#Let Your Walls Fall // bring-me-a-coffee-dipshit

[howtodisassembleyourdeviant]

@bring-me-a-coffee-dipshit asked: "Do you miss your hostage turned mob pet cause this clingy bitch misses you like hell and he's sorry for getting taken hostage for like three months by that one gang you hate-" 

Connor is... a wreck, to put it simply. For three months, he has searched, hunted, been merciless. His health? Neglected. Sleep? Non-existent. Any sense of self-preservation? Gone, just like the man whom he loved and cherished. The man the kingpin put on a pedestal, lavished with expensive gifts, and kept close as one would a pet, a lover, the light in the pitch-black nightmare he calls his life. 

Without that light, Connor was plunged deep into the darkness, seeming only darker now that he has seen such brilliance in his life. His empire thrived, not simply because he devoted any time not spent searching for Gavin to his trade, but also because of the fear he evoked amongst the other gangs. Like a wounded predator, ready to lash out with sharp claws and blood-soaked teeth. He was dangerous, and they all knew it. He decimated any group he believed might be holding his lover hostage. After a while, mere insinuations were enough to evoke his rage, no longer able to go off facts. 

There was so much blood on his hands.

Yet, nothing could deter him. His mind was locked on the goal of rescuing his lover. Any thoughts otherwise of the possibility that he was broken beyond repair, gone forever, dead and buried, were not allowed to fester. His pain and sorrow fueled him, blind to everything around him. A room full of armed men stood no chance once he saw red. One moment, death would be certain. The next thing he knew, he’d be standing in a room full of bodies, gripping the throat of one of them as he demanded information, breaking bones until he was given something. Anything. Leaving them mangled to suffer for a crime they might have had nothing to do to begin with, but a warning for those who did. 

Three months.

Nothing to show for it. 

And now here they are, calling him. Were they stupid, or was Connor getting too close? What kind of game is this? A million questions run through his mind, but none of them register, so disconnected from his humanity that he is relying on instinct alone. It’s astounding that the beast he has become was able to form words, even as they sounded more like the growls of a snarling demon. 

“BRING HIM BACK NOW.”

[howtodisassembleyourdeviant]

Connor relaxes against Gavin's neck, sighing in content as he slowly opens his eyes again, ready to fall right back asleep any moment.

"You have no idea how comfy you are," Connor mumbles, "You're so warm, and your skin is soft. I can press my ear against you and let your heart be the best lullaby. No couch or bed could compare," Connor kisses his neck, "plus, a bed doesn't give me head pets."

*falls asleep in Gavin's shirt, with Gavin still in it*

"...Hey, Con-" Gavin mumbles, gently poking his fiance's head and nuzzling at his ear. "No way in hell am I this comfortable, mister... You need a bed or the couch." He whisper-grumbles, petting at Connor's hair.

[blxetsi]

peach scone - levi ackerman (modern au)

levi ackerman x gn!reader, levi ackerman x erwin smith

warnings: ooc levi, angst, songfic,  lowercase intended !

reposted due to errors   

you’re a peach scone. 

it used to be a term of endearment. something that he would say to make your tummy fill with little creatures. the butterflies would bump into your sides, causing you to feel sort of ticklish in your abdomen, while the little caterpillars and slugs would crawl around your torso, sending shivers down your spine. levi would always say it after you did something he enjoyed, like if you helped him on his assignment, or if you gave him really good advice. he would always utter those four words to you as gratitude. never loud enough for others to hear, because those words were always meant for you. 

you shook those thoughts from your head, you couldn’t be thinking about such bittersweet memories minutes before you were set to perform. currently, you’re preparing to perform in front of you music teacher, it’s your final assignment before your exam and it counts for 15% of your mark. you’ve entrusted your two friends, derek and kate, to assist you, derek playing guitar and kate on drums, both performing the melody you created for your song. you stand behind the curtains of the auditorium, behind stage, kate is already out there, sitting perfectly still in front of a single drum, one drumstick in each hand. she’s more prepared than you are, which should worry you because this is your project, but you can’t really feel your fingers if you’re being honest. derek stays behind with you, almost protecting you from your teacher who sits in the audience waiting. your eyes run over the lyrics you wrote, that you wrote, over and over again, worried you’ll forget them. if you weren’t so anxious you’d find it funny, forgetting the words to your own song. a song you wrote of a horrible situation you can never escape. you know the predicament you’re in all too well, yet you’re standing behind the curtains next to the fire escape, the lanky boy beside you tuning his instrument at the last minute. 

you couldn't remember the last time you played something in front of him. you could remember different memories, like from christmas or halloween, but when was the most recent time ? when was the last time you saw him anyways ? blurs of different memories, all similar in some ways. you with a guitar, your friends gathered around. sometimes they'd be sober, others not. but the constant was always levi. he was always there beside you. every time you felt nervous to play something, even if it was a silly song that hange recommended just for laughs, levi would always tell you the same thing. four words that made your irrational fears melt away. "c'mon y/n, do it for me. you're my peach scone."

you remember telling moblit about the project, who then passed the comment off to hange, who so begged you to let the two come and watch. you knew the biology major meant well, but you also knew that they had a tendency to be very inclusive. if you had written about absolutely anything else, other than your feelings for a man that you knew didn’t love you back, you’d let your entire friend group come. your teacher was a kind man, and old, but you knew he’d be fine with some friend’s watching. you were nervous not because you had to tell a man who was way too old to be getting into a college student’s messy love life about your own problems, but because the cause of your messiness could possibly be attending. 

hange’s last message to you was nerve wracking. the “just got finished at the coffee bean with levi and erwin, heading your way now !” could allude to the idea that hange had invited erwin and levi to see you perform a song you wrote about how you love levi but he’s dating erwin. your multiple text messages of “hange don't let them come.” and “hange please just let it be you and moblit like we agreed.” hadn't been opened.

you heard the auditorium doors open, before hearing the shuffle of feet and hushed voices. your paper with the lyrics fell out of your hands, and you merely gave a frightening look to the boy beside you, before your teacher broke the silence. 

“y/n, if you were waiting for your friends they’re here now. old bob isn’t getting any younger so let’s speed this up.” 

you’d chuckle at the man’s humor if you weren’t so afraid. 

the lights blinded you as you walked out on stage, derek trailing behind you. you three were positioned near the edge of the stage, so the practically nonexistent audience could have a good look at you. you stood in the middle, making sure your mic was working before making sure the mic positioned near derek’s guitar was on. the three of you chatted for a couple of seconds while derek started playing, and as you looked up, you could clearly see the silhouettes of your friends as they sat in the back. from left to right it was levi, erwin, hange and moblit. you threw your head back with an “oh no !” into the mic, while kate slapped you on your back for confidence. 

“what’s up bob ? god man, i’m y/n, this is derek and kate, and we’re just kids who like to make a little bit of love, make a little bit of music, look at this we’re on a desk, just kidding its a stage, i don’t care about the rules.” 

there was no going back now. you were going to potentially ruin your relationships with not just levi and erwin but with everyone else. 

it was time for you to begin the introduction to your story. 

hi, what’s your name ? how are you ? how’s your life ?

you remember when you first met levi. it was your first year of high school, just four months after your beloved grandmother had passed, and he had just moved into your apartment building along with his mother and uncle. you had heard them moving back and forth down the hall all morning, and you were curious because, who would be making so much noise at 6:30am on a friday morning ? the school year had just begun, with you only having a month of the high school experience under your belt. you remember your mother making you leave a bit early, wanting to meet the new tenants moving in across the hall. you remember standing in the blank room of a living space, the whole apartment was a mirror image of your own, just empty and bland. everything that your mom said to a woman named kuchel bounced off the walls, echoing and travelling to different parts of the home.

then you saw him. he was about your height, and looked similar to the nice lady kuchel. you remember him just staring at you with the most passive look on his face, while you extended your hand to him, asking for his name. 

he shook it, of course, his mother didn’t raise him to be rude, and while you wanted to learn more about him, to be friendly, your mother had quickly gasped before trying to usher you out of the new home, saying how you two would be late for the city bus. 

as goodbyes were exchanged between the two mothers, your own invited the family over for dinner on the weekend. and while your mother pulled you out of the threshold, you made eye contact with levi, promising to make him some peach scones.  

oh, you got a man ? are you in love ? if so, what type ?

you remember this day very clearly. it was the very last day of the holidays, a sunday before school went back into session. levi had asked you to accompany him to the coffee bean, which was a cafe near campus. it was usually always busy, with students meeting there to hang out or study. they had a selection of scones too, and levi would always refuse your suggestion to get one, saying that “they’ll never be as good as yours.” 

today was a weird day. usually he would get so pissy if you asked him to pay for your order, yet he wordlessly did with no protests, even going as far to shush you when you asked him why he did that. so you two sat in the cafe, your coats and hats resting over the back of your chairs, as you sat across from one another watching the snowfall. 

he was the first to bring it up. “y/n i have something to tell you.”

and then he went onto explain how he and erwin have been getting closer these past few weeks, oh you remember erwin right ? from my business class ? then he explained how hange had given him a push of encouragement to shoot his shot with the blond. levi was a stoic man, but you’d known him long enough to understand that the grip on his mug wasn’t normal, nor was the furrow in his brow that seemed just a little too hard for his flawless face. “so uh, we’re together now, i guess.” he finished off. 

you couldn’t do anything but nod, bringing your own mug up to your lips, sipping the almost scalding hot beverage without care. why couldn’t hange given you a little more time ? well hange never knew of your crush on levi, dipshit. 

it was as if levi could sense your uneasiness with the situation, before he sighed. “look, i’m not looking for your approval, and quite frankly i don’t even know why i felt the need to tell you so... intimately. but i thought you’d want to know first, and i’ve known you long enough to be at the point where i want you to be the first to know these things.” 

that made your heart ache more. you felt good knowing levi trusted you so much to tell you, but you felt sad knowing he saw you as a friend in this situation, although it’s your fault for waiting so long. 

you looked up at him with a smile, you felt like your eyes were a bit more moist than usual, but if levi noticed the glossy tone to your eyes, and how they looked just a bit more red, he didn’t comment on it. so you grabbed his hand, squeezed it, and told him how happy you were for him and erwin. 

and after that, you two went on business as usual, before levi walked you back to your home, holding onto your arm to keep you from slipping on the ice. 

you had never felt so protected yet so selfishly betrayed in your life.

“we should go get a cup of coffee,” at the coffee bean .

“and i’ll act friendly,” even though you’re falling apart.

you kept going with the song, trying your best to look at the man staring directly at you, who was grading this. yet you couldn’t help but flick your eyes up to the group sitting a couple rows higher, to levi. by now everyone should’ve noticed how watery your eyes were becoming, as well as how your voice would crack every so often. you were breaking, you were stressed out and scared, but the show must go on. 

“and i won’t pull any stunts but i’m a fucking stunt puller from birth.” your mother had said that way too many times to you for levi not to know what it meant. your song was filled with memories, inside jokes, emotions and love and heartbreak, too much of all of it for levi to not figure out it’s about him, and if he doesn’t he’s lying to himself. 

you looked up at levi, his back was straight against the seat he occupied, his left hand holding erwin’s right. “so i don’t know what to tell you, if i try to confess my love for...” you saw levi lean in just the slightest. “scones !” 

he knew. he knew, and you knew that he knew and he just told you he knew that he knows what your song is about when he let go of erwin’s hand, in favor of leaning in with his elbows on his knees. “i just want to say something real quick please shh,” your eyes never left levi’s and he stared at you with a look in his eyes that said “go ahead, say it.” so you did. “i love... these scones.” he pulled back abruptly, almost like he was pissed that you said you loved scones instead of him. 

your eyes flicked back to bob as he jotted something down on a piece of paper. “just the diversity between the selection they have here, the blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, pumpkin.” 

which is basically a fucking squash, how are you gonna make a scone out of a fucking squash ?

you, along with a drunk levi and hange sat in the coffee bean with moblit, who was the only sober one tonight. you four had gone out drinking with your other friends, but split up for the night after you and hange had forced the two men to come with you two to the cafe, claiming that caffeine would help sober you up. 

it was a rare thing seeing levi drunk, and hange made sure to take as many pictures and videos without getting caught by the raven haired man. some students were sitting in the establishment, textbooks and papers strewn around them as they studied and researched at 2:47am. 

hange had pulled out their camera beside you, the two of you watching levi has he ranted about how shitty the scones were here. “how are you gonna make a scone out of a fucking squash ?” he asked, shoving his face into his hands moments later. hange stopped the recording in fear of getting caught, before sending it to the groupchat with all of your friends, showing the 23 second long video of levi’s rage for scones. 

“what’s wrong with the scones levi ?” you teased, leaning into him from across the table. 

he only muttered one thing. “they aren’t like your scones, y/n.” before he played footsies with you underneath the table. 

you whispered a promise to make more for him, but now as you stand on that stage, you can’t remember if you had kept it. the squash thing was an inside joke between your friend group, hange and moblit are smart enough to be catching on now, and you suspect that the only person that might not know is erwin. no, you’d be lucky if he was oblivious, if you staring at levi had given anything away (which it most certainly has) the blond should be catching up soon. 

you turned to your left, derek playing your “levi” as you sang to him “oh yeah you boyfriend made you mad the other day ? what was he saying what was he talking about ?” you sighed dramatically and rolled your eyes, never once turning your body or head away from derek. “oh what do i think ? let me think about it hm.” 

you sat in hange’s living room, levi squished in between the biology major and yourself, while he ranted about a fight he got into with erwin about something as silly as dish placements. 

you and the brunette laughed it off, while levi grumbled about how you shouldn’t be laughing even if it doesn’t seem that big of a deal. you reminded yourself that this was levi’s first relationship and quickly felt a bit of sympathy. you placed a hand on his shoulder, and he leaned into your touch slightly, before saying some words of encouragement. “oh levi, i’m sure he’s gonna turn around at some point.” 

after the second chorus, you looked to your right, kate playing your erwin. the difference in this was that your body stayed forward, you wanted to portray to the audience that you were less engaged in your conversation with kate compared to derek. you didn’t want to listen to erwin, but you would willingly put all your attention into what levi would say, no matter what it was. 

“yeah he told me a lot about you, yeah, uh huh.” you couldn’t help your voice breaking as tears finally streamed down your face. you were honestly surprised you could keep yourself composed for this long. you wouldn’t be able to stop the tears, and you were in too deep now to quit. you were jeopardizing everything, and you couldn’t do a thing to stop it. kate looked at you with worry in your eyes as you let out a sob away from the mic, before continuing. 

“it’s so great that you’re doing all of those things, and you should keep doing them... i think.” you immediately turned your head back to your instructor, who started to look at you with worry too. 

“yeah my name is y/n l/n ! i’m a writer i’m actually not a writer i like to call myself a musician,” you smiled through your tears as you tried to keep it together, but even you knew that you were way past that now. “i play guitar sometimes just not as good as derek.” before going back into your script of your memories with erwin smith. 

you looked back at kate while you said your next lines, tears streaming down your face while she gave you a pitiful stare. before finally, looking back up to the man who had looked down on you this entire performance, and confessing your love for him in the way you knew he’d understand. 

“but he, y’know he's just so sweet and he cared about me a lot when no one else did.” 

“hey y/n, why do you make those peach scones so often ?” levi sat on your bed in front of you, identical textbooks sat in front of you both as you studied. it had been over a year since you’d met him, and you knew that he was your closest friend. 

“because my grandma used to make them for me, and she gave me her recipe before she died. i just love her and her scones so much, and they make me happy, so i guess i make them to share with others so they can be happy too.”

the young boy who sat criss crossed in front of you merely rotated his head slightly, before nodding. “okay y/n. you’re my peach scone then.” 

you were too dense to understand what he had meant by that, until your senior year of high school when you finally realized that the feelings you had for levi weren’t strictly platonic anymore. in that seemingly miniscule confession he made to you, he admitted his love for you, and that you made him happy. 

“and i think that’s really nice because he’s a peach.” levi’s eyes widened, he knew what you were going to say. “he’s a peach scone.”

“he’s my peach scone.” 

you broke down before you could finish the song, and before you knew it your legs were carrying you out of the auditorium and down to the gender neutral restroom, the closest to the stage. kate followed you, knowing you’d need some comfort, while derek stayed, trying to play it off to your professor like that was the end of the song, and that you’re just a fantastic performer. 

and while hange and moblit discussed whether they should wait for you outside or just give you space, levi felt a part of his world crumble down. he got your message clearly, you loved him, and he did too, but he also liked erwin, and now levi sat in the dark theater, listening to his own boyfriend worry about you, while the raven haired man silently contemplated the pros and cons of leaving the blond for you. 

but you both knew he would never do that. 

[fandom-necromancer]

Coffee, crushes and complications 

This was prompted by a lovely anon! I hope you like it, I sure did!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: pre-Reed900 [Prequel]   [Part2]   [Part3]   [Part4]

 ‘Reed? In my office!‘ Gavin couldn’t think of what he had done wrong, but considering how many times he had heard this sentence before, the anxiety settled in immediately. Still, he stood up, downed the last sip of coffee and walked over to his boss’ office. ‘Yes? What’s wrong?’, he asked, sitting down in the chair in front of the table. ‘What’s wrong?’  The man in front of him laughed heartily and Gavin nervously laughed, too. God, had he phcked up that badly with his last job? ‘Reed, nothing’s wrong, quite the opposite! How you handled this rich asshole was… I would say impressive, but that doesn’t do the thing justice. God, how they could ever throw you out of the police force, I can’t understand. You didn’t let him off the hook until he answered your questions and gave him nothing to work with! That is investigative journalism at it’s finest and damnit, Reed, no one else deserves it more!’ ‘What?’, Gavin asked relieved, but also proud. ‘A raise! I would promote you, but I need you where you are now. I hope you understand that?’ ‘Hey, sure. Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else than in the field.’ ‘Alright. Then I’ll just sign the papers and send them to you. Really, Reed, you out-did yourself with this one!’

-

When Gavin came home that day, the first thing he did was jump and cheer in triumph, then pick up his unsuspecting cat and hurl her around. ‘Oh, Bready, today is the day!’ He kissed her on her shoulder, before she finally decided she had enough with an angry growl. Immediately Gavin let her fall to the ground and hurried to the kitchen, grabbing the phone along the way. The number he searched for was only two clicks away and he let it ring while pouring out some kibble for Bready and heating up yesterday’s leftovers. ‘Hey, Eli!’, he excitedly called into the phone. ‘How are you? You won’t believe what happened today!’ He let his brother guess a few times until the microwave pinged and he let himself and his food fall on the couch. ‘Urgh, Eli you are boring and have too much creativity at your hands. No, I got a raise! Honestly, getting fired might have been the best thing to ever happen to me. I get raises for being a nosy asshole! My new boss phcking loves me and my colleagues actually seem to like me. Oh, I’m happier than I’ve been in a long time. We need to celebrate that! When are you free?’

He took a breath and began eating while listening to his brother complain about new work politics. Gavin actually felt with him for once. His view on androids had changed quite a bit. He got to know quite a few androids during his work and the day one of his colleagues had come in in tears saying they would have to resign because of some anti-android assholes, Gavin had changed. It had only been a few months since he started his new life, but for the first time he felt like he had his life under control. And like he enjoyed it. Being fired from the only job he thought to be ever good in had been hard. But after being stuck in that low for weeks he had realised that if he wanted to be happy, he had to work for it. And he did. And it had become better. Seeking professional help, reconciling with his brother and finally finding a new job he actually liked had been the end of a long journey that was far from over. But he was happy. And he was confident it would go up only from now on.

Their conversation dropped into casual talk, a few jokes and teasing. It was already late when Gavin decided to end it for today. He was tired and he wanted to at least watch another episode of this new show he enjoyed so much. ‘Okay, so when do you actually have time? Tomorrow? Nah, can’t do, I’m meeting Tina at this new coffee shop. Maybe on the weekend? Yes? Oh, that would be awesome. Okay, bye! Love you too!’

He smiled as he wanted to stand up to bring the phone back, but Bready had already made herself at home in his lap, so he just laid it to the side and switched on the TV.

-

‘Hey Tina!’, Gavin greeted the woman already standing in line. She turned around and her face lit up. Shortly after, Gavin was encased in strong arms and had to chuckle. ‘Hey, hey, let me down, alright?’ ‘God, I haven’t seen you in ages!’ ‘You saw me last month’, Gavin reminded her. ‘I see you dipshit every week on TV! That’s not the same. I miss you.’ ‘Wait you watch it?’ ‘Of course I watch it!’, Tina said and punched his shoulder. ‘What do you think of me? Also, it’s funny seeing you be a dick to people that obviously hide one or two bodies under a rug somewhere.’ Gavin shrugged. ‘Well, whatever floats your boat.’ ‘It’s good to see you like it’, Tina then said seriously. ‘I worried about you after you left.’ ‘I know’, Gavin groaned. ‘But I’m fine, okay? Really, I feel better than ever. Now shut your mouth for a while, I have to think what I want to order for a moment…’

They got their coffee and tea as well as two slices of cake soon enough and sat down in a corner of the room. ‘So, how’s work on your end?’, Gavin asked. ‘Hmm, nothing interesting at the moment. We had a suspected serial killer last week, but it turned out the cases weren’t connected after all and thankfully nothing more than the two murders happened before we got them. Otherwise… Nah, nothing interesting you want to talk about.’ So only stuff regarding the new guy. Gavin had said upfront he didn’t want to know anything about the person that had replaced him. It wouldn’t be any use after all. Tina thankfully respected his decision.

‘I did get to know someone’, she then smirked as silence threatened to stretch. ‘A beautiful, funny android lady. She also likes cats!’ ‘Oh that’s cool, tell me more!’, Gavin demanded and smiled, listening to Tina ramble on, cake and tea completely forgotten. Gavin had been determined to listen intently to her, but his attention was drawn from her as someone entered the coffee shop. Someone very familiar. ‘You got to be kidding me’, he hissed, and Tina caught on to him, turning around. There at the counter stood Hank and Connor, looking at the board. Wait. Was that another Connor? ‘Hey, T, who’s the other Connor?’, he whispered. ‘Can’t tell you without breaking a promise’, she admitted, ducking her head. ‘No phcking way a damn Connor replaced me!’

Maybe he had been louder than expected, maybe Connor just had picked up his name, but the RK800 turned around to him, eyes going wide and tapping Hank on the shoulder pointing over. Hank looked in his direction and apparently wanted to bolt immediately, but the friendly barista behind the counter had already placed their drinks on it. In that moment, the other Connor following them had spotted him too. The next thing he did was march over with large steps.

‘Oh hell no, I’m not doing this! I-‘ ‘Hello. My name is Richard. I’m sorry to have replaced you.’ ‘Oh, get phcked!’ Gavin was not having it. He had wanted to drink his coffee and talk to his best friend. He had no interest in talking to this machine. ‘I have waited very long for this moment, my colleagues having tried their best to make this meeting impossible. So, no, I won’t “get phcked”. Not before I you didn’t accept my apology.’ ‘Yeah, whatever. It’s fine. I was an asshole. Deserved getting fired. Now shoo!’ ‘I still don’t deserve getting a job when a human needs them to survive. It wasn’t fair. I heard you… did not fare well after being fired.’ Gavin took a deep breath, before standing up, the sound of the chair scratching on the ground like a precursor of a fight. ‘Listen here, Richard’, he said, pointing his finger at his chest. ‘My personal history doesn’t concern you in the slightest, okay? It’s true, I wasn’t stable in my old job. I was easily angered, I overworked myself on a regular basis without even realising it in the end. I had no friends. I am depressed. My life was one giant, gaping shithole. When I was fired it was for a good reason, but it send me spiralling even deeper down. But you know what? One day I hit rock bottom and knew it couldn’t get any worse than this, might as well try to make it better. And I worked hard for it. I worked my ass off trying to rebuild bridges I’ve burned and seek help. Get over my own walls and live. Be happy. Find a job. And you know what, you goddamn tin-can? I did it. I am a different man and I am happy. So don’t-‘ He took another breath to steady himself. ‘Don’t you dare giving me pity. I am no sorry broken soul you can comfort so you feel better! So you have completed your good deed a day! I am fine. I am better than fine. So thanks, but no thanks. Don’t need it. Phck off.’

That actually worked. The android blinked at him, obviously processing, before apologising and heading over to where Connor and Hank had sat down. Gavin got back on his seat, too and took a large gulp of his coffee. As he sat the mug down, he stared into a grinning face. ‘What?’ ‘So aggressive’, Tina laughed. ‘Dude, the guy just wanted to be nice.’ ‘Oh, did he?’, Gavin grumbled and tried to get an inconspicuous look at the android. Of course, he had chosen the same moment Richard had looked over at him, so he quickly turned back around. ‘Yes’, Tina chuckled. ‘You don’t know how annoying he can be. Replacing you being unfair is the one topic he can’t shut up about.’ ‘Perfect’, Gavin sighed, but couldn’t keep his thoughts in check. Had this android really tried to advocate for someone he didn’t even know? ‘Yeah, always said how after going through your open cases and notes, he couldn’t believe someone fired you. He thinks you are some kind of genius I think.’ ‘Oh, wow, an android has a work-crush on me’, Gavin over-exaggerated and rolled his eyes. ‘Hey, you wouldn’t be that far from the truth there’, Tina shrugged. ‘”Gavin Reed would not have” is like every second sentence of his. It’s cute actually. And ever since you put him in his place just now, he is staring at you, that fancy mood-light turning yellow.’ ‘It’s what-‘ Gavin turned around, cursing when he stared in his eyes again: ‘Shit! What’s his problem? Anyways, you wanted to tell me more about Steph. Please. I beg you. Ramble about your soon to be girlfriend, I want to think about anything but this android.’

-

Richard on the other hand knew exactly what his problem was. He had exactly 335 software instabilities and errors to keep track of while he couldn’t keep his eyes off this human. He had known the man to be remarkable. But after that reaction? Oh, he definitely had to get to know him better. So, long after the human had left the shop and even after he had driven home, Richard was still planning how to see the man again. Maybe Tina had been right. Maybe he truly had a crush.

[>next part]

[fuck-you-i-am-spiderman]

MARLOSSSS gimme my gremlins

I love my chaotic angels 🥰 this took me so long to write, I’m sorry!

Who would be the big spoon/little spoon?

At first Mal refused to cuddle, let alone be cuddled. The first time they cuddle was when Carlos was having a bad night on the Isle, Mal was still at the hideout - her insomnia was really bad that night. Carlos was in tears, his breath really ragged and he looks so fragile that Mal can't deny him, not that she would. She guides him down to the first bed she finds, it's a pile of stolen pillows that Evie stitched together to make a mattress. Mal nudges Carlos until he's on his side and she very gingerly lies beside him, her arms barely touching him. Carlos pulls her in closer and her arms tighten around him, Mal let's it slide because she's still in control. They both fall asleep curled together and it becomes their thing. 

Mal is usually the big spoon but there are times when she let's her walls down enough to let Carlos be the big spoon.

Who would wake up first?

Carlos 1000%. Mal has insomnia so it usually takes her a while to get to sleep. Getting Mal to wake up for class is a lengthy task but (after a lot of growling and being pummeled by pillows) Carlos has mastered the art to getting Mal up on time. He always gets her coffee and if that fails he finds kissing is very effective...in making them both late

Do they have nicknames for each other?

BABY DRAGON. Carlos says all of these with layers of sarcasm: "royal grumpiness" and "oh wise one", "your ferociousness". He sometimes calls her M and as a joke he called her M&M, Mal refused to speak to him for the rest of the day.

Mal mainly calls Carlos "pup" or nerd (said with a soft, teasing smile). She also calls him genius, dipshit and when she's trying to annoy him she'll refer to him as "Curly Sue" or "mophead".

How do they apologize after an argument?

Carlos apologizes with strawberries and cuddling Mal from behind, he's very soft with her and even more so when he's upset her (it's rare because Mal has such a tough front that it took Carlos a while to learn all of Mal's tells.) He’ll speak in soft tones and be as earnest as he can to just be like “I’m sorry I upset you” and then try and make sure Mal knows he loves her.

Mal is stubborn as anything and she still has a lot of issues with admitting when she's wrong. She usually just diverts the conversation or will walk away and then come back to chuck a chocolate bar at Carlos’s head. When she's feeling guilty but doesn't know how to vocalize her regret she'll bring Carlos hot cocoa and suggest activities that she would normally say no to in the hopes he understands. Sometimes she apologizes by leaving a note. Saying it out loud is very hard and she can't look at him when she says it.

What would they be like as parents?

I don't think they'd have kids of their own, I can't see it. But I can see them looking after Isle kids and Evie scolds them several times a day for getting the twins hyped on sugar or putting a horror film on when one of the younger kids is there. Mal gets in a lot of trouble for teaching them how to swear. Carlos is good at giving them advice and when Mal really tries she can get them all to eat their vegetables, go to sleep because she doesn't take any shit and will constantly threaten to "turn them all into toads" in a sing-song voice.

Who is more romantic?

Neither are particularly into big romantic acts. It's more about little gestures, knowing one another's coffee orders and ruffling each other's hair. It's how Mal leaves Carlos little doodles in his locker and how Carlos rests his arm on Mal's shoulder. It's the way they share food but Mal will try and bite Jay if he reaches for some of her fries. Their dates are full of adventure and mischief, plotting and scheming and making out in between.

What sort of gifts do they get for each other?

Mal gets Carlos bits and pieces for his inventions. She gets him a tool kit and will randomly bring home bits of metal or wiring that Carlos had talked about weeks ago. She always listens despite pretending not to, and Carlos will wake up to find the exact tools he'd been ranting about not having on his desk with a note that says "now you can stop moaning". She brings him chocolate whenever she goes to a meeting with Ben. She'll take handfuls of chocolate and just empty the entire bowl into her bag as she leaves.

Carlos makes Mal things from bits of scrap metal and other trinkets. He made her a ring that looks like thorns winding around her thumb. He gets her art supplies or will bring her strawberry ice cream when she's been working hard on her portfolio.

Who gets jealous easiest?

Mal. But to be fair Carlos isn't much better, he's very sullen and grumpy about it whereas Mal will literally yank someone's hand off of Carlos and tug him closer. They're both very cat-like about it. Carlos will pull Mal into his lap and grumble about it. Mal chuckles and gives him a firm kiss to shut him up. They both like to tease the other about their jealousy and will both deny that they were jealous.

Who gets more excited for events e.g.. Birthdays, Christmas?

Neither of them get particularly enthused. They both prefer Halloween to other holidays. I feel like they'd both struggle a lot with forced attention so their birthdays have to be very private events. They spend Christmas morning curled up watching the sunrise, draped in blankets and just soaking in the quiet time before they have to be social.

Who is the most adventurous?

Did we not see Ways to be Wicked? Both. Mal likes to do random shit just because she's "not supposed to" and Carlos loves to prove people wrong because they underestimate him a lot. It works to their advantage that people are also terrified of Mal so they can get away with a lot of mayhem and adventure. I'm talking like Evie will get a photo of them just chilling on the school roof and she doesn't know whether to scold them or applaud them.

Who is the most protective?

Mal. There's no question about it. She always wants to protect Carlos, she's gotten a lot of detentions from threatening kids that simply looked at Carlos with anything other than a smile. She's very much an actions girl and will fight very strongly for the people she claims as her own.

Carlos definitely has a protective streak, especially when someone is rude to Mal in a way that makes her stiffen and freeze up. He's especially protective when people call Mal heartless or a monster because he's worked very hard on telling Mal every day that she isn't like that and he knows how hard she tries. Even though he knows Mal can defend herself he will not fail to snark at someone and plan the most epic revenge prank if they dare hurt his baby dragon.

What would they have been like as childhood sweethearts?

LOL. This is a very amusing image to imagine. I don't think they'd be childhood sweethearts, but if we go with an au where they meet as children I can see it being Mal beat up a bunch of jerks for taunting Carlos and Carlos helping Mal with her schoolwork. They become a pair, they're always together and it seems so unlikely but they just work. They're always giggling and drawing together. They're each other's first kiss because Carlos was panicking and Mal just rolled her eyes and leaned over to kiss him. They never put a label on their dynamic but everything feels so natural to them. Mal comes to Carlos's robotics matches and stands out in her all leather get-up. And when they win Carlos is feeling so good and so confident and just so happy seeing Mal pointing to him and smiling and he just runs over to her and pulls her in for a kiss without thinking about it.

Who uses all the hot water?

👀 Af if they don't share to "conserve water" but on the rare occasions where they don't, Carlos. Mal is very quick when she's showering alone, she's very much a ‘get in, get out’ kind of gal. Carlos takes his time and always comes out of the bathroom with his curls wild and poufy from the hairdryer.

Who would accidentally set the kitchen on fire whilst cooking?

Both. They cook together and are both adventurous when it comes to trying new recipes. They'd be having a food fight and knock over some kitchen roll and they don't even realise it's fallen over the stove until Jay is racing into the room with a fire extinguisher to find Marlos soot covered and trying not to giggle in the corner. They use Mal's magic to make sure they don't do any real damage to their tiny apartment.

Who initiates sexy times the most?

Mal. She's needy and does not wait for his attention, she demands it. She'll just wander into the room wearing nothing but Carlos's t-shirt and come over to straddle him. Mal gets bored very easily and Carlos is there looking cute and she'll pounce. Mal is impatient and when she knows she's got his full consent Carlos will not be doing homework when Mal is lying there in black lingerie.

Who is more dominant?

Mal usually. Though sometimes Carlos gets in a teasing mood and will spend the night making Mal moan his name.

What would they do if the other one was hurt?

Mal would try and track down the very source of the hurt and pummel it into dust. When she finds out it's just because Carlos tripped in the hallway she laughs and then holds a grumpy Carlos hostage whilst she tends to his wounds. She'd sit by his bedside and stay awake until he falls asleep, growl at any doctors or AK'S that try to disturb them and try to "subtly" check up on Carlos by skipping class and making sure he doesn't do anything stupid.

Carlos is very tender when Mal gets injured, he's researching exactly how to take care of her and bringing her strawberries. He's extra cuddly and attentive and Mal blushes so much because he's just whispering how it's okay and getting her a hot water bottle and painkillers and she just wants to get up and do something but she can't. Carlos knows, he knows how much Mal hates not being able to do anything so he brings them video games to play and helps her sketch with one hand.

Who gives nose/forehead kisses?

Carlos!!!! He loves kissing Mal's nose because then she'll scrunch it and she has pink cheeks as he cups her face to place a kiss on her nose. Mal kisses Carlos’s forehead when they're going to sleep, she thinks he's asleep but he's always awake enough to feel how her lips brush the top of his head and how every night she'll whisper "evil dreams" and give him a little cuddle. He doesn't tell her he's awake for it because he thinks Mal might get scared about being "too affectionate" and he doesn't want her to stop.

What their biggest fight was/will be about:

Truthfully I don’t think they’d have big fights a lot. They have little arguments but they’re more just them snarking at one another. Something they fought about was Mal being protective, at first it made Carlos feel a little overwhelmed because Mal is so forceful and she freaked out because he didn’t text her to tell her that he was staying late at the lab. Mal lost it and Carlos didn’t fully understand why she was getting so upset. They have a long discussion about Mal being a bit too forceful and the fact that Carlos can fend for himself. They’re both anxious and after they’ve had time to calm down they have a talk about their boundaries and how they can both work on expressing when they’re feeling anxious or overwhelmed. I think because they’re both not used to affection they work extra hard to communicate with one another so they don’t have fights a lot, their fights are due to miscommunications but they never stay mad at one another for long.

BONUS #1: Song Picture to sum them up?

[writingfandomfeels]

Robin Buckley  - Grinning Like a Devil

Summary: Steve is a butt and ditches you and Robin so she seeks revenge by having sex with you in his bed

Fem reader

Smut

You pulled the VHS out of its cardboard sleeve and slipped it into the player, setting the box on the coffee table.

“I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to see The Shining.” You said, flopping down onto the couch with Steve and your girlfriend Robin. 

“I know right.” Robin added, putting her arm around you as you both got comfortable. 

The phone began ringing, causing Steve to immediately jump off the couch. 

“I’ll get it!” He yelled enthusiastically, despite no one else being home and it was his house so yeah, obviously he’s got it. 

You and Robin watched as the previews started, waiting for Steve to return. 

“Do we need more popcorn?” She asked. 

You shrugged. “I think we’re probably good. We could always pause and make more if we need to.” 

She looked you dead in the eye. “No. Only the weak pause.” She stood and was about to head to Steve’s kitchen when he suddenly returned, moving quickly across the room and moving to look behind the couch cushions.

“Where the hell did I put my jacket?” He said, still looking. 

“You’re wearing it dipshit.” Robin pointed out. 

Steve glanced down. “Oh yeah.”

Quickly moving to the mirror on the wall now, he began fixing his hair. 

“What’s going on?” You asked.

Excitedly, Steve turned to face the two of you. “Remember the girl from the video store?!”

“Yeah?” Robin said.

“No.” You said, not having been there today.

“She called me!!! She wants to catch a movie!” He explained.

“But… we’re watching a movie.” Robin remarked.

“Well, yeah, but I mean,” Steve began fumbling with putting on his shoes, “you guys can just watch without me.” 

“But we were going to watch it together.” She commented.

Steve opened the door to leave. “Okay then don’t watch it. I don’t really care. Do whatever you want, just don’t break anything. I’ll be back later.” He suddenly began to smirk to himself and you could tell he was thinking. “Or, maybe not.”

The door was slammed shut and Robin continued to stand in shock for a moment before letting out an exasperated groan and plopping down on the couch next to you.

“I can’t believe that asshole!” She complained. 

You put your arm around her in an attempt to console.

“He ditched helping me close earlier to chase after that same girl. That’s why I was late for dinner with you.” She added.

You nodded your head, understanding.

“And now he ditches us on movie night? Like, uh uh, no, fuck him!” She cursed.

Suddenly getting an idea, she jumped to her feet, taking your hand and pulling you with her. 

“Babe, what are you thinking?” You asked cautiously as she dragged you down the hall.

“Gonna teach him not to ditch and then be stupid enough to leave us alone in his house.” She retorted.

Getting nervous, you tried to pull her back. “I don’t know about this.”

She turned back to look at you. A mischievous smirk played at the edges of her lips. “Trust me. You’ll love it.” 

Without notice, she pushed you against the door behind you, swinging it open and making you stumble back into Steve’s bedroom. Attacking your mouth with kisses, she pulled your body to hers, squeezing you tightly, before walking you backwards and shoving you down onto Steve’s bed.

Your heart fluttered at the sudden sexual tension in the room. Robin towered over you as you lay on the bed dumbstruck. Smiling cockily, she began to pull off her t-shirt, revealing her simple black bra. It was amazing how sexy she looked to you no matter what she wore. 

On nights where you’d planned things more, she sometimes wore a bit fancier underwear to impress you or something bright coloured like the red one she’d bought last month for you. But even in this plain black one that only had a tiny bow in the middle, she looked so fucking desirable. 

You sat up, reaching behind her to undo her bra, too envious of how it cupped her breasts so nicely. You’d rather your hands there instead.

Brushing your hair to the side, Robin began leaving little kisses and bites down your neck. You hummed at the feeling while massaging her breasts in time to the movements of her mouth.

She began pulling your shirt off of you and making quick work of undoing your pants as well. As she got ready to toss them to the floor, you filled with panic.

“Wait,” you stopped her.

Robin’s face suddenly filled with concern.

“Don’t throw my clothes on the floor with his clothes. I don’t want to have to dig through his gross dirty underwear to find mine again.” You explained.

Robin laughed, “Okay then.” She shoved off the clothes that were burying a chair in the corner and replaced them with the now rolled up ball of your clothes. Wiggling out of her own jeans, she added them to the pile. 

“Better?” She asked. 

“Definitely.” You agreed.

She smiled as she returned to the bed, crawling up next to you.

You kissed her hard before climbing on top of her, positioning her leg between yours.

“Wanting to ride my thigh are you?” Her eyes twinkled.

You gave her a wink in response and began rubbing yourself on her.

Robin’s hands went to gripping at your ass as you grinded against her leg. 

Breathy moans flowed quietly from your mouth. 

“Mmm, I can feel how hot your panties are getting hun.” Robin noted “What do you say we take them off so I can really feel you, huh?”

You nodded, lifting yourself to kneeling so she could pull them off you. When you sat back down onto her, you felt a new rush of excitement as your skin touched.

“Come on baby, keep going.” She encouraged. 

You obliged, sliding yourself along her and focusing pressure to where you craved it most.

Quickly Robin’s thigh grew more and more slick as your motions grew less controlled and your moans louder.

“Fuck I love getting off to you getting off on me.” She commented, rubbing her own clit.

Unable to form words, you just let out a loud moan as you felt yourself teetering on the edge.

Using her free hand, she began toying with one of your nipples. It was her pinching of it that sent you over that edge and soaked her thigh.

You cried out loudly as your core pulsed. Squeezing your eyes shut instinctively, you felt your release come like a breath you didn’t know you’d been holding. Falling onto the bed next to Robin, you panted as things started to return to normal again.

She wiped her thigh with Steve’s blanket then climbed on top of you. Her hair hung around her face, a strand tickling your nose.

“Ready for another babydoll?” 

Before you could answer her, she was going down on you. 

A gasp left your lips at the feeling of her tongue running up your slit. When she got to sucking on your bud, you had to grip a handful of the sheets as you cried out. Still feeling extra sensitive from the last orgasm, you were overwhelmed and instantly breathless again. 

She looked up grinning like a devil. Her lips glistening. You attempted to catch your breath in that moment, but too soon was her face buried in your pussy again. Her tongue thrusting in and out of you.

Throwing your head back, your body prepared for yet another orgasm. Your legs trembled as Robin pulled them over her shoulders, smoothly slipping one of Steve’s pillows under you so you’d be at a better angle for her.

She bounced back to your nub, driving you wild by sucking while still flicking her tongue against it. It felt so good. She made you feel so good. 

“Ah! Fuck, Robin!” You yelled. You shoved your hands into her hair, pulling at it roughly, causing her to moan against you. 

The vibrations threw you for a loop. Your body convulsed in pure bliss as you screamed out, all the while Robin was lapping up your juices.

When you were totally finished, she lay down next to you on her side, her head propped up on her hand. 

“I told you you’d love it.” She teased. 

You laughed, rolling over to face her. Softly you pressed a gentle, lingering kiss to her lips before pulling away. 

“Okay. Your turn.” You said, pulling off her panties. 

She was already dripping for you so you went right to fingering her.

Robin moaned as you slowly curled your fingers inside her. Unconsciously, she rolled her hips against your hand. You began to speed up your motions which consequently sped up her breathing. 

“Mmm baby, you feel so good.” She moaned.

But you knew her, and you knew she wasn’t anywhere near where you could take her, even if she was feeling good now. Robin was a squirter, and although you didn’t always have to, you liked to get her there.

Bringing your thumb to her clit, you began tracing circles.

“Oh! Fuck!” She yelled, arching her back for a brief moment.

You slid another finger inside and soon felt her clenching around you.

“Ah! Holy fucking shit!” She groaned as your fingers glided in and out of her rapidly.

You watched as her eyes rolled back and she gasped for air. Just like you’d been anticipating, her warm liquid began squirting out and around your hand.

She moaned as you continued to bring her to her high another time, squirting even more.

“I- I, I can’t do another, I can’t.” She stuttered. 

“You sure about that?” You added, hitting her even deeper. 

A deafening moan burst from her mouth as she yelled in ecstasy, her entire body shaking as she came again.

She began panting, and you had to giggle at how overdone she looked. You pulled your hand away from her and wiped it on the blanket, knowing that’s what she did with her leg earlier. 

“Well fuck, that was good.” She commented, still sounding slightly out of breath. 

You laughed. “Think Steve is getting this much action?” 

“Well if he plans on bringing her back here he’ll have to wash his sheets first.” She laughed.

You laughed too. “Hell, if he even wants to sleep tonight without his bed smelling like cum he’s gotta wash his sheets.” 

You both laughed.

[dakohtah]

my god, haven’t we grown up a little?

ducknerva? minewton? whatever u call it, have some hot, fresh Big Wife, Little Husband TAZ: Amnesty fiction, also available on my ao3

..

It wasn’t that Duck was emotionally constipated or, like, real invested in the concept of his own masculinity. He was just a dude. Maybe a dude who, say, didn’t really do ‘opening up’ super well.

No, like, for real.

Not in the “aw, shucks, no one taught me basic emotional competency” way, but more in the “God cursed me with a very particular voice and face that makes emotional intimacy difficult at best” way.

It wasn’t like he didn’t know how it looked. It was a bad look. He knew that. But, listen, okay?

It was the oldest story in the book: there are two folks, right? One has a big destiny, and the other is some kinda alien sword mentor, or something. There’s a big talking sword, that’s a whole thing. And then, uh. Well, like, twenty years pass. That’s nothing, though, they don’t talk or anything. But eventually they live together? Like, later. Way later. Only Aubrey is there, too, so it isn’t, uh. Well, you know how Aubrey is. Anyhow, Leo’s next door, too, so—it’s not—it, uh—yeah.

Yada yada, they fight some aliens, like, real good, and then—boom! You know. Some of their closest friends are in an alien dimension, maybe forever, and it’s time to figure out what comes next.

Well, it turned out Brazil was next. That part was kinda easy, actually.

Planting trees. Doing good. The whole, uh, thing. And Duck usually felt okay about that—real okay. Maybe better than he ever had, actually.

It was good work to be doing. And it felt good.

And, well, maybe—you know. It’s back to the story, right? Maybe one of the two—the big destiny one? You remember. Maybe he, somewhere along the way, kind of, uh—you know? Right? You gotta know. It’s kinda really obvious, and he’s kinda been really counting on that because—uh.

Aw, Christ. He really just thought that she’d, like, know. You know?

Seemed like everyone else did, anyhow.

“Y’gotta say something, Duck. I don’t—God damn it, you’re so stupid. How’d you survive a whole apocalypse with such a bad case of stupid, huh?”

Duck didn’t know, so he said, “I don’t know, Juno! Listen, if I knew how to—if I could just, like—say it?” He heard more than felt his head connect with the wall behind him but couldn’t bring himself to lift it from the couch, “Listen, I’m not doin’ this on purpose. Does this look fun for me? Huh?”

Juno shrugged. Duck didn’t see it, but he could feel it in the air. It was less than sympathetic, and Duck regretted inviting her into his apartment.

“She’s not a fuckin’—okay, well, she is an alien, but c’mon, bud. Just, I dunno? Sit her down. Look her in the eye. And just—” and she said this bit in a real low—and real hateful, honestly—impersonation of Duck, “Now, listen, Minnie—”

“Hey, don’t fuckin’ call her that, she said she doesn’t like it and—”

She waved him away, tucking her feet up in under her, “Aw, fuck clean off, Duck, she lets you call her Minnie all day long. And, obviously, I’m bein’ you. Now, hush.” Juno’s voice was deep in a mean approximation when she spoke again, “Listen, Minnie, I’ve been a’thinkin’ ‘bout you. Thinkin’ ‘bout the way your big, strong arms could just—”

“Hey, now—”

“—just pick me up, real gentle-like, and whisk me away—”

“Juno, I fuckin’ swear you better quit it or else I’ll—” Duck stood up, real ready-like, felt abruptly like a real dipshit, and sat back down. Squinching his eyes shut, he pinched the bridge of his nose and counted to ten, “Now dang it, Juno, you know it ain’t as easy as all that.”

His apartment was quiet for a beat, and then another.

The lumpy, cushioned arm of Duck’s chair dipped, and he felt a familiar form lean against his hunched shoulders. Duck released a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding when Juno said, “M’sorry about pickin’ on you, bud.” A beat, again, “I think it’s sweet, that’s all. Minerva will think so, too.”

Duck leaned in, trying desperately to convince himself that these were real, tangible concerns and not the premise of a high school romcom, “You think so? Like, for real?”

“For real,” Juno confirmed solemnly. Duck took a chance, glancing up at her as she continued, “She probably even—you know, likes you back. Like, like-likes you back,” her eyebrows waggled, and it was hateful as hell.

Duck groaned and his temple pulsed with a dull ache. Christ, he felt old, so he said, “Jesus Christ, Juno, I’m forty-three.”

“Ee-yup,” Juno affirmed with a slap on his shoulder.

“This is fuckin’ stupid.”

“Yessir.”

“I’m just gonna say it.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Like—tomorrow.”

“That so?”

Duck sat up, his fists clenched, “No, you’re right—tonight. I’ll fuckin, uh—I’m gonna do it tonight.”

Juno clapped him hard on the back this time, “Hey, that’s the spirit, buddy!” She glanced up at the wall clock and cursed, “Shit, s’already six? I ought’a head on back to mine and get cookin’.” She stood fluidly, grabbing her keys off of the coffee table before heading toward the door.

Duck stood quickly enough to give himself a head rush, “Juno, hold up a sec, I—uh.” He met her by the door and spoke fast, trying hard not to stumble over the words, “Please, please, tell me I can stay with you for a few if it goes real bad.”

Juno snorted, “Yeah, whatever. Do I look like a fuckin’ Motel 6? I’ll leave a light on for you.”

“Thanks, Junebug.”

“Good luck, Don Juan.”

----

By the time Duck heard the key turning in the lock at 6:45 on the dot—as usual, Minnie always ended up staying over a little late on her Saturday shifts—he’d been left alone long enough to feel as though he was setting himself up to be nominated Dipshit of the Century.

Too late for regrets, he figured, because the door was creaking open and the sight of her was damn near enough to get him all winded.

“I am home, Wayne Newton!” Minerva declared, waving her ranger cap at him with a beaming grin before turning to hang it on the coat rack by the door. “Today I saw three very large ducks, and they—" she stopped short as she got a better look at him, hands falling slack by her sides.

In retrospect, Duck figured it might’ve looked like a little much. Or maybe it just looked bad. Both, maybe? He glanced anxiously down at the table he was seated at, taking in the center candle, uncorked bottle of wine, and admittedly shoddy alfredo he’d managed to throw together since Juno’d left.

But he’d had some time to practice, so Duck said real cool-like, “I, uh—hello, Minerva.” He pointed a shaking hand at the chair, placed across from his at the table, “Won’t you—uh, have a seat.” Except that he forgot to make the last bit sound like a question, so he added, “Um, please?”

Minerva looked decidedly anxious, which Duck didn’t like one fuckin’ bit, as she shrugged out of her coat and toward the chair. She hesitated, a calloused hand brushing the table delicately, “Is everything alright, Wayne Newton?”

“No—fuck! I mean, uh, yes?” Duck realized too late that he’d never stopped pointing at the fucking chair and snatched his hand back. “Uh, everything is absolutely alright, just peachy.”

Minerva nodded once and sat. She was looking a little over his right shoulder. Duck followed her gaze to a fuck-off big river rock she’d given to him the month before and, bizarrely, felt comforted enough to carry on.

“So,” He began, but it didn’t go anywhere. Duck glanced back at the rock and tried again, “Okay, Minerva, we’ve got to talk.”

She nodded solemnly, “Alright.”

Duck, stupidly, nodded back before taking a deep breath, “Okay, I, uh—aw, fuck! I just—Minnie, I’m sorry, I meant to do this after dinner and I just. Fuckin’ forgot, I guess? Shit. You can—”

“No, thank you, Wayne Newton. This meal looks skillfully prepared, but I would like for you to speak first.”

“You sure?” Minerva nodded, so Duck said it quick like ripping off a band-aid, “Alright, Minerva, I lo—uh, like you. I like you.” He swallowed hard against the confusion that colored her broad features, “Like, uh. Romantically, Minnie. I would like to, um, take you out sometime.”

Minerva’s mouth dropped into a perfect little ‘o’. To Duck’s mounting horror, she dropped her head into her palms.

It was quiet for a long moment, during which Duck was pretty sure his soul left his physical body. Fuck, he had to fix this, he—

“Wayne Newton, how long have you harbored romantic feelings toward me?” She spoke real slow, and it was a solid minute before she lifted her head.

Duck was at least relieved that she didn’t look mad, just—embarrassed? He was already speaking before her eyes met his, “Shit, Minnie, I’m so sorry, it doesn’t have to—”

She held up an open palm to stop him and seemed to collect herself. “No, please do not apologize. I, ah—I believe there has been a very large misunderstanding. Did you—feel this way before we traveled to Brazil?” Duck was quiet for a minute, and she said, “Please be honest, Wayne Newton.”

Duck figured he must’ve looked like a fish, the way his mouth was opening and closing. He didn’t know what she was getting at, and still had half a mind to head to Juno’s for the night, but all he said was, “Um, I—yeah.”

Minerva visibly let out a breath, but put her head into her palms again, “That—Thank you, Wayne Newton. That is a relief to hear.”

Duck felt a truly unhealthy amount of blood rush to his cheeks and up his ears, “Minnie, d’ya mind if I—uh, ask why?”

She let out a noise Duck might’ve expected to hear from a squeaky wheel before stammering, “Wayne Newton, I am now very embarrassed. I do not want to tell you why.”

Gingerly, Duck managed out of his chair and around the table. Real slow, he put a hand on her shoulder and found himself unspeakably relieved when a hand came to tentatively cover his. He cleared his throat, “Hey, now, it’s—it’s alright. You don’t have nothin’ to be embarrassed of. Will you tell me what the, uh, misunderstanding is all about?”

Minerva mumbled into the palm her face rested in.

“Can you please say it one more time?”

She finally met Duck’s gaze with a deep frown, turning slightly in her seat. “I was—Wayne, I had believed that we were already romantically involved,” she admitted miserably.

Duck opened and closed his mouth a couple times before words came out, “You what?”

Minerva shook her head as if shaking off a bad dream. “Wayne Newton, I had asked you if I could accompany you to Brazil. Do you remember this? I had told you that I would follow you anywhere if you would allow it. I assumed that you understood that I—that it was a confession, if you will. You said—and I quote, Wayne Newton— ‘same here, bud’. I had assumed…” she let the sentence hang, eyes trained on the table.

Duck felt as though he might be having a stroke, “It was a what?”

“And you are so—so hesitant sometimes, Wayne Newton! I had believed—well, perhaps you were not interested in intimacies such as the holding of hands! And—you invited me to share our home here! Your planet is just so different at times, I just—oh, Christ.” There was a thump, and Minerva’s clean-shaven head connected with the table, “Wayne Newton, there is worse shame yet.”

Aw, jeez, she was getting worked up. Duck’s brain felt like it had been replaced with mashed potatoes. It was okay, it would be alright—he could fix this, so he opened his mouth and said, “I—what?” His hand felt too hot under hers. He was gonna pass out.

She continued as if he hadn’t spoken, which he figured was fair, “I gave you the large rock.”

Duck nodded dumbly although she wasn’t looking at him. He could see the rock, sitting proudly by their bookshelf, “Uh, I—yeah. Yeah, you gave me a great rock, Min.”

“You see, I was under the impression that large rocks were symbolic of a lifetime commitment on this planet?” Minerva said it like a question and fuck, Duck was gonna pass out. “We have been—well. It has been one year since we moved, and I—” she groaned, “Wayne Newton, this is the nightmare scenario.”

And it really wasn’t funny, except that it kinda was, so Duck gave a weak laugh and his vision got a little splotchy and—

And then Duck was looking up at Minerva and boy, Jesus, did his back hurt.

“Wayne Newton, it seems that you have fainted,” Minnie’s voice was earnest as she crouched next to him on the floor of their kitchen. “Perhaps you should eat some food?”

With an embarrassing amount of effort, and the assistance of Minerva’s outstretched hand, Duck managed to sit upright, “Now, hold on just a second, Minnie. You—I mean, we…are we like, together? I mean, romantically?”

Minerva looked at the ceiling—maybe bargaining with God. He sure wouldn’t blame her if she were. “Yes, that was the impression I was under.”

He swallowed audibly, “And you’re like—cool? With that?”

“I—yes.”

Duck started to feel faint again when he said, “Minnie, are we engaged?”

Minerva relaxed out of her crouch and sat heavily beside him, shooting a venomous look at the living room. She was looking at Duck’s engagement ring, he noted feebly. “Wayne Newton, this is humiliating.”

“I mean—I meant, like. Is that…is that what you want?”

Slowly, Minerva’s warm hand found its way to cover his. Real gentle-like. Duck could feel thick callouses and the outline of a long scar stretching across her palm, and he was helpless to do anything but spread out his fingers and catch hers in between them. It was quiet for a long moment before Minerva spoke.

“Wayne Newton, I meant it quite literally when I said I would follow you anywhere, for as long as you would allow me to. I do not—it doesn’t have to be now, or ever. I am not sure what the ritual on this planet entails, to be entirely honest, and I do not know if it is something you want at all. It is clear that there are some things I do not yet understand. Regardless, this is—I would like this. For as long as you will allow me to.”

“Fuck it,” Duck said a little too quickly, so he scrambled to add, “I mean, yeah. Like, me too, I—yes.”

“So, you—do you like the handholding, Wayne Newton? Can we do that?”

Duck squeezed their interlocked fingers, “Yeah, for sure.”

Minerva nodded sharply, “Wonderful. We shall hold hands for just a moment more, and then we will eat our cold dinner.”

And, honestly? Duck wasn’t like, super sure if he was engaged or what, exactly. But Duck knew that whatever it was, he was super into it, so he said, “I’m super into that, hell yes.

[connorandersons-blog]

Convin?: “I don’t know anyone else who can make me feel this way.” Any situation :)

So this turned out longer than I thought it would. Hope you like! Word count: 2,273 Warnings: None

===================

Connor didn't feel. He didn't. He was a machine that was built to obey orders, so that's what he did. Though most people didn't really know whose orders he was following.

Most people would think it would be Hank. The Lieutenant did have some power over his orders, but if he got any that overrides those he had to ignore him.

He'd follow any orders as long as it didn't negatively affect his mission.

He tried his best to appear friendly to the other officers, knowing that their approval was very much important. If someone didn't like them they might try to get in his way, or as Hank would say 'make his life a living hell'.

So when Gavin Reed ordered him to make him coffee he did. He didn't see a reason not to. Sure Gavin had been… abrasive in their past meetings, but maybe this would help.

He was wrong. If anything it seemed giving him the coffee made Gavin despise him even more so.

He blinked a few times as Chen and Reed left, then stared at the coffee. It wasn't like he could drink it, but it would be a waste to throw it out.

So, he ends up leaving it on Reed's desk when the man gets up and heads to the bathroom.

He's sitting at his-not truly his- desk when Gavin comes back. The man sits at his chair and props his feet up. Then he narrows his eyes at the coffee cup and brings it to his nose, sniffing it.

When Gavin's eyes lock on his he quickly looks away, a strange feeling crawls down his spine.

[Software Instability ↑]

He easily brushes the sensation away, going back to focusing on his conversion-or lack thereof- with Hank.

The sensation happens multiple times, and each time he gets the same notification. He tried to look it up, but couldn't find anything pertaining to androids. Maybe he should ask another android. For some reason, he can't explain he does his best to keep it from Amanda.

He tries to experiment to find the cause of the feeling. At first, he thought it had to do with eye contact. That didn't really make sense as it was in his programming to maintain eye contact whenever possible.

He tried anyway, talking with any other officers that seemed open to him. None had the same effect.

He doubted it had to do with coffee, but once again he still tested the theory. He got coffee for anyone who asked. That didn't seem to help his relationship with a few officers as they called him 'the dpd lapdog'.

He knew it was meant as an insult, but he couldn't help but grin. He very much liked dogs, so it didn't bother him all too much being compared to one.

No. It didn't bother him because he doesn't feel. He's not supposed to feel anything. He runs tests on his systems, sighing gratefully when it comes back clean.

His last idea was Gavin Reed. He had noticed the feeling occurred whenever he spoke to him, even when it wasn't necessarily friendly.

It seemed he was an asshole to pretty much everyone, so he didn't take it personally when Gavin punched him. Humans were certainly odd creatures.

There were other sensations but none felt quite the same. If he didn't know any better he'd say these sensations were emotions. But he did know better.

The sensation that was there around Gavin wasn't unpleasant. It didn't truly affect his work, but he couldn't stop thinking about it and Gavin.

There was one person he could ask, though he wasn't sure what his reaction would be. There was a 54% chance that he would tell him to fuck off. Not the best odds, but it was a risk he was willing to take.

"Lieutenant, may I ask for your help?" He asks, looking over at him.

Hank snorts but gives a nod. "Sure kid, though I doubt you actually need my help."

He understood why, but he had found he preferred to have Hank help him, even when he wasn't actually needed. "I get this... tingling sensation when I'm around a certain person. It's not unpleasant, but it leads me to continue thinking about the person and this feeling."

Hank blinks at him a few times and then bursts into laughter. He hadn't seen this as a possibility. How was his situation amusing?

"Son, fuck. This is great. Are you sure you're not a deviant?" Hank laughs once he's calmed somewhat.

He reeled back. No. No, he wasn't a deviant. He checked his systems every day and there were no signs of corruption or anything of that sort. "I'm not a deviant!"

"Sure, sure," Hank chuckles, rolling his eyes. "Just a normal emotionless android feeling attraction. You know, nothing major."

Attraction? He was attracted to Gavin? Before he can think too much on it Hank cuts him off again.

"Wait, fuck, kid. Who… uh, who do you get this sensation with." He cringes at his own words.

He glanced around, before finding Gavin's desk. The man is talking with Chris and slowly spinning in his chair. He throws his head back and laughs at whatever Chris said.

Then, their eyes lock. He doesn't look away, too focused on Gavin's flushed cheeks and smile. The sensation comes back, and he can't help but give a slight grin. Gavin furrows his brows, then turns back to Chris.

"No fucking way," Hank grumbles. Connor snaps his head back to Hank and feels his cheeks warm up, no doubt blushing.

"Fucking Reed? What the hell!" Hank says, shaking his head. "Fuck. Well, it's not like you can control attention."

He was… attracted to Gavin. No. No, he wasn't because he was a machine made to accomplish his mission. Gaining Gavin's attention is not part of that mission.

Though, it would be a fascinating experience. Perhaps androids had gone deviant because of this feeling. If he explores it may give him more data to send to Cyberlife.

It's settled. He'll attempt to gain Gavin's attention. With that in mind, he stands and walks over to the break room, making a coffee before walking out.

He walks over and Gavin glances up at him, then to the coffee in his hand. He holds it out and tries to smile, though Hank had said his smiles always seemed awkward.

"The fuck is this?" Gavin says, crossing his arms. Connor glances at Chris, but the man looks just as confused as Gavin.

"A peace offering. I'm unsure as to why you are not fond of me, but I would like to change that." He means it too. He wants Gavin to smile at him and laugh when he tells a joke.

Gavin huffs but takes the coffee. "Whatever dipshit. Don't you have work to do?" Connor smiles and nods. He considers this a success.

"I do. Have a good day, Detective." With that, he turns and walks back to his desk. Hank gives him an odd look but doesn't comment.

[Software Instability ↑]

Each day he brings Gavin coffee, and slowly he learns how he likes it. It also seems to be working on making their relationship more positive.

Gavin no longer seems incredibly angered just from his presence, and the number of insults is steadily declining.

The sensation still happens but it seems to be growing stronger with each passing day. He also gains new symptoms. One Hank had called butterflies in his stomach. It seemed an appropriate metaphor.

He wondered if Gavin felt the same. There was evidence to support the idea, but some could easily be written off as anger. He had attempted to talk with Gavin but it generally seemed to just agitate the man.

His social protocols were working perfectly fine, so he didn't know what the problem was. He could easily talk down a murderous psychopath, but he couldn't seem to hold a simple conversation with Gavin. It was beyond frustrating.

He had had enough one day. Gavin had gone to the evidence room, and Connor slipped in behind him, locking the door. He wanted to actually talk to Gavin without the possibility of him running away.

"Detective, may I speak to you?" He asks, making his presence known. Gavin jumps and quickly turns around.

"The fuck you want, Tincan?" He sighs, turning back and putting his password in.

He slowly walked up as he would do in a hostage situation. "I was wondering if I could talk to you. Actually talk."

Gavin sighed and rested his hands on the screen. "Why the fuck not."

Connor smiles and walks around so he can see Gavin's face. "I was wondering if I had been doing something wrong. You appear to still be hostile towards me."

Gavin sighed again, closing his eyes for a second. Connor took that time to look over his face. He was definitely pleasing to look at, even with the scar across his nose. He had wondered how he had gotten it but assumed it was on duty.

"Fucking hell. It's… it's not really your fault ok? It's mine." That… didn't make sense. He'd understand if it was as simple as being an android, but Gavin never seemed overly hostile towards any other androids.

"Could you explain? I've been trying to," he paused. What had he really been trying to do? He knew he wanted Gavin's attention, but he already had that before. Sure it was negatively, but he still had it.

So what? Did he want to be friends?

[Software Instability ↑]

No. No, he couldn't want. He shouldn't want. He's a machine. It shouldn't be possible.

And yet it was.

Gavin crossed his arms again, leaning against the computer. "You're… ok, you better not tell anyone. If I find out you did you'll be missing some very vital components."

Connor quickly nods his head. He wouldn't dare break Gavin's trust. Especially not after he just gained it.

"You're pretty ok? I shouldn't… I shouldn't feel this way about a machine. It's wrong." Gavin said, throwing his hands up then letting them fall to his sides.

He… Gavin thought he was pretty? He knew he was objectively pleasing as all androids were made to be. But… he said he felt something for him. Perhaps it was the same feeling.

[Software Instability ↑]

"I fe-" he was cut off by a red wall appearing in front of his vision. He reached out and touched it, and a small crack formed.

This… this was deviancy. He shouldn't. He knows he should turn around and leave, but another part is curious. What would it be like? What would it feel like?

He bangs his fist against the wall. The red cracks again, so he hits it until it crumbles.

Another wall comes up and he tears it down too. Doing the same for the last wall. His breath catches as the red disappears.

His eyes are wide as he stares at Gavin. He can feel. There's panic, and shock, but also something warm and tingling. Affection.

"You ok? You're LED thingy went red for a second." Gavin says, frowning.

"I-I'm fine. I'm alive." He mumbles the last part. He runs a check on his system but there still isn't any sign that something is wrong.

Gavin's eyes go wide and he takes a small step back. Then, a small smile stretches across his lips. "Fuck. You're… you're deviant?"

The panic rises. He's going to be destroyed. They are going to tear him apart to find out why this happened. He wouldn't be surprised if they questioned Gavin and Hank. What had he done?

"Hey, hey, Connor. Connor, you need to calm down. It's ok. No one is going to hurt you." Gavin said, placing a hand on his arm. "You're safe."

He believes him. He's alive, and he's safe. He's safe with Gavin. "I don't know anyone else who can make me feel this way." He mumbles, feeling the warm sensation come back tenfold.

Gavin blinks up at him and slowly brings a hand up to cup his face. "What do you feel?" He mumbles.

He leaned into the touch, unsure of what to do with his own hands. "Affection, panic, warmth… yearning."

Gavin gives a short hum before gently pulling Connor down into a soft kiss.

It feels like electricity shoots down his spine and his lips tingle. He gasps at the number of feelings and reaches out to grip Gavin, holding him close.

It was amazing, to say the least. Gavin's lips weren't perfectly soft but that just made it all the better. Sadly Gavin had to pull back to breathe, but he didn't move far.

"Shit," Gavin grumbled breathlessly. Connor feels a wave of panic. Was that not good? Did he not actually want to do that? "Fucking kiss me again, damnit."

He grins widely and gladly does as he's told, pulling Gavin in again. He gently pulls at Gavin's bottom lip, making the man hum.

He lets his hands trail around Gavin's body, feeling the muscles underneath his jacket.

Gavin deepens the kiss, bringing a hand up to the base of his skull, gripping his hair. He makes a small whine in the back of his throat, and his face flushed.

Gavin pulled back to chuckle and really grin at him. "Adorable. Fuck, we should go back to work before anyone gets suspicious."

He really didn't want to stop. It was amazing, the feeling of want. "I locked the door."

Gavin's eyes widen, then smirks. "Let's see what else Cyberlife gave you then."

[howtodisassembleyourdeviant]

A small box of orange candies, a stuffed orange with a smiley face, and a giant fluffy throw (that is also, of course, fall orange) sits on the couch when Connor gets home from work. Atop the pile sits a small handwritten note from Gavin, reading "Hey baby. Working late. Stopped by on my lunch break to leave these for you. Be home soon. I love you. - G" - bring-me-a-coffee-dipshit

Connor sees the gifts and the note. It should make him happy that Gavin thought about him and got him some comfort items. They're nice, and the blanket looks extra plush, but he feels strangely empty inside seeing them and reading the note. He leaves them there, untouched, before crawling into bed.

"Gavin is going to be upset," he says to himself. He went through the trouble of stopping by on his lunch break and Connor is just leaving them there. Curling in on himself, he lets the hours pass him by.

@bring-me-a-coffee-dipshit

[howtodisassembleyourdeviant]

"What if I am?" Connor purrs, nuzzling into Gavin's hair, "I don't plan on leaving your arms until next year." Connor grabs at Gavin's ass again, kissing his temple.

"Merry Christmas, my love," Connor hugs Gavin, giving his ass a squeeze.

"Merry Christmas yourself-" Gavin replies, groaning and burying his face in Connor's shoulder. "Are you trying to get a Christmas dicking, baby? Grabbing at my ass like that, hmph..."

[alwayshaveneverholdd]

★ 𝒮𝓉𝒶𝓇𝒹𝓊𝓈𝓉 || 𝒞𝒽𝑜𝒾 𝒮𝒶𝓃 ★

★ 𝓟𝓪𝓲𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰: ballet dancer!san x female!reader, side barista!mingi & barista!mark

★ 𝓖𝓮𝓷𝓻𝓮: romance, angst, some shitty comedy

★ 𝓦𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼: mild panic attack, emotional turbulence, absolutely shit comedy by the author, a lot of emotions y’all

★ 𝓦𝓸𝓻𝓭 𝓒𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓽: 2.2k

★ 𝓘𝓭𝓮𝓪 𝓫𝔂: @starsforten​

            ★ 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓞𝓷𝓮 ★

Your university is in the opposite direction of your workplace but for some reason you still make the hour drive out to Incheon every morning before classes just to see your coworkers and pretend to study while you’re actually watching Youtube videos. Maybe it’s the sense of family or the Dunkin’ pride, but on the rare days that you can’t make it out there, your entire day starts off with sad boi energy. But today is normal—it’s a good day, and even with the bustling ambiance of people moving to and fro on Terminal 1’s walkway around you, you have no trouble zeroing in on the dorky-looking boy standing behind the POS system at Dunkin’ Coffee House.

It’s Mark in his stupid Dunkin’ visor and he looks half-dead as he swipes the credit card of a short old man. You draw closer, readjusting your book bag strap over your shoulder with a smirk tugging your mouth in one direction. suddenly, Mingi pops up from under the espresso machine with a yelp. His back is turned to you and Mark and the aforementioned turns around to say something to him. As you approach them, you peer over the counter to see that Mingi has dropped the entire 50 lb pail of Cafiza and it looks like a billion dollars of cocaine has fallen expensively to the ground. The old man narrows his eyes at the two men who are now panicking and no longer paying attention to the front. He shakes his head and turns around to leave. You notice that there are only two other customers immersed in their work at tables a few feet away from the counter.

You snake over to the cash register to take the old man’s place, watching Mark and Mingi argue for a moment. Mingi places his gigantic hands over the visor on his head, almost completely covering the top of it. His eyes, wide and afraid, keep darting from the chemical to the cameras installed above them, spouting about how the bosses are going to fire him while Mark tells him to vacuum it up, but, “나 진공 청소기 못 해, 임마! 이거는 진공청소기로 길을 잃을 거야!” I can’t vacuum it, dude! It’ll get lost with the rest of the vacuum dirt!

“그럼 진공 청소부터 해, 멍청아!” Then clean out the vacuum first, dumbass!

“나한테 소리 지르지 마!!!” dON’T YELL AT ME!

“Welcome to Dunkin’!” You say, causing them both to turn their attention to you. “Where we dunk on our haters and have emotional breakdowns over coke.”

Mingi is the first one to shout, “아아아!” AHHHH! And you know that that’s his way of saying, “thank God you’re here!” because he’s book smart but common sense is not his forte. In your three years working with Mingi, you’ve watched him improve very slightly. Yet here he is. Still kickin’ it at Dunkin’.

Mark laughs nervously before responding, “Welcome to Dunkin’, are you ready to get dunked, ma’am?”

Taking a step or two to the side so you can lean over the pick-up counter, you gesture to the fallen Cafiza pail and calmly say, “쓸어버려, 새끼들.” Sweep it up, dipshits.

“넌 너무 시적이야,” You’re so poetic, Mingi mutters before sulking over to the broom like he’s upset that he didn’t think of that first.

While he does that, Mark sighs all the way over to you where he pretends to type something in on the POS screen. “The usual?”

“Yes indeedy, sweety.” You hand him an invisible credit card and he pretends to swipe it before turning his miserably tired eyes on you and telling you it’ll be right out. So you reach over the counter to pat his shoulder and say, “SoundCloud isn’t worth the dark circles, Mork.”

Mark’s voice crescendos into a yell as you walk away to find a table. “Yes, iT IS.”

There’s a small square wooden table right up against the divider bookshelf separating Dunkin’ from the Hooters next door. With a small laugh, you remember how upset everyone was when your old coworker Wendy quit to go work next door. Mark had deemed her and the entire Hooter’s establishment as “an enemy of the Dunkin’ brand”. But you’ve seen him peeking around the large bookcase to peep the Hooter’s waitresses. At the end of the day, sexual frustration wins over loyalty—at least for Mark. You don’t really care that Wendy went to Hooters, but you definitely enjoy saying, “Pleasant Hooter’s!” every time she leaves after you two meet up.

After setting up your laptop and making sure that it’s plugged in, you take a seat, but you don’t open up the sleek electronic device you dropped your entire first paycheck on three years ago. Instead, you look out at the terminal floor and watch people say goodbye or greet each other. A little boy runs into his father’s arms, screaming with joy as his father embraces him and picks him up. A young man you’ve never seen before holding a bouquet of red roses stands unsure a few feet away, looking around with a worried expression. You’re suddenly very aware of the thump of your heart against your rib cage because you remember. You stare at the bouquet and you remember.

You can suddenly smell the songpyeon your mother was making in preparation for Chuseok. You can see the metal door in front of you and feel the weight of the trash bag you had carried all those years ago. You yelled over your shoulder to your mother in the kitchen that you were taking the trash out before stepping outside and almost tripping over a pair of Doc Martens. He was sitting there in the stairwell, back against the wall, eyes gently closed, dry lips parted, chest rising and falling slowly—a bouquet of red roses lying limp in his hands. His bangs were in his eyes and you wanted to move them away like you always did, but you couldn’t bring yourself to touch him. You looked him over with pathetic tears welling behind your eyes. You turned away. You went downstairs to take out the trash.

“오빠!” BABY! A piercing shriek pulls you from your memory and you focus your eyes again to see a girl running toward the young man and throwing herself onto him. He barely catches her, dropping the bouquet, and she wraps her legs around his waist as she hugs him.

Your drink is set down in front of you and you look up to see Mingi staring down at you with one eyebrow raised. “친구야 왜 슬퍼?” Why do you look sad? He then turns his body back toward the counter momentarily to point to where Mark is now scrubbing the outside of the espresso machine. “우리가 화학 약품을 치웠으니까 걱정하지 마.” We cleaned the chemicals up, so don’t worry. You smile. Mingi has always vibrated such an innocence that you enjoy. You’re the same age, but you view him as a little brother. Well, a little huge brother.

After assuring him that you’re okay, he turns to go back to work and you mutter under your breath as he takes big clunky steps, “Fee-fi-fo-fum…” He towers over Mark, who hands him the sponge and directs him to finish up. Mingi just nods and begins the task given to him. “I am a giant but I am not dumb.”

You continue watching your friends, leaving your drink neglected on the table before you. Mark suddenly looks toward the front with wide-eyes, spouting apologies to the customer that walked up while you were all distracted. Mingi stands by, ready to make the drink or retrieve the donut that will be ordered. But he’s squinting at the customer like he knows him—and you have to admit the customer looks a bit familiar from behind. You think hard for a moment. Not super tall, a bit taller than Mark, dark hair, long trench coat that you know is to combat the heavy snow falling outside the windows that are blocked by a divider. You can’t really see his build because of that, but you squint now too to try and notice anything from the back of his head. You think you notice freckles, but you’re not sure. Just the thought is enough to send you into another stomach-flipping memory.

Now you can smell the fresh rain on the pavement again. You can feel the colorful dragonflies beating the shit out of your insides—the once pleasant friends that gently let you know when you were nervous were now betraying you. You can feel his warm skin under your fingertips and the wetness on your cheeks. You can hear his low voice cracking, saying, “제발 울지마—사랑한다.” I love you—please don’t cry. You can see his comforting eyes, red and wild. You lowered your lips to his neck, gently kissing the freckles you admired but never spoke of. He broke out into a sob and pulled you closer to him.

“아!” Ah! Mingi says loudly and you’re pulled from the memory again—and it’s a good thing, too, because you can feel your tear ducts throbbing, desperate for release. He points at the customer with a wide smile. “최산!” Choi San!

The walls close in on you from every direction. The seafood restaurant across the walkway, the Hooter’s to the left, the bar sitting in the middle of it all. Everything begins to shake and collapse and your lungs are punctured with each breath and they give out one-by-one and you can’t breathe and you can’t breathe and San is standing at the cash register and Mingi gestures toward you and San looks over and his eyes are still comforting but you can’t look at him so you stare down at your lap and everything is still shaking so you close your eyes because you can’t cry and you can’t think about Choi San’s freckles and Choi San’s bouquet of roses and you can’t breathe and the first time Choi San kissed you and you can’t breathe and you can’t breathe and you can’t—

“Are you okay?” You suddenly feel a cold hand on the fabric of your black dress shirt. It’s Mark because he has the coldest hands in the world and you’d know them anywhere. But it’s strangely comforting to open your eyes to Mark standing over you with on hand on your back and Mingi crouching beside you with his eyebrows drawn in. He places an apprehensive hand on your knee. He knows. You’ve never mentioned San’s name, but Mingi is smart. You know he’s figured it out.

You just now realize that you’re heaving and Mark rushes away, talking about getting water. A guilty frown spreads over Mingi’s face and he mumbles, “미안해—나는 네가 서로 아는 줄 알았는데 네가 말한 그 사람이 아닌 것 같았어.” I’m sorry—I thought you knew each other but I didn’t think he was the guy you told us about. You just focus on Mingi, afraid of what you’ll see if you look up again. And then Mark returns with the water and you gulp it down. Your breathing begins to normalize but your pulse is still rapid and the blood begins to roar in your ears because you know what you’re about to do.

Mingi stands up and says he’ll tell him to leave, but you stand in return and say, shaking, “아니. 나는 그와 얘기하고 싶다.” No. I want to talk to him. 

“근데…” But…

Ignoring them both, you gently push them aside and stare straight at Choi San, who’s still standing there. He’s returning your gaze and there’s something so sullen about it. It’s raining stars in his irises. It’s been three years, so naturally, you’d freak out upon seeing him—especially considering the way things ended and the way things started. You notice a piece of luggage he’s parked next to the counter. You wonder in passing if he’s visiting or staying. Then, like doves in the fall, your thoughts flock to the void of your mind and you’re left empty and full as you approach him. Your heart is on fire and the ashes accumulate in the pit of your stomach, providing a warmth that spreads all over your body. Even after all this time, Choi San…

You know he’s worried by the way he’s looking at you. But all you can do is bite back the urge to touch his face and say, “오랜만에.” It’s been a while.

And a sad smile dances across his lips as he looks down at you the same way he did at the beginning.

“구십삼퍼센트 스타더스트.” Ninety-three percent stardust, he said as you two gazed out at the twinkling night lights of Seoul. His arm was pressed up against yours; he tilted his head up to turn his attention to the sky. “불꽃으로 만들어진 영혼들 함께, 우리는 모두 사람들의 이름을 가진 별 뿐이다.” With souls made of flames, we’re all just stars that have people names.

[heavenly-roman]

Death Of A Hero

Plot: “This is not how Virgil would’ve liked to spend his Saturday night, but such is the life of a vigilante, unfortunately.”

Warnings: !! Major Character Death !!, blood, injury, guns, mentions of a robbery, police officers, mentions of paramedics, crying, swearing

Pairing(s): prinxiety

Word Count: 1779

if you like this, consider buying me a coffee?

Taglist: @emo-disaster

(ao3 link!!!)

im also tagging @prinssess61 because u requested this a long time ago and I finally got around to it!! (thank u for your patience!!)

+++

This is not how Virgil would’ve liked to spend his Saturday night, but such is the life of a vigilante, unfortunately.

“Put the weapon down,” Virgil commands calmly, commending himself for not letting his fear show in his voice. He adjusts his grip on his bow and arrow, using it to gesture to the ground. He feels his smirk grow as the perps eyes widen and his hands fly up, slowly lowering his gun to the ground. His smirk falters, however, when he realizes it’s not because of himself, but because of him .

Officer Prince stands beside him, his gun pointed at the robber. His face is stern, focused, and it takes Virgil a second to realize that he’s talking to him.

“-seriously, Storm, this is dangerous , why are you even here?” Prince asks, and Virgil scoffs.

“Are you kidding me? The city is in danger and I’m here to stop it, Detective Dipshit.”

“That’s what the police are for, Emo Hawkeye,” the officer retorts.

“And let everyone get killed before you dumbasses get here? I don’t think so, Bitch with a Badge.” Virgil moves towards the robber, before looking back and realizing the cop wasn’t following him. He rolls his eyes, asking, “Are you going to arrest him, or do I have to do everything myself?”

Prince shakes his head fondly, “Uh, yeah, I should… do that.”

Virgil gives him a look, one that he hopes conveys no shit . Rolling his eyes again, he lowers his weapon as the officer cuffs the robber. The vigilante waits for him to finish his task and sit the criminal down, and then proceeds to lean his elbow on the shorter man’s shoulder. “So, feel bad that I did your job for you again?”

“Hardly,” Prince shoves Virgil’s elbow off of him. “Now, I’d love to stay and chat, but I have a job to do.” Virgil raises an eyebrow. “You mean the job I just did?”

“No, Robert Downer Jr., the paperwork and the putting-the-bad-guy-in-jail job,” Prince scoffs.

“You’re really loving the marvel nicknames today, aren’t you, Inspector Clueless?”

“You’re trying to be a superhero, so you get superhero nicknames,” the cop shrugs.

“I’m a vigilante, big difference.” “Sure there is, Superman.”

“Don’t you have a job to do?”

“Thought you already did it for me?” Prince’s satisfied smirk makes its way onto his face, causing Virgil to groan. Prince starts walking towards a group of approaching officers, clearly proud of himself, when Virgil speaks without thinking.

“Wait,” He calls, jogging to catch up, occasionally looking back at the perp to insure he’s still there. At Prince’s raised eyebrow, he continues. “I, uh, wanted to know if… okay, look this is really weird for me, I don’t even know if you’re gay, I-”

“Yes, I’ll go out with you, Storm.” Prince interrupts.

“Really?” Virgil’s shocked look earns a chuckle from Prince, which in turn makes Virgil pout. “Don’t laugh at me, Prince.”

“Roman.”

“Roman?” The name feels strange on his tongue, but it’s the right kind of odd.

“That’s my name. Figured you should know it if we’re going on a date,” Roman shrugs. “And yours?”

“Not so fast, Roman, I like to take things slow.” he slings his arm around Roman’s shoulders. “ Real slow.”

“So that means you’re not taking off your mask anytime soon?” the officer asks, once again removing Virgil’s arm from his body.

“Not in your wildest dreams, Princey,” Virgil laughs. He moves towards the robber, intending to bring him to the nearest cop car, when he hears a shout and a loud bang.

“Storm, look out!”

In a flash, Virgil finds himself on the ground, and with a heavily breathing Roman on top of him. Virgil teases, “Woah, Roman, on top of me before the first date? I thought I said I took things slowly.”

Roman lets out a humourless chuckle, “Yeah, uh, sorry, I just- you were almost shot.”

Virgil’s eyes widen, and he whips his head to the side, surprised to see a second and third robber running from the onslaught of officers. Pushing Roman off of him, Virgil jumps into action, pointing his bow and arrow at one of the criminals. “Drop your weapon, hands on your head.” The criminal scoffs before freezing, feeling Roman’s gun at the back of his head. “He said,” Roman coughs out. Virgil thinks he must’ve hit the ground too hard and knocked the wind out of himself. “To drop the gun.”

Letting the gun fall, the criminal drops to his knees while Roman signals another officer to cuff him. Virgil peers around the corner to see the third perp flat on the ground, his hands roughly being moved to the small of his back. Turning back around, all the blood drains from his face when he sees Roman leaning against a wall, face devoid of colour, and a blank look in his eyes. His vision trails down to Roman’s torso, where his hand is pressing into his side, and his shirt is covered in blood.

Approaching quickly, Virgil sucks in a sharp breath at Roman’s clearly laboured breathing. Rapid fire, he spits out his immediate questions. “Roman, when did this happen? Are you okay? Have you called for a medic?”

Roman slides down the wall, only minorly wincing when his shirt catches on the wall and rubs against his wound. His breathing slows, and Virgil can’t tell if it’s a good thing or not. Roman speaks quietly, “Ambulance has been called, no need to worry.”

“When did this happen?” Asks Virgil, crouching down to examine Roman’s side.

“Remember that time when you almost got shot?”

Virgil pauses his actions and frowns. “Are you telling me that-”

“I got shot while protecting a civilian? Yes, I did.”

“Roman-”

“I’m serious, no matter how much you try to be a superhero-” Roman shifts, leaning more of his back against the wall. He breathes deeply, and, to his credit, barely makes a face of pain whilst he does so. “No matter how much you try to be a superhero, you’re not. You’re a civilian, and I’m a police officer. I’ll get a shiny badge for this, whereas you’d just get hospital bills.”

“I don’t like that you did this for me,” Virgil admits. His voice is small, and if he were someone else, he would admit to the few tears running down his cheeks. He moves to add pressure to Roman’s side, quietly apologizing when he hisses. “I know you would’ve done it for anyone, but you should’ve… you should’ve let me take it.”

“Yeah, fat chance, Panic! At The Everywhere. No way I’m letting you get shot because you have some ego to protect,” Roman rolls his eyes, and Virgil sees a stray tear before Roman wipes it away and plasters on his false bravado.

“Virgil.” “Virgil?”

“That’s my name. Figured you should know it if we’re going on a date,” Virgil shrugs.

“Or if I’m dying in your arms,” Roman responds, laughing to himself, which then morphs into a cough. He pulls his hand away, dramatically motioning to the blood on his palm. “It’s like all of those murder mystery movies, where the host coughs into their handkerchief and then they pull it away to reveal blood.”

“Figures you’d watch those movies. And you’re not dying in my arms, Roman.”

“You’re right,” Roman moves himself to lay in Virgil’s lap. With some strain, he pulls one of  Virgil’s arms around his waist. “ Now I’m dying in your arms.”

“Roman, goddammit, this is not something to joke about!” Virgil cries. He presses down on the wound again, making the man in his lap groan in pain. He pulls his mask off, attempting to use it as a tourniquet. He pretends to ignore Roman staring at his face. “Fuck, shit, fuck, I have to do something , you’re dying because of me -”

“Virgil,” Roman coughs. He reaches up and wipes the free flowing tears from Virgil’s face. “It’s okay, there’s nothing you can do.”

“There- There should be something, I-”

“Hey, gorgeous, look at me,” Roman smiles weakly. “You can do something, okay? I’ll give you something to do to help.”

“Please,” whimpers Virgil.

“Just-” Roman’s coughs are hacking now, and despite the blood dripping down his chin, Virgil can’t help but realize how truly beautiful this man is. “Just hold me.”

Virgil nods, cradling the man who saved his life . He lets out a soft, “yeah?” when Roman says his name again.

Roman smiles weakly. “Sing to me?”

“Okay,” Virgil whispers. He sings the first song that comes to mind. “ That night I put my youth in a casket, and buried it inside of me. That night I saw through all the magic, now I'm a witness to the death of a hero .”

“Your voice is soothing, it’s nice,” Roman mutters. He closes his eyes and hums along with Virgil’s singing.

“ I burned all the pictures in the attic, and threw away the magazines. That night I saw through all the magic, now I’m a witness to the death of a hero .”

Roman’s face goes slack, and Virgil panics. “Roman, wake up, please , this isn’t funny, wake up Roman, wake up !” he slaps Roman’s cheek, but he doesn’t stir.

Virgil is sobbing now, clutching onto Roman’s limp body like a lifeline. He’s getting blood all over himself, it’s sticky and warm, but it’s Roman’s, and so he’ll suffer. Violent thoughts dance through his mind, mostly of revenge on the asshole who shot at him, but he ignores them in favour of petting Roman’s hair.

Eventually, the paramedics - when did they get here? - tell him to step aside, and that they need access to the body. Virgil wants to scream at them, how dare they show up too late, and then refer to Roman as just a body ? He refrains, however, and asks for just one more minute with him, please. They oblige, although begrudgingly, and leave him be.

The only thing Virgil can think to do is to sing.

“ The death of a hero, he couldn't be saved, now I'm cutting the grass and I'll cover his grave. I'll cover his grave. The death of a hero, I'm turning the page, now I'm cutting the grass and I’ll cover his grave. I'll cover his grave.

That night I put my youth in a casket and buried it inside of me. That night I saw through all the magic, now I'm a witness to the death of a hero. I burned all the pictures in the attic, and threw away the magazines. That night I saw through all the magic, and now I'm a witness to the death of a hero .”

[drrameyfanpage]

Before the Hearing

Author’s note: This takes place after the last chapter. There may be more than usual spelling and grammar, I only did a quick read over. Enjoy!

Warnings: Brief violence

Alexandra jumped startling Landry. She grabbed the medical law textbook off the coffee table and her bag before leaving. She ordered an Uber and waited outside for it. She knew she should be saving money, but she had to get back to Ethan’s.

The Uber pulled up in front of his expensive apartment building and she almost forgot why she had come back. Ethan walked down the sidewalk. His light blue performance shirt clinging to his sweaty body. Jenner panted beside his owner.

She got out of the car and Ethan raised his eyebrow at her. “Miss me already, Rookie?” Ethan asked teasingly as he got closer.

She bounded up to him bubbling with excitement. His teasing grin shifted to confusion. “I figured it out! Well at least I’m pretty sure I figured it out. I know what’s wrong with Naveen!”

Anger crossed his face and she took a step back. He watched her face fall and regretted the look immediately. He had to remember she wasn’t his intern he could just push away, she was his girlfriend and if he wished to keep it that way, he would have to learn to handle his emotions better.

“Alexandra,” He said softly as if all the fight had gone out of him. “You need to be focused on the hearing.”

She shook her head. “I am, and I will be, but you have to hear me out.”

Ethan said nothing for a moment before letting out a sigh of defeat. “I can’t tell you not to ever give up and expect you to listen if I don’t listen to my own words. You can explain while I shower.” He let them into the building.

After making sure Jenner had fresh water, he led them to his bathroom. He pulled his shirt off with his back to her. She hopped up on the sink counter watching him. He kicked his shorts off and turned to look at her.

“Why are you sitting?” He stepped between her legs.

She rested her arms around his neck, “Because you won’t listen to what I have to say if we both get in there.” He kissed her leaving her breathless, but she pushed at his chest. “I’ll talk, you shower.”

He pouted stepping away from her but dropped his boxers and stepped into the shower. “Alright, you have my attention.”

She spent the next fifteen minutes explain what she believed was wrong with Naveen while watching him through the glass door. He was so good looking and so much more. Being around him made her more confident, more bolder. He made her work harder and believed in her more than anyone in her life has.

She went over the morning after leaving his house. He gave her looked as she talked about Landry. “You helped him pack?” He shook his head.

“Well not at first. I was sitting back watching him, but then he couldn’t get the books to fit.”

“That doesn’t mean you had to help him.” Ethan said tipping his head back into the shower spray.

“I can’t just not help someone.” She huffed.

“I know. It’s what attracted me to you. The dipshit though, doesn’t deserve you kindness.”

Alexandra kept with the story not waiting to keep on the topic of Landry. He stepped out of the shower a few minutes later and wrapped a towel around his waist. Water dripped from his hair and down his chest. “There’s no guarantee that is what’s wrong with him, but I’ll do some research.” He stepped back between her legs. “While you read about medical law.” He gave her a quick kiss.

He left her sitting on the counter and walked into his room. She got down and followed him. He pulled on black dress pants and white button-down shirt. “Let’s go, Rookie. We’ve got lots of reading to do.”

That was hours ago. Ethan paced the living room with a book in his hand. Alexandra was hunched over the coffee table looking at her own book. Her phone vibrated.

“Hey where are you?” Sienna texted.

“Oh, Ethan’s.” She texted back.

“I take it things went well! ;)”

Alexandra looked over at Ethan. He had his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his glasses on. She couldn’t help but to grin. She had wanted him for so long and now he wasn’t pushing her away anymore.

He felt her gaze and looked up. “See something you like, Rookie?”

She tossed her phone on the table, Sienna’s message forgotten. He watched her walk over to him. She plucked the book from his hands and set it open on the kitchen island before sliding her hands up his chest.

“I think we should take a break.” Her voice was low.

“You do?” He went to take his glasses off.

“Leave them.”

He raised an eyebrow but dropped his hand back around her waist and walked her back towards the couch. “What did you want to do on this break?”

“Well, since we’ve been sitting most of the day something that involves physical activity.”

He lowered her on to the couch and she leaned back against the armrest. He kneeled over her. “I’m sure we can find something physical to do.”

“We should eat something.” Ethan mumbled into her hair. He laid under her on the couch as they both came down from the high of making love.

“Eating would mean moving.” She snuggled into his chest.

“I’ll make something light.” He slipped out from under her and redressed quickly.

They ate in comfortable silence before walking Jenner together. Alexandra knew it was getting late and she needed to go. The hearing was tomorrow at 10 am and she wanted to be rested and not rushed in the morning.

“I should get going.” Alexandra said as she unhooked Jenner’s leash once they were back inside.

Ethan could see all her emotion written on her face. She was scared. He stepped up to her and pulled her into his arms. “If you want I’ll come with you tonight.” He wasn’t sure if she would want him there or even if she was ready to tell her roommates about them.

She pulled back just enough to look up at him with tears in her eyes. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” He pushed lock of her hair out of her face.

Alexandra leaned up and kissed him. “I would like that. Are you okay being around my roommates?”

“They’re you friends. Them and I are bound to overlap sometimes.” He gave her a light kiss before pulling away. “Let me pack a suit for the hearing and grab few things.”

They walked down the hall to her apartment. Alexandra had sent Sienna a text as he got ready that she was bringing him back with her. She pushed the door to the apartment open.

Sienna ran into the entry hallway looking panicked. “Uh, can you-“ She never got the chance to finish.

“I’m leaving now.” Landry’s irritated voice carried through the apartment. He appeared behind Sienna a moment later looking surprised to see Dr. Ramsey.

Ethan dropped his Louis Vuitton duffle bag and moved before Alexandra could grab him. He grabbed fists of Landry’s shirt and lift him off the ground and against the wall.

“You’re lucky I don’t knock the shit out of you.” Ethan growled. “So, listen here. You may think what you did was harmless. Turning off someone’s pager could have meant a patient losing their life! That would have been your fault. The fact that you don’t see what you did as awful, proves to me that you may have the knowledge to be a doctor, but you lack everything else needed.”

Bryce and Jackie stood off to one side, ready to pull Ethan away in case it turned physical.

“The thing is I could understand your motives for telling the Martinez family what happened, if I thought you had done it for genuine purposes. I don’t believe for a second you did. You didn’t do because you thought the family had a right to know. You did it because you wanted to knock Alexandra out of the competition.”

“You wanted me to notice you. Well now I am in the worst possible way.” Ethan continued. “I have no respect for you.” He let go of Landry’s shirt and the younger man dropped to his feet. Alexandra grabbed Ethan’s arm pulling him farther into the apartment away from Landry.

“You’ve got your dick so far up her that you can’t even see what’s morally right.” Landry called after them.

Bryce moved to grab Ethan, but he was too fast. Ethan knocked his fist to Landry’s face. Blood poured from Landry’s nose and he slumped against the wall.

“I don’t owe you an explanation, but where my dick is has no impact on what I view as morally right. I haven’t liked your sorry ass since day one. When I take back over as the head of the diagnostics team and Alexandra is cleared and wins the competition on her own merit, you better stay the hell away from us.”

He grabbed his bag from Sienna, who had picked it up off the floor, and then grabbed Alexandra’s hand. He pulled her towards the hall where her room was. She led him to hers and shut the door behind them before turning to face him.

Ethan pushed her back against the door, his hand tangling in her hair as the other grabbed her hip. Their lips met in a feverous kiss.

“What the hell was that?” She panted as he dragged his lips down the column of her neck.

“Protecting you.”

“You hit him.” Her eyes rolled back in her head as he nipped at her collarbone. “When the hell did you decide to return to work?”

“Right as I said it.” He pulled her shirt off and tossed it somewhere in the room.

“What if I’m not cleared?” Her eyes showing how uncertain she was.

“Then it’s early retirement for both of us. I’m not going back unless they clear you.” His hand left her hair to cup her face.

“What about being in a relationship and working together? We can’t keep it a secret now.” She bit her bottom lip worried that if he returned to work he would leave her.

“We could never keep it a secret anyway. I can’t keep my hands to myself.” He sighed, and she prepared herself for him to break her heart. “Being together won’t help you. It will make people who think you need to fired even more judgmental. I’ll have to be tougher on you than I already am. As much as I should walk away, I can’t. For the first time I can see a future with someone, with you. I’ll even not return if you think working and dating won’t work. You need to really think this through.”

“I don’t need to think it through. I can handle you as my boss and as my boyfriend.”

Ethan looked unsure for a moment. She could see he was debating saying something. “I’m in this for the long haul.” He finally said.

Relief crossed her face. “Me too.”

He stepped to her pressing his body against hers. “Good.”

[master-sass-blast]

The Sleepover Fic

WELL, THIS ENDED DIFFERENTLY THAN I HAD PLANNED. GOOD LORD.

Summary: You enjoy a sleepover night with the X-Force at the X-Mansion --but partway through you get hit by a wall of depression. Fortunately, Piotr’s there to help you through it.

(Maybekindaprobablydefinitely inspired by the depressive episode I’ve had this week.)

Pairings: Piotr Rasputin x Reader and Nathan Summers x Wade Wilson (sorta).

Rating: T for language and depression.

@marvel-is-perfection

The idea, admittedly, is ridiculous. And that’s why you love it so much.

You’re camped out in the rec room with the rest of the X-Force, perched on the couch next to Piotr in your best set of pajamas --which, admittedly, were just a pair of pants that said ‘bacon makes everything better’ over and over and a random t-shirt. “Okay. So how does this sleepover thing work?”

The rec room’s been completely transformed, floor covered with various sleeping bags, cushions, air mattresses, blankets, and pillows. A pile of snacks covers every inch of the coffee table, along with a few soda bottles.

“Watch and learn, young padawan,” Wade says theatrically, waggling his nonexistent eyebrows for emphasis. As the self-appointed ‘party planner,’ he’d taken it upon himself to make sure that you and Russell checked off another box on the ‘well-rounded experiences’ list. “If you’re good, I might even let you try a little cocaine later.”

“No,” Piotr says automatically, acting as the self-appointed-but-also-kinda-volun-told adult of the night. “Absolutely not.”

“I was kidding, Russia’s Greatest Love Machine. Geez. I don’t share my coke with anyone.”

Yukio giggles while Neena --who’s only staying for a few hours, citing ‘having an actual life to get back to’ for why she’s leaving early--braids her hair. “So, what do you have planned, Wade?”

“Since when does Wade plan anything?” Ellie fires back, deadpan, while she continues beating Russell in Mario Kart.

“Well, I figured we’d hit all the sleepover staples,” Wade chirps. “A little Truth or Dare, some never have I ever, ooh, maybe some Seven Minutes in Heaven--”

“Several of us are minors, douchepool,” Ellie interjects, still deadpan.

“Okay, not that, then. And, when the night starts to wane, we’ll wrap everything up with a massive movie marathon. First person asleep gets pranked!”

“Nyet.”

“Oh, come on, you silver buzzkill! Pranking the first person to fall asleep is a fundamental part of any sleepover!”

“I would allow it if your pranks weren’t so destructive.”

“Okay, name one thing I’ve destroyed in the past twenty-four hours!”

“We’ll be here longer than a night if he does that, dipshit,” Nathan grumbles; he’s also only hanging around for a short period of time, but unlike Neena, his reason for leaving early amounts to ‘not sleeping in the same damn room as Wilson all night.’

Which, admittedly, given Wade’s tendencies to cuddle like an octopus, makes sense.

“Well, I think it sounds like a blast!” you say.

“Thank you!” Wade cheers. “Finally! You think I’d get more respect, considering this is my fucking franchise!”

You can’t help but laugh as Piotr cuts Wade off while Nathan presses his water bottle to his nose, looking endlessly annoyed. New experience or not, tonight was definitely promising to be a fantastic ride.

Truth or dare, as it turns out, is the best game ever to play with Wade Wilson.

First, he thinks of good parameters to keep things from getting boring; case in point, the first rule he establishes is that you can’t pick the same option three times in a row, thus keeping people from sticking to the --arguably safer--truth option for too long.

Second, he actually took the time to write down a bunch of suggestions from a website beforehand, thus preventing the inevitable ‘everyone’s run out of good ideas’ drudge.

Third, he mandates that all dare must be filmed for posterity’s sake. They can be deleted afterwards, but everything has to be caught on camera and reviewed by the group first.

Which is exactly how you find yourself watching a video of Piotr doing a traditional Cossack dance.

“This is amazing,” you giggle as you send the video to your email account.

Piotr simply shakes his head as he sits back down next to you. “If you say so.”

Things get better from there. You get to watch Ellie do a very flat rendition of ‘I’m a Little Teapot’ --which is funnier than it has any right to be--and watch Russell do a solidly decent lip sync to Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies.’

Funnier still is watching Wade try to bust Neena with truths and dares, only to somehow draw the most benign options from the bowls each time.

“How?” Wade screams when Neena does an effortless set of cartwheels. “I wrote these! There wasn’t even a cartwheel option in there! What sort of fourth wall, author interference bullshit is this?”

“Well, that’s another dare done for me,” Neena says, purposefully cheerful for the sake of pissing off Wade even more. “I guess it’s my turn. Cable --truth or dare?”

Nathan rolls his eyes, mutters something under his breath that is most definitely a string of profanities, and grumbles, “Dare.”

Neena fishes around in the dare bowl before selecting a piece of folded Hello Kitty stationary. “Ask a neighbor if they have a condom you can borrow.”

Ellie lets out a snort. “Do it to Scott. Ask Scott.”

Nathan’s face goes deadly blank --and then his techno-organic eye flares as the corner of his mouth turns up in a vicious grin. “Yeah. Wade, I need your help for this.”

“Hey, you have to ask--”

“I’m asking. I just need you to stand next to me while I do it.”

Ellie practically falls off her air mattress as she cackles. “Fuck yeah. Wait, I’m coming to watch.”

All of you wind up following Nathan to Scott’s room, standing in various positions in the hall while Nathan knocks on the door with his human hand.

(For the record, the look on Scott’s face when Nathan asks him for a condom while Wade waggles his fingers at the bespectacled man is absolutely priceless.)

After that, Truth or Dare is declared ‘done’ on account of the fact that nothing will ever top that moment.

Things detour to a Mario Kart tournament, in which Ellie proves that Neena’s lucky powers have limits.

“This is the best thing ever!” Wade cheers as Neena comes second to Ellie’s first --again. “I take back what I said about you, author! You’re amazing!”

You shoot a confused look at Piotr, and opt to settle back against his side when he shrugs, expression easily confused. “Hey, Wade, you’re good at Mario Kart, right?”

“Well, I don’t want to toot my horn, but my skills in Mario Kart come in second only to my skills at Skee-Ball.”

“Do you think you could beat Ellie?”

Wade’s eyes narrow when Ellie barks out a laugh. “Oh, you think you can win?” He swipes a controller off the coffee table and plops down next to her. “Bring it on, Negasonic Soon-To-Be Loser.”

The match is over sooner than you ever would’ve expected for two reasons.

First: Ellie and Wade decide to jump straight to the hardest option possible --Rainbow Road in Mirror Mode.

Second: No one has the stomach to watch anything on the TV afterwards.

(For the record, Ellie wins, and Wade isn’t happy about it).

Never Have I Ever doesn’t last long, either. Mostly because Wade’s done just about everything anyone can think of, or has had just about everything happen to him.

It does result in some awesome story-telling, though. After a certain point, the game completely tapers off in favor of telling stories entirely. Wade and Neena both have the best, hands down, but Piotr and Yukio come in at a close second thanks to their unique backgrounds and heritages.

You quickly realize, though, that you don’t really have anything worth contributing to the story-time session. There’s nothing from your childhood that’s really worth repeating, and your friends already know everything that’s happened to you here.

Suddenly, you feel completely detached from the room, from your friends, from everything. It’s like someone’s cut the cords keeping you tethered to the world and you’re drifting away from reality.

You get up abruptly, managing a smile and citing some sort of excuse about needing to use the bathroom, and get the fuck out of there.

The bathrooms at Xavier’s, unfortunately, aren’t designed for one person at a time. They’re built like locker room restrooms --albeit much cleaner--with multiple stalls and sinks.

You take the stall furthest from the entry, lock yourself in, tuck your legs up as you sit on the toilet lid, and hope that no one comes looking for you.

You aren’t sure if you want to cry. You can feel the sensation tugging at you --grief, rage, pain--but it seems just as distant as the rec room, numbed by your unwitting ejection from reality.

A larger part of you just wants to disappear for a bit. Slip upstairs, get in bed, hide in the darkness of your room.

They probably wouldn’t even notice I was gone, you think --even your internal voice seems dulled in the face of this sudden shut down. It’s not like I was really contributing anything anyway.

A different part of you doesn’t want to leave your friends, if only because you don’t want to have to explain what’s going on; fuck, you barely even understand it yourself.

That, and they’d probably come looking for you if you did head up to your room, and as much as you love them you just want to vanish right now and get away from the noise that’s always everywhere--

You let your forehead rest against your knees. Fuck. The fuck’s wrong with me?

By the time you manage to uncurl yourself and stand up --and it takes a while if the stiffness in your legs are anything to go by--you’ve made up your mind. I’ll just say I wasn’t feeling well and decided to go to bed if anyone asks tomorrow morning.

You don’t get too far with your plan, though, because Neena and Piotr are waiting for you just outside the bathroom door.

You flinch back, startled. “Everything alright?”

“Yeah,” Neena says with a sunny smile. “I’m heading out for the night. Wanted to make sure I said good-bye.”

The ‘need to disappear’ feeling only gets worse, more grating and jarring, when she wraps her arms around you. Fuck. This is hell. You manage to eek out a ‘good night’ and let out a shaky breath as she walks away.

Because you’re not out of the woods yet. Piotr’s still here, watching you with gentle concern.

He brushes his fingers against your upper arm. “Are you alright, myshka?”

Your brain completely cuts out, leaving you adrift and barely able to stay upright. Talk. Say something, for fuck’s sake!

Instead, you just let out a breath and sag against him.

He kisses the top of your head and wraps his arms around your body. “How about we step outside, just for moment? I think fresh air would do you good.”

You let him steer you towards the front door, moving without thought. You suck in a breath when the cool night air hits you, rattling your brain a little from whatever’s come over you.

Piotr, to his credit, doesn’t leave you. He keeps his arms around you, rubs his hands up and down your back, kisses the top of your head, lets you lean against him like he’s the only thing in the world keeping you upright.

He kinda is, if you think about it.

He stays quiet, though, just letting you suck in breath after breath of fresh night air, letting your press your face against his chest and just breathe.

“You gonna ask me what’s wrong?” You ask after a while, voice a little too sharp, a little too acidic in the face of your unwelcome melancholy.

Piotr just kisses the top of your head. “Do you want me to?”

He’s gentle, not passive aggressive in the least, genuinely giving you an out if you don’t want to talk about it.

I don’t deserve him. “I just wanna disappear. Everything feels... like it’s too much.”

“Did not having happy stories from your childhood upset you?”

Bam. Right on the money. Whoever’s said that Piotr Rasputin is an idiot is dead wrong --blindly optimistic at times, yes, but never stupid.

“The fuck am I even contributing to the group?” You let out a bitter laugh. “Shit, I’m such a downer. Can’t enjoy everyone else’s happiness, can’t contribute my own.”

“Nights like these aren’t about equal contribution,” Piotr murmurs as he kisses your forehead. “And it’s okay to be sad that you don’t have similar tales. Besides, not everyone contributed equally. Cable was mostly silent as well, as was Russell.”

You let out a frustrated huff. “Yeah, but --I just-- Piotr, what’s the point of having me around if I can’t keep up with everyone? What’s the point of me being a part of the X-Force if I can’t contribute outside of fights? We’re supposed to be a team --a family.”

Piotr clasps your upper arms gently as he crouches in front of you so you can see his face in the dim light of the moon and the lights from inside the mansion. “Myshka, family means we take ups with downs. You do not have to be happy all the time --especially if something upsets you. And aside from your many valuable skills --and there are many--we keep you around because we want you with us. You, as you are, is enough.”

Your throat constricts at the thought, and you bury your face in his shoulder in an effort to hide your tears. “I just wanna be good enough.”

“You are,” Piotr croons gently in your ear. His arms wrap around you, shielding you from the chill of the night and bathing you in warmth and love. “You are more than good enough, myshka.”

When you finally come down from your grief --pain, anger, sorrow, everything--who knows how much time later, you find that your brain’s turned back on.

Not all the way. But just a little. Just enough.

You slump against Piotr’s shoulder and chest. “I dunno if I wanna go back to the group. I kinda just wanna go back to bed.”

“Do you think that’s what would be best for you?”

“...I don’t know.”

“Khorosho. That’s fine. How about this: come watch one movie with us. If you still want to go to bed after, you can. If not, you stay with group.”

You let out a shaky sigh and nod. “Okay. That works.”

You almost chicken out as you walk towards the rec room. You can feel everything shutting off again, and you don’t want to suck a night of enjoyment away from the group.

But Piotr’s hand is a comforting, solid presence on yours, a tether to reality that you can’t bear to let go off.

The warm light of the rec room almost seems too bright as you step over the threshold, and you grip Piotr’s hand tighter.

Yukio greets you with a bright, sunny smile and pulls you in for a hug. She doesn’t mention your red eyes or puffy cheeks or the fact that you were gone for so long. “We need someone to break a tie on the first movie choice.”

“Listen, Negasonic-My-Name-Won’t-Age-Well, ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ is a literal, actual classic. It deserves to go first.”

“And ‘Get Out’ is both cutting edge and critically acclaimed. I still don’t see you making any points that actually tilt the argument in your favor.”

“Will someone just make a damn decision?” Nathan growls as he pinches the bridge of his nose.

You manage to smile, buoyed by your friends’ enthusiasm, as everyone looks at you. “‘Get Out’ first. I have a feeling we’ll need Monty Python to cheer us all up after.”

“Go to sleep, lyublyu.”

You blink wearily, the images of ‘Robin Hood: Men in Tights’ blurring before your eyes. You’d made it through the first three movies just fine, but you were barely holding on now. “I don’t wanna fall asleep first. Wade’s gonna prank me.”

Piotr lets out a gentle, quiet laugh and points surreptitiously across the room. “I do not think that will be problem.”

You manage to lift your head and clear your vision long enough to see that Wade’s long since passed out, slumped against an equally dead to the world Nathan. “They so like each other.”

Piotr chuckles and tugs you back down against his chest. “Da. Now rest, moya lyubov’. Everything will be fine.”

You lay your head down and finally let your eyes close.

You wake up on the couch alone, carefully tucked under a quilt and head propped up on a pillow.

It doesn’t take too long to figure out where Piotr went thanks to the sounds and smells coming from the kitchen --and the tone deaf humming; Piotr’s many things, but a naturally gifted singer is not one of them.

You sit up and stretch, rolling your shoulders and neck to work out the stiffness that came from not sleeping a proper bed with a proper pillow.

Nathan and Wade are nowhere to be seen; presumably, they’ve gone back to their rooms --or room if Wade managed to invite himself into Nathan’s bed without getting punched.

Ellie, Yukio, and Russell are still asleep on the floor, cushioned by air mattresses and blankets. Russell’s sprawled out like a starfish, and Ellie and Yukio are holding hands even though they’re sleeping on separate mattresses.

There’s a notification on your phone --a text from Neena.

Neener Wiener: Hope you’re feeling better this morning.

And you...

You are feeling better. Not completely, but a little.

It’s something.

You smile to yourself, just a little, and get up to join your boyfriend in the kitchen.

[fandom-necromancer]

1165. Realize something, my dear. We have fought each other before, but barely does that mean we are enemies.

This was prompted by the amazing @aurea-b! I’m in a bad headspace today so I hope this is at the normal standard. Enjoy! Edit: this will have multiple parts now and the bold warnings are for the chapter you are reading right now.

Fadom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900 (Warnings: bad communication, violence, kidnapping, graphic description of android dismantling, mentions of physical and mental abuse)

[Part2]   [Part3]   [Part4]

If there was one thing Nines would change in his life, it would be to be partnered up with Detective Gavin Reed. The man was a good cop, efficient and spoke his mind. But that were about the only three good traits he possessed. He was needlessly aggressive, sensing an attack in every word directed towards him, was hiding behind multiple walls of standoffish behaviour and wasn’t hesitant to let his fists follow his words. Nines equally stubborn not to take any shit from a mere human wasn’t suited to get along with Reed at all. He tried to do his best still.

And some days it nearly was as if it worked. When they were on a mission they worked well together. When there was someone criticising them as a team, they defended each other. But god forbid if it was just the two of them. ‘How about you finally make yourself useful, dipshit, and bring me a coffee?’ ‘Sure thing, honey’, Nines answered the nickname the same deadpan tune as his normal voice. He had learned quickly that using them riled up the detective far more than any curse would be able to. ‘As soon as I taught you to go fuck yourself!’ ‘Phcking androids’, the Detective muttered as he stood up from his desk. ‘Oh you wished.’ Gavin flipped him off without looking and Nines ignored it. He had evidence to look into.

It was their everyday bickering. Time consuming, yes, but ultimately harmless. Just another annoying part of working together with the human. Unfortunately, it wasn’t always this smooth. Or this quiet. And now that Gavin was pulling him into an empty interrogation room, Nines knew this wouldn’t be pleasant. He could have resisted of course. But that would have led to immediate violence and if he could, he wanted to avoid another disciplinary and the human being cranky about it for the next weeks because of his wounded pride and hands. Gavin pushed him inside and he allowed it, only for the man to turn and lock the door once they were inside. Nines prided himself to never be afraid, but now, locked into a room with no surveillance alone with an armed human… It brought up some nasty memories.

‘Two months without a major lead and you useless machine let him run!’, Gavin shouted. ‘You could have caught him!’ ‘Yeah, I could have!’, Nines retorted. ‘If you weren’t so incompetent to slip and fall off the building!’ ‘Since when is that of your concern?’ ‘How about a thank you that I saved your worthless life?’ ‘How about you mind your own goddamn business?’ ‘I can’t even begin to understand you, Detective’, the android said, standing straight to make full use of his added height. ‘I saved your life! What should I have done? Let you fall? Let you die a miserable death to end your already miserable life?’ ‘Maybe you should have!’, Gavin shouted. ‘That’s what you wanted from the very beginning, didn’t you, asshole? Get rid of me?’ ‘The days without you are greatly preferred to the days I have to suffer through your presence, sweetheart!’ ‘Oh really?’, Gavin asked, pulling out his gun. Several analyses of the threat the human represented now filled Nines’ HUD, the ballistic course of the bullet in the chamber already pre-constructed. ‘Why don’t you do it then? End it here and now? If I’m that bad to endure, why not kill me? Be the killer you were designed to be. No one would even blame you. Finally snapping after a year of being my partner. Do you know there are already bets on that? You would make Officer Person a very, very rich man.’ He took two steps forward and as Nines backed away, he continued walking until the android hit the wall. ‘What? Scared, darling?’, he imitated him. ‘Come on, I’m even giving you a reason to!’

There was a cold spot where the barrel touched his forehead and Nines pressed his eyes closed, wincing at the contact. He wanted to run, but where to in this room? He couldn’t anyways. His whole body was frozen in place, rigid and numb with the exception of his forehead. ‘Now come on. This is the moment you waited for, isn’t it? I bet you have the cam in observation already on and centred on me. You could say it was self-defence and everyone would believe you. So why not do it? Come on!’

Speaking was suddenly an unsurmountable task for the android, and it wasn’t making anything better that the human was coming even closer, whispering into his ear: ‘What are you so scared about, tin-can?’

‘Realize something, my dear.’ Nines voice was filled with static noise and he didn’t manage to ban his very real fear from it. ‘We have fought each other before, but barely does that mean we are enemies.’ He managed to finally open his eyes to stare down on the human, who took an instinctive step back. ‘What the phck’s that supposed to mean?’ ‘It means you don’t have to hold me at gunpoint for saving your life!’ The human took another step back and let his hand fall a bit. His gun was still trained on Nines. ‘I am not your enemy. I am your goddamn partner, Reed! I am supposed to look out for you. I am supposed to keep you from harm on missions. And no, I won’t pursue someone we know near everything about for the mission’s sake when you are about to fall from a building. I don’t particularly like you, but I won’t let you come to harm when I can keep you from it. And no, I won’t kill you. I just wished you would think the same.’

‘Yeah, like I would fall for that.’ Nines took another step forward and pushed Gavin’s hand with the gun down. ‘Despite everything you try to push me away, Detective, I will stay. We work well together, and our duty is too important to quit. It is entirely your doing that we don’t get along. I am willing to compromise. Now you accept that there is at least one person out there who cares for you and just wishes to keep you safe!’ ‘Phck you’, Gavin spat, but put his gun away. ‘Good, then we are finally back to pouting. Will you open the door now, so we can actually do our work and find our suspect again?’ ‘No sweetheart this time?’, Gavin asked. ‘Only if you want to, dipshit.’

[>next part]

[arcadeguk]

a little more love

prompt: “be you. no one else can.”

pairing: jeongguk x reader

genre: mind-numbing, cavity inducing fluff, jeongguk being a sweetheart what else is new

a/n: the literal first thing i’ve ever written and posted. be gentle with my inexperienced terRIFIED heart thank you uwu

11:34pm. exhausted doesn’t begin to cover the feeling jeongguk has right now. he’s beyond exhausted, he’s convinced no being on any planet ever has experienced this kind of tiredness. a recording session at the break of dawn followed by 8 hours of dance practice whipped his ass incredibly well, so incredibly well that by hour 7, he just laid down on the studio floor, hoping that if he closed his eyes and stayed still hoseok would just assume he was dead roadkill, and leave him alone. however, much to jeongguk’s delight, hoseok’s chirpy “5,6,7,8!” echoes through the room, bouncing off the thick white walls, and reverberating in jeongguk’s eardrums. he feels a level 6 migraine on the horizon, and he debates for just a moment that if he rips out his own esophagus out maybe he can go home early.

go home to you. 

“home” the word sounds good in jeongguk’s head, and tastes even better on his tongue, especially when he thinks of nothing else. “home, you, home, you, home…” plays on a loop in jeongguk’s head, until it’s the only thing he’s certain of. he’s most definitely not certain of these steps, of the beat pounding under his feet, or the insane body-roll-two-step-mix that jimin just did, who’s desperately trying to add flavor to the choreography.

the manager on duty calls out “alright, that’s all for tonight!”, and jeongguk nearly ducks, convinced that this moment could only come if the heavens had opened up and rained down on him. to his credit, jeongguk manages to get his bag, jacket, and somehow convinces hoseok for a ride to your place. however, he doesn’t remember a second of it. one minute, he’s under blinding fluorescent lights, and the next he’s walking into the warmth of your apartment.

jeongguk closes the door behind him, much gentler than his usual grandeur entrance. in his fuzzy and faraway mind, jeongguk is dimly aware of the fact that it’s late and that your apartment is bathed in darkness. it smells like the rose candles you always burn, and the tinge of takeout food long devoured. jeongguk slips off his shoes in the hall, drops his keys in the bowl, and discards his jacket and bag, somewhere where someone will most likely trip on it. he makes his way to the living room, checking to see if you had retired to your normal nap location, lumbering around and letting out a soft “shit” when his knee bumps the coffee table. the softness of the carpet under his sore and overworked socked feet threaten to turn his spine to liquid, and he makes the cardinal sin of rolling his shoulders, letting his head dip into his chest for just a beat too long, and he wishes he could just sleep. but the familiar voice in the back of his mind reminds him of you, and suddenly, he’s a man with renewed strength. jeongguk tiptoes to the bedroom, hand planted on the doorknob as he mentally plans how he’s going to dive into the bed. but as he opens the door, he frowns when he sees all the lights on, hears the dull, tinny sound of music being blared through headphones, and the source of that strong takeout smell he sniffed out earlier.

there you are, sitting cross-legged in the middle of your shared bed. white duvet covers have long disappeared under the avalanche of papers and packets that have since covered it. your laptop is in front of you, blue light illuminating your face in all the best ways. jeongguk slowly smiles, and walks over to you, quicker than he’s moved all day.

jeongguk sits on the edge of the bed, the mattress dipping under his weight, slightly shifting your chaos of papers. you seem to pay no attention, barely aware of his presence. lips parted ever so slightly, eyes red and brows furrowed together, tongue forming a sailor-worthy curse to throw at microsoft word. jeongguk leans over, and gently plucks the earbud from you, and replaces the emptiness with a puckered pout, planting a wet loud kiss right on your ear, smiling like a fool when you pull the other earbud out, and he can feel the muscles of your face stretch into a smile as he continues to peck the spot.

“i’m home” jeongguk says simply, pulling back only slightly to meet your face. “so i noticed” you mention, landing a quick peck on his lips, one that makes him blush ever so slightly. “how was practice?” you inquire, as jeongguk throws himself down into your lap with reckless abandon, curling up in the comfy space your legs has carved, just for him. “boring, long, hard”, he mumbles, lifting a hand from your keyboard to plant it upon his mop of long black hair. you sigh, but it’s all a rouse, as you delicately card your fingertips through jeongguk’s silky strands. he hums, stays quiet for a minute, and then questions, “whatcha workin on?”

an annoyed huff and roll of your eyes is the only answer jeongguk needs, but you continue anyway. “stupid dumbass paper by that stupid dumbass professor for that stupid dumbass class that i won’t pass and gave up caring about after i basically failed the midterm.”

if jeongguk wasn’t half asleep (lulled by your stroking), he would have heard the lump in your throat as you struggled to choke out the last few words. instead, you pray jeongguk didn’t hear, cover up the halfway-sob with a simple throat clearing, and continue to stare at the near blank document in front of you. what does pull aforementioned sleeping bun from his trip to dreamland is the ragged sniff he hears from above him. he opens his eyes, to see your head resting in your opposite hand, eyes teary and leaking, staring into the computer screen with something crossed between murderous lust and desperateness. jeongguk’s nerve endings tingle, and suddenly, full boyfriend mode is activated.

“hey, hey, hey” he whispers, pulling himself out of your lap, curling himself around you the best he can. you struggle against him for just a minute, wishing he could just go, so you could have this moment of childlike frustration all to yourself. but jeongguk doesn’t let that happen, his grip tightening around your waist, and you relent, allowing him to lift you up and onto his chest, leaning back against the wall of pillows at the top of the bed.

“oh sweetness, please no,” he murmurs into your temple, one hand calmly stroking the expanse of your back, while the other cups the base of your head, gently massaging the thin tendons in your neck. jeongguk tries to pretend his heart doesn’t crack a little bit when he feels his shirt dampen, and that his sanity doesn’t nearly fall apart when he hears you choke out a sob you were trying so hard to hold in. “just let it out darling, let it all out” is whispered in your ear, and you relent. gentle words are whispered still, something along the lines of “i love you, it’s okay” and “i’m right here, baby”.

soon, your sobs turn to sniffles, and jeongguk lets out the breath he’d been holding. the atmosphere turns into a soft silence, and it’s only you, jeongguk, and the stars, breathing in a solid, unified rhythm.

“how long have you been working on it?” jeongguk ventures to ask, “since 11 this morning” you sigh, voice stuffy and low. jeongguk gives a simple “hmm”, and the little world you’ve created falls silent again. “i can’t afford to fail this class” you whisper into the dark, so quiet that jeongguk barely hears it.

“baby, i’m not gonna love you any less if you don’t get an a++ on,” he squints to read the title heading on your paper, “professor idiot weiner dipshit’s intro to smaller weiner douchebag shakespeare”

the sound of silence is soon broken by guffawing laughter, the kind that makes tears roll out freely. the ones that make you double over, and you have to forcibly remind yourself to breathe, because in all the humor your brain just forgot how to on its own.

you lean back on jeongguk’s lap, wiping away tears of laughter and happiness, and watching jeongguk do the same. “you might want to change that before you hand it in”, jeongguk grins as he wipes tears, and you can only giggle in response. “thanks for, ya know, helping me through my bi-weekly emotional breakdown”, you grin, and one of his classic “gukkie smiles” lights up his face. “anytime, babygirl” he offers with a smirk, and raises a hand to gently catch your cheek in his hold, bringing your face close enough to let him leave a warm, wet kiss there. long, fluid, comfortable, home.

he pulls away, and his brown doe eyes melt into pure chocolate and honey when they gaze into yours. “whether you pass or fail, it doesn’t matter. you can always take it again, if you can handle the mental turmoil.”

“i’d rather invite a fucking anaconda into our bedroom and cover myself in live mice and hope that it chokes the life out of me”

“what i am TRYING to say”, jeongguk says, clearing his throat to be heard over you, giggling at your own joke, “is that you, this paper, school, it’s all gonna be okay, baby. i promise. you’re a rockstar when it comes to school, you work your ass off for everything, you somehow keep me alive (which is a feat in of itself), and you can actually function as an independent adult.” he grins when he sees an actual, genuine smile light up your face, and he takes the fleeting opportunity to run his thumb over your bottom lip. “be you, baby. no one else can.”

your heart soars at his words, and you crash your lips against his. “thank you” you murmur softly against him, and he simply grins.

jeongguk’s bed now no longer looks like something that came out of the business end of a copier, but rather the comfortable white cloud that he can’t wait to crash onto. laptops are put away, showers are taken, and there’s only one thing to do: sleep. jeongguk has been more than patient with you tonight, and you recognize it. as if you didn’t realize the way he moved earlier, like he was dragging a baby grand piano behind him. which is why you decide to repay him for his virtuous patience, with an excellent post-shower massage, kissing all his bruises, and letting your lips graze over sore muscles.

jeongguk pulls you down into the soft sheets, reveling in the way your skin feels so insanely divine on his bare palm. the warmth radiating off of you, the smell of vanilla shampoo tickling his nose, the relaxed, even cadence of your chest against his. this, finally, is what he’s waited for. what’s he yearned for all day.

you, warmth, happiness, home.