#MAN IS PLAYING GALAGA EVEN AFTER BEING CALLED OUT

[sapphicomenn]

WELCOME TO MY THOUGHTS WHILE REWATCHING THE MCU IN TIMELINE ORDER: THE AVENGERS

“the tesseract has awakened” oh you mean the glowy cube from captain america AND captain marvel? THAT glowly cube?? cool looking stairs- ew who tf are you? the grim reaper??

what the fuck is a chitauri and why does it sound like sea food. “a world will be his. the universe, yours.” STOP BLAMING THE PRONOUN GAME AND GIVE ME NAMES FFS

ooo shield base. “not a drill.” oh shits going down- COULSON. FUURRRYYY FUCK YEAH. the best marvel characters are here the movie has peaked- oldman from thor is here?? intoresting. and who the hell is this woman tryna question fury??

the glowy cube is a shE???????? HUH??????? oh hey its hawkeye the badass archer guy. oh shit things are going down. the cube is sparking and swirling??- IT OPENED A PORTAL

LOKKIII YOU BEAUTIFUL BASTARD WELCOME BACK. HE HAS A SHOOTY MAGIC SPEAR LIKE A BADASS. he just took out a bunch or shield with a shooty spe- OHMYGODS HE CAN CONTROL MINDS WITH IT.

“loki. brother of thor.” OLDMAN STFU

GUNS GO PEW PEW ALONG SIDE A GOOD OLD CAR CHASE SKSHSKKSHS. RUN FURY RUNNN. the portal imploded on itself like a moron hA

WHO TF NAMES THEIR CHILD “HILL” WTF. “we are at war.” NO SHIT SHERLOCK A NORSE GOD STOLE THE CUBE YOU WERE SUPPOST TO PROTECT

tis a train and a old building- NATASHA. how tf were you taken hostage? im so glad i have subtitles on otherwise i wouldnt understand a thing these ppl are saying. HOW TF IS SHE KICKING ASS WHILE TIED TO A CHAIR WHAT IN THE HELL-

oh his leg deff broke once he fell off the ledge tied to a chain. cut to a lil gorl running to find a doctor- who tf this is of course. THIS GUY IS BANNER??? i mean im glad they changed the actor but wtf. “theres no one that knows gamma radiation like you do.” YA DONT SAY, ROMANOFF. “STOP LYING TO ME” JESUS FUCK THAT MADE ME JUMP

oh damn shield has their own O5 council? cool. EXPLAIN WHAT PHASE2 IS ALREADY. also dont say thor is bad he is a giant puppy dog with a war-boner.

oh hi steve, working off that PTSD by beating the shit out of a punching bag ay? oh right steve knows the glowy cube. “at this point i doubt anything would surprise me.” “ten bucks says you’re wrong” welp ya owe him ten bucks steve

“is there anything you can tell us about the tesseract to help us now?” “you should’ve left it in the ocean.” WELL THAT HELPS ALOT DOESNT IT. hello there iron man, at the bottom of the ocean.? sure why the hell not

aye stark tower’s about to have clean energy, yay stark! “stark tower, is your baby.” how do you give birth to a tower.???????? KSHSJSHSKSJS COULSON BROKE INTO THE TOWER “is first name is agent.” TONY SKSHKSSHKSVSKSHSKS

*whisper whisper whisper* yeah she bribed tony with sex so he’d work on the avengers and stuff. “the guys like a stephen hawking.” “. . .” “hes like a smart person”

awh coulson is fangirling over steve- watched you while you were sleepin- man you’re awkward. you adorable dumbass. ohshit underground musky lab- OLDMAN AND LOKI

the world is breaking around loki. sea food army is restless- shut the fuck up you stupid looking eye wrapped bastard. WHO THE HELL IS THIS HE?????? welcome back to earth you smexy man

FLOATING WATER BASE

back to avenger tingz. man coulson is the biggest cap fan- oh its a giant sub- NO ITS A GIANT FLYING BASE HOLYSHIT SHIELD THATS AMAZING.

now we go into the meetings and talking related stuff :I yey. “lets vanish” wdym- IT HAD A CLOAKING DEVICE. HA STEVE JUST GAVE THE TEN HE OWED SKSHSKHSKSJS

i dont understand a word of all the science stuff they just said but yay. “i need a distraction. and an eyeball” barton what the fuck why do you need an eye.?

oh lokis in germany, at a very fancy party might i add. loki is best boy ever. even if he just bonked a the head/ OHMYGOD AND STOLE HIS FUCKING EYE JESUS CHRIST INFRONT OF ALL THOSE PEOPLE.??????

“i said. KNEEEEL” dont need to tell me twice-

blagh villain speeches are the worst. why tf did this old guy stand up “not to men like you.” shut up. SHOOT HIM- wtf. steve what the hell are you wearing? what the fuck is that- aye tonnnyyy!!!! he hacked into the jet thingy and started playing music from the speaker thats the best.

CAPSICLE SKSHSKSHKSHSKSJ- ohfuck thunder. THOR WELCOME TO THE PARTY. “im not overly fond of what follows” WKVSKSBSKSHSJS

HE JUST BROKE INTO THE JET AND STOLE LOKI FROM EM. “theres only one god ma’am. and im sure he doesnt dress like that.” cap stfu

“i thought you were dead.” “did you mourn.” damn loki thats harsh. thor is angy at his brother. “you listen well brot-ARGH” “..im listening?” STARK YOU CHOSE THAT MOMENT TO BODY SLAM THOR OFF THAT CLIFF AND LEAVE LOKI BEHIND? REALLY?

“.. tourist.” FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT KICK HIS ASS, THOR. DONT KILL HIM WITH LIGHTNING THO

if someone throwed me against a tree i wouldnt be walking. im just saying

“THATS ENOUGH.” cap did you think that would work?? and how the hell did your dinner plate stop the power of thor

loki do be in jail tho. how’s this gonna go wrong- oh he smiled at banner. THATS how it goes wrong

tell him off fury! “you have made me very disapoin-“ OH NVM HE SAYS DESPERATE IGNORE THIS

“uNlimiteD pOoWeRRRRR”

“let me know if real power wants a magazine or something.” good comeback fury. i think

“loki is beyond reason, but he is of asgard. and he is my brother” “he killed 80 people in two days.” “he’s adopted.” KSBSKSJSJSJSK

“that man is playing galaga. he thought we wouldnt notice, but we did.” TONYKANSKSHKSJSKSJ tony is a fucking legend. “finally someone who speaks english!” “is that what just happened?” steve stfu you’re a fighty man not a smart man

“i do! . . . i understood that reference.” steve nvm keep talking please. PLEASE THE MAN IS STILL PLAYING GALAGA SOSJSKSJSJKS

why is tony eating blueberrys- where the hell did he get blueberrys. “we have orders. we should start following them.” steve you tried to get into the army under fake locations for months AND broke into a german base when you were a showpony. stfu about following rules

“so you’re saying the hulk.. the other guy? saved me” yes. yes we are saying that, banner. aye steve go break into shit like you’re suppost to :D

oh hi again oldman, welcome back. yay shield saved padme, and awh oldman talked about thor alot. thor i love you alot. loki just tell nat where tf you left barton :/ oh barton was sent to KILL nat?? not hire her?? well that went downhill. whomst the hell is dreykov- sao paulo- the hospital fire???? hawkeye wtf why’d you spill it all to loki.

mewley quim wtf kind of insult is that- oh damn nat figured out the hulk is lokis next plan of attack. PHASE TWO IS TO USE THE GLOWY CUBE TO MAKE FUCKING WEAPONS? SHIELD WHAT THE HELL

HA FURY TRIED TO LIE IS WAY OUTTA IT BUT BC STARK HACKED INTO IT ALL HE JUST EXPOSED HIMSKHSKSJSKS

WAIT THEY WERE MADE FOR THOR AND ASGARDIANS? WHAT THE FUCK SHIELD- oh damn lokis staff is the reason they’re all at eachother. probably

“yeah. big man in a suit of armor. take that off what are you?.” “genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.” well you’re not wrong

guys stop fighting, HAWKEYE IS BREAKING IN. “in case you needed to kill me. but you cant. i know, i tried.” awh thats sad, i wanna hug banner so bad :(

OHSHIT AN ENTIRE WING GOT BLOWN UP THE FLYING BASE IS GOING DOWN- HULKS COMING OUT THATS NOT GOOD. the transforming is scary- RUN NAT

loki stop smiling because the plan is going your way. “it seems to run on some form of electricity.” “well you’re not wrong” tony stop being funny this isnt fair

HULK JUMPSCARE JESUS CHRIST- NAT GOT BITCHSLAPPED THROUGH A WALL- YAY THOR TO SAVE THE DAY. HAMMER TIME BABYY

*B O N K*

hulk trying to pick the hammer up is funny. BRIDGE IS UNDER ATTACK. DO YOU THINK SHOOTING HULK IS A GOOD IDEA??? HE JUST TOOK OUT FIGHTER JET AND ALMOST KILLED THE GUY FLYING IT

CAP IS KICKING ASS- OH GOD NO THE ENGINES ARE FAILING. OHGOD LOKI IS OUT- THOR YOU DUMBFUCK DID YOU FORGET LOKI CAN DO MAGIC SHIT? NOW YOU’RE STUCK IN THE GLASS CONTAINER

COULSON SAVE THOR! SHOOT LOKI DAMNIT- COULSON NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

glass cage go brrrrr

HA LOKI GOT FUCKIN SHOT BY COULSON BEFORE HE DIES( :( ) tony almost got minced by the engine thingys

im gonna cry coulson how dare your death make me sad :(( stupid heart breaking aftermath moments.

thor is stuck in a field, banner fell through the roof of a building. awh the security guard is so nice :) barton is a fucking mess right now “how’d you get him out?” “i hit you on the head really hard.” KSJSKKSSK

tony figured out lokis plan- ITS TAKING PLACE AT HIS TOWER? THE AVENGERS IS TAKING ACTION BABY LETS GOOOO

wait a fucking moment, the cards coulson has are covered in blood. so you’d think they were on him when he was stabbed- yet hill just said they were in his locker “they needed the push.” FURY YOU RUINED NEAR MINT VINTAGE COLLECTABLE CARDS TO MOTIVATE SUPER FREAKS???

o hi loki welcome to stark tower

“stalling wont change-“ “no no, threatening. no drink? ya sure? im having one.”

“i have an army.” “we have a hulk.” HE SAID IT, HE SAID THE LINE

HA LOKI CANT TAKE STARKS MIND BC HIS HEART IS SOME TECHY METAL CRAPKSJSKSJSKS- i guess choking and tossing him around works. so does throwing hik out a window

oh no the glowy cube just opened a portal for the army of seafood. they look like creatures from halo.

BROTHER FIGHT

CHAOS EVERYWHERE

PLANE DOWN PLANE DOWN

what the fuck just growled- HOLYSHIT THEY HAVE A SPACE LEVIATHAN. it looks badass ngl. loki redemption arc? nope he just stabbed thor.

SPACE BIKE GO BRRRRR

yes because arrows and guns will stop the, alien monsters with lazer arms. some how its working. “just like budapest all over again.” “you and i remember budapest very differently.” WTF HAPPENED AT BUDAPEST BARTON AND NAt, HUH?

cap just scared the shit outta some police men HAHA

“i have unfinished business with loki.” “yeah? get in line” barton is snarky right now. banner just rides up on a motercycle like “hi what i’d miss”

“im bringing the party to you.” stark says while being chased by a giant metal space whale who’s crashing and crushing everything in its path along a street

“thats my secret cap. im always angry.” FUCK YEAH BANNER MESS THAT SPACE WHALE UP. HE JUST PUNCHED A GIANT FUCKING WHALE THING.

the music, the avengers circling around. its amazing. well things are gonna get worse bc more space whales showed up

“and hulk. . . smash.”

LIGHT THEM FUCKERS UP, THOR. shield maybe instead of watching, maybe, oh i dont know. HELP THEM???

i dont know what else to say other then its alot of fighting and smashing alien faces into the ground

hulk and thor kicking ass on the back of a space whale is awesome. HULK WHY DID YOU PUNCH HIMSJSOSHSKJSKSJSKSKSKSK

i fuxking love when steve turtle shells behind his shield.

“director fury. the council has made a decision.” “i recognize the council has made a decision. but given its a stupid-ass decision, i have elected to ignore it.” fury never stop being awesome

loki thought he was so smug when he caught bartons arrow, then it blew up in his face. literally IKSKSKSKSKS

HULK FUCK LOKI UP! JSHSKSGKSHSJSHSJSJ HE JUST TOSSED LOKI AROUND LIKE A RAGDOLL “puny god.” “*pained wheezing from a smooshed loki*”

oh damn- OH DAMN, STARK. he just jonahed the fucking whale thing and blew it up from the inside. well now the city has a nuke coming for it :/

yall have a chance to shut the portal down, and tony, you want to go INTO that portal and throw the nuke in? wtf stark.

TONY GO BACK TO EARTH DAMNIT FUCKING BASTARD PASSED OUT. yay hulk saved his stupid ass. do cpr.? mayb.? or a hulk roar will wake him up KEJSKJSKSSKJS

tony. you just blew up a alien command center with a nuke, passed out and fell to earth through a portal. and you want, shawarma?

and now back to loki. “if its all the same to you, i’d like that drink now.” ISHSKSJSJSJSKSJSJ

STAN LEEE

the people love em. yey

council lady stfu about the avengers being a threat. they just said the earth and you’re worried about them going rouge??

“if we get into a situation like this again, what happens then?” “they’ll come back.” i mean theres three more avenger movies so i assume so. remodaling stark towers so its the avenger tower? neat!

NEXT MOVIE: IRON MAN 3

*MID CREDIT SCENE* oh hi again mr no eyes. do we get to see this HE? OH WE DO. o hi mr 10 chins

once again ignore the misspells it was three AM when i finally finished this and im just now rereading it

[oakey-doki]

×If MC and Blake had a family type bond× (Headcanons)

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

When you, Miguel and Blake first met it was more of skepticism, Miguel wasn't too happy about there being a cop, and you decided this cop was too cocky for their liking.

But as we know he basically becomes close to Miguel's family and you.

This man loves bear hugs, everytime you and him see eachother its become ritual for the two of you to attempt to squeeze eachothers souls out.

At one point Blake succeeded and ended up panicking due to not wanting Miguel to kill him (lmfao)

Blake constantly takes you shopping, the two of you ending up in the arcade blasting all your money on tokens to play on more round of Galaga. In attempts to beat eachothers scores.

Miguel is happy that you have someone to hang out with when he isnt there, but hes definitely not happy about the sheer amount of random entrances this man has made into your guy's shared home.

The window, the front door, the back door, the attic and the basement, t-the fridge????? How does that even happen??? Blake how did you get in the fridge????

Blake is the second one you go to when you get angry, ranting to him about whatever the day brought you and hes sitting there like.

Blake loves to compete with Miguel on how much they know about you, which leads to a very annoyed Miguel, and a Blake whos running around like a headless chicken trying not to get smacked to next week by Miguel.

Hes also the one to come running with hot chocolate and a whole lotta snacks when he knows you've had an awful day, he acts closely to the big brother you've wanted/needed, he'd give you the entire world if he could.

He loves to call you his sister/brother/sibling, it makes his entire day when you refer to him as your sibling too.

He's almost always looking out for you, giving you heads up on whats going on around Miami, letting some things slide when you get into some trouble, and most of all randomly asking you to bring him coffee and doughnuts, after saying please of course :)

[damiano-mylove]

The Spot

Pairing: Jake Kiszka x GN!Reader

Wc: 2k

Cw(s): Angst, mentions of coke and the reader doing coke (you're a business major, sue me for accuracy), video game talk, like a single swear word, not good writing (tell me if it sucks ass)

Summary: The spot brought you together once and it'll bring you together for a final time

Masterlist

It was a strange place to meet, but you met the gorgeous man at an arcade. You were absolutely demolishing your friend at Street Fighter before he offered for you to play someone better than you. He was cocky, you liked it.

Of course, you took him up on the offer. You were an undefeated champ in Street Fighter (except for when you played your old man, who showed you the game but had been playing since the 80s), so you were confident enough to take him on.

He knew all the combos on practically every character, and his reflexes where beyond those of anyone that you'd ever played.

The stranger was a perfect match of your skill level.

No numbers were exchanged that day, not even names. Only a promise of returning the following Friday night to play Galaga and see who would reign victorious.

It was followed through.

Jake gave you his name when you beat him in the first round of Galaga. Then his number when he beat you in the second round.

After that night, you both were inseparable, even after the honeymoon period. He took you on dates, bought you flowers every now and again that always had a hidden meaning that you'd have to find out. Jake introduced you to his family, and you introduced him to yours. The Kiszkas simply adored you, and your family seemed to love Jake like a son after only the first few times he came over.

But Friday nights, you two always went to the arcade. It was a haven, of joy and laughter, of memories of first meetings, of safety and comfort. The smell of popcorn and candy gave you an instant sense of comfort, the laughter of small children made you smile instantly.

After two years of arcade nights, they stopped.

Jake's music career had taken off, and you just stayed in Frankenmuth. He begged you to come with him, tour with the band, the boys love you and they wouldn't mind having you with them on the road. But you couldn't. Jake's dream was groundbreaking, and though you'd supported him through the entire thing, you couldn't abandon the life you were making in the meantime.

While Jake was off, making music that was surely amazing, you worked your ass off with full-time school. You went to the University of Michigan-Dearborn, for business.

Once you got your MBA after long and tough two years, you celebrated with all of your fellow classmates,  only to hear that your beloved arcade was to be sold and turned into a clothing shop.

You put the business degree into action, buying the arcade. It was a good investment, loved by many of the town's children and teenagers. You wouldn't be able to ever step foot in it again, but it was too precious to see get turned into a fucking Brandy Melville. All that had to change was the name on the arcade.

Upon your return to Frankenmuth, it was a strange feeling to see it up in the neon sign. The Spot. It was what you and Jake always called it. But now, your inside joke, would become the name on so many children's tongues. Your heart warmed at the feeling before you put your hands in your pockets and turned away. With all the will in the world, the soles of your shoes could never touch that black and purple carpet again.

"It's different," you told your friend. He furrowed his eyebrows at you, looking your direction while the two of you sat on a park bench. "It's so small compared to Detroit. There're no people around."

"Fair enough. I think it's...quaint," Cody said.

You had brought Cody along for the signing of the deed. He had been your roommate for two years, and you didn't think you'd be able to part ways with him after being crammed in that small basement apartment you shared. The plan was to return to Detroit in a few days, to get your bachelor's together come September and upgrade from the basement apartment.

But, for now, you wanted to show Cody where you came from. Enjoy a moment with him.

"Think anyone makes it snow around here, or is this town too small for that," he asked you after checking his stocks on his phone. You smiled, pulling out your own phone and giving your old plug a call.

In half an hour, you had an 8ball.

You were business students, after all.

When the sun had gone down, the two of you made your way into town to grab something at a pub. Your parents were at the neighbour's cottage for the weekend, so you and Cody essentially just got to muck about for the weekend.

"This band must really be something," Cody hummed to himself, looking into a shop window. You looked.

A bird back in Detroit could hear your heart shatter and a worm in the dirt could feel your chest tighten.

"They're from here, y'know," you muttered, not taking your eyes off the t-shirts and posters displayed in front of you. Jake was still just as beautiful.

The light in his eye was captured by the camera, even brighter than you had ever seen. Jake was living his dream, like he set out to do. He was finally happy, finally with all the pieces in place. But it hurt. You didn't know why, but it hurt.

"Y'ever give them a listen? They seem like your vibe."

"No," you replied softly. How could you? How could you listen to Jake's guitar without crying, without thinking of the nights you'd spend at his house, listening to him strum random chords and write you love songs on the spot? You were sure they were good, you were certain of it. But you couldn't bear to hear his sweet strumming.

"Hey, would a bump in the bathroom help?" Cody asked, putting his arm around your shoulders and dragging you away from the shop.

You smiled to the blond boy that cared so strongly for you, "Yeah. It would."

True to his word, Cody took you into the boys bathroom of the nearest bar. You ran into one of the boys you went to high school with, then a group of them when you came out of the bathroom. They gave you tight hugs and bought shots for you and Cody when they found out that it was you who saved the arcade.

Later in the night, your phone buzzed. It was probably just Erin, back in Detroit, venting about her girlfriend.

Then it buzzed again. Maybe it was Nicky, sending you pictures of the raccoons he saw around the city.

But when you finally checked your phone, your heart stopped beating and it was hard to breathe. Because you were wrong, so violently wrong.

It was Jake.

Meet me at our spot

Meet me at the spot

You left. You told Cody where you'd be going, you said goodbye to everyone, but you left in a hurry. You had to get a mile away, and to the arcade.

And there he was.

His silhouette was perfectly outlined in the bright light of the full moon and the various street lamps. Jake's hair was much longer now, but his posture was no better as he sat on the bench outside of the arcade, facing the arcade and away from you.

No words could come out of your throat, so you didn't greet him. You just sat beside him, not looking at him, and not close enough to touch him. But you could still hear the sharp intake of breath when he noticed your arrival. You could still feel the warmth coming off of him in waves. You could still smell the Old Spiced scent of his cologne.

"You came," he whispered. Without any warning, your stomach turned to television static and your palms became sweaty. You nodded. "I wasn't sure you would."

"I was," you responded, making Jake take a deep breath at your voice.

"The name...it changed," Jake pointed out.

Once again, you nodded, this time finally looking at Jake's perfect side profile, "I bought it."

Jake looked back at you and pain struck your heart. It stung like the most brutal knife and felt like someone was squeezing your heart too tightly. "You...you bought the arcade?" You nodded. "Was it going to be replaced or something?" You nodded again. Jake frowned deeply. "So you saved the arcade."

You didn't nod this time, just turning your head to the brightly coloured building in front of you two. The sign was lit up in a dark purple and a few signs were still on inside. But, besides that, it was dark. It was empty, and cold.

"Is that why you came back?" Jake asked. You nodded. "Jesus, Y/n, please, just say something," Jake plead. His voice cracked a bit and you could hear the frustration and sadness in his tone. "Please. I just want to hear your voice."

"I came back to sign the papers. We're going back to Detroit on Tuesday." Your voice shook while your eyes glossed over. You looked back to Jake who seemed just as heartbroken as he did two and a half years ago. "I missed you."

Relieved at your admission, Jake sighed happily, "I've missed you too."

"How'd you know I was in town?"

"I saw you at the park, sitting with that blond boy," Jake told you, emotion changing on a dime. But you couldn't help but crack a small smile.

"That'd be Cody. He's my roommate, has been since we met in Detroit," you told him absentmindedly. Jake's heavy heartbeat could be seen from the pulse point in his neck. "He almost didn't come...he didn't want to leave his girlfriend back in the city for too long."

"I didn't leave you," the long haired boy said quickly. Your eyes snapped to his. They were full of a flame of longing, of sadness. "I wanted you with me forever."

"Sometimes, forever just doesn't last that long, I guess," you replied somberly. "We want different things, Jakey. We were destined to end like that. It doesn't mean we didn't love each other, that we didn't mean the things we said when we were young."

Jake didn't say anything, and you almost begged him to speak. But you didn't. You turned back to the arcade and envisioned the two of you, walking in for the first time together as a couple. Your arms were linked together as you strolled up to the Bubble Bobber machine and fed it coin after coin before going to the Pac-Man machine.

That day, you split a cotton candy cone that turned both of your lips blue. You stayed at the arcade till it closed at 9, then sat on this very bench, sharing a red slushie and having your hands laced together.

With a smooth movement, you went to stand, before Jake held your wrist. You looked to him, his cheeks tear stained and eyes puffy. A tear fell from your left eye before your right as you looked on to the boy that you loved first.

"Don't go...not yet," he asked, voice enough to have you crying even harder.

You sat back down, closer to Jake. Without a word, you held the hand that had held your wrist, intertwining your fingers with his. Jake gave you a heartbreaking smile before you put your head on his shoulder, eyes gazing back to The Spot.

"If you knew then, what you know now," Jake whispered after a few moments had passes and the tears had subsided. "Would anything be different?"

Silence enveloped the two of you for a minute. "Everything is as it should be, Jakey, I promise you."

You got up, and Jake didn't stop you this time. He looked up at you. You gave him a warm smile and a kiss on his salty and tight cheek, before leaving him at your spot. Jake watched as you went, listened to your shoes hit the pavement, until you turned a corner and your footsteps became too far to hear.

[boop-le-snoot]

Doll Parts | tony stark x reader

i love him so much it just turns to hate // he only loves those things because he loves to see them break // and someday you will ache like i ache // Hole - Doll Parts

all hurt comfort. angst. no happy ending. big sad. tony could have been like this, you know. he was like this to pepper at some point. i don't know why i am like this today. rated M for themes of (implied) addiction & cheating and non-explicit mentions of intimacy. word count: 3,3k

It wasn't as if she was blind or dumb. She saw the way he treated everyone around him; whenever a single person got too close he'd push them away, consciously or not. The man loved pushing everybody's buttons as if he was playing Galaga for a living; rapidly, mercilessly, with intent. Tony Stark was not a man to whom a person would give their heart willingly.

It was her own fault she went and gave hers away, to him, of all people. And sometimes, it did feel like he loved her, in his own way. Tony would shower her with gifts and affection, cling to her whenever he wasn't away on SI business, and God, the sex was out of this world. Sometimes, she felt as if she would suddenly burst into a blinding flash of light, scalding and deafening, that would sprout from the invisible wounds his fingers left on her skin. Like fine china, she cracked little by little under his steady, tender hands.

The first time he'd ended their short, by average standards, but long - by his, relationship, it didn't come as a surprise. She had never held illusions on ensnaring the world's most notorious playboy. Younger and less jaded, she amicably agreed to get her things that very same day, blocked his number and left for an overdue vacation in the tropics. Being able to browse the gossip sites speculating on their lack of public appearances whilst sipping a Strawberry Daiquiri was a much better alternative to spending her nights holed up in rainy Manhattan, having to answer numerous "I told you so" calls from friends and relatives.

Maybe, three daiquiris should've been enough. But she'd quit smoking because he said the smell bothered him and she- well, she could do anything she wanted now. Being alone and not dating a very public figure definitely had way more perks than she previously had taken for granted in her much less exposed life. That's how the heartache began to recede: it was hard to mope when fun was calling for you by your name.

Some of Tony's character traits had migrated onto her. Which wasn't bad per se, she had been told she could use to loosen up. Her friends rejoiced in the newfound adventurousness, never missing an opportunity to go out, throw a party, go on a clubbing spree. She was game and she was enjoying it. Dolled up and eyes sparkling, the newfound confidence radiated off her like a beacon, attracting just about every single like-minded person in a five mile radius.

Tony's champagne he had sent to their table meant nothing. Her friends laughed and giggled and asked her all about the juicy details about the billionaire; as much as she searched the rowdy crowd for a familiar pair of baby doe browns, they weren't anywhere within sight. So she went back to talking and smiled as bright as the strobe lights, throwing down a whiskey shot to water the burning ache in her chest.

She found him on the dancefloor. Seconds after she stepped her foot into the mass of grinding bodies Tony was there, an equally happy and intoxicated smile on his face and arms wide open, as if they hadn't parted ways at all. She wanted to be angry with him, she really did, she wanted to snide his frivolity and the possessive way that he had the audacity to treat her.

His eyes, they were her untold weakness. She hadn't seen him so happy in months. Just once, she agreed, she'd let it slide. And so they danced, bodies accustomed to each other in the way that seemed to be impossible for her to achieve with anyone since the day that she left Tony Stark.

A splitting headache and a cold, empty bed greeted her the next morning. Thankfully, her clothes were laying haphazardly on the floor of the bedroom - the bed that was not his own but, rather, as she assumed, one of the many guest rooms in his tower.

Not the one to usually harbour shame of her very human needs, she felt like a cheap whore when she got dressed and grabbed her purse, making a beeline for the door to the elevator. As soon as the doors opened, she was greeted with a woman in a professional suit - tall, strawberry blonde and as cold as the Arctic, beautiful in the Vogue-magazine, unattainable way.

"Good morning," The woman spoke in a pleasant tone.

She wanted to retch from the false cheerfulness. "Good morning, ma'am. I was just leaving," Refusing to bow to her own shame, she flashed an equally cheerful grin towards the blonde.

"I'm Mr. Stark's personal assistant, my name is Pepper Potts," They briefly shook hands, neither of them wanting to touch the other longer than it was necessary. "There is a car waiting for you downstairs. Be sure to take the left exit."

Internally fuming, she smiled slightly wider, seeing no need to introduce herself or prolong the awkward interaction longer than necessary. "Thank you, Ms. Potts, that will not be necessary. I have arranged my own ride. Have a nice day, ma'am," With that, she pressed the button once again, entering the elevator with the expression of polite contentment glued to her face like a persistent piece of dog shit she couldn't shake off the bottom of her shoe.

Ms. Potts' façade slipped slightly - she must've been new - as the blonde ran a sharply observant look over the woman in the elevator, pulling out her phone as soon as the elevator door was halfway closed. That was quickly forgotten, her head growing clearer with each second it was pressed against the cold window of the cab she'd called on the way downstairs.

It was a mistake, a perfectly human accident that happened to the best of them. Only it left a bitter residue somewhere south of her ribcage, something acrid and viscous that even alcohol couldn't melt. The more she drank, the thicker that ball of rolled up frustration became, bleeding into her work, her relationships with her friends. It was tiresome to keep craving something so far out of her reach.

The exhaustion grew day by day, until her chest felt constricted for most part of the day and all the oxygen in the whole wide world wasn't enough. Her heartache was saved, strangely enough, by aliens - they rained down on New York city like frogs during the Plague in the book of Exodus; as if God himself was angry at the state of affairs of his favourite pet earthlings. For a time, she couldn't afford to worry about her broken heart and focused on the dilapidated city, landing her resources and skills whenever, whenever she could.

Late at night, exhausted and drained, she allowed herself to flick through the news, eagerly soaking up the new details that seemed to pop up every other day. Aliens were real, Thor was one, Captain America was alive and her ex-boyfriend was now a member of the merry band of misfit superheroes.

She had never taken his hero sidegig too seriously. Tony had some good in him, he wasn't the attention-demanding supervillain-waiting-to-happen, but neither he was hero material. The Tony she knew was akin to a hyperintelligent kid left without supervision. Consequences were a slight setback, not a surefire deterrent for this man.

Her building remained mostly intact - some cosmetic damages that were repaired quickly and did not concern her apartment at all - so she stayed in the same place, much to everyone's dismay. A good chunk of her friends had moved away from NYC as soon as they could - not that she blamed them - but the calls of her family, consisting of begging and nagging her to move states, were beginning to climb over the annoying line very quickly. More often than not, she ignored all calls that weren't from her friends or work.

It shouldn't have surprised her that Tony showed up on her balcony one night - but the shriek that left her was utterly involuntary. His armored suit was noisy and clunky, just like was expected from a huge chunk of metal. Tony's face was a ghost of the man she used to know: he was pale, the bags under his eyes were fit to carry groceries in and he'd lost more than a few pounds around his middle.

Not that she had a glow-up. Work hours were long, volunteer work was by far more exhausting and emotionally draining. With her support system scattered across the country and free hours few and in-between, she'd acquired a shrink. Nightmares went away and the sluggishness, too, thanks to a couple of convenient prescriptions. It seemed like the professionals were as clueless as any in dealing with the aftermath of an alien invasion.

"You weren't returning my calls," Tony stated in the way of hello. It was so like him, to be skipping the pleasantries and glossing over the details.

"I have your number blocked," She replied unkindly, raising an eyebrow as the suit retracted and the man, wearing worn jeans and an oil-stained tee, stepped into the twilight of her home without an invitation.

"I wanted to make sure you are alive and your home is being rebuilt in case it was demolished. Stark foundation is shouldering most of the expenses," He offered in the way of explanation, beelining for the nice whiskey she kept in a tumbler in the living room.

The snort escaped her lips before she could help it; brain chronically overtired but medicated; Adderall and weariness. He was never a good liar, only a good faker. "Why are you here, Tony?" All of it: the damages, the casualties, all of it was public record, accessible 24/7. All he had to do was open Google.

He turned around, scanning her head-to-toe, in that not-quite-convinced way. "Just wanted to see if you're okay," He tried for nonchalant but his eyes were haunted. The whiskey glass he was holding empty in seconds.

She walked up to him, staying at an arm's distance from the man, before doing a slow, sarcastic twirl. "I'm fine. Not a scratch. Was in Staten Island that day."

He nodded, not at all convinced. "Good," Before slamming the glass down with such force, she was afraid the countertop now sported a rounded indent. Fingers twitching, he pulled the woman into himself before she could utter a peep, smashing their lips together without any grace, paying no attention to the way she froze as still as a statue. "God, I missed you. Couldn't bear the thought of you dying..." He mumbled in between harshly biting the plump of her bottom lip and steering the kiss towards his wishes, hand tangled in the hair on the back of her head.

He tasted like whiskey and desperation.

She couldn't not give in. She'd felt the same way when she watched his red and gold armor fly into that wormhole, missile in tow. She'd felt the same despair clawing at her ribcage when his lifeless body flew back from it before being caught by the rabid green monstrosity.

It wasn't graceful and it wasn't pretty; feeling like a monster herself, she responded the same way he did. She shredded his clothes, she clawed his back, leaving wet crimson streaks in the wake of her nails and whispered the ugliest, nastiest truths she had denied herself for so long. He left with the promise to stay in contact and for once, he did.

Nothing was the same. Tony was far from the careless, extravagant billionaire he used to be. These days he was a cynical, analytical asshole that one-upped people even before he had a real need to do so. Both of them had changed, really. She was not the tender uptown girl either.

The nights with him were rare and long; the nights alone with her work were recurrent and longer. The tower stood out on the NYC skyline like a sore thumb, beckoning with the unattainable snipe hunt of having something stable with the world's #1 superhero, Tony Stark. Each time they met, she felt almost as dirty as the time she stood in the elevator under the scrutiny of Pepper Potts.

Even if he didn't outright hide her. She'd ran into Black Widow and Clint Barton once or twice, each of them casting a glance at her Special Visitor badge before muttering niceties and moving on with their day. It was only slightly better with the Captain: he got in the elevator two floors below Tony's penthouse at 8 AM in the morning, just as she was leaving for work - dressed in a sharp pantsuit that was not-quite on Pepper's level. The soldier must've assumed she was a high-rank employee or a friend, the tips of his cheeks blushing as he spoke a quiet: "Good morning, ma'am," In that semi-formal tone of his.

Seeing a grown man get so flustered was quite adorable. "Good morning, Captain Rogers, sir," She replied in a matching tone, humoring him.

The elevator stopped suddenly and a few employees got in, staring openly at the national icon, who had his eyebrows slanted in confusion. The woman shared his sentiment: it was Tony's private elevator. She guessed all the other ones were too full in the mornings so the tower's AI put the underused one to work.

Or, at least, that's what she tried to convince herself of anyway. It wouldn't be past Tony to get jealous over something as trivial as sharing an elevator car with Captain America.

The plateau of normalcy didn't last long. Just as she was opening her third bottle of wine for the night, laptop open on the kitchen counter and proudly displaying "Tony Stark and Pepper Potts - America's newest power couple?" article, she realised he was a coward, too. Slowly but surely, he had ghosted her, not even bothering with an explanation of his sudden unavailability, the several dates missed and even more postponed indefinitely.

They were never going to be a normal couple. She had made her peace with that, ugly and depressing - but it was real. She thought what they had was real. She finally had admitted to herself that she loved him, loved an impossible man, loved to the bottom of Hell and pitfire. The fireworks under her skin had never fully gone away, she realised as more and more ugly sobs broke from her chapped lips.

She blocked his number again and bought herself a new one, deleting the "Tony Stark" contact for good. There was more than enough work to do and the time to feel sorry for herself was sparse. And if she picked up a habit to make sure the time working was spent with proper efficiency, without soaking documents in saltwater that her eyes seemed to overproduce those days? It wasn't a big deal. She needed to get back on her feet somehow, without being dragged by a man who wasn't even present to actively be ruining her life anymore.

If anything, she thought she should feel grateful. The blinding light, the stars that exploded and shone inside her only for Tony, became something poisonous and vile. It wasn't the bitter taste of regret; rather, she felt a flash of ravenous, burning anger every time his name or his face popped up in a press article within her eyesight. Love and hate weren't that different when it came to the intensity: she basked in those newfound feelings, taking care to pick apart and neatly sort each of his perceived flaws on a cute little shelf in her overtaxed brain and fatigued heart.

It wasn't healthy. A convenient escape for the summer; a cabin far, far away from the busy New York city - she took up the offer and relocated there, being content with working remotely, drinking strawberry mimosas by the lakeside. Day by day, the clarity of her mind returned, lulled into a false sense of security by the tranquil trees slowly swaying in the breeze and wide ripples in the water.

Tony seemed to be enjoying bringing chaos into her life and making her miserable. The quinjet landed right on the neatly manicured lawn in front of the cabin, several obviously exhausted and wounded superheroes dismounting the vehicle, Tony looking sheepish but determined in the lead.

She wasn't completely unaware of the rest of the world and knew of the fiasco the Avengers recently had. Was it the half-dead, limping Widow or the baby blues of the Captain, she couldn't tell, but the woman ushered them into her house, gathering the tools needed for first aid with haste. Fate wasn't looking to give her a break.

As soon as she stepped foot in the kitchen, alone, Tony was there, looking much like that time on the balcony, baby doe browns turned up to eleven and a groveling speech prepared on demand. He'd noticed her weight loss and the ashen tone of her skin, the prominent veins and the bags under her eyes. She was as obvious as a brick to the face with her vices.

She slapped him. He winced, but stayed quiet, preparing himself for the storm - and storm him she did, keeping quiet enough for most of the team to be able to tactfully ignore the scolding Tony was getting. "I despise, you, Stark. You're a coward. Do not dare to set foot in my house ever again."

Needless to say, the superheroes departed shortly after Natasha's injuries were stabilised and frowning, disappointed Thor and Steve (they'd asked her to address them by their first names) bashfully apologized for their sudden intrusion and any discomfort they might have caused. She smiled at Steve, wide and big; refusing to admit it was done just to spite Tony, she joked and blushed in response to the Captain.

Tony did not attempt to contact her again. For some time, she lived in fear - irrational one at that - he'd appear and wreck her life one more, final time, before admiring the destruction and leaving her a steaming pile of ashes on the floor. But seasons passed and all of it faded, like a vivid, terrible nightmare.

Piece by piece, her life was getting put back together. His name stopped invoking a swarm of feelings she needed to drown just to stay afloat; there were news regarding him, another violent altercation, and she simply flicked the TV back to adult swim. New friends and new hobbies were being made; the fine cracks made by his agile fingers were being filled with the gold of newer, better discoveries.

There was always something going on in the superhero world and finally one of the topics reached her line of work: mutant rights. She'd never stopped being a volunteer after that NYC invasion, making new connections in a domain previously unexplored, it paid off in spades regarding her career growth. The connections were vital to be able to climb the corporate ladder successfully.

Stark showed up at her door three days after half of his merry band of misfits were pronounced fugitives. This time, she expected it. She knew better than to expect him to assume responsibility by himself - a quick Google search and his relationship status was listed as once again single - the Virginia Potts she knew would not have let anything like that happen. Stark was on his own.

"They betrayed me," He'd said, from behind the door she had cracked open a few inches, to make him know he wasn't welcome in her home.

"I think you know now, how I felt then," She didn't falter, ignoring the way his still freshly-bruised face darkened. "As far as I am concerned, you deserve it. Goodbye, Tony." She shut the door without waiting for his response, hearing his footsteps slowly back away as she made herself another coffee.

Tony Stark taglist: @another-stark-sub @letsby @mostly-marvel-musings @rdjesus4ever @ladyeliot

Well um 💀 yeah. I'll go and attempt to scavenge some serotonin somewhere now. Thanks for reading! 💖✨

[wayward-dreamer]

Life’s Lessons - Part 6

Title: Life’s Lessons - A Lesson in Starting Fresh

Pairing: Mechanic!Dean x Female!Teacher!Reader (eventual)

Other Pairings: Dean x Lisa, Female!Reader x OMC – Ethan (past, mentioned), Female!Reader x OMC – Mark

Word Count: 7,712 (messages, thoughts, lyrics in italics).

Part Summary: Y/N and Dean try to distract themselves from what happened the night before, despite the fact that they can’t stop thinking about each other. However, after an incident at school between Ben and another student, Y/N makes a difficult decision. Later, as she meets someone who could help her forget about Dean, he finds out what Lisa’s been hiding from him.

Warnings: Angst, Guilt, Alcohol consumption, Some fluff, Mentions of cheating.

Music: Good as Hell by Lizzo (playing in the background as Y/N gets dressed for girls’ night out), Starting Over by Chris Stapleton (Y/N and Mark scene).

Life’s Lessons Spotify Playlist

A/N: I loved reading all of your responses to Part 5, I’m so happy you guys loved it and were surprised and shocked! That’s what I live for hahaha! I hope you guys continue to enjoy this series as we move forward. It’s a bit of ride, but I promise the result is going to be worth it! Thank you so much for all of your support, it really means a lot. Happy reading and enjoy! :)

Life’s Lessons Masterlist 

The next morning brought cloudy skies, a gloom that matched the way Y/N was feeling as her eyes fluttered open. She turned her head and looked out the window, frowning as she saw the clouds in the sky. She loved the summer but now with fall settling in, the hopes for even one more day of warmth were over.

The thoughts of Dean hadn’t left her mind since the night before, as much as she tried to not think about him. The way he felt against her, his hard torso against hers, his calloused hands against her skin, the feeling of his muscles against her hands even through his shirt, his lips against hers… it had all stirred feelings within her that she wished she didn’t have for someone who was taken. She couldn’t do anything about the way she was feeling.

As she stood up from the bed and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, she couldn’t help but think about how much more complicated things had gotten. All because she couldn’t keep away from Dean.

She really was in trouble.

The shower turned on, wetting Dean’s hair as he tilted his head into the spray. The water flowed down his back, seeping into his skin. He closed his eyes and stroked the water through his hair a few times to get it soaked down to the scalp. He opened his eyes and stared at the tiled wall in front of him. He couldn’t stop thinking about what happened last night. The way Y/N felt against him, her smooth skin against his calloused fingers, her soft lips kissing his. He couldn’t get her out of his mind; being that close to her turning him on in ways he hadn’t been in a long time.

As Dean finished up in the shower and got dressed for the day, his mind was still on Y/N. However, guilt washed over him. He felt like he needed another shower. Maybe ten. It had been quite a few months since he and Lisa had been intimate in any way. The last time they even tried to start something up, she stopped him before anything could happen, saying she had lost the urge. He knew there were other ways to be close to someone but having been in a relationship for 3 years, and suddenly lacking a sex life in the last few months meant that he was incredibly frustrated. It had been a lot of time with his hand, in the shower or the bedroom when no one was around. He had never strayed however, and he wouldn’t, even if he had a moment of weakness with Y/N. He had stopped himself and he was going to make an effort with Lisa. Then maybe, just maybe, they could go back to the way things were.

Dean walked into the kitchen, seeing her and Ben laughing about some video on her phone, as they ate breakfast. He smiled as he saw her face light up. She was a beautiful woman, and anyone could see that. He cared very deeply for her, always had. It just never became more than that. He loved her but he wasn’t in love with her, but if they tried again, he knew that he could be.

He walked over and watched her lift her head to see him walking towards her. He leaned in and kissed her slowly on the lips, trying to see what her reaction would be. When she pulled away with a small smile, he tried not to feel too optimistic.

“Looks good” he said, as he sat down and piled several pieces of bacon onto his plate.

“It’s probably going to rain, so we can’t go to the park and swing a few bats” Ben informed him, sadly.

“Damn” Dean muttered as he looked out the windows and saw the grey skies. “That’s a shame.”

“I have to run a few errands, so you’re both welcome to join me” Lisa chimed in.

Ben groaned as he pushed the eggs around in his plate.

Dean snickered as he watched him. “Maybe I can call Sam. He’s not working on a case right now; we can drive into the city and all hang out at the big arcade. How ‘bout that?”

Ben’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Yeah, if it’s cool with your mom” Dean said, looking between him and Lisa.

“Sure” she smiled at her son.

“Yes!” Ben pumped his fist, eating his food properly now.

“Thanks” Lisa said as she looked at Dean, with half a smile.

Dean nodded as he tucked in.

It wasn’t much of a reaction, but he would take what little happiness he could get from her.

“Alright, go nuts” Dean told Ben, and watched the kid dash off into the arcade.

Dean turned to Sam and shook his head with a laugh, taking a sip from his beer. They both sat in the adjoining diner, watching Ben through the windows. While he was going crazy on all the games, Dean got the chance to talk his brother.

“How’s Eileen?” Dean asked, his fingers drumming against the bottle to the beat of the AC/DC song playing overhead.

“She’s good, a little tired, but good” Sam replied, taking a bite of his salad. “The new firm’s kicking her ass but she’s kicking theirs right back, so I’m proud of her.”

Dean smiled, albeit a little sadly as he saw how much his brother loved his wife. “That’s great, man.”

There was a moment of quiet as Dean kept picking at the label on the beer bottle, when Sam spoke up.

“I don’t know if I should ask this, but… how are things with Lisa?” Sam asked, tentatively.

Dean huffed, shaking his head. “Pretty much the same as always. If we’re not ignoring each other, we’re fighting about something. I’m trying to be a little more… I’m trying to get us back to some place closer to how we were but… I don’t know.”

Sam frowned, lines forming on his forehead as he worried over what Dean just said. “You’re sure you don’t want to just… end it before things get worse?”

“No” Dean said, too quickly. He looked out the window to see Ben playing Galaga. “I can’t do that to him.”

“Dean, what you and Lisa are doing is worse for him. This way, at least it’s a clean enough break and everyone can move on without too much damage” Sam explained, pushing his plate to the end of the table, finished with his meal.

“I know” Dean said, quietly.

“So, what’s the problem?” Sam shrugged. “Yeah okay, you had some good years, and that’s great but… you can try all you want to get those years back, it might not do anything. Lisa has been emotionally checked out from this for a long time now, and let’s face it, you are too. You’re both just in this for Ben.”

Dean took a swig of his beer but didn’t say anything.

“Dean, you deserve to be happy with the right woman, not miserable with the one who you thought was the right one” Sam said, leaning his arms on the table as he looked his brother.

“Sam” Dean groaned. “Just stop, okay?”

“But, Dean-” Sam started but Dean cut him off.

“You said what you had to say, alright? You made your point. Let’s move on” Dean said, his tone almost pleading.

“Okay” Sam whispered.

“Good” Dean muttered, picking up a few fries from his plate and shoving them into his mouth.

With his brother’s mind preoccupied with the food in front of him, Sam stared at Dean, seeing the turmoil written on his face. His brother was loyal to a fault, but he had seen for a while now how much this relationship was hurting him. He never listened to anyone, not him, their parents, his friends, about breaking up with Lisa. He always cited that Ben was the reason he needed to stay, but there was also another reason that Dean hated to admit to anyone, even himself. Sam could see it, though. His big brother was afraid of being alone.

Sam knew he couldn’t tell Dean to break up with Lisa any more than he already had. He had to realize that’s what he needed for himself, and maybe, he could find peace after it.

Later in the evening, Y/N laughed as she opened her door and walked into the house, Charlie following in behind her. They had just come back from a slasher movie, which hadn’t turned out to be very good, but you couldn’t expect a lot from a B grade film. That didn’t matter though, as they still got to enjoy lunch before that, and were just going to hang out now that they were at Y/N’s.

“God, that guy couldn’t act!” Charlie complained as she sank into Y/N’s couch. She kicked her converse off and brought her legs up. She had instantly made herself comfortable at her house, and Y/N couldn’t be happier with that.

Y/N continued to laugh, nodding as she agreed. “I know! And what about the scene where the axe went through his head? It totally didn’t connect!”

“Right?” Charlie shook her head, giggling.

“Alright, what are we drinking?” Y/N asked as her laughter died down and she walked into the kitchen.

“Whiskey” Charlie replied, quickly without thinking too much about it.

“Ooh, yes. Perfect for this weather” Y/N said, as she looked out the window at the light drizzle.

Y/N brought the bottle and two tumblers over, sitting next to her redheaded friend. She poured a couple of fingers in each and handed her one, clinking their glasses together. They both took a sip and Y/N sat back, smiling contently. It had been a good day, a nice distraction from her neighbor who she had feelings for. Her face must’ve changed when she thought about him for split second, because Charlie picked up on it.

“You okay?” she asked, curiously.

“Yeah” Y/N huffed with a small laugh. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You just seem like something’s on your mind” Charlie shrugged.

Y/N looked away from her and sighed. She was going to flip when she told her.

“I… went over to Dean’s for dinner last night” she started, waiting to get to the point.

“Nice. I hope Lisa was a bit more open than last time” Charlie commented.

Y/N bit her lip nervously, before letting it go. “She… she wasn’t there.”

One of Charlie’s eyebrows lifted up. “Okay…”

“We, uh… we had a great time. We talked a lot about his family, about mine. I… I told him about Ethan” Y/N told her, staring into her glass at the amber liquid.

“Wow” Charlie breathed out. “How did that go?”

Y/N smiled as she thought back to how he told her she was the strongest person he knew. She didn’t feel like she was, but just knowing that he thought that about her made her feel like she could be.

“It went well. In the moment I thought about against telling him, but he just… he made me feel so safe that I told him a little of it” Y/N said, the soft smile still on her face. “Not everything just yet, but I trust him and maybe I can tell him more, eventually.”

Charlie stared at her, knowing her new friend was falling for one of her old friends was incredible to see, but she didn’t want her heart to get broken by the situation at hand.

“Y/N… I’m glad you felt the confidence to tell him. I’m even more happy that he made you feel safe to open up, but… but you have to tread lightly here” Charlie said, carefully.

“I know” Y/N agreed.

“It’s my fault, really. I told you about Dean and Lisa’s relationship, but that was only because of what you said happened at dinner here-” Charlie said, but cut her off.

“It’s okay, Charlie, really” she reassured her, taking her hand in hers. “I know why you told me that. Believe me, I know. It’s just…”

“What?” Charlie knew there was something she wasn’t telling her.

Y/N sighed in defeat. “We kissed.”

“What?!” Charlie yelled, sitting forward as she stared wide eyed at Y/N.

“We had a great time, we were laughing, and he made dessert, and… fuck, it just happened” Y/N shook her head, saying it out loud made it more real, and made the guilt flood in again.

“Y/N!” Charlie yelled.

“I know!” Y/N yelled, burying her face into the couch cushions. “I’m a shitty person.”

“No, you’re not” Charlie told her, helping her off the couch cushions. “We just can’t let that happen again.”

“And I won’t” Y/N vowed. “I think it’s out of my system in the crappiest way possible, and it’s done now. Even if it was the best kiss of my life… I’m done.”

“Really?” Charlie asked, in awe of the statement she just made. “The best of your life?”

Y/N nodded, sheepishly. “It was like… like I was always meant to be there, with him.”

A silence fell as the two friends looked at each other, before Charlie spoke.

“I hate to say it, but… I think that’s where it has to end” Charlie said, as gently as she could.

“I know” Y/N nodded, firmly.

On those final words, the friends moved away from talking about it. Y/N knew that what happened last night couldn’t happen again. It would be hard to let him go, but she had to. She wasn’t going to break up a family. That’s not the kind of person she was. She had a moment of giving in, but it was done and dusted. Swept under a rug, never to see the light of day again. From that point forward, it would be strictly professional. She was Ben’s teacher and that was it. She may be their friendly neighbor, but she couldn’t be Dean’s friend.

She couldn’t have another moment to give into.

Dean smiled as he sipped his beer while sitting on the couch, watching Ben recall the day’s events to his mom. They had a great time with Sam at the arcade, playing all the games and eating junk food. After a while, Ben retreated to his room and Dean knew he’d been listening to his music before going to bed.

Dean walked into the bedroom after finishing his beer, watching Lisa get changed into her pyjamas. He moved up behind her after she took her top off, wrapping his arms around her waist. He leaned down, placing kisses along her shoulder.

“Dean” she said, a slight laugh bubbling up from her. “Stop.”

“Oh, come on, Lis. Ben’s in his room, probably has his headphones on” he said, between planting kisses on her shoulder. “We haven’t in a while…”

“Dean, please” she said, as she pulled away from him. However, when she turned around, she looked a little annoyed. “Maybe… maybe another time.”

Dean was surprised by that, considering she laughed a little when he came up behind her. “Yeah. Okay.”

She moved away from him, walked into the bathroom and shut the door, locking it.

Dean sighed as he changed into a pair of sweatpants and a black t-shirt. He left the room and into the living room, turning the lights off. He dropped his phone on the coffee table and laid down on the couch. It was a familiar feeling as he had done this a few times over the last year. Considering things didn’t go the way he thought they would tonight, he knew it was better to stay away for now. He pulled the throw blanket over himself and closed his eyes.

After some time, he opened them. He wasn’t going to sleep. He lifted his head and looked at the clock on the wall, the time reading 10.30pm. It wasn’t late for him, as he usually fell asleep in the AM on a weekend. He picked up his phone and started scrolling through different things, before an idea came to him. Hopefully she wasn’t asleep yet.

Y/N sat up in bed, reading, the bedside lamp provided the light she needed as it bathed the room in a warm glow. She pushed her red glasses up the bridge of her nose when she felt them falling, flipping the page. Charlie had left an hour ago, which gave her some time to herself and the ability to lose herself in her latest read. As she read, her phone chimed. She frowned, wondering who could be texting her at this hour. She thought it must be Charlie, wanting to tell her some funny anecdote, but her eyebrows furrowed as she picked up her phone from the bedside table and looked at the screen.

Dean: Any chance you’re free tomorrow? We need to talk.

She sighed as she placed her book down next to her and typed out her response.

Dean frowned as he saw what she had written.

Y/N: I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Dean.

Dean: We can’t just ignore what happened, Y/N.

She shook her head. She couldn’t be pulled into this again. She had no desire to talk about it, choosing instead to forget about it and make sure it never happened again.

Y/N: I think that’s exactly what we need to do. Forget it happened. Goodnight, Dean.

Dean looked down at the message and shook his head. How could he forget when she was constantly on his mind? He was trying, had been trying all day, but the fact was he couldn’t stop thinking about her. He couldn’t deny he had developed feelings for her. He told himself he would try with Lisa, but would it do any good? He just needed to talk to Y/N and see whether they were on the same page or capable of getting there, and then go from there.

He decided to put his phone and sleep on it. Maybe things would be clearer in the morning.

Monday quickly rolled around, and Y/N was thankful. School was a good distraction from the drama in her life, even if Ben was there. She was going to have her 8th graders after lunch, so as she ate, she had enough time to look over what she needed to do for class. She was in the middle of reviewing her lesson plans when she heard someone call out her name. She looked up and saw Chuck walking towards her.

“Hey, Y/N, can we talk for a minute?” he asked, politely.

“Sure” she replied, but slightly nervous as she didn’t know what this is about.

As she followed him into his office, she sat down across him as he sat at his desk.

“Don’t worry, it’s not anything to worry about” he assured her, when he saw her looking like a deer in headlights. “I just wanted to ask you how things have been going.”

She sighed in relief, a smile appearing on her face. “Things have been great. Challenging, but I think I’ve handled it.”

“That’s great to hear” he returned her smile. “I’ve had some calls from parents telling me how much their kids have liked you, so all I can say is keep doing what you’re doing.”

“Thanks, Mr. Shurley” she said.

“Ah” he waved a finger at her.

“Sorry” she laughed, slightly. “Chuck.”

“You’re welcome” he said with a small nod.

She quickly left his office with a smile on her face. Hearing that from Chuck was exactly what she needed today. It was the reassurance she needed that coming to Lawrence was a good decision. It was a reminder of why she came here, for this job and to inspire these kids, not for any unnecessary situations outside of school. She really just had to put her head down and do what she needed to and forget about Dean. Even if he did live across street from her, right now, he couldn’t exist.

As she walked from the staff room to the classroom after lunch, she watched kids file into the rooms, ready for the next period. She smiled as she turned the corner, ready to see her students but it dropped the minute she entered the room.

Ben and another student, Tommy, were roughly pushing each other back and forth, some of the other kids in class yelling for them to stop, while others yelled for them to keep going. She quickly dropped her things on the desk and rushed over, attempting to pull them apart.

“Stop it, stop it right now” she said, her teacher voice louder than usual. “Ben, Tommy – STOP!”

She got in the middle, either hand on the boys’ shoulders, watching them breathe heavily as they glared at each other. She thought about sending them over to Chuck’s office, but they’d probably kill each other on the way over.

“You two, sit down right now. We’re going to Mr. Shurley’s office straight after class” she said, sternly.

The rest of the kids were timid for the rest of the class. She had rearranged some of them so that Ben and Tommy were sitting as far away from each other as possible. Things were tense through the whole period, but she was glad that once it was over, Ben and Tommy stayed in their seats as the other kids filed out.

“So, who wants to tell me what happened before we head over to Mr. Shurley’s office?” she asked, looking between both of the boys.

Tommy stared down at the desk, refusing to speak. Y/N knew he wasn’t going to say anything and looked over at Ben. He looked at her with a mournful yet angry look. Clearly it was something bad.

“Tommy was making fun of me, that Dean’s not my real dad, that I don’t know who my dad is” he told her, side eying Tommy.

Y/N’s heart sank into her stomach. This was worse than she thought.

She nodded, calmly standing up from her desk and walking over to Ben. “Tommy, make your way to the Principal’s office, please. You can explain to him why I sent you, and that Ben and I are on our way.”

Tommy rolled his eyes as he got up from the desk, slinging his backpack over his shoulder as he walked out. She was going to be there soon, so he knew he didn’t have a chance to escape.

Y/N took a chair and placed in front of Ben’s desk, sitting down across from him. After a few seconds of figuring what to say, she clasped her hands as she looked at him.

“I can’t imagine what it’s like to hear what Tommy said to you, Ben, but what I do know is that what you and Dean have is special. He cares a lot about you, and he treats you like you’re his, doesn’t he?” she said, pausing after she asked him a question.

Ben responded with only a nod.

“Then that’s all that matters. You know your relationship with Dean better than anyone, and what others have to say about it, doesn’t change the fact that you’re a family. That Dean’s your family” she explained, with a small smile at the end.

There was a brief pause before Ben finally spoke.

“I’m sorry that I’ve been quiet in class. It’s just weird seeing you around the neighborhood and our street, and then here, too” he said, looking up at her.

She was shocked. That wasn’t what she expected him to say.

She smiled, softly. “It’s okay, Ben. I’m sure it’s strange for me to be friends with Dean and your mom.”

She added Lisa in only for Ben, because she knew they were far from friends.

Ben shook his head. “No, not really.”

Y/N nodded. She was almost hoping he said it was strange, so that not being around Dean would be a bit easier.

“Alright” she said, standing up. “We better get over there.”

“Am I gonna get into trouble for pushing Tommy?” he asked, as he stood up and followed her.

She frowned, not sure what would happen. “Maybe an after-school detention at most, considering neither of you are seriously hurt.”

“Great” he said, rolling his eyes.

Sure enough, as they discussed everything in Chuck’s office, both Tommy and Ben were going to have to do after-school detention, which Y/N was meant to be supervising that day, coincidentally. Tommy apologized to Ben and then both of the boys were off to their next class, albeit slightly late, but Chuck had already informed the next teachers’ of why they would be late. Chuck told her that he’d call the parents as she left his office. She had literally been there a couple of hours ago, for some good feedback and now this happened. Talk about two ends of the spectrum. Though she had to be thankful nothing worse happened to either of the boys.

The length of time seemed to stretch on forever as Y/N waited for after-school detention to be over. There were couple of other kids in there with Ben and Tommy, who looked like he was ready to run as soon as the time was up.

All of them bolted as soon as she opened her mouth to tell them they could go. Ben gave her a small smile as he walked out of the room, which she returned. He was a good kid and didn’t deserve to be talked about the way he was, no kid did. She hoped it wouldn’t weigh heavily on him after this experience. She quickly packed her own things, putting on her dark grey coat over her dark grey A-line dress, with a deep red belt and collar. She was more than ready to go home herself.

Dean leaned against the Impala, waiting for Ben to come out of the school. He clocked off early to come and get him after he was done with detention, as Lisa was working late. She had called him and told him what happened, and now here was. He smiled as he watched Ben walk out and over to him.

“Hey” he said, putting an arm around him. “You okay?”

“Yeah” Ben nodded.

“Alright, well, you can fill me in on why you had to go to detention on the way home” Dean said, as he opened the car door.

As he was about to get in, he saw Y/N leaving the school, pulling her coat tight around her, protecting herself from the wind. His eyes followed the lines of her legs in her stockings and black heels, shaking his head of the thoughts that flashed through his mind.

“Hey, just wait here, okay?” he said to Ben.

“Sure” Ben replied, not really looking up at where Dean was heading off to, as he got into the passenger side.

Dean jogged up to Y/N, quickly catching up to her. “Y/N!” he called out and watched her turn around.

Y/N was shocked to hear his familiar voice call out to her. She didn’t expect to see him there and swallowed nervously. “Dean, hi.”

“Listen, I know you said that we shouldn’t talk about what happened, but I just… I have to know-” he started but she cut him off, shaking her head.

“You don’t have to say anything, Dean” she said, quietly, her emotions getting the better of her. She didn’t want to do what she was about to, but she had to. “It was a lapse in judgement for both of us. A moment of weakness that won’t ever happen again.”

Dean knew there was truth to her words but hearing them made his heart feel heavy. As much as he was trying in the last couple of days with Lisa, it hadn’t done much for his hopes that they would be fine again. He wanted to talk to Y/N and see if they could work something out.

“I just think-” he started but she cut him off again.

“No, Dean. Just don’t. You have a family. They’re the ones you should be thinking about, not me. That kid over there” she said and pointed to the car where Ben was. “He considers you his family, and I know you feel the same. I won’t break up a family, Dean. I just won’t.”

He looked between the car and her. She was right. He cared about Ben, and he was only in this relationship for him now. To be in his life. Did that mean he had to be miserable with Lisa forever, though? He didn’t know what to do.

“Do you regret it?” he needed to know if she felt the same way as him. He wished he hadn’t done it while he was with Lisa, but it happened. However, remembering how she felt against him… it felt right.

She shook her head, feeling tears prick her eyes. “No. And that’s the problem.”

She should’ve felt regret. She should’ve hated what she did. She felt guilty for it happening but at the same time, she couldn’t regret kissing him. She had never felt a connection like that with anyone she had been with.

“But that doesn’t mean I don’t feel guilty” she said, before pressing her lips together to keep them from quivering. “Ben’s a great kid. At the end of the day… I have to look out for him as much as you do. I’m not his parent but I am his teacher. I have a sense of responsibility to him.”

He felt a pang in his heart as she looked at him, tears threatening to fall.

“I know you have your issues with Lisa, and I want… more than anything, to say forget it all and take me in your arms, but I can’t. I shouldn’t be thinking about you in the ways that I do. I shouldn’t be thinking about what life would be like with you” she shook her head, everything just spilling out in a ramble of emotions.

“Y/N…” he whispered, slowly putting his hand on her shoulder. He wanted to tell her that he thought the same things.

She gasped, feeling the warmth of his hand radiate through her. She gulped and breathed in deep. She looked at him with a stony expression. She had to put her walls up and walk away. It was the only way to save herself from heartbreak and for him to not feel like crap for what happened.

“I’m… going to step back for a while. You’ll see me around, I know, but we have to pretend like nothing happened. You have to think of me as your neighbor, as Ben’s teacher, and that’s it. We can’t be friends anymore, Dean” she said, as a tear finally escaped and rolled down her cheek.

Dean’s eyes widened as he shook his head. “What? No. Screw that-”

She shook her head when he tried take her hand in his. “It’s too hard to be around you and not be with you, Dean.”

“Y/N” he said, finally getting close enough to her that he could take her hand in his and she couldn’t stop him. “Don’t do this.”

“I’m sorry, Dean. I have to. They’re your family and you care about them; I can see that. And I can also see that you care about Ben. So much so, that you’re willing to stay in this relationship for him” she said, smiling sadly. “You’re a good man, Dean. You’re loyal and you’re trustworthy, kind and loving… but at some point, you have to decide whether what you’re staying in this for is a good enough reason.”

Dean stared at her but didn’t say anything.

“It’s a big decision to make… but I can’t make it for you by continuing the way we have been. It isn’t fair to anyone.” Her voice cracked, slightly shaky but she managed to keep the rest of her tears at bay.

Dean shook his head as he looked at her. Everything she said made sense. Despite it, he couldn’t help but feel his heart sink at her words. Not being friends would feel weird, especially if he saw her around and couldn’t say anything to her. Maybe… maybe they needed this, though. He needed to give Lisa a chance without Y/N being a constant in his life. He told himself he would try, and now he had a proper chance to do so.

“It’s gonna be weird… not talking to you” he said, honestly.

She nodded, looking into his eyes. His beautiful eyes that she always lost herself in. “I know.”

“Take care of yourself, Y/N” he muttered, his jaw clenched, eyebrows furrowed.

“You too, Dean” she whispered. “Whatever you decide… just make sure you’re doing the right thing. For everyone.”

She looked at him one last time, and even though she probably shouldn’t have, she leaned in and softly kissed his stubbled cheek. It would probably be a mixed signal, but she couldn’t leave him there looking so sad.

As she walked away, Dean could feel a tingle on his cheek where she had imprinted her kiss, much like she had on his lips, previously. Watching her walk away made his stomach uneasy, feeling it churn as she got into her car. She would be right there across the street, and he wouldn’t be able to talk to her. He didn’t know how to process that as he walked back to the car where Ben was waiting for him.

When Y/N got into her car, she watched as Dean got into the Impala and drove off, the rumbling of the engine reaching her ears, even from this distance.

As she drove home, she knew she had to make peace with her decision. As much as she wanted to take it back, she had to let him go.

Once and for all.

2 weeks later…

Y/N sipped the last of her vodka martini, bopping her head in time to the music. Next to her, Charlie was doing the same. She was glad when Meg suggested they come out to the city for a night on the town, on Saturday night. She needed a night of good drinks, good music, and maybe even a little flirting.

It had been two weeks since she had talked to Dean in the school parking lot. In that time, she had barely seen him. Just once or twice as she left for work in the morning and so did he, and once when she was coming back from the grocery store. She had seen him with Lisa one night, coming back from what looked like date night. She was glad that things were going a bit better for them, but it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt seeing them together.

Which is why when Meg had suggested they drive up to Kansas City to go to a bar she liked; Y/N jumped at the chance. As Lizzo serenaded her from her “Badass Women” playlist, she put on a black lace bodysuit and mini leather skirt that came to her mid-thigh, her black lace up heeled ankle boots, gave herself a smokey eye with lots of mascara look and a plum colored lip. She put a bit of wave in her hair, smiling at the way she looked. Charlie had whistled when she opened the door as shrugged on her long black coat, and she had laughed a little nervously when Meg told her she was “totally gonna get laid tonight.” It was her first time meeting the dark-haired woman in person, and she liked her instantly. She had like her even as they chatted over the phone, but it was different now. She seemed like a take-no-shit type of person, and Y/N liked that.

While she wasn’t expecting anything tonight, Y/N felt confident in the way she looked, having caught a few eyes on her already. Being here had given her a confidence she had been lacking back home, because of all the emotional and mental abuse Ethan had put her through. When Dean told her he admired her strength, that she was beautiful and an incredible person, it awoke something in her. She felt different. She didn’t need validation from anyone, but at the same time knowing that she was appreciated and loved by these amazing people she had met, gave her a new sense of belonging. She finally felt like she was exactly where she needed to be.

Meg pushed her way through the crowd of people, a tray of drinks in her hand. She handed her and Charlie their respective drinks, taking the Shirley Temple for herself, as she had made herself the designated driver.

“Y/N, there’s a group of guys over there, and I swore the blonde one is totally looking at you” she said, pointing discreetly over her left shoulder.

Y/N frowned and looked around, sure enough seeing 4 guys around a table like the girls were, the blonde one looking in their direction.

“He could be looking at you, you know. Or Charlie. I mean he doesn’t know you’re both taken” Y/N shot down the idea.

Charlie scoffed. “Yeah, right. All eyes have been on you tonight.”

“Go over there” Meg told her, her eyes lighting up.

“No” Y/N said, shaking her head.

“Do it or I will” Meg threatened, smiling wickedly.

“You wouldn’t, Masters” Y/N glared at her.

“Watch me, Y/L/N” she laughed as she quickly dashed off.

“Meg!” Y/N called out but she wouldn’t be heard over the music.

Charlie laughed as she took a sip of her drink.

Y/N shook her head at her and took a sip of her martini.

Y/N watched as Meg talked to the blonde guy and then pointed over at her. Y/N gulped nervously when she saw him nod. He was looking at her. Shit. Meg quickly walked back over.

“Girl, he’s so interested! Come on, please go over there” Meg was practically shaking with excitement.

Y/N sighed nervously. Was she ready for this?

It had been a year since she and Ethan had broken up. In that time, she had hooked up twice on two different occasions, back home. It had felt good to just have sex for the release she had needed, but it had been a while since she let herself feel something more for a man. Dean was the first one she had felt a strong connection to since Ethan, back when things were still okay with him. Even then, the pull she felt towards Dean was unlike anything she had ever felt. Not with Ethan, or any other boyfriends from the past.

What she felt for Dean… it still hadn’t fizzled out, as much as she tried to ignore it. Maybe this is what she needed though. To get over him.

She rolled her shoulders back and fixed her hair. “How do I look?”

“Sinful” Meg replied, simply.

She laughed, shaking her head at her new friend. “Okay. I’m going.”

Charlie grinned. “Go get him.”

Y/N hopped off the high-top stool and moved through the crowd. As she did, her Y/E/C eyes connected with his, and he flashed her a smile. She smiled back as she reached the table, his friends quickly excusing themselves. As she got closer and could see him properly in the dim lighting of the room, she saw that he had blue eyes. He was only a few inches taller than her because of her heels, unlike Dean who would tower over her no matter her footwear.

“Hey, I’m Mark” he said, offering his hand.

“Y/N” she took his hand and shook it. She didn’t feel a spark just yet from his touch like she had with Dean so instantly, but that was okay.

“I’ll be honest, I couldn’t stop looking at you all night” he laughed, sounding a little nervous.

She felt the heat rise in her cheeks, and it wasn’t from the alcohol. “Well, you’re not so bad yourself.”

“Let me get you a drink” he said, flagging down a waiter. “What’ll you have?”

“Vodka martini” she said, and watched the waiter walk away to get her a drink. She could’ve just gotten hers from her table, but he had offered to buy her one. She couldn’t say no.

“Thanks” she said, smiling at him.

“You’re welcome” he smirked.

“Do you live here in the city?” she asked, as the song overhead changed to something slower, making it easier to talk.

“Yeah. You?” he asked in return.

“Lawrence” she replied.

“So, what do you do, in Lawrence?” he wondered, smiling at her.

“I’m a teacher, 8th grade English” she smiled back.

“Wow, that’s great” he nodded, approvingly.

“What do you do?” she asked.

“I’m a copywriter, for an ad agency” he replied, handing her the glass as the waiter came back to them. He passed the waiter a few bills before he walked away.

She nodded, approvingly, too. “That’s amazing.”

“Not as glamorous as you would think, though” he laughed, slightly.

“Ah, so nothing like a modern version of Mad Men?” she joked.

He laughed loudly, shaking his head. “Definitely not.”

With a break in conversation, Y/N drifted off as the song that started while they were talking, continued. The words hit her as she thought about her life back home, and the life she was making for herself now, starting over in Lawrence. The song spoke of a person to start over with, and while she longed for that someone to be Dean, she knew it couldn’t be.

It don’t matter to me

Wherever we are is where I wanna be

And, honey, for once in our life

Let’s take our chances and roll the dice

I can be your lucky penny

You can be my four-leaf clover

Starting over

“Hey” Mark’s voice bringing her back to reality. “You alright?”

She smiled, nodding quickly. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Just feeling the song, huh?” he asked, laughing.

“I guess” she shrugged.

They talked for a few more minutes before his friends came over and told him they were going to head out.

“I should probably go, too” he said, regretfully. He took out his phone and handed it to her. “Here, put your number in and we can talk some time. Maybe… maybe I can take you out some time?”

She smiled as she typed her number in. A flashback of doing the same thing with Dean’s phone passed through her mind, but she pushed it away. “Yeah.”

“It was nice to meet you, Y/N” he said, smiling.

“You too, Mark” she smiled back, biting her lip.

As he left, she sighed. He was nothing at all like Dean, as she had discovered through their initial conversation. They were completely different in their features, the way they dressed, and the way they talked. Maybe that was a good thing, though. Giving Mark a shot would be the best way to detach herself from Dean. He was adorably cute, and she liked their banter already.

Maybe Mark was what she needed to truly forget about her feelings for Dean.

Dean popped the last bite of his burger into his mouth, humming as the flavors exploded on his tastebuds. He leaned back and took a sip of his beer from the bottle, glancing around the diner. It was a favorite spot for him, Ben and Lisa and they used to come here quite often before things started going sour. Funnily enough, it was Lisa who had suggested they go out for dinner and go there.

Things had been slightly better with her these last couple of weeks. They had managed to have proper conversations without things getting out of hand, and he had even made her laugh a few times. There was still no dice in terms of sex, but he was hoping that would change tonight when they got back home.

Dean looked over at Lisa and Ben sitting across from him, currently having a slight disagreement over him playing games on his phone while they were out and eating dinner.

“Hey” Dean said, interrupting them. “Listen to your mom.”

“Fine” Ben said, rolling his eyes as he put his phone away. “Can I at least get a refill?” He shook his empty glass.

“Yes” Lisa said, smiling slightly.

Ben got up from the table and went and stood in line at the self-serve refill station.

“Thanks” Lisa said as she turned to look at Dean.

“No problem” he said, winking at her.

He smirked when he got a small smile out of her. He couldn’t believe how things were suddenly looking up for them, but he was relieved to not be fighting with her for a change.

Her phone chiming once, then twice got his attention as well as hers. She looked at her phone, but quickly pushed it aside.

“Something wrong?” he asked, frowning.

“No, just my sister. I’ll talk to her later” she replied, shaking her head.

“Lis, it’s your sister. Talk to her, I don’t care” he shrugged, not minding if she took a call.

“No, it’s really okay” she said, her voice shaking a little.

“Lisa, what’s going on?” he asked, starting to suspicious that something was up.

“Nothing” she bit out through gritted teeth.

Dean sighed, annoyed when the phone chimed again. Having spoken to her sister a few times, he figured he’d talk to her and see if everything was okay. He reached across the table and picked up Lisa’s phone.

“Dean!” she protested.

“If you won’t talk to her then let me” he said, looking down at the screen. He glared at the screen as he read the messages. They weren’t from her sister.

Call me when you’re done with dinner.

I can’t stop thinking about you.

I wish you were here with me.

Dean saw that there was no name, just a heart emoji instead. He read the ones on the lock screen, and that was enough for him to get the picture. That was enough for him to know that she was still lying to him. That she had been for more than a year now.

Dean looked at her and saw her face change into fear.

“Something you wanna tell me?” he asked, glaring at her.

-x-

Tags: @flamencodiva​ @deanwanddamons​ @winchest09​ @katehuntington​ @akshi8278​ @hobby27​ @michellethetvaddict​ @spngirl05​ @kyjey​ @halesandy​ @440mxs-wife​ @stoneyggirl​ @deanswaywardgirl​ @wonder-cole​ @that-one-gay-girl​ @redbarn1995​ @marianita195​ @babypink224221​ @deans-baby-momma​ @parinarain​ @thoughts-and-funnies​ @mandalou29​ @castiels-a-winchester @ellewritesfix05​ @jerkbitchidjitassbutt​ @supraveng​

[methoxyethane]

Someone had been creeping up on Lance’s high scores lately.

Lance had been going to this arcade since he was ten years old, back when all the best games were just being installed like Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga. Now half the games had changed but Lance’s favorites were still around, and he had been working on beating his own high scores for the last seven years - as well as mastering every new game that came in.

Lance was so familiar with this arcade, his home turf, that he even knew all of the regulars by face, and most by name. So when a new guy started looming around and a new set of initials started climbing their way up the leaderboard, it was easy to connect one dot with two.

The guy he suspected was here now, focused on a game of Afterburner, leaning over the game just enough to make his red leather jacket ride up so Lance could see the shape of his ass in tight black denim. Not that Lance typically spent a whole lot of time looking at dude’s asses, but. When perfection was in front of you, it warranted notice.

Speaking of perfection, this guy was totally making Afterburner his bitch. Lance watched him from behind, annihilating enemy ships and smoothly flying through the skies, dodging enemy fire without so much as skimming the ground as it flipped upside down and back again.

“You’re pretty good,” Lance said after a while, leaning up against the arcade machine to get his attention. “You’re KKS, right?”

The newcomer - KKS - nodded. “Keith Kogane-Shirogane,” he said, eyes not peeling away from the screen as he blew a dismissive bubble of pink gum out of his mouth.

Lance whistled. “Quite a mouthful. Mind if I just call you Keith?”

“If you feel the need to talk to me,” was Keith’s clipped reply.

Lance grinned to himself. He wanted to be annoyed at this guy's dismissive attitude, but instead all Lance could think was that that eyeliner looked really cute on him. Made him look like some kind of hard rock punk kitten. Even his standoffish vibe was kind of working for Lance.

Did he dare try to pick up a dude at his regular hangout spot, though? Did he want everyone in the arcade to know he liked men?

“What about you?” Keith asked through his bubblegum. “You got a name, or are you just some kind of creep?”

Yeah, fuck it. If anyone noticed him hitting on Keithy-kitten here and didn’t like it, they could just fuck right off. This was Miami, baby, and anything rolled in the City of Magic. “I’m Lance,” he said, still torn between watching the Afterbuner game Keith was wrecking and Keith’s face as he did it. “Also known as ‘LEM.’”

“I figured,” Keith said, and Lance watched as he divebombed into the ground to take out his last two lives and finish up the game. “If you were anyone else, you wouldn’t be strutting around like you own the place.”

He punched in his initials and finally turned to regard Lance, eyes flickering up and down Lance to give him a good once-over. “So tell me what’s up, Lance? Just come over here to ruin my concentration?”

“You were doing just fine even with me here,” Lance said easily. “I was just wondering if you wanted to play doubles with me. You know, partner up for a few rounds.”

Keith’s bubblegum snapped as he considered, before he shrugged. “If you got the quarters.”

Lance grinned. They went for Pac-Man first, Lance paying for Keith’s game as they both started up on opposite ends of the screen. And if one of them individually was good the two of them together were phenomenal, blasting through levels at top speed and racking up points like they were nothing.

Lance bumped his hips against Keith’s multiple times while they were playing, using the loading screens between levels to flirt with Keith and generally brush against him as much as possible.

They switched over to Galaga after a while, but multiplayer on this game was just taking turns. It left Lance with more time to concentrate on flirting with Keith, testing the limits of what the other gamer would put up with in terms of Lance’s bad pick up lines. Keith didn’t talk much, still chewing absently on his gum as he annihilated his turn at the game, but he didn’t tell Lance to fuck off and sometimes he’d lightly kick at him or bump his hip against Lance’s, which Lance was fairly confident to be his way of flirting back.

“You know, most guys would probably throw the game so I can get my turn faster. If they were trying this hard to impress me.” Keith mentioned idly, leaning against the machine as he waited for his turn.

“How’s that supposed to impress you?” Lance said back, taking his eyes off the game long enough to glance at Keith. “You want someone who will lay down at your feet, or someone you can actually play with?”

Keith smirked, and it looked like Lance had passed whatever test he was playing at. So Lance made his move, abandoning the game mid-level to turn to Keith and ask, “So what does it take for a guy to get your phone number, then?”

Keith stared at him for a long second, considering. Then, he pointed to the wall behind the counter, declaring, “I’ve had my eye on that pink hippo on the wall. Win it for me, and I’ll go out with you.”

Lance’s eyes widened. The hippo on the wall was no joke - the thing was massive, a cheerful pink plush monster with huge smiling jaws, and it cost 3,000 tickets to win.

They’d already earned a few tickets just from goofing off all night. And Lance still had a stash of tickets of his own just from coming here so often, which meant…

Lance nodded firmly. “I’ll win it for you before this place closes tonight.”

A thick black eyebrow raised. “You think you can do it all in one night?” He said, genuinely interested for the first time all night.

“I can’t let you get away, can I?” Lance grinned at him. “I won’t get a chance like this again.”

Keith smiled, leaning himself against the wall. “Well then. I gotta see this.”

It did in fact, take all night. Lance started with skeeball, because it was a fast way to wrack up tickets with his perfect aim. Keith even had the decency to look impressed as Lance scored bullseye after bullseye, until his arms got tired and his aim started to falter.

Other than that his best two games were Duck Hunt and Donkey Kong, and a few hours straining his eyes on each and he finally had the tickets he needed. He slammed them down on the counter fifteen minutes before closing time, pointing to the hippo on the wall with a grin that bordered on feral.

And then the best part happened. Lance handed the stuffed animal off to Keith, who took it iot his arms with wide eyes and a slight bush tinging his cheeks.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe you actually got it for me,” he said, actual human emotion in his voice for the first time all night. “It’s so cute…” he rubbed his face against the doll’s, smiling happily as he declared, “And so much softer than he looks. I thought it would be cheap for sure but this is actually a really nice plush.”

He stopped cuddling the doll to blink up at Lance, his blush fully overtaking his face. “I suppose this means I owe you a date.”

“If you have the time,” Lance said casually, fully enjoying everything he learned about Keith as they got to know each other. He knew the guy was cute, but he hadn’t expected THIS level of adorable.

Keith used the free hand not currently cradling an oversized plush to flip his hair off his neck. “You can start by walking me home.”

Offering his arm, Lance escalated his date out of the arcade. “After you, my lovely.

Behind them, the guy at the ticket counter rolled his eyes. No one noticed.

—

[kazuharem]

“Out About on the Town” - HC [FLUFF]

Thanks so much to @in-a-world-of-my-own-invention for my first ever request! (So sorry this took so long to complete!) This was so much fun to brainstorm 💖💖

A/N: Basically these HCs each have 3 events. 1 is described in little detail, another is described in moderate detail, and the last one is described in great detail.I did try to make each guy about the same length. If I wrote all three events in great detail, I’d be writing fics lol (brace yourselves,-these are long) Also sorry if the last lines sound like karma lines RIP

Here are the boys being dragged around by MC~

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Gavin: "Memory Lane of the Youth”

(Ngl, this was the hardest for me to write for some reason, but I’m very satisfied with the results I think; thanks so much to @stehkotori for all the info/ideas on our favorite Birdcop ♡)

💫 The “Letters Through Time” segment that you did became a huge hit and Loveland TV want you to do a part two on favorite haunts of people from when they were young

💫 You finish your interviews and find that the favorite memories happen to be an old timey arcade in the middle of the city, an amusement park that had been open for several decades, and a cliff side park where people particularly enjoy stargazing

💫 You want to call Gavin to come with you, but hesitate, is he still on mission?

💫 Just when you make the decision to call him anyway, your phone rings. It’s Gavin and you almost hang up on him in surprise

💫 “Gavin! Are you back from your mission? You didn’t get hurt, did you?”

💫 You hear Gavin laugh and your heart just swells “I just got back,” he tells you, his voice light, “It was a pretty easy mission this time. What’s up?”

💫 You tell Gavin about the show you’re shooting for “Do you have any free time? I’d like to ask you on a date for you to come with me. You were such a big help to me last time, and this excursion sounds like fun. If you’re not too tired, of course”

💫 He’s already in even before you asked “I’m free, where should I meet you?”

💫 You tell him the address of the arcade, intending to meet him there. Not even 5 minutes later, you hear the familiar roar of Sparky outside your apartment window. You run downstairs to meet him. “Gavin! Wha-”

💫 “Need a ride?” Gavin asks, leaning against Sparky. You eye him carefully and he smiles “I didn’t get hurt, I promise” You don’t believe him and inspect him carefully

💫 The two of you head to the arcade, your arms are wrapped around Gavin’s waist. It’s the first time in a while since you’ve felt free

💫 You arrive at the arcade and you gaze at the building, amazed. Despite its age, bright neon lights flashed continuously across its walls exactly how it did five years ago. Immediately, you pull out your camera and start snapping away. “It’s just like I remembered,” you say aloud, “I came here once with my friends.” Then you grab Gavin’s arm and pull him towards the entrance, “Come on! Might as well play some games”

💫 You go inside and an elderly man greets the two of you warmly “You’re welcome to play any of the games, just ask me for the tokens.” You look at the surroundings. There was Pac-Man, Galaga, Pinball, (wow hahaha I am old) and many more games of the past. Then you see a basketball machine and you spot a glint in Gavin’s eyes

💫 “Let’s go play basketball!” You suggest, remembering that Gavin loved to play basketball. You pass some bills to the elderly man and he gives you a handful of tokens. “Come on!” You hand Gavin some of the tokens, “I want to see you play”

💫 Gavin’s skills are unmatched, and you watch in admiration as he shoots ball after ball into the hoop. You snap a few pictures and the machine dinged

💫 “Young man,” the elderly owner says, awestruck, “You just beat the high score that no one has been able to in years”

💫 Gavin rubs his neck, a little embarrassed, “I just like it, that’s all” NAW homeboi was trying to impress you but also he is really good

💫 “Well you have some talent,” the old man says as you drop your unused tokens into a bowl, “Come back and play anytime”

💫 “Thank you so much!” You thank the owner for the interview and the two of you were on your way to the amusement park

💫 “I can’t believe this has been here all there years,” you marvel at the spinning rides, the Ferris wheel, and the carousel. “Now I can understand why this made it into the top spot for favorite haunts”

💫 For the rest of the day, you drag Gavin from ride to ride, taking pictures every chance you get

💫 It was twilight when the two of you get done with the amusement park. “What’s next?” Gavin asks

💫 You grin, “Our favorite pastime,” you blush a little at the word ‘our.’ Before he could ask, you blurt out the answer in excitement, “We’re going stargazing! And tonight’s perfect! Come on!”

💫 It’s quite a trek up to the cliff-side park, but Gavin is here and he has an arm around you, supporting you. The two of you hike up the mountain and the trail ends in a grassy meadow. Your mouth drop open, “It’s beautiful up here!” You exclaim, the tiny lights of the city seem so far way

💫 Luckily, there doesn’t seem to be anyone around so you and Gavin have the area to yourselves. Gavin settles himself on the grass and extends a hand towards you, “Come here”

💫 You sit and suddenly Gavin tugs on your hand, sending you flying into his chest. Your face flush instantly, “Gavin!”

💫 He laughs and you feel the sound rumble through his chest, warm and comforting, “We’re stargazing,” he reminds you and positions you so that you could comfortably look up at the sky. Your face turns a even brighter red, if possible

💫 You soon fall into a comfortable silence as the sky darkened to a inky black and slowly, twinkling stars start to appear

💫 “It really is beautiful,” you break the silence softly, wonder lacing your voice. Gavin makes a noise of agreement and he pulls you closer to him. “Gavin, I want to know about the constellations” you gently request

💫 And in his sure, soft voice, Gavin starts to name the constellations in the sky, pointing them out and telling you random facts

💫 You stretch your hand out towards the glittering background, “Don’t you ever wish you can just...reach out and grab them?” You ask softly, “Something about it makes me feel safe, like someone is watching over me”

💫 A calloused hand covers yours, the touch gentle, but you can feel the firm strength that you always associate with Gavin coursing through

💫 “The stars and I will always be there to protect you, no matter what”

Kiro: Night Market Expedition

(This isn’t exactly across the city, but MC does drag Kiro around. I thought it would be cute! This was loosely modeled after the Japanese Fireworks Festival, hanabi. This one is a little short - sorry!)

🎆 It’s summer and that means festivals galore! One of the key parts of the festival is the night market, full of food and quaint handicrafts. After the night market, there will be a fireworks show

🎆 You invite Kiro out since the two of you love to chow down his album recording wrapped and you thought he deserved a break. DON’T TELL SAVIN ABOUT THE FOOD

🎆 Kiro is super excited at the prospect of all that food getting the opportunity to spend time with you as well as being able to see the fireworks

🎆 He meets you at the bustling square in his typical disguise, a hat and black frames. The various vendors are already making food and delicious smells fill the air. Kiro is practically bouncing as you make your way to him. “Miss Chips! Are you ready for our food expedition tonight?”

🎆 “Yes!” You say as Kiro cheerfully wraps you in a hug as way of greeting

🎆 “What’s our plan of attack?” He ask as he surveys the sprawling vendors, cerulean eyes twinkling with anticipation

🎆 “I did some research,” you say as you pull out your phone, “I’ve narrowed it down to ‘Foods We Have to Try,’ and ‘Viral Foods.’ Where do you want to start?”

🎆 Kiro studies your list with intense concentration, “The King Takoyaki first,” he says finally

🎆 “That’s exactly what I was thinking!” You exclaim and Kiro sends a million-watt smile your way

🎆 “Just as I thought, Miss Chips and I are really connected!”

🎆 You pull out a map that you procured earlier and study it. “Let’s go!” You grab Kiro’s hand and pull him along to the vendor

🎆 Along the way, you can’t help but snap pictures of the various handicrafts that people are selling. Kiro asks if you want to stop and check some of these out

🎆 “Later! We’re here to eat first,” you pull Kiro along, with nothing but your destination in mind. You arrive in front of the “King Takoyaki” stand. You and Kiro share a gleam with excitement and order 2 takoyaki

🎆 Kiro is about to take a bite when you stop him, “I need to take pictures first!” He laughs and grabs your phone

🎆 “Miss Chips, let’s take one together!” He pulls you closer to him and holds up his takoyaki, grinning at the camera

🎆 He takes a picture of you two, grinning goofily with your takoyaki

🎆 “Ready? On 3, 2,1!” The two of you bite into the savory ball. 

🎆 “Mmm!” Kiro wriggles with delight. You laugh and sneak a picture of him when he’s not looking. “Oh this is so good! Good call, Miss Chips!” He high fives you, “What’s next?

🎆 You look at each other, “Ringo-Ame!” [apple coated in crunchy sugar candy] Both of you say in unison and the two of you break out into a fit of merry laughter

🎆 “Come on!” You say, tugging on Kiro’s arm. “I think I saw it earlier.” You lead the way amidst the bustling vendors and stop in front of a little cart filled with bright red glossy apples on sticks

🎆 You pause to take some pictures. “Here!” You turn towards Kiro’s voice and suddenly your mouth is filled with a sweet tanginess

🎆 Kiro grins, “Is it good?” You nod as you chew and Kiro laughs aloud. His laugh is bright and carefree; it makes you smile as well

🎆 “We’re supposed to eat it together,” you mumble when you finally finish chewing

🎆 Kiro hands you an apple on a stick, “Then it’s your turn to feed me!” He opens his mouth wide and you stick the apple in his mouth. “Just as I predicted, whatever Miss Chips feed me is unbelievably delicious!” His voice is a little muffled

🎆 You put your hands on your waist and pretend to glare, “Of course! I only introduce you to good food, you know!”

🎆 Kiro smiles and it’s infectious. Your lips tug up in an answering grin

🎆 The two of you go from stall to stall, sampling various foods when suddenly you hear a commotion near the river

🎆 “The fireworks!” You exclaim, “They must be starting! Let’s go!” You grab Kiro’s hand and pull him towards the crowd. Everyone is congregating on the banks of the river, getting ready for the fireworks show

🎆 You manage to find an empty spot a little ways from the crowd. After all, you didn’t want Kiro to be mobbed

🎆 The two of you sit and wait. Kiro pulls you close and there is a thunderous BOOM!

🎆 The sky bursts into dazzling colors and the crowd oohs

🎆 “So pretty!” you shout to Kiro over the noise. He nods, staring at the colorful bursts. You steal a glance at him. The various colors and flashes from the fireworks throws different colors across his face, and you forget to breathe for a moment. Kiro looks ethereal

🎆 Kiro glances at you and your eyes meet. You can feel the ever present warmth emanating from his bright blue eyes and it warms you all over. He pulls you even closer to him. “What are you looking at?” He asks loudly

🎆 You smile and press your lips against his ear, “I was just thinking, that just now you looked like you do on stage. With the lights flashing, only right now the stage lights are replaced with fireworks. A true idol, bringing light to his fans,” you say, speaking from the heart

🎆 He gazes tenderly at you for a moment and then leans down to whisper in your ear, just like you had with him, breath ghosting over your ear,

🎆 “But to me, Miss Chips is my light, she outshines even the most beautiful of fireworks”

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Lucien + Victor under the cut

Lucien: Cherry Blossom Tour

(FYI contains traces of Blossom Date-my Lucien creative juices has been used up by writing my other fic lol. NOTE: What I tried to write here is basically hanami aka a Japanese tradition of viewing cherry blossoms and eating/drinking. Also, this might be a bit biased oops)

🌸 It’s springtime and cherry blossoms are finally in season! 

🌸 Cherry blossom themed everything have been popping up everywhere. Cafés, bakeries, ice cream shops, you name it. It’s the perfect time for couples to go out and enjoy spring under the cover of pink and white

🌸 You have been working nonstop for days and you were getting a little jealous at all the cute desserts that your coworkers posted on their social medias. This weekend, you finally have the day off and you want to go see the cherry blossoms before they’re all gone

🌸 You invite Lucien, and he readily agrees. He has been waiting for your invitation

🌸 He shows up in front of your door at 10am on the dot, dressed in a cozy white sweater with a black overcoat. “What’s the itinerary for today?”

🌸 You grab his hand and excitedly show him pictures on your phone. “So Kiki recommended this café and she said that the sakura latte is a must try! Also, afterwards, maybe we can go to this bakery! The mochi there looks so cute! And then after the bakery, we can go to this spot. I heard it’s the best place in the city for cherry blossom viewing!”

🌸 Lucien smiles as he lets you pull him along and ramble about all the places you want to see. “Slow down, silly girl, we have all the time in the world to see everything you’re interested in”

🌸 The two of you get to the café and settle down in a booth near the window. You eagerly order the sakura latte, Lucien orders the cherry blossom tea. As you wait for your drinks, the two of you chat casually about work. With Lucien around, the conversation is never dry, no matter how boring the topic

🌸 Your drinks arrive and Lucien waits expectantly, knowing that you wanted to take pictures. You quickly snap a few pictures of the pretty drinks and upload them onto your social media with the caption “Trying this for the first time!”

🌸 You take a sip carefully and Lucien watches with amusement. “Is it sweet?” You nod happily. Lucien chuckles, “Silly girl, you got foam all over your mouth”

🌸 Before you can grab a napkin, Lucien tenderly swipes his thumb across your lips. In the blink of an eye, his tongue darts out, catlike, to taste the foam on his finger. “You’re right, it is sweet,” he grins at your shell shocked face

🌸 LUCIEN CAn YoU nOT

🌸 After you recover from ProfessorSmooth Lucien’s antics, you finish your drinks and head over to the bakery to try the special sakura mochi

🌸 “Welcome! For today, we are having a lovers’ special! For every couple, we are giving them 2 free sakura mochi with the purchase of the special couple cherry blossom waffle set!” The cashier greets you cheerfully

🌸 “Er...” You are flustered

🌸 “We’ll take it,” Lucien answers for you as he wraps a arm around you, smiling politely at the cashier

🌸 Smooooooooooth

🌸 You collect your food and you once again take pictures of the delicate desserts

🌸 Lucien waits patiently until you’ve set your phone down and offers you a bite of the mochi. You close your eyes in delight as the fragrant taste spreads through your mouth and Lucien chuckles. “Good?”

🌸 You nod as you open your eyes to find Lucien gazing at you in adoration. Blushing, you move to return the favor and his grin widens

🌸 After finishing the desserts, you bring Lucien to the park where you can see couples setting up blankets underneath the pink blooms

🌸 “Careful,” Lucien warns as the two of you navigate through the crowd

🌸 You sigh, “I didn’t expect there to be this many people. There aren’t any open spots!”

🌸 “Look over there,” Lucien directs your attention to a little grove hidden a ways from the bustling crowd, “I think there might be some cherry blossom trees in there, would you like to check it out?”

🌸 You walk towards the grove and glance at the crowds behind you. They didn’t seem to be interested. The trees part to reveal a little clearing in which five cherry blossom trees sat undisturbed, branches laden with faint pink blossoms. You gasp in delight. “Lucien, how did you know these were here?”

🌸 He shakes his head, smiling, “I didn’t. I think we just happened to be lucky” WhAt a CoINcIdEnCe

🌸 You run up to the gently swaying trees, eagerly taking pictures. “It’s really so beautiful!” You gush

🌸 “Yes,” Lucien murmurs, but he’s gazing at you, “Truly beautiful” You don’t notice RIP

🌸 “Did you know that cherry blossoms are the embodiment of mortality?” He suddenly inquires after a moment. You look at him, a little startled by the topic. Oops here comes a lecture by Professor Lucien. He smiles as to reassure you and continues, “The Japanese Samurai believed in this principle to appreciate the inevitability of death without fearing it. This was carried over by the Japanese pilots during World War II who painted their kamikaze warplanes with cherry blossoms before embarking on suicide missions to ‘die like beautiful falling cherry petals for the emperor.’ It’s a beautiful contrast, isn’t it?”

🌸 You look at the delicate blossoms thoughtfully, “Yes, but you forget that cherry blossoms also embody spring,” you say quietly. “Spring and rebirth goes synchronously with cherry blossoms. The Japanese also worshipped these cherry blossom trees in the spring to grant them a bountiful harvest. So even though they are fleeting, they teach us to appreciate the fleeting moments in life and admire their beauty”

🌸 Lucien stills, “Indeed,” his dark eyes are on you, ever so unreadable, but you detect a faint fondness within those violet pupils

LOL this was my attempt to write a scholarly scene like the one they exchanged during the Blossom Date in the Chinese server EPIC FAIL RIP

🌸 You smile at him, “So instead being sad about these fleeting moments, shouldn’t we be happy that we get to see such beautiful blooms?”

🌸 “Yes,” he answers and his voice is a little thick with emotion

🌸 “These moments spent with you, no matter how fleeting, will always be beautiful”

Victor: Hidden and Exotic Foodie Gems Across Town

(Count how many times Victor calls you “Idiot” or “Dummy”)

🍽 You’re doing a segment on undiscovered food joints around town

🍽 You ask Victor to join you since he’s a chef he owns Souvenir (one of the original hidden gems)

🍽 Doesn’t want to (“Dummy, just interview Mr. Mills and film it at Souvenir”)

🍽 You explain that since you already covered Souvenir, people want to see new content and new restaurants

🍽 Dummy “I’m busy”

🍽 A little disappointed, you say you’ll go invite Lucien someone else

🍽 Are you an idiot “Goldman, cancel all my appointments for today” (GiVe GoLdMaN a RaIsE) “Which restaurants are we going to?”

🍽 You excitedly show him a list of restaurants which includes a restaurant that has a soup dumpling recipe spanning over five generations, another which all their ingredients come from their home farm, and another restaurant which promises a unique sensory experience like no other. “So I was thinking having soup dumplings for breakfast, then the farm-to-table place for lunch, and then finally the multi-sensory restaurant wrapping it up for dinner!” You ramble, not noticing Victor sitting at his desk watching you, a small smile playing around his lips

🍽 “Dummy, so are we going to get going or not?” He interrupts you, “I do have a company to run, you know”

🍽 “Let’s go!” You cheer, pulling Victor from his desk. He refuses to admit that your enthusiasm is infectious

🍽 The soup dumpling place is located in the older part of the city and you’re entranced by the architecture of the buildings and quaint cobblestone streets. You take pictures of everything. Victor rolls his eyes, but secretly he’s smiling on the inside. Seeing you excited, he couldn’t help but feel the tingle of excitement as well

🍽 The dumplings were delicious and you captured everything with your camera, even stopping Victor from eating in order to take that perfect shot

🍽 Dummy “You’re not running a food blog”

🍽 After breakfast, you inform Victor that the next restaurant is up in the mountains. His brows crease. “Are you going to drag me all over the city?” Yup

🍽 “These are the restaurants the viewers want to see most,” you tell him as you trek up the picturesque trail through the woods

🍽 Dummy “Watch where you’re going”

🍽 You don’t listen to him as you continue yammering away and taking pictures. You don’t notice how Victor is watching you intently to make sure you don’t trip over a tree root or smack into a branch

🍽 Suddenly your foot misses a step and Victor grabs your arm before you could fall. Your momentum propels you into his hard chest. You hear a sigh above your head, “Didn’t I just say to watch your step?”

🍽 “My oh my, what a lovely couple!” You hear a cheerful voice say before you can retort. Victor lets you go carefully, still holding onto your arm. You both turn to find a little old lady smiling at you

🍽 “Hi!” You break away from Victor, a little flustered. You introduce yourself to the woman and your reason for coming. She warmly welcomes you guys into the restaurant

🍽 “Would you like to see the farm first?” She asks and your eyes light up. You look at Victor. He coughs

🍽 “You know, you don’t need to ask for my permission,” he says, rolling his eyes

🍽 “The two of you are so sweet,” the lady coos as she leads you guys to the farm 

🍽 The two of you spend a lovely afternoon, eating the freshest ingredients. You ask the lady many questions about her restaurant until you feel like you got enough material. There were many pictures taken

🍽 By the time you guys leave the farm, the sun is just starting to set. “Perfect timing!” You beam up at Victor, “I can’t wait for the multi-sensory experience”

🍽 Idiot “You’ve done nothing except eat all day. How can food excite you to this extent?”

🍽 “It’s the experience, not the food,” you tell him, waiting as the two of you arrive before a nondescript steel door. “And...it’s who I’m with,” you add, more softly as your cheeks redden. The door swings open then, saving you the embarrassment

🍽 The two of you are blindfolded, with earplugs in. You hold on tight to Victor’s hand as a server leads you two inside. You are gently directed to sit down and a hand removes your blindfold. You blink, eyes adjusting to the light and then you gasp. Multiple lights in a wide array of colors are projecting lazily onto the walls and table. Soft music play in time to the revolving lights. “Wow!” You exclaim in delight

🍽 “I see that it doesn’t take much to impress you,” Victor says quietly and you turn your head just in time to see a soft smile across his lips

🍽 You stare at him because did Victor just smile? And he sighs, “If you keep ogling at me, you’re going to miss the show”

🍽 Show? You’re about to ask when suddenly the music stops and the room darkens. There is a blast of fanfare and lights explode. You smell something absolutely fragrant and your server enters the room. 

🍽 For the rest of your meal, every course is paired with a matching scent as the lights dance to the music. Your senses are completely assaulted. You miss Victor smiling at the way you eagerly scarf everything down

🍽 At the end, the music quietens and the lights dim. You put down your utensils and turn to Victor happily. He’s looking at you with something inexplicably soft in his eyes. You blush, feeling self-conscious. “Wh-why are you looking at me?”

🍽 “You have sauce on your face, dummy,” he says without skipping a beat. VICTOR, CAN YOU NOT

🍽 You pout at him, after wiping your mouth. “So...you didn’t enjoy it?” You ask quietly. You can’t help but feel hurt, and you wonder if you had wasted an entire day of Victor’s busy schedule

🍽 There is a sigh and Victor reaches for you, pulling you close and you tumble into his lap. GUYS, YOU ARE STILL IN A RESTAURANT

🍽 “That’s not it, dummy,” You hear him sigh and then-

🍽 “I’ll always enjoy the time spent with you. That time is never wasted, as long as it’s with you” 

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See I can write fluff sometimes, it’s not just angst all the time and not smut 😅 Wow this ended up being longer than I had previously planned to be. They turned out to be like minifics whatttt rip i’m sorry (Also there were some technical issues-forgot to save) 😓 But I hope that this was what you had in mind! Hopefully I got the characterizations of the boys right!💖

Requests are open!

For more of my work: 📖

[punkpoemprose]

December 2nd- Jumping for “Joy”sticks

Universe: 1980′s Arcade AU Rating: G (General, Fluff, Meetcute) Length: 4752 Words

A/N: I was not alive in the 80′s, I barely remember any of the 90′s, y’all can start picking on my era generalizations when I hit the 00′s. I had a lot of fun with this, I’m sorry for the pun title, it was all I had. Thanks for all the comments and tags on yesterday’s fic. Everyone’s engagement is what keeps me going!

Working as an arcade attendant wasn’t exactly Kristoff’s dream job, but college was pricey, he hated the idea of making his parents help him out, and the work wasn’t exactly difficult for the pay. It was relatively simple as his main duties were emptying coins out of the game machines, dumping them into the change machine, and keeping kids from climbing to jumping on the game cabinets or anything else. Once he got past the sound of kids screams and shouts mingling with Duran Duran and Wham!, the blinking lights, the smell of teens who needed a lecture about deodorant and hygiene, and the uncomfortable sensation of wiping down whatever sticky substance coated half the games it was actually a pretty cushy job.

Most days he spent more time sitting behind the front counter working on classwork and reading his textbooks than doing anything in his job description because it just wasn’t necessary. He had the good fortune to work mostly morning or afternoon into evening shifts on weekdays, so other than the occasional interruption of a truancy officer looking for a kid playing hooky from school there wasn’t much for him to bother with. When he didn’t have homework or classwork to keep himself preoccupied, he found himself, a tried and true introvert, bored enough to people watch. Mostly it was teens and tweens trying to beat each other’s scores on Pac-Man or Donkey Kong Jr., but every now and then there’s be someone a bit more interesting to watch. A father who would sometimes come in with his young son to play Burgertime, an older woman in her 50’s who liked to kick kids off the Tetris machine, and a small company of mall goths all made the grade for entertainment where his entertainment was concerned. There was one standout though, a young woman who would come alone on Wednesday nights.

Wednesday was the only day he worked where he was consistently scheduled to close. It was one of his few days without evening classes or labs and it was usually the quietest night of the week with kids on tight curfews for school and most everyone else just wanting to get home after a long day. The girl though, for some reason he still couldn’t glean, would come in exactly an hour before closing to play Ms. Pac-Man.

She always seemed a bit out of place despite appearing to be just a bit older than the high school kids who usually haunted the place, and being consequently, just a bit younger than he was. He thought that maybe she always stood out to him because of how she was dressed. Not many women spent much time in the arcade, much less alone, but of the small handful she was the only one who came in wearing L.L. Bean sweaters over a perfectly pressed white blouse with a similarly blindingly white skirt and tennis shoes. Her fire red hair was always held in place by a headband that matched her sweater, though he often noted that despite the clear effort put into her image, on a second glance her hair was a bit wild like she didn’t bother much with it.

              The overall impression he had of her was that she’d taken a wrong turn on her way to a nearby country club’s squash court. He really wasn’t even sure what squash was, but he thought that it was something like tennis and was generally the kind of sport rich girls would play. Pretty young women dressed as nicely as she did had to have hobbies he couldn’t understand. He supposed that it might be one of those biases he’d built since starting college that his Ma would chew him out over, and as it ended up whoever the redhead was, she was much more interested in getting a little yellow circle to eat round things than she was in hitting them with a racquet.

Every Wednesday evening like clockwork she’d come in at nine, give him a shy smile like she knew she didn’t belong there, and then would proceed to spend an hour and a pocketful of quarters on Ms. Pac-Man. She was quiet as she played, like she was afraid to make a sound, but sometimes when he’d switch off the music early and start turning machines off, he’d hear the “wokka-wokka” of her machine and the occasional almost inaudible huff when she lost followed shortly by the clink of another coin hitting the slot and dropping down into the coin box.

Their only real interaction beyond the shy smile she’d always give him on her way in and out was the brief exchange of him letting her know that he was getting ready to close up for the night. She’d always thank him quietly for letting her know, and he noticed how red she would get on the nights she apologized for staying so long. He’d been annoyed by that at first, the fact that she would come in not long before close and play right up until he was ready to lock up for the evening. He supposed that it was easy to lose track of time in the arcade if you weren’t always waiting for your shift to be over given the distinct lack of clocks in the space, but it was always bothersome to have to be  held up by a customer.

He remembered wanting to tell her the first few times she’d overstayed that she should check her fancy watch if she was going to wear it. It probably cost more than he made in a year, and yet despite the fact he was certain it kept time well, she always seemed to be surprised by the hour passing. However, the annoyance quickly passed when she would apologize for getting caught up and leave promptly after he let her know they were closing.

It was impossible for him to stay annoyed at her, despite his best efforts to not pay attention to anyone at his job more than strictly necessary, the red head with her love for Ms. Pac-Man often were the subject of his idle thoughts. She was polite and she was pretty, and he was a grumpy “old bastard”, but he was a man and he could appreciate polite and pretty when he hadn’t dated anyone in a very very long time.

In fact, he started to look forward to Wednesdays. Even knowing that her arrival would keep him from a early night, he felt strangely like she needed to be there. He didn’t know her, but there was something in her manner that told him that maybe this was where she came to breathe. He would never call himself on expert in communication or understanding others, but there was something about the shyness of her entrance and exit and the way she just relaxed when she played that made him glad she came, that the space was safe for her. She always looked so sad when she left.

It was a particularly slow day when he was informed by a coworker who had been on the shift before his that several machines were out of commission due to what they assumed to be a power surge. On the line of downed machines were Galaga, Frogger, a few other semi-popular games, and most unfortunately, both Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man. He’d also been informed that the repair shop had been called, but there was no word on when, or if they would arrive before the end of the week let along the end of the day.

Kristoff knew that it shouldn’t bother him. They were just games after all, and he barely if ever played any of them himself. Kids would find something else to play and the cabinets would get fixed when they got fixed. He did care though, he spent his whole shift pacing behind the counter, watching the door, waiting for the phone to ring, and generally hoping that someone would come and fix something. He cared because it was Wednesday and she was going to be coming in to play Ms. Pac-Man and he, strange as it may be, liked her quiet company. He liked the idea that one of these days he might ask her for her name and maybe talk with her for a little while.

Hours passed, and he only gave up hope when he knew that it had to be past time for the repair shop to close. His anticipant pacing then turned to nervous heel rocking as the last few customers filtered out for the evening and the time of her arrival neared. He wondered what he should say to her when she walked in, or if he should say anything at all. She’d find out that the game was down either way, but he didn’t want her to go right after she found out either. Maybe, he thought, she might stay if he just said the right thing.

He held his breath when he heard the door open, and while he wasn’t exactly surprised when she walked through the door, he was thrown off to be greeted with, not her shy smile, but instead with her rushing past the counter, not looking his way at all. That, he decided, took the cake for the oddest part of an already strange day.

There was of course no obligation for her to interact with him, but there was something in the way that she rushed by that had him feeling uneasy. He really wasn’t a people person in any sense of the word. He preferred the company of family or his dog over any interaction with strangers, but he had an odd sense that even having not spoken to her much, she wasn’t a stranger.

“I’m sorry your game is down,” he said quickly before she got far enough away that he’d have to raise his voice to relay the information, “I’ve been waiting for the repair guy my whole shift but it looks like he couldn’t make it.”

She stopped dead in her tracks, and though she didn’t turn to him, he noticed her shoulders slump. He felt guilty despite it being out of his control. There was something about her that made him want to please her, and while he knew that his sisters would tease and tell him that it was just because she was pretty, he knew that there was more to it than that. She was nice, and despite his initial misgivings about her, she’d never given him any reason to believe that she was the kind of person who deserved karma had knocked out her favorite game and the best possible alternative at the same time.

“Oh,” she said, so softly he almost couldn’t hear it over the music.

It was a defeated sort of sound that made him wonder why she really came in to play the game every Wednesday. Maybe it was more than just a game or needing a break for her. She did always come in like clockwork after all.

“I…” he didn’t really know what to say. It wasn’t as if he were the one who broke the games or something, an apology didn’t really make sense, and he wasn’t sure why it meant so much to her in the first place.

“I just thought you should know, before you got over there and saw it.”

She sniffled and he froze on the spot. He wasn’t unused to seeing crying. Little kids threw temper tantrums when their parents made them leave, some kids cried in frustration when they couldn’t beat a level or a high score, but usually that was confined to people under the age of ten and there was someone else around to deal with it.

“Thanks for letting me know,” she choked out, and he could hear the tightness of her throat in the tone of her voice. She was crying. He couldn’t see it, but he wasn’t so dense that he couldn’t tell. He felt his face heat, not sure of what to do and feeling like every second that ticked past were an hour.

“Are you okay?”

It was all he could think to ask. It was obvious to him that she wasn’t, and in fact he figured that she probably wasn’t okay when she walked in and that it was the reason she hadn’t looked at him in the first place when it was so routine for her to do so.

“Not really, no.”

He walked around the counter slowly, his legs on autopilot. His mother would be proud, he thought absently as he walked over to her, she’d been training him to be a proper gentleman for years. It wasn’t her fault he was so inept with girls, she’d done her best, and his sisters had tried to help. He just considered himself mostly a lost cause.

“Do you, uh… want to talk about it?”

She turned to look at him and he could see for the first time how red her eyes were, how her usual put-togetherness was marred by her hair being even more wild than usual, by the wet splotch on her cuff where she’d been wiping her eyes.

He also noticed for the first time just how much smaller she was than him. He was a big guy, not excessively so, but still taller and bigger than most of the people he knew. He was miles taller than his parents and sisters, and while that had everything to do with adopted, it had taught him how to make himself small at times, when he was bandaging his littlest sister’s knee or when he needed to fit into the frame in family photos.

He put his hands into his pockets and slumped a bit, trying to keep his expression as neutral as possible even though his head was spinning with half-thoughts on how exactly he could even attempt to be helpful. The last thing she needed was for him to panic on her. He was sure that she was panicked enough for them both.

“I couldn’t… you don’t even…”

She was crying harder now, the words hardly coming out right as she tried to hold a conversation with him. He felt awful. He thought that maybe he should have just let her see the game was out of order and leave instead of making her talk about it. He wasn’t sure what he would have wanted if the roles were reversed. He wasn’t exactly a “talk about it” guy, and when he needed to talk something out, it was always to his dog. He kind of wished that Sven was with him, girls liked dogs, or at least his sisters did.

“You can, if you want.”

She shook her head but seemed to calm down a little bit, taking breaths slowly. He wasn’t sure whether or not she was going to tell him what was going on until she opened her mouth and started in telling her story, still tearful and hiccupping, but at least with the ability to get all the words out.

“It’s just… the straw that broke the camels back? That’s been every straw today. I failed an exam, my ex-boyfriend showed up at my dorm even though he’s not supposed to know where I live, my sister is out of the country on business and I feel so alone.”

He nodded as she talked, “And you just needed a break?”

The shy smile he was so used to appeared again, her lips turning up slightly, making him feel like he could really breathe for the first time since she walked through the door. He hadn’t really noticed how close together they’d become since he walked around the counter, but now that they were just a bit more than a foot apart, he was noticing other things about her that weren’t immediately evident from the distance. She had freckles.

He didn’t even know he liked freckles, he’d never thought about it, but there was a dusting on her nose and across her flushed cheeks and he realized that yes, he really did like them.

“Yeah. I just… I really need a break.”

He’d like to offer to listen some more, to do something else for her, but he wasn’t really sure where the line was when a stranger unloads their emotions on you. He didn’t want to push, but he also wanted to help. It was making his head spin, and all he could focus on was her eyes, and her freckles, and her mussed hair.

“Well I mean, I don’t really know you very well, but uh, you’re welcome to play something else, I guess Tetris isn’t really as fun as Ms. Pac-Man, but it’s kind of soothing. I’ll close up while you’re playing, I promise no one else is going to bother you today. I’m not really good company or anything, but I’ll hang around if you don’t want to be alone.”

It felt like a lot. He put the ball in her court, she could decide whether she wanted him around, or whether she wanted him to go sit behind the counter until she was done, but even the offer felt like an overstep.

“That would be nice Kristoff,” she said, her hiccupping had stopped, but there was an edge of uncertainty to her tone. “Maybe show me how to play?”

“I uh… didn’t think you knew my name.”

She flushed again, her face going even redder than it had when she was crying.

“It’s… uh… on your nametag.”

It was his turn to blush then. He felt like a bumbling idiot.

“Oh, yeah. It is, isn’t it.”

He could practically hear his sisters laughing at him, like they could telepathically tell he was being a disaster from miles away. He was sure that he’d never hear the end of it if they ever found out just how “smooth” he had been trying to talk to a pretty girl. He only had to hope that she wouldn’t ever tell them. The odds, he thought, were slim to none on that, but nothing was ever impossible.

“I’m Anna, by the way. I thought you should know, you know, with me sobbing in front of you and everything.”

He was glad she told him, he wasn’t sure if he should ask, and he wanted to know. He’d been wanting to know, because now he could tie all the thoughts, he’d been having in his head about her to a name, something solid.

Anna.

***

The only sound in the arcade was the Tetris theme music, the clicking of the mechanical buttons on the cabinet and the chatting of two new friends. Kristoff had been surprised by how quickly he’d warmed up to Anna and in return how quickly she seemed to warm up to him. He really wasn’t used to people wanting to hang around him for awfully long. He blamed it a bit on his gruffness, he knew that  he needed to relax a little more around others, but he always found it hard.

Anna made it easy.

She’d told him a lot about her, how she’d split up with a guy a few months ago for lying and cheating on her and how he kept trying to weasel his way back in, how she was trying to get her degree in art history so that she could run her family’s gallery, how her sister ran their family’s importing business and how it kept her away often enough that Anna often didn’t see her for months at a time. She’d told him that she was lonely, and that she came to the arcade because she hadn’t been allowed to go as a child, and now that her parents were passed she didn’t mind being a little disobedient because she knew they would forgive her.

He hadn’t said much about himself, except for when she asked. He told her how he was studying environmental science at community college. They didn’t go to the same school, she was a freshman at the university he was planning on transferring into after he finished his associates in a few months, and she told him how much she loved it there, encouraging him to follow through with his plans to transfer in. He’d told her how his family had adopted him because she asked whether he had any siblings, and it wasn’t exactly a secret. She hadn’t reacted like it was some kind of tragedy like other people sometimes did, which was a comfort to him because he believed that his parents adopting him was the best thing that had ever happened to him. He didn’t even remember his birthparents anyway.

“Oh my gosh, I think I’m beating you! Am I beating you! Oh crap, I shouldn’t have looked, now I messed up my lines.”

Kristoff couldn’t help but laugh. Anna had been the one to suggest they play two player mode on the game, and while Kristoff hadn’t really played it before other than a couple occasions on his lunchbreak on truly boring Monday shifts, he was doing a decent job of beating her at the game.

“I thought all your Ms. Pac-Man skills would have you in the lead,” he teased.

“Completely different set of skills,” she replied, “besides, I just played that one because it looked the easiest. Also, I like that it’s a romance. It’s cute.”

“A romance?” he asked with a laugh, watching as her blocks stacked up on the opposite side of the screen, almost to the top. He wasn’t intentionally trying to distract her; he was honestly curious. But that it meant he was going to win was just a bonus.

“Yeah it’s all about how they… oh damn it.”

He watched as her screen filled completely with blocks and the game informed him that he had, for the third time, won.

“Sorry,” he offered, “You were really close that time.”

She shrugged, gave him a look that was more mock annoyance than irritation, and then laughed. He laughed with her. He hadn’t had so much fun in a very long time, and he was dreading the fact that he could feel that it would be over soon.

“I wasn’t, but thanks for pretending,” she said, leaning over to bump him with her hip playfully, “You really cheered me up tonight. I owe you a lot.”

He opened his mouth to tell her that she didn’t owe him anything, and that he was happy he could help, but she put a hand up to stop him.

“No, really, I mean it. You were so nice to me tonight, and all the other nights. That’s why I kept coming back, even when you were miffed about me overstaying you were always nice about it and I just needed someone nice. I’m sorry I probably made you run late so many nights, but I guess I just needed the company, even if we didn’t talk. I owe you.”

He shook his head, “It wasn’t a big deal Anna. You were really polite and… I guess I started looking forward to you coming in. This is usually a pretty boring job and you were something different for me to think about. Not that I was… not that I was thinking about you all the time or anything, I just was wondering why you’d come in but…”

He wondered if he should just bend down and eat his shoe, speed up the process a little bit.

“You should have asked,” she said with a brighter version of the shy smile he’d come to expect from her, “I kept waiting for you to talk to me. I didn’t want to bug you at work, but I’ve been dying to talk to you for weeks now. I didn’t just keep coming back for the games you know?”

“You didn’t?”

“No,” she said, leaning into him again but this time less to bump him, and more to support her frame against his much larger one.

Kristoff could feel his pulse quicken. He wasn’t sure why, but his hand itched to reach out to hers. He hadn’t wanted to hold hands with a girl since middle school. He felt like he was thirteen again, awkward and just trying to figure out how to get a girl’s attention.

He already had it though, Anna was only focused on him and he could feel the weight of her gaze even though he wasn’t meeting it.

“I thought you were cute. I kept coming in hoping that maybe you’d talk to me and then maybe you know… if you weren’t seeing someone…”

“Oh.”

He didn’t know why he said that of all things. It was all he could think to say.

“Oh… are you? Seeing someone that is?”

She sounded a bit defeated, and as he felt her leaning away from his side, trying to step to the side, he panicked. He let his hand grab hers loosely, not letting her get too far away from his side unless she really wanted to as he turned to face her. Her freckled nose was illuminated blue by the light from the cabinet and her eyes held an uncertainty that he wanted to chase away.

“No, no I’m not. I just… I’m not used to anyone wanting to… I mean, no one’s ever been…”

“Well, if you want to… I mean, if you’re interested, because I do owe you after all… maybe we could catch a movie sometime, or we could grab dinner? My treat.”

He felt tongue tied, but he managed to nod his head at least. He wondered if she could tell how nervous he was. He was sure that she could because her smile and her eyes held an amusement that had quickly replaced her trepidation. Surely, he thought, she must realize that he had no idea what he was doing. But strangely she wasn’t rescinding her offer or leaving, just smiling at him warmly so he thought that it must count for something.

“How about Friday? I only have classes until noon so depending on your schedule we could grab dinner or coffee or something if dinner is too much?”

“Dinner would be fine,” he managed, “Or coffee if you prefer, I get done at three so if you want I can come pick you up after that… somewhere? It can be someplace neutral if you don’t want me to come to your dorm.”

She grinned, “Dinner then. We can work out the details later… Do you have a pen?”

He nodded, reaching into the pocket of the work vest he’d discarded to the side, and realizing in the same moment that he hadn’t yet let go of her hand.

When he slipped his fingers from between hers, someplace he hadn’t even noticed they’d slotted themselves, he felt a vague sense of loss. He tried not to hold onto it, thrilled by the prospect that soon he’d see her again. To that end he handed her the pen, and was surprised to feel her fingers wrap around his wrist.

They were cool from playing the game, and in stark contrast to his sweating palms. He opened his hand in response to the touch, which was evidently exactly what she wanted as she took the pen to his skin and quickly wrote her number.

“You can call anytime after four,” she said quietly, as if it were a secret even though no one else was there, “Or whenever and leave a message. Whatever works for you just…”

“Yeah?” he asked, his voice breathless even to his own ears.

“Don’t forget to call, okay?”

She handed him the pen, stood up on her tip toes, and pressed a kiss to his cheek. He didn’t have time to react before she was grabbing her purse from the foot of the cabinet and heading out the door. Left alone in the empty arcade, one game to switch off and a door to lock up, he let his fingers reach up to brush the place she’d just pecked. If it weren’t for the fact that he knew his imagination wasn’t nearly so creative, he could have believed he dreamed the whole thing.

He looked down at his palm and saw in black ink, perfectly printed, her number, her name, and a small heart.

Anna.

He had never been so grateful for a dead-end minimum wage job in his life.

[heydocpotts]

Your fav Tony quote?

the ones that make him sound cool:

"i shouldn't be alive... unless it was for a reason. i'm not crazy, pepper. i just finally know what i have to do. and i know in my heart that its right."

"jarvis? target extremis heat signatures, disable with extreme prejudice. what are you waiting for? it's christmas- take 'em to church"

"we are not soldiers. i'm not marching to fury's fife"

[shoot to thrill playing over the hacked speakers] "agent romanoff... you miss me?"

"like christmas but with more... me"

[called the da vinci of his time] "absolutely ridiculous. i don't paint"

"like the old man said: together"

"and i needed you, as in past tense [...] i said we'd lose. you said 'we'll do that together, too.' guess what, cap? we lost and you werent there. [...] i got nothing for you, cap. i've got no coordinates, no clues, no strategies, no options. zero, zip, nada. no trust- liar."

"it's not about how much we lost. it's about how much we have left. we're the Avengers. we gotta finish this."

"i'm tony stark. i build neat stuff, got a great girl, and occasionally, save the world. so why can't i sleep?"

"my armor was never a distraction or a hobby, it was a cocoon, and now im a changed man. you can take away my house, all my tricks and toys, but one thing you cant take away- i am iron man."

"the avengers. that's what we call ourselves. we're sort of like a team. 'earths mightiest heroes' type thing"

[when asked when he learned thermonuclear astrophysics] "last night."

[after he says turning over the iron man suit is akin to indentured servitude/prostituion and stern starts respond 'well im no expert'] "in prostitution? of course not, youre a senator."

[vendor asks if he's iron man] "sometimes."

[after steve says they need a plan of attack] "i have a plan: attack."

the ones that showcase his true nature- fucking weirdo nerd dad:

"drop your socks and grab your crocs, we're about to get wet on this ride"

"jarvis. sometimes you gotta run before you can walk"

"it's a big bunny!!!! relax about it!!!!!!"

[soldier throws up a peace sign while taking a photo with him] "please no gang signs"

everything his face said when he met the gaurdians on titan in IW

"well good. because that would be outlandish, and uh, fantastic. i'm just not the hero type. clearly. with this laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes i've made [...] the truth is... i am iron man"

"mr rogers, i almost forgot. that suit did nothing for your ass"

"dads leave, no need to be a pussy about it"

"jarvis? you ever hear the tale of jonah?" [right before he throws his actual body into the mouth of a giant alien worm]

"please be a trap door... yay!"

[to harley, his official first born son] "move out of the way or i'm gonna run you over"

[about his official second born son, peter] "underoos!!"

[to dum-e, his other first born son] "if you douse me again, and im not on fire, im donating you to a city college"

"that man is playing galaga! thought we wouldn't notice. but we did"

"doth mother know you weareth her drapes?"

[when pepper asks whats wrong] "oh nothing. im just going into cardiac arrest"

"I WAS ATTACKED"

[about the avengers initiative] "i told you i don't want to join your super secret boyband."

[pepper freaking out about finding out tony was dying] "i didnt want to alarm you. i was going to make you an omelet and tell you"

[going full Dad Mode] "no this is where you zip it! alright? the adult it talking."

[coulson calls and he doesnt want to talk to him] "you have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark. please leave a message"

[scares the shit out of pepper when changing the arc reactor together & being lowkey injured in the attempt] "was that so hard? that was fun right?"

[after being told they saved the world while he's on the ground after almost dying] "hey! alright. good job, guys. let's just not come in tomorrow, let's just take a day. have you ever tried shawarma? there's a shawarma joint about 2 blocks from here. i don't know what it is but i wanna try it"

"a little ostentatious, don't you think?" [proceeds to add bright ass red to the already vibrant gold metal suit of armor that he is planning to fly around in the sky]

[about to have a panic attack] "i broke the crayon"

[literally trying to tell a story of very serious & dangerous events that just happened to him] "a famous man once said, 'we create our own demons.' who said that? what does that even mean? doesn't matter, i said it 'cause he said it. so now, he was famous and its basically getting said by two well-known guys. i dont, uh... i'm gonna start again"

"ok, let's do this right." [immediately launches himself & his prototype boots right into the fucking ceiling]

[aimai-ronri]

Reworking the Fuzzy Gaming Quest

This is the first time I've ever blogged publicly about something like this. I usually talk to friends about it, but I just as often don't say anything, because when I talk about video-games I get hyperfocused and sometimes the conversation takes a long time, so I often feel like it's a bit rude to get people wrapped up in it. But I remembered I have a tumblr now and people actually blog on here sometimes, so: prepare to suffer.

To set up why I'm so weird about games allow me to explain: first of all, I'm obviously not neurotypical in some way I don't know but one day would like to figure out. SECOND, I've been playing video-games literally since I can remember. My first real memories of cognition are watching my dad put cartridges in the NES, and climbing on the bed to put our Thai bootleg cart in there myself so I could play weird sprite hacks of Super Mario Bros. So anyway, gaming has factored heavily in my life since the beginning.

Anyway long story short, this has led to, for a long time, me wanting to leave some kind of legacy behind me in the form of a trail of beaten-up old video-games. Often this takes the form of just wanting to curate out a collection (physical or unholy--I mean digital) that I can leave behind in some state of completion, but on top of that it comes as me wanting to sit down and truly spend time with the games that are most important to my history over the course of my lifetime.

This has led to me making innumerable 'systems' for approaching the task of having a humongous backlog of video-games (some might say longer than is completable than anyone in a life time, and I recognize this) and often these systems get replaced or revised for being inadequate in some way. The latest no-thought system on my part was the Fuzzy Gaming Quest, in which the goal was basically to play through games starting from the beginning of time and blasting through at hyper-speed, with the intention of covering as much ground in order to induce familiarity as fast as possible with arcade games from an era I've rarely played (but longed for in my old man's soul).

This was working but I quickly ran into a snag (after recording about 250 videos 😥): I wasn't spending as much time with individual games as I'd like by any means. On one hand, I was backlogging games I was enjoying just to get them out of the way and continue the progress. On the other, sometimes I wasn't sure how much time you'd even spend with a game to consider yourself familiarized enough to rank it in some way, without necessarily having to beat everything (who has the time?). Not to mention arcade games that have no viable ending for the regular player (Pac-Man, Galaga, etc).

So anyway all this is leading up to me explaining the next iteration of the Fuzzy Gaming Quest. Here's a picture!

What you're looking at is essentially a 7 day scoreboard for various games that I selected out as important during my previous pass through the 70s and most of the 80s. These are all games I wanted to play more of or possibly log in a list.

7 days is my naive answer to how long I think would be good to spend on a game, in order to get competent enough at it to get a decent score and/or feel you've experienced your average game enough to go ahead and put it somewhere in a list. It might seem like overkill for a simple arcade game (though I'd argue you need to play repeatedly and give your brain time to absorb it to get the true experience), and it may seem like underkill for an RPG (though I'd argue that most RPGs probably aren't changing much more if you've been playing for 7 days already, but this doesn't forbid from continuing to play if I choose to), but this is my naive and probably flawed answer, anyway.

This is meant to serve the purpose of: - Progressing reasonably fast (notice this is a list of basically banger games everyone has heard of, I will probably only include a few games here or there that are lesser known that I just happen to like--I'll also be avoiding some consoles intentionally that I don't particularly like (like the Odyssey 2, sorry, it's my list though--convince me otherwise if you like)) - Filtering into some kind of "best of" list (if I don't even want to play it for 7 days (in brief sessions), it must not be very good after all and doesn't deserve to be on any best of list I would leave behind me--games that I do get through the 7 days I should understand enough to rank competently enough to make myself happy) - Giving me an excuse to spend more time on the games that really matter to me, today, in case I get hit by a bus tomorrow - Giving me a target for when I'm able to comfortably say I've experienced a game enough and don't need to feel bad about moving on if I want to but still haven't "beat it," and also leaving room for playing more if I like (I can sort it, take it off the board, but finish it anyway on the DL) (Also, if I do beat it, I can stop there with the board) - Satisfying whatever kind of ADHD thing I have going on by allowing me to keep a variety of games on rotation for some amount of time and not just getting stuck behind one game at a time - Breaking game experiences down over multiple days to allow a longer time to think about them and grow accustomed to them, also to allow me to fit them into my busy schedule by playing Space Invaders on the toilet for ~10 minutes - To leave behind a journal of high scores or information about how far I got in various games as I plod on

So, you may (rightly) ask: What's the point of all this? Why can't I just play games that I like and call it a day?

Well my first answer would be, "shut up I know you're right I just can't, my brain is broken," but my second answer, the one I would say aloud, might be that I really have always wanted to take a targeted approach to going through all of game history and that's what this is in service of.

I have no false expectations about getting all the way through game history up to now in one lifetime, at least not without sacrificing a lot of games in the process. I definitely won't ever get to the point where I'm always keeping up with contemporary games. It's lucky for me that I mostly fell out of favor with games around 2011 for various reasons, but really it had been a steady decline of interest since about 2005 or so. I have a shorter-hand target, but if I were to ever reach it, I'd like to keep going on, even if it means playing PS4 games in 2061 when I'm almost as old as my dad is now.

Anyway, your second question (and wow, if you made it this far) might be: "so what does this mean for your tumblr, which I care about intimately after seeing 20 posts, and was gutted when you temporarily took a break, and have been looking for meaning in my life ever since?"

Well, true believer, if you want I might post my 7 day high-score for various arcade games or something along with some pictures or videos of high points of the game (when I get to games complicated enough to have cool art). I haven't decided yet. I'm open to suggestions! I'd love to see people try to (and succeed!) at beating my scores (I'd feel like I influenced someone into maybe playing some old, great game they wouldn't have before deciding to just then).

If nothing else I hope it was interesting to see my thought process about this stuff.

If that's not true, I hope you were entertained by a write up of someone's journey ever deeper into video-game delirium.

And yes, I will get frustrated with the system and change it again in approximately a month.

[ohwereusingourmadeupnames]

Go Play Your Video Games

Pairing: Peter Parker/Tony Stark Rating: Teen (T) Word Count: ~5k Notes: This came from the prompt “You beat my high score? You... beat my high score?” from my anonymous pal. I went the high school au route - it turned into something a little more interesting than I anticipated. Might follow this one up if you guys are interested! Warnings: Steve Rogers is kind of a tool & there’s a bit of “violence”. Summary:

Tony grew up in a small town where everyone knows everyone and nothing ever changes. Then a new kid comes to town and flips everything upside down. Peter is everything Tony’s usual is not and he’s a big fan of that.

do the thing - send in all the prompts.

In Littleton, things still moved pretty slow. Not that progression didn’t happen – it was 2020, after all. Yet, there were many things that existed from the “past”; drive-in theaters, record stores, and most importantly – an arcade. For most of the youth in the town, nightly hangouts met up at the record store and finished the night off at the arcade. At least, that’s how things were for Tony.

Spending time at home really wasn’t an option – despite being insanely intelligent and successful in his athletic endeavors, Tony’s father hated him. He wasn’t sure of the reason, it felt innate from the time Tony could remember trying to gain his approval. The older he got, the easier it was to ignore it – not being in the house was one of the best ways to do that.

Because of that, the arcade quickly became a place that Tony could disappear into for hours on end. Whether he was meeting the guys there later in the evening or only had a couple of hours between school and football, Tony spent all of his free time there. It astounded him, how long he could play on one quarter – how each of the games on his row had AES in the high scorer column. Regardless of the way his father felt about him, the arcade never let him down.

Then, Peter Parker moved to town.

The fact that a new family was moving into Littleton had the rumor mill running. In all of the years of Tony’s life, he only saw a couple of new additions to the small town. Most of the families within it, including his own, were old and had rich roots in the businesses that kept the small community running. Stark Industries was over 100 years old and stood as a looming reminder of the next disappointment he planned to add to the pile of shit his family already disliked about him.

When Tony first heard about it, they were starting football training camp. They were a small 2A school, but the team and the 5 straight state titles the school brought home were important – so, most of the parents and friends of the people on the field were crowded around the sidelines. Ever since Tony could remember, practice was a social affair just as much as the athletic gathering that it should have been.

He and Clint were doing running drills when Steve ran over, a new sort of look on his face. “Have you guys heard about the new kid coming to town? Peggy told me that he was a senior just like us and smart as hell,” Steve babbled, excitement and a certain kind of fear lacing his voice. Tony knew that Steve hated changed the most out of them all – always had.

Stopping himself, Tony turned his full attention to the conversation, his aversion to change not anywhere close to Steve’s. The small-town life wasn’t for him, he secretly had a calendar that he crossed off the days left until graduation (only 297 to go!) A new person brought something different and that was more intriguing than anything else – even the football being chucked at his head.

Tony turned just in time, his hands coming up to stop the ball from hitting him square in the face. “Hey, fuck off, Barnes. Your boyfriend is telling us about the new blood coming to town,” Tony hollered across the field, a smirk slipping across his face at the blush that immediately pooled in Bucky’s cheeks. Things between him and Steve were still newer, and Tony loved to give them shit for it.

A throat clearing had Tony turning back to Clint and Steve, both of them looking a little worse for wear. “As I was saying – this new kid is supposed to not only be smart, but good at sports, too – “

Try as he might, Tony couldn’t get the thought of newness and what came from that out of his head. Last year, he started to get chatters from several different universities wanting to sign him to play football. Though his father wanted nothing to do with it, Maria took Tony to a couple of different overnight stays to see what the college athletics thing was all about; he fell in love with it instantly.

The thought of getting to appreciate something shiny and new before heading off to whatever school he could convince to take him made his heart beat a little faster. Littleton needed something to spark a little fire in the mundaneness of scheduled and unmoving life.

Steve’s pointed look and the repeated question of “what do you think about this, Tony?” brought him away from the daydreams, his eyes blinking for a second.

Running a hand through his sweaty hair, Tony shrugged his shoulders. It wouldn’t do him any good to go gushing or anything. “I haven’t thought about it,” he decided to reply, instead. “It’ll be nice to have some uniqueness in this godforsaken place.” Tony shot Steve a wink and reached across the way, his hand giving his friend’s shoulder a squeeze. “Just keep your fingers crossed he doesn’t have a better arm than you.”

Practice went off without a hitch after that – Fury called them in for a huddle and they got to work. Luckily, Tony spent a bunch of time with the rest of the guys working out, so the drills and running felt like a piece of cake. It was good to be back to some semblance of a routine, even if that meant spending less time surrounded by his beloved video games. They’d still be there when he was done sweating for the day.

And they were – still standing there when he walked into Munchies later that day. It took him a while to shower and get away from the rest of the group, which meant he hit the games when the floor wasn’t busy. Changing in $5 for quarters, Tony headed to his most favorite game – Galaga. Most of his attention was usually spent on the dark screen with ships and missiles flying across it.

Tony set down the lot of quarters on the ledge of the game by the player 2 joystick, one of them already in his hand to slip into the coin slot. Yet, he stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed the top score screen flash in front of him. Instead of AES as usual, the initials PBP were sitting above his, the score more than a 1000 points better than his. Sucking in a breath, Tony felt his hand clench into a fist. 2 things ran across his mind in that instant – how the fuck was he going to score another 1000 points and who the hell was PBP?

----

He didn’t have to wait long to put a face to the initials.

The very next day at practice, the collective was staring over at the far end of the field – the bespoken new kid was putting his cleats on; it was obvious that everyone was staring, so it looked like he was trying not to stare back. When he looked up, Tony got the air knocked out of him. Whatever shit the other guys were saying completely blew past him. Getting up, Tony started over in his direction.

Not only did he look well built, which would come in handy on the field, this new kid had pale skin that seemed to go on for miles. His sleeveless shirt did nothing to hide the tight bundles of muscle covering his arms and upper chest. As if the long, lean limbs weren’t enough, Tony noticed that the stranger wore his hair longer, the curls at the back of his neck barely grazing the surface of his shirt. The longer bits in the front were pulled back by a gray headband to complete the look.

More than anything, Tony instantly wanted to know more about the beautiful person confidently striding over to him. Since things ended between him and Beck the year before, Tony hadn’t even thought about going after someone new. Yet, his eyes glazed over a little bit when the guy started to jog, his muscles clenched with every step and the sway of his hair was slightly hypnotic.

Tony forced himself to suck in a couple of gulps of air before the new guy was standing right in front of him, a smile on his face. “Hey man, I’m Pete.” He spoke without preamble and stuck his hand out between them like there wasn’t a group of 50 dudes staring the two of them down.

Thinking fast, Tony grabbed his hand and squeeze, the gentle up and down of their shake just as distracting as the movement of Peter’s hair in the wind. He probably held on much longer than necessary before reining himself in. “You must be the coveted new kid. Nice to meet you, Pete. I’m Tony,” he replied lightly, his head turning a bit. “I’m not sure you’re going to get anything other than that from those guys. Want to warm up with me?”

The ease in which Peter accepted brought a grin to his face – Tony caught Steve staring at him as the moved further onto the field, but he simply shot him the middle finger, put his head down, and jogged after Peter.

Leather flew across the air at him with a sharp snap – his warmup toss seemed to be more accurate than any of Tony’s best throws. Tony caught the ball a couple more times before turning his focus back to Peter. “So, where are you from, Pete? We don’t get a lot of transplants.” Though Tony didn’t really give a shit, the rest of the guys would be breathing down his neck for answers later on.

“I’m from Queens, actually. My aunt got a job at SI, so here we are,” Peter replied, his throwing mechanics never faltering as he spoke. “You can tell them my last name is Parker and I’ll be trying to play quarterback.” Peter smirked at him; the ball still held tightly in his hands. Tony watched his eyes move passed his shoulder to the group that was still looking at the two of them intently.

A laugh fell from his lips before he could stop it. Tony rested his hands on his hips and let the feeling wash over him. It was refreshing, to be around someone that didn’t have to think for 2 days before putting all of the pieces together. “I think I’d rather let them find out by themselves.” Then, because it also took Tony a second to piece things together, he realized he was talking to PBP – the Galaga genius.

“Have you been to Munchies?” Tony asked, his smile growing a bit wider when a look of recognition rolled across Peter’s face.

Peter threw the ball at Tony before responding – his hands were quick, the whole vision of it almost distracting enough to not put his own hands up in time. “You mean the arcade? Yeah, I went when we got in last night. I love all of those old games.”

Shaking his head, Tony let his fingers curl over the laces of the ball, the feeling comforting. “You beat my high score? You… beat my high score? You’re PBP! How the hell did you get to be so good?” Tony let the surprise roll off of him, the soft look on his face hopefully enough to make Peter understand the sarcasm of the words.

“Ah, so you’re AES. I wondered who had the top dog spot. Don’t worry – I’ll only beat your high score on a couple of those games. My real talent is skee-ball. Coney Island isn’t too far from where I grew up – I learned everything I know there,” Peter remarked, his eyes shining brightly at the exchange.

Chucking the ball back, Tony forced himself not to beam – this new kid was already an interesting addition to the masses, and he knew him for less than 20 minutes. “You’ll have to show me some time,” Tony said right before the whistle blew. He caught the ball one last time and closed the distance between them. “You’re going to be a good addition around here, Peter Parker.”

----

Despite how enamored Tony felt with Peter and his presence, the rest of his friend group did not share the same opinion. For one thing, Peter was gunning for Steve’s spot and that didn’t sit well with either him or Bucky. Peter didn’t help himself when he came out and blew them all away in sprints – he was fast and strong; a combination that not a lot of people could cop to. His knowledge of the game became apparent when he took to the plays like he ran them constantly, not just once before. Like everyone else feared – the new kid brought change, and not a single person around Littleton liked change.

A few weeks after Peter’s arrival, Tony convinced him to head to Munchies with him – they talked frequently about it and like he predicted, Peter took over his highest score spot on a couple more games. It was about time Tony saw the master in his element. After practice, Tony opened Peter’s door for him as they climbed into the black Mustang Tony restored himself the previous summer.

“The customization you did to this thing is incredible, Tony,” Peter mentioned when Tony climbed in and started to get settled. “You said you did a lot of work, but I didn’t think you meant – this much.” His eyes widened a little as he took in all the shiny things Tony added around the car.

His favorite thing, the new sound system in the dash, pulled his Spotify up and started to play the more recent Kings of Leon album – the deep sounds of Caleb Followill’s voice swarming around them. Smiling, he turned the volume down a bit; his father didn’t understand his obsession with creating things, but it felt good to sit in something he brought back from the dead. The car was just the first step in a long journey of creation – Tony wouldn’t settle for anything less.

Shaking his head, he turned his attention to getting the car on and into traffic before he thought to respond. “It was basically just a rusty frame and a couple of axels when I bought it. I redid the engine, transmission, brake system – all the fun stuff under the hood. Steve, Bucky, and I did the exterior – Buck’s an artist, so the paint job is all him.”

Peter shifted a little in his seat, Tony caught the movement out of the corner of his eye as he stopped at the light. When he looked over, he was facing Tony. “So, you’re into engineering and stuff, then? Engine restoration isn’t rookie work,” Peter said softly, the cutest smile on his face. He seemed relaxed, which made Tony feel at ease, too.

The comfortability that existed in the small space between them was unlike anything Tony ever experienced.

“I am, yeah. The family business is so far outside of that scope that I kind of keep it to myself. I’m almost done with an Associate’s of Science so I can start into a Mechanical Engineering program wherever I decide to go to college. Littleton Community College does this degree transfer thing with the high school, so I’ve been using the garage there since my freshman year.” Tony blinked, the thought of saying that much in one breath pulling a blush to the surface of his skin.

“You’re smart, too?” Peter questioned, a hand coming up to his chest in fake exasperation. In the days since getting to know each other, Tony brought up many topics of conversation that were well beyond his other friends, but not Peter – it was clear that as intellectuals, there was a mutual appreciation of the other’s mind.

“Jokes aside, that’s really cool. Seems like we’re going to be competing for highest scorer in school, too.” As he spoke, he reached a hand out and grazed Tony’s extended arm, the touch like a scorch of fire against his skin. It lingered, the heat of it. Then, Peter dropped his hand and let it rest lightly on the edge of Tony’s thigh.

Before Tony could stop it, a hearty laugh left his lips – Peter brought competition into everything and set out challenges for them both to overcome; even in the few short weeks of knowing him, Tony understood that. It felt a different kind of good, being with him – he loved his friends, but like all things about Peter, his feelings towards him were completely unique. It felt easy to reach down and wrap his fingers around Peter’s – their hands resting on his leg.

“I feel like there’s no competition, though. I’ve never gotten anything less than an A in my life,” Tony remarked proudly, his fingers giving Peter’s a squeeze.

The snort he heard on the other side of the car made his heart pang – another point in the bank of things he liked about Peter. It was getting rather full, between his smarts and the quippy shit he had to say to any of the guys that ragged on him – it was hard to not be adding things to it on a daily basis. So when they drove by the arcade, Tony kept driving; Peter’s nod as they met eyes for a second made it easy to do.

Instead, Tony drove them out of Littleton and across the miles of empty space between there and the next town over. They talked about everything – Peter’s want to do Biomedical Engineering and the multiple sport talents he’d be showing off throughout the year. Tony learned about his uncle Ben and the unfortunate death that brought Peter and his aunt there to begin with.

In return, Tony told him a little bit about growing up in a small town and the immense pressure that came with being a Stark when he wanted absolutely nothing to do with the name or anything that came with it. When he talked about his dad, Peter let their fingers tangle together, the anchor of his touch making it a little easier to gush some of the details that he never thought to tell another soul.

It was so easy to lean across the center console and press his lips to Peter’s when they pulled up outside of the small house the Parker’s now lived in. The hand that was tangled with Peter’s all night reached up to cup his cheek lightly, the skin there soft and smooth under his fingertips. Tony let himself linger for a couple of minutes before pulling back, a shy smile slipping across his lips as he did.

“I had a good time, Tony,” Peter mumbled, his cheeks just as flushed as Tony’s felt. “Let’s actually go to the arcade sometime – I’ll cash out the first round.” With that, he leaned over and gave Tony a kiss on the cheek, then got out – all of it happening before Tony could even think to reply or give back or even say goodbye.

Blinking, Tony shook his head – the haze of being with Peter overwhelming him, making him lose himself for a second. The sound of On Call hit his ears when he resurfaced – the music pulling him back down to where gravity had ahold of him again. Before pulling away from the curb, Tony ducked down to see Peter leaned up against the door frame, eyes on Tony.

He didn’t look away until Peter was no longer in his sight. A goofy smile settled on his lips, the feeling of happiness settling in and taking hold.

----

The inevitable blow up Tony expected from day one finally happened right after the 1st game of the season.

Despite Steve being the starting quarterback for 3 years, Fury trusted his gut and put Peter in. It paid off, too – between his throwing abilities and the collective talent of the offense, Littleton was up by 30 at the end of the first half. It was obvious that a few people were upset by the change, but the juice the team got from the squeeze of Peter’s efforts was more important than hurt feelings (so was a win by 50 points, but who was counting?)

Tony met Peter at the edge of the field when the last seconds of the 4th quarter trickled down, his arms wrapping around the large pads that covered both their shoulders. The chemistry between them extended to the field, Tony went for 4 touchdowns that night.

Excitement was not the feeling that Tony walked into the locker room to, however – after Fury gave his post-game speech and hyped them up for post-game walk through the next day, the tangible tension came to a head. Tony got out of his gear, into the shower, and changed as fast as he possibly could. Grabbing Peter when he noticed he was ready, Tony directed them out of the locker room and into fresh air that wasn’t tainted with misplaced anger.

“Me playing is really that big of a deal? We won – the team played great. I don’t see what the issue is,” Peter said as they walked towards Tony’s Mustang. During the last couple of weeks of practice, the reality of Peter starting started to sink in for everyone – including Steve, who already felt the need to keep the grudge he formed before ever even meeting Peter.

“You know the answer to that question, Pete. This is a small town. Steve and his family and all of the people that know his family have seen him play all game every game for the past 3 years. There’s no getting around that dynamic, Pete – that’s why I want out so bad. It’s toxic and leaves no room for new or change or anything other than the usual. You have to understand that, at least,” Tony replied.

Peter sighed deeply, his shoulder bumping into Tony’s in silent agreement. “Okay, I do get that. I do – it’s just nothing personal. I know that’s not the fucking point, but it seems like it should be.”

Getting to the car, Tony dropped his bag by the passenger side door and let his arm trap Peter between himself and the car. He let a palm drift to Peter’s cheek, Tony’s thumb brushing over the seam of plush lips. “It should be, Pete. It doesn’t mean that it is.” Tony said truthfully, his own knowledge of being stuck in the box of the people around him fresh in his mind. “You just keep doing what you’re doing. I like it, at least.”

Their lips met in a soft kiss, Peter leaning forward to seal their lips together. Tony smiled into it and let his hand move into the still wet locks of Peter’s hair. The idea of getting away quickly vaguely registered – Tony broke the kiss and took a step away from him to break the spell Peter’s presence put him under. “Want to actually go to Munchies?”

It didn’t take anything other than Peter’s slight nod to have Tony opening his door, and walking around to his own side of the car, his bag getting tossed in the backseat as he got in. Tony made quick work of backing out and getting them on the road towards the arcade. It was a little more crowded than usual, but it was a Friday night – the crowds were inevitable.

As promised, Peter cashed out a $10 bill and split the quarters between them. Tony directed them towards the skee-ball immediately, his curiosity in Peter’s talent wining out over the need to kick some ass in Street Fighter. The way Peter’s eyes lit up said he made the right choice and for a solid 20 minutes, Tony watched in awe.

“The trick is to aim the ball high on the side so that when it banks, it catches the lip of the double bonus,” Peter muttered, his arm swinging gracefully, the ball doing exactly what he described. Ticket after ticket came barreling out of the game. The thought of having the skee-ball machines turned off because of too much prize distribution was quickly becoming a reality.

Unable to contain himself after Peter’s 8th game and the smiles that came with every play, Tony placed a hand on the other’s hip. The touch was enough for him to turn around, Peter’s hands wrapping around his shoulders tightly. They didn’t need to be making out in the arcade, but a kiss or two wouldn’t hurt anyone. Meeting in the middle, their lips met in a soft kiss – the shockingly familiar feeling of Peter against his front overtaking him.

The sudden shout of his name had him pulling back – the sound of Steve’s voice unmistakable. Tony thought about letting his lips linger, the forceful tone of his friend’s shriek one he didn’t like very much. Deciding against that, Tony detached from Peter completely, his hands drifting to settle into the depths of his pockets.

“Stevie – surprised to see you here,” Tony answered, his eyebrows quirking. Since he started to hang out with Peter, the rest of his friend group didn’t go out of their way to spend too much time with him. The usual nights of hanging out with a big group were reduced to Peter and Tony – something he actually wasn’t upset about at all.

Steve settled in front of him, Bucky and Clint on his flanks. “What did he do to gain your loyalty like this? Everyone else is pissed about tonight and you’re here making out with the person wreaking havoc.” Steve’s voice sounded petulant, the cross of his arms adding to the effect.

“Wreaking havoc? Steve, can you hear yourself? Peter is here living his life – which happens to include playing football on the same team that you do. What’s happening here has nothing to do with loyalty. He’s better than you, that’s all there is to it,” Tony stated bluntly – his heart pounding in his chest. He wasn’t sure if that was the right approach to take – but there wasn’t much to be done about it now.

His friend looked taken aback for a second, the blue of his eyes darkening. “How could you choose him over us? We’ve been your friends since birth, Tony.” The words were cutting and by the barely withheld smile on his face, Steve knew it, too.

“The fact that you’re playing that card is exactly why I’ll gladly stand by Peter. You’re too wrapped up in your own shit to realize that the team did well tonight – no matter how bad you felt about standing on the sideline, you should know how important that is. My friendship with you should not depend on my relationship with Peter. You’re my best friend, Steve – but I’m not going to let you make that sort of decision for me.”

In retrospect, he should have seen the punch coming – Steve got angrier with every one of Tony’s words. Throughout their life, Steve had been known to speak with his hands before thinking it through. It still stung, though – the throb of the punch and the fact that Steve delivered it at all. His hand shot up to cradle his cheek, a bruise already starting to form there.

It looked like Peter was going to try and retaliate, so Tony moved in front of him quickly. “It’s not worth it,” Tony whispered before Peter could protest or try and move him out of the way. He could do it, they both knew that; the sound of his voice must have reached something in him – Peter stopped in his tracks.

“I think you’re going to really regret doing that, Steve. Not because I’m going to hold it against you, but because you’re going to feel like a total asshole when I don’t.” Tony flashed him a smirk, his cheek smarting at the movement. Softening his voice, Tony spoke again. “Please get the fuck out of here, man. I think we’re done for the night.”

Despite the stupidity he just showed, Steve nodded stiffly and turned around to walk out the door. He shot a remorseful look over his shoulder, but Tony ignored it, his attention shifting back to Peter, instead. He let out a soft moan when the coolness of Peter’s hand touched his cheek, the other’s grip there locking their gazes. “Thanks for not letting me beat the shit out of him,” Peter whispered, his nose brushing against Tony’s.

Soaking up the touch, Tony felt himself smiling. “That’d make him right. The key is to always be one step ahead.”

Peter let him go then, his eyes drifting towards the entrance. “Want to get out of here?” he asked, the adrenaline of the situation obviously sucking the fun out of the great time they were having right before it.

Without thought, Tony nodded, his eye throbbing as he did. Grinning, he grabbed for Peter’s hand and twined their fingers together, his grip tight. “Yeah, I really do,” Tony answered, the feeling of how right that was on so many levels washing over him.

Between the contentment and the big grin Peter kept on shooting his way, Tony figured a punch in the face wasn’t the worst thing to take in the name of love.

[is-it-madness]

My Glorious Purpose | Loki x OC Chapter 1

A/N: Hello everyone! Welcome to my very first fanfic that I’ve finally had the guts to post on tumblr. I do have it on other sites, but was too nervous to post it here. After some convincing from the lovely @wowjeena​, I decided to post it here. This is a story about Loki and my OC. I really hope you all enjoy it! Any feedback is greatly appreciated! If you would like me to tag you, send me an ask or message me. I will gladly do so!

Pairing: Loki x OC  (Tera Digitalis)

Word Count: 1704

Warnings: None in this chapter :)

Chapter 1: Conference Room

(Tera’s POV)

I run through the helicarrier, not believing what Natasha told me. A Norse god? Here? At S.H.I.E.L.D? She said there was a small scuffle in Stuttgart. 

Yeah right, I think to myself as I continue my path down to the cell they are keeping him. There is no such thing as a small scuffle when a super soldier and Tony Stark team up to take him down. Natasha didn’t tell me his name, but that may be because I ran out of the room to see him for myself.

I reach the door that had the cells on the other side. I try to open the door, but it’s locked and I don’t have a key card. One of the perks of being an intern, I huff internally, frustrated at my inability to enter. 

“Something wrong?”

I spin around, coming face-to-face with Natasha. She gives me a smirk when I sigh. 

“I wanna see the ‘Norse god’ you were talking about,” I tell her, putting air quotes around Norse god because I still haven’t seen him.

“Come with me, Fury’s having a chat with him right now. We can watch from the bridge.”

“Okay,” I tell her.

We walk through the set of doors to find Dr. Banner and Captain Rogers already watching the scene unfold.

“Dr. Banner, I’d like you to meet one of our interns here at S.H.I.E.L.D.”

I stick my hand out, “Nice to meet you Doctor.”

He hesitates slightly before taking my hand in a firm shake.

Our attention is brought back to the screen by the sound of the wind screaming.

“Thirty thousand feet straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?” Fury tells a man with dark black hair, who was imprisoned in the cage.

He pushes a button and closes the floor. He gestures first to the man.

 “Ant.” He then points towards the panel, “Boot.”

“It’s an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me.”

This is the first time I hear him speak. He speaks with formality and an air of superiority. His accent is almost British, but there’s something else to it that made it seem more sophisticated.

“Built for something a lot stronger than you,” Fury shoots back.

“Oh I’ve heard,” the man says, turning to look at the camera, directly at us, as if he knew we are watching. Dr. Banner gives Natasha a look. He must have known that S.H.I.E.L.D. would take precautions.

“A mindless beast‒ makes play he’s still a man.”

I suddenly notice that a tall, blond, and extremely muscular man is in the room with us and is not watching but listening intently.

“How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?” the black-haired man mocks.

Fury takes several steps closer to the cage, “How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can’t hope to control, you talk about peace and you kill ’cause it’s fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did.”

“Ooh. It burns you to have come so close, to have the Tesseract, to have power—unlimited power—and for what?” the prisoner asks. He looks back at the camera, towards us, and with a smile he says, “A warm light for all mankind to share?”

He turns back to face Fury, “And then to be reminded what real power is.”

Fury just smirks back at him, unshaken. “Well, let me know if ’real power’ wants a magazine or something,” he says before taking his leave.

The monitors go black.

 Captain Rogers looks up at us from where he sits, watching.

“He really grows on you doesn’t he?” Dr. Banner asks dryly.

“Loki’s gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what’s his play?” Captain Rogers asks, turning to the muscle man standing beside me.

“Wait. Thor? As in the Thor? Like son of Odin, the god of thunder, wielder of Mjolnir? And your adopted brother, Loki? That’s who we have? You’re that Thor?” I ask, incredulous. 

He looks at me, with an eyebrow raised. “Yes mortal child, that is I whom you speak of. How do you know so much of me? We have only just met.”

Embarrassed by my outburst, I simply mumble, “I read a lot. Also I’m not a child.”

I make note of Natasha smirking at me from the corner of my eye, as Thor smiles at me before turning back to the Captain.

“He has an army called the Chitauri. They’re not of Asgard, nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth, in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract.”

Agent Maria Hill joins us in the conference room. She stands behind Thor, quietly listening.

“An army, from outer space?” Steve says in disbelief.

Dr. Banner fiddles with his glasses, “So, he’s building another portal. That’s what he needs Erik Selvig for.”

“Selvig?” Thor repeats.

“He’s an astrophysicist,” the doctor explains.

“He’s a friend,” Thor responds. 

Natasha looks up and speaks for the first time since the screens went dark. “Loki has them under some kind of spell - along with one of ours.”

I can hear the hurt in her voice, she and Clint had a special bond, they were extremely close.

“I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He’s not leading an army from here,” Steve says turning to Dr. Banner.

“I don’t think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy’s brain is a bag full of cats, you can smell crazy on him,” Banner jokes.

Thor takes a step closer to the table, “Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason but he is of Asgard, and he is my brother.”

Natasha gave Thor a look. “He killed eighty people in two days.”

“He’s... adopted.” Thor falters, blaming Loki’s action on his adoption. I roll my eyes.

Banner speaks up, “I think it’s about the mechanics. Iridium, what do they need the Iridium for?”

We hear a voice answer back from the hall, coming closer.

“It’s a stabilizing agent.”

It’s Tony Stark, walking beside Agent Coulson. He whispers something to Coulson about keeping love alive. I raise an eyebrow, but don’t say anything. Coulson smiles before heading off in another direction. Tony starts walking towards Thor.

“Means the portal won’t collapse on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D.,” Tony explains, with a wave of his hand. “No hard feelings Point Break, you got a mean swing,” he says patting Thor’s biceps with the back of his hand. 

Thor gives him a look of death, but Tony doesn’t see it as he heads towards the control panels. Agent Hill rolls her eyes as Tony walks past her.

Tony continues without missing a beat, “Also, means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants.”

Tony turns to face the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, “Ah, raise the mizzen mast, ship the topsails.”

They all turn to look at him, with confusion plastered all over their faces. I can’t help but laugh.

Tony suddenly points out excitedly. “That man is playing Galaga! Thought we wouldn’t notice, but we did.” 

We all look towards the man Tony had pointed out, and sure enough, he is playing Galaga.

Tony walks towards the command area of the ship, where Fury usually stands.

He covers an eye. “How does Fury even see these?”

“He turns.” Agent Hill responds simply, with her arms crossed.

“Sounds exhausting.”

Tony starts messing around with the screen. Pushing things, moving them aside.

“Is he even allowed to touch that?” I ask Nat.

She just shrugs and rolls her eyes.

“The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source of high energy density. Something to kick-start the Cube.” Tony says.

Agent Hill interrupts him. “When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?”

“Last night.” responds Tony, with attitude.

Hill looks at him, confused.

“The packet, Selvig’s notes, the extraction theory papers, ” Tony elaborates. “Am I the only one who did the reading?” he asks with his arm open. “And why is there a kid here?” he asks, pointing at me.

I give him a tight smile. Why does everyone think I’m a kid? “I’m actually an intern here, Mr. Stark. Agent Romanoff is my mentor.”

“Intern, huh? How old are you? 15? 16?”

“Nineteen, actually. Sir.” I add, not wanting to be rude, because Mr. Stark is a genius and you don’t want a genius against you. They can come up with some cruel, creative ways to get revenge. 

Steve speaks up, “Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?”

Banner responds, still playing with his glasses, “He’d have to heat the Cube to a hundred and twenty million kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier.”

I start to zone out. I have no idea what they were saying, and besides, this isn’t the field I’m planning on going in to.

I snap out of my daydream when Director Fury enters the room.

With his eye on Tony, he tells him, “Doctor Banner is only here to track the Cube. I was hoping you might join him.” 

Steve interjects, “I’d start with that stick of his. It may be magical but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon.” 

“I don’t know about that, but it is powered by the Cube. And I like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys.”

“Monkeys?” Thor asks, “I do not understand‒”

“I do!” Steve interjects, excited.

We all turn to look at him, while Tony rolls his eyes. I feel a smile forming on my lips.

“I understood that reference,” he continues.

I think he’s happy to find something in this world that he actually understands.

Tony breaks the silence. He turns to Dr. Banner. “Shall we play, Doctor?”

“This way, sir.” He answers and they walk out. 

Part 2

[sunshinesukuna]

king of the arcade

♕ pairing: arcader! kageyama tobio x reader

♕ genre: fluff

♕ inspiration: this playlist my friend recommended (pleaseee listen to it while reading, it is a whole vibe!) reply 1988 (dir. Shin Wonho), an old letterman jacket my friend found in the back of his closet that had karasuno's exact colours it made me want to cry.

Miyagi, 14.34 JST (+9) Some time during 1984,

“Eh? He isn’t home?” 

“Yeah. He’s probably at the arcade,” Miwa said. She shrugged, like this was a daily occurrence —which it was— and paid no mind to her little brother’s business unless he was getting hurt.

Although you had anticipated that he would be out of the house, you couldn’t help but be a little disappointed. Your house was the way to the arcade, and he couldn’t have stopped by just to say hi or to bring you along? And what was he doing at the arcade already at this time of day. While everyone was frolicking at the beach or visiting relatives who-knows-where, your boyfriend was already wasting his coins at the arcade.

You wouldn’t call it wasting, per se, but… okay, he was throwing his money down the drain on what? High scores on arcade games that would eventually break down, leaving no memory of the tears and sweat shed over them? Please. It wasn’t like you were against it or anything, but you really wished he would take some time to take care after you, his girlfriend. 

After saying a quick thank you to his older sister, you sped off. You didn’t stop until you saw the big blue sign saying ‘SAKANOSHITA’S’ over the brick building. A bell tinkled above head as you opened the door. 

You had to squint so your eyes could adjust to the light, but the flashing of arcade games did little to help. The familiar sounds of Pacman, Galaga, Defender, and Mario Bros blared loudly over the entire arcade. You paid them no mind as a random song from played in your earphones.

Even with the earphones in your ears, you could hear him from here. You should be close. 

Kageyama Tobio is leaned over a bright blue arcade game. It’s his favorite, and the one he’s best at: Donkey Kong. His navy letterman jacket is tied around his waist, but you can still make out the faded orange KARASUNO VBC on the back.

“WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?” he screeched. This boy really did not grasp the concept of ‘inside voice,’ huh?

“It was a fluke! I just hadn’t popped my fingers before!” another familiar voice replied in shrill vexation. Kageyama scoffed.

“Yeah, right.” 

A nest of olive hair playing Pac-Man next to a blond glanced at the situation. You sauntered up to him and patted him on the shoulder, effectively causing him to jump up a little. The pinch server was always easily surprised.

“What’s he screaming about this time, Yamaguchi-kun?” you asked. 

“(Y/N)!” Yamaguchi rubbed the back of his neck. “Ah, he was about to beat his old high score, but then he needed to go to the toilet. He didn’t want to end the game, so he asked Hinata to cover him and...” He gestured to the fight unfolding in front of you two. You rolled your eyes. Typical Kageyama.

“You get the idea.”

Without looking up from his ongoing game of Tetris, Tsukishima said, “Do something about it, will you?” He twirled his finger around his ear. “He’s being too loud.”

The four boys were a motley pack of what could be called ‘friends’ from their shared passion of volleyball and arcade hopping. Wherever one was, the other three were sure to be trailing behind. As was the case right now.

You leaned back on an unused arcade game. “Oh really?” you asked. It amused you every time you pushed at Tsukishima’s buttons, and you were in sore need of cheering up today. You raised your eyebrows, challenging him to come at you with a rebuttal. “Look at you, ordering people around like some sort of prince.” 

To add emphasis, you rolled your eyes. The GAME OVER screen turned on with a slap of the button. Tsukishima glared at you through his oversized glasses. They shimmered along with the flickering lights from the other games. 

“Hey,” he said warningly. Tsukishima’s tone was as usual whenever you played your jokes with him. Behind the glasses, his eyes were as hard as rocks as he looked into you. Five seconds, ten... he blinked. You laughed animatedly at him, but relented once he pulled his hand back, in mock threatening.

“Okay, okay, I’m on my way...” you said. You gave him the side-eye. “Sheesh.” Finally doing what you had been meaning to do for the whole day, you embarked on your mission.

Kageyama was in the middle of starting a new game when you launched your trap. His fingers stroked over the controls innocently enough —unlike the tips of yours, that were slowly making their way around his hardened stomach. He jerked back at your touch, but you felt his body uncoiling a bit at your face. 

“Wha— ah, (Y/N).” You unknotted the letterman jacket from around his waist. Pulling it over your own shoulders, you rested your chin on his much higher shoulder.

“Don’t mind me, go on.” The muscles under your fingers tensed a bit as they prepared for a new game. Since the school you two went to didn’t have an arcading club, he had joined the next best thing. Volleyball. Combined with the wonders of puberty, he had grown into the tall, rather sullen man in your arms right now. 

To your surprise, the dark red GAME OVER signs flashed over the screen all too quickly. Normally, he could last much longer than the amateur arcade player, but today, he seemed a little off his game. 

“What happened, Tobio?” you asked. He turned over to face you, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down from the amount of physical contact he was getting right now. And in public!

“Let me teach you,” he suddenly said. 

“What?”

Using his much bigger frame and physical strength, he switched your positions. The sharp edge of Donkey Kong was now pressing into your lower stomach, as Kageyama captivated  you between his arms. 

His fingers brushed against yours, breath lingering at your thighs for a while as he inserted the coin in the slot. They moved over your fingers, that were situated on top of the buttons and joystick. 

The thundering of the giant gorillas footsteps let you know the game was going to start. As Mario appeared, Kageyama’s fingers on top of your pressed into your nails. His gamer instincts were sharpening. How could they not? When the beeps that accompanied Mario became his own little battle cries, and the princess trapped at the top his new charge. 

“Press faster,” he muttered. You were pressing as fast as you could, but Kageyama’s fingers above you egged at you to go faster. The more and more you played, the more frustrated Kageyama seemed to be getting. His constant critiques on your gameplay, despite knowing that you were an amateur, were getting to your head. 

Needless to say, the game ended quickly. Kageyama sighed in your hair. It would be sexy, if you weren’t about to go over the edge by him first ignoring you the whole day, and then this? You turned over and looked into his eyes. 

Kageyama opened his mouth to say something, but you beat him to it.“I’m not you, Tobio. I haven’t spent approximately an eighth of my life in arcades, so please excuse my inexperience.” 

He knitted his eyebrows together, the expression not far from his usual scowl. But his mouth softened at the edges as he pouted. 

“I was going to say sorry for that….” His tone was that of a six-year-old that had been caught stealing cookies from the jar. The Galaga game off to the side was very interesting as you realised what he was implying. “But if it bothers you that much, we can go get ice cream or something else instead?” 

His sudden confession had made you want to eat up your prior words. Instead, you parted your lips and broke off eye contact. Kageyama? Finally letting someone else take the reins? From all the stories you’d heard from Hinata, Tsukishima,Yamaguchi, and Miwa, this looked to be a pretty big stepping stone for someone like him. 

“It’s okay, actually,” you finally said. You turned back to the game and slid one of your own coins inside the slot. “What did you say about pressing faster again?” 

Kageyama held your hands and fingers with the same tenderness as he would a volleyball. The hold that said ‘I’m going to love and cherish you, but I’m also going to push you to your limits.’ In a good way, of course. He smiled at you. Coming from someone like him, it took everything for your heart not to melt right then and there. You saved the memory in case you needed it again.

His exasperated tone had switched to a more patronizing one, like a parent teaching a child how to ride a bike for the first time. The occasional ‘Jump!’s and ‘There’s a barrel right there!’ were accompanied by his firm pressing every time your fingers wouldn’t bend to your will. His fingers truly were a godsend, you thought.

A boy, a tangerine, and a salt shaker passed by in the middle of your game. “Oh? Where did the King of Donkey Kong go?” Tsukishima asked. His use of Kageyama’s nickname in the streets earned him a dirty glare from your boyfriend. 

“Yeah, Kageyama,” Hinata added. “Why can’t you be like that to everyone?” Kageyama scoffed. He guided the Mario on the screen, saving him from an incoming barrel that you didn’t catch sight of. 

“Because she’s my girlfriend,” he says, his trademark scowl making an appearance again. His smile’s fifteen minutes of fame were up, the limelight now shining back to his ever present scowl. 

The group of other boys snicker as they make their way to their intended games. Kageyama’s breath on your neck now feels more relaxed as he plays with you. You 

“What was that all about?” you asked, when the game was finally over. 

“Nothing.” He doesn’t seem to give it much thought as he laces his pinky in yours, the gesture sweet and unique to Kageyama.

“You sure?” 

Kageyama looks to the floor. There was a spot of mud on his Converse, probably from those rascals earlier that morning when he had tried to go get a gift for you earlier this morning. Even more was probably stained on his jeans. Thank goodness you didn’t look out your window when the tragedy happened. He remembered not wanting to show up to your house looking so soiled, so he took refuge at his usual place: the arcade.

If only you could see that his letterman jacket was two sizes two small and had ‘SHOYO’ on the tag, he would have—

“If I had to tell everyone why I love you,” he blurted out. He trains his eyes on the grey tiles beneath again. “I would talk myself hoarse at the end of the day, (Y/N).” 

You smiled at his words, catching sight of his mud-stained jeans, a still pristine ring box peeking out of the pockets.

[yehet-me-up]

Quid Pro Quo

Pairing: Iron Man!Chanyeol, Pepper Potts!Reader

Rating: PG13ish for uhh sexual fantasies? 😂and language (probably)

Genre: Exovengers AU (because why not)

Word Count: 1,769

A/N: HAPPY FRIDAY @yeoldontknow​ ily 💕💕💕I haven’t dug enough into the Avengers world, so this entire backstory/scenario is probably very not canon, but it should be a fun ride 😘

When you step out of the elevator, holding your resume neatly tucked in a plastic folder, the first thing you notice is all the windows. From the street the building looked imposing. From the top floor it feels awe-inspiring.

The wide lobby is polished and sparsely decorated. The desk that you assume his future assistant will occupy is empty, along with the room itself. You purse your lips, you’d assumed that the interviews for Park Chanyeol’s assistant would bring a crowd of well-qualified applicants. But for now, there’s only you.

The thick wooden double doors, that presumably lead to an office, are closed, and you take the moment to inspect your blouse and slacks for lint and wrinkles. 

Appearance isn’t everything, you know that. But it does convey a lot about a person, especially to someone as flashy as Park Chanyeol. You walk over to one of the floor-to-ceiling windows and look down on the bustling street below.

For someone who describes himself as a genius and a playboy, he’s notoriously private. And for someone who touts his wealth, he certainly seems to enjoy the title of billionaire more for amusement than for self-confidence.

You’ve done your research - his technology and inventions have helped millions, but alongside the cars and suits and lavish vacations you know he donates just as much if not more to children’s charities, women’s shelters, STEM equality programs in local schools, and, surprisingly, more than a dozen animal welfare organizations.

You wonder what he’ll be like, up close and personal, behind closed doors. If the bravado is indeed the entirety of the man, or if there’s more beneath the surface. You pull your lip between your teeth and work at it as you consider him.

Moments later you hear the creak of the door open and turn to see him face to face. He’s far younger in real life, with a boyish enthusiasm.

‘Nice to meet you,’ he says, hair askew and dressed in a plain white shirt and fitted jeans. ‘Sorry for the wait, I got carried away on this latest project.’

‘Not at all, Mr. Park,’ you say politely, extending a hand to shake his and looking at your watch. ‘Believe it or not, you’re right on time.’

He grins at that, wide and wolf-like and full of good humor. ‘I’ll be damned. You’re already keeping me on a schedule,’ he laughs, shaking your hand.

When he stands this close you can see freckle on his nose, the cut of his arms under the fabric, the playfulness in his eyes. His presence does something to you, makes your skin feel too hot and your clothes too tight; you’re not sure you like the way you feel slightly out of control.

‘Come on in and have a seat.’

You follow him into an even more impressive space, with views all the way out to the harbor. A pile of parts sits on a wide work table surrounded by tools. Several vintage video games line a back wall - Packman, Space Invaders, Galaga, Asteroids. You almost trip, thinking about the hours you’d spent relieving stress on Joust in the basement of the student center during your MBA.

He leads you to opposing plush couches in a lowered dais. ‘Would you care for anything to drink?’ he asks, moving to a standing bar.

‘It’s… ten in the morning Mr. Park,’ you say, raising a brow. ‘I don’t normally drink at job interviews.’

‘Then you haven’t been working at the right places,’ he says, tilting his head. ‘Please, call me Chanyeol. But I guess you’re right. Best not to start off this working relationship by forcing you to hear my drunken rendition of My Sharona.’

You snort and attempt to hide it behind your hand. He sprawls on the couch, resting a hand along the back and crossing his legs. You sit neatly in the middle, crossing your ankles and folding your hands on top of your resume.

‘Thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Park,’ you say, assuming the focused and professional voice you’ve mastered at this point in your career. ‘It’s an honor to interview for you.’

By now you can play high-ranking impressive men like a violin. You know the drill, much as it grates you. Have an MBA, be clearly competent, but not too competent and impressive that he feels put off. Flatter him, a little, but not excessively.

Mention your skills, the languages you speak, but don’t mention your ambition, the hunger in your bones to make a difference, to do work you care about. Definitely don’t mention that you graduated Summa Cum Laude.

Bring up the changes you helped make at the last Fortune 500 tech company before getting bored and seeking something else, but always demurely frame it as a team effort. Even if the ideas were all yours, even if the lion in your chest wants to roar with pride at all you’ve accomplished.

‘So, tell me about yourself,’ he starts, watching you like a hawk as he runs a hand along his chin. ‘And not the stuff I could, and have, read on your resume,’ he says, cutting you off firmly when you open your mouth to begin your neatly prepared summary of who you are.

You sit for a moment, considering him, meeting his hungry gaze with your own. Everything you’ve read about him, all the interviews you saw on TV, tell you that he values honestly. 

So, you decide to allow yourself to be honest. 

You set the folder on the couch beside you and place your purse on top of it. With a smile you mimic his pose, easing back against the plush material and crossing your leg onto your knee. Taking up more space than you’d allowed yourself before.

‘I’ll start by saying that I’m smarter than just about everyone I meet, though you might give me a run for my money,’ you say evenly and he laughs. 

‘I don’t say that from arrogance, just from fact. I’m also an excellent judge of character. I find that figuring out who someone is and what they want as soon as possible saves time and makes my job easier.’

He raises a brow at you, eyes flaring with something you can’t name but that you feel across your skin like leaving an air conditioned building and stepping onto the street into a sweltering and sticky summer’s day. 

He motions for you to continue.

‘When not working I enjoy a nice glass of red wine, walking through The Met late at night, and vacationing on the Italian countryside. But none of that matters, really. Because I’m a workaholic, like you,’ you say simply with a casual shrug. 

‘If you hire me, I’ll be the making of you.’

He chuckles, the sound low like rolling thunder, as he fights a grin. ‘In what way?’

Your eyes are the flint that strikes flames in his. ‘In every way.’

He nods to himself. ‘I see. What do you see when you look at me, then? What do I want?’

You take a look around the office; take in him on the couch, sizing him up. He expects you to rush, to name the obvious in an attempt to impress him. But neither of you got to where you are by following well-worn grooves of thought.

‘You want to win, to be the best. But not from a place as small as your ego,’ you start and he gives away his surprise with a press of his lips. ‘You crave the challenge of making the impossible a reality. And you long for someone to be able to challenge you, to push you.’

He watches you silently and you carry on. You can feel your heartbeat in your ears as you find something in him that mirrors a part of you that you’ve kept locked away.

‘After all,’ you say softly.’ ‘Even if you can get the high score on Pong by yourself, it’s more fun to play with a partner.’

He catches your meaning and looks away at the floor. You wonder if he realizes how much he conveys with his expressive eyes. If he can sense the loneliness and drive within you reaching out for the answering energy inside of him. 

You wonder if he’ll tell you to fuck off and leave, or if your presence feels like a relief, a call answered, like his does for you.

‘But what do you want?’ he asks, turning back to meet your focus.

You tilt your head and smile at him. ‘Quid pro quo, Mr. Park. If you’re as intelligent as you appear to be, you tell me.’

He folds his arms at his chest at your challenge, swallowing a smirk and assuming a pensive look. His gaze trails down the length of your body, hungrily picking apart the careful facade you’ve created. 

He meets your eyes and holds your attention, not allowing you to look away from him. With a soft sigh you pull your lip into your mouth again.

‘I think you’ve been doing quite a number of things without a partner. For far too long,’ he says assertively, eyes lingering at the swell of your chest.

Without meaning to, you imagine yourself on his lap, fisting your hands in his hair. You imagine his mouth, hot and wet on your neck, his hands, firm and rough, holding your hips while you straddle him. 

You imagine yourself splayed out on his work table, legs draped over his shoulders while he tastes you like he’s trying to find the secret to what makes you tick. 

You imagine what he’d look like against the tan carpet, naked and begging to come.

You imagine the things you could create together that have nothing to do with technology or business, and feel your cheeks get hot. With a slight tilt of your head you nod to him and he smiles with a triumph that matches your own.

‘So, how about you start tomorrow?’ he says nonchalantly, tugging at the collar of his shirt.

‘That sounds perfect,’ you answer, standing. ‘Does eight work for you?’

He motions for you to lead the way. ‘Excellent. I’ll email you over a list of the documents you’ll need to bring with you tomorrow.’

‘You already had it, by the way,’ he says, leaning agains the door, holding his hand out to you. ‘Since we’re being honest. I didn’t even respond to anyone else.’

‘Oh, I know,’ you say, shaking his hand firmly before turning. 

The sound of his rich laughter follows you all the way to the elevator.

[hi-i-love-u-bitch]

Excuse me! But where is my Sanders Sides Gamer AU???

Voices in my head: Gee Bunny, it seems you have no problem writing a lot of other fics and stuff yet you still haven’t even finished the next chapter of your Spiderverse fic???

Me: SHUT THE FUCK UP DISEMBODIED VOICES IN MY HEAD!!! IF YOU WANT THAT FIC DONE SO BADLY TELL MY LOGIC AND CREATIVITY TO GET THEIR ASSES IN GEAR AND GIVE ME SOME GOD DAMN INSPIRATION!!!!

Voices in my head:.....

Me: Yeah, that’s what I thought! Anyways, idk if I just missed a memo or something but I haven’t seen any Gamer AU of my boys and that is a crime in and of itself! Like, how dare! But fret not, I am here to provide content (Read: headcannons) that you did not ask for! Let us begin! Or should I say start!

(please note that I am not a gaming expert so feel free to add or correct stuff)

NOW WITH A PART 2!!!!

MAIN SQUAD

Roman Rosewood

Obviously loves RPGs! Anything with a good story line really! Or has medieval fantasy aesthetic!

Skyrim, Diablo, Undertale, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Fallout, Red Dead Redemption, Undertales, Dragon Age, God of War Dark Souls, Assassins Creed, Earthbound, etc.

Played West of Loathing just so he could rip on it but actually ended up loving it and spending way to many hours playing. Then he found out there was a game called Kingdom of Loathing by the same creators and went down that rabbit hole as well.

He was iffy about getting into JRPGs but then Virgil convinced him to play Persona 5 and he absolutely fell in love with the music!

All the music in his phone is either from musicals or Video games!

Also really likes choose your own adventure games like Detroit: Become Human, Life is Strange, and Telltale Games

So much video game merch! Usually figurines because he likes to make little shelves and display cases for them.

He also really likes multiplayer games because he’s a social butterfly and likes to play with his squad.

Sucks at first person shooter games but still willingly plays Fortnight or Call of Duty or Left for Dead with his friends because he doesn’t want to be a drag and complain. But also they sometimes die in game in the most hilarious ways and it just leaves everybody wheezing.

Virgil Dante

Horror games, obvs!

All about that dark aesthetic!

Devil May Cry, Silent Hill, Fran Bow, Sally Face, Resident Evil, The Witch’s House, Amnesia, Little Nightmares, Bendy and The Ink Machine, Alice: Madness Returns, SCP-Containment, Pony Island, etc.

Yes, he’s played all the Five Nights At Freddy’s games. It’s a good series and it isn’t his fault the fandom is bat shit crazy and full of ten year olds! Fuck you Roman!

Every time the Walking Dead comes out he knows he’ll end up crying by the end of it. He and the squad make and event out of it.

Japanese horror games are usually his favorite because they deal more with the psychological aspects of horror instead of the jump scares

So, yes, he’s also a fan of Corps Party and Fatal Frame

Also really good at first person shooters because he has a really steady hand (you usually have to when playing horror games least you want to restart the level) and it pisses Roman off to no end every time Virgil randomly headshots him.

Usually likes to by merch in the form of posters, t-shirts, or beanies. He only buys figurines if it’s a game he really, really likes.

At first didn’t know why people kept bugging him to play Doki Doki Literature Club but then he finally caved and...oh...that’s why.

Logan Mill

My boy loves puzzle and strategy games yo!

Legend of Zelda, Portal, Tetris, Unravel, World of Goo, Inside, Limbo, Pokemon, Shadow of the Colossus, StarCraft, Command and Conquer, Age of Empire, Heart of Iron, World of Warcraft, etc.

He likes Overwatch but doesn’t like playing with people online so he usual solos or asks the others to play. But that too usually ends in chaos.

Hates rage games because he gets frustrated easily and has broken at least four keyboards and two controllers

He still plays them anyways because he can beat it damn it! Just give him a minute!

Enjoys the God of War series despite all the mythological inaccuracies

He plays a lot of Minecraft to relax or destress and has build beautiful works of architecture and sometimes entire cities.

He thought it was stupid and childish and was embarrassed about it for a long time until the squad came over to his house one day uninvited and caught him playing. He was getting ready for them to make fun of him but they instead gushed about how AMAZING everything looked and how TALENTED he was for building all himself.

Logan ends up showing them how to play afterwards and they work together to make weird sculptures and complex tunnels underground.

He likes practical merch like backpacks, coffee mugs, pencil holders, notebooks, ect. as well as a few t-shirts and novelty ties.

Yes, he does collect Pokemon cards!

Patton Adley

Silly dating sims, farming games, and any cute game really! Plus a few side scroller games!

Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon, Slime Rancher, The Sims, Dream Daddy, Animal Crossing, Kirby, Monster Prom, Hatoful Boyfriend, Scribblenauts, Night In The Woods, Ni Nu Kuni, etc.

Big Nintendo fan!

He made the mistake of playing Doki Doki Literature Club without reading the warning tags and regrets it immensely...still a good game though.

He did the same thing with Huni Pop but that one made him laugh more then anything and he kind of got addicted to it. Then he found out there was a sequel called HuniCam so he went down that rabbit hole too.

He likes a lot of phone app games too like Cut the Rope, Neko Atsume, and Candy Crush.

Loves trashy dating app games, he thinks they’re so funny and cheesy

He was addicted to Mystic Messenger for a long while

Just because he has his preference doesn’t mean he won’t try other games too, Logan got him hooked on World of Warcraft (though really he did that to everyone), Virgil showed him Hollow Knight, and Roman suggested he play Undertales.

Prefers merch in the form of plushies and key chains!

He likes to bake and decorate cookies, cakes and pastries in the form of his favorite video game characters.

RED SQUAD

Duncan [Deceit] Adley (Patton’s twin)

A lot of first person shooter and combat games!

Doom Series, Super Smash Bros, Mortal Combat, Halo, Fortnight, Grand Theft Auto, Street Fighter, Tekken, Soul Calibur, Half-Life, Team Fortress, Destiny, Wolfenstein, Bio Shock, Splatoon, PUBg etc.

Patton was the one that introduced him to Splatoon and he won’t admit that it’s actually super fun.

Doesn’t mind story driven games and RPGs but he really just wants something he can zone out to and relax

He likes to troll people online, mainly assholes picking on little kids who just want to play.

He once teamed up with a group of kids on Call of Duty solely for the purpose of collectively kicking the asses of this groups of so called “real gamers” that were being jerks.

Has memorized all the combos! He doesn’t have time to sit and look up a cool finishing move, he needs it now!

Always mains the weakest/most useless character in fighting games and still manages to kick everyone’s ass.

Doesn’t have a preference in merch and usually grabs whatever he likes be it figurines, t-shirts, posters, plushies, or whatever, so long as he likes the game it comes from.

Has several tattoos from his favorite games

Emile Picani

Classic retro games, cartoonish games, and Nintendo are his jam broham!

Mario, Classic Sonic, Paper Boy, Transylvania, Spyro, Pac Man, All the Saga Disney games, Duck Hunt, Mario Kart, Galaga, Mega Man, Donkey Kong, Secret of Mana, Banjo-Kazooie, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, etc.

Absolutely fell in love with Shovel Knight when it came out!

Remy got him into all the indie pixel games: Towerfall, Terraria, Owlboy, Hotline Miami, Papers Please, Celeste, One Shot, etc.

Duncan was the one that introduced him to Cuphead and the usually play it together and see how far each of them can go without dying.

The game is difficult but the art is still so breathtaking!

Likes the occasional psychological thriller game

Bet Virgil showed him Alice: Madness Returns and Doki Doki Literature Club (after he’s played it of course)

Likes plushies and figurine merch with the occasional poster and coffee mug.

Likes to doodle a lot of his fav video game characters and cartoons and is actually really good at it. He helped design most of Duncan’s tattoos.

Remy Knightly

Likes a lot of indie games and old online flash games!

The Stanley Parables, Oxenfree, Inside, Firewatch, Super MeatBoy, The Binding of Issac, Donut County, Henry Stickman series, Impossible Quiz, Crush the Castle series, Hyper Light Drifter, etc.

He always gets everybody hooked on one game or another

He convinced everyone to play Undertales so for like a month they all went through a HUGE Undertales faze.

Was the actual, ACTUAL one that showed Duncan Cuphead because he knew the dork would be reminded of Emile because of the animation and would want to show it to him and play multiplayer (*cough* subtle matchmaker *cough*)

(Do not be fooled, he is a pinning boy himself)

Is up to date in all the gossip of the latest games and consuls, indie or mainstream! He’s in the know, know and if you need to know something chances are Remy probably knows it.

Weeds out through all the indie horror games for Virgil and recommends what he thinks are the best ones.

Same thing with Logan and his puzzle games, he’s usually is able to find very strange ones and Logan seems to likes those best.

Obviously has a lot of merch in coffee mug and thermal form as well as a few key chains.

Occasionally streams on Twitch with Duncan and Emile (sometimes inviting the main squad too), they’re commentary is usual hilarious.

[trashhuman666]

Request/Summary: You and Bucky are dating. Steve continuously tells you two (Not so subtly) that he wants you to be pregnant.

Warnings: female reader

A/n: Steve has something similar to Spidey Sense, but its called Stevey-Sense and it tells him when to yell, "LANGUAGE" in fanfics. This has nothing to do w my story, btw, just dishing out the facts

You blocked the mans punch with ease, then twisted his arm to pin him down.

The man let out a wheeze of pain.

"Oh, boy, either we're getting in a slump or supervillains just keep getting worse." You muttered, tying the man to a nearby pole.

Steve snickered and finished untying the last of the hostages. "I mean, this was pretty elaborate. I doubt the police would have been able to stop this..."

Bucky rolled his eyes and continued glaring at the man he had apprehended.

"The two of you are really gonna miss this, huh?" Steve asked.

You blinked and turned to face Steve, confusion drawn on your face.

"What are you talking about, Tiny?" Bucky asks.

"Okay, first of all, that nickname used to work, but I'm bigger than you now! Second of all, I'm talking about when you have a kid!"

Bucky spins around to face you and you toss your hands up in an 'I surrender.' motion.

"(Y/n)?" Bucky asked. "S'there something you wanna tell me?"

"I have no idea what hes talking about, Buck, I am not pregnant!"

Buck continues to eye you, suspiciously.

☆☆☆

You were sitting with Tony, who was one of your best friends.

He was on his phone, playing Galaga, and you were watching over his shoulder, throwing him off his game.

Steve walked in absent-mindedly. "Hey, I was thinking Ava if it's a girl, Andy if it's a boy, Quinn if you want a genderneutral name."

Tony immediately stopped clicking his game. He turned it off and tossed his phone to the side.

"(Y/n)?" He asked.

You just rolled your eyes.

☆☆☆

Bucky, Nat and Steve were in the training room, sparring. One v one v one.

"You know," Steve panted. "(Y/n)'s known Nat longer than shes known Wanda, and you definitely seem closer to Nat, so... She should be the Godmother. Obviously, I'll be the Godfather, since I'm your bestie and (Y/n)'s brother. You guys dont even get any say in this."

Nat didnt miss a beat, she aimed a blow at Steve's head, while saying, "I was thinking me and Clint. We'd make a good team."

"Youd kill the child! Or scar them!" Steve objected (whilst blocking her punch, and tossing himself into Bucky's arms, as is one of his fighting techniques.) at the idea of not being the Godfather.

Bucky caught Steve, using his metal arm to hold up the man, before tossing him back towards Nat. "You guys do realize we're not actually pregnant, right?" He asked.

"That's a work in progress." Nat retorted, ducking under Steve's flailing body.

☆☆☆

"Here you go!" Steve said, merrily, setting a box of pregnancy tests by you while you ate.

☆☆☆

Your phone rang in the middle of the meeting. Fury eyed you and gestured for you to slip into the hall if you were going to answer.

Though, you felt his eyes on you as you made your escape.

"Hello?" You asked, setting the phone to your ear.

"(Y/n)!" Your best friend said. "How could you not tell us you and Bucky are expecting?"

It took fifteen minutes to reassure them that you weren't pregnant, before you could hang up and re-enter the room.

The second you entered, you knew something was wrong from the shit-eating grin on Steve's face, the fact that Bucky was covering his head with his arms, and the beaming faces of Nat, Bruce, Clint and Thor.

Oh, and the fact that as you walked in, Fury said, "You better make me the Godfather."

"Oh, for--,"

☆☆☆

You and Bucky sat on your bed, in shock.

"How do we... Uh... We just... how...?" Bucky muttered.

"How do we tell everyone we're pregnant after spending a month insisting we're not?" You offered. "I have no clue."

You stared down at the positive pregnancy test.

"God, if Steve was a nightmare before..." Bucky muttered.

As if on cue, Steve shouted, "Hey, Buck? (Y/n)? I threw out all of your condoms. You don't need them anymore, right?"