entirely as he grabbed his sword and held it with both of his hands. He had talked about that man, the awful things he had done. Nothing good came out of him, nothing, and while I did not condone murder, I did not feel anything if he were to disappear of the face of earth.

 “I understand, I hope it’ll bring you what you seek- I’m not really one for revenge but if you think it’ll help you-“

“It’s not about helping, it’s about doing what’s right- it’s about following Cora-san’s will!” I felt so small when Law stood up and was now towering over me, pushing him away slightly, I stood up too but didn’t move. Instead, I gave him a warm smile.

 “I see, I’m sorry for misunderstanding. Do you trust the Straw Hats enough to have them help you with something personal like this?” He was probably irritated enough to not have me here; I should probably just make myself small. Or not, I was not like that, but I would try to not get on his nerve too much. His expression lightened and he stepped back, putting his sword back on the bench.

His form slouched, he shrugged, “It’s an alliance, they’re strong. It’s enough for me.”

 I couldn’t hold back my chuckle as he said that, I could see he was getting along with their captain. I’m sure they were on the same wavelength, or else he wouldn’t have suggested this alliance. “I see a blooming friendship, that’s so beautiful Law- admit it you like him,” Nudging his side with my elbow, I was hoping to get a confession out of him but instead he grabbed my arm and stopped me.

 It was always fun to tease him, it was hard to get a reaction out of him but when I could, it made my day. Right now, even though he reacted some way, I could feel the warmth of his hand through my shirt. Part of me really wanted that hand to hold me, I kind of wanted to stay there longer but instead I chuckled nervously and grabbed his hand to free my arm. “Promise, I won’t tell them you’re actually growing fond of them.” I said teasingly, for a moment there I felt my face heat up for some reason. I shouldn’t be acting like this around my captain, right? Sighing in fake exasperation he repeated that it was just an alliance, and I shrugged while walking towards the door. “I can read you like a book captain Law; nothing escapes me.” Shaking his head, he followed me, making sure to not forget his sword.

 “Right. Well, now that you here, I’ll introduce you-“ Cutting him off I shook my head, “I can do that just fine by myself, I think I recall my name just fine too.” I told him jokingly. A gasp escaped my lips as, from the corner of my eyes, I saw the small paper I had left on the bench, Law’s vivre card. I rapidly took it before following him outside, “But you’re my responsibility, for being a member of my crew.” He paused, then on a lighter tone continued, “And a stowaway.” A cackled escaped my lips as I placed my hand on his shoulder before teleporting us down to the deck, where people seemed to be interacting together, they weren’t really talking considering the people running around the deck while being chased by the ginger woman. “That’s the alliance?” I asked Law, barely above a whisper, as I leaned closer to him. He tilted his head forward but didn’t say anything, instead he removed my hand, that was still on his shoulder before turning towards me with a frown.

 “You’re freezing- why didn’t you say something earlier,” The way he said my name at the end of his sentence sent shivers down my spine, goosebumps all over my skin, if he could say it like that again I would enjoy it greatly. Get yourself together, he’s a doctor of course he’d get worried over your dumb ass, I told myself before pulling my hand back.

“It’s alright, I did sleep through worse when I, not so discretely, watched over you on Punk Hazard.” I said sheepishly. But the sheepishness probably made it worse as he told me to stay put before he walked off to the elegant black-haired woman, she looked so kind and poised on her chair as she read her book amidst the chaos that was happening on deck. Talking with her, Law then turned around and pointed at me, the woman’s face lit up and she waved at me before smiling oh so beautifully.

 Waving back, I reciprocated the smile which seemed to annoy Law since he turned around quickly, pulling his cap down before resuming his discussion with who I assume was Nico Robin. My focus was brought to a loud voice that entered my ear very loudly, someone said my name in the loudest way possible as they threw an arm around my shoulder.

“You’re Torao’s friend! I don’t remember fighting with you at Punk Hazard!” he exclaimed before stopping dead in his words, looking at me for a long moment, pondering with a confused expression.

 Should I tell him that I was actually not fighting with them and that I had just… followed my captain? Or maybe- “Well! It doesn’t matter, Sanji’s about to make some food, you should come! Sanji’s the best cook- he’s so great, you should try his food! Come on! I’m hungry!” I was then pulled towards a door that led to the inside of the boat but quickly got stopped by a tattooed hand.

 “Mugiwara-ya, give me a minute.” He told the Straw Hats captain, who, strangely, listened as he ran inside shouting for more food, more meat.

 “He has so much energy, it’s so fun- he’s your exact opposite! Not that you’re not funny, but like, you’re way calmer. I like that- I don’t think I could ever handle Luffy’s energy, yours I can, I’m used to it you know?” A hand placed on my shoulder stopped me in my accidental ramble, I felt my cheeks heat up in an instant as I looked off to the side, slowly coming to the realization that it wasn’t Law’s hand on my shoulder but one a lot lighter.

 “Nico-ya will show you the bathroom, you need to get warm. I don’t have time to take care of you if you get a cold.” He stated before gesturing with his head to the person behind me. Turning around I saw Nico Robin’s warm expression and grinned back.

 When I turned back, saying “Ah you’re just worried-“ I noticed he had entered the boat and was nowhere in sight. “Come on, I’ll show you around.” She then led me to what looked like a small interior bath house. I was amazed by the inside, we did not have that on the submarine, it was a lot brighter than our bathroom; And spacious too. Stepping inside, I took off my coat but stopped in my tracks, seeing the fruit user sitting on a chair next to the door.

 “I’m good miss Robin, I think I can bathe on my own.” I told her lightly, earning a surprised gasp from her.

“No need to call me miss, you can call me Robin. But don’t worry, I’m not going to look, I’m just here in case you fall asleep.” She explained softly, but it confused me a bit. Seeing that she was covering her eyes I removed my clothes and stepped inside the scalding hot water; It must have been just hot at first but considering how cold my body was, the shock between the temperatures made it a lot warmer.

 “Fall asleep? I’ll just get cleaned and get out, don’t worry.” I said softly. Chuckling slightly, she asked if she could look, if I was in the water, and I told her yes, so she uncovered her eyes, smiling.

“I’m not worried, Torao said,” frowning she took a slightly deeper voice, I had to hold back from laughing out loud but listened intently as she imitated Law explaining that one time, I fell asleep in the bath after a long fight and Bepo was the one that found me out, burning hot and asleep in the bath.

 Once she was done, her expression changed entirely, “He also added that he did not want you to get sick, if anything I think he’s the one worried about you.” She then grabbed a book from the small table next to the chair.

 Folding my arms on the edge of the huge bath, I started thinking. I did not think Law cared that much, sure it would be a pain in his ass if I got sick but that’s about it, he was a great doctor so I understood if he did not want to spend time on someone with a cold. I’m even surprised he remembered that one time I passed out, I almost forgot that. It wasn’t going to happen again, considering that it only happened because I had lost a lot of blood and was pretty tired that day. All while thinking about him, I washed myself then simply enjoyed the warmth of the water. It was one of those rare time I could relax, but it felt nice. Maybe Law could take one too, he looked rather stressed… maybe part of it being that I completely ignored his orders… I’m an idiot. Now he must hate me for being a stubborn moron.

 Fuck, definitely not how someone shows any sort of affection, but it doesn’t matter, because I’m not going to act on it anyway. Yeah, just, keep it in. “Daydreaming?” I heard Nico Robin’s voice echo in the room, bringing my attention back to her, face heating up from what I was thinking about.

 “Daydreaming, ha! No, no, nothing to daydream about, just thinking.��� A smile drew itself on her face as she closed the book in her hands.

“Not even your Captain?” She suggested teasingly, my eyes widened in shock at her words. It couldn’t be that obvious, it’s been going on for months and it’s only now that people were realizing it? I hadn’t done anything to be obvious, right? So, I denied it.

“Law? No, no, a Captain? That’d be crazy, he’s a Warlord too- I couldn’t, I would never. No, no, he’s too- too much, and grumpy you know? I mean sure he’s funny, kind too, and determined- or is it stubbornness? But grumpy, I don’t care how handsome he is, you know? I mean I can handle his grumpiness, I don’t mind it that much-“

 I cut myself off, realizing that I was talking way too much and that I had just done the exact opposite of what I had planned on doing. This was not denying, this was an obvious confession. This was bad, I had to stop being honest and stop blathering what came through my head. I’m an idiot, I thought as I let my head hang but quickly lifted it back up when I heard Robin laugh charmingly.

“It’s cute, if you’d like to talk about it, do not hesitate. I rarely have the occasion to talk about such things, it could be nice.” I stared at her in awe, cute? I’m not cute, I’m a fool for having a crush on a gorgeous pirate that has a bounty of 440 Million berries.

 “Talk about it? I’m not- I’m not planning on doing anything about it, it’ll go away. It’s a foolish crush, and he has definitely other things to do than think of a nice way to turn me down. So, yeah…” There was an awkward silence, maybe I shouldn’t have said that but it was how I felt.

About to get up, I realized my clothes weren’t where I had left them. Since there were towels nearby, I wrapped them around myself and look at Robin a bit lost. “Where are my clothes?” As if coming to a realization she stood up and brought me a fresh pair of clothes, but they weren’t mine. It was something I would wear, and it was my size… for some reason… but it wasn’t mine.

“Your clothes were pretty dirty; I gave them to Chopper so he’d clean them.” She then thrusted the clothes in my hands, “Those’ll be adequate for the weather in Dressrosa,” She then walked towards the door, but turned around as she reached it, “My offer still stands, I’m here if you’d like to talk. Or, you know… gush about how attractive he is.” I rolled my eyes but couldn’t help but smile as I nodded, telling her I’d think about it.

 When she left the room, I heard voices outside and paid attention to what was being said. I think I heard Law’s voice behind the door asking if I had fallen asleep, and Robin’s answer being that when she left, I wasn’t asleep but she had to go help Chopper. I did not know her enough to know if she was lying or not, but it was pretty suspect the way she said it. I also wondered why she would say that, she knows I’m out of the bathtub and getting dressed- my train of thoughts got interrupted by a gentle knock on the door, quickly followed by my name. Fuck could I hear him say my name many more times. “Alive and well, come in.” I called out once I was finished with putting on my shirt. If I didn’t know better, I would have said there was hesitance when the door opened. “You did not fall asleep, good.” He then stepped forward and placed a hand on my forehead, I almost flinched at how sudden it was but stood there.

 “No fever. At least you’re not freezing anymore.” He stated. When he let his hand fall back to his side I shrugged in response, “Don’t speak so soon, you’d be surprised by how quick my body temperature fucks me up, Law.” I said jokingly as we made our way out of the room, I think I heard him chuckle as he followed me outside. His cheeks were slightly red from the heat of the room and he looked so cute like that, it was a rare sight to see him with colors on his face. It almost looked like a blush, but I did not comment on it.

 Once we made our way to the dining room, shivers ran down my spine despite the sun that shone outside. “You’re cold.” Law said as he glanced my way, his hand wrapped around his sword as he led the way. I’ll admit I would get lost around this boat, seeing how big it is; Which is why I was grateful for his presence, not just because he was pretty soothing to be around… no… Right he had said something-

 Throwing him a glance I laughed a bit, “Ah, I’ll warm up, don’t you worry- maybe I’ll ask the little reindeer if he wants to cuddle, he does seem quite fluffy and warm-“ I heard him say ‘Shambles’, then saw something appear in his hands before he handed it to me.

“Tony-ya is busy, just take this.” I hesitantly took his coat from his hands, brushing mine against his tattooed ones. Just like before, they were soft and I wanted to hold them a bit longer, which I accidentally did when I did not pull away with the coat right away and instead let my hand touch his. I observed his features, even though he looked away, but as seconds passed, he turned his face towards me with a scowl.

“Are you taking it or not?” He grumbled; his face still slightly red from the heat of the bathroom. “Right, yeah- yeah, thank you!” I said with a bit too much enthusiasm as I grabbed the coat and draped it over my shoulders before following him to the kitchen.

 My face heated up at the same time my body did with the coat. It was nothing, he was just being careful so that he did not have to spend extra time on me if I did get sick from the cold. It wasn’t a romantic gesture or anything, just a friend lending another friend some help… unfortunately.

Then, my mouth spoke faster than I could think and said, “It’s quite comfortable, if all your clothes are this comfortable, I might have to borrow them more often.” Why did I say that, was this flirting? Or was I joking? I did not even know, I had to stop talking. I was usually able to hold back from being like this, but maybe it was because I never had alone time with him? Usually the crew was always around, I could not let my guard down but right now it was just him and I, and my stupid idiotic heart wanted to come clean, but no.

Hearing him sigh, I felt like I had made a mistake and was about to apologize when I heard him say, “I would not mind. You look cute like this.” Then he sped off and went to talk to the blond cook.

 As Law spoke with the cook, I stood at the entrance of the kitchen, baffled. Had he said cute? Me? No, it was probably more of a, cute like a child wearing their parents’ clothes, right? But still… cute? Shaking myself out of my reverie I looked up and joined the men in the kitchen by Law’s instruction, or more by his gesture of me to step inside, which I did. The table was full, everyone was drinking and eating to their heart’s content, the skeleton however moved from his seat and slithered towards the thief, Nami was her name. He asked her something I couldn’t hear but the woman beat him up for it, which startled me.

“Are they always like this?” I asked as I leaned towards Law, I felt pride burst in my chest when he chuckled lowly but I did not show it.

“They’re loud.” He simply said. I could only hum in agreement, loud was one word, they were merry, rowdy, loud indeed, but also… welcoming.

 One of the men around the table was pretty talkative and from what I could hear, he was only spurring bullshit but the youngest of the bunch seemed to believe all that he was saying. My observation was cut short when Law pulled me towards the kitchen, instead of just standing in the dining room, and asked Sanji for a serving each. The blond cook served us before doing a bee line and going straight to the two women at the table, asking them, enamored, if they needed anything.

“He’s quite… vocal with his- uh… affection, isn’t he?” I said hesitantly.

Law didn’t answer, but we both sat at the island that was facing the oven and started eating in silence. At least, in as much silence as possible when the entire Straw Hats crew was having a blast during their dinner.

“Hoi, Torao!!” Luffy called out.

Law put down his fork with an annoyed grunt and looked over his shoulder at the other Captain. “What.” A wide grin spread on his face, Luffy shoved more food in his mouth before speaking; Using the bone in his hand, he pointed at Law, then at me,

“Are you both dat-“ the energetic captain was interrupted when hands appeared all over his body, and face.

 Nico Robin had used her power to make him shut up, for some reason. The ginger woman peeped in a bit embarrassed, “What Luffy meant to ask was, are you both- enjoying the food? Sanji makes the best food!” she asked with a big smile.

I was a bit confused, but nodded. “It’s very good, you have a very talented cook in you crew.” I said in all politeness, in the background the blond cook almost had heart-eyes at the compliment from the ginger. Next to me, Law sighed and grabbed the slice of bread from his tray then dropped it on mine, not commenting on the short interaction that that happened with the Straw Hats.

I smiled at that before remarking, “Still not a fan of bread, I see.”

Looking at his plate, he did not reply, instead he shrugged.

“I’ll be your designated bread eater, don’t worry.” With the fork in his mouth, he smiled slightly while I tore the bread before dipping it in the sauce. Although the crew behind us seemed to be whispering a lot, I was mostly focus on not letting it anything slip through my actions, anything crush-related. I focused hard on keeping thing casual, cool, composed.

 However, to my captain, I was just taking too long eating. He had finished rather quickly and was now waiting with his arms crossed over his chest. “Are you almost done?” he asked impatiently. Surprised by his demeanor, I looked at him with my mouth full of bread and quirked a brow before swallowing, “You can go, I’m almost done anyway-“

“It’s ok, I’ll wait. Then you’ll follow me.” Could his words be any more ominous? Instead of leaving, like I had suggested, he did as he said and stayed until I finished. But he seemed restless, he kept glancing behind us at the Straw Hats every time they would mutter a word remotely close to either my name, or his, or even to our crew. Instead of asking him what got him so on edge, I finished my plate then stood up, earning a surprised face from the swordsman.

 With my plate in hand, I gave a curt nod to Law, telling him I was done then put it in the sink before pulling at his sleeve once. “Where shall we go O captain my captain-“

“I already told you to stop calling me that,” He grumbled.

Instead of telling him I was just fooling around, I could not control myself I teased a bit, “Right, Torao” The speed at which he faced me made me snort without an ounce of charm, I put a hand to my mouth and looked to the side. The expression on his face was even more priceless, “Not you too-“ seeing how distressed it made him, albeit how funny it was, I nudged his side as we walked and interrupted him.

“Kidding, kidding, Law, Trafalgar Law- but you know Torao is much more fun-“ his deadly glare made me change the route I was taking with my words, “But Law is badass, you’re badass, Law it is. I guess it’s cute too.” I shrugged.

 He cleared his throat before walking ahead, we quickly reached the outside deck where Caesar was tied up; I had only now realized the man was there. “Hey, what’s he doing here? Shouldn’t he be thrown into the ocean or something?” I inquired as we made our way closer to the annoying stand-user.

“I thought you did not like revenge.” Law commented jokingly, I threw him a glance but couldn’t keep it long seeing how gorgeous he looked with that smile of his. Swearing under my breath, I looked back at the pale man who had an almost pleading face.

“For him I would make an exception though. Definitely.” I stated, earning a laugh from my captain as he put his sword down against the mast.

“We need him alive in the meantime,” he then quickly explained to me the importance of the man, and although I understood I did not like the idea of him being on our ship. But I was not about to throw their plan off just because I hated him, so I nodded.

 “Alright then, we just, what? Watch over him?” The raven-haired man nodded before sitting down on the floor, leaning his head against the mast. Shrugging off his coat, I threw it on him before sitting next to him, more likely slumping next to him; A bit too violently too, considering the pain I felt on my backside when I hit the floor, but I ignored it.

“This sounds fun. Crew bonding, love me some bond.” I closed my eyes a moment, pondering why I said that, but only for a moment before opening them again when I felt a weight on my lap; It was Law’s coat, the same one I had threw back at him. “I- I’ll ask inside if they have a spare blanket, not that I don’t like your coat but, it’s a coat, and clearly it’s not practical.”

 “You can sleep inside if you want, watching over this idiot is not the most entertaining thing-“ Since I had stood, I couldn’t see his face due to his cap, so as I interrupted him, I took it off his head and frowned. He did groan at my actions, not liking it one bit, but I still spoke.

 “I said, bonding time. I’m not about to let you and that moron alone. Plus, I would not miss an opportunity to sleep under the starry sky, with you nonetheless-“ I stopped dead in my tracks and winced, I should really shut up because the more time I spent around him, the more my tongue would slip. With as much composure I could muster, I turned around and told him I was going to go get a blanket. Once inside, the hubbub from earlier as we ate, had slowly quieted down, all that could be heard was piano being played in the background as they talked together.

 Entering the dining area, everyone around the table was asleep but Robin, Franky and Sanji; Nami and Usopp were nowhere to be seen, while the captain and his right hand-man were asleep with their head on the table, and youngest of the crew being asleep on his chair. The skeleton however, was the one playing the piano, he seemed in a sort of nostalgia as he played his tune, so I did not hover and entered discretely.

“Hi, can I bother you real quick?” I asked softly,

Sanji who was enthralled by the black-haired woman in front of him only hummed in response as he puffed smoke. “Do you have any spare blankets, since I’ll be watching over Caesar Clown with Law-“ The cyborg leaned on the table, smiling brightly, the way he rolled his r’s as he spoke made me smile, “How romantic! I didn’t think Torao was like that-“ Nico Robin pulled him down, so that he was sitting again, then she whispered something to him in a hushed yet urgent manner. It calmed him down as he looked to the side, a bit red.

“Yes, we have spare blankets. They’re in the hall, come on I’ll show you.”

 Thanking her, I was startled to see the skeleton standing at the door with his hands over his ‘cheeks’, but stopped before bumping into him. “How beautiful, young love- I do believe I have a song that could fit the mood if you’d like. Ahh it has been a while since I played the violin but it could-“ As he opened his skull and started rummaging through it, he got interrupted,

“Brook! Please,” Nico Robin widened her eyes then gestured for him to go back inside the dining room, which he did after closing his skull, albeit a bit confused. I could feel my whole body burning in embarrassment, for months I had kept this crush a secret and now, everyone knew? Or perhaps I thought it was a secret, but I was obvious and the crew was playing along- it must be it.

 “Still thinking?” The gentle voice of Robin reached my ear, I blinked a few times and looked at her, a bit lost. Humming in response, I stopped when she did,

“I guess I am, uh? I think I’ll ask him to stargaze.” she chuckled softly before handing be two blankets and pillows then turning around.

“Wait up- wait miss Robin- Robin, just Robin. Right.” She paused, smiling and cocked her head to the side, curious. I was hesitant, squeezing the blanket tighter; Taking a long breath, I sighed, “How- I mean, should I flirt? With… Law, I just don’t know what to do. I would usually talk to Bepo but-“

“You should, if you feel comfortable doing so.”

I made a face in response, then decided against it. “Yeah, no… you’re right, I shouldn’t. I should keep things professional- it would be awkward if he rejected me, you’re right.” Before the woman in front of me could speak, I turned around and rushed off, hearing a confused ‘I did not say that at all’ in the back.

 I just give him his stuff, then sit down, and shut up. Yep. Easy. “I got everything; the entire Straw Hat crew is exhausted it seems. I can’t really blame them though,” I said off-handedly as I arrived. “Do they often sleep in such random places?” I wondered as I sat down next to Law, opening the blanket wide and covering both us with it. Considering that we had 2 blankets, I could have given him one, and one for myself too, but I decided to put both on both of us.

“They are quite special, I’m sure they’ll wake up and move to their bed soon enough.” At the same time, he did, I grabbed the blanket to pulled it higher, and our hands grazed. Like a high-schooler I reacted stupidly and giggled like an idiot. “My bad, ah, yep you- you do you.” It was not the right thing to say, nor the bad one either. But it sucked for sure.

 Change the topic, just do it. “I have an extra blanket if you need it-“ turning around to face him for the first time, I suppose I had been avoiding his gaze for unknown reasons, I saw he had taken his hat off. And I huffed a laugh, in surprise. “Your hair it’s-“

Annoyed, he ran his hands through his hair, grumbling, perhaps trying to tame it. “No, no, it’s good- it’s fine, it’s actually adorable, I just rarely see you without the hat and- no I like it, just surprised.” He mumbled something I didn’t quite heart adding a scoff to it. Curious, I asked him to repeat but he only scowled, telling me that it was nothing.

“If you’re sure…” there was a short silence, so I spoked again, “I really meant it as a compliment, I really like it-“ covering my mouth with his hand, he sighed,

“I get it, I get it, will you sleep now?” Raising my brows, confused, but nodded and grabbed his hand to pull it away from my face. For a second, I did not let it go and considered holding it; It could be a subtle way to try right? I could hold his gentle hand and feel the warmth-

“Is there a problem?”

 Dropping his hand quickly, I shook my head and looked up the stars instead of him. “No, yeah, there- nothing. Wake me up when you want to sleep, we’ll take turns, alright?” I muttered as I started sliding to the ground; Although he hummed in agreement, I knew he would not, so I gave him a dirty look,

“I mean it, you also need some sleep. I can manage that chained-up stupid scientist- no, you know what I’ll take the first turn actually. Or else, I know you won’t wake me up.” I said quickly, pulling myself up so that my back was aligned with the mast and I was sitting straight. Law tsked and told me to stop acting cute, I needed to sleep and he was not going to let me fuck my sleep like that.

“Is that so? Did you even sleep since you got back from Punk Hazard? Mm?” he seemed taken aback for a second, seeing the surprised expression on his face was rare, but I had grown to like it for some reason.

 “You think you’ll be able to take on Doflamingo, if your body is as exhausted as your mind?” After I said that, he frowned, his mouth slightly open as if he was about to say something but instead decided against it. “Come on Law, for a doctor you really don’t give two fucks about your health-“

“I’m not letting you watch over this moron on your own, I don’t care if I don’t sleep. Some things are more important.” I would have smiled at how stubborn he was, but at the same time I wanted to hit him for being a dumbass.

“You’re exhausting, and exhausted, I can see it. But alright. How about this, we watch over him until someone else takes the shift, then we go sleep, together-“ I stopped at the use of word, seeing how he quirked a brow I could see he was no entirely convinced by my choice of words either. “Together like- both of us we’ll go sleep, somewhere but not like together, more like- hey you get what I’m saying, just, let’s fuck our sleep more, then fix it, you know?” His beautiful laughed sounded like a melody to my ears, making my cheeks heat up lightly at being able to get this out of him.

 And he agreed, strangely. The night was long, a few times I felt my head lull backwards or to the side; When it’d hit the mast, I would straighten myself right away, however when it would hit Law’s shoulders, he wouldn’t say anything. It was only after minutes of being in this state, between asleep and awake, that I would realize and wake up quickly. I would berate him, jokingly, and his only response was a shrug, however I could see a slight smirk in the corner of his lips as he did so.

 It’s like in his head he was telling me ‘I told you so’ like he felt proud for being still awake, while I was clearly slowly falling asleep. The sun could not arrive sooner, around what felt like five or six in the morning, noise could be heard inside the boat, more than the usual creaking noises a boat made. The sound of people walking around, getting prepared, all of it. I was getting excited to finally be able to go to sleep very soon. [Part 3]

[dontbesoweirdkira]

Can you do a list of Mic being pure w/ his favorite student, (y/n) (like, he’s not afraid to show it), but she’s living with her friend and their family since she’s alone in Japan, and trying to keep it a secret. But when he finds out he’s just “ASDFGHJKLWHAT”, and he’s trying to help her with so many things, which soon evolves to “custody of child—”.

https://dontbesoweirdkira.tumblr.com/post/189518600672/hey-its-me-again-i-hope-you-are-still-open-for

A/N: I first would like to say I ALSO HAVE EATEN A NUCLEAR REACTOR...it tasted like radiation and strawberries yummy!  Here’s your soft present mic X student. I hope you enjoy.  

(I kind of made it where you aren’t fully living with your friend. Just bouncing from the streets to her house every so often if that makes sense??)Requests open

-So at first Mic didn’t notice anything was up...well no he did but he kind of brushed it off since he didn’t want to cross any boundaries.

-Like when he asked for your parents signature but they were always somehow “out of town” or “working overtime” 

-Or when he was going to offer you a ride home since it was pretty late but you just insisted to walk by yourself. And how you didn’t bother to call them and let them know you were going to be home a bit later than usual. 

-He was always curious but like i said he didn’t want to cross a boundary and make you feel uncomfortable about something so personal. Besides how would he bring it up?

-”Hey Y/N, Why do you always conveniently “forget” to fill out your home address on forms?” 

-Yeah see his dilemma?^ And like what if it was nothing and it really was just a convenience.  It seemed better to leave it alone and not worry. You’d tell him if something was going on, right?

-Maybe one day you’re talking to your friend and He’s just around the corner so he overhears the conversation.

-”Hey Y/N, my family is going out of town for a few weeks. I- i would ask if you could come with so you’ll have some place to stay but we are going out of the county and you know how that is..”

-”Oh..um..Don’t worry, I'll figure something out.”

-”Are you sure? I- i can always leave the house key so you can have somewhere safe to go? But uhm, My cousin might come over every so often to watch a game or to check the house so be alert and make sure he doesn’t see you.” 

-”N-No it’s okay, seriously. I’ll find somewhere to go, thank you though. ”

-”Well, I'll leave the key under the doormat if you change your mind, we’re leaving in the afternoon tomorrow so after then the place will be yours for a bit.I’ll text you later, ‘kay?”

-He’s shocked?? Like he thought maybe your at home life wasn’t good or maybe you were embarrassed about living in a low income place, but you were homeless?? And you’ve been staying with your friends every so often?? Why didn’t you tell him? Did you not feel comfortable? He’s in this weird state of shock and acknowledgement.

-For the rest of the school day hE Is cOnTemPlaTiNg oN WhaT tO Do. He’s not sure how he should bring it up or even if he should bring it up. 

- *is casually being torn apart internally as he’s trying to teach english*

-*dEeP sPaCe STarE while he is standing at the board pointing to the sentence structures*

-”Sensei, are you oka-”

-”IMTHINKINGASHARDASICANTOFIGUREOUTASOLUTIONDONTPRESSUREMEoKaY.”

-lolol but once classes are over he taps you on the shoulder and asks if he could walk with you home for a bit. You visibly nervous, you reject and say “Umm It’s all right Mr.Hizashi, you’re busy and I don't want you to take up any of your time plus it’s late and I'm tired and i have to go and-”

-”Y/n...You don’t have to make up excuses, I know you don’t have anywhere to stay.”

-stopping in your tracks, your eyes went wide and you faced him 

-”I heard you talking to that friend this morning.”

-M-mr.Hizashi I can explain-”

-cutting you off once again he begins “Hey, you don’t have to do any of that. It’s your business. But I don’t want you to just roaming around or staying anywhere alone anymore, okay? If you would like, I have an extra bedroom at my house, you can stay there until we get everything sorted.”

-”No..Mr.Hizashi...It’s okay..I’ll be okay, I’ve always have. Plus you have been such a great teacher and already went out of your way more than what I could have asked...staying with you would be too much.”

-”Y/n, it’s okay to ask for help. I seriously don’t mind. At least stay for the night so you can eat and have a roof over your head, then in the morning we’ll figure something out.”

-You hesitantly accepted but you told him that you’d be out of his hair as soon as the next morning hit.

-That night going to his house was...nice to say the least. The guest bedroom that he had was bigger than your friend’s kitchen and nicer than any place that you’ve stayed at. It really was heaven. So warm and cosy. There was a nice sense of nostalgia and security, something you’ve haven’t felt in years. His home was somewhere anyone would want to live in their whole lives. 

-”Once you’ve settled down, you can come to the dining room. I ordered some take out, I figured you’d be hungry.”

-For a moment you sat on the fluffy bed and just took in everything. God was so good to you right now and honestly you thanked him. Although it frustrates you to think that this would only last for a second and you’d be back on the streets, roaming around. Yeah yeah, Hizashi wants to help you but you knew soon he’d get tired of your presence in his house…..they all did. 

-Taking a deep breath, you went to go meet hizashi in the dining room.

-He welcomed you then motioned you to sit down at any of the seats at the table. “Oh hey, there’s miss america. You may sit anywhere you’d like. And help yourself to the food here.”

-You sat down across from him, only not to look at him just to have your eyes on the empty plate in front of you. You didn’t really touch any of the food actually or even make a sound. You weren’t trying to be rude or anything, you just..there was a lot on your mind and facing hizashi seemed difficult.

-”Are you okay Y/N? I hope sushi is okay. I- i meant to um ask what you would like to eat first. I’m sorry.”

-”No I’m sorry for-,”  twiddling your thumbs for a moment you then looked towards the blonde fellow “Mr.Hizashi..My parents left when I was around three but they left me with my aunt. She was a very good person and took good care of me but she got very ill...and um you know. At first I was living in her apartment but i couldn’t pay for it when it was time for rent so..I stayed with my friend for a couple of months. But her parents kind of got tired of me staying there and it was this thing, so I lied and told them I found a family member to stay with. And um up until now I've been staying on the streets. Sometimes having a sleepover once every so often.”

-”Y/n…”

-”I didn’t tell you because I was so scared… I didn't know what to do and I really really don’t want to go in foster care or anything so I just thought I was better off keeping it from you. But I guess it backfired anyways because you still found out haha….I’m sorry Hizashi. I hope you don’t think of me any less. I- it was a tough situation and all and you know how that is...”

-He immeadately stood up, walked over to you and hugged you. It was with So mUcH compassion and genuine love. You really was his favorite student no scratch that HIS FAVORITE HUMAN i swear he would end the world for you. 

-He gave you a little cheek kiss and was like “I’m not letting anyone put you in foster care and I'm sure as hell am not kicking you out even if i have to take custody of you.”

-”w-wait what? wAiT wHaT???”

-”KID IM fucking keeping you here safe with me even if i’m in court all year. We are going to make this work somehow, you aren’t doing this alone anymore. Do you understand?”

-YeAh hEs cRyInG iM cRyinG yOuRe CryInG wE aLl CryinG 

-BRO YOU ARE UGLY CRYING NOT NO SOFT CUTE CRY LIKE HAHA YOU SOUND LIKE A WALRUS TRYING TO SAY ‘t-tH-Th-HaNKy-yyy-YoUUU-UOi  mR hIzZaShIiIi”

-He whipes the tears of your cheeks and ruffles your hair 

-”it’ll be okay Y/N, I promise.”

-I swear he’s like rushing to the computer and trying to figure out how to adopt you.

-”HoW tO aDoPt a ChILD wHen You aRe a hEro.”

-There's an actual wiki-how about it???????

-No but he’s really doing his research and is visiting lawyers trying to find the right one. He has them immediately looking into everything and making sure that his chances of getting you is as high as possible. 

-He’s up late at night on the phone, emailing,  and writing

-He has pounds and pounds of evidence that he is the most fit person to take care of you. He is not playing whatsoever

-He already let’s you decorate and he even gives you an office so you can do work or whatever. He most definitely brought you clothes and stuff for your room.

-When the courts and everything finally approves it after a long year of fighting, he picked you up and spun you around.

-”What did I tell you?!? I was not going to lose you and i made sure of that. And starting today and the rest of  forever you’ll never have to be alone.”

-BonUs

-100% takes you out somewhere super fun and nice. 

-”Wait we must take a selfie, The first day we are legally Father-daughter!”

-The most chaotic duo now, Everyone at school knows he adopted you and like he won't let anyone forget it.

-MISSSSSS AMERICAAAAAAA, is now, MISSSSSSS HIZAAAAASSSHHHHHIIIIIIII.

-”WHEEEEERRREEEE ISSS MYYYY LITTLE MUSHROOM???”

-”YYYYYY/NNNNN YOU LEFT YOUR BAG IN MY MINIVAN.”

-He has a minivan now. It also has a ‘Yeah I’m a soccer dad and i’m proud’ sticker on it.

-He joined the PTA 

-HE IS SOOO BIASED I SWEAR NO ONE IS ABOVE YOU IN HIS CLASS AND NO ONE BETTER SAY ANYTHING ABOUT IT

-Always hugging you and giving you little cheek kisses when he sees you in the halls

-Made a titled track called “Now a dad”

-he most definitely wears ‘Best Dad’ shirts now. He also is in a ‘Single dad’s in Japan’ group now

-”I think we look just alike, Don’t we Y/N?” you both smiled and posed at the same time

[hauntedflxwers]

Two People You Never Piss Off

Or as I like to call it: Luka rips Lila a new one

This is the first story I’m posting on here and it’s very Lila bashing and takes place after the season 3 finale has happened so spoilers!!!! just in case

Word count: 2965

With all that out of the way, I hope any of y’all who read it enjoy it!

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Luka sat some distance away from his sister and her friends, perfectly content to listen to them having fun while he played his guitar and watched. Something nagged at his mind, however: he recognised everyone there - Juleka, Rose, Alix, Mylene and Alya - except one girl. With two ugly sausages on the side of her head - he really had no clue what type of aesthetic she was reaching for with those, but either way she failed miserably - and a meek expression on her face as she spoke that seemed too carefully crafted to feel real, he could already hear what sort of melody he associated with her. It was sour and impure, a garbled mess of everyone else’s melodies and, quite frankly, it made him feel a little bit queasy. 

That wasn’t the main problem, however. He couldn’t help but be painfully aware of Marinette’s absence, and the way no one seemed to care about it either. Ever since Chloe had been akumatized on her parents’ anniversary, he’d been worried for her. He’d spoken with Juleka a few days after Ladybug had set everything back to normal, and he’d asked her if she’d noticed whether something was wrong with Marinette. Her answer hadn’t been very assuring. 

“Well,” he remembered her starting, dragging out the word as she thought. When she spoke again, her words had been slow and careful. “Marinette has had something against Lila since she came back from Achu, and she never normally hates someone that much. She keeps saying she’s lying but whenever she does Alya just dismisses her and says that she’s just jealous because Lila is close to Adrien. I always thought that was a bit weird, because she helped Adrien go on that date with Kagami even though it hurt her, but that’s not the point. I don’t know if Lila did something to her, but I think Marinette has a point, even if Alya would kill me for saying that - I mean, she knows Jagged Stone personally.” Juleka looked out of the window nervously before continuing. 

“But ever since Chloe and her parents got akumatized, she’s been acting really strange. It’s almost like she’s mourning someone, she’s been that upset. Whenever we ask her to hang out she either blows us off because she’s so busy or she comes but she ends up on her own. Alya asked her why she was so upset once and she just said she’d lost something important. Alya assumed it was because Adrien and Kagami were getting closer. But Rose thought she meant she’d lost something valuable, like an earring or something.”

Since then, he’d seen Marinette once or twice when he had to deliver something to the bakery. Every time, she seemed well. Happy, but reserved. Her melody was more subdued, but it also seemed more mature, like she herself had had an experience that made her wiser. It was unusual, but he’d just been happy that she’d been handling herself well. 

So seeing her friends without her, he was inclined to believe that she was just busy again. He was also inclined to believe that the sausage-girl was the Lila that Juleka told him Marinette didn’t like. The girl who could be lying. He focused on his guitar again and began to strum Marinette’s new melody softly. 

He didn’t know how much time had passed when he was interrupted by someone holding their hand out to him and quietly saying, “Hi.” He let his final chord finish playing before he looked up to see Lila in front of him, a warm albeit nervous smile on her face. “I’m Lila, and you must be Juleka’s brother Luka. I’ve heard a lot about you, you know. It’s so nice to meet you.”

Before he replied, she scooped up the skirt beneath her legs and sat next to her, making a point to flash him another smile. “The others have just gone to go and get some stuff, but they were so considerate of my arthritis that they told me to just wait up here so I didn’t injure myself! So I thought I’d come and introduce myself to you.”

As unpleasant as her melody was, he didn’t have any reason to distrust or dislike her yet, so he pushed those feelings aside in favour of watching her very carefully. “Well it’s nice to meet you too, Lila. Although, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you here before.”

She laughed with a wave of one hand. It was a pleasant, bubbly sound but there was something slightly off about it that he couldn’t place. “That’s because you haven’t seen me here before. See, Juleka has invited me here a lot but I’ve always been so busy fundraising or talking with leaders of charities or catching up on schoolwork I’ve missed while away for my mama’s business that this is the first time I’ve been able to accept it,” she explained. Immediately he noticed that she was someone who spoke with her hands, gesticulating and gesturing in random directions to make her explanations seem larger. Whether it was natural or something she’d learned to manipulate people, he wasn’t sure. She hadn’t done anything to indicate she was lying yet. 

He tried to hide his skepticism as he spoke, opting for a neutral, “Well, I’m glad you could make it this time, Lila. I’m sure you must have been upset to miss those first few times.”

Her face dropped and she gathered her hands in her lap, staring down at them pointedly as she replied, her voice quivering as she spoke. “Oh, I was really upset about it, but Juleka and the others were so nice about it, they didn’t even get mad when I told them I already had plans. You’re so lucky to have Juleka as a sister, you know. I’d kill to have someone as understanding as her in my family, but you know how it as an only child - you can only emulate those sorts of relationships. It makes me sort of envious of you and Juleka. You guys have always had that, while I’m going to have to search for someone who will trust me the same way I would.” Then she looked up at him, eyes going wide as if she realised she’d done something wrong. “Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry for unloading on you like that, especially when we don’t know each other that well!”

“It’s fine,” he reassured her, despite the conflicting feelings in his chest. On one hand, if she was genuine, he knew he would feel sympathy for her - a mixture of guilt due to inadvertently upsetting her and worry due to how scared she was of upsetting him - but if she was a liar like Marinette said, he knew he would be furious with her for trying to manipulate him into feeling bad, probably to butter him up for a lie. Both mindsets fought the other. “We all have something we need to take off our chest sometimes.”

She sniffled, head in hands before she looked up, cheeks pink and eyes wet around the edges and stared up at him for a moment before her face split into a wide grin and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Oh, thank you Luka!” she hiccupped, tightening  her hold on him. “How can I repay you for being so kind and understanding?”

“Repay?” he asked. Where was she going with this?

“Well, you- you like Jagged Stone, don’t you? I could get you a ticket to his next concert!” she offered, pulling away and clasping her hands in front of her chest. Her voice was hopeful. “It wouldn’t be hard!”

His gut squirmed as he contemplated what to do next. This is it, Luka, he thought. This is where you find out whether she’s lying or not. “How would you do that? I don’t want you paying money just because I listened to you rant about your feelings.”

“It’ll be no trouble at all!” Lila waved him off, her change in mood a little jarring. “I don’t know whether Juleka told you or not already, but Jagged loves me - I’m like his . honorary daughter! He even wrote a song for me once!”

“Really? What song?” There was something suspicious about the way she paled. “If you say it, I’ll know which one you’re talking about.”

“Well,” she spluttered, picking at her nails sheepishly. “I said he wrote a song for me,  but I didn’t mean he published it. It would seem a bit weird to praise a 15 year old girl…”

“Actually, that depends on what he’s praised you for,” he countered. “Jagged Stone loved Marinette’s designs so much that he wouldn’t stop promoting her for another two months at least, but no one thought it was weird because he praised her designs, not her. Was he praising you for something you did or was it in a creepy, ‘this random girl is nice, she’s a minor, I’m an adult’ way?”

“I’m guessing Juleka didn’t tell you then?” she asked forcefully, eyes darting to where Juleka and her friends had gone. He shook his head and her shoulders tensed. “Well,” she dragged the word out as her melody began to go even more sour in the back of his mind. “Well, he made the song for me because I did something for him.”

“What did you do?” he asked curiously. “It must have been something dangerous if Jagged has had to keep quiet about it though, because he’s never mentioned you before on any of his social media.”

“I saved his pet from being run over at an airport once,” Lila admitted after what felt like ages, getting visibly nervous - tapping her foot against the floor and hunching her shoulders so that she was smaller, both of which were red flags for him. “My mama and I were on our way to another country for her work and I saw his pet nearly get run over by a plane so I saved it. I’ve had really bad tinnitus ever since.” As if to prove a point, she cupped her left ear with both hands and whimpered slightly. “It hurts, but I’m trying to be brave for everyone.”

“That doesn’t make sense though,” he mused out loud, watching as Lila froze. “Jagged loves Fang so much that he would never let him get anywhere close to somewhere he could be run over, so unless Fang escaped this would have never happened.”

“No, no!” Lila interrupted him hastily, waving both hands in front of her. “It wasn’t Fang, it was his kitten.”

He blinked in disbelief, then any sympathy he had for her was lost. She really had been lying to him and Juleka this entire time, without a care in the world. He took a deep breath before he said anything rash. Once he was calm, he continued. “Jagged is allergic to kittens, he said so in one of his interviews.”

“This was before he realised!”

“He said in his interview he found out about his allergies before he was an adult, and I’m pretty sure you weren’t born early enough to save his cat while he was a teenager.” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “There’s no reason to lie to me, Lila. Not if it’s just to impress me.”

“I’m not lying!” she protested, voice raising in volume. “I don’t know why you’re attacking me like that!”

He shuffled away from her, raising his hands in the air to prove a point. “I’m not attacking you, Lila. I told you that you shouldn’t have to lie to impress me, that’s all. I’d much rather know the real Lila over the Lila who lies about Jagged Stone.”

“Oh, why do you care so much?” she snapped, meek demeanor disappearing. “It’s one lie!”

“Yeah, and that’s one lie you’ve told my sister, her classmates and Marinette. For all I know, you could have told more,” he countered evenly, struggling to contain his anger. “I’m pretty sure you were on the Ladyblog as well, with an interview about Ladybug being your best friend. Was that a lie too?”

“It’s only what Alya wanted to hear!”

“People want you to tell the truth, not get their hopes up.” He stared her down. “I want my sister to know that everything she’s being told is genuine. I want her friends to know that everything you say is the truth-”

“They all think it’s the truth anyway,” she hissed. “What’s the difference?”

“The difference is you’re lying,” he said cooly. “And if you’re reacting like this to me knowing, god knows how you reacted to Marinette knowing.”

“It’s always about Marinette, isn’t it?” Lila all but yelled at him. Her eyes glared daggers at him, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. “I bet with your crush on her, she convinced you into believing I lied and you just went along with it, didn’t she?”

“Of course she didn’t. Marinette doesn’t like liars but she’s not cruel like that. I drew my own conclusions based on your inconsistencies. Besides, if Marinette wanted people to know you were a liar, she’d go about it in a way you wouldn’t expect her to. She’s not dumb.”

“Of course she’s not dumb!” Lila shot back. “If she’s smart enough to see through my lies she can’t be as dumb as this class! It’s why she’s so annoying!”

He folded his arms. “I’m guessing Ladybug doesn’t like you either?”

“How the hell do I know?” Lila shrugged viciously, expression getting more and more sour by the second. “She’s a bloody superhero, she doesn’t wear her heart on her sleeve! I don’t even know if she has one! She has a brain where her heart is and a cavity in her head that makes her dangerous, because she could hate me and I’d never know because it’s stuck in her stupid head and not on her face! All I know is that she hasn’t called me out yet and every time she sees me she just encourages me to be honest instead of yelling at me, like she realised her mistake.”

“Mistake?”

“Doesn’t matter. But no, we’re not friends. There, you happy?” She was so angry that it was almost amusing, but he shoved that feeling down. “I hate her, she ruined my chances with Adrien and then gave me a half-assed apology like I was supposed to just accept it? Does she think I’m an idiot?”

“What you’re missing, Lila is a crucial piece of advice if you’re going to continue playing this stupid game.” He ran his fingers over the strings of his guitar as Lila opened her mouth, then closed it, then glared at him expectantly. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re an idiot or not. There are two people in this world that you never piss off.”

“And who would those people be?”

“I think you already know,” he smiled in vindication at the way her expression fell. “But just in case, I’ll remind you. There are two people you never piss off, and they’re Ladybug and Marinette.”

“And why might that be?” Lila was tense as she waited for his answer, eyes darting to and fro. They both knew Juleka could return at any moment. “What’s so special about them?”

“Ladybug has her mind, her Lucky Charm, her word and Chat Noir on her side, while you don’t even have your own word, you just have a reporter who blindly follows you, but even she’ll believe Ladybug over you. Marinette is your class representative, it wouldn’t be hard for her to expose you, especially considering she can contact Jagged Stone whenever she wants.”

“She can?” Lila spluttered. “But she’s a minor! Isn’t that illegal?”

“Not when it’s purely professional, or when his number is on her parents’ phones, or when her parents consented to it.” Lila paled. “Besides that, Marinette is as smart as Ladybug, maybe even smarter. If she wanted to, it would probably only take a day for her to take you down, like you did when she nearly got expelled, except she knows how to cover her tracks.”

At that, Lila scowled. “They still believed it.”

He shrugged. “From what I’ve heard, it was circumstantial at best, you just had so many disabilities people had to cater to that there was no way you could have stolen the papers, or planted the necklace to anyone who didn’t know. Besides, if they believed that, who’s to say they wouldn’t believe Marinette if she did the exact same thing to you, but with real, indisputable proof?”

“They haven’t believed her yet!”

“They haven’t, I’ll admit it, but what has Marinette done to you besides say you’re lying? She hasn’t even begun to gather evidence because she’s playing nice, god knows why.” Lila swallowed at that. Then her eyes widened as she looked past his shoulder. 

“Well, I hate to cut this short,” she said, gritting her teeth into a smile. “But Juleka and her friends are back, so I have to go now. It was nice meeting you, Luka.” She stood up hurriedly, brushing any dirt off her skirt before she hurried over to his sister and her group of friends.

“It was nice meeting you Lila,” he murmured with a smile, knowing he’d won. Closing his eyes and leaning back, he returned to playing Marinette’s melody, noting somewhere in the back of his mind how similar it was to the one that played in the back of his mind when he met Ladybug when Desperada attacked as the sun shone across his face. 

There were two people he knew to never piss off, and their melodies were so similar he knew exactly why that was the case.

[squeeneyart]

Breathe in the Salt - Chapter 17

AO3

Beta reader as always is @thesnadger!

Phone calls will have to do.

Martin has an uneventful Friday night.

“Just- what am I supposed to do, wait for you all to save up for a holiday?”

Martin felt silly, pacing back and forth on the beach and yelling into his phone. A whole day spent too nervous to say anything in that horrible building and there was no keeping it down now, even for his mother. So there he was, outside and cold and freaking out a bit.

Tim sighed. “Look, we’re working on it, but when we got back here we had a mountain of work waiting for us. It’s not the first time this has happened, but if I were the paranoid one I’d say Elias is trying to keep us busy.” 

Pinching the skin between his eyes, Martin said, “I know, I know, it’s not your fault.” Except for all of the stress they’d caused him, all of it for nothing- “Where does it all leave me, though? What can I do?”

“Stay put and do what you’ve been doing. We’ll work things out on our end, but if Evan is… missing, then it’s best you keep your head down. Maybe that’s what he’s doing now that Peter’s back.” Tim paused. “I suppose taking a quick holiday isn’t in the cards?”

“No, not really. Besides, I’d like to still be there in case, I dunno, something happens? Be the man on the ground?”

Tim snorted. “Well, ‘man on the ground’, do your best to stay there. We still don’t know what all that Fairchild business was about, either.” 

“Right. Yeah.” Martin took a moment to tilt his head up at the sky, almost entirely dark. “So, you’ll be the one to contact if things start going sideways?” 

“Seems like it, though I’ll see if we can set up a group text or something. We used to have one for the three of us, but for reasons I will not explore here it was unjustly deemed ‘superfluous’.” Tim seemed to cover the receiver for a moment. “I stand corrected. According to Sasha, it was ‘a gratuitous distraction that only served to flood our notifications with garbage’.”

“...Was it?”

“Oh, absolutely.” Tim’s grin was so audible to be infectious.

Martin laughed a little. “That’ll work. Just in case you can’t be reached.”

“I’ll let you go for the night and give you the details on that once I’m done with all this homework.” There was an exaggerated sound of papers rustling. “Really, I can’t describe the amount of work he’s piled on us. It almost loops back around to Elias being normal Elias.”

“Sure. Good luck.”

“Same to you. And sorry again for the raincheck on dinner!”

“It’s fine. Nothing you could’ve done.”

Click.

Pocketing his mobile, Martin rubbed his face with both hands and willed himself to calm down. It was unfair to be angry at them for needing to do their actual jobs, but if rent needed to be paid then they shouldn’t have promised anything. All he had at that moment was the hope that eventually, long after he was thrown in with Evan, one of them would have the courtesy to come back and record the event for posterity.

“Statement of Ms. Blackwood, regarding the disappearance of her son at his place of employment,” Martin mumbled, kicking at some stones on the ground. “Ugh, that’s morbid.”

Martin looked out over the dark sea, but all that served was to sting his eyes and push his mood down even further. What a horrible habit. Look from the lighthouse, look out to sea, for there is no-

Best to keep his eyes down for the foreseeable future. Unless he’s high up, at which point he’ll keep his eyes anywhere but down. And if he’s stuck in some secret, impossible room, well, he won’t remember which way to look anyway.

--

He was at the table, microwave steamed vegetables and some leftover something or other plated in front of him. Across the table his mother ate in silence save for the dull chewing sounds no one could possibly help. At that moment they were making Martin’s teeth grind. 

A quiet meal could be so aggravating with the wrong person. The tiniest sounds, chewing, breathing, sighing, a cacophony of what should be inoffensive signs of life grating on the ears. 

He’d often heard about the bad effects television during meals could have on family. There had never been one visible from the kitchen, but he could think of many reasons why having one would’ve been a blessing in that house. Even if the one they had could be heard from the other room, there was still nothing to look at but his own plate, the terrible window view, and his mother.

“Is it a porch night?” Martin asked, poking at a sad-looking slice of carrot with his fork. “It’s gotten colder, and darker. Before long it’ll be dark before I get home each day.”

His mother took another bite, a sigh escaping her lips. “Yes.”

“We can’t stay out long,” he warned.

One of her nostrils twitched, but she said nothing. 

“I mean it. You never cover your face.”

“I know what’s best for myself.”

“So do I. It stings my eyes.”

“You won’t outgrow that sensitivity by avoiding it.”

Martin scoffed. “I don’t avoid it.”

This earned him a dainty sniff. “If that were true it wouldn’t sting anymore.”

“Would you-”

“Go get tea started. You’ve let your mouth run enough for one night.”

Martin stood with a sudden force that made him feel like an incensed child who hadn’t gotten his way. He bit his tongue and did as he was told, leaving her to finish her meal. 

The filled kettle was placed gently onto the stove with shaking hands. After switching the stovetop dial, Martin stood with his back to the rest of the kitchen. Tea was made and served in quiet, the tremor still clinging to his hands. The warmth of the cup did nothing to quell the shakes, but if it was noticeable she made no remarks.

Now it was the low sound of her blowing on her tea. The loud sipping noise as she tested the taste. Lip smacking, fingers tapping, everything dragged at the back of his skull, why do people make such noise when they do things?

Finally, he was able to take the cups, his own almost entirely full, and fill the room with clattering and the rush of water out of the sink. It would be enough to rinse for the moment. There would be plenty of time to wash things at any other time.

When the time came, her hand just barely touching his arm, they prepared themselves and went outside. Her breaths were long and loud, in and out through her nose. Though Martin covered his face as best he could, his eyes watered all the same. 

How could she enjoy this?

The walk back indoors, the removal of shoes, the slow movement to her room. Martin just barely stopped himself from slamming her door behind him after getting her to bed, though he had no doubt she’d make a comment on his impatience the next day. There was nothing left but to turn in early himself. What else could he do?

The staircase towered before him, each step upon it harder than the last despite his long legs, but he didn’t look up. Martin could learn from his mistakes if he tried, and he was trying. 

Could she hear him taking his sweet time? Did every creak of the steps set her teeth on edge as she tried to fall asleep?

Martin made it upstairs eventually, and to his bedroom after, though by that point he knew sleep wasn’t coming for him just yet. Checking his phone, he found no new messages or calls, as if he hadn’t kept the thing on vibrate to be alerted of anything new. He dropped the thing on his bedside table after flipping his alarm off. There was work to be done the next day, but he didn’t owe Peter an early start on a Saturday.

As Martin sat on the edge of his bed, the day washed over him and he slumped forward, forearms pressed against knees. He gently tugged his hair out of its elastic, not that it had been all that held back by the end. Running fingers through it, brushing it back and scratching at his scalp, Martin let himself sulk for one more horrible minute.

If they’d stayed, he probably wouldn’t have been able to go out to dinner with them anyway. Irresponsible to have thought otherwise, really. Now there was no reason to worry about it.

Apparently this was what the evening would be: Martin Blackwood feeling snappish and awful.

He would apologize the next day, he thought. His mother, while not helpful, hadn’t actually done anything to make him cross besides exist nearby, and Tim certainly didn’t deserve to be on the receiving end of Martin’s panic and frustration. Only one person deserved that, but chewing out Peter was a sure way to get himself disappeared. So, the options were limited.

He was lucky Jon wasn’t the one who had to call him. How was he not supposed to be angry after Jon worked harder than anyone to convince him that things would work out? The man had outright promised to help Evan even though they had no real plan on how to do that. Sure, it had been heartfelt and sweet, and determination did nice things to his face-

Martin groaned, pulling down at his cheeks. No, anything but that. He wanted to be angry and petty and upset about his possible upcoming death, not disappointed that his one-sided thing was even more doomed than before. Sure, after a bit he would get over it, but it had been a while since he’d fancied someone a little. It was a nice feeling. 

It was even better writing material. Perhaps that would help, writing. At the very least it could prevent another weird scene at the dinner table. What was that line that popped into his head earlier? Could be the start of something cathartic, even if it ended up being complete rubbish.

Reaching down to his nightstand, Martin jumped at the sound of his phone buzzing against wood. From his hunched position he could see an unknown number. He grimaced. Of course he’d get a weird spam call during all this. He let it ring and grabbed his notebook and pencil. There had been a thought earlier, some lines that had a nice cadence despite being off the cuff. A bit boring, but perhaps they could be worked with. Look from the lighthouse-

“Hello, Martin. I’m calling- right, this is Jonathan Sims? From the Magnus Institute? I had Tim give me your number but I’m realizing now that he might not have told you yet. I-”

Scrambling for the phone, Martin dropped the notebook right onto his toes. “Shit-” 

“-wanted to discuss some things with you. Let me know if-”

Finally, Martin managed to press the right button and answer the call. “Sorry, hi, it’s Martin. I didn’t-”

“Oh- yes, hi. Am I interrupting, or-”

Quickly, Martin said, “No, no, I just don’t usually answer unknown numbers, so-” 

“Right, right, I thought that might be the case. Glad I caught you, then.” Jon cleared his throat. “So, how are you, ah, holding up?”

He thought he could sense an attempt in Jon’s tone to be casual. Martin’s mouth quirked downward. “Fine, I guess. Still here.”

“Good. Tim said you’d had some concerns, so-”

“Not much anyone can do about them, is there?” Jesus, could he not be snippy at someone for five minutes? “Sorry, it’s… it’s been a long day. Tim told you, then?”

“Yes, he did. We’ll do our best to get at least one of us back there soon, if not the whole team. Elias wasted no time getting us back to work. For now, phones will have to do.” 

Martin waited for a few seconds, but there was nothing after. “So… is that what you called for? To go over what Tim and I talked about?” 

“What? No. I thought we could... Well, we have some other business that would be best kept between us. Establishing contact felt like the best next step on that front.” Again, there was a strangely long pause, but before Martin could think of anything to say, Jon continued. “And because the goodbyes were relatively abrupt this morning, I didn’t have the opportunity to apologize.”

Sighing, Martin rubbed his eyes. “Well, you didn’t say it for twenty-four hours, so I suppose you get half credit?”

Jon huffed. “I misread the situation and Elias. I hadn’t expected him to downright deny us an extension without discussion, and I certainly never pegged him as the type to have us pack up and leave with barely any notice. We were as shocked as you this morning.”

Not likely. “So, what now? How long do you think…”

“Honestly, I don’t know yet. I want to keep an eye on Elias after all of this strange business, but of course he’s not here.” Martin could feel the scowl on Jon’s face. “It may take some time for any of us to make a trip out there outside of work. I’m afraid you’ll be on your own for the next couple of weeks.”

“Oh.” Closing his eyes, Martin let himself fall back onto the bed. “Okay.”

Quickly, Jon said, “Not much longer than that, I hope. I tend to work on my days off which should cover the extra assignments more quickly, and Sasha or Tim may be able to make a trip out there sooner than I could.” At the end, Jon’s reassuring tone dropped into an irritated grumble. 

Martin smiled a little and fought back a yawn. “Worried they’ll fix things up before you get here?”

“That’s not- I wouldn’t say- I’m sure they’re capable of doing so, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to enjoy sitting on my hands while real work needs to be done,” Jon said, recovering from his indignant sputtering. “I’ve only looked at some of the new assignments, but most of them are guaranteed to be either misunderstandings or blatant lies.”

“You can’t know that just by skimming them.”

“You haven’t had to read some of these things,” Jon said with a tinge of disdain. “No, people love to waste my time and keep me both from my personal research and more pressing situations like your own.”

Martin looked up at his window. “Okay, but mine would probably sound fake on paper though, right? ‘Oh, the lighthouse I work at is tall and makes me dizzy, also I think an old classmate is trapped in the walls?’, or something like that. I wouldn’t believe it.”

“But it’s demonstrable,” Jon said. “And if you’d chosen to put more time and effort into it, you’d have put in the more compelling details. Not that we don’t get statements like that. Some read like a trite pitch for the script someone is workshopping rather than a true paranormal experience.”

“And that’s what’s keeping you busy now.”

“I’m sure you’re glad to hear that important things are happening while you wait. If by the time we return you’ve already been trapped in an impossible lighthouse prison, we’ll have plenty of entertaining material to refill your vocabulary.” A silent, awkward moment passed between them. “Right, okay, not funny.”

“Not really, no.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s… fine.” It really wasn’t, but Martin wasn’t in a state to argue anymore that day. “What kind of fake stuff is it, then? That’s so important you just had to be back?”

Jon groaned. “Don’t get me started. There’s one from a man who claimed to be seeing the same strange fellow at the park everyday, as if he doesn’t also visit that park everyday and by his own logic could be a supernatural creature himself.”

In a way that Martin felt must’ve been some breach of confidentiality, Jon proceeded to lay before him complaints of monsters (“Particularly loud raccoons”), doppelgangers (“Plenty of people look like other people”), and other phenomena that Jon found particularly ridiculous. They were so unconvincing that Martin had to wonder whether Jon was leaving out the spookier details. 

But that was fine, Martin found. Why would he want to hear about anything other than people in ordinary circumstances when his own were decidedly not? And if Jon was happy to talk Martin’s ear off about frivolous things, it worked out well enough for both of them. 

Like before, it didn’t take much to keep the man going. In the middle of a peculiar story of shifting room layouts, Martin asked, “Okay, but there could’ve been something weird about the building, right? Probably not, but-”

“Well, we gave her the benefit of the doubt and Sasha looked into it. It turned out the woman had confused her own flat with the one next to it and unwittingly trespassed through an unlocked door. She was happy enough to drop the whole thing in embarrassment.”

Pushing his glasses up, Martin pressed a hand over his eyes. “Oh God, I would’ve died on the spot.”

“Ultimately she was happy to not have wandered into an alternate universe. I believe Sasha also saw to it that the neighbors practiced proper lock safety without giving the whole thing away.” 

“Happy ending, then.”

“For now. Can’t say it won’t happen again, but it won’t be our problem.” From the other end, Martin heard a muffled voice.  “Sorry, hold on.” 

“Sure.” The call was put on hold, and Martin checked his screen.

Oh god, they’d been on the call for over an hour. When had that happened? Had he been loud enough for his mother to hear him this whole time? What had he even said for that long? He must’ve been saying something. 

Jon’s voice came through again. “Sorry, I’m staying late tonight to get a head start on things. It seems Elias is back, so I’m going to have to let you go. Thank you for your understanding earlier.”

Internally, Martin let out a thankful sigh. “It’s no problem, really. Thanks for checking in.”

“And about the other issue. If there are any questions-”

“It’s fine. We’re all fine here.”

Jon cleared his throat again. “Good. Good night, Martin.”

“Night.”

The call ended, and Martin found himself in the weird place of adding a new contact and staring at the slightly longer list of names. 

Jon had asked for his number. 

For the purpose of talking about Martin’s mother, obviously, but that had only come up two times. The rest of the conversation had been primarily an outlet for Jon’s work frustrations. It hadn’t exactly been a professional call, had it?

No, no, no, that was enough and he was going to bed immediately.

[thestarwrites]

All Right, All Might: Ch 12

Word Count: 6,200

Rating: PG

Painting: Toshinori Yagi X FemOC

THIS IS A LONG ONE, FOLKS! at 6,200 words! Because Patho is not participating in the Sports Festival and it is mostly passive watching, I am going to try to get through the whole shabang in two chapters!

———————————— CHAPTER TWELVE: THE UA SPORTS FESTIVAL!

Part One...

“Where’s your girlfriend, All Might?” Nemuri purred softly as she leaned over to the lithe form of Toshinori where they all sat in the teachers box, waiting for the first year competition to start.

“Nemuri,” he blushed, “Aren’t you the Chief Umpire? Shouldn’t you be down there.”

Giggling she ran her whip over his shoulders, “I will be in a moment, now, where is that little darling you are seeing?”

Nezu looked over with a smile, “Yes, where is Miss Chairo?”

Toshinori blushed harder and cleared his throat, “I mean- I’m not her keeper,” he frowned and then spoke again, “Where do you think she is? She’s making the rounds with the kids, trying to help them to be steady and to calm their nerves… as if I could stop her from doing anything she was going to do.”

Aizawa grunted, “Stupid.”

“Why are you always so cruel to her, Aizawa?” All Might grunted, “She’s a great asset.”

“You’re just soft for her because you love her assets.”

All Might grunted, “Hey! That’s not true or fair,” he scowled, “She’s a great teacher and hero.”

“Listen. It’s like I told her a few weeks ago. She’s a second-rate support hero, and she’s coddling these children who won’t get that type of treatment in the field.”

His eyes widened, “You said that to her?”

“She didn’t run and be a little tattle tale?” He scoffed, “I really expected her to run and cry and tell you that I was mean to her.”


“No!” He glowered, “Aizawa, that’s a terrible thing to say to a coworker.”

“Truth hurts sometimes,” He shrugged, “I’m heading to the booth to sit with Mic. Have fun,” With that Aizawa turned and left, still mostly covered in bandages.

All Might sighed and rubbed his temples.

-----

“All the other courses, they’re coming for us with everything they’ve got,” Izuku grunted, “We’re all gonna have to fight to stand out. And I’ll be aiming for the top too.”

Shoto grunted, “Fine.”

“Tch.” Bakugo looked over his shoulder, staring daggers at Deku.

The door slid open once more, they were wondering who could be coming to see them at such a late hour before the start, when no one responded, she could feel more than the average worry or fear in the room, “Wow, the air is really tense in here!”

“Miss Chairo!” Kirishima grinned and stood up, glad someone was there to break up whatever was happening right now.

Izuku turned to look at her, “Miss Chairo, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with the other teachers?”

The woman chuckled softly, sending out pulses of calm energy into the room, “I’m sorry to save your group for almost last! But I had a lot of classes to visit this morning. I just came from 1-B those kids are… something.”

Some of the kids laughed, feeling a little better, “You visited EVERYONE?” Kaminari blinked.

“Of course, I did the same thing last year, I got a little caught up though, a boy named Tamaki almost threw up and passed out before he went out,” she gave a small smile, “Not that I think he’s doing any better this year but… we had some meetings last week to talk about it — ANYWAY, how are my favorites in class 1-A doing?”

“I’m a little nervous, Miss Chairo,” Mina squeaked.

“Well, first thing I want to tell you all is that you CAN call me Keri, you know. I’m not much older than you guys and I understand what its like going through all this.”

“Tch,” Rang out into the room, “No you don’t, loser. You didn’t go to UA.”

“BAKUGO! Not cool man! Thats so unmanly of you!” Kirishima chastised the blond, “I am SO sorry Miss Keri, he didn’t mean it!”

Keri laughed softly, “It’s okay, Eijiro. I meant I have experience talking to the teens last year, but thank you, Katsuki, no I did not. But I know that when I was in school, I watched the UA festival. So make sure you all do your best, and don’t be surprised when kids from other schools start to notice you.”

“Kids from other schools, oh god!” Miineta gasped, “I hope you mean girls!”

She chuckled, “Okay guys. I have to run and talk to 3-A quick, but you will all do great. No matter what place you come in, I am sure with how amazing you are, and the way you handled the USJ incident, that you will all get scouted for great internships. Just remember to breathe, and to be kind to yourself between games, hm? I’ll be watching!”

“Thanks Miss Keri!” Ururaka smiled.

She waved and left the room just as Kirishima was saying how manly she was to encourage them so well, before defending that being manly isn't reserved to being a man. Keri laughed and hurried down the halls to get to where the Big 3 of UA were awaiting their entrances.

Coming into the room she smiled, “Ah! I made it just in time!”

Mirio turned around and beamed, “Miss Keri! Hi! It’s really nice to see you before the big event!” He was the only one allowed to wear a stripped down version of his hero costume, since - he would be naked on live TV if he didn’t.

Nejire turned and gasped, “Hey!” The girl ran over to their guidance counselor and hugged her close, “I’m so happy you came to see us! Did you come to wish us luck!”

Keri hugged the girl back and smiled, “Yes of course I did, I’ve been running around like a lunatic trying to see how each class is doing, I just came from 1-A. Its tense in there.”

“Why wouldn’t it be tense…” rang out the shaky voice of Tamaki from the corner, “Everyones gonna be judging them so hard… after what happened at the USJ… Man I hope there aren’t villains watching…”

Mirio smirked, “Lighten up Tama!”

Keri smiled and went over to Tamaki, placing a hand on his back, her form glowing pink.

Nejire leaned over to the tall blonde and whispered, “I don’t think it’ll ever stop being neat that she glows pink.”

“Yeah!” Mirio whispered, “Like Tinkerbell!”

“Why do… do you waste your time on me, Miss Keri…. I… I never learn anything or… or get better…” he sighed softly, still anxious even though he visibly started to unclench all of his muscles.

She smiled warmly and turned his head to her, “You’re not a waste of time Tamaki, you’re just like a stubborn little cat, but you’ll get the hang of it eventually. I believe in you. I always have. And you have an incredible gift, Suneater.”

“I… Thank you…. Miss Keri… You’re too nice,” He sighed, “Definitely too nice to be talking to me…”

Chuckling she gently rubbed his back, “You’re going to do amazing today, Tama, don’t worry so much,” she pulled out something from her hoodie pocket, “Here, take this, its some electric eel - maybe you can get some of that electricity,” she smiled, “Smile, Tama,” she lifted his chin, “Don’t think about it. Get out of your head.”

“I- I’ll try…. Miss Keri… But…. But I’m probably just going to… to disappoint you,” he whimpered.

Smiling softly she rubbed his back a few more times, “You could not and would not ever disappoint me, Sunspot,” she smiled, “I’ll catch up with you after, okay?” He nodded, cheeks beet red, and she smiled, turning to the other two, “Okay guys! Show em’ what you’re made of!”

Once Patho left the room, with the festival about to start, Mirio smiled, “Man, she is just the nicest isn’t she?”

“Yeah!” Nejire smiled, “And she’s dating ALL MIGHT!” She swooned, “What a hunk…”

“H-hey! I thought I was a hunk!” Mirio whined.

Tamaki walked shakily over to his two friends and took a deep breath, “You know what… what I found out… about her….?”

The two looked over and blinked. It was a long moment before Nejire sighed, “Spit it out, Tama!”

He flinched and looked down, “You know how I…. I’m interning with…. With Fatgum?”

“Yeah…” Mirio looked at him.

Tamaki swallowed, “Keri and him… used to date when she was in college.”

“OH MY GOSH WHAT!” Nejire exclaimed.

Flinching from the outburst he nodded and wet his lips, “Yeah… he was telling me about her the other day. I mentioned…. Her or… something. I guess…. He dumped her…. He said he was a jerk about it…. He still… you know… feels bad… apparently….”

Mirio laughed a little, “Woah, I can’t believe it. They don’t seem like a good match at all, really… Also, Fatgum being a jerk? That’s weird.”

“HEEEEYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!! MAKE SOME NOISE YOU RABID SPORTS FANS…. GET THOSE CAMERAS PREPPED MEDIA HORDES… THIS YEAR WE’RE BRINGING YOU THE HOTTEST PERFORMANCES IN SPORTS FESTIVAL HISTORY GUARANTEED!”

“Oh heck! It’s about to start!” Mirio smiled, “You better eat whatever Miss Keri gave you, Tamaki!”

“O-oh yeah…” the boy started to eat, hands shaking.

“I’VE ONLY GOT ONE QUESTION BEFORE WE START THIS SHOW! ARE YOU READY!? LET ME HEAR YOU SCREAM AS OUR STUDENTS MAKE THEIR WAY TO THE BIG STAGE!!!”

Keri ran into the teachers box, out of breath as she smiled, “I made it just in time! I didn’t miss anything!”

Nezu looked over with a laugh, “I’m surprised you didn’t, Patho, you talked to what? All of our students today? Also… you aren’t in your hero uniform or dress clothes…”

She blushed, “Sorry sir…”

“No matter,” he sighed, “You never are in office wear so why would I start nagging now. Please, take your seat, its starting…”

“THIS FIRST GROUP ARE NO STRANGERS TO THE SPOTLIGHT, YOU KNOW THEM FROM WITHSTANDING A VILLAIN ATTACK! THE DAZZLING STUDENTS LIGHT UP YOUR TV WITH SOLID GOLD SKILLS. THE HERO COURSE CLASS 1-A!”

Moving to sit down, she mumbled, “At least I wear UA merch….” She took the empty seat next to All Might with a small smile, “Hi baby,” she moved to put her hand on his and gently ran her thumb over his large hand, “Hey… earth to Toshinori…?”

Looking over he took a breath, “Hey Sunflower - sorry, I’m just… nervous.”

“Don’t be nervous, honey, I just saw Izuku, he’s determined and he’s gonna be fine. He’ll make you proud.”

He nodded and moved to hold her hand gently, leaning into her, “You’re a wonder.”

“THEY HAVENTT BEEN GETTING NEARLY ENOUGH SCREEN TIME, BUT THEY ARE STILL CHOCKED FULL OF TALENT! WELCOME HERO COURSE 1-B!”

“Oh hush, you need to unclench yourself before you have a heart-attack Toshi, honey.”

He chuckled and nodded again, “You’re right. It’s out of my hands for now anyway.”

“NEXT UP, GENERAL STUDIES CLASSES C, D, AND E! SUPPORT CLASSES F, G, AND H! AND FINALLY BUSINESS COURSES I, J, AND K!”

“I just came from the Big Three,” she smiled.

“Oh yeah? I don’t know much about them except for Mirio Togeta. Remember I told you they wanted him to be my successor?”

She nodded, “Of course I remember,” Her fingers were deftly running over the skin of his wrist, “Mirio and Nejire are doing just fine, but Tamaki Amajiki is a wreck,” She sighed, “He and I have had counseling for the last two weeks about dealing with today. He is absolutely terrified. Last year he didn’t even compete he was so afraid.”

“He has an internship with Fatgum, doesn’t he?”

She nodded and took a deep breath, “Yeah, I’m going to have to speak with Taishiro about his insecurities and everything soon… I don’t really… want to.”

“Taishiro? You’re on first name terms with Fatgum? Why don’t you want to see him?”

“Shh! It’s starting,” she giggled a little and moved closer to him. Toshinori allowed himself to relax a little and throw his arm around her shoulders.

“SILENCE EVERYONE!” The sultry voice of Midnight cut through the speakers, “AND FOR THE STUDENT PLEDGE WE HAVE - KATSUKI BAKUGO!”

“ — Oh god,” Keri clenched her boyfriend’s hand, “Please… Please Katsuki say something not offensive. We talked about this,” she whispered.

“Maybe he’ll say something… uh - no he’s probably going to say something offensive,” All Might whispered to her, “Hun, you’re crushing my hand.”

“Sorry,” she tried to relax.

He leaned into the microphone and spoke in his even-keel voice, “I just wanna say, I’m gonna win.”

“Oh my god,” Keri slapped her forehead as the entire crowd booed, including the students. She watched as Bakugo descended the stairs cool as a cucumber.

“WITHOUT FURTHER ADO - ITS TIME FOR US TO GET STARTED…”

The obstacle course was fraught with dangers most of the first-year students have never faced before, but for class 1-A, they had already learned to fight. Even those students in 1-A without flashy quirks were in the leading pack. 1-B wasn’t far behind, but it was clear who was the probable Big 3 of the first years would turn out to be; Todoroki, Bakugo, Midoriya.

Keri looked around while Toshinori stood, clutching the edge of the box the teachers sat in with white knuckles. She could feel him practically vibrating with excitement and pride. A small smile graced her lips as she finally spotted who she was looking for - Enji Todoroki.

“HE WON!” Toshinori jumped up, as everyone stood to clap at the first place winner of the Obstacle Race. Keri stood to clap as well until the blonde picked her up and started spinning her around.

She laughed and yelped, “Toshi! Put me down!”

He did as instructed and the grin on his face was one unlike she had seen on him before. He felt complete watching his protege win and do as he asked - declare to the world that he was here now.

As the fanfare died down, the students filed in, and soon there were only stragglers remaining. The first 42 students to finish would be the ones advancing. Mostly all from 1-A and B, though there were some support course and general studies students as well.

Toshinori watched, giving a silent congratulations to young Izuku, and Keri walked up behind him, running a hand over his lower back, “Toshi, I’m going to take a look around.”

He turned from his daze and blinked, “Keri - you’re gonna miss the next event.”

“I wont miss it,” she laughed, “I’ll still be in the stadium. I want to check out what pros showed up. I feel like snooping,” wrinkling her nose she smiled, “Is that okay, Toshi?”

The older man chuckled, “Of course its okay, besides, you don’t need my permission.”

She smiled and took his hand, “Give me a kiss?”

He blushed and leaned down to her, kissing her lips softly, chaste enough for the setting, “Happy?”

“Always when I’m with you,” leaning up she pressed another kiss to his lips, “Don’t get into trouble while I’m gone now!”

Blinking he called out, “You’re the one who needs to stay out of trouble, Ree!” He took a deep breath and went back to his seat as Midnight began explaining how the Calvary Battle would work. He groaned to himself to know Midoriya had such a high point value on his head, but this is what he expected - he after all had been through three Sports Festivals in his day too.

Keri walked around, saying hello to some of the pros and parents she already knew. She didn’t stop long because she knew who she was looking for; Enji Todoroki.

The cavalry battle was well underway, and Keri had found Shoto’s father and standing a ways away from him, she took some time to watch some of the game now that she was on the lower levels. It was certainly harrowing. She’d always watched the festival growing up, and every year into her adulthood. She had only missed it a handful of times due to clinic hours and exam schedules. She couldn’t imagine having to compete like this.

As a support course student at Ketsubutsu Academy, she remembered her own first meeting with the kids from UA, going to take the provisional license exam in first year. She first met Aizawa there. He was taking the test again as a second year - him and Hizashi both. She also had met Fatgum for the first time there, he had flirted with her and it was the spark going forward when they met again later. She was too bashful and unsure of herself at the time to do anything but smile politely and hide in the crowd. It was so strange to see these kids who she had seen on television.

She never actually had passed the provisional license exams. Which was just as well, she was never really trying to. Already on the path to researching how to get into a hero college for Psychology / Support Training. Keri never intended to do any hero work until she had met with principal Nezu to discuss her joining the staff.

Keri remembered that day fondly;

“Well, I’m sure you’re wondering why I’ve asked to meet with you a third time, Miss Chairo,” the calm voice of the principal sounded out.

The young woman nodded, “Of course, sir, I am both excited and afraid to be here.”

The man laughed, “Afraid?”

“Of rejection, I suppose.”

Chuckling, he took a sip of his tea, “Well good thing for you a rejection isn’t something you will be facing today. I would like to offer you the position officially as our first ever guidance councilor.”

“For real!? Oh my god are you serious, Principal Nezu, sir?!”

“Oh yes, quite,” he laughed, “Some of the other teachers are wary about hiring a woman who not only did not attend UA, but is also Twenty- Seven and has no Hero License.”

Her cheeks reddened, “Well, I was always too focused on my goal of becoming a licensed therapist. Besides, you’ve seen my quirk and it’s not fit for hero work, I can tell you that.”

He smiled, “And why not?”

“I’m not the strongest, I know how to fight well enough to defend myself - but I’m not fast either, all I can do is manipulate emotions, sir. I would be a liability on the field.” She looked down.

He let that hang in the air a moment before beginning, “You know what a liability is in the field for heroes? People who are panicking, people who are out of control or want to run into a burning building to save others, instead of letting the heroes and fire department handle it. People who need to have a sense of urgency to leave a building - or to evacuate an area calmly.”

“I… I don’t understand, sir.”

“What I’m saying is, no your quirk is not flashy, and you’re no fighter - but, your quirk is powerful enough for you to be a first rate support hero. Think of the possibilities for crowd control, victim aftercare, hero aftercare…”

“You… really think so, sir?”

Nezu nodded and smiled, “So, this is the condition for your employment. You work here for me and the school, and I will help you to get your Hero License before the start of your first term.”

“Of - of course, sir!”

“Well excellent. Welcome to the UA family, Keri.” He stood and crossed to shake her hand.

Keri shook it and beamed, “Its such an honor sir, thank you! Thank you so much! I will work the hardest I can to realize your goal of having a functioning and productive guidance office for the heroes of tomorrow! In fact - I’ll go beyond! Plus Ultra!” She smiled.

She was interrupted from her reminiscing when she saw something she wholly did not expect; Shoto Todoroki got cornered, and in his haste - used his Fire quirk. She blinked and shot an eye over to where she remembered Enji standing to see the hulking red-head smirk, arms crossed. The action turned her stomach.

Walking slowly over she hummed, “Hello again, Enji.”

He tensed, she could feel the anger wafting off of him, “You really have never had any respect, have you, little girl.”

“And obviously neither have you, Enji,” she punctuated her sentence with his name once more, “And the name is Keri, if you have actually forgotten it. I find people should be on first name terms with each other, it makes for a healthier working environment.”

“We don’t work together,” He responded flatly, never taking his eyes off the field.

Chuckling she leaned on the wall beside where he watched, “No but we do work concurrently.” He made a soft sound, “Your son is doing very well today,” she smiled, “He is a great kid.”

“He could have done much better in the obstacle course if he applied himself.”

She didn't look at him, “If he used his fire, you mean?”

Turning to look at the insignificant support hero beside him, he grunted, by her tone he could tell that she suspected something was going on with Shoto, something going on at their familial home that was untoward, “I don’t like your tone.”

“I suppose you wouldn’t. Not as the number two hero who prides on having a son who has both his parent’s quirks. Though I have noticed that he doesn’t use the fire quirk, why is that?”

“And what is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing,” she smiled and finally turned her face to his, “Anyway, It was nice seeing you off the battlefield, Enji.” And with that she turned and walked away from him. An impish grin came over her face as she felt the older man seething behind her. She absolutely couldn’t stand Enji, and how defensive he became - she knew something was up.

---

Walking through the halls, the second event of the festival was over with the top four teams advancing - she smiled, knowing Izuku was in there with a lot of his classmates. She was greatly impressed by the fact that Ururaka was in there as well.

“There you are,” the voice of All Might rang out, “I was looking for you everywhere hon— Patho!” He beamed.

“Hey All Might,” she smiled warmly, “Enjoying the games so far?”

He chuckled, “Yes of course I am - why do you look like the cat that ate the canary?”

“Mmm… I may have just come from pestering Enji Todoroki.”

Toshinori raised his eyebrows and smirked, “My girl likes to live on the edge huh? Look at you, playing with something as dangerous as a live bear.”

Keri huffed a bit, “I just can’t stand that man, someone should put him in his place. He called me little girl.”

The mirth faded from his face and he put a hand on his hip, “Is that so? You think someone should put him in his place? Maybe that someone should be me,” the smirk he gave then was one unique to when All Might was pissed off. He was full of spite and contempt as he went to walk off.

Grabbing his hand she blushed, “Ah - Toshi, wait!”

Turning he looked down at her, “If your boyfriend can’t defend your honor, maybe the number one hero can,” he winked and pulled gently away from her, heading in the direction of Enji.

Keri blushed and tagged along after him, in case she needed to break it up - Enji was a dangerous man.

“Yo,” he started. Keri rolled her eyes, the straight up alpha male energy was off the hook, “Long time no see, let's catch up - Endeavor.”

The hulking redhead didn’t turn at first, “All Might,” he growled before turning and staring daggers into the blonde’s eyes. He didn’t even bother to notice the little rabbit at his heels.

“I haven’t talked to you since that press conference ten years ago! Been awhile - I saw you and figured I’d stop and say hi!” The smile never faltered from his face.

“Did you now?” He scoffed, “Well if that’s all you wanted then we’re done. Tch, chatting like we’re old friends - what a joke.”

Keri winced at the awkwardness of the brief interaction. It was very clear to her that he absolutely hated Toshinori with everything in him. She gasped as Toshinori started to laugh. It was so condescending. He suddenly launched himself into the air doing flips and spins down the stairwell.

He landed in front of Enji with another laugh, “Come on! Why the cold shoulder!?” He smirked, “You should be thrilled! Your son is doing very well out there only using half his power. You must be a great teacher!”

The men were locked in a tense stare as Toshinori’s girlfriend stared on. What was he getting at? Endeavor grunted, “Are you implying something?”

“NO! I want to know your secrets! How do we train the next generation of heroes?”

Enji scoffed, “Do you really think Id tell you anything Ive trained the boy? You’re all flash and no brains, as usual - out of my way,” he pushed past him, shoulder checking the man.

“Okay!” He sighed.

“Let me assure you of one thing, All Might. That kid of mine WILL beat you some day, I’ll make sure of it. That’s why I MADE him.”

Toshinori looked uncomfortable, “You did, what?”

The large fire hero grinned widely, wildly, “He’s in a rebellious phase right now, but he will take your place. I’ll make SURE of it,” Turning he moved to continue to walk down the stairs, “And tell your little groupie to stop meddling, got it? She’s not worth the dust on my boots.” All Might clenched his fists as he watched Endeavor disappear from sight.

Keri heard the confession of the man up on the balcony, covering her mouth as she held back a gasp. Thats why Todoroki wouldn’t use his quirk. She could feel herself tremble as absolute devastation filled her - she could only imagine what Shoto’s life was filled with as she fell to her knees.

“Sweetheart!” He moved to run back up the stairs when he saw her fall, “Keri - what’s wrong?”

She was glowing at this point, tears in her eyes as she covered her face, “God- Toshi - What has he done? He’s … he’s a monster… how can he even call himself a hero? Let alone the number two?” She shook her head, “Oh god - his poor children,” she put her head down and wept.

He felt his own tears prick his eyes from the effect of her quirk, “Shh… shh honey, calm down, it's okay Keri… it’s okay,” after he set her back on her feet he cupped her cheek, “Come on - lets go to your office and I’ll go grab some ramen and come back, we have an hour for lunch, hm?”

Looking up she wiped her eyes, trying to contain her quirk as people were starting to stare, “Tosh- Pull away from me, people are looking.”

“I’m doing no such thing. You’re upset,” he sighed, putting a hand on her shoulder, “Come along, let's get to the school and then I’ll get us some takeout. We can also talk about everything if you want.”

Nodding she allowed herself to lean into his side as he led her from the stadium with his hand on her lower back. She felt exhausted suddenly, “God I hate it when I go into overdrive like that…” She whined gently.

“I know exactly what you mean,” the pro smiled down at her.

As they walked, a few reporters ran forward, “All Might! Hey! How are you liking the festival so far!”

He looked up and smiled a little, not stopping, “THE KIDS ARE DOING INCREDIBLE THINGS OUT THERE TODAY! THEY’LL ALL MAKE GREAT HEROES!”

“And who is this you’re escorting? Do you finally have a girlfriend, All Might?” A female reporter crooned.

All Might looked like he was thinking of something to say, “Oh no,” Keri smiled tiredly, “I’m the UA guidance counselor - I used my quirk a lot today, kind of overdid it actually. All Might was just kind enough to help me to my office - he’s overly worried about his coworker passing out or something.”

He smiled, “Yes- and all of you should definitely know who she is! She’s Patho! The Support hero!”

“Oh yeah,” one of the other men commented, “That’s right, Principal Nezu did say he was trying a new program last year — Miss Patho, may my station come and do an interview with you some time? I’m sure everyone would love to hear from one of the first Student Hero Therapists.”

Blushing she smiled, “Of course - call the school and press five for my office, we will set something up,” she bowed slightly, “Excuse me please, I really need to go sit and eat something so I can make sure I’m of use the rest of today - and in case any students need me.”

The reporters all respectfully withdrew as the two of them continued. All Might smirked and leaned down a little, “Kitten, you’re a natural.”

Laughing softly she looked up, “I’m a guidance counselor, I act like this to everyone.”

“Not to me,” he winked.

She laughed, “Well because when I met you, I was shell shocked, and then we became friends so fast… but sometimes we get clinical together, you know. I’ve used my psychology powers on you.” She wiggled her fingers.

He laughed and continued on inside and up to the guidance office with her.

---

Closing the door and pulling down the privacy shade he knelt down, still in hero form, “Come here, Sunflower.”

Moving to turn and throw her arms around his large shoulders she sighed, “Oh Toshi… I feel so… devastated for Enji’s family… Shoto is so unwilling to talk. But I think he needs therapy probably more than any of his classmates.”

Holding her close he kissed the side of her head, “I know… I have never been very friendly with Enji - well, I have, but he won’t have it. And I know he mistreats everyone around him - even you, baby,” he gently rubbed her back, “Okay, I’ll go get us ramen - you want your usual?”

Pulling back to look at him, she stroked his face, “That sounds perfect,” leaning in she kissed him adoringly.

Humming into the kiss he slid his hands to her waist, “We should have a date night tonight.”

“Sounds good, hun,” she kissed his forehead, “Be safe getting our food,” he moved to jump out the window, “AND NO HERO WORK! WE ONLY HAVE AN HOUR FOR LUNCH!”

“Yes dear,” he winked, and with that he was off.

----

After lunch, Keri and Toshinori ran hand in hand back toward the stadium, “We’re late! We can’t miss this! Midoriya is first up!”

“Calm down Toshi - you have one lung for god’s sake!” She sighed as she was pulled along.

When they arrived, there was no time to go up to the teacher’s box, Toshinori pulled her right into an entry hallway and they stood at the mouth of it to watch the match between Hitoshi and Izuku.

“Oh no,” Keri raised her brows.

Toshi turned, “Oh no what!”

“Hitoshi - he’s from general studies. If he asks Izuku a question - and he answers - he’ll be bound to do what Hitoshi tells him. This match will be over before it even begins.”

“WHAT?!” Toshinori looked back out to the match with horror, “Come on, kid…”

“Poor thing… this is so painful,” Keri sighed, hand on All Might’s back.

Suddenly as a burst of wind came from Izuku both adults were absolutely gobsmacked, “WHATS THIS!? HE STOPPED JUST IN TIME!” The voice of Prezent Mic rang out. And in a matter of what seemed like seconds, the purple haired boy was body slammed out of the ring. Midoriya victorious.

All Might looked to his girlfriend, “What the hell was that?”

“Your protege won, what do you mean?” She smiled, “You can ask him later, don’t worry about it now, he’s advancing. I’ll have to make sure the kids in the finals all get appointments when school reconvenes, poor Hitoshi - he’s had such a hard time. He really should be in the hero course, he just doesn’t have the combat training… I know what that’s like.”

Toshinori looked down to her and sighed, “You know… I always forget that you weren’t in a hero course… to me you are a hero, but… you should know what kids like Izuku and Shinsou go through better than anyone.”

Nodding she patted his back, “Do you want to go to the nurse with him? Get some talking in?”

He nodded, “Come with me?”

“No no, you go on, I’m going to go find Hitoshi,” she smiled and padded off in the direction he had gone, while Toshinori followed Midoriya toward Recovery Girl’s temporary office.

“Hitoshi, wait up!” She called out.

He turned and let out a sigh, “Miss Chairo… I didn’t expect to see you so soon… Though, I should have known you’d talk to the losers.”

“Hey. Stop right there,” she sighed and put her hands on her hips, “I wanted to come and talk to you because you did an incredible job today. You know that I think you belong in the hero course, but it isn’t up to me, unfortunately. But even if you don’t, there are still ways to become a hero you know.”

“You think I did incredible?”

Smiling she nodded, putting her hand on his back and filling him with man echo of pride, “Yes. You should be extremely proud of yourself, Hitoshi. I know I’m proud of you - and your classmates are too. I’m sure the hero course students also think you are a wonder. And even though young Izuku won today, I’m sure he thinks of you with the utmost respect.”

He took a deep breath and nodded, “I’ll be a hero.”

“Yes you will, of that I have no doubt.”

The boy finally cracked a small smile, “I’m gonna go sit with my classmates upstairs, is that okay?”

“Of course it is, you’ll come see me when school starts up again?”

He nodded, “Yes Miss, I will… thank you for caring.”

“Thank you for giving it your all, Hitoshi,” she smiled and waved at the boy as he hurried off to sit with the General Studies students upstairs. Nodding she felt a little better about what happened, satisfied he would be alright, as she headed back to the stadium to watch the next fight.

Taking her glasses off and running her hands over her face, she sighed, “God, today is such a long day… I’m glad they only have these once a year…” Looking up she sighed, “Oh god, this is gonna be another short one… AH!”

She had to dive out of the way as ice shards came flying into the hallway she occupied. One of them cut through her pant leg, slicing her thigh, the other cutting her cheek, “Fuck!” She gasped as she covered her head from the rest of the blast.

When the dust finally settled she looked up, the entrance to the hall was blocked with ice, she couldn’t see anything, but she already knew who won. Sighing, she pushed herself to her feet and moved to head to Recovery girl for some bandages, “He must have spoken to his father,” she hummed tot herself, pressing a cloth to her cheek to stop the bleeding.

Knocking on her door, she called out, “Chiyo, it's me!”

“Come in dear!” She called out.

Opening and shutting the door she was met with a familiar husky voice, “KERI!? What happened to you!? Are you alright!?”

Looking up she smiled, “Just hit by some stray ice shards…”

“That’s what that was? Ice?” Recovery Girl blinked, “The whole building shook!”

She nodded, “I just need some bandages.”

“Here - let me,” Toshinori went and grabbed some supplies, “Sit on the bed, Sunflower.”

Doing as she was instructed, Recovery Girl couldn’t help but smile, “You know, you two are the cutest couple I have seen in a long time. I was hoping you two would realize you had feelings for one another, I just didn’t think it would take so long.”

Blushing hard, Toshinori gently stuck a bandage to Keri’s cheek, kissing it tenderly, before looking back at her, “Well… you know… with everything going on its hard to have time for a love life…”

Keri smiled and ran a hand over his cheek, “You take such good care of me, my hero.”

Chiyo chuckled, “Honestly, so sweet, don’t let that girl go, do you understand me, Toshinori? You two were definitely made for each other.”

Toshinori blushed harder and nodded, cleaning and bandaging her thigh, kissing that as well, “All better.”

Leaning in she kissed his forehead, “Have you been getting enough rest? Should we head back up to the teachers box? You’ve been in Hero Form a lot of today already.”

“She’s right you know, go watch the rest of the matches. Some of the others have been quick as well, but the second rounds will start soon.”

He nodded, “Come on, Ree, let’s head back to our seats.”

[lake-arrius-caverns]

Nerevarine Rising

Chapter 12: Two’s Company

summary As the party grows from two to three, Fahjoth tries his best to smooth over tensions. 

content warnings strong warning for nausea/emetophobia about halfway down

read under the cut or on AO3, cheers 👍

:: First :: || << Previous << || >> Next >> || :: Masterpost ::

————————————————————————

The shock reverberated up Fahjoth’s shins as his feet found solid ground with a jolt. Gasping, he staggered back, desperately trying to regain his balance. Once his brain caught up with the messages his eyes were receiving, he realised that the three of them were back in Ald’ruhn; a nearby guard stared at them from behind his impassive helm, but otherwise he didn’t seem to care too much for three Dunmer suddenly materialising out of thin air. 

While Fahjoth remained on his feet, Ribyna was not so lucky, and she groaned from her landing position face-down on the dusty ground. “Ugh… what the fuck was that?!” she spat, rubbing smudges of dirt from her face as she dragged herself upright again. 

“Almsivi Intervention,” Julan answered, discomfort clear on his face. “It teleports you to the nearest Tribunal temple.” There was a pause before he continued, “I’m sorry, I— I don’t know what happened back there… You must think I’m such a coward. I swear I’m not. I swear I am a warrior, and I’ve never run from a fight, nor do I fear death.”

“Look, don’t be daft,” Fahjoth replied, raising his voice to speak over Ribyna’s loud scoffing as he tried to reassure Julan. “We don’t think you’re a coward—”

“Speak for yourself...” Ribyna muttered, but Fahjoth ignored her to reassure Julan. 

“I wasn’t exactly having a good time up there either,” he continued, trying to inject a bit of humour into the situation. Judging by Julan’s expression, it hadn’t worked.

“I’m not afraid of Red Mountain, or any of its monsters,” Julan said. “It’s... something else. It’s to do with these… weird dreams I’ve been having.” 

Fahjoth’s curiosity was piqued as he thought back to his own night terrors. He hadn’t experienced them for a while, and for that he was thankful, but recollections of fiery landscapes and dark figures with blazing red eyes still lingered in the back of his mind. “Oh yeah?”

Julan took a deep breath. “I dream that I’m climbing Red Mountain. It’s just like what we saw — it’s dark, the air is filled with ash that gets into my eyes and mouth, but the further I go up, the harder it is to keep going. And then there’s all these voices, whispering things to me.”

“What sort of things?”

“That’s the thing, I don’t even know. I can’t understand what they’re saying, it’s too hard to make out. But it sounds, uh… well, not good, y’know?” Julan looked between Fahjoth and Ribyna apprehensively. “You’ve heard of Dagoth Ur, right? I mean, I’m guessing you have, but...”

Their silence said more than enough; Ribyna’s face looked as blank as Fahjoth’s brain felt, and Julan was visibly stunned. 

“Oh come on, even outlanders must know about him! Dagoth Ur? The devil who lives beneath Red Mountain?”

“Sorry, mate.” Fahjoth shrugged. “I don’t—” Then he stopped, as a thought occurred to him. “Wait, does he have anything to do with the Sixth House Cult?” 

“Yeah…” Julan frowned, and Fahjoth began to feel as if he’d done something wrong. “What do you know about the Sixth House Cult?”

“Honestly, not much.” At least that was truthful. There was no point bringing up Cosades and his work, as Fahjoth knew very little about it himself. “I just heard there’s been attacks from sleeper agents. I saw one of them myself.” He couldn’t suppress a shudder at the memory, remembering the vacant expression on the Dunmer’s face and his iron grip as hot as ashes on his wrist. “He said something like… Dagoth Ur is risen, something something Sixth House glory… I don’t know.” 

Even Ribyna looked surprised by Fahjoth’s anecdote, while Julan’s tone became one of understanding instead. “Ah, I see. Yeah. Dagoth Ur is a powerful figure in our history and legends. Supposedly, he causes people to go insane by sending them dreams.”

Ribyna raised a brow at that. “What, so you reckon you’re going insane?”

“What— no!” Julan replied defensively. “I am not insane and I’m not planning to be, either! Lots of people dream about him. It’s nothing.”

For a moment, Fahjoth wondered if it was worth bringing up his own dreams. But if what Julan said was right, then perhaps it was more common than he had thought. He didn’t feel like he was going insane, and as long as it stayed that way, then he surely ought to be alright. 

On realising that he had tuned out of the conversation, Fahjoth jolted and made an effort to concentrate again. 

“Then why are you so bothered by them that you can’t even climb a mountain?” Ribyna was saying. 

“I’m not! I mean—” Julan blew out, his frustration evident. “Look, I know it doesn’t make any sense, okay? I just need time. Anyway…” He looked between the twins, vying for a change of subject. “Never mind that. How about getting on with some training? I could do with taking my mind off things.”

“Yeah, alright. Good idea,” Fahjoth agreed. He gestured between himself and Ribyna. “Me and Beebs are both used to working with short blades and light armour.” Then he gave a dry laugh. “I don’t think either of us will be able to help with your magic, though. We can’t cast spells for shit.”

“Hah! That’s alright.” Julan grinned. “I don’t need any help with archery, either, I’ve been practising since I was small. I prefer fighting with blades anyway, so I’m up for that.” 

“Right!” 

Fahjoth turned to face Ribyna, alarmed by the sight of her drawing her dagger. 

“Sparring match, then? Let’s see how we do,” she suggested. Fahjoth was nervous; Ribyna’s attitude so far hadn’t sat well with him at all, and neither was the look on her face as she eyed Julan. Such a sudden turnaround, going from being openly hostile to Julan to wanting to spar with him, didn’t exactly bode well. 

Whether Julan himself shared Fahjoth’s apprehension wasn’t apparent. On the contrary, he drew his own shortsword and nodded. 

“Alright. Let’s go.” 

“Are you sure?” Fahjoth asked. “With real weapons? Isn’t that a bit dangerous?”

“It’ll be fine, Fahji,” Ribyna said dismissively. 

“Don’t worry, we won’t go too hard,” Julan added. Fahjoth wasn’t at all optimistic about that, but he held his tongue and decided to lean against a nearby wall to observe. 

Ribyna brandished her dagger and stalked a circle around Julan, who stood ready with his chitin sword. Without warning she lunged, hard and fast. Julan brought his sword up to deflect the blow, the blades screeching on impact. A retaliation from Julan, deliberately slow and cautious, forced Ribyna back and kept her at arm’s length for the time being. Overall, it seemed to be going well, and Fahjoth began to relax. 

That was until one particularly close call from the tip of Julan’s blade threw Ribyna off her rhythm. Although the strike hit the tough leather of her armour, the force and angle still caused the dagger to get flung from her grip. With a grin, Julan pointed his sword up to her chest, puffing from the brief yet intense exercise. 

“Got you! Maybe don’t drop your weapon next time.”

Ribyna only scowled in response. Then with a flash of steel, she pivoted herself against Julan’s chest, a second dagger poised against his throat. 

“Maybe make sure your opponent is actually unarmed next time.” 

There was a moment of stiff silence; Ribyna glared at Julan, her face less than an inch from his own, while Julan stared back defiantly. Then the tension broke, and she backed up and resumed pacing, looking for the next opportunity to strike. 

The remainder of the sparring session continued much in the same manner, with Ribyna and Julan flitting around each other in a vicious dance, both trying to get the upper hand over the other. A short while and a few close calls later and they agreed to call it a day, having been reasonably evenly matched. It seemed that training together would be as beneficial for Fahjoth and Ribyna as it would be for Julan himself. 

“How about a drink?” Fahjoth suggested to his somewhat bruised companions. “I think we could all do with chilling out for a bit.” 

“Fine by me,” Ribyna said, while Julan looked awkward.

“Oh, I… don’t think I have enough to—” Julan started, but he stopped as Fahjoth waved a hand genially. 

“Don’t worry about it,” he chirped, offering Julan a friendly smile. “I’ll get them. I owe Ribyna a round, anyway.”

Julan’s unease melted away and was replaced with a grin, which Fahjoth found quite contagious. He purposefully ignored Ribyna’s dull glare in his periphery, focusing instead on Julan. 

“Well, I wouldn’t say no to a mazte, if you’re offering.”

“Sorted!” Fahjoth declared, ambling further into Ald’ruhn while Ribyna and Julan limped along with him. He was subjected to the uncomfortable feeling of someone staring at him, and he didn’t need to look around to know that it was coming from Ribyna. 

Once they reached the cool shade of the Ald Skar Inn, Fahjoth suggested that Julan find them a table while he went to retrieve the drinks, to which he happily obliged. However, Fahjoth was not all surprised when Ribyna offered to help him carry them over, despite knowing full well that he could handle them himself, and prepared himself for the ear bashing he knew was imminent.

“He’s taking the piss,” Ribyna hissed, once they were at the bar and out of earshot of Julan. “You know what’s gonna happen, don’t you?”

Fahjoth heaved a sigh as he leaned against the bar, deciding to just let her rant. “Go on then, enlighten me.” 

“He’s gonna mooch off you every chance he gets! He’s always gonna be all, ‘oh no, I don’t have any money’, and then you’ll have to pay for every-bloody-thing.” 

“I don’t mind. It’s not like I don’t have the gold for a few drinks here and there. I’d do the same for any friend!”

Ribyna’s mouth fell open. “Friend?” she spat, outraged. “You barely even know the bastard! Honestly Fahjoth, you see a pretty boy and I swear your whole fucking brain just shuts down!”

Trying to ignore the heat rising in his cheeks, Fahjoth was quick to see a lifeline and he clung to it like a drowning man. “Oh, so you think he’s pretty, do you?”

This time, it was Ribyna whose cheeks flushed a dull red. “I— no, I never— don’t put words in my mouth!” she retorted, fuming. “You know exactly what I’m saying, and you know I’m right!”

“Well, just do me a favour and keep it to yourself if you can,” Fahjoth requested flatly. “I don’t want Julan to feel uncomfortable. More than he already is...” 

Ribyna looked as though she was going to continue to argue, but a moment of respite came when the drinks arrived. Fahjoth hastily took them over to the table before Ribyna could say another word, leaving her to traipse after him clutching her own. Once he placed the drinks down on the table, Julan gratefully took his, shuffling his stool along to make plenty of room for the twins to join him. 

“So, whereabouts do you two live?” he asked. “It’s not here in Ald’ruhn, is it?” 

“Nah, we’re staying in Balmora.”

“Probably a good thing. It’s like the dusty armpit of Vvardenfell here. And so Redoran, it’s illegal to even joke about it!” Julan swigged his mazte, looking to Fahjoth curiously. “What’s Balmora like?”

“Bit bigger than Ald’ruhn. And less dusty. You’ll see it for yourself soon!” Fahjoth paused. “Well, that’s if you still want to come with us. I’ve got to go check in with my boss soon.” 

“Course I do. As long as we can still continue to train, then I don’t mind where we go.” 

Fahjoth grinned. “Don’t worry about that. If I’m not around, you’ll be able to spar with Ribyna again!” 

“Oh yeah, ‘cause it’s not like I’ve got a life outside you or anything,” Ribyna grumbled, staring at Julan with heavy mistrust — and even dislike. Julan seemed to notice as well, for his smile slipped somewhat and an awkward silence fell over the table. 

“Anyway…” Julan attempted a wary change of subject. “What is it that you do for a living? Apart from rescuing people from clannfears, of course.” 

“To be honest, mate…” Fahjoth shrugged. “I don’t really know. I know that sounds daft, but mostly I just run errands. Gather information. Sometimes nearly get myself killed in Dwemer ruins or haunted tombs. That sort of thing.”

“Sounds… interesting.” 

Both he and Julan both then turned to Ribyna, but she remained silent, glowering back at them while she sipped her drink. Fahjoth’s stomach sank. With Ribyna’s stubborn refusal to socialise, the relatively upbeat mood had been well and truly quashed. 

A heavy weight began to settle in Fahjoth's chest. Though he was looking forward to working with Julan, the excitement was spoiled by Ribyna's behaviour and incessant hostility towards him. He knew Ribyna was prickly at the best of times, but he hadn't anticipated this much resistance to gaining a new companion. If Julan was going to stay with them for the foreseeable, Fahjoth dreaded the idea of trying to persuade her to play nice. How much more grief were they going to get from her?

But more importantly, how far did Julan's tolerance extend? How long would he put up with her animosity and foul mood before deciding that he'd had enough?

                    ——————————————

“I’ve been meaning to ask. What’s up with your hair?”

Blinking, Fahjoth slowly turned to face Julan, trying to concentrate over the rough jerking of the silt strider’s teetering steps and the shrill grinding of its chitinous joints ringing in his ears. He wasn’t normally prone to motion sickness, but being so high above ground level coupled with the vigorous swaying of his seat was not a good combination, and Fahjoth had spent much of the journey from Ald’ruhn to Balmora trying to hold down the urge to vomit. After spending another day in and around Ald’ruhn for training and shopping, Fahjoth could no longer put off returning to Balmora and the silt strider was the fastest way to get there. Even if it did make him want to throw up. 

His first time riding one, and he dearly wished for it to be his last. 

Julan perhaps mistook his silence for offence, for he held up a hand apologetically. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to say it like that.”

“Eh? No, it’s fine. Sorry for being quiet, I’m just not feeling great,” Fahjoth explained, squinting as the low sun on the horizon shone into his eyes. At least the weather had been good for their trip. “Well, it used to be totally black. But a few years ago, it started to go white in the front here.” He held up a strand by means of demonstration. “I dunno why.”

“That really is weird.”

“I still reckon it was stress,” Ribyna added, looking over her shoulder with a smirk. With her arm hanging loosely over the silt strider’s side, she seemed to be having no issues with the bumpy ride. “Obviously not everyone is cut out for life in prison.” 

Julan did a double-take, looking from Ribyna to Fahjoth with shock. “You’ve been arrested?” 

Fahjoth turned to Ribyna, scowling. Ribyna simply smiled back at him with false pleasantry and turned away to gaze at their surroundings as the silt strider tottered along. With a sigh, he turned back to Julan, feeling somehow even more queasy at the thought of telling the truth and wondering how Julan would take it. 

Damn Ribyna and her big mouth!

“Yeah. Me and Ribyna both came here on a prison ship,” Fahjoth admitted. Instantly, Julan looked leery. 

“You’re both convicts? You’re not on the run, are you?”

“No! No, nothing like that. We were released.”

“Released? On Vvardenfell?” Julan scoffed. “That’s just typical of the Empire. As if they haven’t done us enough damage, now they’re offloading their unwanted criminals onto us!”

Admittedly, that comment stung. But before Fahjoth could answer, Ribyna had whipped around in her seat again, looking none too pleased with Julan’s remark herself. 

“Yeah, that’s no good, is it? It’s not like those unwanted criminals saved your sorry arse from getting eaten alive by clannfears or anything!”

Julan blanched, biting his lip as he realised what he had said. “Oh— gods, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it personally. Look, I didn’t mean— well…” As he took a deep breath, Fahjoth noted his hesitation to continue. “You do seem like a good person… people. Good people. Um... were you... y’know... guilty? Of... whatever it was you did to get arrested.”

Fahjoth, for a moment, was silent. He risked a glance over at Ribyna, feeling his stomach clench when he saw that she had turned her back to them again. She said nothing, but Fahjoth could see the tension in her shoulders, and he knew his twin well enough to know that if he spoke the truth, it would hurt her. So he looked back to Julan, thinking about his words carefully. 

“It’s... a bit of a long story, mate,” he said. “It was...” — he paused, waving his hands vaguely — “an accident.”

Julan stared at him with a mild frown, and Fahjoth felt himself break into a nervous sweat, not knowing what he was thinking. After a silence that was far too long for his liking, Julan spoke up at last. 

“I believe you,” he said simply. “I’m not sure why, but I do. Like I said, you seem like a good person, and either way, I’m willing to judge you on your actions here and now, rather than in the past. Whatever they were.” 

A wave of relief crashed over Fahjoth, but before he could respond, a particularly vigorous judder in the silt strider’s pace hit him like a punch to the gut. His stomach, already churning from nausea and anxiety, convulsed violently and a thick, wet sourness hit the back of his throat. Spinning around, he bolted up from his seat, leaning over the side and letting his head hang as he fought to swallow the sickness down again. 

Through watering eyes Fahjoth watched as the ground went rushing by with the strider’s uneven pace, stopping and starting with every bumpy step, the leaves on the trees and bushes below blurring into one as his eyes struggled to focus. How far up was he, anyway? Twenty-five feet? Thirty?

His knuckles whitened as he clenched his trembling hands, his skin becoming hot and clammy and damp with sweat while his heart fluttered an uncomfortable half-rhythm in his chest. After seconds which lasted a lifetime, during which the contents of his stomach barely managed to settle, Fahjoth hauled himself back into the relative safety of his seat. It was still as choppy as ever, but at least he didn’t have to look at the ground this way. When he was able to focus again, he found Julan’s perturbed face fixed rapt upon his own. 

“Fahjoth, are you alright?” 

“Yeah Fahji, you look pale as fuck,” Ribyna added, finally turning her gaze back around, brows furrowed with concern. “Here you are, have some of this.” 

She rummaged in her backpack and fished out a bottle of mazte, reaching back to offer it to Fahjoth. Fahjoth, however, shook his head with his mouth clamped tightly shut. If he opened it, there would likely be more than just words coming out. 

Julan reached over and patted Fahjoth’s shoulder, albeit seeming reluctant to get too close. “It’s okay, I think we’re nearly there. Just... hold onto your lunch a bit longer, alright?”

The silt strider finally drawing to a halt could not have been a bigger relief. Except now that they had reached Balmora, Fahjoth faced the prospect of having to disembark from the silt strider and onto that precarious platform awaiting them. It had been bad enough ascending the narrow ramp to board the strider, how on Nirn was he going to get back down again? 

Fortunately, Ribyna was on hand to lend him hers. Once she had clambered up out of the strider's hollowed-out carapace, she offered her hand to Fahjoth as he hesitantly followed suit. The simple boon of having something firm to grip onto while he stumbled out of the silt strider made all the difference, and without a word, Ribyna let Fahjoth continue holding her hand as they made their way down the slope, Fahjoth's pace hindered significantly by his shaking legs.

It took all his effort not to collapse to his knees the moment he stepped on solid ground at last. He doubled over, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths as he tried to encourage his stomach to settle, paying no heed to anything else going on around him. Once his nausea had subsided enough, he straightened back up again, preparing to face the mocking and jeering he predicted from his travelling companions. 

However, there was nothing of the sort. Both Ribyna and Julan were watching him, their faces showing nothing but concern and sympathy. 

“Not good with heights?” Julan asked, his tone one of pity. 

“I— I dunno,” Fahjoth admitted. “I never realised... but I suppose, yeah. Obviously…”

“Either that or the turbulence,” Julan suggested. He fell silent, turning his gaze away to survey Balmora instead. "So, this is Balmora? It’s so grand." There was clear hesitation in his voice as he continued, “Um... tell me honestly, do I look like a complete savage?”

Fahjoth blinked. “What?”

Julan chewed his lip, his eyes darting from left to right apprehensively, as if searching for anyone who would look at him with disdain. “I know how people view Ashlanders. They think we’re violent, uncivilised barbarians who live in filth and poverty. They don’t even try to understand us, or our culture, or why we choose to live as we do. But we’re proud of our culture. We don’t need these tacky displays of wealth to be happy — we have more valuable things of our own.”

Before Fahjoth could even open his mouth, Ribyna cut across him. “Oh, don’t worry. Me and Fahjoth grew up stinking savages ourselves.”

Unsurprisingly Julan bristled, glaring at Ribyna and quietly seething. Sensing an altercation brewing, Fahjoth hastily spoke up, cringing over Ribyna’s lack of sensitivity. “What she means is that... well, we grew up on the streets,” he explained. “People saw us as nothing more than dirty, uncivilised thieves, as well.”

Thankfully, Julan seemed to calm down. “Well. Then maybe you’ll understand. My people are viewed with suspicion here in the cities. Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud of my heritage, but I feel like I might be too conspicuous. I don’t want to go drawing any attention. What d’you think?”

Fahjoth shrugged. “I mean... you look fine to me, Julan. But if you like, we can look into getting you some new clothes.” 

“At least get him something that smells less of guar,” Ribyna interjected, and once again, Fahjoth wanted to throttle her. Fortunately, Julan didn’t take offence. 

“Maybe that would be a good idea, actually. But!” He jabbed Fahjoth in the chest with a finger. “If you make me look ridiculous, I swear I’ll never forgive you!”

Fahjoth held his hands up innocently, a grin curling at the corners of his lips. “I would never! I’ve got a good eye for fashion, me. Can’t you tell? Anyway…” He looked between Julan and Ribyna with an apologetic gaze. “Do you two wanna go get us a table in the South Wall Cornerclub? I need to go speak to Cosades, but I’ll join you straight after. He gets grumpy if I call on him too late in the day.”

Both Ribyna and Julan looked as apprehensive as Fahjoth felt to be sending off by themselves, but for the moment, it was unavoidable. 

“Alright, well... don’t be long!” Ribyna said with a frown. 

“I won’t!” Fahjoth called back as he began heading off, jogging away between the long shadows cast by the setting sun. 

                    ——————————————

Given the lateness of the hour, Fahjoth had assumed that Cosades would be home, perhaps settling down for the night with a few bottles of booze as he was wont to do. To his surprise, that was not the case. He lingered around for five minutes, just on the off-chance that Cosades would turn up, but he was reluctant to leave Julan and Ribyna alone for much longer. So he hurried on to the South Wall Cornerclub, hoping that the two had not bitten chunks out of each other in his absence.

However, he needn't have worried. When Fahjoth arrived and descended the steps into the bar, he spotted Ribyna and Julan sitting in complete stony silence at their usual corner table. Quite frankly, he had seen funerals looking more lively. 

His arrival seemed to come as a relief, as Julan glanced up and waved Fahjoth over. Fahjoth obliged, joining them at the table with haste as he accepted the bottle that Ribyna pushed towards him. He was both unsurprised and disappointed to see that Julan had nothing. 

“Sorry about this,” he murmured, casually pushing his own mazte over to Julan instead. 

“It's fine,” Julan replied. “Not like either of you are obligated to buy me a drink.” 

“Yeah, but it's polite, isn't it?” he said, directing this particular comment over to Ribyna, who curled her lip but said nothing on the matter. 

“So did you see Cosades?” she asked instead. “What's he got lined up for you this time?”

“He wasn't in,” Fahjoth answered. “I'll see him tomorrow, I'm sure.” He paused, before sliding a handful of coins over the table towards Ribyna. “Could you go get me a mazte? I still feel a bit dodgy.”

“I already got you a mazte.”

“Ribyna, come on,” Fahjoth groaned, desperate for one night of peace. “Please.”

A moment of irate silence later and Ribyna got to her feet, striding off towards the bar with a distinctly sour demeanour.

Fahjoth sighed, burying his face behind his hands with dismay. “I'm so sorry about her,” he apologised, lowering his hands and resting his chin on his fist. 

Julan shrugged. Fahjoth had to admire his fortitude. “Don't worry about it. It's hardly your fault. And I've dealt with much worse, believe me.” He peered over his shoulder, jerking his head in Ribyna's direction before turning back to Fahjoth. “I don't suppose you know what her problem is?”

“I wouldn't take it personally, mate,” Fahjoth said. “She's just... like that. To everyone, pretty much.” He ran his fingers through his hair, his mouth continuing to move as his frustrations began to seep out. “Has been for years, now. I knew she was... difficult, but I swear she's gotten so much worse since we got here. Like, I know you need gold to survive, that's obvious, but there's gotta be better ways of going about that than joining the Thieves Guild or the Morag bloody Tong—”

“Hold on,” Julan interrupted, cutting Fahjoth off mid-rant. “She's in the Morag Tong?!”

Fahjoth froze, realising his slip-up. 

“Uh…” he began, but he was spared the need to respond by Ribyna's return. 

“There's your bloody mazte,” she said grumpily, putting the drink down in front of Fahjoth with enough force that, for a moment, he thought the bottle might shatter. Before he could say anything, Julan was on the attack. 

“So you're in the Morag Tong.” He glared at Ribyna, his grip on his own bottle hard. “The Morag Tong! You'd better have a damn good reason for this!”

Ribyna paused, slowly turning her gaze to Fahjoth as she sat down again. Fahjoth could merely offer her an apologetic grimace, and with a loud huff, she rolled her eyes and turned back to Julan. 

“Come on then, I want to hear this!” Julan went on. “How can you possibly justify joining a murder cult?!”

“It's a job,” Ribyna said bluntly. “I get paid to do it. That's all. And keep your bloody voice down, will you?”

After glancing around to ensure that they hadn't drawn any undue attention already, Julan continued in a low hiss. “So that's all this is to you? Money? There's lots of ways to make gold that don't involve killing people you don't even know!”

“Listen, save the lectures. If someone's got to die, they're gonna get killed either way. At least this way, I can get paid for it!”

Julan sighed, eyeing Ribyna with distrust. “Yeah, well, that doesn't mean I have to like it. You're still walking up to a stranger and putting a dagger in their back. I don't know if I could live like that. And if you can, well…”

“Yeah? Well if you don't like it, you know where the door is,” Ribyna spat. “In fact, why don't you do us both a favour and piss off back to the Ashlands alread—”

“Alright, that's enough!” Fahjoth snapped, holding his hands up towards the bickering pair. “Both of you, pack it in! You're doing my head in. Let's all just calm down, okay? Thank you…”

Fahjoth hung his head after his outburst, going back to nursing his mazte in silence and deliberately avoiding both Ribyna and Julan's eyes. Already he felt guilty about losing his temper, but he was still feeling rough from the silt strider ride and the vicious squabble wasn’t helping. He was beginning to wonder if they would ever get along; the prospect of having to put up with their constant quarrelling was a grim one. Was this going to be his existence for the foreseeable future? Playing referee between his twin and his new friend? 

He despaired at the thought. But he could always live in hope, no matter how exhausting it was.

————————————————————————

tag list @boulderfall-cave , @padomaicocean (lmk if you’d like to be added!)

[ieattaperecorders]

Something’s Different About You Lately - Chapter 4: No Security

Jon and Martin deal with some things that have been gnawing at them.

Read on Ao3

Martin drew his coat in closer, wishing he'd worn more layers. He'd been in such a hurry to leave that he'd thrown on his coat, socks and shoes right over his pajamas. But that was before he'd spent what felt like more than half an hour in the cold night air, feeling foolish, wondering if he ought to have taken the time to dress properly. Or charge his phone, it would have certainly been nice to have that as a distraction.

Well, too late now. He was there, standing outside the Institute and waiting for Jon to arrive. Hopefully with an explanation.

Eventually, Jon appeared at the end of the block. He was carrying a backpack, one of the big, padded ones favored by hikers, and it seemed like an odd thing for Jon to have. He wasn't exactly the outdoorsy type as far as Martin knew, but he supposed that people could surprise you. He leaned out from behind the column and waved so he was more visible, and Jon's face took on a measure of relief.

"Ah, good." Jon closed the distance between them in a quick jog. "Everything all right? No, ah, pest problems on your way out?"

"Didn't see any worms, no." Martin said. "Maybe they're shy about the cold."

He hadn't meant for that to come out sounding so grumpy, but Jon didn't seem to notice. If he saw anything odd about how Martin was dressed he gave no sign of that either, he was oddly energized.

"All right." Jon said, "there's a motel about three blocks that way. Nothing luxurious, but it's open, and according to online reviews it doesn't have bedbugs. You're booked for three nights there, you'll just have to show identification."

A dozen objections fought their way through Martin's brain. As little as he wanted to go back to his cot in the archive, wasn't he staying there because it was safer? What if Jane found him at the motel? Also, he couldn't afford to move into a motel!

"Wait, I can't just- - " he began.

"It's been paid for," Jon interrupted, anticipating at least one of his concerns. "And - and since it's work-related I used the Institute expense account so, don't worry about that."

Martin raised an eyebrow. That didn't sound . . . true. "Since when do you have an expense --"

"And it's already paid, so there's no point in arguing." Jon said firmly. "I'm sure you could use a good night's sleep, now, off you go."

He gestured back towards the direction he'd come from, as if shooing Martin away. It was the gesture as much as anything else that made Martin dig in his heels.

"Wh- - no! First tell me what's going on!" Martin protested. "Why did I suddenly have to leave? What - what is all that for?" He gestured to the backpack.

"Martin, please!"

Jon seemed to catch himself raising his voice, and stopped. He took a deep breath, pressing his palms together in front of his face, then continued in a slow, controlled tone.

"I promise, I'll explain things tomorrow morning. But right now, I need you to go to the motel, and spend the night there, and not come back to the Institute tonight. Can you do that for me?"

Martin pressed his mouth into a hard line. Frustration and worry and an embarrassing desire to just do what he asked because he sounded so earnest wrestled in him. It may have been sheer physical exhaustion that won out in the end, because after a moment of silence, he reluctantly nodded.

Jon stood there, looking expectantly at him. Already feeling like he was making a mistake, Martin walked a few steps past him, then turned.

"Three blocks this way?" he asked, not really needing the clarification.

Jon nodded. "There's a neon sign out front, it'll be obvious."

". . . See you tomorrow, then."

He continued down the block. Whenever he paused and glanced back Jon was there, standing outside the Institute and watching him walk away, which only added to the strangeness of it all. Eventually Martin stopped turning and just looked at the ground in front of him. Everything about this felt wrong and weird and maybe it was just because he'd started accepting "wrong" and "weird" as descriptors of his life nowadays that he was going along with it.

Especially where Jon was concerned. Everything was weird where Jon was concerned.

Was it something personal Jon had with Jane Prentiss? That could explain why he'd believed Martin's story so readily when he was ordinarily such a skeptic. Did he have some past experience with her, a personal vendetta? Had he come here tonight for revenge?

Martin slowed his pace and looked back again. Jon was nowhere to be seen, but from where he stood, Martin noticed lights inside the building being turned on.

Hell with it, he thought, and headed back towards the institute at a jog.

* * *

Jon looked forward to being able to set the backpack down, just carrying it from the train station had made his shoulders ache. He'd been buying CO2 for days, he'd intended to take another week or two to sneak supplies into the Institute more gradually. But he was ready enough. And he wasn't letting this continue for another night.

He'd known these months were hard for Martin, known about the anxiety and paranoia, but this? Was the Hive singing to Martin just as it had sung to Jane? And had it always sung to him?

Was this new? Jon couldn't imagine how his actions so far might have altered events to cause it. Then had it been this bad the first time around? Martin hadn't ever mentioned hearing these things, feeling these things before. But then, he wouldn't have at the time, would he? And later, during those quiet nights in the cabin where they'd speak softly to one another about things too fragile for daylight, these early days had already begun to feel distant. Other nightmares, other traumas that were more immediate had overwhelmed them. It might be that he just never mentioned it.

It didn't matter. Whether this was a new development or not, it wasn't going to go any further.

He wondered if he ought to have walked Martin to the motel, rather than leaving him the way he did - all alone, downtown in the middle of the night. Then he shook his head, dismissing the thought.

"For God's sake, he's not a child whose hand you need to hold," Jon muttered to himself. "He's a grown man who's survived one supernatural attack already. I'm sure he can manage three blocks on a well-lit street on his own."

If there was a part of him that just wanted to have walked Martin there, just to spend a few quiet moments with him before facing this, well, it wasn't relevant now. That moment had passed, and he had to focus on the task at hand. He couldn't fail. If he died now, Elias would just start his plans over with a new Archivist, probably Sasha, and that was unacceptable.

He had a plan, he had the memories of a man who had wandered the tunnels a thousand times. He had fire extinguishers, torches, a hatchet from a hardware store, and, - just in case - a corkscrew. There would be no security in the building until six am, so no one else would be in danger. And he was months ahead of schedule, their numbers would still be low. Jon could do this. He found the right spot and began working.

It was difficult - the wall that had crumpled into rot when he'd slammed his palm against it the first time seemed stubbornly well-built now, taking several cracks with the hatchet just to open a few inches of space. When the hole was barely big enough for a fist Jon pulled back and hesitated, waiting for any reaction. None. So he went back to swinging until the hole was big enough to step through

Warily, extinguisher at the ready, he shone the a torch into the darkness beyond. The tunnels stretched down as expected, but besides that there was nothing. No quick, squirming movement, no Prentiss. He took as thorough a look as he dared, shining the light in every crevice. Nothing at all.

Was he too early? Surely the awful things were there, but how far along were they in their own preparations? Doomed to fail or not, he needed their ritual to be put down as they attempted it or the Corruption might continue to attack the institute, making further attempts in ways that Jon couldn't predict. All he really had on his side was his knowledge of their movements, if he lost that - -

"Jon, what--"

He leaped back and screamed, spinning around. Martin stood by the door, flinching from his reaction. Jon leaned heavily on his desk, every nerve lit up with shock.

"Martin," he growled. For the first time since the new memories, he found he was really, truly angry with him. "What are you doing here!? I told you to leave."

"I know! I know! But- -" Martin held his hands up defensively. "It's obvious that something's going on here, and I don't know what it is you're doing with - - with that - -" he gestured at the hole. "Or what your history with Jane Prentiss is - -"

"I don't - - you need to go - -"

"And I know you think I can't help with whatever this is- -" Martin's voice rose in pitch, fast and nervous. "But I could if you'd just trust me enough to tell me what's happening- -"

"Please . . . " Jon glanced uneasily back towards the hole. How far into the tunnels did sound carry? Would the noise of their talking attract something? "We can't - - I can't do this now - -"

"- - And anyway, this is my fault, isn't it?" Martin lowered his hands, a tremor entering his voice. "I'm the one they followed here. If . . . if they're here because of me, I should - - I want to help . . . ."

There was a moment of silence, then Jon sighed - shoulders sagging, anger melting off of him. He looked at the person in front of him and wondered who he really was.

He tried to remember. Had Martin's voice been so full of sorrow and self-reproach when he'd apologized for losing him in the tunnels? Had that small, quiet furrow been in his brow when he'd tried so valiantly, so fruitlessly, to make Jon and Tim speak to each other again? When he'd confronted Elias, had he taken that same stance Jon saw in him now - determined, stubborn, but hands trembling at his sides, anticipating the worst? Or was it foolish to even ask these questions, to look for someone who wasn't yet real in the face of a person who was?

"Martin . . ." he sighed, "this isn't your fault. This is - - well, it's bigger than either of us. And - -" he rallied again, stepping closer and trying to turn him physically towards the door. "And I'm sorry but - - this just isn't the time for a heart to heart. You have to get out of here before - -"

The two of them froze. It was hard to tell who heard it first, but they both recognized it. The wet, sticky, crackling sound of a thousand squirming bodies.

"Jon . . . ." Martin whispered, staring over Jon's shoulder.

He turned just in time to see it start - - tiny, silver things dripped from the edges of the hole in the wall, swarming over the floor with impossible speed. They seemed to multiply, doubling and tripling before their eyes, and Jon grabbed an extinguisher, pressing himself in front of Martin.

"Get back," he shouted. "Get back. Run!!"

To his relief, Martin ran, bolting through the door. The sound of his footsteps vanished back into the hall, and Jon gave silent thanks to the fight or flight response. He wouldn't have far to go before he was out of the archive and safe, and in the meantime Jon would give the crawling bastards reason to keep their attention on him.

Refocusing, he opened the valve of the extinguisher and pushed forwards, spraying everything that moved. The worms died off en masse, the slow ones thrashing and going still, the quick ones retreating back into the tunnels. He slung the regrettably still heavy pack over his shoulder and pressed forward - he'd need to find Prentiss, get to where the circle of corruption had been forming and put it all down.

Jon was barely a few feet into the tunnel when something felt off. He glanced around, eyes peeled for anything crawling. Something wet and cold hit the back of his neck, and pure reflex made him bring a hand to slap it. It wriggled under his palm, fangs biting down - not deep, not yet, but god it hurt. Swallowing panic, he pinched the squirming body between his fingers until it stilled, jaws releasing, a foul-smelling fluid leaking onto his hand.

There was a tense moment as Jon wondered where the worm had come from. There was a far worse moment as he realized that he hadn't yet looked up.

Deep inside Jon rested the echoes of a thousand fates worse than death, horrors he had witnessed and fed upon in another lifetime. There was a part of him that knew these things so intimately, understood there was a shape and a rhythm to them and knew what had to happen next. The thing that would be his doom was waiting for him to realize it was there, to understand, to feel that fear all the way to his core. A part of Jon knew, all things considered, the worst thing he could do at that moment was look up.

Unfortunately, that part of him did not control the muscles of his head and neck, and instinct is hard to resist. Jon turned his face up towards the writhing carpet of bodies that covered the tunnel's ceiling, and as one the worms rained down on him.

His reflexes were still not enviable. He narrowly avoided being buried alive, but dozens landed and Jon staggered back towards the hole in the wall, shaking and clawing at himself. They were on his arms, his throat, slipping down the neckline of his shirt and latching on to the tender skin below, and more were advancing from behind.

Idiot. He'd acted as if they were ordinary creatures, mindless bugs that would just crawl one way or another, not capable of setting a trap. He should have known better. He did know better, but he'd charged forward like a fool, and now they were on him and in him and for each one he pulled out two more were burrowing down. He couldn't let this happen, they couldn't have him, he couldn't die now but the pain was blinding and the panic was frothing and his hands were too slow and there were too many - -

A cold, white cloud enveloped him, he chocked once then instinctively stopped inhaling. His mind was a chaos of don't breathe in and get them out and can't see can't see can't see. But the horrific sense of invasion, of violation, of gnawing, growing vileness spreading into his body stopped. The sound of gas dispelling stopped too, and there were strong hands grabbing his shoulders, dragging him towards the door.

Jon stumbled along, blinking through the pain. Still digging at his skin, pressed with a need to pick and pull the rotten things out of himself. His eyes were tearing from the CO2 and from pain, everything was blurry and confused. He strained to see if there were still worms coming (yes) where they were coming from (everywhere) and who was pulling him to safety (he already knew, of course he knew, he had known from the moment the gas hit him.)

Still half-blind, Jon felt himself being let go and heard a door slam, but he barely registered it. His ability to think was quickly narrowing to a single point of revulsion, the need to get them out of him now. He found what he needed in the pocket of his bag, and painfully, messily, did what he had to do. At the end of it he was bleeding and his wounds were screaming agony but they were empty, thank God, and that was enough.

His vision cleared enough to see Martin a few feet away, shoving some sort of cloth under the door to block the cracks. He looked frightened, very frightened, but he had a single-minded focus turned towards keeping a barrier between the mass of parasites flooding into the next room. When the door was secure he turned to look at Jon, and his face went ashen.

"Oh my God . . ." he breathed.

It took Jon a moment to realize that ah yes, he probably did look gruesome. Swaying on his feet, dotted in holes with a bloody corkscrew in his hand.

Jon looked down at it, then back up at Martin. A strange, stupid smile spread across his face, and quite against his will he began to laugh. It started as a weak, breathy sound but quickly ran away from him and soon he was shaking with it, knees wobbly, tears trailing down his face. The look of confusion and fear on Martin's face got worse, and Jon wanted to stop, he did, but it just wasn't possible.

He truly was a fool. How could he have thought, even for a moment, that Martin would run to safety and leave him behind?

Jon sank to the floor, the moment of mad laughter passing. Martin pulled hesitantly from the door and took a step towards him.

"Um. . . are you . . . all right?" There was an uncertain note in Martin's voice, and Jon suspected he wasn't just referring to his wounds.

Still trembling a little, smiling like an absolute idiot, Jon nodded. "Respiratory acidosis," he muttered. "Must be. From breathing in the gas."

"Oh." Martin glanced nervously at the door, which held for now. "Is that serious?"

"I'll be fine." Jon shook his head, tried to take a measure of himself and see how accurate that actually was.

The pain was distracting, but not debilitating. He doubted he'd be able to do much with his left arm for a while, but they hadn't gotten to his legs. Which meant that he could run, and he could use a weapon. Which meant that this wasn't over. He slid the bag off his shoulder and pulled out another extinguisher. There were four more inside, it would have to be enough.

"Here. You're stronger than I am," he said, holding the bag out to Martin. As an afterthought, he added, "I imagine."

"Oh- - ah, all right?" Martin took the backpack, confusion writ large across his features. "Look, I don't know how long the door will hold, we should - -"

Martin was turning towards the exit, gesturing for him to follow, and that wouldn't do. Jon reached out and gripped his arm with a bleeding hand.

"No. Not that way," he said, taking a few steps towards the hall. "Over here. There's another way in."

"Another way into what?"

"That passage beyond the wall, the one they were pouring out of. You saw it, correct?" Jon asked. Martin nodded. "There's another way in, but we'll have to hurry. As you said, that door might not last."

"Excuse me?" Martin gaped at him. The poor man had surely assumed they'd be fleeing the building, but that would have to wait. "Why are we going towards where the worms are!?"

We, Jon thought. He felt a manic grin spread across his face.

"To finish this," he said, looking back over his shoulder. "You said you wanted to help, didn't you?"

He took off before Martin could protest, something rising in him that he couldn't name. It felt like a laugh or like a scream, but it was silent and blinding and bright. He was running, and he was bleeding, and he heard Martin catching up behind him. And Prentiss could be anywhere and they weren't safe, weren't safe, and no place in this world was safe. But if Jon couldn't send Martin out of danger he could at least keep him close. And he knew - oh, he knew - that if he ran, Martin would follow him.

* * *

Jon had lost his mind, there was no doubt about that. But Martin was the one running after a madman, so he probably didn't have room to judge.

They ended up in another room where Jon started knocking at the wall, listening for something. Upon finding it he wordlessly grabbed a chair and used it as a makeshift battering ram, smashing open another hole. Martin wondered what it said about him that, despite the real, horrific danger they were in a part of him was still worried about getting in trouble for all the damage they were causing to the building. But that part of Martin wasn't powerful enough to keep him still when he heard the door down the hallway splinter and burst. He hurried to join Jon in pulling away sections of damaged wall - which seemed like it wasn't a proper wall anyway, just a thin layer of plaster - and in a moment they were down the dark passageway, running again.

The tunnel dipped and swerved and turned like a maze, but somehow Jon seemed to know where he was going. He grabbed Martin's hand at the first turn, pulling him to the left with no explanation beyond "this way," and didn't let go after that. Martin quickly lost track of the turns, and found himself hoping that the ‘run your hand along the right wall' trick really worked, because he had no idea how they were going to get back if it didn't.

It was scary, god, it was terrifying. But it was also a little bit thrilling? Running around in these mysterious secret tunnels that had apparently just been there, hidden under Martin's feet the whole time he'd been at the Institute. And it was downright surreal seeing Jon like this, guiding them along based on some direction or intuition Martin couldn't fathom.

When they'd first met Jon had been sharp and stern and so intimidating. After a while, Martin had decided that much of his manner was an act, beneath which was someone odd and a little awkward but well-meaning. Now it seemed there had been another layer under that, and this one Martin couldn't figure out at all. Breaking into the Institute in the middle of the night, going after supernatural infestations? He was like a character from an action movie.

Well, Martin reconsidered, as Jon stumbled ahead, muttering under his breath, maybe not one of those big budget action movies. Some sort of indie film, or maybe a satire.

At one point Martin noticed that a few spiders had crawled onto the back of Jon's neck. Four of them, big ones, too. Jon hadn't noticed them yet, and Martin wondered if he could shoo them away without alerting Jon, knowing what an arachnophobe he was. But then a sound from down the tunnel distracted him, and when he looked back at Jon the spiders were gone. So he stopped thinking about it.

Eventually they reached a large chamber and Jon held an arm out to stop Martin from going any farther. He really didn't need to - the room was full of worms. Martin felt nausea roiling up in him as the smell hit his nose, and he froze in place. Weirdly, they didn't react to Jon and Martin's arrival, didn't seem interested in them at all. They were too focused on doing. . . something. Something that involved wrapping around one another in a huge, growing circle.

Martin had no idea what they'd stumbled into - - horrific possibilities of worm reproduction had barely even entered his mind before he was ready to run. But Jon shouted for him to start spraying gas into the room and he realized with a sinking sensation that this place was what they had been running towards all along. They emptied the remaining extinguishers into the room until they were sure that everything was dead. Jon nodded with satisfaction and took off running again, and Martin was once more focused on keeping up.

He sensed that they were going back to the institute. Even lost and disoriented, some intuition told him they were returning to light and warmth and surface, away from the dark damp of the tunnels. Relief washed over him as they clambered through the hole in the wall and out into the hallway, escape finally in sight.

That was when they ran into Prentiss.

It was as if she'd been waiting outside the door, ready to pounce. Martin acted on reflex, throwing an arm around Jon's frame and pulling him into the nearest room. He turned the lock and pressed himself against the door just as he heard Jane slam against it heavily. Jon was once more operating under some indecipherable internal logic, rooting through boxes, overturning files and moving furniture. Martin didn't even ask. He just dug his heels in and braced himself against the door as Jane thudded against it. This wasn't the steady knocking he'd come to dread after a week in his apartment, no. This had force behind it. Could she break the door down if she tried?

Just as Martin asked himself that question, the knocking stopped. He pressed his ear to the door, listening for . . . well, he wasn't sure, honestly. What he heard was Jane stepping back and moving down the hall, which should have been a good thing, but just made Martin more anxious. And as he leaned against the door, straining to hear, he felt something cold drip onto him.

He manged not to scream or thrash or fall to the ground. He pulled away from the door and saw the crack that a small handful of worms had wriggled through. He also saw the small handful of worms that had latched onto his arm. He didn't need to see the small handful of worms that had latched onto his head and neck to know and feel exactly where they were.

Biting back panic, silent to keep from screaming, he went for the front pocket of Jon's bag. His hand closed over the corkscrew - and God, what did it say that Jon had gotten the exact same idea as Martin for how to get them out? He held the sharp end to his face, grimacing in anticipation.

Something spoke. It said, please.

Martin stopped moving, hand an inch from his cheek.

Please . . . .

There hadn't been a voice, not really. It wasn't sound, not something he'd heard in his ears or even inside his mind so much as felt it deep in his bones.

Please . . . I need you.

They weren't words, but the meaning they carried was as clear and articulate as any language. More so. There was no doubt about what was said, he understood it, understood its need in a way words and knowledge and intonation would never be able to convey.

We need you, a second voice joined the first.

It hurts, the voice was pained, and formless, and demanding. It's so harsh and so bright here, this cruel and sterile scrutiny. It's so cold, and you are so, so warm.

Warm and dark, full of heat and hiding and dark, damp things never to see the light. We need your heat. We need your limbs and your stomach and the gently gurgling secrets of you.

Please. We need your heart. It hangs so soft and tender between the lattice of your ribs.

We need your throat, pink and heavy with words unspoken. We can give it new language, a tongue understood by everything warm and wet and living.

Time was moving syrup-slow. The panic that had lit Martin's veins grew sluggish. His thoughts crawled. The voices came lovingly, hungrily, and he made no move to dig them out.

They pulled at an emptiness in him. Something that ached whenever he had looked at other people and sensed they were a world he couldn't be part of. He felt something whisper that the painful hollow inside him could be filled. It spoke of movement pouring into him, eating the parts that hurt, filling him until he could no longer remember being without it. The thought made him shiver, but with it came a strange, growing warmth.

It should hurt more, some sensible part of his brain observed, so many of them burrowing into him. There was pain, yes, but it was distant and dreamlike. Almost satisfying, the not-quite-pleasurable feeling that compels you to pull at a sore tooth, to pick at a scab, to squeeze a pimple. The more he listened, the deeper the voices went, the closer he felt to that wonderful moment of release when the boil finally splits.

We need you, they said. We need all of you, every inch.

So cold so hungry so hurt so alone.

Open and blossom and bloom and rot.

You're ours. You're ours. Let us give you our song.

Martin heard a crash, and the sound of Jon shouting loud enough to shake his focus. Revulsion at what he'd been thinking washed over him, and he dug the sharp tine into his face as quickly as he could. He repeated it until the tiny, terrible things that had been crawling their way into him went silent.

It only took a minute, but it was a very, very long minute. Martin backed away from the door, a trickle of silvery bodies still coming from the crack at the top.

It looked as though Jon had been dumping the contents of file boxes onto a table, piling paper statements out of order on top of one other until he'd made a small pile. He'd knocked over a cabinet - the crash Martin had heard, probably - and used it to climb on top of a second one, a crumpled wad of paper in one hand, lighter in the other.

"Closet door's on the opposite wall," he shouted, barely even glancing at Martin. "Get ready to run!"

The lighter flicked on. The flame caught the page in Jon's hand, and he held it at arm's length, waiting for something. For a moment, Martin didn't understand. Then the fire alarm went off, and he understood horribly well. Jon dropped the burning pages onto the pile, which caught and began to spread. He leapt from the cabinet, stumbling, and movement returned to Martin as he realized what the room would soon be filled with. They reached the door in seconds, scrambling inside and slamming it shut just as CO2 flooded everything.

A scream ripped through the air, one Martin felt more than heard. Thousands and thousands of things without mouths, screaming as one. It flooded him, crescendoed, then died out, leaving his knees weak.

There was shuffling in the dark, he heard Jon shift and knock against something. As awareness of his body slowly returned to him, Martin felt a light bulb dangling near his head. Reaching up, he pulled the cord. Light filled the small space of what looked like a janitor's storage closet. Jon was on his hands and knees, he'd removed his jacket and was stuffing it in the crack beneath the door.

"Not a perfect seal against the gas, but hopefully good enough," he muttered. He turned to glance at Martin then, and his face fell, he looked suddenly heartbroken. "They got you too? I didn't even see. . . ."

"Oh. Yeah," reflexively, Martin reached up to touch his face and was punished by a sharp stinging pain as a finger brushed one of his wounds. "Got them all out, though."

Jon stood and looked at him searchingly, frowning. "Are you sure? Certain you got them all?"

"Think I'd know if I missed one." Martin grimaced. "It's not exactly a subtle sensation."

Jon hovered a hand in front of Martin's arm as if to grasp it, but didn't make contact. He looked at him with a strange intensity. "And you definitely didn't . . . let any of them stay in you?"

"Sorry, what?" Martin balked.

"Answer the question, Martin." Jon's gaze was steady and serious.

"No?" Martin's tone must have been uncertain, because Jon's frowned deepened, so he tried again. "No! Of course not!"

". . . All right." Jon nodded solemnly, "I trust you."

With no further explanation than that, Jon turned to examine the rest of the room. He clambered onto an overturned bucket, bracing himself against a shelf that was so unsteady Martin had to bite back a reflexive warning to be careful. He stood nearby - there was nowhere to stand that wasn't nearby, it was big for a closet but still a closet - hands half raised so at least he'd be there to keep Jon from cracking his head if he fell. Jon stood on his toes and examined the vent near the ceiling.

"It's giving out air," he announced. He placed a hand on Martin's arm and stepped down, using him as support. "There's no CO2 vents in any of the closets. As long as the seal on the door holds, we should be all right here." He paused, considering something. "You aren't claustrophobic, are you?"

"Not really." Martin said. "You?"

"A lot more than I used to be." Jon smiled ruefully. "But I can handle this fine."

Jon sat down heavily on the overturned bucket, exhaling with the effort. He no longer looked anything like the hero from a movie of any genre. Just tired, and small, and very, very chewed on.

Martin glanced around, began rummaging through the shelves. Jon lifted his head and looked curiously at him, but said nothing. After a moment, he found what he'd been looking for and held it out with a triumphant grin.

"First aid kit," he said, as if the red cross on the bag wasn't clear enough. "Thought there might be one in here."

"Oh, thank God." Jon said. "Does it have painkillers?"

Martin unzipped it, taking stock of what was inside. "Yeah, in little packets. Aspirin and acetaminophen, you got a preference?"

"Either. Both," he held out his hands. "Please," he added.

Martin passed him two acetaminophen packets, then sat on the floor and ripped two open for himself. The half-sweet sensation he'd felt a few moments ago had solidly turned back into deep and gnawing pain, and he swallowed them pills dry. He then took out a small bottle of rubbing alcohol and some squares of gauze and turned back to Jon, who was at the holes in his own arm with grotesque fascination. He seemed miles away. Martin cleared his throat and he turned, blinking at him.

"Here . . . let me do the ones on your face." Martin said. "We should get those disinfected as quick as we can."

Jon frowned. "You need tending to as well . . . you're bleeding."

"Yes. But you've had your wounds open and bleeding and exposed to God only knows what for a while now." Martin reasoned. "We should do you first."

Jon wavered. For a moment it seemed like he might protest. Then he shrugged and leaned forward, silently accepting. Martin dabbed at one of the wounds which was already an angry red at the edges, and Jon immediately flinched back, a sharp ah of air as he breathed in.

"Sorry. Probably stings a bit."

"Mmnhmm."

Jon leaned in again, this time only tensing slightly as the gauze touched him. Martin moved his fingertips carefully over the ridges of Jon's skull and the place where his jaw and neck met. He used up one square of gauze after another, tossing the used one into a tray that was probably used for painting, bloody and stained with something Martin didn't want to think about.

"Do you think they're still out there?" Martin asked after a while.

"The worms? Unlikely." Jon said, glancing towards the door. "We took care of the ones deep in the tunnels, and the fire suppression should have taken out the rest. There weren't really a lot of them."

Martin gave Jon a look.

"What?" Jon asked.

"What exactly counts as a lot of worms to you?"

"Fair enough," he smirked. "I suppose what I mean is, I think the CO2 got them all."

Martin shook his head and dug around in the kit, finding bandages and medical tape. "I never thought I'd see you of all people start a fire in the archive. . . ."

"Hmm, yes." Jon got a strange sort of smile on his face, something wicked and satisfied, and he muttered to himself. "Hope that one hurt." Then he cleared his throat and looked back at Martin. "Anyway. . . you heard that scream. It sounded. . . " he paused, searching for a word. "Terminal."

"Yeah. Wish I didn't hear it, but yeah." Martin shivered. "S'probably gonna be in my dreams for a while."

Martin finished covering the damage on Jon's face and neck, then passed the kit to him so he could take care of the rest himself. Jon did so haphazardly, scrubbing at the marks on his arm hard enough to make Martin wince, though he said nothing.

"The real danger now is the CO2." Jon continued, tearing open a bandage with his teeth. "It'll take some time to disperse enough for us to get out. Do you have a phone?"

"Battery's dead." Martin said. "Wasn't able to charge it. You?"

"Dropped it while running, I think. No matter," he shrugged. "Won't be more than a few hours before the morning staff gets in and sees the state of things. If they're smart they'll call the ECDC, who'll come in looking for survivors," he smiled wryly. "Then we'll have all the fun of quarantine to look forward to."

Martin stared. Jon shifted, suddenly uncomfortable.

". . . What is it?" He asked.

"Who are you?" Martin gestured in Jon's direction, trying to indicate, just, all of him. "Five weeks ago I couldn't convince you that no one is ‘naturally' suffocated by cobwebs, and now you're coming in the middle of the night to fight a worm queen like some sort of academic Van Helsing!"

"Ah. I . . . " Jon glanced off to the side, "I believe the original Van Helsing was actually a professor of some sort, so . . . ."

"Whatever!" Martin threw up his hands. He was exhausted, and confused, and he didn't know why he was shouting except that he'd been too nervous to shout while they were running for their lives and now it was all coming out. "You show up with a bunch of gear and start knocking down walls and finding hidden passageways! How did you even know they were there? And what was with that phone call, I mean, why tonight? What do I have to do with it all?"

The rare sight of Jon looking speechless might have been more satisfying if Martin wasn't hoping to get answers from him. He looked down at his fidgeting hands, avoiding eye contact, and was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke again, it was in a different voice. A dark, measured tone, as if he was reciting something.

"It is not the patterns that enthrall me, it's what sings behind them," he intoned. "Sings that I am beautiful. Sings that I am a home. That I can be fully consumed by what loves me."

"Wh- what?" The strange, poetic words tugged at Martin's stomach, bringing up a deep, disquieting nausea that made him itch everywhere.

". . . Jane Prentiss. She came here sometime before - before she became what she was." Jon said quietly. "She gave a statement, spoke of something like the melody that you described. Something that frightened her even as it lured her closer. That got inside her and twisted and changed her until . . . well. You saw her. Twice now."

Martin felt cold. He didn't like what he feared Jon was implying. Does it sound like it's for you? he'd asked.

"First she heard them sing to her." Jon continued. "Then she resisted. Then she was drawn in. Then she gave herself to them."

"So . . . so you're saying they can do, what, mind control?" Martin asked, unsteadily.

Jon shook his head. "I don't think it's direct as that. It's more of a slow corruption. Or a call. Or a wearing down of resistance. By the time you realize you're changing, you've already changed. Too far gone to be saved," he said, looking into the middle distance. "That's, ah, how it seemed from Prentiss's statement, anyway."

Martin was quiet. Jon unwrapped some fresh gauze and dabbed it with disinfectant. He gestured Martin towards himself.

"Come here," he said.

Martin leaned forward reluctantly. After seeing Jon scour his own wounds he braced himself for a similar treatment. But Jon's touch was remarkably light and careful as he dabbed at Martin's face. Even the sting of alcohol wasn't so bad - it made him feel cleaner, less worried about whatever horrid traces those things might have left behind in him.

"Is that going to happen to me?" Martin whispered. "What happened to Jane?"

"No." Jon said firmly. "No. We aren't going to let them have you. Besides, the worms are all dead now."

"But do we know that?" Martin asked, worry tightening around his chest. "How can we be sure?"

He half expected Jon to just insist they couldn't have survived the CO2, ignoring everything about them that didn't make natural sense. Instead, he paused and considered.

"Well. We can keep watch. If there are any left, their only means of ingress are the vent and under the door," he nodded at both. "If it came to that, they'd only be able to get through a few at a time. We could probably take care of them with something heavy. And when the ECDC arrives they'll seal off and fumigate the building, so as much as one can ever be certain things like this have been destroyed, we will be then."

Martin nodded slowly. All right. That was reasonable enough.

"And . . . if you do ever hear them again . . . ." Jon added after a pause. "Hear or feel something strange, you can talk to me. I promise I'll listen. Ah, Tim and Sasha too, you can, you can come to us for help, you know?" He looked down, changing out the square of gauze. "I think that isolation makes this sort of thing worse. From - - from what I've read. In the statements."

He added that last part so hastily Martin couldn't help raising an eyebrow. His guess about Jon having some past experience with Prentiss, or at least something like her looked more likely by the second. But so did the sense that there was something big there, some raw emotion Jon didn't want to touch. Martin decided not to press it.

Jon placed a hand against Martin's jaw, gently tilting and angling his face as he needed it. He leaned in with the same look of focused concentration Martin had seen on him while reading, brow crinkling, mouth turned into the smallest hint of a frown. Jon's face was very, very close to his, and Martin closed his eyes so that he wouldn't have to worry about where to look. He tried to cover his shyness with a laugh.

"You know," he said, "if I didn't know better I'd think you were saying there might be something, I don't know, not-normal about these person-devouring parasites?"

Jon sighed heavily, pulling back. Martin opened his eyes just in time to see Jon roll his.

"Yes. I realize these things are not natural," he fished around in the kit for bandages. "And I've always believed in the supernatural, even before I came here. The skeptic act, it - it felt safer at first to just deny everything, I suppose. But lately I think it's just done out of habit."

Jon frowned, pressing a clean bandage onto Martin's neck. "Still. Perhaps it's a habit I'd be better off discarding."

He reached down and tugged the collar of Martin's t-shirt to the side, exposing the flesh over his shoulder which was pocked with tiny holes. Martin looked hard at the opposite wall as Jon tended. When the last of them had been bandaged, Martin expected him to pass the kit back and let him handle the bites on his arms himself. But without a word he pulled out a new square of gauze and gently took Martin's wrist, moving his arm to rest on top of Jon's knee and turning it to show where it was hurt. He touched Martin so carefully, so gingerly, and Martin couldn't think of a thing to say as Jon resumed his ministrations.

"Probably is better. Discarding the skeptic act, I mean," Martin eventually said, grappling for something to fill the silence, "I almost didn't want to tell you about Prentiss at first. Was pretty sure you'd say I was losing it. Or, I dunno, lying to get out of work."

Jon winced, and he immediately regretted bringing it up. It was such a petty thing. Not worth discussing over a month later, especially not at a time like this. For a while Jon was silent, focusing on Martin's arm while Martin wondered if he'd just spoiled what might have been a moment of connection. Then abruptly, Jon turned to look him in the eye.

"I owe you an apology, Martin. Probably several apologies. This job I've taken on, I - I don't think I was prepared for it at all. It certainly wasn't what I'd expected," he said ruefully. "I've been frustrated and - and confused, and afraid, and I've been taking it out on you. Which isn't fair at all."

Jon's eyes flicked away from Martin's face, and he turned to stare nervously at the floor.

"I don't - " he sighed. "I don't, ah, dislike you, Martin. I've been lashing out, and you've-" he winced, "well, been a convenient target, I suppose. Which is inexcusable, absolutely inexcusable, and I'm not trying to justify it, but -" he spoke slowly, his voice earnest. "You should know that it's been nothing that you did. It's really had nothing to do with you at all. It's entirely me and my own failings, and I'm sorry for that. I just . . . hope that you can forgive me."

"Oh. I mean, ah . . . sure?" Martin said it unthinkingly, as reflex, just reacting to the fact that he was being apologized to. But after a moment, he added, "yeah. Yeah, it's all right. I forgive you," and realized that he meant it.

Jon seemed immensely relieved, he looked at Martin and smiled. Martin felt a soft little twinge in him and smiled back.

"I'm . . . very glad to hear that." Jon said. "Because I think there's something wrong with this place. I don't just mean - " he gestured around them, indicating their current situation " - Jane, the worms. I mean the whole archive. I have a feeling that things are only going to get worse from here." Jon tilted his head, looking at Martin sincerely. "And if they do . . . I think I'm really going to want you in my corner."

Martin felt heat rise to his face in a familiar way that he couldn't ignore. And God, what a mess he was. Getting weak-kneed over his boss while they were locked in a supply closet waiting for a decontamination team to rescue them. But Jon's face angled towards him just then, in the close, stuffy air. His voice intense and serious but his expression so unexpectedly delicate, soft and hopeful. It did Martin in. He chuckled awkwardly, trying to clear the tension.

"Oh! Well, sure," he laughed. "I mean, that's my job, right? Assisting the archivist."

Jon got an odd look at that, but after a moment he smiled. He glanced back at the vent and sighed. "I think we're going to be waiting here a while. You should get some rest if you can."

At the words get some rest, perhaps just the concept of rest sinking into his mind, Martin felt himself sway. The adrenaline had passed, and while his wounds were still hurting the painkillers had taken the sharpest edges off.

"'If I can' being the key bit," he said.

"Mmm." Jon glanced disapprovingly around at the small room. "Not exactly the most comfortable surroundings, I suppose."

"Every time I close my eyes I feel something crawling on me."

Martin had meant it lightly, even jokingly, a sardonic complaint about the bizarre situation they were both in. But when he said it Jon looked at him with sudden concern. Not the quick, searching worry from when he'd asked Martin if there were any worms left, something less urgent, more quiet and sad. Martin shifted uncomfortably, about to say that he didn't mean it, he knew they were dead and it was fine. But before he could speak, Jon got down from the bucket he'd been sitting on and moved closer to him. He leaned against a shelf, legs out, his small body forming a third wall around Martin's corner.

"I can see the vent and door from here. I'll keep an eye out, and if anything comes through rest assured I'll make enough commotion swatting it to wake anyone."

Martin laughed once, a quick, short breath. "I bet. Um," he fidgeted. "We could take shifts? That'd be fair."

"Told you. I keep odd hours." Jon waved a hand dismissively. "I've already gotten some sleep tonight, which, unless my guess is wrong, you haven't. Besides, it should only be a few hours before someone arrives. Don't see the point in splitting the time up."

"If you're sure."

Jon rolled his eyes. "Go to sleep, Martin."

His voice held a familiar annoyed creak, but softened with something friendly, even affectionate. Martin pulled a few drop cloths off a pile and stuck them where the walls met, giving him something to lean more comfortably against. He was slumped against the wall of a storage closet, the sores on his face and arm still ached, and it was far from comfortable. But when his eyes closed and his mind conjured images of squirming things, he felt Jon's presence next to him. Someone was there keeping watch over him, someone who'd see if anything got near, and that was enough to make the crawling feeling fade. For the first time in a long time, Martin was able to drift, his skin calm, his mind settling. A moment later, he was asleep.

He didn't dream much, and what dreams he did have were echoes, brief half-images and sounds replayed from their flight through the tunnels. But there was one moment when he dreamed of opening his eyes, half awake, still there in the supply closet. He'd slumped over onto Jon in his sleep, but Jon didn't seem to mind. He sat with Martin laying across his lap, one arm draped over him protectively, an easy smile on his face. Then the dreamless darkness took Martin back.

Just a dream, of course. When he truly woke he was lying on the floor and Jon was standing, banging on the door and shouting to the emergency workers outside.

[theangriestpea]

The Killing Type | Six

Summary: Just when Lavender thought things were going great with Sweet Pea, a new girl comes back to turn to turn their entire relationship upside down. Now they have to navigate a world of drug dealers, rival gangs, and co-parenting. Sequel to Mercy Killing. <masterlist><playlist> 

Rating: Mature // Explicit

Pairings: Sweet Pea x OC // eventual Jughead Jones x OC

Warnings: Plan-b usage, mentions of abortion/pregnancy termination, mentions of cheating

Word Count: 5.0k+

A/N:  It's finally here! There's not a whole lot of Sweet Pea in the chapter (only towards the end), sorry about that. But it was kind of necessary filler lol. I hope everyone enjoys!

Chapter Six : Two Hearts, Unstable

When Lavender awoke the next morning, Sweet Pea was absent from her bed. She assumed that he had gone to work on a job or check up on Daisy. While her being alone did hurt at first, she understood that he had other priorities he had to tend to too. She let out a groggy sigh as she rubbed the grains of sleep from her eyes. Did last night really happen? She found herself wondering and realizing that she was still naked hammered it in that it did.

Then the realization hit her and she was suddenly overcome with intense dread. They hadn’t used a condom, and while she didn’t keep detailed track of her period, it had been a few weeks since her last cycle meaning she was either ovulating or close to it. She wasn’t on birth control because it interacted with her antidepressants too much so her only options were condoms or the risky pull-out method.

She knew that she couldn’t handle a child right now, nor could Sweet Pea handle a second child. It was an easy decision to make, to go to the pharmacy and pick up a plan-b pill. The thought of going alone though made her incredibly nervous, especially after her run in with the Ghoulie last night.

At first she called Toni and Cheryl, but neither picked up. She really didn’t want to ask Jug or Fangs, because they’d probably tattle to Sweet Pea. Her only option then was...Lily.

Lavender swallowed hard as she got out of the shower and got dressed. She had no issues with Lily but she found their relationship rocky at best. They had had a little heart to heart last night, but before that then their conversations had often been argumentative in nature. Though, she figured if anyone would understand, then it would be Lily. Seeing as she herself had a child with Sweet Pea.

She figured just going over there would be better than calling, and for that she was thankful that it was a Saturday. Once she was finished getting ready, she made her way to Sweet Pea’s trailer. Luckily his bike wasn’t out front, so she assumed he was off with Fangs somewhere or working a job for Jughead.

With a little hesitation, she knocked on the front door despite still having a key. It felt weird going in there without knocking first now that it wasn’t just Sweet Pea (and occasionally his father, though that was a rarity). She heard a faint “in a second” before waiting a few minutes. Eventually the door opened to see an exasperated Lily with a giggling Daisy in her arms.

Lav smiled weakly, suddenly feeling incredibly embarrassed. “Can I ask you a favor? You don’t have to say yes but...if you do then I’ll buy you and Daze some lunch in return.”

Lily thanked god above that her stomach did not growl then and there. “Sure, what is it?” She asked, while before she hadn’t been too sure of Lav’s intentions with Sweet Pea, she knew now that the purple haired girl meant no harm. She was just as vulnerable as her ex was and they both pretended not to be simultaneously.

“I need to go get some plan-b.” She said, looking utterly embarrassed that she had gotten too caught up in the moment to make Sweet Pea wear a condom. She was sure Lily was going to lecture her about it, tell her that she was a total idiot. But, she was wrong. Lily just nodded and moved aside so Lav could come in.

“Can you hold her while I get ready?” Lily asked, not even missing a beat. “It’ll only take like ten minutes.” She passed the happy baby off to Lavender who sat down on the couch with her. She was unable to look at Lily directly, still feeling incredibly ashamed.

Almost exactly ten minutes later, Lily returned with her keys. “So, I take it you guys finally said it?” She asked, trying to lighten the mood. Lavender forced a smile as she stood up with Daisy still in her arms.

“Yeah, we did...and uh, I just got so caught up in the moment I forgot to make him wrap it up.” She said, nearly choking out the words.

Lily just laughed, knowing all too well how bad Sweet Pea was at wearing a condom. “Don’t worry about it too much, since it was just last night the plan-b should work fine. Do you need money? Jug might can get some for you if-”

Lav shook her head, “No, I’m fine. My dad left me a lot when he died. I just want to get it over with. I really don’t think any one of us could handle two baby snakes at this time.”

Though she wouldn’t say it, Lily was grateful that Lavender was doing the smart thing. She recalled when she went in for her abortion and was unable to carry through after hearing the heartbeat. While she loved her daughter more than anything in the entire world, she couldn’t deny that life would have been so much easier if she had simply taken a pill the day after risky sex. Though she was certain that cost would add up to be a small fortune very quickly.

The two teens went to Lily’s car. Lav placed Daisy in her car seat and strapped her in, making sure she was secure before getting into the passenger’s seat. Lily hopped in behind the wheel and started the car before driving to the nearest pharmacy on the southside, the only one she knew of that wouldn’t give them any trouble for asking for a pill. Any northside place would just lecture them and try to force them to have a parent buy it for them. That clearly wasn’t an option for either of them.

The car ride was relatively quiet. The only sounds were punk music from the radio and Daisy babbling in the back seat. Lav was unsure of what she should say, if she should say anything. “After, want to go to Pop’s?” She asked, “My treat for not making me go by myself.”

That time Lily’s stomach did growl. A sheepish look crossed her face, “Yeah, sure. That sounds great.” She parked the car and the two got out. Lily walked around and grabbed Daisy before going inside.

Once inside the tiny store, they walked through the convenience aisles to get to the back part where the actual pharmacy was. “I have to ask someone, don’t I?” She whispered to Lily. She had never done this before and wasn’t entirely sure how it would go.

“Yeah, the pharmacist will give it to you after telling you the side effects. Don’t worry, I can ask. I’m used to the judgmental looks people give me.” Lily said back, keeping her voice just as low. Lavender nodded, feeling even more grateful now.

Once at the counter, Lily told the pharmacy tech what they needed. The young man looked between Lily and Lav, wheels obviously turning in hi head about why teenagers would need an emergency contraceptive. Lav was biting her lip nervously, looking down at the counter while Lily just stared him head on, clearly not one to play games.

The tech nodded and went to get the pharmacist to help them. Lily nudged Lav with her elbow as a silent encouragement. Lav let out a shaky breath as an older woman came with the small box that she needed. She asked who it was for and Lily said it was for her, again the look on her face was daring the pharmacist to say anything negative to her. Daisy was giggling, clearly having no understanding of what was going on.

The woman simply nodded, not about to put up a fight with a couple of teenage gangbangers. Everyone knew who the Southside Serpents were in these parts. The top of Lav’s tattoo was visible over the upper edge of the tank top she was wearing. Lily was wearing her jacket and even Daisy at a tiny denim vest with the double headed snake. The top rocker said “baby” and bottom rocker said “serpent”. Jug had it custom made a week ago.

The pharmacist went over the risks and what would happen after taking the pill. She rang them up and Lav paid with her credit card. She put the package with the pill as well as an information pamphlet into a plastic bag and handed it to Lavender since Lily was carrying Daisy. “Have a good day, stay safe.” She said, not sounding judgmental in the slightest.

Lily thanked her before turning with Lav and walking out, her head held high and never looking down. Once outside Lav let out a huge breath of relief. “Thank you, I don’t know why I care so much about what other people think. Probably something to do with Reggie calling me a slut any chance he fucking gets.”

“You’re half Northsider, that’s why.” Lily said, somewhat jokingly. “All Northsiders care about what people think about them. That’s just how they are. I doubt it’ll always be that way for you. Just give Sweet Pea a little more time to corrupt you.”

Lav made a face as she opened the back door for Lily so that she could put Daisy in the car seat. “How long until I’ll be known as just a Southsider?” She asked, a little irritated.

“However long it takes for your bank account to lose a few zeroes.” Lily replied playfully. “Why does it matter so much to you anyway?”

She sighed, “Because as of now I don’t fit it anywhere. Not with the Northsiders, not with the Southsiders, and not with the gang. No one will give me a chance. Jughead thinks I still need more time, but I’m ready! I can do jobs just like everyone else! I’m tired of being looked at like some dumb, fragile princess that can’t do anything for herself. Christ, I get enough of that from Sweet Pea alone. I don’t need it from everyone else.”

Lily smiled as they both got into the car. “I’ll ask Jug to let you come with me on some of my next jobs. As training. That way you’ll be contributing. How does that sound?”

Lav was quiet for a few moments as she drove them to Pop’s. She was grateful for all that Lily had done in the span of half an hour. “That sounds good...Thanks.”

“Cheer up! You finally got laid last night!” Lily said, laughing, “And you two finally admitted your feelings! Please promise me that it's not a one time thing or I will lock you both in a closet until it's not.”

“He said it first.” Lavender said, cheering up instantly at the memory. “And of course I said it back. It was perfect….even if it was a struggle to get out.”

Lily shook her head, “it’ll get easier. Or I think it does. It seems to, from what I’ve seen at least. Whenever Sweet Pea and I said it to one another it was more like...platonic love. Not romantic love. Does that make sense?”

Lav nodded her head, unsure of what exactly to say. She figured it was the same in how she told Fangs, Toni, or even Jughead that she loved them. She wasn’t saying she was in love. Just that she cared for them all deeply. It finally seemed to click in her head that that’s how Sweet Pea and Lily were.

A few minutes later, after crossing the railroad tracks, Lily pulled into Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe. They got out, Lav grabbing Daisy this time, and went inside. There weren’t very many others there; an elderly couple in one booth and a businessman at the bar, that was it. It was a little odd considering it was a Saturday, but it was whatever.

Lily chose a booth at the end of the row where they could be as far away from the few other customers as possible. Lav handed Daisy to her and sat down. A moment later a waitress came over and took their drink orders while Lav looked over the menu. She was still chewing on her lip nervously, the pill in her pocket waiting to be taken. She knew that the side effects were going to mimic a period and she just wasn’t in the mood for that at the moment, not with how painful hers had been the past few months.

“You should take it as soon as possible.” Lily said, in a tone that was almost motherly. Lav sighed with frustration and nodded.

“I’m just waiting on my milkshake. I don’t do well with pills unless I have something to wash it down..” She muttered.

Lily reached out and put a hand over hers, “it’ll be okay. If for some reason it doesn’t work, then we’ll figure it out. But, I don’t think you should be thinking about the worst case scenario right now.”

Lav shook her head, “I know. It’s just hard not to. Just the thought of getting pregnant makes me want to throw up.”

Lily couldn’t help but laugh, though she was sympathetic. “Yeah, I know what you mean. It’s rough going to high school and being knocked up. I don’t know how I survived it some days…but she was worth it. Even if I am exhausted all the time.”

“You’re a lot stronger than I am.” Lav admitted. “I couldn’t even take going back to school after my attack. Everyone was talking about me, whispering behind my back, all the rumors that flew around about what happened. And spoiler alert, in none of those rumors was I a victim. I was a willing participant. I swear the bulldogs try to remind me of it every chance they get. I lost count how many times Sweet Pea had to go up to bat for me. The first few weeks were the worst. No one really talks about it now unless they’re trying to get under my skin.”

The waitress came back with their milkshakes and took their food orders before flitting away again. Lily was looking at Lav with a serious expression. “I wouldn’t say I’m stronger than you, Lavie. You went through hell and back. You went through something a lot worse than a teenage pregnancy. Don’t discredit yourself.”

Desperately wanting to change the subject, Lav looked up at Lily, “I know about you and Jughead.” She said plainly, nearly giving Lily whiplash in the process.

“W-What?” Lily sputtered, not entirely sure what exactly she was talking about. “What do you-”

“You’ve had sex before.” Lav clarified after taking a long swig of her strawberry chocolate shake. “He took your virginity, right? Or at least, that’s what he told me.”

“He told you that?!” Lily snapped, heart racing with a panic. “It was supposed to be a secret!”

Lav smiled at her, “it is. He was just really drunk the other night and I pulled it out of him. I asked him what was going on between you two and he just emotionally vomited all over me. It was kinda cute.”

Lily was quiet, taking a deep breath. “That was before Sweet Pea and I were together….Sweet Pea thinks he took it. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I had slept with Jug. They practically hated each other back then.”

“I think it’s hilarious.” Lav said with a gentle smile. “I had a good laugh at least. Jughead really cares about you. He always has, I think. He and Betty were never quite right. I think she was just convenient. I was glad when they broke up. Let Archie and her bang it out or whatever. Jug didn’t need to be hurt by her over and over again. Especially when he caught her cheating.”

She frowned at Lav babbled on, “Betty cheated on him?”

Lav paused and nodded, “Yeah, he caught her and Archie kissing one day. He was a wreck. I think that’s why he ultimately called it quits with her. Thank god too, he didn’t deserve that bullshit.”

“He never said anything to me about that.” Lily mumbled, “he would only say that it was a mutual decision between the two of them.”

Lav scoffed, “no way. Betty wants her cake and to eat it too. Cake being Jughead’s heart in this case. She’d do anything to manipulate him back into her life. God, I can’t believe he actually let her play serpent queen! Thank god no one actually took her seriously as a Serpent. Can you imagine? I’m more of a serpent than some Northside barbie.”

Lily tried not to giggle, seeing as Lav was pretty much a barbie in her own right. Clearly it wasn’t the right time to point that out. If Betty and Veronica were the dolls of the Northside, then Lav was definitely the pin up girl of the Southside. Though she would viciously deny it any time someone pointed it out.

The only difference between them and her, was that Lav actually used her money to do a lot of good for the Serpents. Jug had told her about how much she had donated to the gang’s projects or to Serpents who needed the extra financial help. Apparently her father left her more than she was willing to talk about. She wouldn’t even take credit for it, making Jug swear to secrecy every time.

“Hopefully he won’t give her another chance.” Lily said as Lav eyed her suspiciously.

“You have a thing for him still, don’t you?” Lav asked, hoping that Lily would spill her heart out. By the red tint Lily’s face suddenly took on, Lav knew she was right.

“Jughead doesn’t want a teen mom, Lav. There’s no point.” Lily said as their food came.

Lav took a fry and dipped it into her milkshake before eating it. Lily gave some fries to Daisy who began to happily gnaw on them. “I think you should let Jug make that decision instead of making it for him.” Lav said finally after swallowing the food she had put into her mouth. “It’s not fair to just assume he won’t.”

“Are you of all people giving me relationship advice?” Lily asked, though she was clearly joking. The other girl took no offense and instead rolled her eyes back at her. “Take your pill.”

“Oh, right…” Lav reached into her pocket and popped the white pill out of the plastic packaging. She placed it on her tongue before taking a large gulp of milkshake to get it down. “How long until it kicks in and I ruin my underwear?”

“I’d give in thirty minutes. Do you need a pad or anything?” Lily asked.

Lav shook her head, “No, I put one on before I left just in case. I should be fine. I just hope I’m not in too much pain.”

“Well, if you are, then I’ll make Sweet Pea take care of you. Hopefully I won’t need to work tonight.” Lily said.

A comfortable silence fell as they both ate their food, the only sound was Daisy babbling every once in a while in Lily’s lap. Once they were done, Lav paid the bill and left a tip before getting up. It had only been about twenty minutes or so, so she wasn’t feeling anything yet. “I better get home before the cramping starts. I have a feeling I’m not going to hold out much longer.”

Lily smiled, secretly grateful Lav didn’t bring up her drug dealing for the time being. She really didn’t want to talk about it right now anyway. Not when they were in such a public setting. “Let’s get you home then.”

“Thanks for coming with me.” Lav said softly, “And for not being upset…”

“I know Sweet Pea is a total idiot and hates condoms. If he truly cares about someone then he will conveniently forget that condoms even exist. I swear he only wears them for one night stands.” Lily grumbled. “He’s such a dumbass sometimes.”

“All boys are, honestly.” Lav said with a small snort. “I was too caught up in the moment to make him.”

Lily offered her a smile, “it’ll be okay, try not to stress over it too much.”

Lav nodded as she got into the car after helping Lily put Daisy in the car seat. They drove back to the southside where Lily dropped Lavender off outside of her trailer. Lav waved goodbye, already feeling the slight twinge of pain in her lower abdomen, before retreating back into the safety of the inside.

A few hours later, Lavender was curled up into a tight ball on the couch clutching her stomach. When Sweet Pea walked in, he hadn’t expected to find her there. Actually, he thought she’d be at the Wyrm with Toni, Cheryl, and Fangs.

“Babe?” He asked as he realized he hadn’t talked to her at all that day. It wasn’t that odd as sometimes they were both busy with either school or side jobs. Luckily Lavender wasn’t the type to freak out when he didn’t text back right away. She trusted him, though he would admit that he didn’t necessarily deserve it given his track record.

“Pea,” She whined pathetically, “can you get me my heating pad?”

A confused look crossed his face as he went to the closet to get it. “Your period? I thought we had another two weeks.” The fact that he knew that was a little endearing, though she was in too much pain to really appreciate it.

“I had to take a plan-b pill just in case. We didn’t use a condom last night and I feel like I’m dying.” She said back with a dramatic groan. Sweet Pea plugged in the heating pad she typically only used when her cramps were really bad and handed it to her. She uncurled enough to press it into her abdomen before curling back up.

The events of last night flashed before his mind and he remembered not bothering to put on a condom, “oh...yeah, sorry. I guess we got carried away.”

She smiled softly, although it was clearly pained. “This is your fault.”

He brushed her hair back before kissing her forehead, “what can I do to make it feel better?”

“Never forget to wrap it up ever again.” She said, mostly joking. “Just sit with me.”

He nodded, “let me go get cleaned up first, okay? I’ll be right back.”

Lavender waited as he went into her bedroom and changed into a pair of gym shorts and tank top. He wiped some of the dirt off his face and hands with a warm washcloth before hanging it up and coming back into the living room.

“Sit up,” He instructed gently as she did her best to sit up so he could sit down. Once he was situated, she laid back down with her hand on his lap.

Sweet Pea began to play with her hair as he cut on the TV to find something for them to watch together. Though he already knew what she wanted to watch. Anytime she didn’t feel well, she always had him put on her favorite movie. She was pretty predictable sometimes.

He cut on Jim Henson’s The Labyrinth before settling back down into the couch cushions. Lavender let out a small content sigh, still holding the heating pad tightly to her abdomen. It was finally warmed up enough to help relieve some of her pain.

“I’m sorry, I know you hate this movie.” She mumbled as she watched the screen. Sweet Pea let out a soft chuckle, because he did in fact find the movie really creepy and somewhat disturbing. But, if watching it made her happy then he’d sit through it a million times or more.

“It’s fine.” He said, brush her hair back as he began to play with it mindlessly. “I don’t care if it makes you feel better.”

Lav smiled softly and in turn, made Sweet Pea smile as well. He wasn’t watching the movie anyway, he was too captivated by her instead. She was much more fun to watch anyway. “I love you.” She said airily, not taking her eyes off of Bowie on the screen. It seemed so much easier to say it now that they weren’t at odds with each other.

Sweet Pea stiffened against the couch for a moment, the feeling of her saying it without prompting made him feel uncomfortably warm. He still wasn’t used to this whole love thing. It didn’t make much sense to him. He had thought he had been in love with Lily after all, but it wasn’t at all like how he felt with Lavender. He just wished he understood it more.

“I love you too, princess.” He said, almost inaudibly as a blush crept up his neck and to his ears, setting them on fire. He wished he could take her into the bedroom and prove it all over again, but he knew she was in much too much pain for that.

They sat in silence, Lavender drifting in and out of sleep in his lap as he scrolled through his phone with his free hand. He had messaged Lily telling her that Lav wasn’t feeling well so he would probably be spending the night again over here. He was surprised when she responded that it was okay. He half expected her to harangue him for not helping out with Daisy for two days in a row.

A few minutes later she sent him another text, saying she may need to work tonight so she would bring Daisy over in a few hours. Sweet Pea sighed, unsure how he would be able to take care of both of his girls at the same time. Maybe Lav would be feeling better by then? He doubted it. She seemed pretty miserable. Normally she didn’t take naps like this unless she was really sick. He had only seen her do it once before when she had the flu. That had been miserable for both of them as anytime she threw up, he would join her.

Hopefully she’d be able to rest without his full attention. He did feel bad that he had to divide his time between her and Daisy, but it really couldn’t be helped. He was just thankful that she had been so accepting of his daughter after the initial rough patch between her and Lily.

Lavender woke back up when he shifted his legs. He mumbled an apology before stroking her hair again to coax her back to sleep. “Daisy is coming over later.” He warned her. “I guess Lily has to go sell some more drugs or whatever. I don’t see why Jones hasn’t punished her yet. It’s ridiculous. Anyone else would be kicked out on their ass.”

“Pea, why do you want Lily kicked so badly?” Lav asked, trying not to get too aggravated with him, “She told me she doesn’t have a choice. Did you even try to talk to her about it without accusing her of something?”

He made a disgruntled face down at her. “What? No, I was busy today and you needed me last night. Jones knows now though and he didn’t do anything.”

Lavender turned onto her back so she could look up to him, “You’re so dense. Jughead is totally in love with Lily, that’s why he can’t do it.”

“What?! No he’s not!” Sweet Pea snapped, somehow feeling offended that his girlfriend would even suggest such a thing. “Why would you say that?” \

“Juggie is one of my best friends, Pea. I know when he has a crush on someone. The way he looks at her and the way he talks about her to me. I mean, it’s obvious. Plus they have a history.” Lavender said, hoping he wouldn’t try to argue with her when she felt like shit.

His face seemed to fall a little and she didn’t understand why he was so upset. Him and Lily hadn’t been together in a long time, not really. Lily wouldn’t even take him back a few weeks ago. “They have a history? When?”

“That’s not really my place to tell you, Pea.” She said, hoping he’d understand. “I don’t understand why you care? You’re not with Lily anymore. You’re with me.” She reminded him, her annoyance showing this time.

Sweet Pea just huffed, “I know that, brat. You brought it up, I don’t see why you can’t tell me. Did she cheat on me with him or something? After all the time she spent lecturing me about-”

“No, it was before you.” Lavender quickly corrected. “Lily never cheated on you to my knowledge.”

Now he really was hurt. Lily was his best friend and she had never told him. He felt betrayed, left out, and lied to. It had nothing to do with their past romantic relationship. It was strictly their platonic one that felt threatened. Lav could tell by the look on his face that he was upset. She reached up and cupped his face in her hands. “Hey, calm down. She didn’t tell me either, I just found out through Jug. Don’t make me say it.”

His face screwed up into disgust, “don’t say it.”

“I’m going to if you don’t smile.” She threatened and he rolled his eyes.

“Sweet Pea” She said sternly but he was pouting now.

Lav sat up and turned to face him, “come on, let’s get some cheer-up for your pancakes.”

He groaned loudly at the stupid pun she told him every time he was down about something. It drove him crazy because it always did make him smile, despite wanting to do anything but. He couldn’t stop the tiniest of laughs that came from him. “I hate you.”

“You love me, now make me some food. I’m hungry.” She flashed him a set of large hazel eyes full of hope that he’d cook for her. A look he could not resist in a million years.

He stood up from the couch and shook his head. “Fine, if I don’t you’ll just eat junk anyway. I swear you’re such a child.”

“I am not!”

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