#Literally I'd work all day without much of a thought head full of WHERE EVERYONE IS ARE THEY SAFE??? And then at break near night go 'huh'

[buttercupshands]

Thinking about what happened in the summer

Kids are... Really different when it comes to spending three weeks without their parents

Some start crying near the end of first day

Some start crying after couple of days

And some don't show anything while feeling the same

And being... I think English has a good word for that, let's go with a teacher but mix it with caretaker a little bit

I think seeing a kid cry at the end of that first day finally short circuited my brain, teens are way harder to understand that pre-teens who are literally still kids

They come around after a week, settle down and find new friends and your job stays the same mostly to be the one controlling their behavior

And then you'd have a kid crying again, because they miss home and the only thing you can really do is comfort them that they're not stuck here forever and that time flows so fast they won't notice it

And maybe they didn't. Time really did flew and they were leaving

Parents visited kids sometimes, of course, and it was so scary at first but they were mostly friendly and nice

Maybe because of that group chat that let them see that their kids are fine and are having fun

In the end for kids it was painful at first, but fun in the end. I got hugged more times than I could count when they were all leaving

And then poof

Back to your own life you go, like nothing happened

[byunpum]

I can be a better father | Part 3 (Falling in love)

Pair: Tsu'tey x Grow up y/n x Grow up spider

Warning: none, cute moments.

Note: Here is the third part <3, there were a few requests that were very similar. So I put them all together to make this oneshot. They were literally the same, they just changed a few things. I took the things I liked the most from them. I hope you like it.

Requests: "Here" (Here are screenshots of requests)

Avatar masterlist | Part 1, Part 2 , Part 3

Roxto was excited, after spending the whole day swimming near the reefs. In search of a type of seaweed, which only grew in a specific area. He felt tired, but proud of his work. His basket was full of that special seaweed. He was on his way to your marui. Which was located in the depths of one of the islands.

When jake had to make the decision to leave with his family from the omaticaya clan, he also decided that it was best for tsu'tey and his children to come with them as well. After all, they were his family too. Y/N was still his daughter and he was pretty sure that Quaritch would be behind them. It was difficult to convince tsu'tey, but after much talk and two nights of thought. Tsu'tey agreed, and left with the sully's and their children. It was painful for him, his land, his clan…everything he had to leave. But it was the best for the family, the best for you and spider. Thanks to eywa, ronal and tonowari accepted that everyone stayed, at the beginning it was hard for everyone. And more for you and spider, you were humans living in a new environment. But you all settled in very quickly, and so the years went by. Everyone in the family grew up and matured in the new clan. You were already part of it. Tsu'tey made their new home in the depths of one of the islands. The island was right next to where the large group of maruis were located. He wanted to feel the same as his previous home. So he was lucky to find a place with lots of vegetation.

Roxto moved closer to where your marui was, looking around carefully. Examining who was inside. He didn't want to meet tsu'tey, he was a serious man and looked intimidating. A great warrior. But he was relieved when he saw the small figure of Y/N, walking back and forth in the marui. The boy approached, giving a few hops. "Y/N?!!!" shouts rotxo, coming a little closer. You were setting up at home, cleaning up your place. "Hi…what are you doing here?" you speak, walking over to greet the boy. "I came to bring you something, it's a surprise" rotxo says, sitting down on the floor. You drop one of the baskets, and walk over to where rotxo is sitting. Sitting down next to him, crossing your hands.

"Look…this is for you" says rotxo placing the basket full of seaweed in front of you. Your hands quickly run to your head, screaming a little excitedly. "No…. no way!!!" you are so excited, you had been looking for this type of seaweed, for many months and nothing. "How did you know I was looking for this?" you ask him, looking and touching the seaweed. "I heard you talking to neteyam that you needed this seaweed for a…mmmm a tea" rotxo says, seeing how you were so fascinated. "Thank you…. really thank you so much. Would you like some tea?" you look at rotxo, who had a big smile on his face. "Sure…I'd love some" says rotxo, seeing how you ran up and grabbed the basket.

You had to clean the seaweed, and prepare it. Months ago Ronal had told you and Kiri. About a seaweed, that helped with healing and emotional well being. It could help with some illnesses. You always wanted to find it, but it only grew in certain seasons. Rotxo just sat there, looking carefully at everything around him. Without a doubt, your marui was different from everyone else. He knew that in it, lived you and your father and your brother spider. In some corner he could see a kind of box, which he supposed was the weird box you had once told him that produced the oxygen for you to breathe. On the other side there were many special bows and arrows hanging on the wall. And several hammocks hung, one bigger than the others. Several large baskets, and the area where the food was prepared. Then his gaze went to where you were sitting, preparing tea. You looked so beautiful…you turned a little and gave him a smile. Rotxo changed his look, he was blushing.

After a couple of minutes, you approached him. You were holding cups of tea, "You will like it a lot!!!" you say, you were doing a little dance, while handing him the drink. Roxto accepts the drink, and watches as you sit down next to him again. He sniffs a little of the drink he was holding, and then brings it to his lips. After the first sip, he closes his eyes and enjoys the taste. On the other hand, you were looking at him very attentively. "And? how do you feel? Do you feel different?" you ask him, touching his shoulder. Rotxo's tail, wagging fast, always had that effect on him. He would get nervous, every time he had any kind of contact with you. He is quiet for a moment, looking into your eyes. Making eye contact with you. "So?" you speak, softly. "He's a little… "rotxo tries to move a little. But the moment was interrupted when you both heard a loud noise.

Tsu'tey and spider had come in from fishing, spider dropped the bag. While tsu'tey looked at the young men in front of him. "Hello" says tsu'tey dryly, looking carefully at rotxo. The boy tensed, getting up from the ground. Turning away from you, you settle further into your seat. You already knew the drama scene your father was going to make, rolling your eyes. "Hi dad…look roxto brought us a present" you pick up the basket full of seaweed, showing it to your dad. He laughs a little but reluctantly. The tension can be felt all over the marui, rotxo says goodbye to everyone and quickly leaves the house. "Wait rotxo" you try to stop him, but the boy waves goodbye from afar. "Goodbye rotxo!!!" you raise your voice, but you see how the boy practically runs away you couldn't do anything. You let out a big sigh, as you get up from the ground to go to spider, taking the basket full of fish.

"Did we interrupt something?" asks spider, in a mocking tone. You push your brother a little, as you walk past your father. He had his eyes glued to you. "Yes…I want to know what that boy was doing here? And why were you alone?" asks tsu'tey, you try not to make eye contact with your father. "Rotxo came to bring this seaweed, which I wanted so much. That's all…and I was kind enough to make him some tea. That's all" you speak, while you had already started cleaning the fish. Spider sits next to you helping you prepare dinner. No one else talked about it, tsu'tey knew how to respect his children's decisions. But he was worried about you, if there was one thing you were like your biological father, it was your stubbornness. If you were going to do something, you were going to do it and prove that you were the best.

And so a whole week went by. Tsu'tey knew that something was happening to his girl, she was busier and finished her chores quickly to go to she knows where. That same morning, she left the marui quickly. She said a quick goodbye. "Papa…I'm going to go help neytiri" you speak, taking your things. Tsu'tey gave spider a worried look. "Do you know what's wrong with your sister?" spider just rolls his shoulders up. "No…I don't know anything. Maybe she just wants to spend time with neytiri" spider does his best to sound the least bit disiterested. Spider did know what you were going to do, and where you were going to go. But you had sworn to him not to say anything to anyone. You arrive at the marui, where only jake and neytiri were. "Hello!!!" you speak, you looked so happy.

"Hey honey…what are you doing here so early?" asks Jake. After so many years, you two finally had a good relationship. "I come to ask you a favor…little one" you speak, approaching neytiri's side. Sitting down next to her. "Let's see…what do you want" neytiri gives you a look. You try to contain your laughter, you watch as jake taps you on the knee. "Come on…what's up?" jake speaks. You laugh a little. "Rotxo invited me for a walk…and " you laugh, you were all giggles. "And?" asks neytiri. "You know how dad is…and I really want to go for a walk with him" you speak. "Tsu'tey is right…you shouldn't" jake is interrupted, when neytiri punches him in the arm. "It's okay….go, I promise I won't tell him anything" neytiri says, you get up from the floor and give him a hug. Neytiri laughs, a little and hugs you back.

Neytiri had kept her eyes on you, for all these years. Caring for you and supporting you in every way she could. At times like this, you reminded her so much of her sister. Sylwanin used to sneak out at night to go see tsu'tey. Neytiri had to cover for her, she also remembers that face Y/N had at this time. She had the face of a lover. Neytiri sees how y/n goes to the area where kiri had her clothes. Taking what could fit her, she looked so tender. "I will tell tsu'tey that y/n…" jake is again interrupted by neytiri. "You will say nothing" neytiri orders. Jake throws up his arms, surrendering. After some time, a figure approaches at the edge of the doorway. "Hello," speaks rotxo. You turn quickly, to get up from the ground. "Rotxo!!!" you speak, reaching over to take his hand. This action makes jake look at neytiri, open-mouthed. "Watch out!!!" neytiri says, as you both walk away. You were holding rotxo's hand tightly.

"Where are you going to take me?" you ask rotxo, both of you were walking. You were taking some shells that you could find on the way. While the boy was looking at you with so much admiration. "mmm can we go to the other side of the beach? There the sea is quite calm there" says rotxo, with a calm voice. You reach over and take his hand. "Sounds great to me…and look. These shells are good for some beads" you speak up, rotxo just laughs and approves of your comment. "You've got check-in time, or you're all mine for the rest of the afternoon" rotxo says, teasing you. You nudge him, playing with him. "skxáwng!!! but yes, I can be with you all afternoon" you hug roxto's arm.

"I think we should tell tsu'tey" jake says. "We won't tell him anything" neytiri places her hand on her partner's mouth. Jake could be a bit intense at times. The couple was so caught up in discussing what they shouldn't say, that they didn't notice that tsu'tey had come to their marui. The man stood listening to it all in silence. "Y/N shouldn't go off like that with that boy…if tsu'tey knows," speaks jake. "What do you have to tell me?" asks tsu'tey, making both na'vi turn to look at him. There was an awful silence. "I want you both to tell me where Y/N is" Tsu'tey was getting nervous.

You settled your knees in the sand more, combing out a piece of Rotxo's curly hair. The boy had never been one to put ornaments in his hair, but you had convinced him. You were humming, while he was touching his toes. It was a peaceful moment, you both felt comfortable together. "We should get something to eat," Rotxo says, and you give him a hug behind his back. "What would you like to eat?" you ask him, pouting. "mmm you tell me" rotxo laughs, when you slip a little down the side of his arms. Rotxo brings his hand to the back of your neck, stroking his thumb over your soft skin. "I love you…very much" Rotxo speaks, your eyes widen. "I love you very very much too" you speak, giving rotxo's arm a squeeze. You two had created a very strong bond, you could say romantic. Rotxo was a wonderful guy, always making you feel good. Always worried about you. On the quiet, you had created your own relationship. No one knew…to the public they were just friends. But in private, their relationship was taking giant steps.

In the meantime, two people were watching the young couple. Tsu'tey and neytiri were watching the boys from afar, hidden in the bushes. Tsu'tey felt that his heart wanted to come out, he was experiencing so many emotions together. Her little baby girl, there flirting with a boy. A young metcayina, he felt like he was going to vomit. But he was doing his best to hide it. Meanwhile neytiri, observing the situation, found it curious but adorable. "Is that…why is she there?" says tsu'tey while giving her friend a look. "She's with her friend" says neytiri, looking credulously at tsu'tey. She had to hold back her laughter, because the look on tsu'tey's face this moment was hilarious.

"This scene looks very similar to me," says neytiri. tsu'tey's ears perk up, and he looks at his friend curiously. "What?" asks tsu'tey. "It reminds me so much of how you and Sylwanin were. So silly and in love" says neytiri, tsu'tey pouts. "nonono…but we are talking about my child" says tsu'tey. Neytiri gets up from the floor, giving her friend's shoulder a squeeze. "She has to grow up" neytiri says goodbye and leaves tsu'tey alone spying on his daughter. He turns to look at his daughter, who was sitting next to that boy, laughing. She looked happy. Tsu'tey gives a sigh of surrender, sitting down on the sand. He had to understand that you were growing up, that this had to happen someday. The man stands up, taking another look at the scene. He chuckles to himself…neytiri was right.

[icharchivist]

Between the dragon knights who do you think ends up being a pathetic fool in love? Like the kind to have brief moment during their days where they are like "wow I love them I want them in every way possible"; mind blank just love in their head

oh boy. That's quite the question.

for Lancelot it depends. If you read his feelings for Vane as romantic, the conclusion is "it happens a lot", because Lancelot regularly stop working during the day to think about Vane to cheer himself up. so if this is how he is with romantic feelings, this is what you could expect. Other than that Lancelot tends to really overwork himself so much that he doesn't give himself a lot of room at thinking about literally anything else. (i can't even use his holidays lines as a reference point because most of his lines there are him infodumping about swords on MC, his lovelanguage is definitely sharing his hyperfixation, but therefore he's not like... as overly romantic as he could be)

Vane meanwhile is genuinely the type to be overthinking everything and everyone he cares about at random. Many of his holiday lines reflect that a lot, especially his white days where he overthinks in his corner and blush at the idea of getting a gift and constantly trying to temper his own expectations because his heart is throbbing so much he can't think straight. He's also just the type to stop at random during the day and thinking about the people he cares about or how he could show them he cares about them, whenever it's for Lancelot or the Chickadee... so i feel like he's probably the most likely, out of the four knights, to genuinely have the type of feelings you describe.

Percival is a bit of a dozy. I think he's already quite smitten in canon as is, and his mind does wander to MC a lot (mofo having dreams of MC out of nowhere just to think about how much he wants to be by their side forever, or mofo just planning their wedding without thinking twice). But the thing is that i feel like Percival is more... Proactive? like he gets this type of smitten thought and then he immediately makes a plan to act on them. So it doesn't really leave him "mind empty" because on the contrary, his love for you makes his mind full of all the possibilities for the future, and it's not that he suddenly only think about you, but he thinks about his whole world, his whole plan, and how no matter what you have a place in it. If it makes sense? So like he doesn't seem like a pathetic fool in love, but he is a proactive fool in love who genuinely made you his whole world without really thinking twice about it and now there's no coming back from this one yaknow?

Siegfried.... I think it's not that he's a fool in love in a sense but he always has you in mind, type? Like all of holiday lines are about him finding gifts for MC because he runs into them and those are all sort of protection charms, which gives to me the impression that it's not as much as suddenly he'll stop like "i wonder what they're doing", but he's the type to see anything and just think "i know how the person i love could use that" and this is how it's always on his mind. But i do think he's also the type to stop and contemplate and think about his good fortune for having the people he cares about around him. I don't know if he's truly mind empty about it, but he sure carries the people he loves in his mind a lot.

So ultimately i'd say Vane would be the most pathetic of the bunch in that regard, and Lancelot would be the least romantic of the bunch, but else all of them have various way to keep the person they'd care about in their mind.

that's my opinion at least?

[celerrie]

curse-breaker [part 2]

summary: You're the Mystic Arts' best and brightest when it comes to breaking ancient curses, and Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme...well, he's the Mystic Arts' best when it comes to everything else. But when a normal day together at New York City's Sanctum Sanctorum is turned on its head by an invitation from Tony Stark himself to attend this year's Stark Industries Gala, you find that you need to clarify what, exactly, you and Stephen are to each other, and not just to the world at large. [part one here!]

pairing: Stephen Strange/Sorcerer!Reader

warnings: Friends to lovers, these two dorks [affectionate] love each other sm they start to form a magical connection between their minds, continued sass, things get taken to the bedroom but don't get into full swing just yet

word Count: 9,927

a/n: I wrote this literally just to have fun and gave absolutely 0 consideration to chapter size so these next two are like, massive compared to the first one! Whoops! BUT THEY GET STEAMY (the next one is almost entirely smut) so at least there's that hahaha. Also I'd just like to say a HUGE thanks to everyone who's liked, commented, reblogged, etc! This is my first fic I've posted to Tumblr and you've all made me feel so welcome <3

Thanks to your students’ wonderfully curious minds, the first day of your curse-breaking intensive took a full hour and a half longer than expected, which was quite impressive when you considered that you’d already allotted some extra time for their questions throughout the day.  You didn’t resent staying late with your class, though; they were an engaged and clever bunch, with nary a sorcerer without potential among them.  They could all blossom into valuable assets for the Mystic Arts, and as such, they deserved your full time and attention.

But now, class was over, and you deserved dinner.

You slipped your sling ring on and opened a portal back to your room in the Sanctum Sanctorum, dropping your travel-slash-teaching bag off in your room and peeling the top layer of your teaching robes off your body.  They’d gotten truly disgusting over the course of the day, as was the norm for your classes.  The first few hours of your novice curriculum focused on the theoretical side of curses and curse-breaking, but the second half of the first day was where the fun started to happen: you helped your students work through some simple physical curses (set by your own self the day before) that would produce a range of relatively benign, non-lethal effects, including fizzling and smoking like a sparkler, making mud rain from the ceiling, or exploding the foam blocks they were carved on.

It was a blast in the most literal sense of the word, but it always left everyone in the class smelling like fire and covered in mud and what looked like packing peanuts, and you were no exception.  You definitely needed a shower before you joined Wong and Stephen for a meal.

“Thought I heard a portal opening and closing in here,” a familiar voice called from the hallway.

“Hey, Stephen,” you said, sparing a glance out your open door. 

Of course he’d managed to catch you before you were cleaned up.  He was in his Sorcerer Supreme robes, a sure sign that he’d been called to fulfill some duty or another today and hadn’t just gotten to enjoy a lazy Saturday, but whereas you looked like the product of a science class gone wrong, he was immaculately groomed and put together, with not so much as a single hair out of place.

“You look like you had a fun day,” he said, moving forward and leaning against your doorframe.  “Are the packing peanuts a new addition to the curriculum?  If so, good call.  They really bring out your eyes.”

God, he was the worst.

“That’s sweet of you to say,” you replied readily, a teasing smile pulling at your lips as you opened your grimy arms to your friend.  You took a couple of threatening steps forward as realization dawned in Stephen’s eyes.  “Come on over here, and I’ll give you a big hug to thank you for the compliment.” As if on cue, a couple of flecks of foam and mud fell from the underside of your arms and landed on the floor.

“Yeah, I, uh, I think I’m gonna take a rain check on that,” Stephen said, pulling a face as he took a couple of steps back from the doorframe.  Moments later, though, his eyes widened as he began sliding towards you involuntarily, the Cloak rippling behind him as it pushed him towards you.  “Hey, no, stop that—don’t—” Stephen began spluttering, digging his heels in and trying very hard to resist being pushed across the slippery wood floor into your filthy embrace. “If you get dirty, you’re going in the laundry with the rest of the robes,” he finally admonished the Cloak, who fluttered limply down, looking very much defeated.  “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

You dropped your arms, amused, but you also couldn’t help but note that Stephen’s threat had been more effective than you’d anticipated.

“Just to be clear, you do wash him sometimes, right?”  You asked, turning to shrug off the second layer of your robes, which was nearly as grimy as the first had been.  Fortunately, your base layer was relatively unsoiled, so you could at least walk to your shower without leaving a trail of muck in your wake.  “Like, you’re not just letting him go about with all the dirt of the last couple of years on him and threatening him with the washer every now and then?”

As useful as it was to be able to wave your hand and magic the dirt off your clothes, it didn’t really have the same effect as actually doing laundry with good old soap and detergent. You hadn’t noticed any bad smell on the Cloak when Stephen had hugged you this morning, but still….

“What?  No, I—of course, I wash him,” Stephen said, sounding mildly offended.  “He just doesn’t like it very much.  What kind of person do you think I am?”

“I mean, I did know you when you first showed up at Kamar-Taj, so,” you replied, moving to your dresser and pulling out a clean set of robes. 

“I’m never living that down, am I?”  Stephen groaned.

“You were literally wearing what you told me was a nine thousand dollar Balenciaga coat while looking like you hadn’t seen the inside of a shower or a barbershop in six months, Stephen.  I know you were having a dark night of the soul, or whatever,” you said, grinning at him, “but do you have any idea how many haircuts selling that coat could’ve bought you?”

“It was a nice coat, though,” he protested.

“Nine thousand dollars, Stephen,” you reiterated.  “They make warmer coats for less.”

“I don’t see how this has anything to do with whether I wash the Cloak or not.”

“Just trying to make sure you haven’t returned to old habits.  The Cloak deserves better than what that poor Balenciaga jacket got,” you teased, and Stephen snorted in amusement.

“I treat the Cloak like royalty, thank you very much,” he said.  Despite the offended edge to his tone, he was fighting down a smile.  “And I don’t think you’re in a position to lecture me on this right now, considering that you look like you’ve undergone some modern tarring and feathering ritual.”

“I really do, don’t I?”  You snorted, looking down at yourself.

“You really, really do.”

“The things I do for the Mystic Arts,” you sighed.  “I better go shower off before this mud dries any more.  I’ll meet you and Wong downstairs for dinner in ten.”

“Sounds good.  I’ll let him know,” Stephen said, turning to leave your room (this time with no resistance from the Cloak).

You were almost to your bathroom when Stephen called your name.

“Yeah?”  You asked, turning over your shoulder to look at him. He was leaning against your doorframe again, one of his arms over his head, the other on his hip, and an absolutely unreadable expression on his face.

You expected your foot-in-mouth senses to start going off, but to your surprise, they remained silent.

“How was…I mean, was class good?  For you?”  He finally asked.

You couldn’t resist the slight upward quirk of your lips.  It was cute when he cared.

“It was, yeah,” you said warmly.  “I had a full class of twelve students, and Stephen, they were great.  I know I say that about every group,” you said with a laugh when your friend went to open his mouth; it was impossible for you not to gush about your students, old or new, and he knew it.  “But I really mean it this time.  Every single one of them passed the theoretical exam, and they all got through the first three curses of the weekend.  That hasn’t happened in ages.”

“That is pretty good,” Stephen agreed, a soft smile on his lips.  “And here I was, worrying that they were holding you up with how awful they were.”

You laughed at this, shaking your head.  Since when did Stephen worry about you?

“It was the opposite, actually.  They had a lot of really great questions after everyone figured out how to break the new exploding Styrofoam curse,” you explained. “I don’t think they’re going to have any trouble with the practical tomorrow evening.  They’re a talented bunch.”

“They’re lucky to have you,” Stephen murmured, his blue eyes shining with fondness as he regarded you from across the room.

Sometimes, he was all right.

“Thanks.  Now get out of here before I really do hug you,” you told him with a grin.  Stephen raised his hands in mock surrender.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” he said and disappeared from your doorframe.

You waved your hands to magic away the worst of the mud and smoke and Styrofoam from your body and the pile of robes in your room before you hopped in the shower, though you didn’t really feel clean until you were under the warm spray of water, scrubbing your hair and body down.

When you were all toweled off and ready to put on your clean robes, though, you paused, thinking twice about your outfit choice.  It was going to be just you and the boys in the Sanctum for the rest of the night, and it was a Saturday night, to boot.  Surely, now was as good a time as any to wear some regular clothes for once.  As much as you loved the Mystic Arts, it was nice to put on some comfy leggings and a shirt and just feel like a normal human being every now and then.

So you did precisely that, then grabbed your sling ring and portalled yourself downstairs.

“Hey, there you are,” Wong greeted you fondly from the kitchen counter, where he was spooning copious amounts of what looked like penne alla vodka from an enormous levitating pot into two similarly large aluminum food trays.  He reached out to you with one arm, inviting you in for a hug as he worked, and asked, “How’d class go?”

“It was really good,” you said, reaching back for Wong and slipping into his embrace.  He was warm and solid in your arms, and even with him half-hugging you and half-working, his hold on you managed to feel like the promise of steadfast shelter and friendship that it always did.  “I’m sure Stephen already told you, but I have a brilliant group of sorcerers this weekend.”

“He did tell me, and I’m glad for you,” Wong said, relaxing his hold on you slightly, though you didn’t move away from your friend just yet.  “I wish I got to see your new packing peanuts look, though.”

“Trust me, the look on Stephen’s face when I threatened to hug him and get him muddy was better,” you smirked, reaching over and grabbing a single creamy penne from one of the trays, managing to just barely dance out of the way as Wong moved his spoon over to swat your thieving fingers. As he went back to spooning out the penne, you popped your plundered pasta in your mouth, savoring its delicious flavors and moaning in appreciation.

“You stop that,” Wong laughed as you went back for seconds, unsuccessfully trying to block your path to the pasta with his spoon.  “Stephen already stole two bowls for the both of you.  Eat from those, instead.”

 “Then who is all this for if not for your two favorite people, Wong?”  You whined, quickly eating the second piece of pasta you’d stolen and licking the sauce off your fingers.  It was clearly homemade and, as per usual with Wong’s cooking, it was absolutely perfect in every way.

“My book club.  We do a potluck every week, and tonight’s my night to bring the entrée,” he explained, covering the takeaway tins with their metal covers and crimping the edges shut.  Well, that explained why he had regular street clothes on, too.  “Stephen has your bowl with him.”

Your eyebrows furrowed as you glanced around the kitchen while Wong gestured for the now-empty pot to take itself to the sink and clean itself.

“Where is Stephen, anyway?”

You thought it had seemed suspiciously quiet in here.

“He’s up in the library,” Wong explained, stacking the two tins of pasta one on top of the other, then hefting them into his arms.  “He said you guys had some work to do or whatever.  Hey, could you do me a favor?”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Could you grab your sling ring and portal me over to that alley by the Hudson Park Library?”

You obliged, and Wong stepped through with his very heavy pasta trays, bidding you good luck with the Sorcerer Supreme while you thanked him for dinner.  Once that portal fizzled closed, you opened another one to the Sanctum Sanctorum’s library and stepped through.

“Hey,” Stephen greeted you from a table wedged in between two full-length shelves stocked full of mystical tomes.  He’d picked one of the tables that sat by the enormous front windows of the Sanctum; the late-evening summer light poured in through the paneled glass, limning his robes and hair in a soft glow and almost silhouetting him against the sky.

“Hey,” you said back, moving to take your place across from him at the table.  He had his laptop open, a variety of pictures of ancient stone carvings already pulled up, and, as Wong had promised, two full bowls of penne alla vodka, both still piping hot.  “Thanks for grabbing me some food.”

“Thanks for coming back to the Sanctum tonight and working on this with me,” Stephen replied, genuine gratitude in his eyes as you sat down across from him. “And, more importantly, for showering.”

A laugh bubbled out of you at this.

“Well, I wasn’t going to subject either of us to all of…that,” you chuckled.

“Thank the Vishanti,” Stephen grinned, a mischievous yet fond sparkle in his eyes.  “Anyway.  You ready to Scooby-Doo this shit?”  He asked, gesturing with his head toward the images of the ritual site up on his screen.

“Show me what you’ve got, Sorcerer Supreme,” you grinned back at him, picking up your fork and diving into your bowl of penne.

“So like I said earlier, this is a ritual site up in the Transian Mountains,” Stephen explained, positioning his laptop to be a little closer to the both of you.  With a slight stutter of his trembling fingers, he clicked on the first image, blowing it up to fit the full screen.  “This is what it looks like when you’re approaching the excavation site.  Note the numerous cairns,” he said, pointing out the small, manmade stacks of stones dotting the landscape.  They appeared to encircle the base of the mountain, stretching on endlessly in either direction.  “The people leading the expedition apparently thought that these were possibly grave markers, if their field notes are anything to go by, but I’m not sure about that.”

“Do we have any close-ups of these cairns?”  You asked, feeling a hunch coming on.

“Yeah, and the close-ups are why I don’t think they’re graves,” Stephen said, flipping to the next image in the lineup.  It showed one of the cairns at a reasonably close distance, and as you’d expected, it had been graced with a carving on the rock that made up its base: a six-pointed star, with an eye engraved where the triangles overlapped.  “The six-pointed star has religious significance, of course, but my suspicion is that, in this case, it’s being used for its energetic purpose: to promote the balance of two opposing magical forces.  The triangle, upside-down, and the triangle, upside-right, in perfect harmony.”

“And, of course, there’s the evil eye literally sealed within this balance, so long as it’s never broken,” you added, pointing to Stephen’s screen with one hand while you scarfed down some more pasta with your other. 

“Then you think these are magical wards, not graves?”  Stephen asked, glancing over to you and looking for your approval. Direct magical theory—spells, wards, relics—these were all his natural domain.  Few sorcerers ever learned the indirect, convoluted language of curses and curse-breaking; it had always come easier to you than to him, the one area in which you excelled over your very talented friend. 

“I do,” you agreed, and Stephen puffed up, obviously pleased with himself.  “But I’m not sure whether this is meant to keep us out or seal something in.”

A shiver passed down your spine as you spoke, and you felt, in your gut, that it was the latter.

As Stephen continued flipping from image to image, showing you the ascent to the entrance to the ritual site, the two of you took turns zooming in on various images, noting anything that looked like it could be potentially relevant.

“Do you have something that I can write on?”  You asked, frowning at what very much looked like a line of runes on a stone marking the path to the site.

“Yeah, hang on,” Stephen said, slipping his sling ring on and opening a portal to another table in the library.  He reached through and gathered up a couple of pencils and an assortment of loose-leaf papers that were scattered on that table’s surface, then set them on the table before you as the portal fizzled shut.

“Thanks,” you said, taking one of the pencils and a sheet of paper and beginning to copy down what you could see of the inscription on the screen.

Over the next half-hour, you emptied your bowls and filled up sheets of paper with the runes and inscriptions you saw.  They were written in a variety of ancient alphabets from all around Europe and even the Middle East, completely disparate in both time and space.  It was clear someone wanted to tell as many people as possible exactly what they were getting into.

“Wait, I think this is the Elder Futhark alphabet,” Stephen realized as he flipped to the next image, zooming in on a stone that was partially in shadow.

“Nice find, Sorcerer Supreme,” you approved.  For about the fifth time since the two of you had started your investigation, he beamed at your slight praise, his eyes lighting up and a ghost of a smile that told you exactly how pleased he was with himself crossing his lips before he turned back to the laptop.

Stephen always had to be the overachiever.  At least it was sort of endearing sometimes.

“And this,” he said, zooming out on the image, then in on another stone.  He frowned at the carvings, then glanced over at you for your opinion.  “Is this ancient Aramaic?”

You squinted at the pixels, taking note of the shape of the markings.

“Nabatean, actually,” you corrected him.  Stephen drew in and let out a slow breath at being wrong, frowning at the runes as if to commit their shape to memory.  Which, you reminded yourself, he probably was doing.  “Unless you’ve worked with curses of the Arabian peninsula, though, it’s an easy enough mistake to make.”

Truthfully, you were impressed that Stephen had been at least somewhat close in terms of geography and time period.  You had the sneaking suspicion that he’d been trying to brush up on his curse-breaking in general. 

“Thanks,” he murmured, glancing away from the laptop and over at you once again.  Although most people would miss it, you saw the faintest flicker of uncertainty in his eyes before he pushed it back down.

It had to be hard, being Sorcerer Supreme.  Everyone expected Earth’s most powerful Master of the Mystic Arts to know everything, to always have an answer to every situation, but that just wasn’t feasible for any one person to do. 

Was it proving to be lonely for Stephen at the top?  Where everyone was eager to either criticize him or abandon him if he didn’t have every unknowable detail already figured out?

“You’re doing good, Stephen,” you reassured him.  It was the truth; this wasn’t his domain, and it didn’t need to be, either.  Earth needed a Sorcerer Supreme who was powerful with spells and magical weapons and artifacts, who could think on his feet and approach even the most convoluted interdimensional problems with the surgical precision and skill that came so easily to Stephen. You, of all people, had no intention to castigate him for not knowing one tiny detail about ancient languages.  Quite the opposite, actually: the fact that he was becoming fairly competent in even this relatively obscure branch of magic told you just how seriously your friend had been taking his duties.

“As long as you think so,” he said, offering you a slight smile before turning back to the computer.

His words resonated in your mind, chasing your thoughts away for a moment.  As long as you think so.  That was the heart of it with Stephen tonight, wasn’t it?  He kept looking to you for praise and approval.  He wanted you—you specifically—to tell him he was doing a good job on this.  He respected you in your field, and he wanted you to respect him, too, as a budding curse-breaker and as your Sorcerer Supreme.

What a dork, you thought to yourself, glancing over at Stephen’s profile, though not without a certain amount of fondness in your eyes and thoughts alike.

“We should copy these down and translate them,” you said, returning your focus back to the laptop and zooming in on one of the stones with the runes.  They appeared to be the most complete and the easiest to distinguish runes you’d seen so far; all of the other stones had been brutalized by the elements or even cracked in such a way as to make their full inscription unreadable. “Which would you prefer to take: the Elder Futhark or the Nabatean?”

“Elder Futhark,” Stephen said, sliding a blank piece of paper towards himself.

“Sounds good,” you said, pulling out your phone and searching up the Nabatean alphabet.  Sure, you had books in this room that would have it, and you were at least familiar enough with it to recognize it, but the internet was undeniably more convenient and accurate when it came to translation purposes.

The two of you cross-checked with one another now and then, asking if this rune looked more like mannaz or degaz, and did this look like a shadow on the rock or part of the rune?  Then, when you had your best attempts in your respective languages worked out, you both began the translation process into English, which you actually did need a couple of books for.  They were easily found, though, since your translation books were staples in your curse-breaking work, so you knew just where to look for them.  You helped Stephen now and then when he asked for it, watching him again light up when you gave him the occasional “good job” or “nice work”.

Soon, though, it became obvious that both translations were working out to say more or less the same thing.

“Beware, for Mount Wundagore lies beyond,” you frowned, looking back and forth between your translation and Stephen’s.  “That seems to be what both essentially boil down to.”

“Mount Wundagore,” Stephen repeated.  You felt cold all over as he said the words, but why, you couldn’t say.  “I’ve never heard of it.  Or read of it.”

“If you haven’t, then I definitely haven’t,” you said, frowning and flicking to the next image on the laptop.  It bothered you more than you’d care to admit that you felt bad energy just saying the name of the place, but the only way to figure out what was going on here was to press onwards.  “What’s this a picture of?”  You asked, frowning at the photo that now filled the laptop screen.

“This was the closest anyone could get to going inside,” Stephen explained.  The image was taken just outside a cavernous hole into the earth and appeared to mostly show a long string of runes carved in an arch around the entrance.  Otherwise, it was impossible to distinguish anything in the black pit that was the depths of Mount Wundagore.

“Let me get this copied down, then,” you said, grabbing yet another piece of paper and doing your best to mimic the carvings precisely.  The runes were interspersed with shapes and symbols, clearly magical in nature; this, you figured, was probably the first curse set to protect the site, though you weren’t immediately sure of the language it had been written in.  “I feel like I’ve seen this language somewhere before, but I can’t pinpoint it,” you murmured as you continued to write.

Stephen shifted beside you—somehow, the two of you had wound up inching closer and closer around the circular table as you’d worked on the task at hand—and as he stretched his long legs in the underwhelming space beneath the table, his knee came to rest against yours.

“Legs feeling cramped?”  You asked him as you finished copying the runes down.

“Sorry,” Stephen mumbled, moving his leg away.

“You were fine,” you said, penning the last rune and setting your pencil down.  He readjusted in his seat, moving his leg back so it was extended and resting against yours again, and to your surprise, you felt warmth spread through your body at the place where the two of you touched, chasing away the cold you’d felt at the sound of Mount Wundagore’s name. 

“Thanks,” Stephen murmured.

“Yeah, no problem,” you responded.  “All this hunching over is starting to really hurt my back.  I can’t imagine what it’s like for you to try to fold your legs up in this little space.”

“My knees are killing me,” Stephen admitted.  “Thank the Vishanti that this is the last picture.”

As he went to close out of the image, though, you had an idea.

“Hang on,” you said, and he stilled his hand, the cursor just hovering over the little x in the corner.  “Can you turn up your screen brightness?  I’m just…I can’t help but wonder if the camera managed to catch some of what’s inside this place, and we just have to brighten the image.”

It took Stephen a moment to find the brightness button on his laptop’s keyboard, but once he dialed it up to the maximum, the two of you couldn’t help but suck in a breath.

“Oh, wow,” you breathed, pulling out your phone to get a picture of the sight before you.

“Do you know what that is?”  Stephen asked.  “Or who that is?”

“I feel like I’ve seen that face before, but I don’t remember where,” you admitted, focusing your phone on the screen.  Fortunately, there was little to no glare at this hour of the evening, and your phone was able to capture every inch of the enormous carving that appeared to show a face with long, sinuous tentacles sprouting from its jaw and the side of its head.  “I think it might’ve been in a book here in the library, though.”

“Really?”  Stephen asked, his eyes flitting away from the monstrosity on his screen to you.  You put away your phone, chewing your bottom lip.

“Yeah.  He doesn’t look familiar to you, too?”  You pressed.

“No.  I must not have read that book yet,” he replied, crossing his arms over his chest.  One of his hands came up to play with the dark hairs of his goatee, a clear sign to you that he was, once again, vexed by his own lack of knowledge.

“You mean you haven’t read your way through the entire library yet?”  You teased him, unable to resist.  Stephen snorted, prying his eyes away from his laptop to look at you.

“I’m working on it,” he said, the edges of his lips quirking up just a little.  A moment later, though, seriousness returned to his features.  “Do you remember what the book might have been called? Or even what it looked like?”

You frowned, carding one hand through your hair.

“I’m trying to think,” you sighed.  “But I don’t know if it’s going to come back to me or not.  I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Stephen said, fingertips still toying with his own facial hair as your foot-in-mouth senses began going off.  “We can’t all have a photographic memory, after all.”

He was such a cocky bastard sometimes, and yet—

“You’ve just jogged my memory,” you said, bolting upright from your chair.

“What?”  Stephen asked, looking up at you in confusion.

“Thank you!”  You called, taking off as fast as you could for the section of the library that housed the books on the Inner Planes.

“Well, you’re welcome, I guess, but I’d like to know what it is that I’ve done,” Stephen said, following after you at a brisk walk.

“You said the exact same thing to me the day that I read about Mr. Tentacle Face there,” you explained, grabbing one of the library’s sliding ladders and dragging it down to the area of the shelves that you needed it in.

“What?”  Stephen repeated in frustrated confusion, drawing near as you began scrambling up the ladder.

“It was a few months ago.  You made some crack about how we can’t all have a photographic memory.  I remember it because I almost made a joke about how I was glad I didn’t, so I wouldn’t have to remember that guy’s ugly mug,” you explained, reaching for the top shelf and beginning to work your way through the books there.

“Glad to be of service, in that case,” Stephen said wryly, his face suddenly very near yours as he floated up beside you with the Cloak of Levitation’s help.  “What’s the book called, then?”

“I don’t remember its name exactly,” you said, eyebrows furrowing.  “But I’m pretty sure it had something like the phrase Echelons of the Planes or whatever in it.  And I think it was bound in red and black leather.  Or maybe purple and black?”

“Echelons of the Planes, and maybe red and black or maybe purple and black.  Great,” Stephen breathed sarcastically, beginning to skim his fingers along the spines of the many books at hand.

“Hey, you’re the one with the photographic memory.  Shouldn’t you be able to tell me what I was reading that day?”  You contended.

“You probably had the spine of the book down when you were talking to me, so I don’t know,” he fired back, giving you a slightly displeased look out of the corner of his eye.

“Or,” you teased him, slipping a couple of candidate books out from the shelves.  None of them were what you were looking for, though, so you wound up nudging them back into place, “you don’t have a truly photographic memory.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Stephen scoffed.  “And besides, it’s easy to prove wrong.  Ask me anything about what I’ve seen or read.”

“All right, what did Wong have for breakfast nine days ago?”  You asked the first thing that came to mind, glancing sidelong at your friend.

“Bowl of oatmeal with berries and avocado toast on the side,” Stephen returned immediately.

“That was too easy,” you decided.  “I forgot that he was trying to eat all the avocados last week before they went bad.”

“Ask me something else, then,” Stephen challenged you, sliding another potential book out of its slot and deciding it was enough of a potential fit to keep.

“First line of the last book you finished.”

“For those engaged in the study of curse-breaking, this pocket guide should be considered essential,” Stephen recited without hesitation.

He had been studying up on his curse-breaking recently, then.

“That’s too easy, too,” you decided, pulling out a red-and-black book that seemed like it might match your earlier description.  It fit the bill well enough, so you decided to hold onto it.

“Put me to the test, then,” Stephen said, his nostrils flaring slightly with irritation.  “Stop playing games and ask me something obscure.  Something from a long time ago.”

You hummed in thought, scanning the last of the books housed on the shelf you were on.  No matches. 

“First time I ever smiled at you,” you finally decided.  You didn’t remember the event yourself; it had probably been insignificant enough that even Stephen, with his practically perfect recall, wouldn’t remember, either.

Stephen snorted.

“That’s your easiest question yet,” he said.

“What’s the answer, then?”  You asked, trying to sound as if you were challenging him, but you couldn’t hide your own underlying curiosity.  How could this be an easy question?

“It’s—you don’t remember, do you?”  Stephen asked, turning where he was floating in mid-air to face fully towards you.  He actually sounded somewhat astonished.  You shrugged and shook your head.

“You do?”

“I was in my first week of training at Kamar-Taj, and I kept getting my ass handed to me by that big guy from Belarus in the open-hand novice sparring sessions.  You took me aside and told me it was embarrassing for me to keep getting hit by the same guy with the same move,” Stephen said, a slight smile pulling at his lips.  You felt a long-distant memory stir within you; you’d helped dozens of acolytes learn some moves at Kamar-Taj, but you did remember Stephen continually getting knocked around. He had looked so particularly pathetic each and every time he’d had to spar. “You showed me how to do a spinning hook kick to counter his speed and reach.  I landed it on him the next sparring session and knocked him out cold.”

“I do remember that, actually,” you admitted with a quiet laugh.  “You got in trouble for landing a headshot with a kick.”  Not that Stephen had any ability to aim where it was actually going; he was clearly just hoping to connect with his opponent at all, and he’d gotten particularly lucky with the placement of his foot.  Or unlucky, depending on how one viewed things, because the Ancient One had not been pleased with his reckless display. You were pretty sure even Mordo had called him arrogant for using a skill he had no control over in a friendly fight.

“Yeah, but that didn’t matter, because I caught sight of you in the crowd, and you were smiling at me,” Stephen said, his eyes softening.  “You know…I’d lost all the millions of dollars of my personal fortune over the past year, but when you smiled at me like that, it felt like I had them all back.   You have no idea how good it felt to have someone in my corner at Kamar-Taj for a change.”

You blinked at him, dumbfounded for once.  To him, your simple gesture had meant the world; to you, it had been just another novice sparring day, and he’d been yet another newbie that you had a few weeks’ worth of training on, so you’d helped him off-hand, setting aside your numerous personal gripes with him because of how utterly defeated he’d looked after every sparring session.

“Actually, you have no idea how good it feels to still have you in my corner,” Stephen admitted with a soft chuckle, ducking his head and glancing away from you.

Your compassion toward him had forever altered the path the two of you took in life by forging the true start of your friendship.  And now, years later, he still remembered the first smile you’d given him, even though, at the time, you hadn’t even been aware of what it was.

The realization made your head spin.

“I’ll always be in your corner, Stephen,” you promised him, your voice soft but steady.  “There’s nowhere I’d rather be.”  Blue eyes flitted up to yours, shining with hope and gratefulness and something deeper, something that spoke of the depths of the unusual bond you’d managed to forge together.  “Well,” you amended after a beat, realizing that standing on the ladder was beginning to become a bit uncomfortable.  “Maybe on the ground, but—"

“Do you want a ride down?”  Stephen cut in, reaching out to you with the hand that wasn’t currently holding one of the two books that seemed like it might be the book.

“Oh.  Yeah, that…that would be nice,” you agreed, reaching back for your friend.  His free arm wound its way around your waist, pulling you off the ladder and against his body, and you held tightly to his broad shoulders with your free arm in turn.

You were sure you could never feel so safe twelve feet off the ground in the arms of another.

“Do you remember the first time Wong smiled at you?”  You asked quietly as the two of you began floating back towards the ground.

It was a silly question, but you had to know. 

“No,” Stephen admitted, halting your descent and pulling back slightly to look you in the eyes.  “Only you.  There’s a lot of things about you that I remember with crystal clarity that I don’t remember about anyone else.”  You were silent a moment, almost taken aback by the admission, but after a moment, a slight smile pulled at your lips, and you nestled back against Stephen’s shoulder.  “And before you ask,” he rumbled quietly into your ear, “that’s technically episodic memory, not eidetic.  It’s stored in a different area of the brain than photographic memory is.”

“You’re the neurosurgeon-turned-sorcerer here, not me,” you laughed.  “So whatever you say.”

Stephen held you tighter at this, chuckling just a little as he let the Cloak begin lowering you both back down once more.

Your descent to the floor was slow and smooth, almost as if Stephen and the Cloak alike were being particularly careful with you.  When Stephen’s feet touched down, yours were still a few inches off the ground because of the way you were holding one another.  Gently, Stephen lowered you the remaining distance, smiling at you warmly.

“Thanks,” you breathed.

“Thank you,” Stephen returned, bringing his face closer to yours.  In the rapidly vanishing twilight leaking through the library windows, he looked astonishingly handsome, and you were surprised to find yourself reacting to his proximity.  Your heartbeat quickened as his hand slid up to the back of your head, his shaking fingers tangling in your hair.

You didn’t move to pull away.

Instead of the kiss you’d been expecting, though, he tapped his forehead against yours, the tips of your noses brushing together.

“For everything,” he added, his long lashes fluttering closed.  You allowed the hand that had been on his shoulders to slide up into his hair, too, savoring the feel of his soft locks in your fingers, and you let your eyes close as you soaked in Stephen’s presence.

This wasn’t a kiss, but being nose-to-nose, mind-to-mind, and magic-to-magic as you were, it somehow felt even more intimate.

Words would be inadequate right now, you knew.  How could you possibly respond?  You’re welcome?  You’re welcome didn’t begin to encompass what you were feeling.  You were drowning in the realization that even the subtlest things you’d done for Stephen had meant the world to him and had shaped his world, and, in an astounding reflection of your own actions, your own world, too.  He’d driven you crazy with his cockiness and sarcasm and wit for the past few years, and you were sure you could irritate him to no end in turn, and yet, time and again, whether death was knocking on your doorstep or whether it was a quiet Saturday night, you’d both chosen to be there for one another.

You’d always chosen him in the ways that mattered, and you trusted him to always choose you, and so you poured that feeling into your aura, hoping that Stephen would feel it and know.

When you felt the magic that was his very being warm in response, you knew he did.

“I, um, I have a list of reasons why I want you as my date to the Stark Industries Gala, if now would be a good time to hear it,” Stephen offered, his breath hot on your lips.

“I don’t think I need to anymore, Stephen,” you murmured back.

His eyebrows furrowed at this, and he blinked a couple times before drawing away, his hand sliding down from where it had tangled in your hair.

“Are you sure?  It’s, I mean, I think that it’s, um, a pretty good list,” he stammered, obviously taken aback.

Oh.  He thought you were turning him down.

“No, I—it’s not that I…I’m sure it’s a lovely list,” you said, and you were absolutely, positively sure of this.  You were more sure of this than you’d been sure about anything in a long time.  “What I mean is…I’ll go with you.  To the gala.  If you’ll have me.”

“I—yes, of course, I’ll have you,” Stephen blurted quickly, his eyes widening.  “I’d, I’d love to have you.  I don’t think I could survive the party without you, actually,” he laughed, and you couldn’t help but laugh, too.

“Was that one of the reasons on your list?”  You asked knowingly.

“It was,” Stephen chuckled.  “You’re, uh, you’re sure you don’t want to hear the rest of them?”

“Like I said, I don’t think I need to anymore,” you said.

Stephen regarded you for a moment, trying to figure out what it was you were trying to tell him.

“I don’t understand,” he finally admitted.  “Why not?”

You took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly, trying to figure out how to explain it to him. 

“I wanted the list because I was afraid,” you started, looping your free arm through his and beginning to guide him back to your work table.

“Afraid?”  Stephen asked, turning abruptly to look down at you.  There was something almost…protective in the set of his mouth and the crease of his brow as he said the word.

“Afraid.  You literally drive me up the wall sometimes, Stephen, but…you mean the world to me,” you said.  Somewhere in the back of your mind, gears were turning.  Stephen did mean the world to you.  You chose to be here with him, to make this Sanctum into a home with him, to stand by his side in all circumstances.

You loved him.

Oh, by the Vishanti, you were in love with the idiot who gave you mental alarm bells every time he was about to say something stupid.  You loved every aspect of him, and you were in love with him, too, and how had it taken you this long to realize it?

“You mean the world to me, too, darling,” Stephen murmured in response, his piercing blue eyes locked on yours as the two of you continued to walk slowly, arm in arm.

His use of that pet name for you—clearly deliberate this time—didn’t escape your notice.  You smiled at his affection, glancing away from his eyes and staring at the floor.  His gaze was just too intense for you right now.

“When you just…assumed that I’d be going to the gala with you and said that I was the logical choice because I wasn’t Wong, I just…oh, God, I don’t know if I can explain this right,” you admitted as you both reached the table once more.  You set down your book, slipping your arm out of Stephen’s and leaning your hip against the table.  “But Stephen, you’re invited to places like the gala because you’re the Sorcerer Supreme.  You’re literally a genius with more magical power than anyone on Earth.  Everyone who’s anyone knows and respects you, and, honestly, I can’t believe I’m telling you this, but I admire you and respect you more than anyone else, which is why I couldn’t bear to be reduced to just the prettiest and most convenient girl for you to put on your arm that night.”  You cleared your throat, which was becoming a bit thick, and pressed on.  “So yeah.  I was afraid—afraid that if I let you take me somewhere fancy just because I’m here and at least somewhat attractive—that if I let you get your way with this without even asking me because you’re the Sorcerer Supreme and who wouldn’t want to go with you to a gala—that eventually, that’s all I’d be reduced to in your eyes.  Just…pretty and convenient.”

“No, I—you could never just be—that could never happen,” Stephen croaked hoarsely, reaching one shaking hand out to cup your face.  “Never.”

You heard his unspoken words loud and clear, though whether it was just because you knew him so well or because you were still connected enough to his magic from your earlier moment together, you couldn’t tell.  Either way, you knew, in his heart of hearts, he was telling himself that he’d done that to someone he cared about once before and had cast them away in the end, and he regretted it every day of his life.  He wasn’t going to make the same mistake a second time.

You leaned into his touch, and he rubbed his thumb gently back and forth over your cheekbone.  Despite the aberrant stutter that interrupted the motion now and then, it was nonetheless a profoundly soothing gesture.

“I know that now.  When you told me about how you remembered the first time I smiled at you, I realized,” you explained around a lump in your throat.  “I realized a lot of things, actually, but one of them was that I didn’t need a list of reasons why you wanted me as your date anymore.  You always saw me as more than I ever realized you did.”

The hand on your cheek moved to the back of your head while Stephen’s other arm wrapped around you, pulling you into his blue robes and broad chest with a fierceness that he seldom exhibited.  You held him tightly in return, feeling that familiar calm wash over you that always came from being in Stephen’s arms.

“I thought you always knew,” he murmured quietly, burying his nose in your hair.  “I thought…I thought I was always so obvious about how much I care about you and rely on you.  The only reason I ever assumed you would go with me was because of that, you know.  Because you’ve always, always been there for me when I needed you.  Whether I needed you to tell me to get my head out of my ass and my foot out of my mouth or to show me how to hook kick my mid-life playground bully, you’ve been there.” He drew a deep breath in, his hands shaking more than ever with the intensity of the emotions he was feeling as he pulled away slightly, just enough for him to make eye contact with you. His blue eyes flitted back and forth between your eyes as he searched for something in your gaze while he continued to speak.  “I can’t imagine a world in which you’re not there.  When I picture myself doing anything important—like going to the Stark Industries Gala—you’re there with me in my mind.  In every possible future I could have, you’re there.  You keep me grounded.  You help me be the best version of myself.  Do you know that every time I’m with you, I feel clear-headed, and when I hold you, I feel calm? Nobody else in the world makes me feel like that,” he babbled on.  “Usually, it’s the opposite; most people drive me up the wall.  Especially when they’re physically close to me,” he added with a snort.

By the time you could get a word in edgewise, you were smiling unabashedly up at your friend, filled with an undeniable sense of wonder.

Could you really call him just your friend anymore, though?  You loved him.  You chose him, again and again, and he pictured you in every possible future with him.

“You’re rambling,” you laughed, sliding your hand to the back of his head once more, letting your fingers card through the soft hair at the nape of his neck.

“Sorry, I just—“ Stephen began, but you cut him off.

“Don’t apologize.  I love it,” you said, your smile growing.  “I love you.”

“It’s just nerves—wait, what did you say?”  He asked, his blue eyes suddenly wide.

“I said I love you,” you replied simply, and Stephen’s lips parted in shock before a slow smile spread over them as he took in your words.

“I love you, too,” he breathed in response, sliding his large hand up to cup the side of your face.  Gently, he pressed his forehead to yours and allowed the tips of your noses to brush once again.  “I’ve loved you for a long time.”  Here, in this position, mind-to-mind and magic-to-magic, you could feel Stephen’s aura more potently than ever, as if all of his mental fortifications had dropped and his heart was laid bare before you; it burned bright and warm with joy and relief, all underpinned by a powerful current of love and adoration for you. 

“I know that now,” you murmured.  “I’m sorry that it took so long for me to see it.”

“I’m sorry that it took so long for me to show you,” he replied, tilting his head just slightly, enough so that your foreheads were no longer touching and, instead, allowing his lips to ghost over yours as he spoke.

You closed the distance between the two of you, pressing your mouth to his.  The moment you did, his magic again surged and flared around you, sparkling with such an array of emotions it was almost hard for you to tease them all out.  There was that same joy as before and the steady rush of love for you, but there was passion and eagerness and an undeniable need, too.

You moved your mouths together as if this was what the two of you were made to do to each other.  His lips were warm and firm yet pliable against yours, his meticulously groomed goatee scraping deliciously against your soft skin with every movement that either of you made.  You wanted more, more of him, more of the man you loved, and so you licked at the seam of his mouth, asking for entrance.

Stephen granted it to you immediately, allowing your tongue into his mouth with a low moan.  It was a beautiful sound, more magical than anything you’d ever heard before, and you were immediately obsessed, devoted to hearing that sound tear from him again and again and again—

Except suddenly, something very strong was pushing the two of you away from one another, prying you out of the strong embrace of the Sorcerer Supreme with supernatural power.

When you looked down, you realized it was the Cloak, which had apparently decided to force the two of you apart.

“What do you think you’re doing?”  Stephen asked the Cloak hotly, but it merely pointed to the two books on the table with one of its corners, then pointed to the two of you each in turn before emphasizing its point by opening the cover of one of the books.

If the Cloak of Levitation could speak, you knew it’d be saying that there would be plenty of time for you and Stephen to get it on later, but for now, you were supposed to be figuring out why seven archeologists had gotten themselves blown up in the Transian Mountains before any more archeologists managed to meet the same fate.

“Fine.  Fine.  I know you’re right,” Stephen declared, then mumbled under his breath, “I hate being the Sorcerer Supreme sometimes.  Fucking responsibilities.  Higher duties.”

The Cloak patted Stephen consolingly on the shoulder as he folded himself unwillingly into the seat he’d been in earlier, struggling to figure out where he wanted to put his long legs in the scant space under the small table.  You moved to take your seat, too, as Stephen grumbled away, your back already aching in protest at the thought of hunching over for another hour or two.

“We should take this somewhere more comfortable,” you said, sliding the book you’d selected over towards yourself.

“What do you have in mind?”  Stephen asked as he took his book in hand and finally let his knee rest against yours again, obviously keen on the thought of more leg space.

“I’m a big fan of reading in bed,” you said, trying to make your comment sound nonchalant as possible, though you couldn’t help the way the corners of your mouth quirked up in a sly smile.

To be clear, you reminded yourself as you felt your heart rate accelerate in eagerness, you really did plan to read through this book—or at least skim it—and figure out what was going on with Mr. Tentacle Face in Mount Wundagore.  But when the mystery was solved, was in bed with Stephen really such a bad place to be?

It definitely beat this table, at the least.

“What a coincidence,” Stephen said, his eyes sparkling mischievously.  “So am I.  Yours or mine?”

“Yours.  I think it’s bigger than mine,” you explained, already gathering your book and pushing your chair back to stand up.  As you did, you smiled sweetly over at Stephen. “More room for work…and play,” you added, leaning in tantalizingly close to his ear as you uttered those last words. 

Stephen’s breathing hitched.  He turned to look at you as you pulled away, almost as if chasing your proximity to him, and though you were tempted to just give it to him, to press his mouth against yours in a passionate, open-mouthed kiss, you managed to hold back. Instead, you slipped your sling ring on and opened a portal to his room.

“You coming, Sorcerer Supreme?”  You asked, stepping through the portal and into his room.  He’d been watching you, almost entranced, without getting up himself.

Your foot-in-mouth senses began going off for the first time since this morning, though this time, they came in a different flavor than you’d ever experienced before.

“I hope to be,” he said, grabbing his book and his laptop as he unfolded himself from the tiny chair and followed after you.

Great.  Now you were permanently aware of when he was going to make corny sex jokes to you, apparently.

You rolled your eyes and turned away from him, stifling a smile and letting the portal fizzle shut as soon as you could sense that he’d walked through it.

“Thousands of pick-up lines, and that’s what you go for,” you teased him as you threw your book on the silky red sheets that covered his enormous bed, though you couldn’t help but let a slight note of amusement drift into your voice.  “A joke about coming.”

“I know.  I know,” he groaned.  “It’s just the first thing that came to me—” you glanced at him over your shoulder, raising an eyebrow.  “Not—that wasn’t a pun.  Shit, this is a trainwreck.  I should just rewind time and try again.”

“Please don’t,” you begged him, flopping down on one side of his bed.  “I don’t want to be subjected to whatever other terrible pick-up lines you can come up with.”

“Who says they’re all terrible?”  He asked, climbing above you on the bed and hovering above you on his hands and knees.  You blinked up at him in surprise; he was so broad above you and impossibly handsome.  You didn’t expect this view to be so fucking good.

You steeled your mind and resisted the urge to just wrap your hands around his neck and pull him in for a kiss.  He’d melt against you like butter if you did, his strong chest pinning you into the softness of his mattress, and—

The Cloak would kill the two of you if you did.  Literally kill you.  In fact, it was a miracle the Cloak hadn’t strangled you the moment you’d suggested the two of you go to his bed to “work”.  The Cloak was most likely clinging onto its sense of trust in you by one single frayed thread at this point, and you needed to prove that fiber of trust in you to be well-placed by doing the morally responsible thing and reading this fucking book.

And besides, Stephen really did not deserve to rail you just for making the lowest-effort joke about the male orgasm you’d ever heard in your life.

“The jury—me—rules that they’re all terrible unless proven otherwise,” you grinned, putting both of your palms on his chest and pushing him off of you.  He didn’t resist, rolling to the side so that he was laying on his back directly adjacent to you.

“Yeah?”  Stephen asked, cocking an eyebrow at you and smiling in that way of his.

“Yeah,” you said, trying desperately not to think about how stunning he looked with his head pillowed on red silk, a couple locks of his gorgeous dark hair falling into his face and bringing out the sharp definition in his cheekbones.  He glanced away for a moment, lips flattening in thought before he turned back to you.

“You know how I can tell you’re a sorcerer?”  He asked out of the blue.  You waited for your foot-in-mouth senses to go off, to even buzz faintly, but they didn’t.

Was this not a pick-up line, then?

“How?”  You asked.

“Because when I look at you, it’s like you’ve cast a spell on me.  Everyone and everything else disappears,” he murmured, turning onto his side to brush his thumb against your chin just under your bottom lip.

Suddenly, the Cloak rippled behind him, pulling him flat on his back on the mattress once again before scooping up the book he’d picked and thrusting it against his chest. 

“Okay!”  Stephen exclaimed with a wheeze as the air was knocked from his lungs.  The Cloak began forcefully opening the cover of the book for Stephen, clear on making its intention known.  “Okay!  I’m done!  I’ll focus now!  Just—fucking—stop that,” he snapped as the Cloak grabbed one of his hands and drew it towards the book.

“Guess I better look sharp over here, or else the Cloak will come for me next,” you laughed, waving your hands to levitate your book in front of you and flipping it to the first page.  The book was enormous; you figured it had to be a couple thousand pages, at least.  There was no way you could possibly read through all that in one night, but fortunately, you just had to skim through this thing, really, and see if you could find the picture you remembered.

“Yeah, I’d strongly recommend not incurring the Cloak’s wrath,” Stephen grumbled, massaging his chest where the book had hit with one hand and waving his other to levitate the book, much as you just had.

“For what it’s worth,” you said, smiling up at your book as you magically flipped it to the next page, then the next and next.  “I thought that line was actually pretty good.”

“Well,” Stephen said with a low laugh, glancing over at you.  That same self-satisfied look from earlier, when he’d been hoping he was right about the curse-breaking, was written all over his face.  “In that case, getting a little beat up by my own favorite relic was worth it.”

The Cloak reached around, fluttering the pages of the book menacingly, and the two of you laughed but returned your attention to the task at hand. [Part 3 here]

[mari-on-dragonspine]

The Childe of Tennis

Content map

Genshin AU: Childe x afab!reader

Tennis

Rating : 18+

Warnings and triggers

Smut (unprotected intercourse), alcool, deception

This is a work of fiction: stay safe, use protection.

Mari's corner

Before getting into it, I'd like to thank Raku (Lustful_Apple on ao3) & @the-travelling-witch

for beta-reading this and helping me out.

I owe you, beauties 💖

Also, this story was inspired by Holly @the-travelling-witch - I wrote this thinking of you! ><

If you think some important warnings are missing, let me know in the comments below.

Also forgive the terrible title, if you come up with a better one I'll consider your options in the comments!!

Enjoy your journey~~

The Childe of Tennis

You are a college student moving in the city for study purposes. You enjoy playing tennis, therefore you look for a new tennis club and end up joining the Snezhnaya Tennis Club, where Ajax "The Childe" plays since he was a kid. As the two of you meet something new and unexpected is born - love.

You didn't think of him as a partner at first. You didn't even think he was actually nice to talk to and quite well mannered. Childe didn't really make a good impression on you back then, but everything is different now. The first time you bumped into each other, you were new in the club and he was a senior member, despite his young age. He checked you out with a confident smile, as if he was trying to belittle you, and he then offered to show you around in a flirty way you didn't like at all. Of course you would reject such a jerk full of himself, who did he think he was? Good looks and talent in sports weren't enough for you to fall for him. But he never stopped the teasing and eventually you agreed on going out for a coffee. You found out you had so many things in common and started to look at him in a different light. You grew to appreciate him calling you girlie and you started teasing him as well, addressing him as "meanie" and showing off all your amazing talents and wits. One day he found out that he was looking forward to seeing you again and was happy when you agreed on exchanging phone numbers. He also enjoyed the time you spent with him as you both were babysitting Teucer and you became the "bestest friends" on earth, as his little brother used to call you both. Only a few months passed when he confessed his love for you under what it looked like the heaviest rain you've ever seen in your entire life, when you kissed him - letting the umbrella above your heads fall lifelessly at your feet -, when you brought him home to dry your clothes and eventually make out there… 

But your relationship had to be a secret, at least for now. You were too embarrassed to let everyone know that you, the newbie, were the girlfriend of Ajax, who everyone called Childe because of his talent - in fact, as strange as it may sound, he was the youngest subscribed member of Snezhnaya Tennis Club and the youngest champion too. He became quite the star in the local community and everyone there grew to love him deeply. Ajax told you this anecdote on your first date and you thought it was adorable ever since. Maybe that was the reason why you grew to love him this much… and also the reason behind your embarrassment. 

"But EVERYONE literally EVERY SINGLE ONE person in there knows you, Ajax. There's no way I could just casually walk in with you, hand in hand, without feeling uncomfortable!" 

Your face was bright red, almost as bright as a traffic light, as Ajax was kissing your neck and holding you from behind, wrapped in his strong, slender arms. 

"Babe, you're overthinking again. You're amazing and beautiful, why are you so nervous? It's not like we're going to meet my parents…" 

He whispered into your ears, kissing your cheek every time he finished a sentence. He was trying to corrupt you into going to the tennis club together, like a couple. 

" Oh, yes, yes I am. Maybe not your parents, but sure your family. You've been playing tennis before you could even walk! And you call all the permanent members uncle and auntie!" 

His reply was already on his lips as you turned around to stop his kisses and he was already replying when you grabbed his face forcefully to squish his mouths to make them resemble  the ones of a fish. 

"No. Shh. Say no more. This conversation is over and I have a valid point. I win, you lose, get over it 'Kay?" 

If you had to find a flaw in your relationship, it would be the competitive side that you both had. You hate losing and so does he - that's why you tried to put an end to your little argument with a kiss, which turned into a glacial glare as you noticed that your boyfriend was starting to slowly lower his embrace to more southern parts.

"You're a pervert. No kiss for you."

You said in a flat, annoyed voice, slapping his chest without meaning harm and running away, as he was trying to catch you again at the cry of "pls babe cmere". 

But you were very far from his Kawasaki bike and were waving your hand from the bus window.

"See ya there, meanie!!"

His POV

She played you like a violin again and you, meanie, would let her play as long as she wanted. But why would she be so embarrassed? You both were young and in love… and getting along perfectly. Why couldn't they tell everyone they were a couple? He sighed heavily and wore his green helmet before speeding through the nonexistent  weekend traffic. 

Ah, luckily for you, you were not only a good driver, but a master in wit. Quick and smart are a lethal combination, and you knew exactly what you had to do.

~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷

The bus stop was only 10 meters away from the main building of the tennis club. You got off with an elegant hop and hid behind the poster of melatonin-based sleeping pills. You wanted to make sure that Childe wasn't waiting for you outside, so you waited again and again… but the ginger haired guy was nowhere to be seen. 

" Well… that's good. I got away with that… but so easily?" 

You were muttering this to yourself as you walked in to find Childe, already changed into his tennis outfit, wielding his bright red tennis racket. His smile was so dazzling that it could light up the deepest of all nights and if a strong part of you wanted to hop into his arms and squeeze him tight, the predominant one knew fairly well that such a smile brought trouble. 

"Hello there, girlie! Are you ready?" 

Ready? 

"Uhm, ehm.. Hi… Ajax. Ready… for what?"

But as you asked him, your eyes fell on a note hanged on the bulletin board.

"First Snezhnayan Open: July 10th? But… it's today!" 

" Yeah! Isn't that awesome news? And it doesn't take gender into account, so we might end up one against the other." 

His voice was confident and brimming with excitement as he tried to explain the basic rules. But you weren't even paying attention. Why was such a tournament taking place so suddenly?? 

" I'm not doing this. I'm not ready! "

You always wanted to succeed, especially in competitions. Oh, if only you had focused more on your moves and less on Ajax's body… 

"Hahaha, you can't. Every member must participate. What's up, girlie, are you scared? Don't worry…." 

Childe checked the room twice and just like that, in a swift move, he got closer to you and started whispering into your ears.. 

"I promise I'll be gentle."

His low voice made its way into your mind, crawling down your spine and making goosebumps appear on your exposed skin. This was bad. 

"AH. You wish. I'm not scared of anyone. I'll show you what I'm capable of, Childe." 

Your words were harsh and full of pride, but your face was burning. You hated the effect he had on you at times…

Apparently almost no one knew about this tournament, but many were excited to prove themselves and got excited. All matches were done in pairs at first and individually at last. The most competitive people made it to the top and in the end, you and Ajax were the finalists, fighting for the glory.

"This opportunity is quite hard to come by…"

Said Childe teasingly, as he was slowly checking you out. You avoided him successfully until then and you thought you were ready to face him.. But were you really?

"Cut it off, meanie.. I will win this time."

You said with a serious look on your face, as you turned your back to him to fix your ponytail. If you didn't do that, you would have seen Childe slowly blushing and covering his face with his hand… but once you put yourself in place, ready to fight him, he already came back to his normal prideful self.

"We will see that.."

And like this, the final match began. You weren't feeling confident early this morning, but you certainly were now. Childe felt the exact same as you - he wanted to prove himself worthy of being with you.. And wanted you to surrender to him. But he very soon realized that he was too much of a good teacher to you, because you were winning. Your moves were fast and sharp. They had the elegance and the strength of a lynx, even though Ajax was quite prepared to counter them.

"Passable effort", replied him to your backhand as he sent it back to you. The ball drew perfect lines above the net, as the air between you two thickened. You both were focused on the victory, but it seemed that you were the favorite after all.

However, as much as Childe was proud of your beauty and skills, he couldn't let you win. Not this time.

Changeover. The game stopped to allow a small break and switch sides. A sort of timeout. 

You let out a small exhausted sigh as you reached the equipped area under a snow white umbrella. Childe was faster than you in this, you couldn't miss the opportunity to tease him.

"Wanna beg for mercy, already? I might spare you this time around…" 

Childe laughed amused, as he shook his reddish beaded in sweat hair. 

" Hahaha. Look at you now. You weren't this confident a while ago… I'm wondering what changed?" 

You glared at him as a response, also because he grabbed YOUR water bottle and you really needed to drink. 

As if he read your mind, Childe started to drink out of it from a distance. 

" You're going to.. "

Facts finished the sentence for you. The water came out all together as a river in spate, soaking his handsome face, his neck, his tight yellow shirt… The muscles you learned to recognize so well appeared and you suddenly didn't feel the heat or thirst anymore. You were insanely focused on the gingerhead right before your eyes, so much that you eventually let him finish your water. The spell broke as you realized he was looking at you. 

" Oh, I'm sorry… I guess this one is your bottle? My bad.." 

Even if his words were apologetic, his tone wasn't. Ajax shook your almost empty water bottle and smirked teasingly as he heard the noise of the remaining liquid. 

" Looks like there's a sip left… you want it? "

He asked, holding out the ocean blue recipient. But as soon as your hand reached it, he pushed you towards him and whispered into your ear "take it". With a swift move, he stole your last sip and looked at you with a strange light in his eyes… You wanted it. You wanted the water and his tempting lips… But a voice broke your trance again, giving you the strength to decline his invite. 

Childe rolled his eyes and stared angrily at the referee, who was only asking if they were OK. 

"Perfectly. Thank you. I just can't seem to find my water.." 

You replied immediately, as you were rummaging through your stuff to find something, ANYTHING, that could contain a small amount of liquids. That was when Childe came to help you. 

" Here. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have taken your water before. Take mine okay? It's an energy drink." 

You wanted to really smash him, but since the referee was watching, you just grabbed it forcefully from his hand and drank it all in one long sip. You wanted to reverse the joke on him, but he looked at you amused, on the verge of a laugh. 

'' What's so fun- cough.." 

You choked on that drink and Childe offered to hold you, almost as if he was scared you could collapse to the ground. 

" I'm fine!" 

You pushed him away, all red from both the caught and the embarrassment. You didn't want to admit that Childe looked so fine all wet and that you kinda wanted him on the spot… 

The match started for its final act and Childe looked at you slightly concerned. You thought that would be because he couldn't afford to lose to a younger member… but that wasn't really it. You started to feel quite dizzy after a few minutes. You missed the ball a few times as you were starting to feel sleepy and Childe moving his perfect body wearing the revealing wet shirt wasn't helping you focus.

~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷~÷

You lost in the end, only by a few points, but you didn't care anymore. As everyone was clapping and cheering on Ajax, you dragged yourself to the dressing room.

You opened the tap to refresh your bright red face and started to unbutton your shirt as well. It was intense, but you lost with honor. Childe was simply ahead of everyone…

While you were thinking of him, rubbing your face with cold water, he appeared right behind you.

" MC, are you OK?"

He said in a quiet voice, as you raised your face from the sink to look at him in the mirror.

" No. I'm not ok. You were teasing me the whole time! And your energy drink is crap!"

Uh? Why would you say something like this in the first place? It didn't sound like something you would say so directly… and you even weren't that mad before.

" I see… I'm sorry to have bothered you. But you started it first. "

He had a dead serious look in his eyes, as if he didn't want to blame you, but couldn't help it at the same time.

" Me??? What?!"

You turned around to tell him off, but as you did, he placed his lips on yours and kissed you passionately. His tongue drew a small line from your lower lip to your upper one before sneaking inside your mouth, rubbing your tongue just the way you liked. Your hands pushed him tightly to yourself, grabbing his ginger hair forcefully, as you never did before.

If you couldn't win the competition, you would have taken the victory you deserved in another way. His hands caressed your back in a hurry, reaching your tights and picking you up, the flowing water masking your moans for all the snoopy ears that might have been around.

" Yes.. Such a beautiful angel, dancing so gracefully on the field… and I couldn't touch it. You were so mean to me… you should be the meanie between the two of us."

He said this among one kiss and another, as you didn't want to let his lips go. Yes, you had been naughty to him… but you didn't mean to.

" I… I'm just scared… "

You managed to say in a moment when his lips were busy torturing your neck.

" Because… you're so amazing.. And I'm… me. Me and nothing else. What if… we tell everyone that… we are together… and then you find out there's nothing special about me… "

Childe frowned, staring directly in your eyes from below.

" Not in a thousand years. You are everything to me and I love you just the way you are. I love your sweet side, your competitive side, your jokingly side… every single shade of you. So you don't have to hide, ok? I just.. Want to show everyone else how amazing you are… how bright you shine in my eyes…"

Your eyes filled in tears as he was listing everything he loved, but he wouldn't let them run down to your cheeks. He pushed you in one of the empty toilet cabins and started to kiss your eyes, moving downwards to your neck and collarbones, as his hands gently put you seated in the toilet to help you take your clothes off.

"What… are you…"

Your mind was swimming in his kind words and didn't seem to fully understand what he was doing.

" We are in a changing room.. We should… change.."

He whispered into your ears, causing a loud moan to leave your mouth. You wanted him so much at this point, you wanted to take him before anyone else could.

" I..want to make love to you, Ajax.."

You said in a serious tone, as both your hands cupped his cheeks and a tiny smile curled up on your soft lips.

He stared at you in shock for a few seconds before letting out a happy laugh, which was immediately followed by yours.

" Alright then.. I won, but I'll let you take the prize… only if we tell everyone… one day."

You rolled your eyes to the sky in a jokingly way, nodding before he could add anything else.

" I'm in… I can't say no to this broad smile of yours…"

You pulled him closer and closer, as he started to take off your remaining clothes and underwear, followed by your graceful hands that mimicked his moves, seizing his muscles and taking over his most intimate parts.

" Ah… I love how impatient you are… my sweet girl.."

He groaned into your mouth, picking you up again and pushing you against the gray tiled wall.

" Shut up and kiss me already…"

No one was waiting for you outside. In fact, everyone knew that you wanted a moment to be on your own already. Childe had a copy of the keys, so everyone left the club, leaving the two of you loving each other into the night. 

As you fell asleep on his lap, Ajax was thinking about swapping his energy drink with that vodka enhanced one more often… 

Maybe at home next time.

[lalaangeldust]

𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮

𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬 & 𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬

[ 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 ] : none :)

[ 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 ] : kaminari denki // bakugo katsuki // sero hanta

𝐤𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐢 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐤𝐢

ah yes, the bakusquad's resident pretty boy

he would definitely be the most obvious about his crush

two words: shitty flirting

horrible pick-up lines and just overall bad flirting

he pulls through sometimes though ( with sero's advice ) and his ego inflates through the roof if he can get you flustered and blushing

but if you give him the same energy, he will immediately combust

all function out the window

congratulations, you broke denki

none of your possessions are safe when denki is within the vicinity

shirts, hoodies, skirts, hats, jewelry, hair accessories

if he can grab it, he will have it

he has worn / stolen everything in your closet at least once, if not it is most definitely his goal

it does not matter if he fits it or not, he will make it work

he has no shame

but one time he stretched out one of your favorite skirts and it tore a bit and he felt soooo bad

"it not my fault i have a fat ass, y/n"

but he brought you to the mall on a date with him to get a new one, so it's all works out ;)

denki honestly just lives to make you laugh

every time he's the reason you're laughing, it makes his chest puff up so big

DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON MF TICKLING

if you two are close, he will without a doubt start a mock wrestling match and it always turns into a tickling fit with you pinned underneath him and wailing

but do NOT under any circumstances tickle him

he with shriek like a girl and accidentally activate his quirk

you nearly died

HE FELT BAD FOR THAT TOO

he's also just so infatuated with like- everything you do????

it doesn't matter how mundane you think it might be, as long as you're doing it, denki is so enthralled watching whatever it is you're doing

it's rather endearing

in all honesty, he'd probably blurt out he likes you outta no where while in the middle of a convo

he lights up every time your name is so much as mentioned

or- or

he'd be day dreaming, completely lost in his own world and someone would come up to him and ask him what he's thinking ab cus he looks basically dead to the world

still in a daze from being abruptly brought back to reality he'd just dreamily sigh, "y/n~" without even realizing

mans was SO embarrassed afterwards

face was beet red

*frantically looks around to see if you heard him or not*

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

bonus: love languages!!

physical touch // giving

words of affirmation // receiving

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

𝐛𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐠𝐨 𝐤𝐚𝐭𝐬𝐮𝐤𝐢

he's so emotionally constipated

that's not to say we wouldn't know he'd have feelings for you

he's actually pretty emotionally intelligent, and would be very perceptive of your emotions contrary to popular belief, he's just oblivious to his own feelings and emotions

he'd just ignore them

try his best to ignore you

key word try

but he always gives in and he'd make up dumb reasons to come bother you like-

he'd barge into your dorm while you're studying and he'd be like

"y/n i need a pen,"

"oh? uh ok, here you can have this one," you hand him a pen that you happened to have tucked behind your ear

"no not that one,"

...????

"can't you go to momo and ask her to make the pen you want..?"

bakugo starts to get grumpy at this point lmao

"no, she doesn't know how to make it,"

"well, what pen do you want..??"

bakugo hesitates cus he doesn't wanna admit that he doesn't actually want a pen, he wants to be with you

"that one," he lamely points at a beat up tinkerbell pen that you've had since you were like twelve

"really?? out of all the pens you choose that one?"

"shut up and just get it"

"... you can grab it,"

he goes and grabs it and goes to walk out the door without a word and right before he leaves he leans back and looks at you

"i need a pencil"

"OH MY GOD BAKUGO"

he kept the tinkerbell pen btw

like denki, bakugo would steal things from your dorm and not just anything, things that are actually inconvenient to misplace

he'd take your bobby pin container or your favorite brush so you'd come to him to ask where it went, he'd give it back ofc but not without a fight

he'd act totally clueless and he'd wait till you actually start to get pissed to tell you where he actually put your thing

so back to how he'd actually be very aware of your emotions

he'd notice the smallest changes and can always tell when you're upset but he wouldn't exactly know how to help you

so instead of using words, he'd use actions

you had a really bad day and he walked you to your dorm and when he came in he's like

"shit, your dorm is a fucking disaster, how do you live like this," you scowl at bakugo cus like- wtf i'm rlly emotional here you're not helping

he scoffs and bends down to start picking up your shit

"seriously, i have no idea how you find anything in here, nothing is organized" and he'd just keeps grumbling like an old man while completely cleaning and reorganizing your room

dont you dare try and help him though, he will yell at you

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

bonus: love languages!!

acts of service // giving

quality time // receiving

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

𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚

I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE

sero SCREAMS besfriends to lovers troupe

like- you two are already practically dating without even realizing it

the romantic tension

you guys banter and flirt with eachother so often, you both have no idea whether you're serious when you jokingly call the other sexy or not

the oblivious idiots troupe

sero makes everything a competition

not nearly to extent as bakugo would, but still goes a bit over the top

he'd use anything as an excuse to show off for you

one time, like the spiderman fanboy he is, he challenged you to see who can hang upside down the longest without passing out ( literally the stupidest idea, sero, you're going to loose braincells )

sero won, obviously and he takes full advantage of bragging rights

everyone says how denki's the flirt and whatever but NO

sero is the biggest mf flirt and denki got his game from him

so with that being said, you are not safe

HE IS A BULLY

he respects boundaries of course but that doesn't mean he's not gonna try and test his limits a bit and mess with you

he's always trying to get you flustered

god forbid you're shorter than him because he will tease the shit outta you for it

when you two train together, mf goes on overdrive ESPECIALLY if you two happen to be sparring together

he'd hover over you and lean his face in ever so slightly while your talking to him just to get a rise outta you

TILT YOUR HEAD UP WITH ONE FINGER

"could you repeat that? i'm having a hard time hearing,"

SHEEEEEEEE

but you also make fun of him for being tall, so it checks out

whenever he says some slick shit you're just like-

"I'm sorry, what? That's funny coming from someone who's above the national average height. you're disgusting, tall man; shrink perhaps" ( if anyone knows what tiktok audio i'm referencing, i'm in love with you )

hope you have your casket ready because sero's gonna slaughter your ass for that shit

ok but one time while you two were partnered up for hero training, you got on his nerves and he tied you up and left you hanging and the mf just left

maaaan were you livid

15 minutes

15 minutes you were left up there while sero was doing god knows what

you gave him the silent treatment for the rest of the day and sero was genuinely distressed cus he didn't mean to make you so mad

but lucky for him, he always knows how to get you to smile no matter how sad or are or how angry you are with him

he shoots you a piece of tape with his handwriting on it

he made up some stupid, horribly written poem asking for your forgiveness and he's just looking at you the entire time you're reading it with an exaggerated pout

how can you say mad at him?

on the topic of him sending you notes on his tape

he'd totally leave pieces of his tape in really obscure places in your dorm or even under your desk

they'd be really stupid messages too like-

"you stink"

or a really random inside joke you two have that makes literally no sense but even just the thought of it makes you laugh to tears

he'd also leave little origami figures he made with his tape in random places for you to find too

or he'd just give them to you

you have a shelf specifically dedicated for the things sero has made for you ( and he's really touched you actually keep all his shitty arts and crafts projects )

in conclusion, sero is the best and he is my favorite and i'd die for him

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

bonus: love languages!!

gift giving // giving

physical touch // giving and recieving

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

If you guys want, i can elaborate on their love languages in another post! <3

𝒇𝒊𝒏 . ✩

[werewolf-witchboy]

Tokoyami Fumikage X Male Reader

Being A Witch Boy And Dating Tokoyami

WARNINGS: none uwu

Being a witch has nothing to do with your quirk, you just like practicing the dark arts and witchy things.

I'm not going to mention what your quirk is, so you can imagine that you have whatever quirk you want, or you can imagine yourself as someone without a quirk.

💀 Tokoyami had been fascinated with your hobby of witchcraft ever since he met you. He was most fascinated with the fact that your actual quirk has nothing to do with how your witchcraft works.

🕯 He had already thought you were cute before, and he had been in that time of his life where he was starting to question his sexuality a little- but after you showed him your witchy interests, he fell hard for you.

💀 He may be a dark and edgy birb boi, but he's also quite shy and awkward. He probably would have never confronted you about his crush if you hadn't told him your feelings for him first.

🕯 When y'all started dating, literally everyone was like "FINALLY!!" cuz it was super obvious that the two of you were meant for each other.

💀 When it comes to what type of witch you are, i'd say you're a witch of all traits.

-You love dark and spooky things, but you also love pastel colors and nature.

-Your room in the class 1A dorm is most likely full of plants, candels, a variety of antiques and trinkets, and shit that you can't buy at stores until it's around Halloween time.

🕯 Tokoyami likes to ask many questions about all of the different types of things you do, and he actually pays attention and is super interested. You'll even teach him some new things, and show him how to do them himself.

💀 You love Dark Shadow as much as you love Tokoyami himself. Though they're both very different in personality, you find them both charming and adorable (despite them both saying they're not "adorable," they're dark and spoopy lmao).

🕯 He also loves your animal familiar.

-Your familiar rarely comes out of your bedroom. Since you're dating Tokoyami, you allow him in your room (which means a lot more than he probably thinks it does, cuz spaces where witches do their magic and recharging are very sacred to them) so he gets to see your familiar quite often.

💀 It's rare for familiars to show affection to anyone that isn't their bonded witch, but your familiar absolutely loves Tokoyami.

-They'll hop onto his lap immediately as soon as he sits down in your room.

🕯 Both you and Tokoyami thrive in the darkness, so there are often times where you both hang around in your dimly lit room cuddled up together just talking all day (or even sometimes laying there in comfortable silence).

-You'll be in there together for so long that all of your friends will start questioning where you're both at, and not even realize that you're just in your room.

💀 He obviously likes you a whole lot, but he's super bad at saying it with words. He's just shy and bashful. BUT THEN DARK SHADOW EXPOSES HIM LMAO-

-You'll be standing there looking super cute, and Tokoyami will just stare at you and want to say something so badly. Then Dark Shadow appears and is all like "wOw yOu'Re sUpEr hOt" and Tokoyami just dies right there in the very spot he's standing cuz he can't believe that just happened.

🕯 That's another thing- Tokoyami stares at you a LOT. He even did it before y'all started dating, but now he doesn't even try to hide it.

-You barely noticed at first, but once you started noticing how often you catch him staring at you, you can't help but tease him a little.

-You'll stare at him back, directly in the eyes, and he'll get super flustered and embarrassed.

-Then to calm him down and make him feel less embarrassed, you'll giggle at his flustered-ness and give him a lil beak kiss...which just makes him even more flustered.

💀 He's definitely the type who wants to be a total romantic, and speak all poem-like to you, and shower you with praises, ect. BUT he gets so flustered when it comes to affection, and second-guesses himself when it comes to his ideas of showing affection.

-He's scared of coming off too strong, or seeming to clingy, or even not doing enough, so he never really gets the chance to act out any of how he wants to show affection- and to top it all off he can't help but be absolutely smitten every time you give him affection of any sort, and he'll not know how to react to it.

🕯 You never call him out on his shyness or how he reacts to your affection, you're not offended with any way he reacts to you. You think it's super cute how innocent he seems when it comes to all of this, and of course you encourage any time he gets a little bit of confidence to hold your hand or compliment you (without the help of Dark Shadow lol).

💀 His feathers get all ruffled when he's flustered, and OMFG it's too cute. 🥺😭

🕯 Something that he loves so much is when you borrow his clothes. Because for him, it's kind of a way to show affection towards you without being super direct about it.

-So him being like "you're cold? here, wear my sweatshirt" translates to "TAKE EVERYTHING FROM ME, KEEP IT FOREVER, I LOVE YOU FJSKDJFHR-"

💀 Don't come @ me- Tokoyami listens to death metal, but he'd totally vibe with something like kpop if you introduced him to it.

-He's definitely a Loona stan.

🕯 Highkey though, now that I think of it- he probably also listens to Joji and Billie Eilish.

-Like, really moody sad boi hours indie music.

-He'd have Will He playing in his headphones, and he'd be all edgy and in his feelings, but he'd also be doing something like baking cookies at the same time lmfao.

-He'd have a playlist named "songs to cry to," but he'd be listening to it while knitting sweaters for puppies or something.

💀 No, you didn't ask me what kind of music that I think Tokoyami listens to, but you got it anyway. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

🕯 If he's at a store, and sees something kinda spooky looking that makes him think of you, he'd quickly get it and think all day of giving it to you, and he'd want to watch you add it to your collection of lil trinkets and antiques.

-....But he'd chicken out so hard I stg.

-This poor baby would rehearse how he'd give it to you in his head over and over again, and then when the time comes to give it to you, he'd get suddenly so tongue-tied and worried if you'd actually like it or not.

-But, of course, you love whatever he gets you every time. Your always super surprised when he gets you something, cuz it's not your birthday or any special day, and you never expect gifts from people.

-Every time you accept a gift from him, you always want to squeal, tackle him, and shower him with kisses- but you resist doing so with all of your being, cuz you know he'd malfunction.

-Instead you very profoundly thank him many times, and give him one especially loving kiss.

-Seeing your extra surprised and happy reaction always relieves him so much, and it makes him want to do it all over again and gift you a whole shop full of trinkets. His lack of hundreds of dollars is the only thing that stops him.

💀 You're the type of person who wears a lot of black, and scatters bright colors here and there within your look. Your style ranges from goth to pastel e-boy.

🕯 You don't like to change other people's styles or tell other people what to wear, but every once in a while, Tokoyami expresses an interest in dressing like you- which you go NUTS over.

-You'll let him borrow your pastel sweaters, and he'll let you put bright colored hairclips in his feathers.

-He now even owns some pastel colored clothing of his own, that you either gifted him or he secretly bought himself at some point.

💀 He used to be shy about changing up his style every once in a while at first. Whenever you'd take pictures of him wearing bright clothes, he'd softly ask you not to show them to any of the others.

-Eventually he became confident enough to go out in public those rare days he'd wear bright colors, and everyone is always super supportive of the different style.

🕯 He had never been in a relationship with another guy before he started dating you.

-He started questioning his sexuality around the time he started high school, but it was never a priority at first because he was more focused on working hard to get into U.A. and thinking about his future being a hero.

-aNd tHeN hE mEt yOu, and now we're here lol.

-ANYWAYS, y'all go to pride parades together.

-Something he isn't shy about is his sexuality, cuz as soon as he realized how he felt about you, he was all in and that was that.

-Y'all go all out for parades with face and body paint, and shirts with your flags on them, and even sometimes bringing signs and flags to hold up and wave around.

-Some of your friends will come with the two of you, whether they're there because they're also lgbtq+ or just because they support it.

-It's the most social the two of you are the entire year, cuz your both introverted lil emos that don't really talk to many people outside of class 1A.

💀 So yeah- I think Tokoyami is highly underrated and I'm extremely soft for him. He's an emo birb boi, what is not to love.

-I believe in emo birb boi supremacy.

-Rise all Tokoyami stans, we shall take over the entire anime world someday.

[pinkplantmakesstuff]

[Sat opposite me is none other then The Commander himself. We are in my office; surrounded by stacks of notebooks and stationary, this is no battlefield and it's clear The Commander is currently out of his depth.

I will admit I was shocked when he agreed to an interview; the Commander is infamously secretive about his private life and personal affairs, and there are terrible rumours about his foul temper and monstrous appearance. Sat opposite me however, is a young, world-weary man]

Exclusive interview continues under the Read More...

Let's start with some introductory questions, can you introduce yourself?

[There's a pause before he finally speaks, he's surprisingly soft spoken.] My name's Alec. [He looks at me, and I have to prompt him for more] Oh I see. Uh people refer to me as the Commander, but I'm, not really? I don't, well I don't belong to the Pact anymore? But apparently the title stuck. And I just, end up helpin' with stuff still. [He shifts uncomfortably, and I need to know what brought him to my office today, why he's changed his mind before I continue with the more personal questions.]

So, Commander, what's changed? Why an interview now? After refusing to talk to any journalists for so long, what caused this change of heart?

[There's a another long pause.] Well, I mean...a couple of people told me it might be...good for appearances, to you know talk to one of you people, instead of just... lettin' everyone make stuff up about me all the time. [I assume he means the rumours that make up most of his public perception - like the idea his mouth is full of flesh-tearing fangs- which I can now confirm to be false. He may have pointed fangs but they are small, and he seems more interested in gnawing at his own lip.] Oh, uh and you can just call me Alec I guess.

Well thank you for choosing to speak to me Comman-Alec, now lets move onto the more personal stuff; what is your gender identity, orientation and relationship status?

[This seems to catch him off guard.] That, that is kind of, personal. [He grimaces and draws his arm tightly across his chest. "You said you didn't want people to make stuff up about you anymore, why don't you tell people so they know the real you."] I, well, ok. [He gives a defeated sigh but it seems I've swayed him around for now at least] Uh I'm a guy and I like other men. And, uh, there, might be someone. He's...[Alec mulls over his words for a minute, the "fearsome" fangs nibbling at his own mouth again] well he's like, there's a connection? It's hard to explain. ["You've just disappointed many potential suitors I suspect!" At this he lets out a surprised laugh, as if he can't believe what I said. "Is this potential someone your fearsome companion you've been rumoured to be spotted with? With fangs and horns even greater then your own?" At this he frowns, folding his arm in again.] He's not fearsome he's just, well he's great. [I've clearly struck a nerve so I choose to move on.]

Where and when were you born?

[Another one-armed shrug.] Dunno. Some small place. Don't remember it, don't care. And uh, I'm like, well I think I'm twenty? Something like that I don't know my birthday. I think it's in Winter. [At this it was mine turn to let out an incredulous laugh - which I admit was unprofessional of me. "I knew you seemed young but, only twenty? That's, you've done a lot for someone so young." There's another, lengthier pause.] S'pose so. [He doesn't comment on this further.]

Here's something you should know plenty about! What is your weapon of choice and fighting style?

[He narrows his eyes at me, and then tilts his head thoughtfully. For a moment I thought he was going to demonstrate his magical capabilities I've heard so much about but then he simply shakes his head, a if deciding against it.] Magic. People don't like it. ["Yes I've heard the rumours of your powerful necromancy, as well as the tales of you being able to transform-" He cuts me off] I fight with magic. [Again I've struck another nerve, but I don't blame him. The rumour-mill has been particularly unkind to this young man, and it's no secret how many people view darker aspects of magic unfavourably.]

Lastly, for these introduction questions, are you happy?

[We sit there in silence for several minutes, and it seems he has no answer for me. I decide to move on quickly.]

Let's move onto the people in your life! What’s your family like? What is your relationship with them?

Uh, I don't. Well my family is, well she's a baker. We grew up together. And V-my... partner? [He catches himself, clearly trying to protect keep them anonymous.] I don't have any other family I guess. But, I'd do anythin' to keep them safe. [I don't push further but it's clear the Commander's family means as much to him as the next person. Something the rumours have lead people to believe is not the case.]

Have you ever ran away from home?

Yeah. When I was a kid. My friend - the baker. We left together. it was better after that. [Alec doesn't elaborate further to begin with, before realising he's only told me part of it.] From an orphanage I mean - it's the same ol' story about kids losin' family to the Risen then being taken into care when I was a baby. We hated it. We got old enough. We ran away.

You mentioned you have a partner, this mysterious V. Would you consider marriage or having children?

[Alec's demeanour almost doesn't change, but I've not spend years in journalism and not learnt how to read people. This question has clearly flustered the young commander.] Uhh, that's, kind of personal. I don't think about stuff like that? I, well it's just nice having someone around more now. [I was about to move on before he interrupts.] But, kids are good, if, I think I'd have liked too, if things had been different.

Let's talk about some juicy gossip! Do you secretly hate one of your friend?

What? [This clearly catches him off-guard, before letting out a bitter laugh.] No. I haven't got enough of those to secretly hate one of 'em. Plenty of people have made it clear how much they hate me though. I wouldn't be surprised if more of them secretly hated me too. [Another short pause, he shifts in his seat and I catch a peek at the small wings sticking out oh his back.] I'm too tired to hate any of them, especially secretly.

I see, so which friend knows everything about you?

[Almost subconsciously he touches his horns, they are short, stubby things.] I don't think, I have- maybe the two I mentioned earlier know the most. It's hard to talk about things. ["Hmm I'd picked up on that." At this he laughs, the minor tension that had started building up eased slightly.] Yeah I'm not great at words and stuff.

The next set of questions are asked my fans! Are you literate? Have you been to school?

Fans? [He shakes his head in disbelief before leaning back in his chair, hair obscuring his face slightly.] The orphanage wasn't much for teachin'. Next question. [I resist the urge to press further.]

The eeriest prediction you made that later came true?

[He seems to spend some time thinking this one over before shaking his head.] Dunno. I guess I just assume most of the people I meet won't stick around long enough to be friends and...well I guess in a way they don't get to stick around I've....I've lost a lot of people. I guess that counts right? [He laughs slightly at this, but it isn't a happy one. Even the commander, who is oft described as cold is clearly affected by the ongoing tragedies he seeks to help stop.]

What is something you were embarrassingly late to realize?

I don't think I realised Sylvari could glow for like, ages. [He puts his hand up to his face slightly but he smiles slightly as he speaks, and it's only now I've realised he's without his infamous blind-fold. I mention this but he shrugs it off.] I still 'ave it. I just, don't want to wear it right now.

Do you have mental health or physical issues?

[He waves the stump of his missing arm, bandages still visible. Everyone's already heard about the fight against the fearsome Jungle dragon that cost him his arm, as well as the Marshall of The Pact .] Does this count? [He makes no mention of his mental health so I try to press further.] I'm fine.

What is your current main goal?

[Alec shakes his head, before shrugging again.] I'm not gonna talk about stuff like that, in case it puts people at risk, it's, well it's stuff that needs doing to help people.

Let's move onto something easy! Some choices! Drink or food?

Food. I like cooking. ["Really? The famous Commander, known and feared on the battlefield, enjoys being in a kitchen?" He smiles slightly and nods.] It's just nice y'know. I like making things a lot.

Cats or dogs?

Cats. Their senses are easier to see through and they can fit in smaller places. [Before I can ask what he means he continues.] I would like a pet one too I think.

Early bird or night owl?

I prefer getting up early, it means I have longer in the day to get stuff done.

Optimist or pessimist?

[He frowns again.] Don't know. I don't think things are ever gonna go very well. [He merely shrugs when I point out that he sounds like a pessimist.]

Sassy or sarcastic?

I wouldn't say I'm either to be honest. ["There have been reports from Queen Jenna's courts that you have been known to make the occasional sarcastic, scathing remark."] Well there are also reports I've got a huge dragon tail but that don't make it true either. [I don't point out that dry remark he made.]

You'll be pleased Alec, we are finally finishing up! Finally it's time for some "Have you evers". Lets start with have you ever been caught sneaking out?

Nope. I used to be unnoticeable, though, that's changed a...little. [He gestures to himself in what I am assuming is reference to his small wings and horns] Like I said earlier though, magic.

Broke a bone?

Nope not that either. ["Really? With your work on the field and from the battles I've heard, you've truly never broken a bone?] I guess that's just the one thing I got goin' for me I guess.

Received flowers?

I don't think so? Wait yeah maybe but they are from people I don't really know as thanks which is nice I guess- I give 'em to...my baker friend coz she likes to display them in her shop.

Ghosted someone?

[There's another pause, it seemed he'd been slowly getting used to speaking to me but this one has him quiet again.] Not....intentionally. Keepin' in contact is hard when you're constantly travelling. And writing is... not one of my greatest talents.

Pretended to laugh at a joke you didn’t get?

Uhh to be honest I probably wouldn't realise it was a joke sometimes', and if I did and I don't get it then maybe they should have told a better joke. [He shrugs and I can't help but laugh at his honesty]

[There you have it readers, an EXCLUSIVE interview with the feared Commander himself. Nothing like the rumours who describe him as "The Beast", The Commander is just another war-weary fighter trying to do what's right.]

Thank you @the-mystic-dragon for tagging me this was so much fun to write! (Even if it took like, an hour, and I massively changed the format XD) This is written as if it's around mid to late lws3 and before PoF as well as in the au with Vasche! Vasche is @resonatingfern's wonderful character and Alec's "mysterious partner" in this. In terms of tagging, if ya wanna do one go ahead! Though I did change the format quite a bit oops XD

[spvce-cowboy]

Requests and those prompt pages you shared make me go full on thot...but soft

Frankie with "when one of them has never had a proper birthday party for whatever reason, and their lover makes it their mission to give them the best day ever, followed by “you didn’t have to do all this for me. just being with you is enough.” “i know. but i thought you deserved ?’’ and their lover smiles, a kiss is shared"

And maybe the dialogue prompt "I wanted to say I love you for the first time without stuttering, but that failed"

Is that too much? Too weird? I'd be happy for either one :)

soft thots are the best thots no one can convince me otherwise 😌😌😌

i added a lil... somethin somethin to this bc i honestly just couldn’t resist.

--

frankie always lets his birthday pass quietly. it’s been that way since you’ve met him--he usually preferred a quiet night out with his friends, maybe ordering some nice meal in, but never anything big. 

he firmly resisted your suggestions of throwing a party in celebration for the first two years you were together, not adamantly, but with enough gentle insistence that you knew to back off. you could tell that there was some weight there, something unspoken that made him dark and moody during the week that lead up to the day, but you figured he’d let you know on his own time, if ever.

so you’re more than a little nervous for the surprise dinner you had spent the past month planning. you’d coordinated his whole crew to fly back to Texas for his birthday weekend, figured maybe after the year Frankie had had it would be a nice break, if not to celebrate then to distract. 

you made the delta force boys well aware of it, that if he didn’t want to do anything official the lot of your would play along without insisting anything more. the sparklers and cake you were hiding in the kitchen was purely optional, depending on how you read Frankie’s mood after the surprise reveal.

you’re all nerves for the entire day leading up to the party. luckily, Frankie is out of the house for most of it, and you told him you’d take him to a fancy dinner so he’d come pick you up from the apartment straight from work, already dressed in the suit jacket and button-down you’d picked out for him.

the boys and their dates help you with the last of the preparations--you’ve spent most of the day cooking, so they set up the table while you change into a pair of heels and Frankie’s favorite sundress of yours. you take one calming breath before stepping out of your bedroom and back into the fray.

the click of the lock sliding back is the only warning you get as Frankie shoulders the door open. his hands are busy with something and he has his back turned to you as he throws his keys on the side-table by the door.

“hey, sweetheart--listen i called the restaurant about our reservation and they said they didn’t have anything down under your name so i made something for--”

and he freezes, eyes wide with utter disbelief at the scene in front of him.

you’re in the center of the gathered group, made up of the delta force crew as well as some other friends from work. the house is warm with the smell of dinner, with a few, sparse decorations mostly consisting of candles and thin, paper wall hangings.

you give him your biggest possible smile as you and your guests burst out in a synchronous:

“happy birthday!”

the grin Frankie gifts you with is enough to have made all the anxious planning worth it. he crosses the distance between the two of you in a few quick strides. cradled in the crook of his arm is a bouquet of flowers, which he hands to you with a still-shocked “thank you, baby,” after kissing your cheek. then the boys start crowding around him in a mass of back-clapping hugs and loud laughter.

once he makes his rounds to greet everyone and finishes the beer Santi placed in his hand as soon as he handed you the bouquet, Frankie places a hand at the small of your back and ducks his head to speak directly into your ear.

“can i talk to you for a second, on the balcony?” 

there’s a quavering quality of seriousness in his tone that catches you utterly off-guard. you lick you lips and try to feign a confident smile as you nod, leading the way. you can practically hear your own heartbeat, a frantic pulse in your ears.

he clears his throat after closing the sliding glass doors behind himself. your eyes widen further as you realize he’s flexing his hands in that way that he does when he’s trying to get them to stop shaking.

your heart drops to the pit of your stomach as he guides you away from the doors and into the sequestered corner of the balcony, where you’d spent the better half of last week replanting your pollinator bushes in preparation for the summer. the bulbed fairy lights he’d helped you install last summer were still holding up, casting the balcony in warm hues of pink and orange. your brain seems to work on over-time, utterly unsure of what the fuck could possibly be going on. 

“first, i just want to thank you for planning all of this. it um--i really wasn’t expecting it, so, surprise well planned and all,” he gives a nervous laugh, rubbing his hand over the lower half of his face as his eyes flick towards the flood of light emanating from the living room on the other side of the sliding doors. in the quiet that follows, you can barely hear the chatter of music and conversation from the people inside because you genuinely can’t read the pained expression on Frankie’s face right now and that has literally never happened before and honestly you’re utterly terrified. 

because it sure as hell felt like he was about to give you an ultimatum.

so you do what you always do whenever you get freaked out. you start to babble.

“listen, i--i’m really sorry, i know you usually like to keep things low key and everything but Santi texted me that he was thinking of coming up and surprising you so then i thought that maybe i could reach out to the whole team too but i can totally tell them to leave and you guys can just do your own thing and--” you cut yourself off because the look he’s giving you now is just confused. you take in a gulp of air, these next words just as rushed as the previous ones were. “please don’t break up with me.”

Frankie’s jaw hangs open for a second.

and then he starts laughing.

full-body laughing, his face breaking out into that great big smile that you were so relieved to see not even a half-hour ago. but now you’re as confused as he once was.

“i was... i was going to do this later tonight, over dinner but, given the circumstances...” he’s trying to fish something out of his suit jacket’s pocket.

the realization slams into you like a brick wall.

because holy shit he’s trying to fish something out of the suit jacket pocket.

you half realize what’s happening and you half don’t, because he’s balancing a small velvet box in the palm of his hand which he holds in the space between the two of you like he’s cradling a small bird and holy fuck you were absolutely in no way prepared for this of all things.

you think he knows as much because when you look up at him with tear-filled eyes, your hand raised to your mouth in shock, he has a bit of a sheepish look on his face.

“i know it’s a lot,” he clears his throat. “and you don’t have to say yes right away but i just... i wanted to let you know that if you wanted this, it would make me the luckiest man in the world to be able to give it to you. whenever you’re ready and i--i’d love to be able to celebrate this,” he opens the box. the ring is beautiful, simple but delicate and understated and perfect. absolutely perfect. “to celebrate us around this time of year, too. i’d love that more than anything.”

“i--Frankie,” you rip your gaze from the ring in his palm, lip wobbling as your tears begin to fall. christ, you had no idea how full your heart would feel. you thought, in fantasy, that you would but it was nothing compared to this. “Frankie, i wanted tonight to--” 

“you don’t have to say anything now, if you don’t want to,” his words are as rushed as you feel, a bit frantic. “i understand if it’s too much for right i just thought i should make my intentions--”

you shut him up with a kiss.

“yes,” your voice is infinitely firmer than you expected it to be, you kiss him again, as if it could serve as punctuation. “yes, yes--a million times, yes.”

he laughs against your mouth in turn, wrapping both arms around your waist and lifting you up in the air without breaking the kiss. 

placing you gently on the ground, both your and Frankie’s hands are shaking so hard that he can barely put the ring on you. it sits on your ring-finger perfectly. you can’t bring yourself to take your eyes off of it for more than a second. neither can he.

someone turns the music up inside, the heightened volume of chatter is the only thing to break your combined reverie.

Frankie tucks you into his side with an arm slung over your shoulders, kissing the crown of your head. there’s a rare ease to his posture that you can already see yourself getting used to. 

“let’s see if they notice,” he whispers in your ear with a mischievous wink. you don’t think you’ve ever seen his eyes so bright. grinning, you lean further into his side. the two of you step back into the living room.

[i-need-air]

Truthful mess.

Summary: Truth quirk shenanigans. HCs type with Bakugou, Kirishima, Shouto and Shinsou.

Note: Still don't know how to add "Read more" on phone, still need to make a masterlist. At least I have coffee. [I’M DOING BOTH RN, BE PROUD;;;LOOKATTHEReADMORE] Ty for reading! ♥

Bakugou Katsuki:

× well, shit

× he fucked up real bad and now he had to pay for it

× noticed something was wrong when he thanked Kirishima for saving his life instead of giving him the usual snappy attitude

× made the redhead promise to keep the secret or he'll kill him

× seriously kill and incinerate his body and was 100% serious about it

× Bakugou tried his hardest to keep his mouth shut and everything went okay until you just existed in the same room at him

× he'd just get the fuck out because all he wanted to tell you was how good you looked in whatever you were wearing or how beautiful your face was when kissed by the rays of sunshine and he was so confused

× he literally wanted to word vomit all of that

× thankfully the police arresting the mf that did this to him informed Katsuki about the effects of the quirk itself

× approximately 3 days of spilling truths

× he could handle that

× easy

× but not really; the less he talked the more he needed to spill out his mind

× he'd still snap at people, they were just dumb and he voiced that but

× well, hello there, [y/n]

× he prays you don't waltz around him

× life can be a bitch though

× it happened while training, Cementos made an area for each of you to improve your quirks and guess what? you're placed just by his side

× you just waved at him and he ignored you

× asshole much; until you kick-dropped and broke a big piece of cement in half

× "Fuck, that was so sexy..."

× your head turned slowly towards Bakugou because that was his voice, definitely, no doubt

× but it was raspy and low and it did some things to your, ehem, lowers and holy shit

× Bakugou looked like a deer caught in the highlights; he was full "step on me" mode and????????

× instantly turned the other way and yes, he is blushing

× he just couldn't hold it in, man

× so you're confused, blushing, Kirishima is near-by shook as fuck because he's ✨ realizing things ✨ since of course he's now Bakugou's self-proclaimed guard dog

× and Bakugou is back at ignoring you, his friend and the world

× you decide to keep an eye on him because that was not normal and oh my god why is that voice still affecting you? did he seriously say that??

× meanwhile you catch him looking at you from the corner of your eyes

× boy is staring real bad

× so you just go his way

× he panics as you approach him and blows shit up

× "Don't fucking come closer!" you freeze because what the hell? you thought you were getting along? yeah he's been snappy recently but it's Bakugou, he has mood-swings

× but not like this? at least with you?

× also what he said before just gave you hope??

× so you decide Fuck it all and get closer, noticing how Kirishima also approaches, looking like a bodyguard

× you raise your eyebrow because Excuse you?

× "[L/N], you should leave him be for now–"

× "Get out of my way or I'll break you, Kirishima."

× so you're having a staring match with the red-head, almost nose to nose when legit a growl shakes you to the core

× "[Y/N]'s mine, Shitty Hair, back down." he said between his teeth, his palms sparkling, quirk ready

× so his friend backs up, hands raised in defeat but a knowing grin on his face

× even in full shock you expected him to ignore you again but he just stomps towards you angrily, teeth greeted

× "You have a thing for him, hmm? You like Kirishima?" he was glaring at you, breathing heavily but suddenly locked his eyes in your lips

× and while he's throwing this fit or whatever it was, all the class kinda stopped whatever they were doing to see what's going on

× but Cementos ain't having any of that so parts you guys with a cement wall and orders you to keep training

× Bakugou was never more thankful because holy shit what was about to happen?

× you're full mind-blown, remembering his words again and again not even focusing on training; you decide to talk with his dumb ass to clarify what he said and wAs he jealous? i mean he literally said you're his so—... HE FUCKING SAID YOU'RE HIS????

× after that he went back to his grumpy old man form, you don't talk again until days later, although you did try to approach him again, many times, because YOU'RE HIS????????

× it's when he finally realizes the quirk is wearing off and he's relieved because it got to a point where he couldn't sleep

× so when you confront him in the common room the next morning he shrugs it off with a "I thought I'd accidentally confess that I love you and that would've been a problem."

× he freezes

× you freeze

× he wanted to call you a dumbass and move on until he figures his shit up but...

× that's when he realizes the effect of the quirk was dying off in waves

× save him from the mortification and confess too, please?

Kirishima Eijirou:

× he's normally a truthful guy

× but not like this, man, not like this

× Fatgum saved his ass but it was too late since he already got hit by a quirk, although none knew what it was about, so his mentor was having a full Panic moment

× later on he was informed about it's nature and was confused because nothing changed?

× he still compliments people, he's still his old self and is actually so happy that's the case

× thinks he's manly because he's honest about his feelings

× although he forgot about a tiny little detail

× his big fat crush on you

× like he'd blush when you came around, almost stuttered when responding to you, would try harder when you were around because pretty please, notice him, shows off more, all the I-need-YOUR-attention bag

× because he's smooth but in a Kirishima way, you know?

× felt he had zero (0) game [so not manly of him]

× will hands down not avoid you; thinks it's lame to run away from this

× who would've thought this was the best thing that could've happened to him?

× still had his boyish charm, cute smiles, blushes

× but now we add the honest "You look amazing today. Well, more than usual." with a wink because if he can't stop himself, at least he'll make it work big time

× and oh, shit that's doing stuff to your poor heart because his compliments are all over the roof? wth is going on?

× everyone knew about his feelings for you but now they really knew

× literally takes him half a day to spill all out

× he did try to clear his mind of those feelings in class because that would be so awkward and weird; he spent so much time daydreaming how to confess before and doing it there was definitely not the plan, but something more personal and meaningful

× when Kiri saw you in the common room though, alone and minding your own business, a grin broke on his face and had hearts in his eyes

× Bakugou had to hear a lot of shit about you, tho just rolled his eyes; "whatever, shitty hair."

× because you're so flawlessly beautiful and you're not even trying

× your head snaps up at him, blushing

× OOP–did he just blurt that out?

× so he's laughing awkwardly because not like this, man

× but goes with it because We die like men here 😤

× cue word vomit about how great you are and this quirk hit him and god you're amazing and it's not a lie because remember when you first met at UA? well he thought you were an angel and when you smiled at him? perfection and your blushing face is adorable and needs to see it everyday and ok this quirk needs to stop–

× meanwhile

× [Y/N].exe has stopped working

× legit tho, he won't shut the hell up and it's adorable

× all day he's been super smooth about his compliments to you and now he's the sweetest mess ever

× and you only notice yourself smiling when he points it out and says it's the single most beautiful thing he's ever seen in his entire life

× and even if that almost makes you 404 again you laugh and walk towards him

× which he follows and steps closer to you too

× smiling

× so he calms down when you're not freaking out about what he's spilling and goes back to being cha-cha-real-smooth again

× "I want to be able to call you mine"

Todoroki Shouto:

× another guy that doesn't really notice it at first

× he got hit by this weird blue-purple dust while on patrol with his dad

× and Endeavor went feral on this low-life villain deciding to attack suddenly

× low and behold, seems the guy wasn't a villain, just a civilian that sneezed and activated his quirk by accident

× quirk that landed on Shouto here

× which just stared confused because what?

× explanations happen, Endeavor is looking down at Shouto expecting something anytime now

× but Icy-Hot here just shrugs it off because it's okay, it's just 3 or 4 days

× funny thing is his dad asked him questions and realized pretty quick that Shouto has been really honest with him until now, which bummed him because Endeavor Is Trying™

× Todoroki Shouto was confident that nothing would go wrong so he forgets about it basically

× two days pass; class time happens

× is so fucking casual about it but it's so hilariously confusing

× he was honest before but he was quiet in general, that's why his honesty came in small dosages

× now he has no filter and won't shut up, he has this absolute need to share his thoughts

× my boy has opinions about everything

× but especially about [Y/N]

× oh yeah, he definitely tells you how that color enhances your natural beauty or how you're really smart

× is so casual and nonchalant, shooks everyone, leaves you full confusion mode while he just smiles and leaves

× legit doesn't realize it

× he complimented you before, that's the thing, but now he's really intensifying it but without changing the tone and execution and it's just a mess

× example:

× goes from "You changed your hairstyle. It looks nice." to "The way you style your hair now makes your eyes pop out more. I love it."

× lowkey proclaims his love about you; it's so obvious it hurts; you have to take it like a champ, man

× it takes Tsu to actually ask what's going on, in the first hour of class

× [even Aizawa is listening, pretending to sleep]

× explains why he's acting like this; "I got hit accidentally by a quirk that makes me speak only the truth."

× everyone just goes crazy while you're piecing stuff together in deep thought

× "Who do you think is the strongest in the class?"

× "Aizawa."

× lowkey a little shit

× "Between the students."

× "Me."

× big time a little shit

× it's until Mina asks who he likes that all hell breaks loose

× Shouto just turns to look at you, blinks and says your name

× just as everyone goes mental after a moment of silence, the bell rings signaling the next class, to which Aizawa [the mature man he is, acting as if this wasn't the best tea-spill he's gonna have at lunch with the other teachers 💅] wakes up, silences everyone and continues class

× every pair of eyes are on you all class

× Shouto is having an existencial crisis because he's actually realizing himself that he likes you

× a lot

× hands down he thought about how great you are, wondered deep in though at night why his heart beat so fast when you smiled at him, how come he got jealous???? when you'd pair with someone else to study or train... the boy didn't even know it was jealousy until now

× as in now he knew he wanted to hold your hand, have more inside jokes between you two, kiss you, marry you, wait what—

× you on the other hand are hyperventilating because Shouto likes you

× and you like him back and oH my god, wHAT just happened????

× lunch break comes, nobody moved from their seats while Todoroki just walks by, stares at you, slight blush on his face

× "I'd like to speak alone with you. About my feelings. Towards you. I like you."

× nice alone chat, Shouto 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏

× legit nobody is breathing, not making a single noise, waiting for your reaction

× so through stutters and all, you have to grab him by his wrist and get the hell out, the attention being too much

× before you reach a quiet place to talk he just stares at your hand

× "I like it when you touch me. Your hand is warm and it makes my skin tingle–"

× so you're a blushing mess when you let go of his wrist fastly

× "Do you not like me back?" [insert kicked puppy face]

× [insert you telling him that you do, but all the attention in class was killing you]

× "Good. Now hold my hand properly."

× that day Shouto learned that being bold with you was the perfect way to get the sweetest reactions out of you

× it's called teasing and Todoroki Shouto will never stop

Hitoshi Shinsou:

× Shinsou had a Reputation™, ok?

× Calm, cool, collected, that's Hitoshi Shinsou

× so how come Monoma did him so dirty?

× it seems the blond borrowed a quirk from someone he knew and fled to school to just bring Hell on Earth

× but the only person he managed to throw the quirk at was at Shinsou

× it wasn't even intended for him, but for Bakugou to embarrass him

× so here he was, Mister Tired-of-this-fucking-world now having another reason to be done with everything

× the boy wasn't dumb

× made a strategy just as Monoma was apologizing for the mistake

× somehow the blond took a liking on him and even if he was now part of class 2-A, Monoma proclaimed he was a 2-B at heart; moving on...

× 3 to 5 days of not talking lies

× great, amazing, marvelous, incredible, fantastic

× Rule #1: Avoid [Y/N] at all costs

× which would prove rather difficult since you're part of the same group he was in

× and you were starting to be really good friends

× something he loved/hated because yes, he wants your friendship but he also wants much more

× so when you came to class, would you look at that! Shinsou is sleeping!

× when you went to lunch with the squad? he fled the scene, not opening his mouth

× asked to borrow a pen in class? didn't even look into your eyes as he just gave you one

× after 3 days of this you were starting to get annoyed

× and Midoriya was writing shit down in that notebook of his mumbling stuff every single time Hitoshi bailed

× what you didn't know is that the whole Dekusquad caught on to Shinsou's shenanigans and demanded answers

× well, Ochaco did and she instantly got them because she's terrifying when serious

× so Izuku is in deep fascination with the quirk, Iida is stiff as fuck and Uraraka has this really creepy I-know-something-you-don't smile on her face; Shouto was existing there too, minding his business 🍵

× you really tried to grab a hold of Shinsou but he wasn't even answering your texts

× time to make a game-plan

× and the easiest way to understand what's going on was through Deku and that suspicious notebook of his

× it wasn't even that hard to get it because you got the perfect opportunity basically thrown in your lap

× he was mumbling your name as he was writing down

× you literally demanded to see what he's writing about involving you

× the boy went full panic but before he could manage to escape the situation, the guy that's been avoiding you grabs you by your forearm and tugs you in the hallway

× there he was, purple messy head you wanted to smack, looking all uncomfortable, rubbing the back of his neck

× "Ok, listen, I have something to tell you and I want you to know through me, not through that notebook" he sighed, eyes avoiding you

× and while you're hurt and exhausted he just mumbles "Who knows what type of embarrassing stuff he wrote there..."

× hold up, he blushing?

× so while you're processing that he explains

× "Been hit by a quirk..." yada-yada, this and that

× "Ok, but why have you been avoiding me of all people?" you just go hard on him for a little bit, not hiding that you're hurting "Do you not trust me?"

× he's caught off guard

× "Because I love you and I'm scared you'll never look at me the same."

× longest silence of his life

× he never felt the need to fill a silent moment more than now

× so he mumbles

× oh, yah, he just blurts it all out while looking everywhere but you

× "I mean you deserve better than a guy with a quirk like this. I didn't want to make things uncomfortable between us so I thought avoiding you was the best, just so we can continue being friends and–"

× he's a fucking mess and it hurts you that he's saying stuff like that because holy shit you love this sleepy idiot?

× of course you kiss him to silence his rant

× and when you separate from it and start to reassure him he's just a m a z i n g, how dare he say stuff like that and how dare he avoid you for so long; now it's his time to kiss you back slowly and sweetly

× cue instant, lazy smile

× "You're adorable..."

[amostimprobabledream]

And He Walks With Flames (Dabi x Reader) - Part One

They say humans, in a strange, ironic twist of fate, owe their magic to demons. A thousand years ago, they walked the earth, wreaking destruction and chaos wherever they tread. Humans were no more than meat for the slaughter, or glorified playthings for their amusement. The first generation of humans to fight back against their monstrous oppressors did so by a peculiar, ancient magic. A power that could repel demons and bring hope to all humanity. A terrible war raged for the fate of the world and the humans managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. The demons were banished to their land of origin, sealed away in defeat. But seals don't last forever. While historians argue on how literal these legends may be, there is no denying that ancient creature have begun to stir, appearing in our world again with growing frequency. And soon there might- The last paragraph was torn away. "Oh, for god's sake," you tsk. Sunlight pours through the large, high window of your lecture room, dust motes dancing in the golden rays. Though you were engrossed in your book, once you look up, the spell is broken, and the clear sky outside once again has your eyes wandering to it. It seems that you are not the only one getting distracted, either - even the professor keeps tapering off at the promise of an afternoon outside in the gorgeous spring weather. "Well," the professor says, shuffling the papers in front of her. "That's all for today. Please revise over the material and we'll discuss it in further detail next time. You are all free to go." You're only too happy to comply, putting your things away and scrambling to your feet. Everyone else is hurrying to get outside, pouring down the stairs to the doors, chattering to one another as they go. Normally you love going to lectures, but it's just too nice outside to be cooped up indoors. You push open the doors and step outside, a muted sigh of pleasure leaving your mouth. Your university, the Royal Academy of Magic, has the reputation for being tough, but so far, you've been enjoying the work. Learning about the different faces of magic, its uses, and the history of it, it's all so very fascinating to you. You've been able to use magic since you were young, but it's studying it here that will really help you unlock your true potential, and hopefully give you a concrete idea of what to aim for with your career. So far there are so many options a magic-user might do that it's been a little overwhelming trying to decide. As you cross the lawns, grass crunching beneath your feet, you decide to swing by your dorm first to drop off your books - they may contain a lot of knowledge, but damn if they're not heavy - your mother pointed out that you've developed something of a slouch since you started studying here. "I'm back!" you call as you push open the door of your dormitory. "Huh?" Kendou looks up from her bed, where she has a couple of books sprawled out next to her head, notes scribbled in the margins of her notebook as she looks over her textbook. Her red hair spills down her shoulder, coming loose from its signature ponytail. "You're back early!" "Yeah, they let us out sooner than I expected," you reply with a shrug and a small laugh, dropping your bag on your own bed and stretching, wincing as a kink in your shoulder pops. "Oh, well, that's good timing, someone came by earlier with a message for you," Kendou says, pushing herself up into a sitting position, apparently deciding your arrival is a good a reason as any to take a break from studying. "Your mother wants you to go down to the Imperial Research Centre to get your father." "Did she come by here?" you ask in surprise. Normally your mother arranges to meet you after lectures or seminars if she wants to see you during the week, and she's a rather busy woman besides. "No, she left a message at the front desk and someone passed it along," Kendou shrugs. "But she also said you guys are doing something tonight, right?" "Oh, yes, I'd forgotten all about that!" you say, feeling silly that it could

possibly have slipped your mind - you love it when you get to go out for a meal with your parents and often it means one of them has some exciting news to share. "Thanks, Kendou, I'll head over there now." She grins and gives a little wave. “No problem!” You suppose it's fortunate that the Imperial Research Centre is only a short walk from the campus and that you're very familiar with the place, since your father's been working there for so long. Anyway, it's a pleasant walk, the way there is lined with rows of trees that are only a week or two away from growing from dark to light pink and shedding their blossoms. When the street is in full bloom, it's like there's been a wedding. You even find yourself humming as you walk, breathing in the subtle smell of flowers on the breeze, wondering to yourself if the blossom trees were planted before or after the buildings were founded, but either way, whoever was responsible for them made a good call. The Imperial Research Centre is a peculiar building, made of blue stone and with a roof that boasts four conical points, one in each corner, making it resemble a castle from bygone days just plopped in the middle of the city. There's an aura of mystery to it, too, hinting at the all-important, life-changing work that’s always going on inside. If ever cutting-edge technology is released to the public, odds were that the Centre had a hand in making it. The building is cooler on the inside than it is outdoors, powered by a system designed to spread cool or warm air throughout the entire building, depending on the system. You approach the front desk, wishing that you'd thought to bring a jacket, because it’s always cold in here during the warm seasons, and the receptionist glances up on you with a slightly dismissive expression on her face. It's probably because she thinks you're an overeager student or some hapless intern, it's very rare a researcher your age would be able to work here. "May I help you?" the receptionist asks in a cool, professional tone. "Yes, I'm here to see my father," you reply. "He's one of the vice executives here." You give his surname, and the woman pauses. Is that a trace of nervousness you can see? "He's downstairs in Containment Room 1A," she says, checking a sheet of paper on the desk, which is littered with various papers, random pieces of stationary and one of those magitech intercom systems that they use. They have something similar at the Academy too, though of course, the Centre get the most high-tech version of everything. "All right, thanks," you say, turning to head for the elevator. "Wait!" the woman cries out and you glance back, confused. "I'm sorry, but you can't just walk through here, especially to the lower levels! You don't have the clearance and it can be dangerous." You scoff in disbelief. You have visited your father here before, many times, and this has never been a problem for you before. You always just tell them who you are and then get a visitor's pass. You even know some of the codes to the doors, thanks to waiting around for your father to finish work so often. "Well, please can you have someone go fetch him for me?" you ask, going to reluctantly perching on one of the chairs in the waiting area. "Can't it wait?" the receptionist asks impatiently, and maybe it can, but her attitude is starting to piss you off, so you shoot her a frosty smile you've perfected after watching your mother pull a similar face at people who don't meet her standards. "No, it can't." The woman sighs but she dutifully presses a button on the intercom system and speaks quietly into it for a moment or two, while you idly pick at a loose thread on the chair you're sitting on. She then glances back at you, eyebrows raised. "A messenger has been sent down to speak to him. Hopefully he should be upstairs shortly." "Thank you so much." you reply sweetly, the last words with heavy emphasis. After that, the two of you sit in a mutually frosty silence, with the woman sorting through paperwork on her desk and occasionally

directing people who approach her desk to the correct floor (which seems redundant to you - why can't people just read the clearly printed sign on the wall next to her desk ?), while you flick through some glossy magazines without actually taking in a single word. But you're not leaving until you've spoken to your father. Minutes tick by and you start drumming your heel lightly on the floor, leg jiggling with impatience. You wonder if the woman just lied about sending a messenger down to the Containment Room in an effort to pacify you, in the hopes you'll just get bored and leave. You grit your jaw at the thought, ignoring how cold you're getting, sitting here doing nothing. After maybe ten minutes, a man in a lab coat approaches the front desk, leaning over to speak to the woman. "Kino, could you come with me a moment? Hannah can start her shift." "Oh, I'll be right there!" Kino says, flustered, getting out from behind the desk and following the man as he walks briskly down the corridor, without a backwards glance at you. No doubt her replacement will be along any moment - perhaps she's running late? But you don't plan on sticking around. As soon as the receptionist rounds the corner, out of sight, you spring up and walk briskly across the room to the elevators, stabbing the button and stepping through the doors. You don't bother to fight the smile that spreads across your face as the doors slide shut. ~ "Father?" There's always something slightly creepy about the lower floors. The orbs lining the walls that are designed to keep the machinery running in case of a power shortage cast an eerie glow in the corridors, washing everything with a pale blue light that makes it seem far colder than it actually is. It reminds you a bit of walking through a tunnel of ice. Your boots click on the stone floor as you follow the lights to Containment Room A1. Finally, you reach the double doors leading inside, flanked by two windows each side. You can see your father inside, his back to you, so you rap on the windows. Nothing. You try again with more force, hurting your knuckles, but he still doesn't turn around. Perhaps it's soundproofed, so whatever's out here can't disturb whatever's going on in there? You glance at the keypad next to the doors, but you've never been to this particular room before so the code for the doors on the upper level is unlikely to be the same one for down here. Then you see movement, shadows beneath the crack between door and floor, and the doors slide open with a mechanical swish and two scientists in lab coats come out, comparing notes and murmuring together excitedly. You slip inside before they can slam shut again, unwilling to stand outside in the chilly corridor for any longer than necessary. "Father!" you call out as you enter. But then you stop dead in your tracks. Ahead of you, trapped behind some kind of containment field...is a monster. "What-?!" you hear your father say in surprise at his daughter suddenly marching through the doors. "What are you doing in here?!" But you don't answer. You can't look away from what's in front of you, even if you wanted to. You know without being told that this is a demon, but it's certainly not what they looked like in any of your history books. A tall, humanoid being that is undoubtedly male and you can tell from where you’re standing that he’s tall. The demon's huge, black wings arch out from behind him, reminding you of a bat. Two horns jut out from a crown of spiky black hair, but aside from that, you're surprised by how… human he looks. Your cheeks warm up as you notice he is shirtless, peculiar burn marks covering over half of his body and seemingly crudely stitched together like a patchwork doll. Despite that, he's impressively sculpted, sinewy muscles on full display and you know that demons were said to be uncommonly strong. Your eyes drift further down, and you spot a whiplike tail wrapped around one leg, topped with a pointed barb at the end, like a club in a game of cards. His arms are in restraints and so are his

ankles, yet he doesn't seem stressed in any way, leaning against the back wall of his holding cell as though he's waiting for something. "What...is this?" you breathe out, finally turning to your father. "This is our latest research subject," your father replies beside you, also staring at the demon, though his expression is surprisingly somber, considering just how amazing it is that they have been able to capture and contain a demon. You've never seen a live demon before, and something tells you that the one before you certainly isn't any garden variety one. "Director Fuji is very excited about this. It's not every day you see a demon this high ranking." Slowly, the demon stirs, raising his head a little. You're perfectly safe outside the containment field, as well was the multiple other safety measures both inside the cell and out of it, yet the sensation of being watched makes your flesh break out in goosebumps. From beneath spiky fronds of hair, the demon's eyes - so blue they almost don't look real - stare right at you, his gaze alone rooting you to the spot, laying all your defenses bare and leaving you feeling bizarrely naked before that look. Watching you without once blinking or breaking his gaze, his lips part in a sneer to reveal two rows of teeth, the fangs sharp and white as an icicle. You find yourself holding your breath as your father speaks again. "Sweetheart, meet Dabi."

[old-hyper-super-clover]

Squeeze that bunny tail!

Part 4

Description: The RAD student council as well as the exchange students help out at a bar where, oops, the staff´s dress codes are those sweet bunny outfits that we all know and thirst for. The MCs, Violet and Clover, play a game of who can touch the most bunny tails over the evening without getting caught. Prepare for fluff, funny innuendos as well as my thirst over hot boys in bunny outfits.

The story is divided in several parts and will be updated every few days. find the other parts in my masterlist.

Story continues below the cut. Have fun!

Finally having stomached the midnight clothing change, the girls had to get back to work, so they kept their strategic meeting short.

However, when they finally stepped outside into the public again...

The demon lord was waiting for them.

Arms crossed, expression serious.

He was staring at them.

"Lord Diavolo...!" Violet pressed out while Clover gave a quiet but terrified "oh no he will actually kill me" as both backed away on instinct.

"May I have a word with you two?" the demon prince asked, however it felt more like a demand. They have never heard him speak in such a serious tone before.

The girls not able to give an answer other than a nod, Diavolo gestured at the staff's office room.

He let them step inside before closing the door... And locking it.

None of them have ever felt like shitting their pants more than in this moment.

"Violet, Clover" He raised his voice.

Clover had called her own death, and had accidentally pulled Violet with her.

"There is an urgent matter that I have to discuss with you two..."

That was it. The end.

Diavolo kept them trembling in a horrible silence for way too long.

"Y-yes...?" Violet somehow managed to say.

He took a heavy breath. The girls swallowed their fear.

Then, he spoke up.

"... Why do you keep squishing everyone's bunny tails? Is it some kind of human tradition? I'm dying to know!"

The girls literally felt like they just died.

"I've observed you for quite a while now, but I can't make out the reason behind it" Diavolo continued. "Please, fill me in...!"

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

It took a while to recover, but in the end, the girls confessed about their game.

"We just look how many of those tails we can squeeze" Clover said.

"It's nothing more than a joke..." Violet mumbled. "I'm sorry to have upset you..."

Diavolo blinked at them.

"Upset?"

"Uhm... Yes..." Violet frowned in regret. "We will stop being childish while working. Again, sorry for-"

"Can I join your game?"

Silence.

"Y... You want to... Squeeze the guys' tails with us?" Clover asked.

And Diavolo's natural smile said it all. So, it seemed like another opponent joined the game at half time...

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

The three parted quickly after as they were needed in the local, but Clover had an idea on how to keep things organized:

* Clover formed the group chat [Squeeze that bunny tail!] *

Diavolo: Hello!

Violet: ... Are you sure we shouldn't call the group something else...?

Diavolo: I quite like it.

Clover: Thank you, Sir :D

Diavolo: This is the first group chatroom I am in without Barbatos.

Violet: Should we add him?

Diavolo: No. Don't tell him. I am experiencing a new kind of freedom right now. Anyway, I wish you girls the best of luck in our competition!

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

As this story is ridiculously long, let’s do a quick squeeze round!

Violet got very lucky... She caught Luke while the angel had been trying to reach for something in the kitchen shelves. He was still in his first outfit (because even demons do not support children nudity, that's gross), and looked adorable, standing on that stool to be tall enough.

After squeezing his tail, Violet offered her help.

... Only to realise she wasn't tall enough either.

But oh well, luckily, Solomon appeared and was there to grab those tiny cocktail parasols.

Later, Violet also worked with Asmo at the casino area for a while and got herself another point.

As for Clover... She tried.

Tried to squeeze Mammon´s tail a second time, but the greedy boy was also a very bouncy boy.

She also worked with Barbatos for quite a while, but as much as she wanted to go get those juicy two points, she just couldn't.

Something about this pretty man was scaring her... She found out later what it was.

Violet and Clover were serving drinks.

And for two girls without any real waitress-practise whatsoever, they did quite well.

But at one table, it had to happen.

The first broken glass of the evening. Clover had been holding the tray a little too sloppy.

As an ugly scream bubbled up her throat, she already felt the full glass of demonous fall, but was unable to do anything. The shattering of glass echoed through the bar, but what was worse was the growl that the customer pressed out.

Looking down on himself, Clover had perfectly spilled his drink onto the demon.

"You little..." he grunted, standing up and ready to break her neck this instant.

Clover backed away, of course, and felt how Violet had been there immediately to back her up.

"W-we apologize for this accident" Violet pressed out.

The demon seemed to get even more agitated, now raising his hand to hit her.

"Shut up you fucking-"

Then, another silhouette stepped in front of the girls.

Barbatos was gently holding the demon's hand back.

"In the name of the owner, I'd like to offer my deepest apologies as well. In cases like these, the local would like to immediately return the money you have spent this evening, and offers compensation in form of three free drinks of your choice."

Barbatos did a little bow after having finished.

"Screw the money..." The demon hissed. "I wanna tear those humans into miserable pieces. That´ll do as an apology."

Barbatos did not look up.

"... In that case..." the butler continued. "Guests who actively threaten the well-being of our dear staff will be treated according to their own attitude."

He straightened his back, beaming the demon a formal smile. "I will show you the exit. Please, do not think of coming back anytime soon."

Despite being so cocky before, now the customer flinched heavily. Finally, he seemed to follow the butler's orders. He spat on the table in some disrespectful dick move, then left the local.

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

Violet and Barbatos helped Clover clean the mess afterwards.

"Thanks for dealing with that guy..." Clover mumbled.

"Oh, there is no need" Barbatos hummed. "If not for me, one of the demon brothers would have come to your aid. And I fear a person like Mammon would not have left the situation without a fight, so I figured it would be best to jump in myself."

The girls gave a small giggle.

"That's true..." Violet mumbled. "But that only makes you even more impressive. It's rare to see a demon so calm."

“Calm?” Barbatos looked up from the broken glass he had been collecting. He seemed genuinely confused for a moment, then his usual smile was back.

"How cute" he chuckled.

"C-cute?!" Violet blinked in surprise.

But Barbatos was already making his leave.

"Ah, don't mind it..." he mused. "The naiveté is what makes you humans so charming."

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

Clover felt safer sticking to cleaning instead of potentially making another mess, so she was wiping the tables when she heard Diavolo calling out to her.

"Are you busy right now?" he asked.

"Not really, I'm still on cleaning duty but there isn't really much to do right now... Can I help you with anything?"

Taking a careful look around, Diavolo stepped closer, lowering his voice as well. "I am in trouble."

"Uhm..." Clover swallowed her stress. "And why?"

"I lost the master key. The one the owner gave me."

"... The one you need to lock the whole place with? The one that basically gives you control over the whole bar?"

"I see you smell the trouble now."

Clover gave a nod. "I do... Should I help you search?"

Diavolo's expression changed into a smile.

"That's what I wanted to hear! Thank you."

"No problem. Do you have any idea where it might be?"

So Diavolo gave it a thought, concluding that he must have lost it during his break.

"I looked through the bathroom already” he explained. “Which leaves only the kitchen and the staff's room."

Suddenly, a third voice joined the conversation.

"I did not notice anything like a key in the kitchen" Satan said, coming to a stop next to them.

"Oh, Satan, so you have overheard our conversation..." Diavolo crossed his arms.

"Don't worry, I won't spill anything to Lucifer" the blond laughed. "He'd only scold you, wouldn't he?" Then, his gaze fell on Clover. "I can help you search."

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

Clover and Satan looked through the whole staff's office.

Luckily no one was there to ask what they were doing, especially since they just couldn't find anything. Satan gave a sigh.

"Nothing... I even looked through Mammon's jacket in case his kleptomania had struck again..."

Meanwhile, Clover was rummaging through one of the desks. Giving a resigned breath as well, she was about to give up when she spotted something shimmering behind the wooden desk.

"I think I found it...!" Clover called out.

Satan came up to her, seeing as well how there was a key stuck in the web of cables behind the office desk.

"Wait, I'll get it."

He tried reaching it from above, but some computer monitors kept getting in the way.

In the end, Satan was crouched down, head under the table as he fiddled with the cables.

"I still can't reach it..." he pressed out under his breath.

Clover grumbled in displease, kneeling down as well. There wasn't enough room for her to help in any way, so all she could do was watch Satan do his thing...

Oh no.

She had THE perfect chance to squish Satan's tail. Due to his position, his booty was right in front of her, and he seemed more than busy to even bother her presence.

Three points, she thought...

Just a little tap, she thought...

Holding her breath, she stretched out a finger and reached for the pompom...

Merely a second later Clover found herself landing on her back, her wrists being pressed against the floor next to her head.

"I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY."

Satan's body hovered above hers as he held her in a tight grip.

Clover was panicking.

"I'm so sorry - I shouldn't have done that - I'm sorry Satan Sir please don't kill me - I'm an idiot - I'm sorry I'm sorry - I love you sir I'm really sorry I'm-"

"Explain yourself" he interrupted her pleading.

"Hnnngh...” Clover fought actual tears but finally calmed down. "I... Uhm... Violet and I might be playing... A game..."

"Go on" Satan demanded in a sharp voice.

So Clover took a deep breather, speaking terribly fast in her fear.

"It's a competition. We wanted to see who can touch the most bunny tails over the evening, without the people noticing. Look, it's weird, I'm sorry, Violet has some kind of pompom kink and suggested it and I can't say no to people so I joined, also because it's funny, oh also please don't tell Violet I said anything about a kink, she will kill me."

His glistening greenish eyes kept mustering her flushed red face.

"I'm not satisfied yet."

The girl gave another whine.

"Pleeaase... Dearest Satan, Sir..."

"Keep going..."

"Ah...uhm… Oh lord, my man, oh how I plead for thy mercy, oh mighty Satan...! Thy tail was so tempting, I couldn't resist reaching for it...... And also I suck at this game and need points so desperately...! It was just too perfect of a chance, please forgive m..."

She stopped.

He was smirking at her, his grin almost dripping with this sly and cocky attitude.

Clover only now felt how there was something else in-between his left hand and her wrist.

The key.

And she remembered what Violet had texted her earlier today.

"... Did you trick me? The key wasn't actually hard to grab, was it?" she asked. “You knew I would try to touch your tail.”

His smirk widened.

"Why the fascination with bunny tails?" Satan nonchalantly ignored her questions.

"... They're fluffy..." Clover mumbled bashfully. "Just... fun to play with, y'know...?"

The blond tilted his head. "Never played with one."

"... Try it, it's nice."

"Yes, I would like to" he said, enjoying the flustered mess underneath him as she tried to figure out what he was implying. "Right now" he added.

So Clover tried to stand up... But Satan wasn't letting her.

"Uhm... I-I would let you touch mine, b-but... Could I stand up first...?"

"No."

Silence.

Probably the only thing audible was Clover's boiling head as she slowly raised her hips off the ground, constantly being focused by those sly eyes of his.

One of his hands let go of her arm, reaching down while his whole body lowered slightly as well.

Instead of reaching for her back, however, he first placed his hand on her thigh. Through her fishnet stockings, she felt his touch wandering up her leg, only then he'd brush over her side to her back, finally finding the bunny tail in his grip.

"Interesting" he mused, poking and squishing the pompom as he pleased, visibly amused at her embarrassment. "Yes, very-"

They heard the office's door falling shut.

Both, Satan and Clover, stopped in their motion, even in their breathing, as footsteps came closer.

"My jacket... Where did I leave my jacket..."

They were staring at each other first, then at the person casting a shadow on them.

And... well...

Luke stared back.

Stared at the demon bending over the human, the human arching closer to the demon, touching each other in those... those clothes...!

The angel could only press out some dying squeaking noises as his face exploded in an outraged blush. He took a step back, raising an arm as if shielding himself from the evil.

"S... S-s..."

Clover was the first to move again.

"Luke, this is not what-"

"SIMEEOOOOOONN....!"

Aaand Luke ran out of the room in a great whine. Slowly getting over the shock, Clover let out a sigh.

"... He's going to arrange some exorcism for me now, ain't he..." she mumbled.

The demon only gave a chuckle. "Serves you right" he hummed.

"Wha-?! You're the one who start..." her voice gave in immediately after meeting again with this almost sadistic stare.

"S-s-stop... Satan... Since wh-when are y..." Clover stuttered as the demon continued to play with her tail.

He leaned in closer.

"You should know that trying to play pranks on me will always backfire thrice as much..." he purred into her ear.

Then, Satan let go, pulling back and rising onto his feet.

"Well, I think that is enough of a punishment for now. I'll go and bring Lord Diavolo his key."

Clover sat up as well, but her legs were way too wobbly to do any more than that.

She glanced up at him, seeing him wave a goodbye.

"See you around" he hummed, adding a little wink before heading out of the room.

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

About another hour had passed when Clover and Violet decided to check up in Diavolo again...

Clover: Lord Diavolo, how is the game going?

Diavolo: Good! I have 62 points so far.

Clover: WHAT

Violet: U-uhm... May I ask how you got to have so many...?

Diavolo: I asked Barbatos to let me touch his tail.

Clover: ... For all of the points?

Diavolo: Yes :)

Violet: ...

Diavolo: What is wrong? Is that not a good score?

Clover:

It is... But... We actually had made some rules that we didn't get to explain...

Diavolo: Oh! Which would be? :)

Violet: Uhm... For example, you are not allowed to squeeze the same tail twice in a row, and the target is not supposed to notice you...

Clover: Meaning... If you simply touched Barbatos' tail 31 times in a row with him knowing... You would have... No points yet...

Violet: ...

Clover: ...

Diavolo: :(

----------

Ironic enough, Diavolo had been taking a break in the staff room while texting.

Minutes later, Barbatos came in to bring him something to drink.

"Barbatos! You are not allowed to notice me anymore when I touch your tail. Apparently I did it wrong the whole time!"

"Of course, my lord" the butler answered, the slightest smirk glistening in his eyes.

Diavolo noticed immediately, pointing out how Barbatos looked way more relaxed than usual.

"Oh, do I?" Barbatos tilted his head. "Well, it certainly is a weight off my shoulders to have a crew to rely on. For most parts, at least."

He was heading for the exit already.

"And I am glad to see you are enjoying yourself, my lord" he smiled. "I will have to thank those girls for that..."

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

Violet was working at the bar.

Lucifer had promised her to teach her some cocktail mixing, and there they were.

Turns out she was learning quickly, and the demon soon entrusted her with serving drinks to actual customers. Keeping an eye on her, Lucifer watched as Violet worked, also receiving help from Asmo.

... Which was impressive, by the way, because anyone could sense that Asmo had been sneaking some drinks here and there, and was getting a little... Tipsy.

It showed at one point, though. A customer came up, asking for a drink rather difficult to mix.

"I can do this!" Violet assured her friends and started mixing the juice.

But just as Violet was bending down to put some ice cubes into the drink...

They heard -- and Violet felt -- a slap that was audible even despite the quite loud music playing.

And everyone around them went quiet.

Blinking, Violet straightened her back again, turning to find Asmo behind her.

"Did. You just."

"Slap your ass? Fuck yes I did!"

"Asmo!!"

"Come on, you CAN'T expect me to NOT go for that booty when you're stretching it RIGHT into my FACE."

Lucifer next to them barged in. "But you can't just do th-"

"It was on INSTINCT" Asmo said.

"What do you mean, instinct?!" Violet asked, her face still in a slight blush.

"Oh my godddd, I'm the avatar of LUST, if I see a cute butt I just can't help it!"

"Asmo, that's not okay", Lucifer scolded. "You need to learn to control your sin."

"WHY?! Y'all have your quirks too, why am I not allowed to be myself?! That's so unfair, I always get shouted at! Like, Beel's also snacking our whole storeroom empty but THAT'S fine, huh?!"

Lucifer´s eyes widened. "He's doing WHAT?!"

"And Mammon is stealing money out of the guest's pockets, but NO, let's sue ASMO for giving a booty the appreciation it DESERVES!"

Lucifer looked like he was about to have a stroke. A growl crawled up his throat.

"MAMMOOOOOONNN...!!!"

And he was gone.

Asmo turned to pout somewhere, and Violet was left at the counter, still a little overwhelmed.

The customer slowly raised their hand.

"... Could I... Get my drink now...?"

[clean-bands-dirty-stories]

Special Skill ~ J.P. (part 1)

A/n: After Drive By part 2 WIPED me the fuck out, I tried to rejuvenate myself with some lighter content and ended up realizing that I actually ADORE Bradley Steven Perry, so I went back and watched some old shows and movies he’s in. When I stumbled on Pants on Fire... well, you know I had to ;) This was the piece I was so excited about! It’ll be a two parter because I cannot do all of ANYTHING in one part it seems lmao

Warning: This is male reader and also PURELY self indulgent. Also, LOTS of lying and manipulation. Being ignored. Highschool. Nothing too serious.

Word Count: 5600+

MASTERLIST

Everyone has a special skill. Some people are just really great at school. Some people are fast learners. Some people are natural, easily funny. Some people are good with kids. Some people were fantastic at keeping promises, or never failed to do what they felt had to be done no matter the cost.

Jack Parker's special skill was lying.

Y/n's special skill was being completely invisible.

Not like in a  superhero way, but in a high school way. Y/n was really quiet and reserved. He wasn't caught up in the normal high school things like relationships and popularity. In fact, he was withdrawn on purpose, finding most kids his age to be really annoying or ridiculous on some level. He was never rude, but he did prefer people watching and laughing to himself, to actually interacting with others.

He never meant to eavesdrop, it was just that he'd be sitting on the floor, leaning against a book shelf reading a book when someone on the other side of the bookshelf would start talking about something that he tuned into without thinking. Or, his quietness allowed people to forget that they weren't alone while walking or riding the bus and they'd talk loud enough for him to hear when he wasn't too far away. He perhaps could have tried harder to avoid people and give them their space, and he almost had... until one day he'd overheard Jack Parker and his best friend Ryan talking about something so very interesting that it convinced him to never stop listening to people ever again.

Jack Parker was... an interesting person, let's start there. A few people were pretty sure that half the things he said were true out of sheer improbability. However, Jack was such an amazing liar that no one could prove him wrong, and after a while even the ones who disbelieved him the most fell for his confidence and charisma. He just SEEMED like he was telling the truth. Everyone believed Jack when he told them something happened, especially when he became a local hero for tutoring some boy from another school. Mikey.

Well, almost everyone believed him at least. His very best friend, Ryan, knew the truth because Jack had told him. And Y/n knew because he'd been within earshot when Jack had told Ryan in the first place.

It had been what usually happens. The two boys had been in the back of the bus, as they both got off at the last stop - along with Y/n. They didn't know this though, because Y/n sat in front of them, just a few seats. He didn't talk, or even move a lot. He even sunk a lot into his seat as he was quite small, and leaned against the window to look outside, one earphone in his ear. As usual, his weird talent to be invisible no matter how hard he tried - for god's sake he was wearing a neon red jacket that day - he went completely undetected. So when Jack had explained to Ryan that he had lied about Mikey, and what it meant for them, Y/n had been well within ear shot to hear the whole thing.

Y/n could have told someone. Probably should have. But he had... a sort of crush on Jack, and selling him out wouldn't get Y/n anywhere with getting on the boy's good side. Not to mention, there weren't many people that would believe him - if there were any at all. He probably could have figured out a way to show Jack up. To rip apart his tapestry of lies and expose him to everyone. But Y/n believed that mistakes should be learned from. If he exposed Jack now, all that would happen is that Jack's life would be ruined and Jack would hate him. Things would come out eventually, and hopefully it would be from Jack himself. If that damage had to be done, Y/n wasn't going to be the one to do it.

He never really was, though. He never did much of anything.

All of that being said, Jack and Ryan were not the only ones stunned when the very Mikey that had been a ruse, suddenly turned up at school. Solid and smiling and talking and very much real. He passed every test and followed through treating Jack exactly how you'd expect Mikey to be. With him came Jack's super hot girlfriend from Arizona, even though Jack was so obviously crushing on one of the girls at school - Jenny. If that hadn't been bad enough, Jack and Ryan themselves broke into the room where Y/n was having shop class, being chased by lumberjacks who seemed to have it out for Jack. Weirdly enough, that fit another one of Jack's lies - once he'd broken his arm apparently single handedly fighting off two lumberjacks, but Y/n had seen Jack at the bike park the day before, and had seen him fall and break his arm, so he'd known better. Seeing them here now worried Y/n. So of COURSE he offered to take the two men out of the school where they belonged, and used it as an opportunity to dip out of class and follow after Jack to see if anymore of the lies Jack had told had come true.

Maybe even figure out what the hell was going on, and stop it.

Jack probably didn't deserve it, but if this got serious then Jack would be in danger from lumberjacks and aliens and pro wrestlers alike - and those were just the lies Y/n had heard about. Life was hard enough without your life being in danger, and that directly putting others' lives in danger as well. Y/n usually sat back and did nothing, but this wasn't one of those times.

After school, Y/n decided to go home - he wasn't going to follow Jack THAT far. But only the very next day, the rumor that Jack had been outside Jenny's house covered in all kinds of different things - including makeup - Y/n realized that maybe Jack needed an extra pairs of eyes to help him out. Unfortunately, Y/n lost Jack pretty early in the day as none other than Mikey himself approached after having a short exchange with Ryan and Jack. "Hey!" he greeted warmly.

Y/n stared back for a few seconds. Mikey seemed to get uncomfortable - the first negative reaction he'd had to literally anyone his entire time being here. "Hi," Y/n finally responded evenly, narrowing his eyes.

The response seemed to cheer Mikey up again. "Now that I'm transferring schools and coming here permanently, I think I want to make friends outside of Jack. He seems to be close with everyone here on some level, except for you and a few others. Figured I'd try each of you guys until someone - or even all of you - want to be my friend too!"

That made Y/n smirk. "I know you're full of shit."

Apparently, Mikey hadn't been expecting that. "I'm sorry?"

Shaking his head, Y/n scoffed. "I know Jack lied about there even being a Mikey. If you're just here to psyche Jack out, or for some magic thing, why are you trying to be friends with ME? No one wants to be friends with me."

This time it was Mikey who didn't respond right away. "You're less invisible than you think. I saw you in the window yesterday, watching me and Jack. I also saw you take those lumberjacks out of the school, which probably saved the boys a lot of time. I also saw you following Jack around the rest of school after that. You're the only one in this entire school who seems to be questioning anything." He smirked. "I have a friend who would really appreciate your help, especially since you know the truth about Jack... if you wanted to get him back for it."

Okay that wasn't what Y/n had been expecting. "Will I finally know what's going on?" Mikey nodded. "Will I have to participate in duping Jack?"

Mikey only shrugged. "We'll see what she says. Probably not."

How could he say no? "Who's this she, and what are you guys up to?"

Finally, that huge grin returned to Mikey's face. "I'm so glad you asked."

-

When Hannah had finished explaining the lengths she'd gone to in order to shake Jack up enough to finally tell everyone all he'd been lying about, Y/n had only one thing to say. "So you're lying to him to get him to come clean about lying to everyone else? At least now we know for sure you're both related."

That made her go a little red. "Listen, you have a little sister. You bring her to the fun center all the time." To that Y/n had to nod. "I see the way you sort of blend. I've picked Jack up from school for enough years now that I also notice the way you look at him." Y/n went stiff and Hannah chuckled. "Listen. He's a tool, and I have NO idea what you see in him, knowing what you know. But if you help me do this, maybe I'll help you out with your dilemma."

Y/n crossed his arms over his chest, suddenly not in a very cheery mood. "As much as I appreciate the thought Hannah, I'd rather like him from a distance than have to be friends with a straight boy I've liked for years okay? I'll keep my mouth shut - don't make any other promises you can't keep. Especially because-" Y/n swallowed a thick something caught in his throat. "He likes someone else.

There was an odd look on Hannah's face, but it was hard to read and she wasn't about to explain it which was most clear when she just kept on talking. So Y/n dismissed the look altogether. "Fine, that's fair." They parted ways there as Y/n noticed Jack and Ryan walking over to head home. Y/n had left class early to talk to Hannah in the empty parking lot, but now his time was up. "See you around, Hannah. Good luck." She winked and the boys shot Y/n confused looks as they got in the car and he left. As he went, he could hear them asking Hannah who he was, but she just said that Y/n had been asking for advice because they worked together, and left it there.

With how easy the words had left Hannah, and with how much confidence she'd had, perhaps Jack's talent for lying was more of a family thing than Hannah would like to admit. The thought amused Y/n enough to cheer him up. For now at least.

The next day in PE very quickly ruined his mood again though, as they were set up to play dodge ball. Mikey ended up being one of the team leaders, and he chose Y/n first to be on his team. Everyone was surprised. No one ever picked Y/n first. Even standing in front of them dressed in bright blue and red, he still blended into the crowd and it was often that not until everyone else had been picked they even realized he was there at all. Unfortunately, Y/n knew why Mikey saw Y/n so clearly. Why Mikey had picked him first. And he wasn't happy about it.

During the games, Mikey didn't talk much to Y/n which was appreciated, but the attitude Y/n gave him every time they DID interact seemed to catch Jack's attention - exactly what he didn't want to happen. Especially when a few games in everyone was picked off one by one until Jack and Ryan stood against Y/n and Mikey. Two on two, with Jack's eyes trained on Y/n in a way that made Y/n feel like he was going to explode. Perhaps it was that exact energy that demanded to be used that had driven him to pick up a ball and throw it at Ryan, nailing the red head right in the chest. "Nice shot!" Mikey congratulated. Y/n rolled his eyes.

In his moment of distraction, Jack hit Y/n with a ball as well. Y/n looked over when he was hit and the two boys' eyes locked. Jack seemed to be asking a question Y/n didn't want to even look at. Didn't want to hear, let alone answer. So he ducked his head and dipped, bee lining it for the water fountain on the opposite end of the gym to wait out the rest of the game so he could have as little downtime as possible to interact with Jack. It was that action which caused him to miss Jack nailing Jenny in the face with a ball aimed for Mikey, but he'd hear enough about it later to plenty make up for it.

After class was lunch, and Y/n would have made it peacefully to his usual spot under the bleachers, but Hannah stopped him on the way. Y/n was expecting her to ask him to be nicer to Mikey, but her eyes were only full of concern. "Mikey told me what happened in PE. How Jack noticed you, and how you ran away. He said you looked upset."

Y/n sighed, his shoulders sagging. "Honestly I just..." He wasn't used to having someone care about him, or talking about his feelings. It felt so promising to finally be able to, but also terrifying. Perhaps he and Hannah were in cahoots now, but she had no reason to actually care about Y/n. She was probably only asking to make sure that he didn't slip and tell Jack anything, which gave the thought that once this whole thing was over, she wouldn't care anymore. That meant Y/n could NOT get attached to her. Temporary things weren't worth putting effort into. "Nothing. I'm just used to noticing, not being noticed. Mikey sort of drew attention to me when he picked me first and it threw me off." He shrugged. "Now if you'll excuse me-"

"Hannah?" The sound of his voice made Y/n freeze, perfectly still. Not even breathing. "Drive us to Funland."

"Please?" She prompted, eyes staying purposefully away from Y/n, who kept his back to Jack but was still unfortunately in full view of her.

"Hannah," Jack tried again, voice laced with irritation. "Drive us to Funland. Please." the last word came out sarcastic and sharp. Y/n felt himself relaxed, ever amused by Jack's unceasing attitude.

"No," Hannah answered bluntly, smirking as she crossed her arm. Y/n actually smiled, and that only served to encourage her even more.

"Come on," Jack complained.

Ryan seemed to be less sure about wanting to go though. "We can't go back there," he reminded urgently. "Otis banned us for life." Y/n shot a look at Hannah, whose smirk only grew. Y/n had known for a long time that she worked at Funland - after all, he did take his little sister there like she'd said. He was beginning to wonder what shenanigans he'd been missing out on.

"We have no choice," Jack argued, turning to his friend. "If we want to get rid of Mikey once and for all, we have to find that purple hippo."

That caught Y/n off guard, and without thinking he turned to face Jack, too confused to think clearly. "I'm sorry, you're looking for Hurley?"

Jack only then seemed to realized Y/n was there, and he stopped a second, as if realizing it was the same kid who's been playing dodge ball with Mikey. Ah yes, back to being invisible. "No," Jack picked up again. "We're talking about a purple hippo at Funland who stands around and hands out balloons."

"Yeah," Hannah said this time. "His name's Hurley. And he doesn't hand out balloons."

"Well, when Emma and I went yesterday, Bart was off," Y/n piped up, directing that at Hannah. He didn't want to address Jack yet, and every time he looked at Ryan, the red head had gears turning so visibly not even his narrowed eyes could hold it off.

"That explains it," Hannah affirmed, nodding.

Jack was the next one to pipe in. "How do you two know all this?"

Hannah answered that one. "Jack, I've worked there for two years. I see Y/n there all the time with his little sister."

"Seriously?" Jack's shoulder relaxed, and Y/n realized that he'd pieced together why Y/n and Hannah were so casually talking to each other. He must have paid as close attention to Hannah as he did to Y/n though, because Y/n and Hannah had never really talked until all of the recent stuff that had been happening.

That theory was confirmed when Hannah huffed, "Where did you think I was going for four hours every day after school?"

"Well I don't know." Jack's eyes went wide as he shrugged. "I was just happy you were out of the house." Hannah sighed and took Y/n's arm to drag him after her as she began to walk away. There was only a second before Jack trailed after them, desperation leaking into his voice. "Hannah," he pleaded. "Hannah, please!"

Hannah was strong. Y/n wasn't. He pulled out of her grasp, turning to face Jack. "If you're really set on finding Hurley for whatever weird breakdown you seem to be having, his main habitat is the jungle mini golf course. Look for him there, okay?"

Jack grinned. "I like your new friend Hannah. He's awesome."

Y/n looked away to hide his blush.

"Yeah yeah, now go," Hannah dismissed, and the two boys ran off to go find Hurley. She grinned at Y/n when they were gone. "You know I'm Hurley, right?"

Y/n winced. "I know that now."

She giggled. "It's fine. This could be a good thing actually. They seem lost - I'll give em a little nudge." She leaned closer, bumping her shoulder with his. Her finger on the other arm reached up to tap his nose. "Push him in all the right directions." She winked, and then took off walking without Y/n this time, leaving him with a sinking dread in his stomach.

He pushed it down to take Emily to Funland just like he always did though... which had been a mistake. He thought that it would have been a big enough place to avoid Jack and Ryan, but only an hour later they were heading out of the jungle mini golf course when Ryan walked up to them, which of course meant Jack followed after. "Hey, I never caught your name?"

Y/n wished in that moment he could just die on the spot. "It's Y/n," he answered, hoping that would make Ryan go away. Long story short: it didn't.

"You've been coming here with Emma for a few years," Ryan continued. "Do you have any idea who Hubert could be?”

"Hurley," Y/n corrected tiredly. Ryan nodded. Y/n let his eyes drift away, searching out Emma as she climbed the rock wall. Unlike Jack, he wasn't good at lying. People never asked him questions - they never talked to him at all. But he had to lie. On some level. He DID know who Hurley was, but he couldn't exactly tell Jack that. Damnit Hannah, why did she have to tell him?! "Not really," Y/n finally caved. Ryan rose an eyebrow. "I mean I saw Hurley without a head once when I first came here, but they were fired as far as I know so I'm assuming it's someone new. That was three and a half years ago." It was truthful in full. Aside from the just the story, he didn't really know Hannah personally. He could have told them he knew it was her now, but he just. Didn't. Everything else had enough truth to it that it wasn't hard to sell.

Jack stepped up. "This probably makes no sense to you, but I just wanted to thank you for helping out. I think I've seen you around school a few times, but we've never like talked or anything. I just have to ask... why ARE you helping?"

Y/n shrugged. "I hate lying, and there's no harm in telling you what I did." Only then did he look away from Emma again as she began to reach the bottom of the rock wall, directly into Jack's eyes. "You have a lot going for you. It would be a shame if some unexpected drama were to ruin everything else." Jack's eyebrows came together, but before he could say anything Emma had reached the bottom and had made her way over - as Y/n had intended.

"Who are your friends?" the ten year old asked.

"Not my friends," Y/n corrected in the same nonchalant voice he'd used to remind Ryan of Hurley's name. "Just people I got to school with. They were just leaving-"

Emma's eyes went wide. "Wait, you're Jack aren't you?" Y/n went stiff. "My brother used to talk about you all the time! You're like the coolest kid at his school."

Jack turned his raised eyebrows on again, still aiming them at Y/n. Y/n shrugged. "What teenager who goes unnoticed and completely uncared for doesn't want to be friends with the popular kid?" He put either of his hands on Emma's shoulders, steering her away. "Nice to see you guys, later!"

Unfortunately, Jack didn't leave it there. "No wait!" He jogged over and Emma stopped, which forced Y/n to as well. "You've been cool. I wouldn't mind being friends."

Ironically, Y/n flashed back to what he'd said to Hannah. How much he had so NOT wanted this exact thing to happen. But what could he say. 'Sorry don't want to be friends with my crush, that would suck'? He couldn't that. But else would make sense? "Sure," Y/n sighed.

For some reason, that made Jack smile. "If you guys are set on staying here for a while longer, you can, but you could also come hang out with me and Ryan at my house if you wanted."

Y/n went to decline, but Emma got to it first. "Only if I can come along," she stated firmly. "This is sibling time. You get to join, not interrupt."

"That's fair," Jack agreed. "Come on!" The four kids headed outside after getting Emma's shoes and stuff, ready to catch the bus back to Jack's house. Y/n was sweating bullets. Unfortunately, going to Jack's house was the least of his problems. The second they were outside, Jack froze. "Perhaps... we should cancel the whole going to my house thing," Jack began nervously. His eyes moved to the others slowly, fear in them. Y/n seemed to put together what had him immediately - another lie had come to life. As if on cue, Jack looked at Y/n and Emma before his eyes glued to Ryan with purpose. "Remember when I told Eric that I was late meeting him because I was abducted by aliens?"

Ryan immediately went tense, and Y/n went pale. All four pairs of eyes turned to the roof, following Jack's lead as they saw what he had. Two men, wearing odd glasses like Cyclops from the X-Men comics. They seem to look identical - down to the matching shiny, silver suits and black, polished shoes. Very... what one might assume... alien vibes.

"No," Ryan whispered, forcing himself to reject what he was seeing. "I absolutely do not remember. I refuse to remember!" He even turned away, eyes focused purposefully on the cement.

"Too late," Jack shot down, his voice full of regret and resigned fear. He looked at Y/n and Emma, and in that moment the look that Jack had on his face would be burned in Y/n's mind forever. This is the face Jack made when he told the truth. "They're back."

"There are no such thing as aliens," Emma argued, shaking her head even as she looked up at the two men on the roof with awe.

"Right!" Ryan agreed, getting his momentum back. "Those are just two dudes, you know, wearing weird suits, standing on top of a roof." Jack and Emma nodded along, but Y/n was the one who had kept his eyes glued on the men, so he was the one who first saw the very bad news.

"They're running down it!" He screamed, jumping back to push Emma behind him, protected for maybe only a second longer than if he'd just left her be.

The two men landed, removed their weird glasses to reveal glowing red eyes, and then opened their mouths to release a high pitched, terrible shrieking sound. Y/n was most disturbed by the fact that they seemed to be even more identical with the visors off. So when Jack said to run, all four of them did, taking off into the garbage and hopping into the back of a truck. The aliens ran by and they were home free... well, until they almost ran face first into the lumberjacks, who had been so good as to find Jack again - this time with even more friends in harm's way. They were all running again, booking it into the elevator and to the top floor where they came out on the roof of all places. Where, to everyone's luck, the lumberjacks also were as they'd taken the stairs. Where, just as well, the aliens were as well, having run up the long way - through the parking lot. Even Otis was here, on his little golf cart to run them down as well.

Just as all hope seemed to be lost, Jack's fake girl from Arizona - Y/n never learned her name - pulled up in a red convertible, yelling at the four of them to get inside. Emma, Y/n, and Ryan all piled eagerly into the back seat, but Miss Totally not Fake Girlfriend locked the car before Jack could join them - right after he thanked her too, which finally gave Y/n her name. Lisa.

"Not you," Lisa snapped.

"What?" Jack almost screamed. Y/n couldn't blame him - Otis, the lumberjacks, and the aliens were getting closer by the second.

"You broke my heart, Jackie Bear," Lisa whined. Y/n looked away, his hands curling into fists. Putting Jack's life on the line was NOT worth having a heart to heart. This was NOT the time - how selfish did someone have to be? She didn't have to come at all if she didn't want to help, so why wasn't she just doing it and then talking about it later? She could have locked all of them in the car once they were safe and not let him out until... but then was when Y/n realized what this was about. The fake danger would force Jack to spill his guts and be honest, even if he wouldn't have in literally any other situation. Hannah was a genius.

"Lisa, please," Jack pleaded. "Whatever you want, I'll make it up to you."

"You're just saying that because you're selfish and you don't want your brains sucked out of your skull by aliens." The sentence was ridiculous, but Lisa DID have a point. Jack was only using her as an escape - he didn't really care that he'd hurt her.

Jack finally cracked though, not having enough room to think rationally. "Okay what do you want me to say?" he snapped.

"The truth," Lisa stated firmly.

And then, for some reason, Jack looked directly at Y/n, and in his eyes was that same fear from earlier. Y/n realized that the high opinions of others meant everything to Jack. Even now, thinking his life was on the line, with Y/n in the car, he couldn't bring himself to say it. "Just tell her, Jack," Y/n demanded. "I know as well as Ryan does that this whole lying thing has gotten out of hand."

Stunned, Jack looked back to Lisa. His confusion was replaced by regret as he saw HER. The girl he'd hurt by blowing her off to hide her from Jenny. Jenny, who had been hurt by all the other lies as well. Y/n, who seemed to know Jack had been lying but seemed hurt anyway. In that moment, he realized that Y/n was right. This HAD gone too far.

"Why don't you want to be with me?" Lisa asked gently, leaving no room for half truths or cop outs.

Looking around, Jack finally took in his situation... and gave up. "I-" His eyes flickered to Y/n again before landing on Lisa solidly. "I made you up so my friends wouldn't make fun of me."

Lisa smiled. "Get in." The car unlocked and the door opened and Jack was inside, and then they were pulling away and headed to Jack's house.

It was dark when they pulled up and unbuckled. Jack turned to Lisa, thanking her. She only smiled. "I know how much you love trouble, Jackie. Someone's gotta watch out for you." Ryan's eyes found Y/n's in that moment, and Y/n got the terrible feeling he'd been officially wrapped up in something he'd been trying to avoid.

"Listen, I'm sorry I lied to you," Jack apologized now. "I never, ever meant to hurt your feelings. It's just... I'm kind of into someone else." Y/n found himself having to look away, but he didn't miss the way that Ryan caught the pain flickering across his features. He only hoped Ryan wouldn't put together why.

Lisa was unphased. "If you like this someone else so much, Jackie Bear, just... try being honest with them. No one wants a relationship built on lies."

Jack nodded, then looked at Y/n. Feeling his eyes, Y/n looked back. "Speaking of..." He rose an eyebrow and Y/n nodded, recognizing without saying it that they needed to talk. They all got out of the car, said goodbye to Lisa, and then stood there and watched her go. It was then that Jack turned to Y/n again. "How did you know Lisa was a lie?"

Y/n sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. "I know a lot of things about the people at our high school. I don't MEAN to, people just... don't notice me." He shrugged. "Say things without realizing I can hear you. I was in the bus with you guys when you told Ryan that Mikey was a lie. I was also at the park when you broke your arm on your bike, so I knew you lied about the lumberjacks. I'd hear the "my secret girlfriend in Canada" line so many times it was easy to put together that you were full of crap about that too. I eventually wrote off that most things you said that sounded ridiculous on any level, were. Like your Asian parents and the wrestler and Mikey's dog's bionic tail."

After a second, Jack let out a breath. "Why didn't you ever tell anyone?"

At this, Y/n could only bring himself to shrug. "I don't owe anyone anything, and there was no harm coming from it at the time. I mean, the other people lined up for Student of the Year were annoying, and that was as far as I knew when it came to who you were affecting. It's not my job to keep you from making your own mistakes - you have to be the one to tell them. You have to learn from it. Now more than ever. All of these things happening are affecting more than just you, and Lisa was right. Jenny has probably been hurt by the lying most of all." Jack went to argue, but Y/n just rolled his eyes. "Half the school can see the way you look at her, Jack, you're not lowkey." That shut Jack up immediately.

"Well," Ryan sighed. "Now we know how to fix the whole thing. It worked with Lisa, and it can work with the others too. You just have to tell the truth - that isn't hard."

But then a look crossed over Jack's face, and Ryan and Y/n seemed to realize what he was thinking without him having to open his mouth. "Jack..." Y/n whispered softly.

"I'm just so CLOSE, you guys!" He huffed, looking at the with desperation. "Student of the Year gets announced tomorrow."

"Are you crazy?" Ryan snapped. "After everything we've been through?"

"The hippo said I have to confess to everyone. He never said when," Jack reasoned. "I'll just do it after Student of the Year. You even said it yourself Y/n - those kids are annoying anyway. I'm showing people that grades and crap don't matter - heart does! That's a GOOD thing."

Y/n stepped away when Jack reached a hand out to put on Y/n's shoulder. "But you're not winning on good character, Jack. You're winning through lies. Lies that are becoming a serious problem. And what do you think will happen when they realize you've been lying even after you got the award? You think there are aliens and lumberjacks coming after you and anyone close to you, but you still prioritize what? Being a bat boy?" He shook his head, grabbing Emma's hand. "I was wrong about you Jack. I thought every teenager was afraid of being hated and invisible. I thought you did it because you cared about being able to do the cool things you can - like stop bullies two years older than you from messing with other kids, or getting a whole school to rally together through love and excitement. But the only thing you're doing it for is the glory, and you care more about that than your friends and family." Jack went to say something, but Y/n just shook his head. "I was stupid to have a crush on you. You suck." And then without seeing Jack's reaction, he turned and walked away.

He figured that after his little confession, Jack wouldn't try to be friends with him anymore. Before, he'd been silently afraid of that. No matter what he told himself, he wanted Jack to see him and smile. To know he existed and to enjoy being around him. Yesterday, or just a few minutes ago even, that would have been enough...

Now, Y/n didn't care in the least. If that was how Jack treated people he saw, Y/n was just fine curling up in the shadows and never having Jack look at him again.

[stonertransdad]

Life Update since I hadn't been on here in forever

The pandemic was/is wild! Lockdowns started literally around the time we were going to the fertility specialist to get her pregnant. I lost my job to COVID in March shortly before we did the procedure, but we decided there's never really a good time to have a kid. Why not during a global pandemic when one of us in unemployed? (BTW, I don't recommend having a kid during a pandemic. Not being able to go to all of the appointments and having to sit in the parking lot was brutal.)

Let's talk about May friends...it was rough. (TW for mention of suicide btw. I'll post a gif where it's safe to start again if you wanna skip over it.)

So May 1st is the anniversary of my father's suicide. It had been 4 years. I found his body and since he wasn't married, I had to handle his affairs and arrange his funeral. May 1st, 2020 my wife and I had a Zoom game night with our friends and I got drunk because everyone was drinking (except my wife because she was pregnant). After our game night at like 2am, I had a psychotic break. I threatened to kill myself numerous times. My wife tried to talk me down, but eventually called the cops to take me. I thank her for that because looking back, that was the moment I knew something needed to change. I was convinced the cops were gonna kill me because I'm a trans dude in rural West Texas. I legit took the phone out of my wife's hand, hung up on 911, and yeeted her phone across the backyard and tried to hop the fence. Eventually the cops came and talked me down. They took me to the hospital an hour away in handcuffs (for their protection I did nothing wrong). They took me to the religious hospital that I was born in. So when they looked up my info by my name and date of birth from my driver's license (I only changed my middle name) literally all my paperwork and my bracelet had my deadname and wrong gender despite all of my legal stuff saying male with my new middle name. I mentioned it to them and they didn't care. They misgendered me the entire time I was there. I had hit my head hella hard on the bath tub when my wife was trying to snap me out of it, did the hospital even check me for concussion? Nope. I had punched so many things and my hand and wrist were swollen and discolored. Did they check out my hand and wrist? Nope. I was there for over 10 hours before I was able to convince them I was okay and that it was just the alcohol. Did I mention during that 10 hours I was literally out in the hall on a gurney with no mask and this was when COVID was running rampant in Texas (the first time)? I heard people die that night. I had nothing to distract me because they took away all of my personal items and clothes. My wife picked me up and we went home and I have been sober ever since. It's not the first psychotic break I've had with alcohol in my system. Alcohol just doesn't agree with me, but I'm finding new things to replace it with.

TW has been lifted...it's safe now.

A couple of weeks after that I began teletherapy because I had been on the same mood stabilizer and anti-depressant for almost a decade. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense that I felt like it hadn't been working for at least a year. This is a reminder to check in with your doctor if you feel like your meds aren't working. You may just need a different dose or a new med. There's no shame in that. I bounced around on various medications trying to find the right combo, some side effects scarier than others, but we got there. Before this, I had been diagnosed with ADHD, Major Depressive Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. My therapist threw out my Borderline diagnosis and said it was CPTSD instead, which made sense.

Fast forward to December because my wife was pregnant, I was unemployed still, and we did absolutely fuck-all because the global panini was still raging.

Our son was born on December 3, 2020. He weighed 5lbs 9oz and scared the ever loving shit out of us. He wasn't breathing when he was born so they called NICU in ASAP. I'm freaking out because I can hear and see what's going on while my wife was asking if he was okay as they put her guts back in place to sew her up. 5 or so minutes pass and a nurse asks if I want her to take some pictures. I'm like is he okay, he still hasn't cried. She's like "oh yeah, he's chillin." This goon was being held by a nurse and was just looking around not crying or anything. Chillest baby ever (he still is btw). I held him next to my wife's head until it was time to go back to the room. Little dude did have to spend 4 nights in the NICU because he couldn't keep his sugars or temperature regulated, but he was healthy otherwise. He's now 4 months old and is starting to sit up on his own a little bit and he's OBSESSED with standing. He's still a little guy, but very healthy and growing like a weed. He saves my life daily.

So after being unemployed for over 9 months, I started a new job working in a call center. I absolutely hate talking on the phone. It gives me anxiety and throws me into panic attacks, but I had been putting out hundreds of job applications since I lost my last job and this was the first offer I got. I wasn't really in a position to turn it down since my unemployment had ran out 2 months prior. It was 2 months of training, then we'd be on our own. I got thru the training and thought I could handle it...until they started putting us on live calls with someone helping us if we got stuck. My mental health hit the lowest point it had in a few years and my wife was terrified she was going to lose me. She convinced me to quit on February 28th (not because I didn't want to, but because I'm a stubborn ass who felt guilty). My meds got tweaked a little bit more dosage wise during this mess.

Starting about mid-February, I was experiencing severe shakiness, tremors, and spasms. I've always been a shaky person and never really thought too much about it, but at some points I could barely feed myself, or get a drink, or hold my son. On March 7th, I tried to make an appointment with my doctor about the weird symptoms I was experiencing, but she was out of town and her next opening wasn't until the 31st. My body said that won't work and my wife rushed me to the ER on the 9th...I had begun having seizures that day. I had no previous history of seizures. Got to the ER and had a seizure literally as I was walking thru the door, so they rushed me straight back. They took some blood and that was literally it. No MRI. No CT. They pumped me full of Ativan and said it was just a panic attack and to go home and chill.

Spoiler Alert: It wasn't just anxiety. I was having 20+ seizures a day. On the 10th, my wife rushed me to a different hospital...the good hospital over an hour away. First we had to drop off our gremlin with my mom to make things a little easier. Yet again, I had a seizure as I walked in the door and was taken back immediately. I don't really remember much because they kept pumping me full of Ativan and morphine because I had been in excruciating pain from the number of seizures I'd had. I do remember them doing a CT pretty quickly after I got there. Then they weren't happy with the results of the CT, so they took me to get an MRI, which showed possible signs of Multiple Sclerosis (but I didn't find that out until AFTER the notes showed up in my patient portal after being home a few days, so I raised hell...more on that later.) They did a 24 hour EEG on me and it showed nothing abnormal. Also, EEG glue is a bitch on your hair and scalp. After looking at everything and given my previous mental health history, they diagnosed me with Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures, or PNES. It is a subset of Functional Neurologic Disorder, or FND. I couldn't walk well anymore and had to use a walker when I was discharged. I was in the hospital for 3 days.

When I had my follow-up appointment on the 23rd, I asked why the possibility of MS was never mentioned to me since it was very clearly in the notes. The doctor didn't have an explanation. He called in a referral to neurology so I could get a 2nd MRI to confirm MS and marked it as high priority. He also didn't take my pain seriously. My pain levels had been at a 5 or higher every single minute since they took me off of the morphine in the hospital. He told me to keep taking prescription strength doses of ibuprofen and Tylenol, which I had been. I let him know I had been and it didn't even take the edge off the pain. He ignored me. Leading up to this appointment, I had also added urinary incontinence to my growing list of symptoms and was forced to wear diapers so I didn't have to do laundry all the time. The doctor also took me off my ADHD meds because they were lowering my seizure threshold. He also took me off of my sleeping meds and nightmare meds for the same reason I'm assuming.

I kept my appointment on the 31st with my primary doctor because she's been my doctor for 5 years now and I knew she'd take my pain seriously. She did. She immediately wrote me prescriptions for a muscle relaxer and Tylenol 4. She also told me that my referral had been rejected by neuro. She said my case wasn't a good one for what she called a "wallet biopsy" and the doctors in neurology could be real assholes. She immediately sent the referral to other locations to get an approval. I am still waiting on that despite it being marked as high priority. She wrote me a prescription for a wheelchair because we both agreed my wheelchair was not enough for particular days.

Yesterday my wheelchair was finally ready for pickup, so my wife drove me to go get it. I'm still unable to drive due to my seizures and my tremors and twitches as it's predominantly in my legs and arms. I am an ambulatory wheelchair user now. Some days I can go short distances without my walker, some days I can't go without my walker, some days I can't even get out of bed, and some days I will be using my wheelchair. Don't judge a book by its cover, not all disabilities are visible. I have managed to keep my daily seizure count down in single digits and have even had a few seizure free days. They are still incredibly taxing on my body. I feel like I can't ever replenish my spoons fast enough to keep up with anything in my life.

So all in all, life has been chaotic. We are moving from Texas to New Mexico in the next few weeks, which should be interesting considering I can't overdo it without throwing myself into seizures. We will be closer to my mother-in-law so she can help us with our son and I can start resting a bit more on the more difficult days. Being a stay-at-home dad with an invisible illness has been one of the most challenging things I've done in my life, but I wouldn't change it for the world.

Sorry this is so long. I just wanted to update my followers since it's been over a year since I posted before a few days ago.

[ambered-glazed-sheep]

Please do go on about Doomslayer and his morals. I'm legit fascinated by him since starting the let's play I'm watching and I'd love to hear your take on him (I know literally nothing about the Doom franchise other than lots of blood and violence against demons and also badass music)

You know, a year ago when my friends asked me 'hey do you wanna play minecraft' and i said 'yeah sure' i would have never thought i would one day have a minecraft sideblog where i get questions about the personality of the main character of a shooter fps game (of all things!) that is known for its incredible violence.

But here you go:

(prepare yourself this has gotten way longer than i thought oh god, and also it has nothing to do with hermits whatsoever. warnings for language and descriptions of violence? and i assume the readmore won’t be working the way i want it to)

Ok so, Doom!

First of all, i know nothing about the old games, and i’ve only seen a minimal amount of Doom Eternal Letsplays. Most of this is based on Doom (2016). 

Ok so we all start out thinking Doomguy! It’s the guy you play in Doom. The hand that hold the gun YOU are shooting demons with. And sure, you can go trough the whole game with that mindset, but that’s boring and we are overthinking fictional characters in this house.

ID software actually managed to give Doomguy/Doomslayer a TON of personality despite him never saying a word, barely any cutscenes to show what he does when you don’t control him (at least in Doom 2016), and not a lot of other characters to interact with despite enemy monsters.

The game just leaves you little hints and snippets and that’s what makes Doomslayer so exciting to think about. Just the right levels between ‘cryptid half-god who never shows emotion and is a player-insert’ and ‘this dude’s got an AGENDA. he has PLACES TO BE’. You are him as you play, but sometimes he makes decisions on his own. But personally, i could never find myself to disagree.

First, you got the intro sequence. 

You got a unknown voice telling you: 

“They are rage. Brutal, without mercy. But you. You will be worse. Rip and Tear, until it is done.”

First of all, YO. WOW. HOLY SHIT.

The scene immediately shifts to Doomslayer waking up. He’s naked, he’s chained down somewhere, theresa SHIT TON of scars littering his arms and hands. First thing HE does, on his own behalf, is ripping off the chains by flexing a little (literal iron chains!!!), smashing a zombies head against the sarcophagus he lays in and completely obliterating said head into a bit of blood (mind you, three seconds after he woke up from a thousands of years long coma!! but we only learn that later), and then promptly gets up, picks up a pistol, and now it’s your, the players turn. This takes like 8 seconds in total. This man means BUSINESS. That’s the first thing we learn.

Second thing that strikes me is the interactions with Samuel Hayden. 

Doomslayer is patient when a computer voice tells him the status of the base. He is patient as he looks at the screens to see what is going on. (a demonic invasion, thats what). But then dear Dr. Samuel Hayden calls. 

Dr. Hayden says “Hi, i’m the boss here, i’m sure we can work together in a way that benefits us both uwu”. Doomslayer immediately grabs the PC screen and pushes it aside. His gesture says, i’m done with this. im sick of this dude. this guy is full of shit. And he’s right! And that after barely hearing two sentences from Hayden!

So the second thing we learn is that he has no time for people trying to exploit him. He hears Hayden, he has a gut feeling that this dude is a little fishy, maybe he just plain doesnt like higher ups and heads of facilities. But we learn that he IS. NOT. going to listen to this man, and his body language makes that very clear without being actually violent against the person (he doesnt destroy the Screen either! just pushes it aside very annoyed. He isn’t mindlessly destroying property here.)

This continues. 

Hayden goes ‘hey maybe don’t destroy that energy source!’ in the few seconds you dont control him, Doomslayer listens. He hesitates. He considers. Then he destroys the thing anyways. Hayden keeps telling him to stop, but Doomslayer doesnt listen. He’s got his own mind!

This was mostly about Haydens Company, the UAC, harvesting hell energy, and hurting people in the process. 

There’s a scene where Doomslayer rides an elevator. Hayden, over the comms, tells him that everyone that has died in the demon attack was a nacessary sacrifice that will bring a new future or some shit like that. the camera pans down to show some poor sods corpse at those very words. Doomslayer cracks his knuckles. he is NOT HAPPY about that, so we know he doesnt like it when human lifes are sacrificed. He destroys the communicator, so he doesnt have to listen to Haydens voice telling him lies and trying to sway him anymore. 

(then he takes out his shotgun, the doors open, metal starts playing and the doom logo is shown, but that’s more about making the player feel epic than showing doomslayers personality,,)

Now i would like to talk about VEGA, the AI that controls the mars facility. 

VEGA occasionally talks to us/the Slayer. He is very straightforward, tells us what to do and why to do it, and is generally very polite. In the story, Doomslayer listens to Vega. 

Now why does he listen to VEGA but not Hayden? 

I think it’s because Hayden tries to get him to do things that just benefit him, and Hayden is very manipulative in his words (or tries to be lol), while Vega just says (if you destroy this thing, that door will open. I think Doomslayer appreciates it when people are honest to him.

And in the end, Doomslayer on his own decides to save a backup of VEGA. VEGA didn’t ask him to, Doomslayer did that on his own. It’s not relevant to his mission, he doesnt need VEGA to go to hell to close portals and whatnot. But he does save him. Why? I think it’s because he cares. Because he’s come to like VEGA. Because Vega didn’t try to manipulate him and screw him over. 

Next up is the Slayers Testament. 

These are a bunch of writings/recordings that you find scattered in the hell levels. (i highly recommend listening to them/reading them, they are metal as fuck and give me such an immense feeling of power bc they are talking about me, the doomslayer)

These testaments were written by demons. They were genuinely afraid of the slayer. 

Quote:

Unbreakable, incorruptible, unyielding, the Doom Slayer sought to end the dominion of the dark realm.

As said, i don’t think these are purely talking about his physical strength. They are talking about his... well, mentality. His Codex. They see him as an unstoppable force. He is incorruptible. Let that sink in. Man walks trough hordes of demons and at no point ever thinks ‘yeah maybe this is a bit much’ or ‘they just keep coming this is pointless’. No. He’s unyielding. (Can you tell how much i love the words in these testaments? It’s just got such a nice ring to it.)

In battle, the Doomslayer is BRUTAL. He tears apart demons, rips their eyes out, all that. He stomps on heads like they’re water balloons and isn’t fazed at all. Nothing stops this man. (except players like me who fall off the map 5 consecutive times, but lets just imagine the doomslayer is actually like he would be if someone played the game perfectly. player skill shouldn’t be considered in my headcanons jahdjhgd) One could even argue he has fun at this, because there are some animations like ripping off a zombies arm and beating the Zombie with it, or feeding a demon it’s own heart.

I feel like that says a lot about his personality as well!

He doesn’t hesitate. He doesn’t doubt himself. He doesn’t question his cause! He fights to get rid of the demons, not just the ones in his way, but every. demon. He will go out of his way to kill more demons. You could either take this as him having fun, or him following his own moral codex to get rid of every demon, or him being a not-quite-human war machine, or wanting to protect humanity from them. 

I would say it’s a healthy mix of all that :D

In older games, there was this whole backstory snippet of him returning to earth, finding that the demons had invaded his planet but also killed his pet rabbit (Daisy), and he then goes onto a 2-game long revenge trip.Take that as you will.

The last thing i would like to mention is this post.

Please watch the video. Doomguy walks trough the rows of random human guards. This is the walk of a man who doesn’t owe them SHIT. Yes, he wants to save humanity. Yes, he cares. But he also knows who he is. He knows what he did, and what he will do. He doesn’t have to justify himself in front of these shady scientists and jerky guards.THEY owe HIM, in fact. This video emits the sheer CONFIDENCE of someone who has walked trough hell multiple times and knows none of these people could even touch him. Yes, he would never kill them. He would not harm humans. But he doesn’t care about making them uncomfortable with his presence, either. He doesnt ask for permission.

(i think by now i am using the exact same words they did in that post. really, its worth the read. i think there’s a lot of repeated things between this post and that post by now but i encourage you to watch that video. its worth it.)

Also, the impact he has on the people in this room! they trip. they walk backwards. they go quiet, stutter. they are intimidated. They know he’s technically here to help and save them, but now, standing in front of them.... just wow. it really puts things into perspective. it tells the player that all the demons that he’s killed, all that the doomslayer has done... its noted. it has an impact. 

I’m not really sure where i’m going with this anymore, but watching those NPCs react to the slayers presence just adds so much more to his character. it tells us how people see him, and boy.... do they see him. 

i think it also ties a lot into how the player is made feel, controlling doomguy. all these head stomping and limp tearing animations, the guns, people being scared, watching doomslayer destroy important equipment from first pirson or pushing open doors or whatever... it just gives me such an immense feeling of power! i can’t even describe it. (...it also has nothing to do anymore with the original question but holy shit did i love playing doom for the sheer atmosphere of it. despite me being horrible at playing.)

(at the end of this i’m realizing that all of this never addressed if doomslayer is happy and content murdering demons, or if he just wants his peace and quiet but can’t help himself every time he sees a demon. i would propose to leave that up to headcanons. mine is a mix of both but in a way that makes it not angsty. like he loves to have his calm moments, but is just as happy to rip some demon’s spine out. probably gets a little itchy and impatient if he hasn’t fought in a while.)

also if you’re interested in game design and way more professional people talking about why doom 2016 is great i reccomend this documentary

...anyways it’s past 1am and this has gotten way out of hand but

tl;dr: the doomslayer is metal as fuck, he has a lot of agenda he is following, and i love him so much

[nessamaurice]

Simple Ch. 6 (Loki x F!Reader)

Masterlist

Summary: Tony and the Avengers are in desperate need of something like a “babysitter” to have an eye on Loki and teach him “how to human”. He decided to stay on Midgard over the dungeons of Asgard as punishment for his deeds in New York. That’s where you swoop in. A simple receptionist at the Avengers compound. You have to share an apartment in the compound with Loki and damn, he’s a really tough nut. With your open and kind character it seems that you are slowly cracking his shell. But suddenly things are getting twists that will change your life and your relationships there irreversibly.

Story rating: M

Chapter trigger warnings: harming

Words: 2108

6

It turned out the tests Bruce made with you seemed to be alright, nothing you didn't knew or that wasn’t indicated before. The following days passed without anything special happening, except your relation with Loki. You tried to pick up the conversation with Loki again but apparently the moment was over. He shut himself off again. But you didn't miss out that he continued to feel more comfortable around you. The next day he accepted your tea offering for the first time. That made you ridiculously happy and you couldn't hide the big grin appearing on your face.

"What's so funny?"

"What? Oh, no, nothing." After a few moments of silence you couldn't hold back, "Do you like my tea? Today I chose a rose flavored green tea. I love the scent of roses. I don't like the flowers themselves, they are everywhere you look, being pretentious, I'm just weary of them, but their scent...“ You let out a little, soft moan. „Wonderful."

Your rambling was met with silence and you almost gave in, disappointed. But before you looked away you could see a small smirk tugging on his lips.

A few days later you just couldn't contain yourself anymore. You turned in your winged chair to Loki.

"How are you feeling today?"

"...What?"

"How do you feel? We've been sharing these rooms for quite a few days now and have barely spoken to each other. Tell me something. Anything. Or ask me something! Just let us interact in any way. I can't take it any longer."

He looked you straight in the eyes, the dimmed sunlight making the green-blue almost glow. Then a question seemed to pop up in his mind.

"What are you reading?"

You looked down at the book on your lap. "What I’m reading? Oh, that is something specific. It's called Antiquitates Iudaicae. It's not that easy to read, it's not like a novel or something, it is more like a history book. The text is about 1900 years old. A roman-jewish historian named Flavius Josephus tries to explain his beliefs to the Greek to help them understand his culture."

"Why are you reading this, since it is not easy to read?"

"I am a faithful person and it helps me a bit understanding the setting and the time when the bible was written. There are no other ancient Jews from the first century left around here, so I wanted to know how he tried to explain his culture to persons that have no relation with it."

"So, you believe in god? Then you must be humbled to be in the presence of one." A lofty expression appeared on his face, but was wiped away the second you started laughing.

"I'm sorry, really. Don't want to be disrespectful. But do you really think you are a god? Just because you have access to other dimensions and live a few thousand years? Not that this wouldn't be highly impressive, honestly. But you are as far away from being a god than I am. You are a creation, not a creator."

Loki wanted to say something but the words kept stuck in his throat. His face turned sly.

"You have no idea what I am capable of." His voice was low and husky.

"You are completely right. If there was some sort of food chain, I'd clearly be beyond you because of your many skills and knowledge. But they don't make you the summit, neither. Look, I totally see why the ancient Norse people thought of you as gods. What you can do is really admirable. But I would never give you this title. I got too much respect of it."

Loki tried to swallow down his anger. He really wanted to behave but even more he wanted you to explain that. "So, what do you think deserves this title?"

"Love. Compassion. Mercy. Omnipotence. I think, nothing in the whole universe happens without him allowing it to happen. Even the bad things. For the most people it's hard to accept that. They blame him for all the terrible things. It's not like that he would cause the bad things to happen. But he knows exactly what's going on. He knows every outcome of every move. And, I believe, he leads us on the tracks we should go. Not like we are just marionettes and he sets every move, but at some points, big decisions that give our lifes a turn, he may give us a certain push. A lot dreadful stuff happened to me in my life, but who knows that it couldn't have been even worse? Who is able to say the way it went is not the best of all possibilities? Even if it is hard to cope with, I know he gives me the strength to get through. Whether it is some sort of energy that comes from within me or he puts people in my life that will help me with whatever comes my way. But that is my totally personal point of view. The nice thing is, I don't have to persuade anyone to believe the same. My faith is individual. Nobody has to agree with me. This is what helps me get through life. Not to give up.... What sort of faith do you have? ...if you have one at all?"

Loki listened carefully and his face slowly softened as he followed your thoughts. He seemed a bit surprised as you addressed the question to him, like he was asked for his opinion for the first time in his life.

"That is a very interesting point of view, I have to admit. I can imagine that it is not very popular, but interesting, though. I... I never really developed something you could call faith. My culture is full of myths and legends. I learned everything about our Allfathers and Gods, but never took it really personal. I was not attracted to do so."

He stopped talking and started pondering on that thought. You watched his face, his eyes getting lost. You used the opportunity to take a closer look and studied his face. It was edgy and delicate at the same time. His bright eyes pierced right through you every time he looked at you. He was very concentrated on what he wanted to say next, so you simply kept quiet and waited for him to form his thoughts into words. It was rather beautiful to watch his mind work.

After a short while he continued, "I think there might be something like a higher force that has impact on our lives. But that started just recently. I long thought that I am the master of every of my own steps and if I place them right, everything will work out just fine. I will get what I want if I only fight hard enough for it. So that's what I did, I fought for my own purposes. But all I got was misery, sorrow and hatred." 

You could literally see his pain boiling up from the inside. It was tearing him in two. You reacted out of instinct and reached out to lay your hand on his cheek. His eyes darted at you immediately, turning glassy. Softly you stroke over his cheek with your thumb. You wished you could just pull him into a tight embrace and help him let go of all expectations towards himself. To put down his guard. It was like you could literally feel his inner need of ease and solace. But he was just too much of a proud man. He pressed his lips together and pushed your hand away, abruptly stood up, stepping towards the window front, staring outside with his arms crossed.

"I'm sorry." Was all that came to your mind. Pathetic, you thought. And he thought that as well.

"You have no idea what you are talking about." He hissed turning towards you. "Don't act like you would understand. YOU HAVE NO IDEA!" He shouted at you and disappeared right in front of your eyes. You sat there in your winged chair, nonplussed. You looked around the room, but no sight of him.

Far beyond puzzled, you started to talk with the air. "I... I don't if you are still here? But, I wanted to say that you are right. I have no idea what you've been through. What it feels like to be in your skin. If I were, I know I would have done the same that you did, because you are the only person that feels this way. I am no one to judge. I never judge. Well, at least I try. The big truth is that it's simply impossible to compare individuals with each other. We are the summaries of our experiences and we all have our very own way of perceiving the world around us. So, I have to add as well that you also have no idea what you are talking about. I do understand. Traumata are a serious thing and everyone reacts differently to that, but don't treat me like I had no empathy. Maybe everyone else treated you like you didn't even had the right to speak your mind, but I'm not like this. You are intelligent and attentive and if you haven't noticed that by now, you are obviously blinded by some kind of rage and hatred. And pride. But I don't want to push you. Just know that I won't let you treat me like this. I will not leave you because I can imagine that you've been left too often in your life, but I will not tolerate it. Okay, and because it feels like I have a serious conversation with myself outside of my head I'm gonna go into the kitchen to get me a drink because that's fucking strange. Feel free to join me there."

You sat on a barstool and looked out of the giant window front at the other side of the even bigger room. You felt the cold sweat of the glass condensing in your hand, running over your fingers. Totally lost in your thoughts you didn't notice Steve sitting down next to you. He really tried not to startle you but failed.

"Sorry Y/N. Just thought you looked like something was on your mind you'd like to talk about?"

"No problem. Ah, no, it's okay. There were just some intense emotions between Loki and me."

Looking at his raised eyebrows you awkwardly cleared your throat as you explained yourself, "Oh no no no, not something like that. Totally not. No no." Somehow you dwelled in that thought a bit too long.

"Well, that were lots of 'no's but okay." Steve laughed and pushed you slightly with his shoulder to the side.

Before you could blush too obviously you changed topic, "Have you seen Tony? The last time I saw him was when were having pizza. Is everything alright?"

"To be honest I haven't seen him, neither. Well, at least not in person. I walked by the lab and saw him video chatting with Bruce, so he must be okay. But don't worry, wouldn't be the first time he disappears for a few days without telling anyone. ... Are you sure you don't want to talk about what's weighing you down?"

"Thank you Steve. Everything's fine." You conjured a smile though you didn't felt like smiling which made it totally implausible. But Steve accepted you didn't want to talk right now. He assured you can knock on his door whenever you wanted before he left the open kitchen of the common room again. You really, really hoped Loki would show up in the kitchen. You imagined both of you together having a drink, talking, enjoying each other's companionship... But you were pulled out of your day dream by a polite voice.

"Miss Y/N, your presence is demanded outside of the personal rooms."

"What? Me? For what?" You thought JARVIS sounded differently than usual.

"I am sorry, Miss, but I was not given further information than it being important and urgent."

"Uhm, okay. Sure. Just a sec." You gulped down the rest of your Gin Tonic and jumped off the barstool. For a moment it felt like someone was slightly brushing your arm as to hold you. You stopped, looked around, but didn't see anyone, so you went on.

After you slipped into your shoes and a coat you were going down to the ground floor with the lift. The doors opened and the blood in your veins froze. Two giant, black-suited men immediately entered the lift. One grabbed your arms and pulled them violently behind your back and the other one pressed a strongly sweet smelling piece of fabric on your mouth and nose. You felt a sharp sting right into the side of your neck just before everything went limp and dark.

Taglist: @it-jinxed-us​, @humbledarkness​, @lunawitch19