#Ok. I can probably do work now that my brain is not exploding itself

[bonemeal12]

hello internet. might you desire a teensy ballpoint pen Kon El experiencing a headache?

[mxvladdy]

heyy i just read your fic Case of the Munchies on ao3 and im Loving it!!!! its amazing!! i was wonder if youre accepting requests and if you haven’t done it could you write the same for the rest: mammon, levi, satan, belphi, dia, barbatos and smth for simeon and luke (ofc platonic) like how angles have a true form and that means they can never relax around mc and how solomon has so much power at his fingertips he can just snap and end them or smth like that? pretty please and thank you!!!!

A/N: Of Course! Of Course! I already did Mammon and Levi HERE so I’ll do the other four in this request! You sent me a lot of good ideas and I’ll sprinkle them out into other requests soon!

Hope you like it!!

Case of the Munchies prt 3!

Word Count: 4.2k

Characters: Satan, Belphie, Diavolo, Barbatos

TW: Mentions of eating and cook humans, very mild gore

Satan

As the only full-blooded demon of the seven, he has thought about it...just hypothetically of course. When you were new to the Devildom he did find your scent more appetizing than the others. It’s a good thing he has the most restraint and control of all his kin, especially when it comes to his more base urges.

He doesn’t hide this knowledge from you. It’s readily available in the library and his own room in the history books. He just won’t bring it up. So if you don’t say anything, he won’t either. What would he say anyway? “Yes, I’ve thought about it, up until it was outlawed it was a staple of our diet after all…” Ye, probably not the best thing to say.

When you finally brought it up he was exasperated. Did you have to bring it up during the few hours he had alone with himself? He wasn’t going to lie but the thought of hurting your feelings would just about do him in.

He will alleviate your worries if you have any. If Satan was anything, he was genuine.

Mini Fic

His wine curdles in his stomach, turning sour along with the take-out he had nabbed for the two of you to enjoy tonight. Drinks and dinner were becoming a staple in your T.V. night tradition. If one of you had had a rough day you would drop by your favorite shop of the hour and pick up a meal to share while you vent.

Today in particular had been a shit day for him. Failed experiment after failed experiment, and one bottle that didn’t explode on impact with the potion he dropped. Sigh. At least your comforting words soothed his wounded pride a little. You chuckle at his escapades glad to see he is not hurt at least. It was nice to have someone to see the humor in something that normally would have dampened his mood.

“You’re a pest.” He laughs at you while snapping his takeout chopsticks in half to use. “I need sympathy-hours of work wasted.” You snort into your own bowl of udon.

“You need words of praise like Beel needs another stomach.” Satan gasps in mock insult pointing a sauce stained chopstick at you.

“How dare you insult your host! After I toiled over this meal of-” What did he get exactly? Honestly, when he placed the order he was near boiling with rage at his careless fumble. It was to be a surprise for you, something to give you a bit of magic while supervised by himself. He knew how frustrated you were with your lack of magical ability in class so he wanted to gift you something grand. Now he has to wait months to try again.

Ah, well...nothing ventured nothing gained as they say.

You watch him sulk over his soup dumplings, his mile away from the comfort of your company and his room. “Come on blondie.” You poke him with your foot before burying them under his pajama-clad thighs on the couch. “Eat your ‘hard earned’ meal before I do.” You snatch up his D.D.D forgetting your own food for a moment to set up your favorite streaming service to cast to his small T.V. “Want to watch a bunch of humans fail miserably at baking?”

"I thought you would never ask."

Satan feels you stiffen in his arms two hours into your bake-off marathon. Your takeout boxes are cold and forgotten on his coffee table, a bottle of wine gone between the two of you. He glances down at you curious.

You were transfixed on the screen. The novice baker on screen was struggling to keep his monstrosity of a cake upright. It was the annual Halloween episode and this fool went for a Silence of the Lambs inspired cake. A good concept really, but very poorly executed. The fake body parts and sugar blood weighted the pastry down dangerously. If he were, to be frank, the cake was also tacky as hell. Heh, he'd have to try to make this for Lucifer.

"Does his abuse of the piping gun offend you that much?" He jokes wrapping an arm around you.

Your laugh is breathy and lacks its usual warmth. "It is excessive isn't it?" You look up at him. "Hey, Satan-have you ever eaten people before?"

"Uhh…" Great, how eloquent. This came out of nowhere, did Lucifer set you up to this? No-no you wouldn’t. Would you hate him if you knew? “I have.” He admits through clenched teeth waiting for your reaction.

“Didn’t Diavolo ban it?” He can tell you are doing the mental math in your head.

He chuckles dryly. “Well, you never asked if I did it legally.” You move away from his touch and pause the show. “I mean...I did it legally! ” His mouth runs freely, his brain screaming at him to shut up.

“Satan.” You cross your arms unimpressed.

“It was a new law and I never meant to eat it for the most part. It was at a time where I was still struggling to control myself.” Young and stupid as Lucifer had said defending him every step of the way when he would slip up. Was it sold on the black market now? Yes. Did he know how to get it? Sure, but he would never nor would he tell you about it either.

You nod thinking about his words. “I can empathize.” Oh, thank the Devil. “Have you thought of eating me?”Ahhh. “Oh my God, you have.” You chuck a pillow at him with a laugh.

He catches the pillow and clutches it to his fiery hot face. “Everyone did at first!” If he was going down then he was going to take every one of his brothers down with him. “I wasn’t going to act on it! It was a spur of the moment-why are you laughing!”

“Sorry, sorry.” You wipe at the tears in your eyes wishing you had your phone to take a picture of his blushing face. “I kind of figured you did.”

Satan looks at you incredulously. “Shouldn’t you be a bit more torn up over this?”

You shrug. “After everything we’ve been through? I admit it was a shock to think at first but I mean, you would have done it by now right?”

“Well, thank you?” He flops back on the couch, still clutching the pillow to act as a barrier between you two. He’ll take it as a compliment.

You scoot close, nudging his knee with yours. “You ok?” He nods. “Can I touch you?” He nods again eagerly. You wrap your arms around his shoulders and squeeze. “Sorry, I made you uncomfortable.”

Satan chuckled, dropping the pillow to hug you back. “It’s ok.” He peaks your forehead. “Now, with that out of the way. Shall we finish this?” He swipes up his phone to hit play. You nod, flinging your legs over him to snuggle closer. “Good, I’m dying to know how he tries to save that thing. I’m putting money on icing.”

“You know.” You break the silence once more, unable to stop yourself. “I wouldn’t be opposed to being eaten...in some ways.”

Belphegor

After your first *ahem* encounter, he doesn’t bring up the whole food thing. He is afraid that if you learned about it, it would be the last strike for you and his relationship. Perhaps it’s paranoia on his part but better safe than sorry.

In all honesty, he didn’t eat it that much anyway. Killing humans was something he did often in his youth as a demon. A stupid attempt at revenge on his part. It filled the holes in his hearts to hurt those he believed killed his sister.

But to eat their flesh? Disgusting. He tried it a few times and it turned his stomach with every mouthful. He just hated them too much to even stomach them. He’s mellowed out with time but still never got a taste for it.

When you asked it was a shock but welcomed in a way. Like he could finally get this weight off his shoulders every time he looked at you.

Mini Fic

“It’s gross.” Belphie yawns, jumping up to sit on the high garden wall. He bends down to help you up placing you gently next to himself. The wind catches you by surprise threatening to topple you back from the wall before he rights you. He tosses his sweater over you with a nod of satisfaction.

You snuggle into the fleece lining burying your nose into the fabric. It smelled of elderberries and honeysuckles. Belphie watches you curl up into his side with a fond smile. “Seriously, you all are nasty.”

“Ouch!” You push his shoulder with a grin. “I feel like I should be offended on behalf of all humans.”

Belphie snorts, looking up into the bright colors of the night sky. “Good. Be offended. You, humans, are slimy.” You squawk indignantly. “It’s true, never in all my years would I willingly ingest it.” He shudders theatrically.

“Rude.”

“Shouldn’t you be happy? Lest I eat you?” He growls playfully, taking a swipe at you. He pulls you close to kiss the pout off your face. He stops only when your face is hot and your smile threatens to pull a muscle. “I’ll keep you safe, always.” He vows resting his chin on your head.

“Do you think other demons would try to eat me?”

“Have you met my twin?” He teases. He takes your jab to his ribs with a smile. “But if one of those lesser demons even tries to breathe in your direction I’ll kill them.”

“Ok, Mister sleeps till dinner.” You joke. His vow warms your heart a little, chasing away the small bit of fear that had rested itself in your chest. You saw how some demons looked at you at R.A.D, the longing and hungry looks got to be a bit much sometimes. A few older demons would discuss it loudly when they knew you were close by. Apparently, it was a long standing tradition of demons eating humans both body and soul when a pact was concluded.

Imagine what those brothers would do to them…

You shake your head hugging Belphie closer. You had nothing but his word that he would keep you safe, yet that was enough for you. Besides, he wasn’t one to follow the rules even at the best of times.

“I’m serious. You're off limits for everyone.”

You nod into his shirt, closing your eyes to enjoy the peace of the moment. “I’ll hold you to it.”

Diavolo

It is so far from his mind that when you say something it is like a rug was taken out from under him. He could be diplomatic about it, but you deserve better than a half-truth.

He was a wild child in his youth. Sometimes he would overindulge in his father’s heritage and gorge himself on his newfound powers and privilege. He would dine with the elders and eat with abandon under their proud eyes.

He regrets it now, in your company it brings up a slurry of emotions. Sometimes when he looks at you he sees flashes of his past behavior.

The urge is stronger in him than the brothers, a constant nagging tug in his guts, but he is strong. Stronger both in willpower and sheer physical prowess than them so the pull is more of an annoyance than a burning need. He can temper the hunger in other ways if need be *wink*

He fears what you might think of him if you ever found out the truth, but however you take it he will handle it in stride. He loves you too much not to.

Mini Fic

Dinners, when Diavolo could eat alone, were a rare and special treat. The solace of just being allowed to exist without constantly checking his posture or presentation was a blessing, just him, his thoughts, and a good meal. It was nice to have no paperwork to worry about staining this time or a tedious meeting where he couldn’t savor his meal. No, no this was good. He looks down at his heavily laden plate and smiles. Well, almost… Pulling out his phone he snaps a quick picture and sends it to you with a simple question. Join me?

Private meals were wonderful, but with you, they were perfect.

You arrive faster than he expected, flushed face and clutching a stitch in your side from rushing over. He almost felt bad before he saw the eager look in your eyes. Barbatos helps you with your school bags and coat before placing another plate of food across from the young lord. He winks at the prince before disappearing back through the door.

“Thank you for the invite!” You beam taking your seat across from him. “I hope you don’t mind that I'm not dressed for the occasion. I was just wrapping up a study session with the boys.” You look down at your rumpled lounge clothes.

Diavolo waved his hand disregarding your concerns. “I would emulate you if I had the time.” He looks at his own pressed school uniform. He had another meeting this evening, much to his distaste. “You look rather comfortable.” You smile in delight before tucking into your own plate.

You eat in a comfortable silence reading the room well enough to tell that he wished for some company but not needless chitter-chatter. Barbatos arrived moments after you put your fork down and left with the plate leaving behind a delicious smelling hot drink. You couldn’t put your finger on the flavor but it tastes spicy like cinnamon and coats your throat like warm honey.

Whatever was in the drink seemed to work some magic on the prince. His shoulder droop, his back sinking into the chair as his legs stretch out till they are close to brushing against yours. He starts talking over the drink, eyes slowly lighting up with delight. You drink, nodding along with him as he builds up steam. It was nice to see him so unguarded and light. You listen to him talk about simple innocent topics. You knew how he tried to have these conversations with the others to no avail. The brother’s always tried to stay clear of him, and Lucifer simply dismissed these things most days. Barbatos and the angels were a bit better but still listened mostly to placate him.

“Ah!” Diavolo stops mid-sentence as his door opens once more Barbatos holding a small platter in his gloved hand. Dia claps his hands in delight. “I’ve been wanting to have you try this with me for forever. The human palate is so different, but I hope this is tasty.”

“What is it?” You eye the covered plate curiously.

Dia says a word in infernal. It is harsh and guttural in his throat but his delight was evident in his tone. “It is like...a roasted nut? Sorry, it is difficult to explain but it has been a favorite treat of mine since I was a boy. I hope you like it too.” He opens the lid with little ceremony and tilts the bowl to you. Inside were several golfball sized pods piled on top of each other. Even from across the table you could feel the molten heat radiating from the porous black shell. It looked...ugly. Like a hunk of dried lava. You eye it suspiciously as Diavolo picks one up with his bare hands and bits it. The shell cracks under his sharp teeth, a fang catching in a weak spot with a noise that makes you shiver. Underneath the thick casing, you could see a dark red and fleshy core. He hums in delight pulling put the meat of the seed and discard the shell pieces onto an empty plate. He makes quick work of the innards already reaching for another by the time you casually pick up a seed.

The seed itself was dense and warm to the touch. You squeeze it, noting that the porous coating felt like a mass of steel in your hand. “Dia-how do I open it?” No way you could bite it, not without breaking your jaw in the process.

“Allow me.” He takes it from you and effortlessly cracks it. “It is a tradition to break them with teeth, instead of hands or utensils. Something about a show of strength. I just find it fun.” He shrugs, handing you the broken seed.

“Fun!” You marvel at his pearly fangs. “Those are some big chompers.”

“All the better to eat you with my dear.” He chuckles.

You blink in shock, eyes widening. “Would you? Eat me?”

Diavolo’s smile drops. “No.” He lies on reflex, his political nature kicking in. “No-no wait.” He shakes his head. “I...at a time would have without hesitation.” He feels you recoil. “It was common practice back in the day. To the common demon it was a great meal and for the ruling class a show. He looks down at the broken fragments of shell on his plate. Breaking the shell was far too reminiscent of other things. He squashes the unwanted wave of memories coming up. Instead, he looks up at you.

You sit quietly mulling over his words. You haven’t run yet. “Why did you stop?”

He leans back with a loud exhale. Why did he stop? There were many reasons, none he wished to divulge into at the moment, but he had to say something. “I grew up, and began to resent and regret it.” He used to read human stories of demons and his kind. They hurt their characterizations of him and his people. Yet, they had all been scarily accurate. He wanted to prove that they weren’t stagnating beasts, slaves to their desires. Even if it wasn't a popular opinion.

“I see.” You pick up the seed again. “Thank you for telling me. You didn’t have to.”

“But I wanted to, and to apologize… such admissions must have ruined your appetite. If you wish to retire-”

“Is it weird if it didn’t?” You cut him off. You felt-not apathetic to the knowledge but close to it. It confirmed a lot of things for you and put certain things in perspective. You still felt safe with him even with this new bit of knowledge. Without a second thought, you pop the treat into your mouth. You gasp in delight. The flavor and texture were not what you were expecting, but was delicious all the same. “Can you open another for me?” You push your plate over to him.

“Of course!”

The food was as wonderful as his company.

Barbatos

You knew he cooked it. He probably knows a million different ways to prepare a human. He is also very blunt about his dabblings in the market.

He doesn’t eat it, hasn’t ever. He sees no reason to, especially since he doesn’t need to eat anyway there is no temptation. He did find the meals he created beautiful though.

Once he lived for the praises of the courts and his young lord. He was a master at all mediums he cared to work with. Time, decorum, or of the flesh.

He is 100% unashamed of his past with the dark side of the Devildom’s history. In fact, he is damn near proud of it. He is a demon and it was a part of his life, if that frightens you, well there is nothing he can do about it.

He’ll entertain your questions and will try to put any lingering worries at ease. Just don’t expect to be coddled when he does.

Mini Fic

Barbatos had very few personal pleasures in his life. His schedule simply didn’t have the space for such things. So why even bother looking for a pastime. It wasn’t until Diavolo gifted him with an old worn cookbook did he find it.

Cooking was a necessity for his prince, but with that little book, it became something he looked forward to doing. Slowly, he began to seek them out, filling his growing quarters with cookbooks and loose-leaf slips of paper. He enjoys reading them. Each book was a little time capsule into the cook's life and memories. Could a mix of spices really remind someone of the arid heat of their motherland? Or does following a certain way of aging meat really honor the writer's late grandfather’s memory? He tries them all, each recipe a little invasion to a happier time.

He wrote his fair share of cookbooks too in his day. Simple modifications to things the young lord liked to the odd machinations of his own imagination. He got good at experimenting with flavors and textures over the years, mastering certain cooking techniques and flavors just for fun. He didn’t share many of them, a lot of his recipes were just too complicated for most. Luke was allowed to look at his pastry books only. The little cherub was enamored with his techniques and wanted to learn as much as he could in the short amount of time he was in the Devildom. Admirable, but he made sure to keep some of his...less savory books away from the boy. He shudders to think what Simeon would do if he scarred the young angel.

You are the only one who has full access to his collections. Whether you liked to cook was inconsequential to him. He simply enjoyed sharing this interest with you. Some nights you would take it upon yourself to be his “sous-chef”. Which meant you sat in the corner of the kitchen and read out the ingredients and steps for a recipe he knew by heart. Sometimes you would add in extra steps in an attempt to stump it. Cute...but ultimately failed each time. So, most nights when you tagged along to the kitchens you just flip through his collection, reading his immaculate scribblings crammed into the corners of the pages or where he scratched out certain ingredients for more demon-appropriate foods and more sustainable options.

You had gone through many beautiful books before you found it. The cookbook was small and inconspicuous compared to most. Just a simple black cover with a well-worn spine. What made you take notice of it was just how dusty it was. That wasn’t like him to do. Barbatos would never let something get so dirty. You wished you never had opened it. You weren’t stupid by any means, but after reading a few pretty graphic recipes it had unsettled you. So you withdrew from Barbatos trying to forget about the book tucked away deep in the bowels of your school bag.

“You’ve been distant.” You choke, hand flying up to your chest as you swear your heart skipped a beat. Damn demon. Should put a bell on him. “What’s wrong?” His eyes are piercing, cutting away at your feeble defenses.

“Nothing…” You fiddle with your bag’s strap. Your eyes drop to the floor taking in the differences between his polished shoes and your scuffed boots.

“Of course not…” You could hear the skepticism in his voice. “I trust that if there was something wrong you would feel safe enough to confide in me.” His words hit like a ton of bricks on your shoulders. He sighs seeing that his words got no reaction. “Please?”

Wordlessly you rummage in your bag and thrust the book into his chest. “Sorry. It shook me up more than I thought it would.”

Ah. He knew this book all too well. For a time it had been his favorite, one to pull out with Diavolo had guests or a deal that needed to be sealed. He accepts the book, noting how much your hands shook. “I understand.” He slips the book into his breast pocket making a mental note to hide it in one of his lesser used rooms. “Would you like to discuss this? In my room perhaps?” You follow with a timid nod.

“Where shall we begin?” Barbatos asks the moment he closes the door to his room.

“You don’t seem perturbed.” You frown. Barbatos shrugs, pulling the book out and opening it. He had a lot of good memories stored here. Some of these were still considered signature dishes, oftentimes a visiting dignitary would lament to him about the good old days when he could show off his craft when flesh was plentiful. He takes pride in that still to this day even. For as much as he loved you, he would not be ashamed of this.

“I didn’t mean it like that.” You shake your head when he says as much. “It just confused me. Do-do you see me as food?”

“I never saw humans as food, no more than I see demons or angels as it.” He picks at an imaginary bit of lent from his pant leg. “As for seeing you as food no. No matter how sweet your lips are, or how honeyed your words can be.” He smiles, taking impish delight in your squirming. “I merely did my job as a butler for my lord.”

“Oh- sorry for not coming to you sooner.” You felt foolish now. Barbatos waves it off, pleased to have this issue put aside so quickly and cleanly. “Wait-" You gasp as his words finally sink in. “Have you prepared angels before?”

He flashes you a mischievous smile putting a single finger up to his lips. “Perhaps~ do you wish to read that too?”

[bokukawas]

Drunken Mess

pairing; Kuroo Tetsuro  x Reader

warnings; alcohol, suggestive in the end, some grabbing from some random stranger

a/n; ok guys, enjoy, this took me forever to write and idk, i just hope someone here likes it ♥

summary; when you have a shitty day and then your boyfriend presses all the wrong buttons upon his return , you just need a little alcohol to keep your sanity… and maybe have a drink too much

word count; 6k, I actually planned to keep this short. WELL HUH jokes on me, right? 

The only thing that got you through the day was the thought, that when you came home later, your boyfriend would be back from his training camp with his team. Because, seriously, today had sucked. You had to take a double shift at work, because a colleague had called in sick and all the customers had just been annoying and rude. You had expected working in retail to suck, but compared to the reality your imagination was a fucking dream come true. Retail was the worst. The absolute fucking worst. And no one could truly understand it if they haven’t worked in retail at least once in their life.

By the time you could clock out, you were nearly crying from frustration. You were so eager to see Kuroo and leave your work; you nearly ran the whole way home.

When you finally arrived home, you could already see light seep out from under the door, which meant he actually was home already. Your heart made an involuntarily somersault as you pushed the door open and yelled “I’m home!” with a huge smile plastered on your face. You had missed him terribly. Yet instead of your boyfriends loving arms around you, you just found the mess he somehow managed to produce in less than a day. Your smile slipped just as fast as it had appeared. “Kuroo, what the actual fuck!?” No answer to that.

You could see him, lying on the couch, one leg slung over the back of it, controller in one hand, a piece of pizza in the other, headset on his head, while he cackled. He didn’t even seem to hear you. And damn it stung. You waited the whole day with dinner so you could eat together with your boyfriend. And not only that, you had cleaned the whole house before he returned, so you could just relax together once he was back, hell, you even dumped your friends who wanted to go out and have a girls night, and this was how it turns out?

With watering eyes, you inspected the spectacular mess in front of you. Eyes flicking from the kitchen, where he obviously already made ramen before he ordered pizza, to the living room where the whole content of his sports bag seems to just have been dumped on the floor. Then to the bathroom, where the door was open and showed the still wet tiles and a towel carelessly thrown in the middle of it, fog still clinging to the mirror, because he once again had not opened the goddamn window.

In that moment all you could feel inside of you, was burning anger and huge disappointment. It was not the first time you had asked him to just please be a little bit more considerate of you. Why didn’t he fucking get it? The damn flat didn’t magically clean itself; it was all you who did it. The mess he made in literally only a few hours felt like a punch in the face.

Clenching your fist, you angrily throw your bag into the mess he already made, which seemed to finally get his attention. Head popping up from the couch, he pulled down his headset a bit and looks over to you: “Oh hey kitten, didn’t hear you come home.”

“Yeah never mind”, you spit, “continue your thing there, I’m gonna be gone soon anyways.”

You slip out of your sneakers, phone already in your hand to call one of your friends.

“S’ something wrong, kitten?” Kuroo sets down his headset, mustering you with concern in his eyes. Obviously something was wrong, but his brain still felt foggy with exhaustion from all the training he had pushed himself and his team through this week.

The answer came in the slamming of the bedroom door, where you had disappeared.

He sighs and briefly puts his headset back on to give his friends a heads up: “Guys, I’ll be back later, seems like somethings wrong with Y/N”, then he left the game and stood up, slowly walking to your shared bedroom, before he tentatively knocks on the door.

“Y/n, what’s wrong? Did something happen at work? Are you alright?” Upon not getting an answer, he pushed down the latch, only to find that you had locked the door. He silently swears. It had to be bad when you actually locked him out. “C’mon hun, don’t be like that. Talk to me.” Door rattling followed, which you blatantly ignore.

You were sitting on the bed, which was, of fucking course, not made any more and stripped out of your work clothes, throwing them carelessly on the floor. The damage was already done, what bad could your few clothes be then, right?

It was then, that Miwa finally picked up. “Oh hey, Y/n, whats up? I thought you were having some quality time with Kuroo?” You could hear loud voices talking in the back; she must have gone outside to answer your call.

“Yeah you know what? I thought so, too. Plan has changed, though. Where are you? Mind if I join you? I need a drink.”

“Are you alright, Y/n? You sound a little upset?”

“Miwa, for god’s sake, just tell me where you are so I can join you. I’m going to explode if I stay here any minute longer.”

You could hear Miwa sigh into the phone. “That bad, huh? We’re at our usual place.”

“Good, I’ll be there in twenty.” You hang up and throw your phone into the pillow and start rummaging through your closet, finding one of the dresses you like very much, but never actually wear, because it is actually very short. Well, fuck it, you think to yourself and put it on, together with your new high heels. Quickly freshening up your smudged make-up, you grab your keys and your clutch and brace yourself for your escape. Because that was exactly what you were doing: escaping from this whole mess.

Then, you unlock the door and push it open, marching straight for the door, which was, of course, blocked by your boyfriend, who was leaning against it and now eyeing you from head to toe. He probably had heard you talk to Miwa and taken his position at the door right away. He did not comment on your outfit though, having the good sense to know he was walking on very thin ice.

“Going somewhere?”

“I’m going out with my friends. At least I would like to, but someone is standing in the way. Do you mind?” You look up at him and give him one of your perfect angelic smiles as you try to squeeze through. Even though you were wearing your heels, your boyfriend was a goddamn giant and he somehow managed to still be taller, which was mildly frustrating at the moment.

He does not budge; not even an inch.

“Are we not going to talk about what is going on? Because something clearly is going on.”

“I’d actually rather go right now.”

Kuroo could basically feel the passive aggressive energy radiating from you, but still, he didn’t budge. He didn’t even have the chance to talk to you yet, what could he possibly have done to upset you so much that you could not even stand to be in the same room as him? It was a mystery to him.

“Y/n, please.” He reaches out a hand to brush a thumb against your cheek, because he knows how much you always enjoy these little affectionate gestures, but he stops right in his tracks, when he found you staring at him with barely withhold anger. He was surprised that you did not swat at his still outstretched hand.

“Move Kuroo, I mean it.” And when you try to squeeze through this time, he lets you.

You were rarely in such a bad mood and he knew when he needed to let you cool off, first. As you walk by him, he catches your wrist in the last second, holding you still for a moment. “At least send me a text when you get there, alright?” he whispers while brushing his thumb once over your veins and then lifting your hand up to press a soft kiss against the palm of it.

The urge to just turn around and press your head into your boyfriends’ chest right then was overwhelming, but you were still so mad that you stubbornly continued on your way, leaving Kuroo standing there, watching you go.

When he turns around to go back into the flat, he feels like a train hit him as he takes in the mess he made. “Oh fuck.” He groans as he ruffles his spiky hair, because how could he be so stupid. Of course you would be mad if you came home to such a mess. The worst part was, that he didn’t even contain his chaos in one room, no, he seriously fucked up the whole flat, which by second thought, you had probably cleaned just hours before. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

Your foul mood suddenly made sense to him. Groaning again, he closes the door behind him and goes to the kitchen. He better gets rid of this whole mess before you come home later. But first, he wants to apologize. Fishing out his phone out of his joggers, he opens the chat with you and freezes all over again. There it was, black on white. Dinner later, Tetsu? We can order from your fav restaurant if you like ♥

Oh sweet fucking hell, he was the biggest douche in the whole wide world. How could he forget that you two wanted to eat together? “Ah shit.”

He types out a quick message to you. Y/n I’m so sorry. I’m the biggest idiot in the world. You can punch me later if you still feel like it. I sure as hell deserve it. Pls text me when you get there safely. I love you.

Kuroo really wants to kick his own ass in that moment. You were always so good to him, going out of your way to make the time you got to spend together as pleasurable as possible, taking time where you actually had none to spare and just simply spoiling him in any way possible and this was how he treated you? He didn’t even kiss you when you got home, which was funny, because it was one of the only thoughts in his head, besides volleyball this whole past week. The feeling of your soft lips against his.

He was not surprised that he didn’t get a message back, but he still unmuted his phone, just in case you called him when you had enough and wanted to go home.

Then he starts cleaning up his mess.

You on the other hand nearly arrived at the bar where you and your friends usually met up once a month to keep in touch. You already regretted wearing your new heels. As you turned the next corner, you could already spot the bar and with it, a whole lot of people standing outside at high tables. Your friends amongst one of them.

“Hey ladies”, you call out as you get closer. “Long time no see.”

Fighting a smile to your face, you found your place right next to Miwa, who gently nudges you in the side.

“Stop that grimace and tell us what happened.”

Alisa, who was standing in front of you, just reaches over the table, takes your hand in hers and squeezes it softly.

“Actually, I think I’d rather have a drink first”, you moan.

One drink followed the next and your friends realized later, that they probably should have stopped you after your 5th cocktail or so. Which they didn’t, because you spilled your heart out to them, nearly crying a few times, which was rare to see, because usually you managed to keep your cool in front of others, even your own friends. Moreover, the drink in your hand seemed to be the only thing holding you together. They were a little taken aback, too, because you usually were a very good drinker, and could handle alcohol very well; but by the time you went inside to dance and just bumped into stranger after stranger while trying to walk a straight line, they figured you probably had not eaten anything before coming here.

Miwa squinched up her face. “She’s gonna feel even worse tomorrow. We should probably get her home.”

Alisa just nods, before sprinting in your direction as she witnessed you tumbling into a group of men, of which one luckily caught you in his arms, before you hit the floor, but then couldn’t keep his hands to himself. You just laughed, not realizing what was going on and not feeling the hand, currently sneaking up your leg. Everything looked dizzy and swayed and you felt a little funny in the head. Vaguely you realize that Alisa was arguing with the man who stopped your fall and then her face popped up in front of you, asking you were your phone was.

You look at her irritated, not quite understanding what she wanted.

“C’mon y/n, where is your goddamn phone.”

“My clutch?”

Miwa suddenly popped up next to you, steadying you and gently guiding you to an abandoned empty chair. “Sit.”

Alisa rummaged through your clutch, only to find your purse and your house keys…but no phone.

“Your phone is not in here y/n. Are you sure it was in your clutch?” she looks at you questioningly, with her big green eyes, which were all you could focus on. She always looks so pretty.

„Focus y/n!“

You thought back to when you left the flat… “I think I …left it on the bed”, you mumble, eyes suddenly growing very heavy. Leaning heavily against Miwa, your head lolls against her shoulder. You inhale deeply. Miwa always managed to smell so good; you wonder how she does it. The girls just shared a concerned look. You couldn’t even sit upright on that damn chair, how were they supposed to get you home.

“We need to call Kuroo”, Miwa states, while brushing some strands of hair out of your face. You didn’t seem to notice.

“That was my plan. But I don’t have his number… do you?” Miwas face was answer enough. That’s when Saeko popped up next to them. “Hey girls, I made it after all.” She grinned happily at all of you. “What’s wrong with this one here, though?” She nudges you in the side, which was rewarded with a lazy grunt from you and a silent curse from Miwa as you tipped dangerously to the side.

“Is she drunk!? I don’t think I’ve ever seen her drunk. What happened?” Saeko seemed mildly concerned, which leads to Miwa and Alisa freaking out a little. Saeko usually doesn’t show concern, so it must be just as bad as they imagined.

“Do you have Kuroos number?” Alisa asked her without answering her question in return, not letting her eyes stray from your face, as you looked ghostly white at the moment and started mumbling random things under your breath.

“No? But you have? Right?”

They both shake their heads. Saeko sighs and mumbles something under her breath, which rather sounded, like ‘I should’ve just gone straight home’, before facing Alisa.

“Call your brother then. He must have his number.”

“Oh my god, Saeko you are a genius.”

“Thanks, I know.”

With another concerned look your way, Alisa left your side to go outside and call her brother. She just hoped he would pick up, since it was already the middle of the night.

Meanwhile Kuroo was sitting on the couch, worriedly glancing at the clock all few seconds and constantly brushing his fingers through his hair. No wonder you hadn’t texted him back, he had found your phone lying on his pillow as he had made the bed again. This meant, you were out, with no phone and no means to contact him if something was wrong. He didn’t like that one bit. The worst part was that he couldn’t even blame someone for it, besides himself. This was his fault and he knew it all too well. Scratching at his scalp, he tried to calm down a bit. He knew you could take care of yourself; your small figure belied the strength you actually had, but still. There was always a chance that something happened. So when his phone started ringing he answered it in seconds, without even looking who was calling first. It just had to be you, right?

“Y/n?” he nearly yelped in the phone.

“No, this is Lev.”

Kuroo nearly lost it then, breathing heavily and punching the pillow right next to him, he thought he was going to combust any second.

“What is it Lev? It’s the middle of the night!”

“Yeah, I know, I was sleeping until my sister called me.” Now that he mentioned it, Kuroo could hear the slight strain in Levs voice, as if he had just gotten up.

“It’s about y/n, though. They are worried and would like you to come and pick her up. Apparently she didn’t have her phone with her and got stupidly drunk.” He paused. “…did you have a fight? Are you alright?”

Kuroo swallowed.

“Just tell me where they are, please.” And so Lev does.

“Tell your sister I’ll be there soon… and thank you, Lev. Sorry that you got involved in this.”

“Yeah, yeah. G’night.” with that, he just hung up on Kuroo, probably eager to get into bed again. Kuroo couldn’t even blame him for that, he was tired, too, but he swore he wouldn’t go to bed before you got home safely.

He gets up, just grabs his wallet, keys and his sweater and was out the door in seconds, running all the way to the bar. Never before had it been so bad, that your friends were concerned about you. You had always gotten home on your own, or were sober enough to just give him a call, or get a taxi. Your alcohol tolerance was quite high, too, but alas, you hadn’t eaten today. That was probably the problem.

Alisa spotted him from afar and just starts waving. She was impressed at how fast he was, it hadn’t even been 10 minutes since the call. When she saw him up close though, she realized that he was sweating and breathing hard. He must have run the whole way here.

“Jeez, Kuroo you look like you might pass out any second.”

“Thanks, it’s nice to see you, too Alisa. Now, where is she?”

He didn’t even look Alisa in the face, his eyes scanning the crowd around them, searching for your face.

“Inside. C’mon.”

He follows her tall blonde form through the masses, until she stops in front of a chair. An empty chair. He could barely hear her curse under her breath.

Kuroos head snaps up, when he could hear a commotion start on the dance floor.

There you were, the hands of some random stranger draped across you, while you danced as if you didn’t even notice. Which of course, you didn’t. Not really. You just enjoyed the lights and the music and silently swayed to the rhythm of it, being a little surprised that the world suddenly didn’t seem so shaky anymore. Your back felt warm, too, which was at the same time pleasant and very unpleasant at once. Something somehow felt wrong, but you couldn’t pinpoint what it was. You were just happy that you somehow managed to get yourself drunken enough, to stop thinking about how little your boyfriend seemed to care about you.

Kuroos eyes wander to the two females next to you, desperately trying to pry the hands off that damn stranger of your dancing form, but they were both so small compared to the guy, it was useless.

He lost it the moment said stranger seemed to thrust his hips into your back. Miwa and Saeko spotted him just the second he lunged at the person, shoving him away.

“Get your filthy hands off of my girlfriend!”

The guy of course didn’t like being handled that way and was in Kuroos face the very next instance. “What’s your problem man? It didn’t seem to me that she didn’t like it.”

Miwa winced. She had seen Kuroo lose his cool once before, and it hadn’t ended very well for the other dude. He had him up by his collar at once, sneering in his face “she’s so drunk she probably doesn’t even remember her own name and you want to tell me she liked it?” He shook the stranger, muscles flexing under his T-Shirt.  “Get the fuck out of my eyes.”

With that, he shoves him so hard that the guy loses his balance and falls face down onto the dance floor.

Your world had become very wobbly again, as soon as the somewhat steadying hands had left your hips. Tumbling to the side, you were caught in strong arms again. Your boyfriend’s arms.

“C’mon kitten, we’re going.”

“Wha-? Kuroo?” Were you hallucinating now? “No I don’t want to go. I want to dance.” You wind your way out of his arms, only to stagger once again.

Kuroo exhales once again and tries to pull himself together, looking at your friends who all watch you with deep worry in their eyes. “How much exactly did she drink?”

Alisa nervously twirls her hair around her finger, not wanting to look him in the eyes. Your boyfriend could be scary, especially if he was worried about you. “Don’t know… I kinda lost count after her 5th cocktail or so… she might have had some drinks on the dance floor, too.”

Kuroo breathes in deeply, watching you as you tried to dance, which was actually just staggering from one side to the other, trying not to fall on your face. He was low key impressed that you had not already broken your ankles in those heels. Trying to remain calm and reminding himself that in fact, this was his fault and he couldn’t get angry with anybody else, he sighs again, starts fumbling in his pocket to get his wallet out and pushes some money in Alisas hand.

“Here, for her drinks. I’m pretty sure she didn’t pay for them herself, did she? Well, never mind. We are going now. Thanks for reaching out to me.”

And with that, he appears next to you again, draping his sweater around your hips to keep your very short dress from flashing anyone, before crouching down and just throwing you over his shoulder.

“Hey, what the hell!? KUROO! Put me down, I don’t want to go!” you slur, as he starts to push his way through the crowd.

“Good thing I’m not asking then.”

Your friends watch as your boyfriend singlehandedly maneuvers you two outside, sighing in unison as you leave the club.

“Wow. That was intense”, Saeko deadpans.

Miwa nods. “He was so calm, though? The last time I saw someone touch y/n with Kuroo around, the guy had a broken nose afterwards. I was a little scared for a second there.”

“He must have been really worried. Lev told me he seemed really agitated, which is rare for him. He’s usually very composed.”

They sigh in unison again. “We better call her tomorrow and ask if she’s alright”, Miwa states, to which the others all nod. Saeko starts grinning a moment later. “I’m pretty sure Kuroo is gonna take good care of her now, so let’s not worry. The night is still young.” She throws her arms around the waists of her friends and pulls them all in direction of the dance floor.

 Meanwhile your world shakes violently with every step your boyfriend makes and your hair was jumping in tact with it. His shoulder blade pressed very uncomfortably into your stomach. You could feel the warmth radiating from his hand at the back of your knee, where he gripped you softly to keep you steady.

You hadn’t spoken to him since he had thrown you over his shoulder and just marched out of the bar. In fact, you felt a little ashamed. It had been years since you had gotten so drunk you could barely stand. It was a mystery to you, how he even knew where you were.

Another step, another bounce, another uncomfortable press against your roaring stomach. You clutch your hands into the hem of Kuroos shirt, trying to steady yourself a bit, inhaling his familiar smell and focusing on that, instead of the turmoil in your stomach and your head.

Kuroo of course feels you clench fistfuls of his shirt and slows down a bit, throwing a glance over his shoulder. “Kitten, you alright there?”

The fresh air had sobered you up quite a bit and you were fully aware of the gentle grip your boyfriend had on you, same as the every so often brush of his thumb across your thigh.

Since you didn’t answer, he just presses a quick kiss to your leg and then continues on his way, a little more slowly, but still persistent. You groan, as the nauseous feeling in your stomach got overwhelming. Not only that, but you could also feel your feet burning and hurting. Those heels were really not the best choice for tonight.

“Y/n?” he stops once more and tries to look over his shoulder again.

“First of all Kuroo, I’m still mad at you, secondly I feel like I might puke any minute if your shoulder is gonna press in my stomach again and last of all, my feet hurt.”

It occurred to you that you were whining, but how could you not? Today has been hell and now everything hurts and you couldn’t even just press your head into your boyfriends’ chest because you were supposed to be mad at him.

“Hold on a sec, hun.”

“I mean it Tetsu, I’m gonna puke.”

Kuroo smiles at that, not because it was fun to him that you had so much to drink that you felt like puking, but because you used his first name…which in conclusion meant you weren’t in fact as mad as you tried to be.

He could already see his target at the end of the street, so he just ignored you and walks on a few minutes longer.

“Ok, I’m going to put you down now, be ready.”

He slowly lets you slide down on his front, so that you were now standing in front of him. His hands were on your hips, steadying you slightly in case you still needed it. You wince as your feet hit the ground, your heels pressing against every sore spot on them. Kuroo could tell you were avoiding looking in his face, even though he stood right in front of you.

Sighing, he puts his slender index finger under your chin and lifts your head up, so you had no choice but to look at him. “I’m sorry Y/n, I was a total dick earlier and I didn’t even realize it. But for now, can we ignore that so that I can take care of you properly? Please?”

Damn it, it wasn’t fair. As you look into his catlike, earnest eyes, so full of love and concern for you, you could already feel your anger melt away. “You’re the worst, Tetsu.” Your words significance was betrayed by the fact that you leaned your head against his shoulder the exact same instance and inhaled deeply. He chuckles deeply at that and presses a soft kiss against your neck, holding you a little while longer.

“Sit down here for a bit kitten, I will be right back.” He guides you to a bench right in front of the 24/7 he had aimed for, noticing you were still very unsteady on your feet and actually limping now. After you sat down, he squats down in front of you and takes your foot in his hands. “Let me see.” He slowly peels off your shoes and inhales sharply through his teeth. “Damn hun, you really butchered your feet.” You decided you didn’t even want to see it and just wriggled your toes at the new found freedom.

“Yeah, I’ll be right back”, and with that he rushes into the store behind you.

After a few minutes, you feel something cold against your cheek. “Here, drink.”

You take the bottle of water out of his hands, suddenly feeling very thirsty and drink a few mouthfuls, as he squats down in front of you again, inspecting your feet once more, before applying patches at the worst spots. When he was finished, he just looks up at your exhausted form in front of him, bracing his hands on your knees, his thumbs already drawing gentle patterns across your skin. It seemed cold to you suddenly and you shiver, which leads to Kuroo taking off the sweater he had put around your waist and pulling it over your head.

“C’mon, let’s get you home.” He grabs your shoes, and turns around, squatting again in front of you, his back muscles flexing under the shirt as he motions for you to get on. With a sigh you did exactly that. No way in hell would you walk the next 10 minutes home on your own two feet. You put your arms around his neck and try a weak little jump to get on his back, which was rewarded with an amused chuckle by your boyfriend. Luckily, he caught your legs just fine and adjusted you on his back with a little wiggle, so that he now could give you a proper piggyback ride home.

“Y/n?” he asks as you got closer and closer to your home, already walking up the stairs to your shared flat.

“Hm?”

“I love you.”                            

Ah damn that bastard really knew how to play you. Even though you could feel your insides warm up at that, you thought he could feel bad a little more, so you didn’t comment on it, as he puts the key in the locker and opens the door.

The moment he switched the light on, though, you couldn’t hold back anymore.

“Ah fuck Tetsu, I love you, too. Asshole.” That made him laugh in return. It seems like he had cleaned the whole flat after you rushed out to drink yourself stupid.

“I realized why you were so mad the moment I turned around to go back in here”, he confesses and slowly lets you down from his back. “And as I said before, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I was a total douchebag.” He comes to stand in front of you and puts your face into his hands. “Can you forgive this asshole?”

You punch his chest in return. “Stop being cute!”

“Can you forgive me? Pleaseee?”

He actually pouts as he squishes your cheeks, already knowing he had won. You tried to fight the smile that wanted to spread on your face at the ridiculous show of your huge boyfriend pouting in front of you, but you fail miserably.

“Just kiss me already, idiot.”

So he did, his one hand sliding from your cheek to your neck, as his lips press against yours in a feather light touch. Your own hand finds its way into his hair at once, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss, as the other steadies you against his hips. He sighs contentedly in the kiss, brushing his lips against yours as he mumbles “I missed you so much”, before kissing you again, this time a little more hungrily. Your lips move eagerly against each other and after a little while, you feel his tongue grace against your lips, which makes you shudder. Your knees started feeling dangerously wobbly again. Luckily, he had already pulled you flush against him and now lifted you up by putting his hands under your ass to carry you to the bedroom, where he gently lays you down on the bed, before slowly climbing on top of you.

You smile fondly at his expression as he kisses you repeatedly, every kiss getting a little rougher than the last one, moving your lips in time with his and then there was his tongue, finally in your mouth. He could still taste the alcohol on your lips.

When he finally breaks away from you, you were both panting. Your hands were gripping his shirt greedily and you were already pulling him down on you again, wanting more. God his kisses gave you life.

“I’m not sure we should go there today, kitten, as much as I’d like to. You’re still very much drunk, and I’d like you to feel and remember all of what I plan to do to you.”

He smirks and plants another kiss on your lips, teeth grazing teasingly against them as he did so, then snorting at the bewildered and somewhat outraged look you gave him when he pulled away. You were clawing at his biceps the moment he starts to get up from you, trying to pull him down again and groaning when you realized you were going to lose against his strength.

“Tetsuro”, you moaned in a last attempt to get him back to you, which made him freeze on the spot. “Wow you’re mean, kitten, but still no.”

And with that, he simply helps you get out of his sweater and your dress, always swatting your grabbing hands away, before he manhandles you into the bathroom to get you ready for bed.

You were getting pissed at him again, because first, he got you hot and bothered and then he didn’t want to do something about it. How rude. That would get him payback, you swore to yourself.

Still, not even your naked form had him thinking twice about his choice, he simply wrangles one of his tees over your head and pulls you flush against him in your shared bed, having a death grip on you, so you couldn’t even move around, as much as you tried.

“Sleep now kitten, and then maybe tomorrow I’ll give you what you want so desperately right now.”

He runs a hand down your side teasingly and you could feel his smile against your forehead at the way your body quivers against him.

“On second thought, I think I’m not able to forgive you yet, you are actually the worst”, you mumble against his chest. He only acknowledges this with another kiss against your forehead. Still, somehow your boyfriend had made the right call, because it only took you seconds to fall asleep in his warm embrace. 

He watches your sleeping form on his chest fondly, pressing little kisses to your face from time to time and thinking to himself, that he deserves a price for self-control, because he seriously had not wanted to restrain himself at all.

Groaning, he presses another kiss to your face as he sleepily mumbles, “I love you, Y/n.” before squishing you even more against his chest. This was what he had longed for all week after all, he thought to himself, as he tried to ignore the bulge in his pants. This was going to be an extremely long and very torturous night for him… he just hopes he would fall asleep just as fast as you did. Morning could not come fast enough…

[fanfictrashdump]

Queening a Pawn, 22

If you’re new: this is my procrastination fic. It is what I drabble around with when I’m being my worst self, and ignoring all my other WIPs and responsibilities! Enjoy!

X

Summary: During the Time Heist, Loki stole the Tesseract and escaped. He did not expect, however, to be pulled through a Time Loop that delivered him to a Midgard more than a decade older, wiser, and bitterer. Having just lived through his unsuccessful attack in New York, Loki must learn to live in Midgard after the defeat of Thanos (post-Endgame). The question is, who is Loki without a quest for a throne or total domination?

Pairings: Loki x OC

WARNINGS: Language, fighting, swords, impending doom, nervous throwing up, and entirely fictional traditions that are just... so dumb.

=

It was the clinking noise of metal on metal that caught her attention first. The situation pretty much snowballed from there, but the noise was the first indication.

Delilah had been busy staring at her computer. She was finishing her fiscal year end reports, much to her utter dismay. The only glittering spot in her day had been the unusual side effect from Loki and hers exchange of jewelry. Throughout the day, Delilah would get sucked in by the pleasant buzz in the back of her skull when Loki had a particularly strong emotion. The god could make all of the excuses he wanted about how he felt nonchalant about the children, but the utter fondness that flooded her system most of her work day was the only indication that he was a big fat liar. She had been in the midst of a most pleasant flood of endorphin-filled fondness when the noise pulled her out of her head. Her name in a shout followed immediately after.

"Delilah Vázquez!"

When Delilah glanced up from the copier, she was greeted by the sight of Brunnhilde, in her full Asgardian royal armor and Uru crown. In her hand, she wielded a broadsword, though Dragonfang was sheathed on her hip. The tip of the sword swayed ominously towards her, the warrioress staring her down with intimidating focus. Delilah didn't exactly noticed when she started running, but she was damn sure she was not going to stop.

"DELILAH!"

Pumping her arms, she continued running down the corridor a good thirty paces ahead of Valkyrie. She hated admitting it, but the occasional workout Loki made her do with him was probably the only reason she wasn't a panting, sweaty mess being skewered on the end of a broadsword right now. Lilah knew that she needed to get to the common room. Sam and Bucky had returned from another mission two days ago, so they were probably taking it easy for the next few days. If she could find them–clunk clunk

The heavy footsteps were gaining on her as she skidded into the living room. Bucky jumped, startled out of his nap by the ruckus. He noted only the blurred outline of Delilah running past and ducking behind his chair, but when he finally saw Valkyrie, he took up a defensive pose.

"Out of my way Barnes!" Valkyrie grumbled through clenched teeth. "I came a long way for this, this armor is killing me. Move!"

"Are you out of your damn mind!?"

"Now, Barnes!" When he remained rooted to the spot, she half-heartedly swung the sword in his direction. He parried the blow with his modified arm, engaging her into close combat while Delilah slipped away in the background.

Her escape was not unseen, though Bucky did his best to keep the Asgardian King at bay before he was knocked through several doors with a well-placed kick of her armored boot.

Delilah backed into one of the empty storage rooms. She clamped a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound of her labored breathing. Maybe if she was quiet enough, and kept to the walls, the Valkyrie would think she had run out the emergency staircase. Her hope was short lived, however, the door to the storage room was kicked open with a boom. Quiet as could be, Lilah lowered herself between two empty rows of metal shelves and closed her eyes tightly. And for a moment, her plan was working.

"There you are!"

Emerald eyes snapped open to see the figure of Valkyrie backlit by the harsh, white light of the storage room bulbs. Trembling, Delilah began crawling backwards, mentally calculating her probabilities of making it out before Brunnhilde caught up to her.

A clatter made her start. At her feet, Valkyries sword, Dragonfang, shook and settled while it emitted a harmonious hum. Delilah looked from the sword to the King for a mite too long, it seemed. "Pick it up! Full armor chafes!"

"I-I don't know how–"

"Pick it up and fight me! My laws demand it for satisfaction!" With tentative movements, she grasped the pommel and closed her hand around the grip. "Oh, Norns your grip is fucking awful. Who taught you to swordfight?"

"No one! I don't know how!" Delilah snapped back, lifting the point of the sword off the ground. Her free hand went up to the runic medallions resting on her collarbone. For a protective talisman, they weren't doing a hell of a lot in the way of protecting.

Valkyrie rolled her eyes and raised her own weapon. "You and I will have short battle for the purpose of satisfying our ancient laws in regards to trysts with members of the Royal Family. Do you understand what is required of you? Yes? Great, let's begin."

Before Delilah could even protest that this wasn't being fair to her, Valkyrie had swept her weapon straight down, meeting Dragonfang in her grasp and making her arm shudder all the way to her marrow. With a yelp, Delilah jumped back, trying as hard as she could to avoid the Asgardian's blows. She had successfully pushed the King back and made a short run for it before Valkyrie leapt and landed just short of blocking her path.

The thought that she was going to die crossed Delilah's brain at that instant. As sudden as that realization was to hit her, so was the wispy green smoke to surround her body in a nearly solid mass. It quickly swirled around her before disappearing to a place she thought was in her chest, if the sudden pain was any indication. Valkyrie's eyes darkened, and charged for Delilah, sword raised. Delilah crossed her own weapon in front of her and her free hand braced itself for the incoming attack in front of her.

Just as the blow was to connect, the pain in Lilah's chest exploded outward through her arm. Her open palm, facing Valkyrie and waiting for impact, spewed a dense ball of that same wispy, green smoke that knocked Brunnhilde off her feet. She flew several yards back and landed with a loud thunk on the concrete floor.

"What the fuck is going on!?"

Loki's booming voice was so welcome that Delilah thought she might sob. Actually, she did, because Loki was by her side and wiping her tears away with his thumbs a moment later. He wrapped an arm around her, trying to soothe the violent trembling that was making her teeth knock together painfully. He pried her fingers off the grip of Valkyries sword and reassured her in soft murmurs that she was OK and that she was in no danger.

"I yield. Oh, Frigga in Valhalla, dearest. I yield," Valkyrie gasped, pulling herself back onto her feet.

"What the fuck is going on, Valkyrie?" He repeated, though his voice was low and sounded poisonous.

Brunnhilde pulled a face, rolling her eyes. "What do you mean, what the fuck is going on? You know our laws, Loki. She is not a member of the court and since you've endeavored to make it quite clear that you are both alive and in love with her, she needs to ascend."

Loki stared blankly at the King for a few minutes, no noise being made among the three, before he drew an extraordinarily long breath. "I know that. She does not."

"So?"

His response was perfectly enunciated, each syllable dripping vitriol unlike any Delilah had ever heard. "She thought you were attempting to kill her, you empty-headed troll." His arm gripped Lilah tightly and pressed her securely into his side. She was still trembling, though she had stopped crying. He assumed that the shock was just settling in. They needed to be careful before–

Splat.

"Oops?" Valkyrie looked contrite, especially considering that Delilah was now hunched over, emptying her stomach of any and all contents in the space that existed between the three. "You would think a civilized society would at least teach all of their members to fight properly! She was acting as if it was her first time battling with swords."

"It was… You've been living in Midgard for a long time. How did you not notice they don't swordfight anymore?" With a scoff, he handed a surly Valkyrie back her sword, which she promptly sheathed at her hip.

"Can I at least finish so I can take this ridiculous court armor off?" Loki's eyes cut across with a darkened glare. "She's already doubled over!" He nodded reluctantly and allowed Valkyrie to touch the top of Delilah's head with the flat of her blade. The Midgardian gasped and tensed again and would have continued to be sick were it not for Loki's hand smoothing down her back. "After brave battle, you have earned your place in court. Blah blah blah. I guess you can continue seeing Loki, though the Norns only know why you would choose to do so." Brunnhilde bent over and caught Delilah's eyes, dulled by fear and exhaustion. "Could you do the fist thing really quick?"

With a delirious laugh, Delilah thumped her closed fist over her heart, nearly sobbing when the Asgardian put her arm around her and helped her straighten. "Could you have not sent a message ahead or literally anything before chasing me down wiTH A DAMN SWORD, VALKYRIE!?"

Valkyrie shrugged. "I really did think you guys had better battle training than this. Sorry." The group stepped over Delilah's mess and took back to the corridors. Bucky had been patrolling like a mad man in search for Valkyrie before Loki had told him that he was on it. As they moved past him, Lilah offered him a thumb's up and a thank you. "Did you make her that seidr pendant, Snakeboy?"

Loki helped Delilah sink into one of the chairs in her living quarters, anxiously brushing her hair out of her eyes. "Yes. Did it hurt?"

"Like you wouldn't believe!"

"Good," he replied, deadpan, and Delilah could tell he really meant it. Shortly, he placed a bottle of Gatorade in front of her and kissed her crown. "Drink. You need it." His fingers loosened the chain around her neck and closed it in his fist. "I will bring this right back. Evidently, I need to add a warning for idiot Asgardians on it," he offered before blipping out of existence in her flat.

Valkyrie had pulled off all the heavy, metal armor off her body and sighed with satisfaction. "Did you really think I wanted to kill you?"

"Yes! You only yelled my name and that you demanded satisfaction. I had no clue what was going on."

"I guess not the best warning, I'll admit, but I'd never hurt you. You're the only one in this hell hole I can stand." The Valkyrie nudged Delilah in the ribs until she let out a laugh. When Loki returned, they were sitting on the couch, one arm around each other's waist, giggling. He wasted no time in reattaching the necklace with an adoring smile.

"Since when do you care about tradition and protocols?" Loki asked, offhandedly, sitting on the coffee table opposite Delilah with her free hand in his.

Brunnhilde rolled her eyes. "Since several ladies took offense that they were not informed of the fact that you were alive and demanded tradition be upheld. They're desperate to rise the ranks and go back to being courtesans."

"It's no secret I've never been the preferred prince. So, why bother?"

The warrior sighed. "Because even power and title from the dark prince is still power and title. They'll do anything to grab their share. Now, they can't."

"I'm not in line to serve, though. And it'll be a cold day in hell before I willingly go to New Asgard to live, so it's a moot point." He ran him thumb over the back of Delilah's hand. "Not to mention, I wouldn't take them. Can't exactly marry me by force."

"They'd try," Delilah and Valkyrie replied in unison.

"From what I've read, they've downgraded from a futuristic paradise to a cold strip of land by the sea. It's hard to forget thousands of years worth of privilege. Especially if you've lived the thousands of years." Delilah shrugged. "I don't blame them."

"I'm spoken for," he argued, his lips twitching just the barest bit upwards.

"Well, now you are. You're welcome, by the way," Brunnhilde grumbled, stretching out with a sigh before hopping to her feet. "I have duties to attend to, so I will see you later. My Prince. Princess."

Delilah frowned, watching Valkyrie toss her armor over her shoulder and close the door behind her with a slam. "Princess? There's a new nickname. Can't say it's my favorite."

Loki grinned widely, resting his head on his free hand, propped on his thigh. "You've got no clue what you did today, do you?"

"I don't exactly study Asgardian history in my free time, Lo." There was a long pause before she tacked on, "Why?"

"The challenge you fought was for position in the court as a member of equal measure to the Royal Family."

"I don't follow."

His eyes glittered in mirth. "I'm not surprised. It will make sense soon enough." He leaned forward and kissed her lightly. "Nonetheless, you will always be my Queen in all that matters, Princess. Though getting rid of the Valkyrie would be an easy enough task, should you desire to ascend."

With another kiss, he mentioned something about going to get her some more Gatorade. The words sunk slowly into Delilah's adrenaline-drowned brain. "Wait, are you telling me she just made me a Princess? Like an honest to god, I could have my own Disney movie, Princess? Loki?!"

[thegoodgayshit]

Luz’s mother really doesn’t want to send Luz to camp. She knows once she leaves, there is no going back. But Luz has a knack for getting into trouble, and one day she stumbles into the same type of people her mother would have preferred she avoided. After helping Luz dissolve her high school bully into dust, Eda and Lilith know right away that this kid is just like them - a child of the gods. So Luz hops on a Pegasus and heads to Camp Half-blood, where she embarks on a dangerous quest that makes her both friends and enemies... and she might even save Olympus along the way.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Amity Get’s in Touch with her Ares Side

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Amity said quietly, watching Luz carefully from next to her by the holographic table.

Luz had probably zoned out again, staring at the map of Mt. Elbert with a frown on her face. She was trying not to worry her friends, but the more she thought about her conversation with Alador Blight, the more worried she got.

What did he mean by her dad was looking out for her? She hadn’t heard a word from him her entire life. How could he be watching her? And what was this whole “balance of the world” thing? The paper Alador had given her was still sitting in her pocket, and she could picture the little map he’d drawn without needing to look.

The fire made no sense. Hestia was the goddess of the hearth and home. Why would Belos need Hestia’s hearth to open the portal? Why not a god-like Hephaestus, whose fire was used to create and destroy? It just didn’t make any sense.

Luz knew she was onto something, she had a gut feeling she was on the right track, but she’d hit a roadblock in her thinking, and couldn’t shake the feeling she was missing something big.

Now, as she zoned back into reality, she noticed that her friends were watching her with a worried expression. She had told them about most of the conversation with Alador, (leaving out the little part where she’d asked out her dad, it wasn’t like it mattered anyway) and Amity had listened quietly while worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.

That had surprised Luz, she would think that it was good she and Amity’s dad had a relatively good interaction. Anything was better than talking to Odalia Blight again. She’d ask Amity later about it.

Now, though, she had to worry about acting as normal as possible. She didn’t need to unload her spiraling brain on her friends.

“I’m alright,” Luz insisted, and carefully reached under the table, taking Amity’s hand gently and squeezing it. The action itself was bold, and Luz didn’t know how she’d gotten the course to do it, but judging by the heavy blush that built its way up Amity’s face she hadn’t seemed to mind.

“Ok,” she responded after a moment, swallowing hard. “I just… my parents aren’t the easiest people to deal with. You’re sure things with my father went fine?”

Luz nodded, tossing Amity a little half-smile. “Yeah, I think they did. I don’t know what I did to deserve it… but I think your dad likes me.”

The little giggle that came out of Amity’s mouth made Luz’s stomach do flip flops. She wondered if she’d accidentally drank milk instead of apple juice with her dinner.

She had no idea how long she’d been standing there smiling, (and probably looking like an idiot while it happened) but it was long enough that Willow awkwardly cleared her throat and put her arm around Gus’s shoulders, who was so enamored by the war table he hadn’t really been paying attention.

“Right, then if you’re all good, Gus and I should go get our stuff packed, especially since we’re planning to leave bright and early.”

“We should?” Gus said, looking up at Willow with a furrowed brow. Willow elbowed him, and he yelped, clutching his arm. “Ow! Okay fine, let’s go pack.”

The two quickly shuffled out of the room, leaving Amity and Luz standing there awkwardly. Luz pressed her hands against the war table, fixating her eyes on the holographic Mt. Elbert. She could hear Amity shuffling her feet beside her.  

It’s not like Luz was feeling awkward around Amity, because she wasn’t. She had nothing to feel awkward about. All things considered, she and Amity were in a really good place. They were closer than they ever had been, a real team, and had gotten closer in more ways than one.

So why was Luz feeling so awkward?

Amity eventually cleared her throat, and Luz made the mistake of looking up at her. She watched Amity pull back a strand of hair behind her ear, and Luz watched, unable to tear her eyes away. Eventually, she met Amity’s eyes and saw that her face had pinked.

Luz looked away quickly, her own blush forming at being caught staring.

“So, your dad is not what I expected,” Luz said quickly, and when she looked up again she saw that Amity’s face had fallen. She looked disappointed again, like she’d had when they’d been waiting outside of the workshop for the taxi to prom.

“Yeah, he’s… a little unpredictable,” Amity said carefully, her eyes training to one of the bronze figures dressed in Greek armor. “But most Ares kids are like that… so it’s not surprising.”

“Ares is your grandfather,” Luz said slowly, and Amity’s face dipped into annoyance.

“Yeah? And?”

Luz couldn’t help but chuckle at that, leaning over to gently push Amity’s shoulder with her fist. “Nothing, it’s just that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, you know?”

“Are you calling me unpredictable?” She retorted, her face twisting dangerously. Luz forgot how intimidating Amity could be when she tried, but right now it only caused Luz to laugh louder at the irony of it all.

“You’re kind of proving my point right now,” Luz pointed out, and Amity blinked. After a moment she rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

“You’re right, sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Luz said with a shrug, tilting her head to shoot Amity a teasing smile. “I don’t really know if you could have any of Ares’ godly DNA anyway, but it would explain where all that skill with your sword comes from. Those moves during capture the flag? All Ares.”

Amity blushed again, all her previous annoyance forgotten. “The second generation of kids born from half-bloods are called legacies. If their parents are half-bloods, then sometimes they can show abilities from their godly grandparents, but they’re usually pretty diluted. I guess I never really thought about myself as being both a half-blood and a legacy.”

“What? The great Amity Blight?” Luz exclaimed, putting on a flaunty voice that was probably insulting to British people. “Camp Half-Blood’s prodigy and the co-leader on the quest to save Olympus breaking yet another half-blood boundary? I’m shocked.”

“Oh shut up,” Amity laughed, pushing against Luz’s shoulder hard.

Luz was laughing when she’d been pushed, but she also hadn’t been expecting the force that came with the nudge, and couldn’t help but stumble back and lose her footing. She probably would have hit the ground flat on her back if Amity hadn’t also seen it, reaching forward and wrapping her hands quickly around her waist to steady her.

When Luz looked up, she suddenly became very aware of how close the two of them were. Amity’s face was inches from hers, so close she could feel the shaky exhale of breath on her face, and once again see the splash of freckles across her nose. Luz’s mouth suddenly felt very dry, and without meaning to her eyes once again darted down to glance once at Amity’s lips.

But this wasn’t the Luz at the prom. She wasn’t dancing with Amity under the florescent lights of the university ballroom, dressed her best in a suit and filled with the confidence of a pep talk from her best friend. This was the Luz who was dreading a hike up a dangerous and probably life-threatening mountain, so zoned out thinking about what was coming next she couldn’t even fathom the idea of what would happen if she closed the gap between them. So, like a coward, she swallowed and leaned back, and Amity’s hands fell from around her waist and awkwardly back at her sides.

When Luz looked back up, she couldn’t handle the deep look of hurt on Amity’s face, and she knew she’d probably made another one of those big mistakes she couldn’t take back.

But the swirling in her stomach wouldn’t let her do anything about it. Instead, she just did what Luz did best in a crisis.

She rambled.

“You’re dad said he feels guilty about the last time you were here.”

Whatever kind of reaction she’d been expecting out of Amity was nothing compared to what she did next. Amity’s face dropped from disappointed to furious in a matter of seconds. In the blink of an eye, Amity was suddenly clenching her fists, her eyes narrowing to a point where Luz could barely see the golds of her eyes.

“He what?” She said, so quietly it was almost a whisper. But Luz knew better. Amity was a moment away from exploding. It was the same expression she’d had on her face during capture the flag, right before Luz had shocked her.

Luz recoiled out of reflex, backing up until the small of her back smacked against the side of the war table.

“Uh,” she said meekly, not wanting to anger her any further. “I don’t know if you actually want me to repeat it or if you were just asking rhetorically…”

“I heard you,” Amity said, and when Luz didn’t give any sort of reply to that, she just scoffed loudly, turning to the left and walking in quick paces back and forth along the length of the room. “I just can’t believe he would say something like that.”

Luz’s confusion was quickly starting to outweigh her fear at Amity’s angry reaction.

“Wait… you can’t believe he would feel guilty?”

“He doesn’t have the right to feel guilty!” Amity snapped, turning back to her furiously, and Luz shrunk back against the table. “He isn’t allowed to just pull you aside and talk to you about how he feels guilty behind my back when he did nothing to defend me in the first place! If he feels so guilty, he should do something about it! Blame Achilles for throwing us off course, or the oracle for making this prophecy the most confusing and ridiculous thing in the entire world!”

Amity took a deep, shuddering. breath, turning back to look Luz in the eye. When Luz saw her face, she felt like her entire heart was tearing in two. Amity looked devastated, a single tear threatening to fall down her face. Her next words were broken, cracking like she could barely say it. “If he really cared, he would call out my stupid mother for throwing me under the bus. He would be there for me, instead of making me feel like this whole thing is my fault.”

When Amity brought her hands up to her face, Luz could see that they were shaking. She used on hand to wipe under her eyes, and she scoffed, but it wasn’t humorous at all. It was the sound of a girl who had the weight of the entire world on her shoulders when she’d never asked for it.

“Why is everything always my fault?”  

Luz lunged forward out of instinct, stepping towards Amity and pulling her close, wrapping her arms around her waist and pulling her into a tight hug. Amity took a shaky breath at the embrace, and Luz gave her a moment to pull away if it was too much.

For a second, she thought Amity might. But then, her hands tentatively wrapped around Luz’s shoulder blades, and she leaned in, pressing her face tight against Luz’s collarbone. She gripped the back of Luz’s hoodie with her hands, and just cried into her shoulder. Luz stood there silently, letting her cry, rubbing reassuring circles around the small of her back.

After a little while, Amity’s face turned, and Luz could see the damp patch on her hoodie where Amity’s tears had soaked it.

“I’m sorry,” Amity said shakily, and Luz just shook her head, tightening her grip on her waist.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Luz replied gently. “Take as much time as you need.”

With another shaky breath, Amity leaned back into Luz’s shoulder, crying a lot less quietly now. But Luz could feel her body shaking, so she just nestled her cheek into Amity’s hair, holding her tightly.

Eventually, Amity did pull away, just enough that they were still almost nose to nose. Amity’s hands were still wrapped up in Luz’s hoodie, and she took a few shaky breaths. Her mouth opened and closed softly, like she wanted to say something, but no words were coming out.

When she looked up at Luz, she saw guilt flashing in her gold eyes, and Luz shook her head gently, reaching up to gently wipe a tear away from her face with her thumb.

“Amity, stop,” she whispered softly, “you don’t need to feel upset with yourself for crying. Everything you’re feeling right now is okay.”

The daughter of Aphrodite swallowed thickly, before bobbing her head. Luz smiled, using the hand that was already on her face to gently cup her chin.

“If you ever want to talk about it, I’m here. Okay?”

Amity sniffled, but she managed a weak smile. “Okay. Thank you, Luz, I-”

“What is going on in here?”

Amity leaped away from Luz like she was on fire hastily reaching up to rub and her cheeks. Luz spun around, so startled she almost called out her sword. Her eyes widened in horror when she was met with the towering figure of Odalia Blight, her eyes narrowed and set upon the two of them.

She looked at Luz almost with disinterest (Luz tried not to feel too offended by that), but then her head turned, and her eyes bore into Amity with a ferocity that shook Luz to the bone. Odalia Blight pushed her shoulders back straight, and crossed her hands in front of her, raising her index finger to point at her. It wasn’t an inherently scary gesture, but Amity flinched, her back bumping into the war table.

“Amity,” Odalia said, and the tone was so frosty it sent shivers down Luz’s spine. The temperature in the room seemed to drop twenty degrees. “Have you been… crying?”

Amity straightened her back, and Luz saw that she was desperately trying to hold face against her mother, but it just had no effect. Her eyes were still red and her cheeks tearstained, and her hands were pressed against the back of the table so hard her knuckles were turning white. When she opened her mouth, Odalia’s eyes seemed to narrow again, and the atmosphere got even colder.

“Don’t even think of lying to me.”

It was suddenly occurring to Luz that the room was actually getting colder. Goosebumps were rising on her skin, and when she exhaled, she could see her own breath. When she looked over, she saw that Odalia’s index finger was spinning very slowly. Luz hadn’t been a half-blood for long, but even she could tell that this was magic.

Luz’s heart was hammering in her chest at the tension, but she also couldn’t help but feel a protective spark beginning to rise up in her stomach. Amity didn’t deserve this. She already pushed herself too hard, it wasn’t fair that Odalia would catch them the first time Amity had ever been able to acknowledge and feel her pain.

She clenched her fists at her sides, doing her best not to glare daggers at Odalia. Luz always made things worse, and she knew it would really hurt Amity if she made things worse.

“Yes, ma’am,” Amity said softly, and despite her voice not wavering, Luz could tell she was panicking.

“So explain to me, Amity,” Odalia replied, taking a single step closer, her eyes narrowing even further at her confession. “What would a demigod in your position have to cry about?”

Luz’s jaw clamped, and she fought the urge to charge at Odalia right then and there as Amity recoiled. How could Odalia not see that she was the reason Amity was crying? Her and her horrible expectations and standards impossible for Amity to uphold.

Maybe she did know. Maybe Odalia was just a completely vile person. Luz was having a hard time reminding herself not to intervene.

“You have been given a tremendous opportunity at a second chance after your repulsive first failure.” Odalia continues, taking another step forward. “You put both me, your father, and your siblings to shame.”

Luz couldn’t do this anymore. She couldn’t watch this. She couldn’t let Amity hear this for one more second.

“You should be overjoyed. At the very least, you should be helping your companion instead of crying on her shoulder over your petty and childish issues.”

Something in Luz snapped, and she stepped forward furiously, right between Amity and Odalia. The rage had built to a point where she was seeing red, and she held out her arms protectively.

“Leave her alone! Why are you talking to her like that?”

Odalia blinked, and for the first time Luz saw what looked like surprise on Odalia Blight’s face, but it was quickly replaced with anger. “Excuse me?”

“Luz!” Amity whispered from behind her, and Luz turned her head to look. Amity was staring at her with wide eyes, panicked, but not pleading for her to stop talking. Luz took that as her cue to keep going.

“Amity did not fail you, or her dad, or anybody else,” Luz spat ferociously, staring her down. “She works harder than anybody else I’ve ever met, and she’s saved my life more than once. You’re being cruel to her for no reason!”

“And what gives you the right to talk to me about how to raise my daughter?” Odalia shrieked, and if Luz hadn’t been so angry, she probably would have been terrified by the way Amity’s mother was yelling at her.

“I’m her friend!” Luz yelled back, stamping her foot so hard it caused all the objects on Adalor’s desk to tremble and the bronze armor on the figures to clack together. In the back of her mind, Luz knew she was taking it too far. She heard footsteps sprinting down the hall, and vaguely saw the heads of Willow and Gus watching silently in the doorway. She thought she might have seen Alador’s shadow standing behind them too, but she was too angry to tell.

She pointed an accusing finger at Odalia, staring her down with every last scrap of rage she could muster.

“I care about Amity. I won’t let you treat her like she’s worthless when you’re not even half the demigod she is-”

Everything happened very fast after that.

Before Luz could even register what was happening, Odalia had thrown the knife. She wasn’t even sure where it had come from, maybe the inside of her suit pants, or maybe she’d had it in her hand the whole time and Luz just had been too angry to notice. But she was able to recognize that it was spinning towards her and that there was no chance she would be able to dodge it unless she wanted it to sink into Amity’s stomach.

So she just braced for the impact of the knife into her chest, but it never came. In front of her, a hand was thrown out to protect her, a bronze shield shifting in an instant to deflect the knife and send it scattering loudly across the floor.

Amity’s shield.

The daughter of Aphrodite stood with her chin close to Luz’s ear, breathing heavily as she glared at her mother. Her arm was crooked across Luz’s chest, the shield still covering her body.

“You can do anything you want to me,” Amity said, her voice void of any fear she might have been feeling before, “but you don’t touch her.”

There was a brutally tense silence. For a second, nobody moved, everybody staring each other down, but then Odalia straightened. She adjusted her blazer, crossed her hands together, and then turned her head completely away from them towards the door.

“Get out.”

Amity moved her hand away from Luz, and the shield transformed back into a bracelet. Reaching over, she took Luz’s hand firmly in hers, and she walked quickly out of the study. Willow and Gus were waiting by the door with their bags, and they slung them over their shoulders. Luz wasn’t able to look at Willow or Gus as she took it, too afraid of confronting what had just happened.

Instead, Amity’s grip tightened on her hand, and she pulled Luz towards the entrance to the manor, Willow and Gus loyally on their heels. Amity pushed open the huge double doors, and Luz felt a cool rush of the summer night’s air hit her face as she descended the stairs.

As they walked down the driveway and past the gates, Willow and Gus slowly fell in line to Luz’s right. They took off straight down the street, and even though Amity didn’t look back, Luz couldn’t help herself.

As she turned around to see the Blight Manor getting smaller and smaller the farther they walked, she locked eyes with Amity’s father standing on the steps of the manor.

Luz thinks she was probably the first person to ever see Alador Blight shed a tear.

[flatfootmonster]

Remember This

Bum wanted to move. His left foot itched where part of his skin was still damp underneath a too big sock that didn’t belong to him. He wanted to drink the coke in front of him. He wanted to cry. All those things were impossible; he was barely able to remember to breathe. Someone had been shouting that—to breathe in and out—after everything had changed; gone black and then bright, gone quiet and then loud.

They’d just been on their way to Nana’s, him and mum and dad, just like they usually did because it was Friday today. Was it still Friday? And when would everything go back to normal? What did he have to do to make it right? But there was no one to ask even if he could talk.

“Listen,” said the big man, dressed in his plain white uniform—all clean except for a smear of something red on the sleeve. He was shorter than Bum's dad, his hair wasn’t as dark, and his face was rounder—so was his body. This man wasn’t Bum’s dad. When would he see him again? “I’m gonna go and talk to the other nurse next door. Do you remember Nurse Clay? The one who brought the snacks? I’ll be back in a few minutes. Sit tight and try and drink something. And, erm… just let me know if you want to go to the toilet next time—if you can.”

He stared at Bum, a deep furrow in his brow, and Bum stared back, not quite understanding why he was being spoken to or what was being said. Nothing made sense, not this place, or the people here, and not the noises everyone and everything made. Words vibrated in the air and became a constant buzz. If he thought about it too much and tried to decipher the sounds, the screams would come. He didn’t want to hear her make those sounds. Right now that was all he could remember of her—his mum.

With a sigh, the man left through the door. It was held open by a thick wedge of folded paper. The bench Bum sat on was hard, his fingers strained in a death grip as if he were instead on a rollercoaster. But he had no control over his body. Bum wasn’t even sure if he had a body anymore or if anything was real. The only other thing in the small too bright room was a table where an open coke and apple sat. The table had one short leg. It wobbled whenever anyone leant on it.

“He’s not talking. He’s not even nodding or—I don’t know. It’s like he switched off.” The first man's voice was still sounding, but it was in the next room now, muffled by walls but not entirely restrained.

“I called next of kin, but it may take a while for her to get here at this time of night.” There was a second buzz to accompany the first. It was higher in pitch but made just as little sense to Bum as the other.

“It’s a mess. A goddamn mess.”

“I haven’t seen anything like it. Not round here. It’s just not right. Two of them. Who’s gonna explain to them where their mummy and daddy are?”

“One’s too young, thank god—no dad though. It happened near their house, that’s what Tan said. They all came out to gossip with the police—the neighbours. There’s no one to call for him, no family anyway. Doesn’t that break your heart? Too young to understand but he’ll never remember his mum, never have any real family...”

There was a pause in the buzzing. Bum’s blood was throbbing in his ears. He was going to explode.

“Did you speak to the EMTs?”

“I didn’t get a chance. I was with a patient when they came in.”

“They said she reeked of booze—the mum of that little one. They think she was drunk.”

“Drink driving? That’s a damn shame. Do we know his name?”

“Not yet. Just the quiet one: Yoon Bum. Poor thing. He’s barely breathing, can’t say a word. I don’t even think he’s blinking. It’s a miracle they came out without a scratch.”

“One’s going to give himself brain damage from all the screaming he’s doing, and the other is deaf and mute—and their parents are dead. Not sure I’d call it a miracle.” There was a long sigh. “I just want to go home.”

“Me too. I need to hug my kids.”

Another door opened, and a low wail oozed along the white-walled corridor, it didn’t sound the same as the screams Bum had been trying to silence and forget. Footsteps tapped their way across vinyl before a third buzz joined the din.

“Did anyone get milk yet? I don’t know what else to do. He won’t stop.” This one was panicked: edgy, high, shrill. Bum didn’t like it. It made the bench shake, and his teeth were chattering because of it.

“Tan went for some. I don’t know where he is now. That was, what, maybe five minutes ago?” A non-committal hum was added to the statement-question hybrid in vague corroboration.

“I’ll go look for him—you guys can check on the baby. I’ve done enough.”

Whatever protests the first and second voices offered didn’t stop the marching footsteps, tapping an impatient path across vinyl again. They quieted until another door banged shut, somewhere far away from where Bum sat in his windowless room with his warming can of coke. The pop-pop-popping of the bubbles bursting against tin was slowing. It would be flat soon—dead. Had the pop-pop-popping in his mum and dad stopped?

“Maybe if we leave him for a few minutes he’ll go to sleep. Babies cry themselves to sleep anyway, don’t they?”

“You’re the one with kids. What do I know about babies?”

“Do you want coffee? I’m gonna go call the wife.”

The crying was all that was left now. It was quieter, muffled by the boundary the door set, but Bum could still hear it. It was slowing too, getting lower. It was pathetic and begged and tired. Was the baby’s pop-pop-popping stopping?

Bum’s lungs jump-started. That was how they worked now; they’d stop for a long time before remembering what their job was. Bum drew sharp, cool air into his chest before he attempted to move the body he was sure still attached itself to his thoughts. In a jerky motion, Bum slid off the bench. His eyes were dry as he stared at the door to the next room along the corridor. Footfalls had disappeared, nothing moved. There was just a low erratic hum like the one remaining buzz was trying to soothe itself. Wiping his clammy palms down the borrowed shorts, Bum tried in vain to still the vibrations that jostled his atoms around. His hands shook, and his feet were numb. He didn’t even register the damp patch that made cloth cling to his thigh.

Bum made a stop-start path across small islands that were made up entirely of vinyl squares, one foot inching forward before it was joined by the other. If he stood outside of those imaginary landmasses, he’d fall into oblivion—he was sure of it. The room was cramped and, at the same time, vast as an ocean. But the wailing pulled him on. They were so sad, the cries. They were so full of sorrow it was surprising the baby hadn’t drowned in it all. Bum understood it better than he did the buzzing the big people made.

A lull settled just as he reached the door. Maybe the pop-pop-popping had stopped? There was no handle, so his sparse body weight became the tool, cracking the tall, heavy door open far easier than Bum imagined was possible. He slipped inside. It was another cell—just as bright and hard as the other. The only difference was a car seat, sat on the floor with the baby still strapped inside.

He had his eyes squeezed closed, and his face was an angry red—wet with tears and snot. Then the moaned wail picked up strength once more. There was an acrid smell to the room. He’d probably cried and thrown up everything that was in his tummy until all that came out was stomach lining—Bum had done that once when he’d gotten ill. His mum had held him and washed him and made everything OK. The front of the babies zipped up onesie was stained and damp. Who was going to clean the baby up?

Bum wanted to hate him. There was some recollection, a bone-deep understanding, that the fault of all this—the screams, the hard bench, the vomit and piss, the warm coke—was due to this baby's mum. That thing inside burned; it wanted a reason or direction, but it wasn’t strong enough. It didn’t singe his skin or catch fire to his consciousness, and it didn’t outweigh the hurt in the cries that only Bum could feel—feel in dark chambers in his heart, only just discovered tonight.

He stood and stared at the baby with no name. As his heart hammered in his chest, Bum became aware of the mess he’d made on himself. The damp patch was smaller than the first time when he’d wet himself in his own trousers. Perhaps he should go, slip back out and sit and wait on his own. But, as he shifted his weight from foot to foot, the wail stilled. There was a quiet that no buzzing or screaming dared encroach upon, the baby’s eyes were open and focussed on Bum. His tiny trapped chest rose and fell quickly beneath the straps that held him prisoner. The breaths fell in time with Bum’s heartbeat; his pop-pop-popping was fine, just like Bum’s.

The baby thrust out his hand, and stubby fingers peeked out the end of a grubby sleeve. He babbled something while a snot bubble burst under one porcelain perfect nostril. The fingers wriggled impatiently, drawing attention to the red on his cuff—just like the uniform of the big man. A baby shouldn’t have blood on them. It just wasn’t right—it wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Bum lurched forward as his feet stole back their gait, islands and oceans forgotten while his own fingers stretched out, answering where his lips were unable. The baby's grip was strong as it grabbed at Bum’s index finger, pulling it towards his chest and compelling the owner of that finger to crouch or else fall flat on his face.

A stuttered shush broke free. “It’s OK. We’re OK,” he said. The baby babbled again before he grasped Bum’s shirt, trying to haul himself out of the seat. “OK, OK, let me try—” It always looked so hard when his mum or dad tried to do this. His fingers trembled while he probed at the button sitting at the centre of the baby’s chest, easing it this way and that before a catch came free and the straps loosened. There was no hesitation once the restraints were gone, the baby pulled himself up onto his saviour. Bum had always been smaller and thinner than most of his friends, and this baby was big, heavier than Bum could hold—almost as long as Bum was tall already. His balance waned then he fell backwards. The impact of the floor against his backside was softened by arms wrapping around him like vines eager for support and fingers digging into him like roots desperate for nourishment.

For a moment, Bum sat where he’d fallen as bemusement kept him stuck in amber. He’d never known someone could be needful for him—it was always him in need of his parents or his Nana. And he still had her—his Nana. If he’d lost everything else there was that, there were his memories, too. But this baby did not have that—any of it. All he had was the heart that drummed against Bum’s chest; all he had was himself.

A small cream blanket was left in the car seat, padding where the baby had laid. The smudge of dirt and single leaf clinging to it meant it was the cleanest thing in the room after the sterile walls. And behind the car seat was a folded coat—judging by the size, it belonged to the baby. Shuffling over to the bench, where it housed a dark cove, Bum one-handedly set out a makeshift cot within the safety of the shadow and away from the bright, white exposure. There he eased himself and the baby down, head resting on the rolled-up coat and the blanket brought up to cover them both. Chubby legs and arms wriggled, pushing and pulling, as the baby crawled upwards until his head was just beneath Bum’s chin. Then he lay still, his breaths deepening, his muscles finally at ease.

Beneath the smell of the hospital, urine, and stomach acid, there was something else. Bum could sense it as soft, dark hair tickled his nose. It was sweet and safe, and it was peaceful and human—reminding him of something that had detached itself when the cars collided. Turning towards the wall, Bum brought his knees up, curling around the baby and holding on as tightly as he was being held. An aimless tune stirred before it came to fruition, hummed quietly down onto the crown of the baby’s head—like Bum’s mum used to when he couldn’t sleep.

A yawn forced his jaw wide. The baby was already sleeping and Bum remembered something else that was human: fatigue. Warmth replaced the hardness, trauma waivered beneath the weight of desperately needed dreams—full of the past and impossibilities, words came without sense. “We’re going to be OK,” he muttered, closing his eyes. “You can remember me. Remember me, OK? Remember this.”

Note: this was/is a time stamp from an AU I’m writing, although I don’t know if it fits better as a prologue considering it’s how things become altered and we have a different set of issues to play with.

[reversecreek]

lily for magda (thinking about figs feeling evil), tulip for cricket, marigold for ziggy, chrysanthemum for bradley, belladonna for nyla

lily :   how does your muse view their mother ?  

magda doesn’t know a lot abt her mum. she knows vague snippets n details bt they’re all very elusive. it’s kind of a tricky subject where her mum’s concerned bc when she was younger she’d come up w all these assumptions abt how her mum was n who she’d be if she were with her but the rational part of magda was like..... u don’t know any of this. ur literally making things up. it’s kind of hard for a kid to have that vital person missing from their life n to resist the urge to fill in the blanks with their own projections so the space feels less empty. it’s like having a tooth missing n ur tongue always going back to poke at the spot in ur gum. there’s a constant reminder of loss in that. magda knows her mum liked to sing bc her dad said once she’d always sing to her belly when she was pregnant. this is a lot of the reason why magda has always cared so much abt music bc she took this fact in her fist n grasped it tight n never let go n in a way grew parts of herself around it. it’s like............. i feel like her mum dying in childbirth gave her lots of issues when it comes to her identity n like. who she is n who she wants to be.......... bc of magda’s issues w her dad i feel like she got into this habit growing up of rly putting who her mum could have been on a pedestal n basing everything around that.... she’d be like I’m More Like Her (a belief which was only accelerated bc her dad would drunkenly say she looked so much like her) n cling onto that so she liked herself more bc the other option was her dad who she loves but he’s also an incredibly flawed person n they hv a complicated relationship...... i think as she’s gotten older she’s realised her mum cld very well have been that way too n putting people on pedestals isn’t the way to go about things but. idk. as a kid she was kind of obsessed w this idea of her n this idea that her mum being gone was the beginning n end of everything wrong in her life. for the most part now magda accepts she never knew her n sometimes even feels stupid for grieving her at all bc she never knew her to grieve in the first place but. there’s a tiny part of magda tht still hangs on to the comfort of what she could have had n it’s obvious by the fact she still keeps a photograph of her folded up in her pillow. she loves the mum she made up in her head n she wishes she got to meet her. there’s this sense tht maybe then she wouldn’t feel like this culmination of missing parts more than a person if she’d had that in her life. sighs n lks away holding my dyed black emo bang.....

tulip :   how does your muse view people in general ?  

cricket is like. the strangest little anomaly of a person FGHKSFGHSFKGH bc like. u would rly think that after everything he’s been thru he would just have this absolutely jaded view of people and life in general and i wouldn’t even......... blame him for it if he did like. i’d understand completely bc he’s experienced A Lot of bad stuff. n yet somehow he just.... idk. i think i wrote in a reply once this comparison of cricket n a cockroach in the sense that they have this incredibly reinforced exoskeleton n even if they’re stomped flat they can keep living n bounce back from it n that’s very him but it’s more specifically the hope inside him. he has this little candle lit that good things can still happen midst all of the terrible things n i genuinely can’t see it snuffing out at any point even tho sometimes he might want it to. sometimes i think he even gets into these frames of mind where it jst infuriates the fk out of him bc in his head he’s like why do u even think good shit can happen when u have sm overwhelming evidence to the contrary but then he’s also like. look u can dwell on the bad or u can notice the way the light falls thru the leaves in the trees and u can think to urself inside ur head as u listen to someone u love talking abt something that makes them happy ‘hey this feeling is nice n there’s a dozen others like it’. idk. against all odds he’s an optimist. he has tinnitus in his left ear n sometimes he pretends the ringing is angels trying to talk to him. he likes to search for the silver linings in things to make them bearable n that’s how he gets by. obviously he knows there’s evil in the world n that a lot of people can be shit bc he has firsthand experience w that but he also believes there are people to serve as the antithesis to that n he wants to focus on them bc like. why give bad stuff the time of day. not necessarily always a positive coping mechanism (if u bottle up bad feelings n thoughts they leak thru one way or another aka his overwhelming anxiety) but like.... i think there’s a lot of bravery in that n i respect him for it i won’t lie. he cld have become very bitter bt instead he’s like that quote that’s like 'the gentleness that comes, not from the absence of violence, but despite the abundance of it'. suddenly slaps his little anxious rump (supportive) (affectionate)

marigold :   is your muse prone to jealousy ?  how might they handle envious feelings ?  

it’s hard to say w ziggy............... i feel like he doesn’t want to think he’s prone to jealousy bc he’s like i’m literally a god wdym i simply wld never give a fk bc i know i’m above all else................. but like. do u actually believe that ziggy. do u. FKGJHKSJGHFGSHFGKSHGKFHG. he’s good at convincing himself at least........... has me fooled too most of the time. bt. thinks abt this.............. i feel like he doesn’t tend to get jealous over ppl he hooks up w a lot of the time bt there’s definitely a few select ppl he might.......... n then he doesn’t rly know what that feeling is bc he’s so unused to feeling it so he’s like wtf why am i so fking pissed off over the thought of this person fking that person? like literally doesn’t even. connect the dots n make the logical conclusion bc it jst seems so bizarre n nonsensical to him. rly is awful at working out his own feelings like. he cld just suddenly explode one day n have to smash a bunch of shit in a junkyard n after his chest is heaving n he has all this broken stuff around him n he’s just like yo wtf was that man forreal lmfaoooooooooo..... like he just doesn’t even get how his own emotions work it’s tragic n it’s men for u. w anxious feelings he represses them a lot he doesn’t rly understand what they r or know how to recognise them........... i honestly feel like he has a lot of anxiety surrounding his mum esp w her dating n like some of the guys they’ve both had to deal w that she’s dated in the past.......... i doubt he processes that healthily or expresses it healthily either..... probably contributes to the tensions between him n his mum they hv a lot of underlying issues that come out in the form of bickering n petty disagreements...... probably a huge contributor to him acting out so terribly in high skl was just all this pent up worried energy with no means of making sense of itself or like. place to go. like shaking a coke bottle over n over n finally having to crack the lid n let it fizz on something. i also think he probably swallowed a lot of jealousy growing up whenever other kids had gd relationships w their fathers or parents in general probably ws kind of like lmfaooooo yo why don’t mine love me like that. in his head...... so ya. i think he copes w anxious feelings by acting out n also fucking if we’re being honest......... it helps him let off steam <3 king of clapping cheeks ig....

chrysanthemum :   how does your muse express romantic love ?  how do they feel about love as a concept ?  

bradley is kind of hard to read romantically like from an outside perspective but slides on my thin rimmed spectacles n picks up my scalpel to delve right in to the nitty gritty of her brain... omg... that sounded... kind of scary actually but. it’s ok. basically settles in. bradley struggles to verbalise her feelings in this regard but also in a general sense honestly.... like she’s spent a lifetime having any vulnerable or negative feeling shut down....... her dad’s the type of personality where it’s like... u can’t win. even tho he’s narcissistic n thinks he’s a god if u compliment him or express affection he’ll act pleased but there’ll also be this register in his eyes where he thinks less of u for it. so this rly had a domino effect in bradley’s emotional expression in all grounds of life...... romance is probably the most frivolous concept to tony so bradley definitely internalised some of these views n wld feel stupid for ever taking anything seriously in that regard or rly investing herself..... she also just. idk. love has only ever left bite marks in bradley’s world so she’d kind of like ‘why wld i ever expose my tender spots n open myself up to someone just so they can sink their teeth in’. i will say tho that like. despite that she can in rare instances develop those feelings n it’s always like..... quite a struggle for her when she does. she doesn’t rly understand it or how to deal w it. she finds talking about it hard n she feels childish or weak in the eyes of whoever knows how she’s feeling. it takes a long time n a lot of work to earn it bt bradley in love is like. ur the only person on the planet who knows how gentle she can b. she’d literally like. touch the face of this one guy i wrote her being in love w when he was sad so gently it was shocking it ws like a love tht deep unlocked a whole other part of her she didn’t know existed. sex is a big part of her love expression jst like. a lot of it. so much. JHGSFKHGSFGKHFKGSHG let’s get it.......... she’s a ride or die n doesn’t do anything in halves. she has a nasty habit of pushing good things away n also wld probably do this to protect the other person bc her world is a never ending shit show with her father’s presence in every room even when he isn’t physically there. she wldn’t wna subject someone she loved to the danger of that bc she hates it enough herself so. idk. smiles w hand on hip. love isn’t something bradley thinks is on the menu fr her bc she’s only ever known it to be hard or mean n why bother trying when that’s the case. it feels like there’s always small print attached tht will hurt her in the end n nothing is free or genuine. very doomed outlook on love in general tbh.

belladonna :   how does your muse respond to silence ?   do they take comfort in soundlessness ,   or seek to fill the void with noise ?  

nyla honestly doesn’t mind silence at all........ they always wake up rly early in the morning no matter what time they went to bed. it’s like someone programmed an oven timer into their brain n often when they wake up at 6am or something they’ll go on walks around irving tottering in their own little world which is quite a quiet experience in itself when the rest of the world’s asleep........... always off on impromptu adventures they came up w on the spot.......... sometimes they get lost in their own train of thought too so they just randomly fall silent bc they’re having a whole conversation w themselves inside their head or like. writing a whole children’s story abt an iguana in a trench coat floating in a hot air balloon smoking a little vintage pipe all the way to peru. honestly for every 1 thing nyla says there’s about 4987295749572592745 things they don’t say tht are x100 times stranger n more nonsensical they sort of let it all drift thru their head like an open sieve for the most part. having said tht i think in order to sleep at night they probably need some sort of white noise or smthn................. it’s handy living in a beach house bc they just leave the window open to let the ocean gush bt sometimes if they’ve snuck into like. mido’s bed fr the night or someone’s bed idk the sound of them breathing works too................. they used to always sleep w bob ross playing on loop n that was rly comforting to them esp bc he reminds them a lot of their dad w his calming voice n energy.............. sometimes they’d have taken smthn n they’d literally hallucinate it as their dad instead of bob ross n this happened so many times in a row fr a period of time tht when they finally watched it sober they were like wtf since when did they recast my dad in this show...... KJHFGSHFGKSHFKGH but also. frowns... bit sad considering. 

[kewltie]

in the midst of a battle w/ members of LoV, pro-hero ground zero save a rookie journalist who LITERALLY threw himself middle of all the chaos to grab photos & after yelling at the ignorant fuck, katsuki doesn't think he'll see him again but then HE SEES HIM EVERYWHERE. his name is midoriya izuku & he has some sort of death wish really bc katsuki keep finding him in the middle of all these hero vs villains battles and ONE TIME he tackled down a villain right???? and he doesnt even have a fucking quirk & yet he is seemingly unafraid of everything.

needless to say, katsuki is v smitten bc the litle awkward death defying shit. also, anyone who accidentally send katsuki to the hospital several times a month bc he keep getting into trouble and katsuki have to come rescue him and THEN YELLING AT KATSUKI FOR INTERFEARING W/ HIS JOB – may be katsuki’s true love.

katsuki get so fucking rile up at this quirkless man, who shown no fear and easily go toe to toe w/ him and yet is so incredibly humble and hilariously awkward, he is just into this badass idiot who is entirely devoted to his job and cursed w/ severe stubborn???? feels relatable. so yea, katsuki ofc taps that ass right the fuck away bc he knows a good one when he sees it bc izuku is indirectly responsible for three broken ribs after katsuki had pulled him out of ANOTHER TROUBLING SITUATION. he's a trouble magnet and shit-stirrer and katsuki's heart is moved.

so they start dating and it goes SO WELL. izuku still get in major shitstorm for his job and katsuki still drags him out of it w/ a few bruise here and there, but afterward they go grab a bite and crash at each other place. super romantic and sweet and it's so v good. but!!! there's something weird about izuku. he doesn't talk much about his family, to katsuki anyway. BUT HE'S SUPER CLOSE TO THEM. his parents seem to call him daily and he go visit them often, but he never bring his parents up to katsuki esp his dad & izuku kinda got a stalker??

it's not like katsuki didn't notice right away, but HE THOUGHT IT WAS HIS STALKER. one of his super creepy fans probably but nope this person only tails izuku and when katsuki tell him about it, izuku is like, 'oh that's just toga'. apparently, izuku knows his talker v v well. the stalker apparently is sent by izuku's father to watch out & protect izuku and katsuki pauses bc who the fuck does a journalist who lives on takeouts and shitty cable TVs need a bodyguard?!!! so yea katsuki's new bf background is fucking weird and mysterious.

katsuki has his agency dig into izuku's background (not that they hadn't vet izuku's before for katsuki's safety) but they comb through the archives and izuku's history and it's comes out v v v v clean, sparkling even. honestly, katsuki doesn't know WTF IS UP W/ HIS NEW BF. so he confront izuku about his weirdo stalker/bodyguard, his avoidance about his family & his dad in particular, and his eerie squeaky AND CLEARLY SCRIPTED papertrails. izuku get shifty eyes and is like, "you won't believe me." And katsuki says tersely, "fucking try me."

Izuku drops his gaze to the floor and says, finally, "my dad is the leader of the league of villains." and YEA, KATSUKI'S BRAIN SHUT DOWN FOR SEC bc his deku?? stupid suicidal stubborn bleeding heart deku??? FUCK NO. but izuku just nods his head and grimaces. the LoV is the largest criminal org in the world w/ long list of crimes & longer list of criminals that make its their home. their roster are made up of terrifying people w/ dangerous quirks... and IZUKU, quirkless and softhearted izuku is the leader's most precious son. the idea itself is COMPLETELY ABSURD! HOW does that ever make sense? izuku is a civilian who works normal if a bit dangerous job & doesn't seem to have any *evil* inclinations at all yet he hail from the worst kind of genetic source possible. maybe he's just faking it all along.

which made katsuki absolutely furious that izuku might been some kind of sleeper agent from the LoV sent to trick spy & kill him or something and izuku's eyes wide, immediately protests, "no, no, i swear! i dont have anything to do w/ my fathers... org." but katsuki has a hard time accepting it esp with the truth bomb thrown at his feet now that he realizes HE'S DATING THE ONLY SON OF EVIL OF THE MOST VILE CRIMINAL IN THE WORLD. so yea, he walks out on izuku, saying he need some space & izuku was looking so heartbroken as he left

for the next few days, katsuki stews in his thought. he doesn't tell anyone about what he had found out, but he doesn't contact izuku either. This last for couple of weeks until, one day just as he in the middle of patrol there's some commotion that attract his teams and katsuki is separated from them. he's cornered by several LoV members, outnumbered five to one and katsuki lost his comms in the ensuring scuffles but instead of kicking his ass bc well they're foes, one of them break ranks toga (the blood queen) approach him w/ a bloodthirsty grin & a knife pointing toward him.

"hey, pretty boy," she coos w/ a flicker of edge, "stop ignoring our young master! you made him cried & he won't come out of his room. I hate seeing him so upset bc Izuku-chan should always be smiling! if you dont fix this ill rip your hide from your bones and wear it as a cape."

the group behind her make various grunt of agreement, all promising him death and disembowelment for... apparently breaking izuku's heart. katsuki is so outrage that he nearly explodes on the spot bc these dumbass villains think they CAN BLACKMAL/THREATEN HIM?! HIM, GROUND ZERO?! also, even more furious by the fact that they insuate that HE BROKE UP WITH IZUKU?! wtf, he never said that!! needing space meant just a temporary break s he gets his bearing on wut to do next... but not like a perma break, but izuku's ppl thought their relationship ended.

katsuki is even more offended by that notion bc izuku is even a bigger idiot than he thought. HOW could someone that much of crybaby over just temp break is some manipulative coldhearted spy?? right now his instinct says, izuku is telling the truth. he isn't tricking katsuki.

izuku is seemingly sweet, humble, & awkward but he got that rebellious streak a mile wide. loud in his opinions & shit-stirrer by choice, he faces down villains & heroes alike like they're on equal ground even though izuku is defenseless. he respect the law but only when it applies. katsuki has never seen such a fucking firecracker like izuku who loves people & the world but have little respect for any gov entity or laws and think they're good only when they're helping ppl but otherwise they're abritary (lmao). he such chaotic force for good it's hilarious. so yea, he believes that izuku is the SON OF AFO now bc that lil shit is a menace. A GOOD MENACE, but still a goddamn menace. he seems to stay firmly on the side of 'good' as it is which make his relationship with his villain father a fucking mystery & headache for katsuki.

so katsuki, gritting his teeth, clichely demands the LoV group to take him to their leader so he can verbally kick his bf's ass for keeping his fucked up secrets and stupidly mistaken that they're broken up. the group happily ties up him and blindfolds him bc well SECRET LAIR. katsuki is crazy, ok. like, STUPIDLY CRAZY to go blindly and no backups w/ some of the worst villains in history so he can meet up w/ his stupid bf and his crazy father. he could end up dead tmr or some shit bc it all could have been a trick to lure him in w/ his guard down but if izuku can be an idiot for dating a hero when he's a son of a villain than KATSUKI CAN BE A BIGGER IDIOT FOR GOING TO MEET HIS BF'S VILLANIOUS FATHER AT HIS SECRET TORTURE FORTRESS OR SOME SHIT. love can make ppl dumb and they're both a perfect example of it.

so katsuki get blindfolded and escorted to the LoV hq and it's a suprisingly sweet ride to there. no bumps, no abuse, no torture shit going on. he get offer food and drink and it's FUCKING WEIRD. his kidnappers start some casual convo w/ him about izuku and his job of all things. they even joke about how katsuki arrested one of them one time and almost kill another THE OTHER TIME & it's all happy bs??? it's even worst than torture. katsuki just want this to end already!! eventually they arrive and katsuki is let out. he get inside & his blindfold is off.

it's... nothing like he expected. it's traditional japanese house w/ sprawling garden, koi ponds, & beautiful woods. it's pristine, homey, and terribly normal. "ha, you thought we were going to take you to some kind of evil lair, right?" twice says, grinning bc he's an ass. "that's next time! we save that for official bsn." he jabs Katsuki's in the shoulder playfully. "you're meeting sensei and the mistress so of course it got to be at their house and not the 'office'."

katsuki's hands start twitching like he's going to explode someone or something but he's quickly drag away before he could do anything about it. lead through some hallways before depositing inside a tearoom where there's a SHIT TON of pics of baby!izuku & his childhood accolades on the wall. this look less like a room to greet visitors but to show off izuku. just as katsuki goes to examine a cute pic of bb!izuku playing in a field of flowers & holding one up towrad the camera, the doors slide open and a couple walk in. one of them is an older woman who looks eerily like izuku and the young woman also ft. in many of the wall pics.

she smiles warmly at and goes to greet him right away. "hi, bakugou-kun! welcome to our home, i'm inko, Izuku's mother," she introduces herself. while she's a source of happy energy and warmth, the other man beside her is another story. he gives katsuki's an icy stare. katsuki already knows who he is before he even say anything. AFO looks younger in comparison to his reported age, notably handsome, and he carries himself like some warlord from the warring periods.

"I should kill you," is the first thing he says. "my son should only cry in joy, over his terrible taste in romantic media consumption, & dumber things." spoken like a man who dealt with midoriya walking crying machine izuku his entire life and also a hopelessly devoted father.

"hisashi!" inko scolds. which is strange to katsuki bc he didn't even think AFO even have a name but in front of him isn't some evil man who mastermind gov't take over & ruin so many ppl lives but astupid father overprotected of his son.

"but i won't," AFO admits regretfully. "Izuku would be even more sad and if you're dead your death will haunt him needlessly more. he won't be able to forget you and move on." he frowns, like he actually had CONSIDER THAT ROUTE DEEPLY before casting that idea aside.

What the fuck, katsuki thought and says exactly that, "what the fuck. there's something seriously wrong with you," he points out what he think is v obvious.

AFO shrugs. "I love my son. He's my-" Inko's frown and he clears his throat, "our most precious treasure and we do everything to ensure his happiness. do you understand us, bakugou katsuki? inko and i have raise with love and care for 20yrs and i won't have some rough neck capers try to destroy his smile. i dont care who you are or wut you can do bc i can put you ten feet under w/ a snap of my fingers & nobody will be able to save you but like i said i won't."

Katsuki grind his teeth, fists clenched at his side, before lowering his head. this isnt time to fight, they're not on the field & on the job. this isnt about their respective stance on moral superiority but izuku. izuku is why they're both here. "i came here for him. i want to fix it," he says. "just let me see him." he pauses & grimaces like the taste of whatever he say next disgust him. "please."

AFO frowns, staring at katsuki for a beat, two. like he can pull apart katsuki's motives and tears into his rib to see w/e make him tick. "fine," he waves katsuki away, "you may see him now but if he cry anything beside in happiness i'll have your head and your entire agency." it's not a threat. it's a warning lace with truth that katsuki has no doubt he will carry out if a single tear slip pass izuku and fall.

inko claps her hand happily. "great, i'm glad you guys are geting along so well!" she says, like threats of murder haven't been thrown at his feet. clearly, she's used to the fact that her husband is a completely psychopath and whipped for their son. this fucking crazy family.

katsuki grunts, not knowing what else to say beside, 'have you ever thought of fucking divorce bc yea maybe you will be less crazy by then' but he holds his tongue bc they're still izuku's parents and he already made a bad impression on them even though technically not his FAULT.

AFO doesn't promise anymore murder in his future but the dark look on his face is enough as inko's lead him out & toward izuku's room. she drops him right outside it and gives him an encouraging smile before heading off, but katsuki has no doubt the parents are lurking around. katsuki sucks in a deep breath before raising his fist and knocks. he hears unhurried footsteps on the other side and slowly the door is slide open.

"Papa, I already said--" izuku whines, and stops as soon as he sees who ACTUALLY on the other side. "K-Katsuki?! What are you--?"

Katsuki blinks, trying to get his fucking brain to grapple with the thought of AFO as 'papa' and his head nearly explode. he drags a hand down his face and once again thinks, THIS FUCKIN' FAMILY. "Look, you idiot," he starts in lieu of any answer. "We didn't fucking break up."

Izuku looks haggard, buffy red eyes and the dark circle under it, speaking of how upset he was. he clearly didn't get any good rest these several days they were apart. he lifts an accusatory brow at Katsuki. "you didn't pick up my calls or answer any of my text," he retorts.

Katsuki rolls his eyes. "what part of I needed space, time to think didn't you get?" he snaps back. "It didn't mean go cry and sulk your parent's home like a damn coward because you were too dumb to think of anything beside we may have broken up!"

"But--but," Izuku's lips wobble and katsuki nearly jump out of his skin bc jfc don't cry here or i'll be skinned alive, "i was scared that you really mean it! that's why i didn't want to tell you in the first place bc then you wouldn't want to have anything to do w/ me."

Katsuki sighs, a bone deep tired sigh. "Now, why would you think i would have any problem with dating the son of my nemesis?" he says dryly. Izuku's brows furrow. "All Might is Papa's nemesis," he unhelpfully point out. "I don't think Papa even knew you existed until we dated."

Katsuki scowls. "that's not the fucking point," he shouts, temper rising w/ every word. "Your dad is the fucking boogieman who wants to sow discord in the world & it's my job to catch him &lock away for good. Do you see my moral crisis over this when im dating his beloved son?!"

"I-" Izuku's face falls, "dont you think I dont know that? I've lived with him for over 20yrs, I know exactly what he's capable of." he looks away. "But, he's my Papa & im terrible for still choosing him over the world. So," izuku says solemnly. "i dont expect the same from you."

Katsuki grits his teeth and steps right into izuku's space, up in his face. "Look, im only going to say this once so listen the fuck up," he starts. "I like you. A lot. Stupidly. Gods know why when you drive me up the fucking wall all the time, but here I am standing before you."

"A lot, huh?" Lips twitching, Izuku's eyes go soft.

Katsuki scowls. "Dont make me repeat myself, but yes fucking a lot that your fucking groupies & your old man threatened to kill me several times over did not deter me from coming here," he says, hand cradling Izuku's cheek.

"It's because I'm dating you and not your father. Whatever crimes he'd commited is not on you, you don't have to carry his sins," he tells Izuku, leaning in to press a kiss too fast and fleeting on izuku's forehead. "just stay true to yourself and i'll fucking deal with it."

Izuku's close his eyes and lets out a shaky exhales, the air of relief that passes through him is shuddering. "Ok, ok," he murmurs, opening his eyes to look at katsuki. there's a twinkle in them as he smiles, soft and sweet, the kind you can stupidly drunk on & never let go.

In that hazy moment, katsuki thinks, AFO doesn't need to plan any premeditated murder in case things go v wrong bc this is how he'll die w/ izuku's smile right in his front his eyes, cutting him down one curve lips at a time. Fuck, he's just as whipped for izuku as AFO.

it's good that izuku not a fucking psychopath like his father bc this would have gone v v v wrong. izuku would make a terrifying villain. Worse than his own father bc it's not fear & intimidation that will get ppl to follow him but izuku's own magnetic personality that move them.

"don't ever become a villain, ok?" katsuki insists suddenly, grabbing his shoulder tightly.

"where did that come from?" izuku laughs, eyes crinkling. "And dont worry, papa had tried. many, many times but i haven't turn over to the darks ide if that's what you worry about."

"Good," katsuki says firmly, and thinks the world better for it. one less crazy midoriya to raise hell. izuku is trouble enough as it is when katsuki thought he was just a quirkless journalist w/ a death wish but now there's a chance he could go rouge any moment and--yea. no.

"Sooo," izuku says, bouncing on his heels. "are we back together now?"

katsuki flicks him on the forehead. "we never broke up in the first place, you dolt."

izuku grins and suddenly throws his arm around katsuki. "ah, i miss you so much kacchan!!!" he declares excitedly.

and after they made up, katsuki interrogate izuku about wtf is wrong w/ his father bc how did AFO of all ppl get a villain son who isn't all about /that/ kind of bsn he's in. turns out izuku always have a healthy regard for heroes so he never thought of joining his father's organization. though AFO would have been super happy to take izuku in bc izuku is terrifyingly clever & resourceful but he lets izuku go & do his thing anyway. they just mutually agree not to talk shop when it's family, keeping their jobs outside &not in the home to keep both of their sanity.

so izuku knows shit about the 'family bsn' except wut everyone knows bc he's not involve with any of that and in his everyday job as a journalist izuku often times clash w/ his father AND expose some of his schemes bc it's part of his job & he doesn't shy away from it. AFO wasn't upset at all having his plans ruin by his own son. nope. he was SUPER PROUD OF IZUKU!!! to able to accomplish such thing on his own even if it's against him lol. but izuku is still his father's so so he doesn't take on just AFO, other villains, & dark org. he takes on the gov't, hero association, and even other heroes themselves if he ever catches on if they didn't live up to his ideals of being 'proper hero' like all might. he fiercely chases and exposes anything that he deems corrupted and wrong not caring which side they're on.

which makes izuku kind of chaotic good. he acts on his own whims & sense of justice, disregarding all rules & barriers. which is why he admires katsuki so much bc katsuki stands by his rule staunchantly & won't ever move from it, izuku knows katsuki wont ever be sway by the dark. kinda like izuku's father who stands firmly by his belief & does everything to reach his goals. WHICH IS NOT EXACTLY WHAT KATSUKI WANT TO BE COMPARE TO ESP BY A NOTORIOUS VILLAIN LIKE AFO lol. but yea, now that he got izuku's motive and why he's the way he is, it get easier.

they continue dating, izuku continues getting into trouble 120% of the time, katsuki keeps bailing him out, and sometimes IZUKU BAILS HIM OUT bc izuku may be quirkless but he got an army of the world's most terrible villains on his side so yea izuku IS TERRIFYING. and they aren't just dating but they're 100000% serious w/ each other bc now katsuki go to izuku's parents house for dinner every sunday and have to put up with AFO and play nice w/ each other for izuku's sake bc they come ton an understanding they will be IN-LAWS one day lol! their dinner convo is mostly the two of them taking jab at each other bc katsuki trash of AFO's plans or AFO's sends katsuki's ppl to the hospital and got away with it. they never stop being enemy even for izuku bc of where they stand on but mutually agree not to kill each other. they're both fiercely devoted individual who are obsessively workaholic, stubborn, vainglorious, and loves just as much as they breathe for their ppl and though they never agree on anything, this they will agree on bc izuku's happiness is everything to them!!!

[goliath-de-senfina-sango]

Danny had just finished dealing with one problem when a sort of old problem reared it's ugly head and made itself a priority.   For once, he may have to deal with a supernatural entity the same way any Fenton traditionally would.

trigger warning for suicide mention and school shooting mention

“Uh, well, I know a way I can help.”  Danny smiled, rubbing the back of his head.  “Sorry for making that wish without asking your permission but I have a feeling you’ll like this one.”

“I’m certain.”  Desiree sighed and turned to fly away, but Danny couldn’t just let her go like that.  People made wishes haphazardly all the time, and interpretation was a horrible thing to mix magick into.

“I wish that you were free of the curse that was laid on you.”  She froze, turning to stare at him with wide red eyes.  Pink and green light gathered around her fingertips and she raised her hands.

“So you have wished it… so shall it be.”  A cloud of smoke enveloped her like a cocoon, and Danny squinted into it.  A wave of force exploded from the cloud and all the booths shook with the energy released, Danny being knocked to the ground.  When he looked up, Desiree was blue-skinned, her silver armbands violet and her dress a dark green.  Eyes like stars looked down upon her new form, bottom half still a cloud of wispy mist, and she slowly began to smile and laugh.  “I’m… free?  I’m free!  Thank you, Danny, thank you so much!”  She flicked her hand, pink and blue ripples of light fixing up the cotton candy explosion and even setting Danny on his feet properly.  “I had thought I’d never be free of that wretched curse!”

“No problem!  Just, if you can avoid it, please don’t go hurting anyone?”  She arched a brow at him and Danny winced.  “I mean, I’m kind of trying to keep everyone, ghosts and humans alike, safe in my town, you know?”

“I cannot promise not to hurt anyone but I won’t be staying in this Realm for long.”  Desiree smiled, a sharp and dangerous baring of teeth and a gaze fixed on something far beyond them that Danny felt pity for.  “After all, I have to find the fool who did this to me and show him how it feels.  And then, I’ll return to my own realm, and a queendom of my own shall be mine!”  She laughed, lights and swirls of colors that his brain had no way of making sense of dancing around her, and throughout the park.  After a moment, she sighed and patted his head.  “Thank you, Danny.  Stay safe.”  And in a swirl of pink that might not have actually been pink, she was gone.

Danny took a moment to feel all warm and tingly inside about how he helped someone so easily, and then he let everything slide past him and through him, flying into the ground and then back up under the table.  The cold of his ghost curled back up into a ball somewhere within him and his skin regained its color and warmth, the world settling back into a thin extreme indigo lense.  He crawled out from under the table cloth and found Tucker, staring at where he had been, and tackled him.  They tumbled to the ground with a yelp from Tucker and Danny laughed, rolling away from the zap of the belt.  “Dude, Desiree is a Jinni!  I wished for a dick and now I have magickally transitioned.”

“Don’t let my being crushed into the ground by you fool ya, I’m genuinely overjoyed for you about that.”  Tucker lifted his head and laughed, deactivating the Specter Deflector before dragging Danny into a hug in the grass.  The hug lasted longer than he felt this deserved, even if he was over the moon about it.  It was also tighter than it should be, and Tucker’s gold was streaked with all kinds of wild blurples, marshons and even some grick.

“Dude, are you alright?”  Danny patted Tucker’s back when he just squeezed tighter and sighed.  “Ok.  We can do this, but like, we’re gonna get stepped on.”  Tucker relented, finally, and they got up, dusting the dirt and grass from their clothes before Danny was hugged, again.  “Tuck?”

“I… we need to talk, with the others too.”  Well, this promised to be interesting at least.  A good distraction from what happened before, hopefully.

It was not, in fact, a good distraction from the shapeshifter that had essentially murdered him (Sam was not the cause, no matter what she probably thought, and he needed to tell her that at some point, she deserved to hear it).  No, instead Danny, Sydney and through the skype call Sam listened to Tucker tell them about how he’d wished that Danny hadn’t gone into the portal and apparently all hell broke loose from that.  On one hand, it was almost freeing to know that even if Danny hadn’t caved to peer pressure like an idiot, the portal still would’ve been wrong when it turned on.  It ached to know that if he hadn’t died in there, his sister would’ve died out here.

But the burning in Danny’s soul was nothing, apparently, compared to Sydney.  “Wait, Tucker, did you say, Spectra?  As in Penelope Spectra?”  Oh boy, Danny knew that tone and he didn’t like it.

“Yes…” Tucker backed up a bit, while Danny shifted to stand in front of him, hand in his pocket.  “She’s the guidance counselor at Casp-”

Sydney glitched, glitched hard.  His features stretched, twisted, overlapped before settling on the image of a corpse, blood dripping from his mouth and the back of his skull as he hissed fury that made the skype call lag and crackle with static.  “Penelope Spectra should be dead like the rest of us!  I- show me a picture of her.  Now!”

“Ok, ok,” Tucker said, pulling up a picture from the school’s website.  “There’s surely plenty of people with that name, Sydney, no need to freak out.”

Except, he did.  When they pulled up the image of a ginger woman with hair done up in what looked almost like horns and a red business suit, the air around Sydney shone with green and his eyes were pits of red light.  “THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE!  NO ONE CAN SURVIVE A BULLET TO THE HEAD LIKE THAT!  I SURE AS HELL DIDN’T AND NEITHER DID ANY OF THE OTHER BULLIES LIKE HER!”

Tucker, slowly, exited the browser and reactivated his Specter Deflector™ while Danny gently tugged Sydney back from the screen.  It stung, the dark reddish colors radiating off Sydney like heat, anger that wasn’t his own boiling in his chest.  Danny took a slow, deep breath, and when he breathed out he pushed the anger out of him with it.  “Breathe with me, Syd.  Can you do that?”

“I’m dead buster.”

“Yeah, and you don’t need to breathe, but can you?”  The glitching slowed ever so slightly, and Danny brought his energy as close to the surface as he could while still human.   “In and out, c’mon.  In,” the heat receded, concentrated, burned darker for it.  “Out.”  It dissipated in waves, ripples of static on his screens and Tucker grabbed the laptop to keep the current from ruining it.  They did that, breathing, for a while until Sydney looked less like a floating corpse and more like a monochrome translucent image.  He rubbed his arms and looked away while Danny turned to lock eyes with Tucker.  Tucker was busily typing away on the laptop now that nothing was interfering with the wifi signal.  “Tuck?”

“It’s a good thing Sydney stays away from the school,” he muttered, Sam snorting over the line.  “Is it possible for an unagitated ghost to have some color and look like a human being?”

“Uh, not that I know about.”  Danny glanced at Sydney and gave him a pat on the back.  “Syd?”

“I-I don’t know… I’ve been a bit stuck, on the other side you know?”  Sydney was becoming fuzzier at the edges and Danny sighed when he realized the other boy was invisible.  “Maybe someone else would know.”

“Right,” Tucker drawled.  “Syd, do you wanna come with us to go ask Agatha about this?  If we’re dealing with a well-hidden ghost, then I wanna make sure you two are on top of your game.  A hearty meal, or I guess a ghouly meal, is essential for any fight.”

Sydney at least flickered back into something easier on the eyes if not fully there, and he chuckled.  “Uh, maybe?  Who’s Agatha?”

“Agatha Reece,” Sam said over the call, pausing to cough into her arm.  “She’s the ghost of a lunch lady at Casper.”  Sydney’s white eyes went wider than humanly possible, a touch of sepia seeping into his greyscale.

“Ah, you know what, I think I’ll just head out and go see some sights.  I’m sure you two don’t need me to help you grab a snack.”  With that, Sydney flew through Tucker’s ceiling, and Danny leaned back in his chair, a heavy sigh on his lips.  It felt like a lot of pressure just rose off of his chest, though there another pressure entirely coming from his swirling thoughts.

“It’s a damn good thing I got Sydney out of the school before he actually saw Dash doing the shit I ranted to him about.”  They all laughed at that, and Danny felt a bit lighter still.  “Though, I imagine school’d be pretty interesting without him.”

“Yeah, we could actually walk around without worrying about getting shoved into a locker.”  Tucker stretched his limbs out, and Danny felt an ache in his joints just at the reminder.  “What a stereotype.”

“As much as I’m glad to cheer on the virtues of Jazz’s therapy sessions with Sydney,” Sam cut in with a shaky, light laugh of her own.  “We still need to figure this Spectra thing out.”

“I’m looking her up and while she’s not stupid enough to use the same name over and over again, her picture is sorta everywhere over the past five decades,” Tucker muttered.  Danny got up and rested his chin on Tucker’s shoulder, taking in the image of a barely, if at all, changing face go throughout the ages back to the 50s.  “Cause if she’s a ghost, she’s gotta be using a lot of energy to keep looking like that.”

“That’s if she’s a ghost,” Sam said.  There was a long moment of quiet after that, and Sam went off-screen, grabbing some book that looked older than Spectra.  “Guys, you just said a Jinni flew off to get revenge on a ghost, how do we know there aren’t other things out there.”

“Mom and Dad have been to other places before…” Danny felt his hand slipping out of reality as the realization hit him like a football to the face.  “They’ve made so many windows to other places and then if a drone could survive going in, they went in, and then Jazz and I went in with them.  Holy shit, what if there was stuff in there we just couldn’t see?”

“What did Sydney and Agatha call the other side?”  Sam sniffled.  “The Infinite Realms?  There’s probably a whole lot of things that Spectra could be.”

“Based on this track record of depression, she’s either a shitty psychologist who doesn’t get how the human mind works, or she’s fucking up people’s lives on purpose.”  Tucker shifted so Danny could see the news article that he was looking at better.  “That’s a lot of people who went from average mental states to killing themselves, or going into self-isolation.”

“Maybe she likes ruining people’s lives,” Sam muttered.  “There’s plenty of legends and myths about things that like to do that.  Danny, have your parents made anything that might help reveal a supernatural being hiding as a human?”

“I… maybe?  I’ll have to check, I haven’t been paying attention to their weapons or anything lately.”  He had been actively avoiding anything offensive that his parents made besides the plasma rifle he had.  He wasn’t looking to have things go off on him, after all.  “Tuck, you check with Agatha about what Spectra might be and I’ll head home, see what Mom and Dad have worked on.  Sam, you see if you can find anything on, I dunno, emotional vampires or straight-up assholes who love ruining lives in folklore.”

“Can do, captain, but there’s a lot of the latter in every kind of story.”  Sam offered a wave before ending the call and Danny sighed, sagging in his chair.

“Look at you, takin charge like a hero.”  Tucker hugged him again, and Danny leaned into his side.

“Yeah.  Let’s hope I can keep being a hero.”

[strawberrymeriadoc]

Merry took a shower, ate dinner, and sat on his bed. He was hoping Pippin would be back soon. His brain was definitely done in for the day and he needed a distraction from the severe pain in his throat. And besides, he missed Pippin. Merry stood up to do a few stretches. Peony came into the room and jumped on his bed. Merry was excited to see Eowyn the next day. And then it would finally be Shabbat and he could rest. Just then, Merry heard the front door open. He thought about giving Pippin a moment to get settled in, but he couldn’t resist coming into the living room to say hello. He hoped it wouldn’t bother Pippin. 

[Pippin was putting his things down and just about to get settled on the couch when Merry came into the room.

“Hello, Merry! Good to see you.”

“Hi, Pippin!”

“You know I ran into Eowyn on the way home, I didn’t realize she lived in the same neighborhood.”

“Yeah, she lives on the other side of the green line station”

“Ok, that makes sense, that’s about where we parted ways”

Pippin sat down on the couch, Merry leaned against the door jamb.

“I got groceries today. I noticed we were out of a few things we share like eggs and butter,” Merry said.

“Oh, thanks for thinking of that! Want me to pay you back?”

“No, no, don’t worry about it, it wasn’t too expensive”

“I’ll get them next time then”

“Sure!”

There was a silence. Peony walked into the room and made a big show of stretching her legs. Then she went over to inspect Pippin. “Oh! I’ve got a video of Gandalf exploding more things. He got mad at me for having my phone out though so I just have the one today” Merry sat down next to him on the couch to watch. The two sat like that for a while, telling each other about their day.

“Sorry to hear your throat still hurts,” Pippin said.

“Yeah, it sounds like there’s a good three or four separate but now interrelated things that are wrong with it so it’s going to take a long time to get better I think. And who needs this now when I’m already so stressed and school’s about to start”

“It’ll be ok, sounds like you need to rest and have some patience with it”

“I know, I know…”

“Well no I don’t mean to sound judgemental or anything”

“No, you’re right. I just. Wish these kinds of things would stop happening to me. The stress gets to be too much and it always manifests as some obscure thing wrong with my body. It feels really unnecessary”

Pippin thought for a moment. “Anything I can do to help with your stress?” Merry was taken aback. “Oh thank you, Pippin. I’m not really sure...I don’t even really understand what it is that is stressing me out...can I tell you about what I think it might be?”

“Of course”

“Well, I’m nervous about starting school. I haven’t been to school in a long time. Or, at least, it feels like a long time. I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle it again. I haven’t really been interacting with that many people in the last few years. I can’t handle being called “she” again or my deadname. I know I’ve told everyone I’m working with in my department, but a few people have already slipped up in person and in email and I just can’t take it again. It’s a little easier to handle in other scenarios but with school...it feels like it should be comfortable. Like my home. That I should trust these people in particular. But to have to be reminded again and again how I’m not really who I think I am or at least that’s not how many people see me…” Merry looked out the window. It was almost completely dark. The black buildings were surrounded by a deep indigo sky. A lamp lit up a patch of the street.

“Also...I don’t know if I can handle the workload again,” he continued. “I just...college was hard enough. What if I’m not organized enough? What if my depression gets worse and I can’t keep up with assignments plus staying on top of life things that really stress me out? I want to work with Boromir and I want to take classes again, but I’m scared it’ll be more bad than good, and that I’m walking into a trap I still have a bit of a chance to get out of.”

Merry stopped. He didn’t want to spin out into anxiety and he certainly didn’t want to try Pippin’s patience. Pippin had been listening carefully to all this. He hadn’t thought about how not everyone would be up on Merry’s name and pronouns even though he had already told them. It’s really not that hard people, he thought. And about the workload and depression--Pippin shared many of the same concerns. He wasn’t sure how reassuring he could be because he felt the same way.

“Hey, I love you. And you’re going to get through this. You’re very strong. You're the strongest person I know. And I know you can handle whatever this school year throws at you. And if...not if, when you need assistance, please ask me. I want to be there for you and make sure you’re doing ok. In terms of your workload and depression issues, I feel much the same way except about my anxiety. I wonder if there’s anything we can do to alleviate our stress for both?”

Merry thought hard about this. He thought of having a meditation night. No, that’s a stupid idea. He thought about something more community-care related but couldn’t think of anything specific. The idea was still so new to him. He thought about fixing their sleep schedules together but realized that was something he should do on his own and had nothing to do with Pippin. He really didn’t know what to do.

“Thank you, Pip. I’m trying to think of a way we could both help each other but I’m coming up blank...outside of what we already do for each other anyway...there’s this thing, it’s probably stupid, that Jamie and I used to do...it’s called “connect” and basically you make eye contact while telling each other whatever you want. It can even be things you’re mad at each other about. You set a timer for ten minutes and once it goes off you switch to the other person. And the second person can’t use their time to respond to what the first one said, but just brings up their own things that have been bothering them. Certainly school stresses is something we could talk about. Or anything else really.” Pippin doesn’t want your stupid failed marriage tips, he berated himself.

Merry flinched as Pippin began to speak. “We could try it,” he said thoughtfully, “Though if it’s something you used to do with Jamie, maybe it’d bring up bad memories.” Merry hadn’t really thought of that and it certainly seemed possible. “I don’t mind working through the memories,” he said, “but probably a good idea to think of something else anyway.” Pippin’s eyes flashed. “Let’s have a code word for when things are really tough and it means something that we set up ahead of time! Like, ‘I need a hug’ or ‘come wrap me in a blanket’ or ‘can I have some tea’” He looked to Merry for approval. “That’s a lovely idea!” Merry exclaimed, “I think we should have a couple different ones so we have options. They can even also be emojis on our phones.” “Yeah!” agreed with his companion.

Then the two set to making their short list of codes. Merry wanted the sloth emoji or the spoken word “sloth” to mean he needed Pippin to sit next to him and put his arm around him. An owl emoji or the word itself meant he wanted Pippin to come to him and tell him about something relatively calm. Pippin wanted Merry to wrap him in a blanket and make him tea if he sent a gecko emoji or said the word. “We really ought to have an option for if one of us isn’t up for it,” said Merry. “Or if one isn’t home,” added Pippin.

“Maybe a green heart for ‘I can’t right now’?”

“Sure...and maybe if we’re not around, we could call or send each other something.”

“Oh the owl talking one could still work, you could just call or tell me about something over text”

“Yeah. And I guess for me, if you want to send me memes that would be cool.”

“Sure! Gonna have to work on my meme stash then,” Merry laughed.

Merry and Pippin felt a little better and like they had some more control in their lives. Then Pippin remembered Merry’s other concern. “Oh, if there’s anything I can do on the name and pronouns let me know. I’ll try to go out of my way to use your pronouns with people at least. And of course correct anyone,” he said. “Thanks, Pippin,” responded Merry giving a faint but genuine smile.

“Can I have a hug?” he asked weakly. Pippin responded by putting his arms around him, resting his head on Merry’s shoulder. Merry hugged him back, hiding his face in Pippin’s chest. He felt so safe here. He became aware of how shallow and quick his breaths were and took a deep breath from the stomach. Then Pippin leaned away slightly and gave him a kiss on the forehead, coming in slowly enough that Merry could give a quick nod of approval first. Merry felt warm inside. Pippin then rested his forehead on Merry’s and the two sat like that for a few moments with their eyes closed.

Pippin loved kissing Merry. And he loved being this close to him. It felt right and he felt less at sea in life. For the time being he felt confident and self-assured. Merry needed him. Merry loved him. And he loved Merry very much and wanted to look out for him.

“You know...I’ve never kissed a boy before. I’ve wanted to for a long time but…” he trailed off. Merry said nothing but hugged him tighter in response. “I never came out as gay. I was too scared to know what my parents would think and I was afraid of being kicked out. My family is adventurous in a lot of ways but when it comes to relationships, they’re very traditional. A cousin of mine came out once when I was a little kid and was never accepted into the family the same way again.” “I’m so sorry, Pippin,” Merry said, “I’m sorry you never got to kiss a boy before. That’s really not fair. And it’s scary that you saw how your cousin was treated and it was so bad…Is there anything I can do to help or make you feel better?” “What, by kissing me more?” Pippin laughed. “But seriously, maybe. You know a lot more about the queer community and have been out for a few years. Maybe you can just...help me out? I don’t even know where to start.” “Of course, I’d love to!” Merry exclaimed.

Merry thought about how much Pippin must have been struggling with his identity for years. And how he still was. He felt guilty that his companion’s first kiss with a man was with a trans man. Not a real man, he thought. I’m contributing to his internalized homophobia. He’s just kissing a spicy woman and this is the closest he can get to what he really wants.

“I’m sorry your first kiss was with me,” he continued, “that hardly counts. If you want to be with someone else I’d understand. I don’t want to hold you back from what you want or from being yourself.” I don’t want to be a crutch for you. “What on Middle Earth are you talking about?” Pippin asked. “I--I’m just a trans man,” Merry sputtered, “not a real man. I don’t want your first experience to be with me, I’m just a spicy girl. I’m contributing to your internalized homophobia…” It pained Pippin to hear his companion talk about himself in such a way. “I don’t think you’re fake! I understand that you are a real man,” Pippin argued. No, you don’t, and if you do you shouldn’t, Merry thought. But he had learned lately not to tell other people what they were thinking, even if he thought he was only hurting himself through it. “Thanks,” he said, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have made this about me.” “It’s important,” Pippin replied. After some silence Merry added: “You know, kissing a boy as a boy feels very different, and much better, than kissing a boy as a straight girl.” He gave Pippin a smile. “So, in a way, you’re my first too.”

[dragonsaphirareads]

I Am Creativity (Chapter 2/5)

Crossposted on AO3 under the same name! A/N - This fic includes my theory/hc for what the orange side will be (Passion/Obsession). I don’t elaborate too much on him, but just to clarify, that’s who he is. 

The spectators watched as a bell rang and the timer started counting down. The twins sprinted to their respective towers, creating things out of thin air as they went. As they would expect, Roman’s army consisted of knights dressed in shining white armor and various mythical creatures. They couldn’t see Remus’s side as clearly, but what they could see was eldritch abominations with too many eyes and too many limbs.

Patton had curled his knees up to his chest, covering his eyes and peeking through his fingers to block out Remus’s creations, which made him sick to his stomach. Virgil and Logan were both leaning forward, fixated on the viewing screens for very different reasons.

“This is bad, this is bad, this is bad, this is bad…” Virgil kept repeating, breaths coming quicker. Logan leaned over and put his hand over Virgil’s, tapping out a 4-7-8 rhythm to try and keep him calm.

“He will be fine, Virgil. He’s Creativity, he’s stronger than any of us are here. This is his domain – I’m confident he will be victorious.” His voice was calm, but Virgil knew his heart was racing just as fast as his own.

“Don’t lie to me. You didn’t live with Remus, Logan, he’s… demented. Just look at what he’s coming up with!”

“And Roman is doing the same. They both operate on the same rules, Virgil, and one of those is that the Imagination is just that – imaginative. It’s not real.”

A wet roar echoed across the field, as well as a high-pitched laugh from Remus’s side of the field. Three minutes had already passed.

“Oh god oh god oh god!” Virgil felt his heart jump into his throat and he quickly covered his ears and closed his eyes, blocking out all images and trying to keep his own imagination under control. He needed to calm down – Thomas would have a panic attack at this rate, and considering his host wasn’t actually doing anything to deserve it, he really didn’t want it to come to that.

He felt arms around his shoulders and a chin resting on his head. When he opened his eyes, Virgil saw light blue and looked up to see Patton standing behind his chair, hugging him from behind. He was smiling, but his eyes were watering and lip quivering.

“It’s ok, Virgil. Roman’s so strong, he’ll win this without even a scratch!” Patton’s voice cracked at the end, and he swallowed and pushed his smile wider.

“Patton…”

“So don’t worry, ok? Remember, he’s just as powerful as we think he is – if we believe in him, then he can win!”

Virgil looked back at the field. Five minutes left, and there were now dozens of different creations on both sides. He changed a look at the viewing screen and saw Roman inside his tower, fortifying the doors with metal bars and hulking, armored guards. He was concentrating, his tongue poking out of the side of his mouth, but what really confused Virgil was that Roman seemed to be… smiling?

“He looks like he’s having fun.” Logan remarked calmly. “Perhaps we should just sit back and enjoy the fruits of Roman’s hard work.”

Patton sighed, nodding. “You’re… probably right.”

Virgil’s hand shot out and grabbed Patton’s before he could return to his own chair. “Um… stay?” The anxious side tapped on the chair and it shifted into a large, plush bean bag more than big enough for two. Patton smiled and plopped down beside Virgil, wrapping a comforting arm around his shoulders.

“We can cheer him on together.”

“He’s an idiot.”

“And you didn’t know this before?”

Deceit sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I thought there was still a little common sense left in that twisted head of his. I was clearly wrong.”

Obsession tilted his head, glancing over at the field and surveying the multitudes of disgusting creatures that were standing on Remus’s side, growling and slobbering everywhere. “And we both know how well you take to being wrong.”

Deceit glared at him out of the corner of his eye. “And you do?”

“I don’t sulk in my room for days when I don’t get my way.”

“No, you just throw yourself into the next show and fill your brain with garbage.”

Obsession just laughed, stretching his arms high into the air and laying back on the blanket, blades of grass tickling his arms through the thin material. “Just ‘cause you don’t see the genius in what I do doesn’t change the fact that Thomas loves it when I do my job. Unlike someone else I know.” He closed his eyes against the bright sun, soaking in the warmth that never made its way into their corner of the mind. Deceit growled and said things Obsession was sure were very pleasant words for him under his breath.

“Besides, who said you were wrong?”

“What? Have you been paying attention?”

“Have you? Deceit, as much as you love to think you’re the only one who can plot and plan… you’re not.”

Deceit stared at his fellow dark side, unconvinced. “When has Remus thought about or planned anything? He does whatever he wants, when he wants.”

Obsession sighed, rolling his eyes. He propped himself up on one elbow and stared at Deceit. “What would you call this, then?” The orange clad side waved towards the field, where they could see Remus ducking behind various barricades and creating new monsters.

“What’s your point?” Deceit narrowed his eyes. Obsession shrugged.

“Just that, maybe you shouldn’t underestimate him so much. Don’t forget, I’ve known him a lot longer than you have, and I knew him as a kid. Let me tell you… he’s a lot smarter than you seem to think he is.”

“If you’re so smart, why don’t you tell me what he’s really planning, then?” Deceit asked sarcastically. “Since you can clearly read his mind and all that. What’s the point of fighting a battle you know you can’t win?”

Obsession yawned, glancing at the clock. Thirty seconds to go. From what he understood, as soon as the timer hit zero, it would be an all-out battle royale. They couldn’t create anything past the time, relying only on their current creations. On Remus’s side was a huge, fleshy dragon with eyes all over his body, two heads and two sets of wings curled up on the top of his tower, puffing out black smoke from its nostrils. The rest of his army seemed to follow a similar theme; nothing that Obsession could see had the correct number of limbs.

Roman, on the other hand, had gone with a strength in numbers strategy. There were hundreds of white knights covering every inch of his side. The side himself was standing on the roof of his tower, head tilted up to watch the timer count down to zero.

“Maybe… winning for Roman, and winning for Remus, means two different things.”

Before Deceit could ask what he meant by that, a sharp bell rang out over the field, and the real fight began.

~~~

Looking over the battlefield as the fight began, Roman felt confident. Sure, the monsters his brother had come up with were disgusting, and the dragon on his tower was terrifying, but he outnumbered his brother’s army 5 to 1. They were smaller, yes, but that meant they were faster and quieter. Not to mention they could hide.

His hand hovered over his own sword hilt, ready to draw it at a moment’s notice. He had guards stationed around the tower and within the stairs themselves, but he couldn’t trust that to protect him.

There was an ear-splitting screech from above him and he drew his sword just as a multi-headed falcon dived at him, effectively cutting itself in two as it attacked. It fell to the ground with a plop, and exploded into black dust.

Like he was saying, he had to be on guard. He glanced at the screen he’d conjured to monitor his own troops. Most were engaged with monsters triple their size, and there was white dust covering the grass. He pursed his lips as one of the creatures, something that resembled an armadillo if an armadillo had metal plating and was the size of a small house, grabbed one of his knights and threw it in its mouth, chopping down like it was a savory snack.

He hoped his friends would be able to handle watching this. Logan would probably find it fascinating, but all of this would be distressing for Patton and Virgil. He only hoped they knew that this was completely fake – if the dust their creations exploded into when they died didn’t make that clear. It was no different than a movie. The only person on his team who could feel any pain or get hurt was himself.

Maybe that was what they were worried about.

Roman tensed as he heard a ferocious roar split the air and saw the two headed dragon lift off from Remus’s tower. The beat of its wings flattened the grass underneath the tower, and as it took off the left head unhinged its jaw and sprayed a battalion of his knights with a thick, inky black substance.

“Ugh, leave it to him…” Roman muttered, gagging. Then the right head opened its maw and fire came spilling out. The black liquid covering his knights caught, and within moments they were nothing but dust, mixed with the oil-like substance to create a nasty gray goop.

Roman sucked in a breath through his teeth, and then saw the dragon turn its body towards his tower. “Nope, nope, nope!” He chanted, sprinting to the edge of the tower. Going down the stairs was too slow and too dangerous. Thankfully, the prince knew to always have an alternate escape route.

The creative side ran to a parapet where there were thick lengths of vine tied to the stone, dangling all the way to the ground. He grabbed the gloves he’d conjured for this very situation and slipped them on, then swung his leg over the edge and gripped the vine tightly. The dragon flew overhead and nearly blew him away with the strength of its wings, but he held fast. It made another pass as he was sliding down, and more oil spilled out of the left head’s mouth. It splattered all over him and steamed on his skin.

Worst of all, the oil got onto the vine and underneath his gloves. He started sliding faster, his grip faltering, and as the dragon got ready to torch him, he lost it altogether.

Roman landed hard on his back, and his lungs seized at the impact. The prince forced himself to his feet, gasping for air as the oil on the tower was lit up and he was forced to run to avoid the same fate.

He clutched his side as he ran. He didn’t think he’d broken a rib, but he certainly would have a nasty bruise. One of many to come, he’d wager. Roman ran to the side of the tower where he’d created a small oasis to house one of his secret weapons.

~~~

Remus had a wide, manic smile on his face. God, he hasn’t had this much fun in forever! He watched the flames consume Roman’s tower, and sent his dragon after him. He couldn’t see which direction his brother had run off in, but that didn’t matter too much to a fire breathing dragon. He’d burn the whole area down if he needed to – he would just return it to normal after the fight.

Then he caught something on the wind. A sound floating in the air - a song. He could barely hear it, but Remus noticed that his dragon was shaking its heads in confusion, trying to get away from whatever it was hearing. He tried to call it back, but his control had lapsed and it wouldn’t listen to him. The creature raged, spewing oil and fire into the sky before crashing against the force field surrounding their arena and exploding into dust.

Silence fell over the field, and the twins realized that this round was over, with both left standing. They reconvened in the center after they cleared their areas of all leftover debris.

Remus crossed his arms and looked Roman over smugly. “You’ve lost your touch. You didn’t even manage a single hit on me!”

Roman huffed, keeping a hand on his hip to try and subtly keep pressure on his side without letting his brother know he was hurt. “Neither did you. Are you even trying? That was such a boring round, I nearly fell asleep!”

“Oh, alright, then let’s make things quick! Ten minutes, and this time it won’t be a warmup!” Remus cheered, pointing at the clock above them and resetting the time, which immediately started counting down. Roman squawked in protest but Remus just laughed and ran off, leaving the prince standing there with his side aching and the clock ticking down.

“What are you doing, Princey? Move!!” He heard Virgil’s voice scold him in his head, and that jolted him enough to head back to his own tower, newly reformed, and come up with another plan of attack.

~~~

“He looks tired...” Patton said quietly, watching through the screen as Roman went about preparing for the second round. “He’s holding his side... do you think he’s hurt?”

“He did fall a distance when escaping from the tower, it’s possible he’s injured one or more of his ribs.”

The moral side let out a strangled cry, cupping his hands over his mouth to try and keep it in. Virgil stared at the back of Logan’s head with wide eyes. “Logan, do you even care?!”

“Of course I do. But Roman did very well in that last round. He ended it with a tie, and now he surely has a better idea of Remus’s strategies. Now he’s able to incorporate that knowledge into this next round.”

“That’s all good in theory, but look at him! He doesn’t exactly look like he’s up for another fall from the tower!” Virgil pointed at the screen, where Roman was leaning up against a tree, eyes closed and chest heaving.

“Creating takes energy. But the same goes for his opponent. I’m sure Remus is just as tired as Roman is.”

“Yeah but, Logan, he might hurt himself if he’s too tired. Can’t we just... stop this?��

“I doubt either of them would allow that at this point. We simply need to... ride it out, so to speak. And provide him support from here.”

Patton whined, shifting to bury his face against Virgil’s neck. Virgil patted his shoulder awkwardly, watching in silence as Roman ducked in and out of view on the screen. Instead of a relatively open field like he’d made before, now he was growing a thick forest with a canopy so thick it cast dark shadows across the creative side’s face.

“What is he doing? Remus literally made a fire-breathing dragon last time, that forest is just going to burn!” Virgil said, crossing his arms. As he said it, Roman stumbled and fell, to loud gasps. There wasn’t sound from their viewing screens, but as the creative side stood back up they could hear him shouting and cursing in his Disney way as water dripped down his face and his clothes were soaking wet.

“I believe he’s already thought of that, Virgil.”

Despite himself, the anxious side couldn’t help but snicker.

“Idiot.”

~~~

Remus shifted his weight back and forth, tapping the handle of his morningstar impatiently. The time was nearly out, but he hadn’t seen his brother emerge from the dense forest he’d created.

He cocked his head and the corners of his mouth twitched into a devious grin. So, he wanted to play hide and seek? That was fine with him – he’d just have to smoke him out.

The timer hit zero and the signal blared. Remus raised an arm and shouted, sending his misshapen, vaguely humanoid army running forward. He heard cries of shock and disgust from the sidelines and smirked – they just didn’t appreciate the human body in its most natural form!

Remus put his fingers to his mouth and let out a shrill whistle, and after a moment the buzz of huge insect wings echoed from behind him. Without even looking, he hopped onto the giant dragonfly and lifted into the air, leading the charge towards the forest.

An unstable laugh ripped its way from his chest and Remus relished this feeling, of the adrenaline rushing through his veins and the wind tearing his hair every which way. He pointed down at the center of the forest and his mount rained fire onto the lush greenery below. The trees caught instantly, and Remus laughed as they turned from green to pure black, fading into dust and ash in their air. His brother was down there somewhere, and he would find him, and finally…

There was an explosion, and Remus nearly lost his balance as a geyser erupted right next to him, showering him with freezing water. His dragonfly mount dodged to the side, its wings damp and heavy. He looked down at the forest to see his glorious fire had all but disappeared, drenched by the multiple streams of water that had exploded into the air.

Remus sneered. Of course it wouldn’t be that easy. He shook his head and let water droplets fly before commanding the dragonfly to hover over the forest, jumping into a tree and climbing down to the forest floor.

It was quiet. The duke took a few steps forward, trying to see around the thick tree trunks. He snickered quietly to himself. That would be a good one for Thomas later.

His boots squished into a puddle of something and Remus lifted his boot to examine it. There was a watery black liquid seeping into his shoe, and the dark side realized that it was the dust of his creations that had mixed with the water from the geyser.

He looked around again. What had happened? He’d made his own army fireproof, so they couldn’t have burned from him, and there was nothing around here that explained what could have destroyed them.

The duke set his jaw. Well then, maybe his brother was capable of playing a little dirty. He grabbed his morningstar and rested it over his shoulder, following the faint buzz of insect wings to find his way out, using his weapon to whack any tree branches or loose brush out of his path.

Instead, Remus found his way into a clearing of trees, with a fake mesh of leaves cast over the top to disguise it from above. The trees surrounding the area were twisted together, branches forming a protective barrier to keep people out. But then, it also meant that it could keep people in.

“Oh Roman!~ I know you’re here! You’re just too predictable!” Remus called out, swinging his morningstar back and forth. “Come on, let’s just get this over with, you’re clearly not fit to be Thomas’s Creativity if you’re hiding from little old me!”

There was a laugh from across the clearing, and Remus saw a poorly defined shadow sitting in one of the trees. “I thought you were a little smarter than to just walk into something like this! I mean, come on Rem, this is obviously a trap!”

Remus heard a strange creaking from behind him and a tree branch suddenly snaked its way around his waist and lifted him off the ground. His morningstar clattered to the ground and he cursed wildly, flailing his legs to no avail. Of course, moving trees! That must have been what the whole forest was made of!

The prince hopped down from the tree and strutted over, hands on his hips and a triumphant smirk on his face. “I can’t believe that worked as well as it did. Seriously? I pulled this same trick when we were kids!”

Remus winced in pain, though he tried to hide it with a wide toothed smile. “Who says this isn’t exactly what I wanted to happen?”

Roman rolled his eyes and drew his sword, ready to end this fight.

Remus winced again, gritting his teeth. He kicked his feet forward and caught Roman’s shoulder, shoving him back. The momentum loosened the branch’s hold on his waist and he dropped out of its grip.

The dark side grinned, rolling and grabbing the handle of his morningstar. Roman stumbled, head snapping up just as Remus swung upwards, upper cutting his chin with the heavy weapon. Warmth blossomed in his mouth as he bit down hard on his cheek and blood poured onto his tongue.

Roman fell onto his back, head spinning. He blinked stars out of his vision and was met with a maniacal smile aimed down at him. Remus raised his morningstar above his head, and Roman willed his leaden limbs to move. He couldn’t let this happen – He was Prince Roman, he could not be defeated like this!

The prince twisted his entire body, using the momentum to throw his arm up and swipe at Remus with his sword. His grip was terrible, but it would do. Remus jumped back and dropped his weapon behind him, but he wasn’t fast enough as the blade’s edge ripped through him.

Literally, through him. Roman, expecting resistance and finding none, was carried by his momentum and rolled onto his stomach. He pushed himself to his knees and spat red into the grass, staring wide-eyed at his brother. “You just… I hit you! That’s not fair!”

“No you didn’t!” Remus laughed, dancing away and laughing. Roman stood slowly, unsteady on his feet and using his sword to stabilize himself.

“Yes, I did. How did you do that? My sword went straight through you!”

Remus shrugged, retrieving his morningstar. “You didn’t hit me, Roman, what can I say?” He smirked, slinging it over his shoulders.

The prince shook his head, prodding at his sore chin and checking for blood. “You can say that you cheated!”

“I didn’t cheat, there’s nothing in the rules about dodging an attack!”

“That wasn’t dodging, you went full on ghost mode! I didn’t even know we could do that!”

“You can’t…” Remus said under his breath. Then he huffed and rolled his eyes. “Fiiiine, if you really think I cheated, we’ll call this one a draw. And you know what? I’ll even let you take a break, you look like you’re ready to crawl into a hole and die.”

Roman growled, straightening his back despite his body’s protest. “Oh yeah? What’s the matter, scared that I’ll beat you like this?”

Remus just laughed and turned on his heel, waving an arm over the forest around him and making it disappear into dust that glittered in the wind. “Third times a charm, Roman, but who’s charm will it be?”

The prince watched his brother dissipate his creations, feeling weight lift from his body as the strain of keeping it up lightened. He sighed in relief, turning to go back to his friends and sit for a moment.

“Roman!” Worried voices called as he approached the pavilion, and he subtly tried to spit another mouthful of blood into the grass before he got too close. Patton ran up to him, checking over his face and wiping away the blood dripping down his chin with the edge of his cardigan sleeve.

“Pat, your sweater-“

“That’s not important! Roman, don’t ever do that again! I nearly passed out!” Patton scolded, though its impact was lessened slightly by the crack in his voice and tears in his eyes.

“Is your chest alright? I saw you holding it earlier.” Logan asked, stepping forward and pulling Patton away from his fussing calmly. Roman gently prodded the sore spot and nodded, wincing.

“Just a bruise, I don’t think anything’s broken.” Not that he would tell them if it was. He had to finish this, but if Patton knew he’d gotten hurt that bad, he’d drag Roman to his room and make him stay there for a week. Logan nodded, not fully convinced.

“And your head?” Virgil interjected. “I saw you spit blood, Princey, you’re not ok!”

“Yes, I am! That hit just made me bite my cheek and it bled a little, ok?” Roman opened his mouth to show them that the bleeding had already stopped. “I’m fine. I just need to sit for a minute and then I’m gonna kick his butt into next week!”

The other three shared a look.

“Roman, you... don’t have to do this alone.”

“I know I’m not as good with the Imagination as you are, but if I could just do something to help!” Patton pleaded. Roman shook his head, then groaned at the action.

“No... No, I can’t risk you guys getting hurt. Besides, this is between us. This is what everything’s been leading to, all these years. It’s the only fitting end for the two of us. Ever since we were kids...”

He trailed off. Patton bit his lip, glancing at Logan who sighed quietly. Virgil looked between the two of them, confused.

“This is my fight. I appreciate you guys wanting to help me, I do, but... this isn’t something you can really help with. We need to settle our differences, and this... is really the only way we know how.”

“Violence should not be the answer!”

“There is no other answer with Remus. What I need right now is to come up with a plan. A strategy. Logan?”

The logical side adjusted his glasses, taking in how battered and exhausted Roman looked. He was struggling to even stand - Logan doubted he was up for creating much more.

“Leave it to me.”

~~~

“You hesitated.”

Remus tilted his head at Obsession, who was staring at him evenly. “Whatever do you mean?”

“When you were standing over Roman. You could have finished it right there. But you didn’t.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement of fact. Deceit nodded, eyes narrowed as he tried to search Remus’s face for answers he was not going to give.

The dark side of creativity threw his head back and laughed. “I think you need your eyes checked, Obsession.”

The orange clad side adjusted his glasses. “I may be blind, but I’m not stupid. I know you, Remus, and I know what you’re capable of. You’re going easy on him.”

Remus just rolled his eyes and looked over at Deceit with an amused smile. “Can you believe him? Have I ever gone easy on anyone?”

Deceit smiled. “I’ve never seen it before. Tell me, do you have a plan for this round? You know, it’s cruel to keep dragging it out like this.”

Remus pursed his lips and shrugged. “I’ll just do whatever I feel like!”

“Nothing new then. Come on now, Obsession and I are getting incredibly bored over here, can’t you do something interesting?” Deceit leaned forward, chin in his hand. Remus tapped his morningstar against his hand, thinking, but as the other dark sides watched, the handle missed his hand and swung down to the ground. Remus stumbled, planting it on the ground to regain his balance and leaning against it.

No, Deceit realized. He didn’t miss catching it. It had gone straight through his hand. And now, Remus’s face seemed to be glowing. It took a moment to realize that it wasn’t his complexion, but rather the sun shining down and somehow through him.

“Well, I should get back to it. This will be the last round, so you two just sit tight, alright? This’ll be quick.”

“Are you sure this is what you want, Remus?” Obsession asked quietly. The dark side chuckled, turning away from them.

“You couldn’t have asked that a bit sooner? It’s a little too late to back out now. I’m out of time, we’re finishing this now!” The creative side turned and shouted to his brother in the pavilion, pointing back at the field with vigor. There was a call back, and Roman started back towards the field.

Deceit watched him walk away, morningstar swinging at Remus’s hip, and sighed. “Looks like you were right.”

Obsession stifled a snicker. “I think I just heard your ego shatter, Dee.” He then grew somber, watching Remus walk away. “That was it, wasn’t it?”

The lying side nodded, picking at the edge of his gloves. “We’re not going to see him after this.”

He hummed in agreement, pushing up his glasses and rubbing at his eyes. The side glanced at Deceit. “You gonna miss him?”

Deceit smiled. “Absolutely not.”

“Hmph. Liar.”

~~~

The twins agreed on fifteen minutes to prepare, and the onlookers noticed a distinct difference between their strategies. As soon as the timer started Roman had darted onto his own side and into his tower, hiding what he was creating from his brother.

Meanwhile, Remus was leisurely wandering around his side, absently growing a wall or creating a gruesome creature every so often. He carried an air of indifference, a change from his eagerness from before. He stood tall, but the dark sides sitting on the sidelines knew, perhaps instinctively, that something was off.

The former dark side sitting with Logan and Patton noticed it too. While his friends’ eyes were glued to the screen, watching Roman put his plan into action, Virgil kept his eyes locked on Deceit and Obsession.

He couldn’t tell exactly from where he was sitting, but the look on Deceit’s face almost looked… disappointed? Upset, even? It had to be an act, Virgil had never known the lying side to show his emotions clearly. Has Remus said something during the little break?

Deceit’s head turned towards the pavilion, and Virgil’s head snapped back to the screen, heart racing. Did he know he was being watched? No, it must have just been a coincidence.

Still though, he didn’t look back over after that. Just in case.

“Is he gonna make it?” Patton’s voice brought Virgil back to the present, and he glanced up at the screen.

“It’s going to be close... as long as he followed the structure I set, he should be fine. He should have created his most important pieces first. The rest is additional support.” Logan tapped his chin, eyes locked on the screen.

“Thirty seconds left...”

Roman looked up from his work and clapped his hands, smiling.

“He’s done!” Patton cheered, leaping from his seat and throwing his hands in the air. Virgil saw a small smile grow on Logan’s face.

“He’s still got to actually do the fight, you know, he’s not done yet.” Virgil added.

“Everything will be alright, Virgil.” Logan reassured before the bell rang out over the field, and they all leaned into the screen. This was it.

~~~

Roman’s chest was heaving. Even though he hadn’t created nearly as much as he had the past two rounds, his entire body was screaming at him to stop, to let it go and rest. He leaned heavily against the parapet, commanding his knights to march forward onto Remus’s side.

His brother’s side of the field was suspiciously barren; even with Roman’s lack of energy, he’d managed to create dozens more than his brother. Yet, the dark creative side wasn’t showing any signs of exhaustion or pain that Roman was feeling. He wasn’t even barricading himself in his tower!

Instead, he wandered around his side of the field casually, his morningstar stuck through his belt. Roman kept a careful eye on him as he sent his knights forward, taking out the few monsters blocking the way.

The dark side didn’t seem worried, and as Roman’s front lines advanced, he realized why.

An ear-splitting explosion rocked the Imagination, and both Roman and the spectators alike slapped their hands to their ears. The only one unbothered was Remus, who merely started laughing as he saw Roman’s first line of troops reduced to white dust.

The prince’s eyes widened. Shit, he had explosives planted? No wonder he didn’t have monsters above ground - the real danger was below!

His knuckles went white from gripping the stone of the tower. Logan had taken a lot of things into account but landmines hadn’t been one!

Roman closed his eyes, willing his army forward. He refused to split them into smaller groups, even though it would mean he would lose less to an explosion. As long as he could just get one group through, that would be enough.

Another explosion shook the field, and Roman winced at the puff of white smoke that rose into the air. Two down. It was fine, he mumbled to himself. His secret weapon was still in play.

A grotesque creature that looked to be part snake, part tentacled monster slithered up behind Remus. The dark side glanced back at it for a moment curiously. Roman’s heart was racing. Just a little more...

Remus turned away as another, smaller explosion shook the ground. As his eyes turned towards the horizon, the monster shifted into one of Roman’s white knights holding a morningstar high above its head.

Even if the dark sides had wanted to warn him, there wasn’t a moment to cry out before the knight swung, clocking Remus on the side of his head. The dark side’s eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed onto the ground, unmoving. A bell rang out after a few moments.

It was over. Roman had won.

The wall around the field dissipated, and the rest of the twins’ creations crumbled to dust, leaving Remus curled up on the ground and Roman bent over, breathing hard but still standing.

The light sides ran over to him, with Patton tacking Roman in a hug and lifting him off the ground. Roman groaned, his ribs screaming in agony.

“P-Pat! Easy! Chest!”

Patton gasped and let him down, hands moving to grip his arms carefully. “Sorry, kiddo! I’m just so proud of you!”

That nearly made Roman burst into tears right then and there, and he ducked his head to hide his face. “Thanks, padre. I... I’m... I did it.”

“Yeah, you did. Don’t do it again.” Virgil warned, hands in his pockets. Roman just laughed, slinging an arm around Virgil’s shoulders and bringing the anxious side into a one-armed hug.

“Aw, you can say you were worried about me, storm cloud!”

“Of course I was...” Virgil mumbled into his chest, returning the hug quickly before stepping back. Logan put his hand on Roman’s shoulder, a rare smile on his face.

“Well done, Roman.”

The creative side blushed - it was high praise from Logan. “Thanks, teach.”

“So, does this mean you’re Thomas’s only Creativity now?” Patton glanced over to the other side of the field, where Remus was lying. His voice was quiet. “What... what will happen to him?”

Logan pursed his lips. “It will not be good for Thomas to only have ‘good’ imagination,” he put air quotes around the word good. “It will be up to Roman to take over Remus’s responsibilities as well as his own.”

“But... Roman’s Thomas’s good creativity! How is he supposed to do that?!”

The logical side huffed. “Patton, I’ve said this before, but things are not that simple. Life is not black and white and although it might be a difficult task for Roman at the beginning, it will be dangerous for Thomas if he doesn’t!”

“Logan, Roman’s not going to be able to do that!” Virgil piped up.

Roman tuned his friends out, eyes darting between the dark sides still sitting on their blanket, and his brother lying on the ground. Somehow, it didn’t surprise him that Deceit and Obsession hadn’t moved from their spot, and seemed to not even be bothered that Remus was still unconscious on the ground.

Roman huffed, and held his head high as he walked over to his brother, who was staring up at the sky with a glassy expression. Roman leaned down and offered him a hand.

“Come on, get up.”

The dark side blinked. “What?”

Roman rolled his eyes, reaching down and grabbing his brothers hands, trying to pull him to his feet. “Would you rather lay there and get your outfit dirty? I’m trying to be nice.”

Remus allowed himself to be pulled into a sitting position, but refused to go any further. “Why?”

The light side huffed, hands on his hips. “Because that’s what a prince does, got it? It was a close game and I wanted to thank you. It was... fun.”

Remus blinked. “You... thought it was... fun?”

“Well, not all of it, but... well, it’s like you said. Old times, right?” Roman scratches the back of his neck, looking away as Remus got onto his feet unsteadily. “You fought well.”

The dark side stared at him, chest heaving. “I...”

Roman grinned, meeting Remus’s incredulous stare. “I can’t believe this, you’re actually speechless. You haven’t stopped talking since you showed up.”

“Roman...”

He opened his mouth to respond, but Remus suddenly threw his arms tightly around Roman’s shoulders, and the prince tensed.

“What are you doing? I swear to everything if you stab me in the back I will...”

A faint laugh echoed in Roman’s ear, and Remus tightened his hug. “Not this time.”

After a moment, Roman relaxed and gingerly returned it. After several more tense moments, another whisper, this time so faint Roman barely caught what was said.

“Take care of Thomas.”

It took a moment for the words to register in his mind, but as soon as they were uttered, Remus’s steadfast grip disappeared completely and Roman’s arms closed in on himself, going straight through the side he’d just embraced.

“Remus, what—!”

The dark side smirked, stepping back despite Roman’s desperate attempts to grab him again. “It’s time. Have fun being Creativity.”

Then, as if he were simply one of Roman’s own creations, he disintegrated into shimmering white dust, carried away from Roman’s frozen form on a gentle breeze.

“R-Remus? Hey, this isn’t funny! Get back here! You can’t just... that can’t be... that’s it? All that and you just leave?! Remus, show yourself!”

Roman shouted into empty air, grasping at the dust that floated lazily around him, desperately hoping that his brother would reform if he could just gather it all.

His eyes and chest burned. For years he’d been dreaming of this moment, when he would finally vanquish the evil within Thomas and bring peace. But this felt nothing like those daydreams, where he touted his victory and swore that the other dark sides would be next. He didn’t feel happy or excited by this.

He felt devastated. His breath started coming faster until he was hyperventilating. Roman’s legs were jelly and he collapsed into a heap on the plush grass.

Remus was gone.

Half of Thomas’s Creativity was gone.

His brother was gone.

As soon as that thought hit him, he found he couldn’t hold back the tears any longer, and he sobbed freely, crying and pleading for the world to please just bring his annoying, crude, selfish brother back.

~~~

Patton and Logan sprinted to Roman’s side as soon as he collapsed, Patton offering a shoulder to cry on for the distraught prince. Virgil, on the other hand, had a bone to pick.

The anxious side stalked over to the tattered picnic blanket where Deceit and Obsession were chatting amongst themselves, as if they were out and about on a stroll rather than being moments after their supposed comrade and friend was turned to dust. Virgil stopped in front of Deceit, glaring down at him with hate in his eyes.

“What’s wrong with you?!”

Deceit glanced up casually, pursing his lips. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“I knew you were a cold hearted bastard but even you have to feel something about all this! You just lost Remus! He’s gone! Why are you just sitting here!?”

“Crying and screaming about it isn’t going to bring him back.” Deceit answered.

“Besides, Remus knew what he was getting into when he challenged Roman. If anything, he got what he deserved.” Obsession added, pushing his glasses up. Virgil’s chest was about to explode from rage.

“Got what he deserved!? God damn it Obsession, I knew he was a cruel asshole but I thought you were capable of some goddamn empathy!”

Obsession shrugged. “He got what he wanted. I don’t see why I should feel sorry for him.”

“Oh, I believe he got even more than what he wanted, if you want my honest opinion.” Deceit was smirking now, hand over his heart. Virgil took a step back, suddenly on guard.

“What do you mean?”

Obsession gestured behind Virgil. “See for yourself.”

Virgil was loath to turn his back on these two very large threats, but when he heard a scream not of anguish but of pure agony, he whipped around and his blood ran cold.

Roman was curled in on himself, hands over his ears, mouth open in a scream that he couldn’t force out. Patton tried to touch him but Roman jerked away as if burned by the touch. Virgil couldn’t move, until Deceit hissed from behind him.

“You were just calling us cruel for standing by while our friend died, but look at you. Frozen like a deer in headlights while poor Roman is in absolute agony. That’s not a very friendlike thing to do, Virgil.”

Virgil swallowed nasty words that he wanted to hurl at both of them and took off in a sprint, ignoring the laughter behind him.

“Roman!!” The anxious side screamed as he ran, forcing himself to go faster. When he reached the prince, his hands flew to his mouth in shock.

On the creative side’s pure white back, there was a stain of oily black over his heart. And before Virgil’s very eyes it began to spread out, edges blurring as it consumed the creative side entirely.

Roman seized, sucking in a breath before his eyes rolled back into his skull and he crumpled into a heap in Patton’s arms, the pain becoming too much.

“Roman!!!”

[fanficsaremylifeline]

Mjölnir and the Cloak

On AO3:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21369289

*****

One afternoon. Just one quiet, normal afternoon was all Steve wished for. Was it too much to ask?

Apparently, yes.

Steve, Nat, Tony and Pepper were sitting in the living room, listening to Peter, who practised his poli-sci presentation on the diplomatic relationships the US has with other countries. It was really interesting and Peter, albeit a little nervously, did a bang-up job.

The kid was just about to move on to his conclusion, when the door flew open and Thor stormed in. “WHERE IS THAT WIZARD?”, he shouted and Steve could have sworn he heard thunder going off in the distance.

“I assume you mean Strange and I don't know”, Tony answered. “What seems to be the issue?”

“His damn cloak has run off with Mjölnir!”

Of all the sentences Steve had never thought he'd hear... It was dead silent, before everybody burst out laughing as if on cue.

“Omigod”, Nat wheezed, “this is priceless!”

“This is no laughing matter!”, Thor thundered and yep, this time Steve definitely heard thunder.

“Alright, alright.” Steve walked up to the god, gently putting his hand on Thor's arm, trying to calm him. “I'm sorry we laughed. Tony'll call Strange right away and then we can sort all this out. Ok?”

“Alright”, Thor agreed. “Please forgive my temper.”

“Don't sweat it, I'd be worried too if FRIDAY ran off with Steve's shield”, Tony grinned. “I'll call the doc and we'll have this sorted out in no time.”

But Tony didn't get the chance to call him. A sparkling golden portal opened up and Strange stepped into the room. He didn't grace the other Avengers with as much as a glance and turned right to Thor. “Where is it?”

“I could ask you the same, wizard!” So much for calming Thor down...

“Mr Thor, Mr Dr Strange, before you start fighting maybe tell us what happened?”

“His hammer decided to go for a spin with my cloak and...”

“It was your cloak that has taken Mjölnir!”, Thor interrupted him  and took a step towards Stephen. But, with only a flick of his wrist, Thor was frozen to the spot, only his eyes moving and boy did he look angry. The thunder getting closer could also no longer be a coincidence. Steve didn't blame him; that was a dick move.

“Stephen. That won't solve anything.”

The wizard just rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers. Thor was still glued to where he stood, but was able to voice his outrage. “WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? I AM THOR, SON OF ODIN, KING OF ASGARD AND GOD OF THUNDER!”

“Mr Thor?” Peter stepped out from behind Tony, who had pushed him away when it seemed like things would explode any moment now, and took the rigid hand of the god. “I'm sorry Mr Strange has frozen you, something I'm sure he'll reverse immediately”, he smiled up before turning to Strange and shooting him a relatively mad stare; definitely an unusual look on the boy.

“I apologize”, Strange grumbled and a wave later Thor was able to move again. “I suppose neither of us is at fault here.

“I agree”, Thor nodded and sat himself down, fidgeting nervously with his fingers.

“What is worrying you?”, Pepper asked. “I'm certain they're both fine.”

That was a weird thing being said about two objects.

“I'm not worried, it's just... Asgard can't be ruled by a piece of fabric!”, he blurted out.

Wait. Was that an option? Sure, whoever lifted the hammer possesses the power of Thor and the rights to the throne. But you had to be a proper sentient being to rule! The cloak did have a mind of its own, though... Oh, Steve was gonna get a headache.

“Thor, I assure you that my cloak does not intend to dethrone you.”

A piece of fabric with intentions...

“Let us retrieve them first before judging on their actions”, Thor decided.

“I suppose us mere mortals are out”, Nat threw in.

“Which means we have to wait for them to return, since I can't track the cloak. And I assume you cannot summon Mjölnir?”

“I cannot”, Thor nodded solemnly.

“So we wait”, Peter summarized and dropped down between Thor and Nat. “How about you tell us how things are going in New Asgard?”

And so the day passed, the Avengers just chatting away and, in the few moments Steve actually managed to forget their current situation, it did feel like an almost normal afternoon.

And then Peter jumped up, taking a defensive stance and looking out the window.

“What's going on, Pete?”

“Spidey Sense”, he whispered, keeping his eye on the window.

“I can see that. Does it specify what's coming at us?”, Tony clarified as the rest of the Avengers made themselves ready.

But before Peter could give an answer, the window was smashed and in flew a red tangle, landing in the middle of the common room.

“MJÖLNIR!”, Thor cried out before Steve even managed to realize what just happened; momentarily the familiar hammer flew up into Thor's hand. A few feet away, the cloak wrapped itself around Strange.

“And where have you been?”, the wizard scolded, and – as weird as it was to say that about a piece of clothing – it just shrugged.

Thor's approach was a little more endearing. “I'm happy to see you unharmed, my dear friend. I assume you and the wizard's cloak do have plenty in common and we should not stand in the way of your friendship.”

“Just don't disappear without letting us know, alright?”, Stephen added and the cloak nodded.

And Steve's chin was on the floor. He turned to the other more or less normal people next to him, who all looked similarly unsure whether to be astounded or amused. But there was no time to react.

“Well, I do have my companion back”, Strange smiled. “I should head back to the sanctum. Have a lovely afternoon.” And within moments, a portal flared up and disappeared again, and with it the wizard and his cloak.

“Yes, I too have urgent matters to attend to.” He smiled at the Avengers. “Thank you friends, for all your help.” And he strutted out himself.

“What the FUCK?”

“Steve!” Everybody turned to him with big eyes.

“You kiss your mother with that mouth?”, Nat snickered and Steve only rolled his eyes.

“Are we really more weirded out by me swearing than some cloak almost ruling an entire people?” Steve didn't believe this.

“To be fair”, Peter threw in with a skew smile, “it does happen a lot less frequent than some weird stuff with aliens and wizards...”

“Right.” Steve cleared his throat and, well. It would probably be best for Steve to put all that into the 'Weird Stuff' box of his brain. “How about you continue your presentation then?”

“With the greatest pleasure!”

[visionsofus]

Field Trips, Infinity Stones, and oh mY GOD IS THAT SPIDER-MAN?

CH1  |  CH2  |  CH3  |  CH4  |  CH5  |  CH6  |  CH7  |  CH8  | AO3

| CHAPTER 9 - betrayal and broken ones | 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Instinctively, Peter’s hands shot upwards, trying to grab onto anything that would stop his fall, but it was too late. As he dropped, he got the uncomfortable feeling that his stomach had been left behind and while it was a funny feeling to have on a rollercoaster, it was not as pleasant when you were about to fall to a fiery end.

Before Peter could do the whole ‘last thoughts’ thing which inevitably probably wouldn’t have been as grand as he would have liked, the wind was knocked out of him as the iron spider suit hit him square in the back. At record speed, it unravelled over his skin, a little uncomfortable considering it was going over his regular clothes, but the suit seemed to try and shift to accommodate them.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Peter yelled enthusiastically and pointed his wrist upwards, shooting a web to break his fall and swinging past his backpack grabbing it right before it fell into the inferno below. “You never disappoint, Karen.” Peter said as he landed on the floor, he had thrown Flash onto not long ago.

“Naturally, Peter.” Karen’s voice replied in his helmet. “Hostiles are currently contained to Alpha Vault 3 and Ms Potts is trying to get inside but it appears they have barricaded the doors.”

“Alright, let me get Flash down to the others and then I’ll try and work something out with Pepper.” Peter said walking over to Flash who was still unconscious. “By the way, is he ok?”

Peter’s suit did a scan of Flash and brought up a replica of Flash’s vitals on the screen before his eyes. “I believe that he has a mild concussion and bruising to his shoulder and back but nothing severe.”

“Alright, that’s good then.”

“The bruises will likely be painful.” Karen added.

“I didn’t ask.” Peter said but he grinned anyway as he hoisted Flash up and into a fireman’s lift.

“You thought it though.”

“What floor is MJ on now, has she reached the rest of the class?” Peter asked, striding out the door of the destroyed lab and towards the stairwell near the lifts. With the hand that wasn’t braced against Flash’s back he webbed up his backpack strap to stop it from tearing any more than it already had.

“Based on the limited access that I have to back up security cameras, Michelle and your classmates are currently on floor 6.” Karen told him as he reached the top of the stairs and peered down between the flights. Nothing like 11 floors to get the blood pumping before having to tackle six bad guys.

“Well, all in a day’s work, I guess.” Peter said shrugging and started to take the stairs two at a time.  

The time allowed Peter to think up what he was going to say to MJ so that she wouldn’t suspect anything. He wasn’t sure what he would say if she asked about how Peter had asked for his suit whilst hanging from a water pipe fifty feet in the air and what exactly the ‘suit’ was. It wouldn’t necessarily take a genius to connect the dots… and MJ pretty much was a genius. Perhaps she would’ve forgotten that part because of shock or something? Peter knew it was wishful thinking.

“S-Spider-Man?” Flash mumbled from behind Peter’s shoulder.

“You bet.” Peter said, deepening his voice a little to make him sound different, though he doubted Flash was in any condition to ID him. Flash mumbled something unintelligible and then stopped talking and Peter wondered whether he had passed out again.

According to the time on his suit interface, it took Peter one minute and 12 seconds to get down to his classmates, who had now reached Floor Four and counting.

Peter caught up with them in the stairwell.

“Ahem.” He cleared his throat and gave a little wave as half the class and Mr Harrington turned to look back at him.

“Spider-Man!” Ned said gleefully.

“I believe this belongs to you.” Peter said walking a few more steps to Mr. Harrington, unshouldering Flash and passing him off to his teacher.

“Right… yes thank you.” Mr Harrington said guiltily, “Is he alright?”

“Just a concussion… but he should probably see a medic.” Peter added hastily, naturally a concussion was ‘just a concussion’ to him at this point. Peter had legitimate concern for the number of brain cells he himself had lost from hitting his head too hard during fights, but he supposed the situation was more critical for Flash considering the lack of brain cells he seemed to have begun with. Dammit if Flash had been awake that would have been a really good joke.

“What about Peter!” MJ said and bounded back up the stairs to him. “He was with Flash.”

“He’s fine, I uh…” Peter faltered despite having rehearsed his tale down eleven flights of stairs, “I got him out too, but he insisted on helping the civilians still upstairs, brave guy.” Peter wanted to slap himself for that last part. “Ned, good to see you again, Peter asked you to hold onto this and take very good care of it.”

Peter handed Ned his backpack and watched Ned beam as his classmates began to whisper:how does he know Spider-Man?

“Alright then,” Peter said dusting his hands off now that he had handed his cargo off. “You all head out of the building while we handle the situation up here.”

At that exact moment Flash managed to get his eyes open, groaning from where he hung supported by Mr Harrington and one of his friends. Peter rounded the next flight of stairs just in time to hear Flash’s enthusiastic, “oh mY GOD IS THAT SPIDER-MAN?”

Peter grinned as he leapt up onto the railing, gave a wave to the students who craned their necks out to watch him. He shot a web upwards and used it to pull himself up past flights of stairs.  

“Ms Potts has successfully breached Alpha Vault 3.” Karen informed Peter when he reached Level 15 and burst out the stairwell doors and onto the main floor.

“Shall I activate instant kill?” Karen asked.

“Nah, let’s see what we’re up against first.” Peter said as he jogged down the corridor towards the door at the end. It was, or rather had been, a heavy-duty steel alloy structure but was now lying a few feet away on the ground, having been blown out by an explosion. “Can you link me into the Rescue suit so I can communicate with Pepper?”

“Done.”

“Hi Pepper.” Peter said hesitantly as he stepped through the doorway, dodging pieces of rubble.

“Peter, what happened to your tour?” Pepper said, her voice drowned out in the middle by a loud boom.

“Oh, you know, something came up.” Peter said when he reached her.

Pepper was standing with her hands raised, pointed in the direction of another set of what seemed to be, impenetrable doors. She turned to look at him, “Good to see you changed your mind about the suit.”

“I can take care of this now if you’d like,” Peter said hesitantly, shying away from her comment. He wasn’t so sure he could ‘take care of it’ as such but wanted to offer nonetheless. What with Morgan and Happy still in the building and everything that had happened last month he wasn’t sure how involved Pepper wanted to be in the whole superhero scene.  

“I appreciate it Peter, but this is my company, my work and nobody threatens myfamily.” Pepper said fiercely.

“Ms Maximoff, Princess Shuri and Dr Banner have arrived at the premises, I have brought an elevator back online to escort them up.” Friday said speaking up from both Pepper’s suit and Peter’s.

“Friday, I just ran down eleven flights of stairs, you didn’t tell me you could do that!”

“Now isn’t the time, Peter.” Pepper said as the doors trembled. “They need to come out one way or another, it’s just a question of when. Friday, any update on what sort of weapons they have activated?”

“I am unsure, my entire system is offline behind those doors, whoever blew out Arc Output 2c knew what they were doing.”

“An inside job?” Peter asked and saw Pepper tilt her head.

“It better not be.” She said and without warning shot two blasts, one after the other at the doors before them.

“Karen, shocker webs charged please.” Peter said hearing the clicks from his wrists as the suit readied itself. At least with the iron spider suit he didn’t have to worry himself with replacing web fluid, the suit seemed to produce it on command. Peter wished that he had taken the time to study the suit in the last month and mentally kicked himself for letting his emotions prevent him from understanding his own weapon.

Pepper shot another round of pulses at the door but all they did was make dents in the metal.

“Friday, max power.” Pepper said and Peter stepped back as he heard the familiar sound of the arc repulsors building in energy. They went off with a blast and Peter threw his hands up instinctively as the doors exploded. He waited for some sort of impact, but none came.

“Heads.” Wanda Maximoff said, and Peter spun around in time to see her scarlet energy pulling what remained of the doors over their heads and behind her, past where Shuri was standing.

“Sorry we’re late.” Shuri said.  

“Bruce has gone up to try and get your systems back online so that your AI can do… whatever it is that she does.” Wanda said her powers crackling as the group stepped forward through the hole in the doors that Pepper had just created.

“Well then, let’s get rid of these bastards.” Pepper said and then looked to her companions and though Peter couldn’t see her facial expression he could guess it, “and ladies, no casualties… and Peter. I want to know why they’re here first.”

“Naturally. This is just a little hiccup compared to what we are used to.” Wanda said shrugging and raising her hands, power dancing around her fingers. They made their way past more steel doors, leading off into rooms Peter didn’t even know existed.

“Alright miss high and mighty.” Shuri joked and Wanda smiled in response.

“Shock webs charged and engaged.” Karen informed Peter and he readied his hands as they came to the end of the corridor and where the carnage began. The explosion of Arc Output 2c above them had blown through to the floor below, as it had done to the two floors above it.

Beyond the destruction was another room and inside it Peter could see the six hostiles Friday had mentioned earlier.

“Don’t use anything explosive, some of the artefacts in that room are highly reactive.” Pepper yelled and together the group of Avengers went on the offensive. Pepper made it into Alpha Vault 3 first, bashing the first guy over the head. Wanda and Shuri went in together. Shuri had disengaged her blasters but that didn’t make her any less lethal as she drew out two Vibranium daggers.

Peter was last and felt his stomach drop immediately when he got a better look at who was inside the room… Daniel. Daniel, his Launchpad mentor. Peter’s mind flashed back to less than two hours earlier at lunch when he had seen a group of students by the elevators, he recognised their faced among the other people in the room. What had Daniel done?

Peter ducked as Tony’s trademark repulsor tech was turned on him, he was not used to being on the receiving end. Each of the six appeared to have taken a piece of Stark weaponry, all arc powered, and were turning it on the Avengers. Karen scanned the weapons and immediately brought up their specs on his interface, which Peter read rapidly. It seemed they weren’t new tech. Tony had created them for S.H.E.I.L.D but had, luckily, never had the chance to distribute them. As such they had been confined to Alpha Vault 3 to be forgotten about, or at least that was what was supposed to have happened.

Peter dodged as another blast shot past him, taking out a portion of the wall behind him.  

“Hostiles identified.” Karen said. “Peter-“

“I know.” Peter said. Seeing that Pepper had already taken out one of the girls and Wanda and Shuri had the rest relatively under control, he kicked off the wall, spinning and aiming his foot at Daniel’s shoulder.

“Just let us take the damn stones!” Daniel yelled, turning his weapon on Peter and meeting him mid-air. “We’ll give them back afterwards!”

“We don’t have them!” Peter yelled back angrily. Almost everyone had heard of the sacrifice that the Avengers had gone through to get the stones and then return them. So what made these six so desperate that they’d risk that kind of sacrifice?

“Liar!” Daniel snarled. The hatred with which he yelled sent shivers through Peter.

Peter flipped to dodge another blast and without looking sent a shock web at one of the guys who was about to fire on him again. The web encased his chest, sending shocks to what Peter knew were his key pain receptors, bringing him to his knees in pain.

Peter had never seen Daniel like this before. Just earlier they’d had a perfectly easy conversation, Daniel had been sympathetic even. What had made him become like this?

“No more of that thanks.” Peter snapped, wishing that he could talk to Daniel instead of fighting him. Peter shot a regular web and tugged the weapon from Daniel’s hand and threw it up to the roof, shooting a web to keep it in place.

“I just need to get him back…” Daniel said dropping to his knees and raising his hands. “Please… just let us have the stones.”

Peter’s heart dropped and he stood before Daniel as the fight came to an end almost as quickly as it had begun. The other assailants, most of whom didn’t look to be much older than him had been apprehended and were gathered in a corner, Wanda, Shuri and Pepper standing before them, a force formidable enough to make anyone surrender.  

“Afraid the stones don’t work that way.” Peter said bitterly as he grabbed Daniels’ raised hands and pulled them behind his back, webbing them for good measure. Peter stood Daniel up and one by one shot each of the other hostiles, webbing their wrists together. There was no way they were getting through that stuff any time soon. From the looks of their faces, it didn’t seem like they were even keen to try. They had already given up.  

“Let’s get them out of here.” Pepper said, her helmet rising up to reveal her face. “Friday has authorities out the front.”

Peter rode the lift that Friday had gotten back online with the three Avengers and their recently apprehended hostiles all the way back down to the ground floor of Stark Industries. It was a solemn journey and Peter itched to ask Daniel. But there was little that he could say without risking his identity by being too familiar with his friend. Luckily Pepper spoke up as they went past the eighth floor.

“You’ve been a loyal and hardworking employee at this company for a decade, what made you decide to go rogue now?” Pepper said, her voice cold as she refused to look at Daniel.

“You think I enjoyed being stuck down there in with the interns? I only stayed there because it made me invisible. Invisible enough to steal a clearance card when the time came. Everyone got everything back after the snap.” Daniel muttered. “But there were people who lost everything because of the snap and then lost more after it. My fiancée died because he lost his sister and parents to the Decimation. Said he couldn’t live without his family… I was supposed to be his family.” Daniel spat the last bit out. “Those stones brought everyone else back so we figured that they could help us out again. Everyone here lost people who didn’t get brought back. Do you know what it’s like to watch everyone get their lives back knowing that you aren’t going to see your loved ones ever again?”

Pepper was silent for a moment. “Yeah I do.” Her voice was raw and broken as she stormed out of the lift, pushing two of the assailants before her out onto the ground floor. “But you don’t see me going crazy.”

“Probably didn’t care enough then.” One of the guys muttered under his breath and Pepper spun around in a fury, but Peter was quicker to retaliate.

At that comment he shoved Daniel to the floor and turned on the guy who had said it. Wisely, Wanda let go and let Peter at him. He wasn’t a looker, with a nose that had been broken a few times and a blonde buzz cut done so unevenly it looked like he had used garden sheers.

Peter’s helmet slid back to reveal his face. “Say it again.” Peter yelled slamming the assailant up against the wall beside the elevator.

“Peter.” Pepper said quietly.

“Say… it… again.” Peter said slowly, his fists coiled in the high school blazer the guy was wearing, clearly not his own. He had to be at least 5 years too old.

“You didn’t care enough.” He spat in Peter’s face and with a furious yell and a burst of strength Peter threw him 25 feet across the room, sending him sprawling on his back with a crash. It was either that or Peter would have broken his nose another couple of times.

“Peter…” Shuri said as Peter’s mask closed over his face again. Peter wasn’t sure if he had teared up, it felt like he had but the automatic temperature gage of the suit that stopped him from sweating too much probably got rid of whatever moisture may or may not have fallen onto his cheeks.

“I’m fine.” Peter said and pulled Daniel to his feet, who was now gaping at Peter in surprise. Daniel now knew his identity, but Peter couldn’t bring himself to care. “Walk.”

“There they are!” Someone yelled from the crowd that had gathered outside of Stark Industries, mostly consisting of employees but also a considerable amount of press, cameras raised to attention.

“We’ll be taking these guys off your hands now.” A sergeant said, stepping up to the Avengers and gesturing for his officers to take them away. “Neat stuff you got here,” he said indicating Peter’s web on one of the criminal’s wrists, “reckon you could lend some of that to the force?”

“No can do,” Peter said, trying to put on a light attitude, “it’s one of a kind I’m afraid.”  

“You better head off for now, the press is going to have questions for you if you don’t leave.” Pepper said quietly and Peter nodded, slipping through the crowd before anyone else could approach him. Wanda and Shuri followed, dodging people who were luckily too focused on what was happening with Pepper to pay them any attention.

“Well that was a bit of a mess.” Shuri said flicking her wrists, sending the Vibranium daggers somewhere into the Kimoyo beads she wore around her wrist.

“You alright?” Wanda said looking at Peter who was peering over the crowd and trying to pick out his class. He needed his backpack to put the suit back in before anyone saw him.

“I’ll be ok.” Peter said shrugging.

“Peter!” Cried a little voice and Peter turned to see Morgan scampering up to him, a puffing Happy in hot pursuit.

“Oohh hey kiddo, are you ok?” Peter said lifting her up as she reached them.

“When Peter has his mask on, we don’t say his name remember Morgan?” Happy puffed once he reached them.

“Shhhh.” Morgan said pressing a finger to her lips and Peter mimicked the motion, smiling as he did.

“Peter Parker!”

Peter put Morgan down, turned around and had the breath knocked out of him by May who had just stormed through the crowd. She enveloped him in a tight hug.

“Peter!” Morgan echoed and pointed up to him. Happy shushed her again, picking her up.

“Honestly, would it kill you to have one normal high school field trip?” May said drawing back to get a good look at him.

“Tell me about it.” Peter said laughing. “What are you doing here?”

“I came up early for the memorial, and lucky I did!”

“Hello again” Shuri said hesitantly and May jerked her head to look at Peter’s companions in surprise.

“Oh, May, this is the Princess of Wakanda and Wanda Maximoff, you sort of met them last month.” Peter said looking to the two women beside him. “And you obviously already know Happy and Morgan.”

“Nice to meet you… again…” May said shaking their hands slowly and uncertainly. “Hey sweetie.” May then said smiling warmly at Morgan, or at least Peter hoped she was and not at Happy.  

“We’ll let you get on,” Wanda said catching sight of Bruce who had just exited SI and had been met with a flurry of camera flashes. “I’ll probably see you later at the memorial.”

Peter nodded, “thanks for all your help.”

“Anytime.” Wanda said smiling.

“Oh, and Peter, how did it go with those beads I gave you? Did they give that bully a bit of a shock?” Shuri said hopefully and May looked at Peter with a quizzical brow raised.

“I didn’t get the chance to give them to him, but he ended up getting a concussion and some bruises so—"Peter shrugged to finish his sentence.

“Wait don’t tell me that you still have them on you then.”

“Yeah why—” Peter began before his heart lurched as he felt a warm burning sensation begin in his right-hand pocket. “Gah!” Peter exclaimed, falling to one knee and throwing his head back in pain as the bead seemed to react with some part of his suit and electricity crackled through it.

“System overload, too much energy is being inputted into the suit’s main power receptors, disengaging.” Karen said and Peter gritted his teeth at the electricity that charged through him. When the suit had drawn back enough, he reached into his pocket but found nothing there, whatever the beads had been they had apparently disintegrated upon detonation. He picked the suit up gingerly as it smoked slightly.

May helped Peter to his feet as he coughed, the burning feeling fading eventually.

“Ahhh… sorry about that.” Shuri said, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. “I didn’t think you would still have them on you, they aren’t supposed to be that strong though…”

“Must have had something to do with my suit.” Peter said as the suit failed to fold itself up into the small box that it usually did. “Damn.” He said turning the smouldering suit over in his hands.

“Next time, just don’t take anything Shuri gives you.” Wanda said shaking her head.

“Hey, that’s strike one, three strikes and I’ll tamper with Vision’s new interface so that he autocorrects ‘I love you’ to all three minutes of ‘what does the fox say’.” Shuri retaliated.

Wanda made a face and stalked away, Shuri running after her and spouting apologies.

“Crazy day, huh?” May said putting an arm around Peter and turning to look back at the crowd that had gathered outside SI.

“Sure was.” Peter said folding his suit into thirds to the best of his ability. “Can you get my backpack off of Ned?”

“Sure thing.” May said, squeezing Peter’s shoulder once and heading off in the direction of his class. Morgan squirmed out of Happy’s arms and was off again, running through the crowds back to her Mom. Happy gave a tremendous sigh but smiled at Peter nonetheless as he jogged off after her.

While he waited, Peter turned his gaze up to the building before him, peering up to his lab. Even his eyes couldn’t see inside it, but he could see which level it was, the glass’s opacity was similar to that of Pepper’s offices on the top floor. He looked from the lab down to his suit but didn’t have much time to put his feelings into thoughts before May had returned and was handing him the backpack.

“You better get over there, they’re all worried about where you’ve been.” May said jerking her heading the direction she had just come from as Peter stuffed the suit into his bag. “You can tell me all about whatever just happened afterwards. We’ll go get something good to eat.”

“Thanks May.” Peter said hugging his aunt as she pressed a kiss to his cheek.

Peter ran a hand through his hair and straightened his Midtown blazer, trying desperately to make it seem like he hadn’t just been in fight, or mildly electrocuted for that matter.

“Parker,” Mr Harrington said, “thank god you’re ok.” Peter blinked in surprise, he had been expecting reprimand for not staying with the rest of the class. “You wouldn’t believe the paperwork,” Mr Harrington muttered to Abigail who looked sideways at the teacher in concern and edging away.

“Hey man.” Ned said coming up to clap Peter on the back. “You ok?”

“All fine.” Peter said smiling at Ned.

“Where were you.” MJ said from behind, tapping him on the shoulder. Peter was disappointed to find her face stony and arms folded. Perhaps if he hadn’t told her that ‘peter parker’ was ‘fine’ then this reunion might have been a little more heartfelt.

“Oh y’know,” Peter said scratching the back of his neck. “I came down with Happy after getting some of the employees off of the top floors.”

“But I didn’t see you with him.”

“I was… I just ahh- I bumped into May and you know she was all freaking out and stuff.” Peter scrambled for words as MJ’s eyes bore into him.

“Aright.” MJ said, relenting her interrogation. “Considering I last saw you hanging for your life from a pipe this is definitely an improvement.”

“Do I get a hug?” Peter said hopefully, not really thinking before he spoke.

“What? You think your existence deserves a hug from me?” MJ said indignantly but settled for a one-armed embrace that Peter could have sworn lingered a moment longer than it should have.

Peter grinned and looked sideways at Ned who was giving him a not so subtle thumbs up.

Together Peter and MJ moved forward with the rest of the class to watch the procession of assailants be escorted to cop cars.

“Guess you and Spider-Man really are friends then.” MJ said glancing at Peter’s bag and the web that was holding one of the straps in place.

“I told you.” Peter said shrugging and keeping his eyes on each of the six criminals as they were escorted into custody. His eyes lingered sadly on Daniel, wishing that there was something that he could do and wondering how things had gone so wrong.

Peter’s eyes drifted to the final one, the guy with the dodgy nose and bad buzz cut. It was terrible timing apparently, because at that moment his eyes caught sight of Peter and they locked on him in determination as he twisted his head out of the cop’s grasp.

“That’s him, that’s Spider-Man!” He yelled and people around them turned to look at Peter before being drawn back to the action as the guy was thrown up against the vehicle, his hands properly cuffed this time.

“Dumbass,” Flash said from where he was sitting at an Ambulance, ice pressed to the back of his head. “I’ve met Spider-Man and he certainly isn’t Penis Parker.” Peter decidedly, ignored the comment.

“Any idea what he’s talking about?” MJ said nodding in the direction of the assailant and the cop cars, whose lights were now flashing as they edged their way through the crowd and out into traffic.

“No clue.” Peter said shrugging but standing a little taller, casting one last glance up to the Lab on level 27.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 NEXT > CH10

[theinsanecrayonbox]

KP finally finishes Gifted s2

gave up on this back when FOX was stupid and Marvel had me jaded (still does but meh). so here’s the final 3 episodes and my incoherent babble about them i guess, after not watcing the show or nearly a year and only having my previous babble session as a refresher about what’s going on

Episode 14:

 for once the “previously on dbz” segment is needed since,. yeah been almost a year since i’ve watched this...whoops

heeeey opening flashback! i forgot the format of this show...-.- oh hey not-Graydon...you know his comment about “freaks to teleport me through traffic” would’ve been funnier if he was Graydon, since Kurt is technically his sibling...as is Clarice... just saying.

oh right, Lauren was dosed with serum. well, at least it’s working right, really screwing her up. but again, Mom is the only rational and logical one.

how are sewers large enough for a tent metropolis? but oh hey, she knows about past Morlocks hm??? maybe cause some Mauraders action...hm??? or something they previously established with the Brotherhood or not-Bishop explained that i can’t remember, whatever. i’m just happy to see Blink. and the Morlocks have a network to places...like Pittsburgh? i thought they just live din NYC...ok in this story it’s just DC because that’s where we’re set ok, but still...

wait not-Graydon is making Sentinel Guy do the Mauraders plotline?? ooo...

is the Hellfire building CGI? that..looked badly shaded...and Lorna’s hair still looks stupid...though Andy’s hair does too...why do the bad guys have bad fashion sense?

i hadn’t forgotten how Mary Sue the Struckers were though...uhg...but hey don’t sweat it Mom, if Moira McTaggert’ taught us anything, you’re never the only non-mutant in the pro-mutant side; turns out you’l end up being one all along eventually.

oh good back to Blink. please don’t flirt with not-Bishop though. just...go fight Purifiers, since that was backstory for you, ok, that’s way better than flirting. wait Gabby? uh...when’d Blink get blue in her hair?

wait Cop Man, were they dead when you found them, or did you...overall though, i am really liking the atmosphere of the Purifer’s tunnel raid. the mood and tension are great, and the cinematography is doing a good job at keeping it. it’s a shame the editor feels the need to cut back to sunny Hellfire tower to break the atmosphere...but hey

oh don’t get cocky Morlock guys...and grenade, yup cocky. but again, the lighting and mood of everything in the tunnels is really good. the power effects not so much...but tv budget. and i had actually forgotten not-Bishop had a lazer eye O.o

dang Mom you are still best OC here

nooooo you shot Blink!!! baby girl nooooooo. idc about Sentinel Guy’s burst of conscious at “wait there are mutant children?” you shot best girl Blink. boo on you

Episode 15:

flashback time yay -.- but Blink! won’t make me forget you shot her since the recap ended on that...but hey tell me more about her past please, i really want to know why she doesn’t think she’s best girl. just saying “i was with the brotherhood and i didn’t like it” doesn’t cut it...and John no, you’re not allowed to give out redemption to everyone unless they are convenient to your aesthetic or philosophical interpretation, that’s why Krakoa preaches

John you don’t have time to fight not-Bishop out of grief ok. you were a ranger, you should realize that.

wait, so Reeva’s the one to blame for the council of stupid on Krakoa? that...actually makes sense, since she’s done tones of hypocritical last minute rule changing plans. weird.

really, my joke about Sentinel Guy’s heel turn was right? he honesty never realized that there were mutant children? i...wow

hey Lorna’s tiara. it makes her hair slightly less stupid looking. makes her outfit a tad stupid though...she should have more of that green popping somewhere, like her knives or a wrist band, or something.

really John just stayed there punching a wall and no cops found him? bad writing.

oooo is Dad gonna fry Cop Man?? sorry, disintegrate, i forgot what he did. and holy crap he did-sweet!

there are a lot of dutch angles in this episode...

oh Lauren don’t turn on your Mom, c’mon! why is no one thinking realistically?

hehe Cuckoos and fashion joke...although why did they get a pop of color elsewhere...or were the boots white just to point out the dirt

“do you think we can mind control our way to a mutant homeland” hm...should i just put in a cut off now for shots at Krakoa?

Mom you’re the only one with a brain! don’t sacrifice yourself because “i has no powers”

gasp! Sentinel Guy *SEES* a mutant child, now he knows for reals they exist. i’m sorry but this heel turn for him is stupid. i get the “i never saw them as *people* and now i do” but the way it’s framed is, as i’ve said “wait there are mutant CHILDREN?? O.o” and that is just bad writing

i swear, if Lorna trying to save Andy gets her killed, i will hate the Wonder Twins even more forever. but at least i agree with his “well her plan sounds stupid” when he learns the truth. they could’ve colored Lorna’s zippers the metallic green, that would’ve tied her costume together...sorry distracted

Lauren’s shield looks like bubble wrap...and she’s super pouty wth?

ok the Dad-Andy monster talk was really good...ruined by Lauren’s stupid face inserts sure, but the talk was really good.

hey back to not-Graydon and Sentinel Man. ah yes, i knew killing Cop Man would just switch Sentinel Man back in the end, that is also why his little epiphany was so annoying, because ultimately it was pointless.

aw man sappy music when the OC Family gets back together...yeah ok, but still i’ll groan a bit because uhg. but ooo Lorna comes back to Marcos too ok now it’s less groany (but still overly cheesey and neon annoying). do kinda like John on the roof...too bad the over the top music drones it out a bit.

Episode 16:

the finale! i don’t...know what to expect going into this, other than Blink pops in at the end and might be Exiles Blink?

hey the last time shows the reunion scene would’ve worked well without the over the top music. huh

oh the flashback is the 7/15 event. heh Hawks News, instead of Fox, heh. but otherwise...meh, mandatory flashback

so their plan is, use the Uber Mary Sue Wonder Twins to destroy a skyscraper. i...sure, what else can we expect from the Strucker Show (maybe Dad will sacrifice himself and do it all on his own, that’d be a neat-yet obvious-twist)

you can tell John’s depressed cause his hair isn’t floofy anymore ^^;;;

again, Mom’s the only one with thinking ahead skills.

oh, we’re getting spliced in flashbacks...yeah Dad’s gonna die.

Cuckoos! srry, still one of the best parts of any episode. and our dear Esme is starting to turn...

oh John’s going Warpath on us with his face paint (yes he’s Thunderbird, i know). the John vs Sentinel Guy thing might be a bit much, but this is an awesome fight for John...even if he is being a fool and self sacrificial.

at least it was a commercial break that broke the energy of the fight scene, and not just a scene change. also, more flashback, i’m even more convinced Dad is gonna die.

did they dye Andy’s hair so he and Lauren would look more twinny? that’s stupid...and a point i probably already made...

hm...since Bishop is from the future, are they implying that Erg is his ancestor? (though that fails to track with the timeline of DoFP IF this is the same continuity of course)

ooooooo John said it, he is Thunderbird...and i think his face paint changed between shots because that white line wasn’t there by the dumpster scene...whoops

oh don’t tell me the power of friendship is going to save the day. oh good, no, just the standby of “kill the evil cuckoos”

well the Wonder Twins are down for the count, so even more thinking Dad’s gonna die to blow up the Hellfire building...wait...you can’t control your powers when Reeva sonic screams? well Dad has no control-PERFECT!

wow there are a lot of power fights here. no wonder the affects in other episodes sucked, they spent the budget on the finale lol

hey Dad has the same plan i did. again, the writing telegraphed that was the ending...but still, i give Dad credit, he has grown as a character. the flashback doesn’t help though it just spells it out “this is best OC love him he is best ever” which...yeah, this show does that with the Struckers, we’ve covered that a millions times by now

i wonder if Dad touched himself would be disintegrate? also, shouldn’t his kids be safe, since same strain of X-gene are supposed to be immune...or does that only apply to certain power types?

not to play it down, but yup, dad exploded. if it wasn’t so thrown at you that that was how it’d end from, the start, then this moment might’ve had more impact...also the moment itself was kinda “you knew this was coming, there it’s done”

hey Esme’s on their team now, neat! i thought she’d be independent.

heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey Blink’s back! but she had a collar on her coat that was reminiscent of her AoA costume, and she opened a portal to a place with burning fire...kinda like the DoFP setting/AoA, and she never addressed anyone by name, just a general “come with me”....so yeah, that was totally Exiles Blink, and not the Blink of this story. that’s really kinda awesome.

too bad we won’t be following up on that since there’s no plans for season 3. but...it was an ok way to end i guess. it closed off the story for our main people, and we all know that it’ll never end with a “and they all lived happily ever after in peace and harmony” because it’s Xmen. it opens the door for other stories to happen in the same setting...and leaves the big hole about Blink at the end, but yeah...

but now it’ll never be followed up probably because disney/marvel thinks the Xmen are the Inhumans now *shrugs* whatever, i finally finished The Gifted, i can check that off my To-Watch List

[moonnfairie]

defying gravity | ch 2

defying gravity, chapter 2

genre: angel!jimin, soulmate au

pairing: reader x jimin

word count: 6,011

warnings: slightly aggressive drunken behavior

summary: Your life had been a series of events that you had to face alone, leaving you to lead an independent yet lonely life. Come the day of your birthday, things take an unexpected turn given a twist of fate and an encounter with your saving grace, someone who just happens to be your angel in disguise.

ch 1 / ch 2 / ch 3

He’s staring at you with wide eyes for a few seconds, as if he’s discovered something the world has yet to find, then shortly after, his eyes shrink into crescent moons and displays a perfectly beautiful smile with his plump lips. You’re practically breathless at the sight, frozen like a deer in headlights. Thank god you closed your register or else people behind him would be yelling at your face to come back to Earth by now.

With a quick deep breath, Jimin’s expression changes yet again into something so gentle, so sweet, as he gets closer to where you stand and says

“These must belong to you then.”

“I’m sorry?”

Did you hear that correctly?

You step back aghast, turning the other way to hide the heat that crawls up your face. Is this insanely ethereal man, let alone insanely ethereal stranger, just messing with you?

Noticing he might’ve been too forward, Jimin nervously giggles while running a hand through his hair. “No, I’m sorry, miss-” he squints to read your name tag “-Y/N. I guess I have a thing or two to learn about appropriate pick up lines.”

He leans down and tilts his head in attempts to make eye contact with you, frowning at the still flustered expression on your face. “I promise I’m not a stalker or anything of the sort. I just” he pauses and takes a deep breath “think you’re very beautiful.”

You must be dreaming, right? To have Mr. Gorgeous walk into your grocery store, on your birthday, and even call you beautiful at first sight? Thank god you decided to get your eyebrows done yesterday, it has really made all the difference in your luck.

You stutter in response, “Well, I certainly appreciate it, and I didn’t find you to be a stalker or anything, at least from what my instincts tell me.” At this, you crack a smile, and Jimin’s eye smile returns, relieved.

“But before we get into anything,” you continue “I should probably ring these flowers up for you so you can really give them to whoever it belongs to.”

“I was in every way serious when I said they were for you, Y/N.”

Despite how wildly your heart is beating at this strange encounter, it’s as if his voice soothes your soul, calming your worries away. Did he really come here for your sake to give you flowers that just so happen to be your favorite color?

“I, uh, well” you close your eyes and heavily sigh. You really have to get yourself together. “Thank you so much…” your voice trails off as you look to him quizzically, realizing you don’t even know this man’s name.

“Jimin” he finishes, as if sensing just what you needed to hear.

“Right, thank you Jimin” you say with a bright smile that sends a rush of warmth all throughout his body. He hasn’t quite seen a smile as radiant as yours, and he revels in the fact that he gets to stare at yours in his remaining time on Earth.

After what seems like an eternity of staring into each other’s souls, you remember to pick up the bouquet, scan the barcode, watch Jimin’s delicately deft fingers reach into his wallet and slide his card through the machine, and hand the flowers back to him.

“I can’t be handed merchandise from behind the counter, so…” you meet Jimin at the end of the conveyor belt, as he gently places the purple roses back into your hands, making sure not to hurt you with any thorns.

Abruptly, Jimin speaks out, “I’m just going to go out on a limb here but… I’d love to see you again. Maybe I could take you out to dinner tonight? Or rather, any time that you were free, of course.”

You started giggling to yourself, noticing how flustered Jimin was also getting in return of your interactions.

Jimin knows he has one job, one that doesn’t require taking his soulmate on dinner dates, but there is a compelling force to you that’s driving his heart insane. It’s as if he wants to do more for you, as much as he can for you, just so you can be genuinely and wholeheartedly happy.

You nearly blurted out a big fat “Yes,” but your mind defogged at the mere thought of your best friend, Taehyung. As much as you’d love to be swept off of your feet by the mysterious yet intriguing godsend that is Jimin, you can’t even imagine leaving your one and only friend in the dust when he had made plans in honor of you.

“Jimin, I sincerely appreciate just how kind you’re being to me right now, and I’m insanely flattered, but I actually have birthday plans with my best friend tonight. Would you maybe like to do Friday night instead?”

Three whole days? You weren’t sure if it was a blessing or a curse to wait so long, but you didn’t want to come off too needy, so that would do. On the other hand, it would hinder Jimin’s trial to have to wait three days for you, but maybe he could make it work.

“Sounds good to me, Y/N. I’ll be seeing you then.” Jimin takes your free hand to kiss the back of it, and smiles ever so sweetly at you, your heart exploding with fireworks in your chest. All you could do was stare as he walked past you and outside the automatic sliding doors. You blink a couple times and clear your throat in attempts to gain your bearings, screeching as you turn around to immediately find Namjoon stood in front of you instead, grinning.

“What was that about? I’ve never seen you so expressive before” he says while chuckling loudly, drawing attention by your coworkers nearby.

“Oh, what, that? Nothing, it was nothing. Just a random guy, giving me flowers, on my birthday, no big deal.”

Namjoon raises his eyebrow at you accusingly. “A random guy doesn’t just give you flowers coincidentally, Y/N. Do you even know him?”

You gulp, and Namjoon notices the apprehensive look on your face. “Hey hey, I’m not here to lecture you or anything, but that’s pretty cool, I guess. Seemed like he really had a thing for you.”

“Did he? Really? Maybe, I don’t know…”

Namjoon grins at you again, reaching to pat you on the back before turning and walking back to the offices. “From the looks of things, I’d say you’re done for the day. Feel free to head out and enjoy the rest of your special day, bud.”

You can only nod and word a breathless “thank you” back at him before running to the break room and gathering your things so you can head home to get ready for tonight.

Despite how gloomy it had gotten outside while you were working, you still had quite the spring in your step and the feeling of joy radiating off of you as if you were the sun itself. Before entering your complex, you receive a series of text messages:

Tae

[4:47 PM] hey you

[4:48 PM] called you earlier but i guess you were still workin

[4:48 PM] just letting you know!!! that you’re NOT bailing on me tonight

[4:49 PM] and that i’m getting you DRUNK and we’re gonna go apeshit

[4:50 PM] also we’re going to have so much fun uwu

[4:51 PM] look like a bad bitch tho you never know who we’ll see ;)

[4:52 PM] ok n e ways see you soon love you bitch

You’re wheezing by the time you reach your door, turning your keys in the lock to find yourself in your empty apartment once again. Yet, for some reason, it doesn’t feel as empty today. At least you get to be out of here for the night. You slip your shoes off and walk through your spacious living room to plop onto your bouncy mattress in your bedroom, turning on your back and holding your phone up to the ceiling to respond to your best friend.

Me

[4:59 PM] yeah, yeah shut up, i already know

[5:00 PM] best believe i’m lookin mighty fine tonight

[5:00 PM] i’m just gonna hop in the shower and all that jazz and i’ll see you tonight

You smile from ear to ear, remembering just how thankful you are to have one solid friend in your life to care about you as much as Taehyung does to be with you today and every day.

Me

[5:02 PM] thank you again, taehyung

Tae

[5:04 PM] what, youre getting sappy on me now?

[5:05 PM] save it for when we’re drunk dude!

[5:05 PM] … but youre welcome. you already know i love you.

Me

[5:07 PM] hey, save it for when we’re drunk!

[5:07 PM] … but i love you too

[5:08 PM] lol

At this, you plug your phone in to charge as you walk to your bathroom and take a much needed hot shower.

It’s been a while since you’ve felt this lighthearted. It could be all the interaction you’ve had today, considering when you normally go to work you try to cut all socializing to an insanely low minimum, but for once in your life you feel special, important, and wanted. You know, aside from the days Taehyung declares his undying love and affection for you and bugs you every time you deny a movie night at his place all because his roommate that can’t seem to stop ogling at you every time you’re there, but to know that some mysteriously handsome guy apparently has eyes for you too, has your stomach turning in excitement.

You keep thinking back to the moment you met eyes with him earlier, how sweet and warm his voice sounded when he told you that you were beautiful to him, and how his gaze seemed to draw you into him so effortlessly, almost tantalizingly over all the emotions that rushed to you in that exact moment. You want to dwell on the feeling, revel in the butterflies that float around in your stomach for hours thinking about seeing him on friday, but something switches on inside your brain as you realize one thing:

How were you supposed to meet again with no means of contacting him?

Before much thought could be put into creating a game plan of seeing Jimin again, your phone vibrates in spurts, signaling that Taehyung must be outside. You run to your mirror one last time to brush through your hair and smile at the reflection in front of you. You’re genuinely so excited and ready to spend your birthday with the one you love.

Walking to the designated pickup area of your complex, you see Taehyung leaning against a familiar grey civic, laughing at the confused expression that now colors your face all over.

“Ah, you didn’t tell me Jungkook was tagging along” you try to say cheerfully, but Taehyung sees right through you and pats your back rather aggressively to stop you from saying anything further.

“Indeed I didn’t, because he’s not! He was so kind to come along and drop us off. An act of kindness for your dear birthday, Y/N.” At this statement, you smile softly, crouching over to make eye contact with Jungkook in the driver’s seat. He meets your eyes quickly, grinning wildly and waving his hand frantically. You were honestly incredibly thankful for the gesture, but knew his intentions were always filled with something more, as he has always been into you from the moment you first set foot in Taehyung’s shared apartment.

Pushing these thoughts aside, however, you decide to just live in the moment and accept all the kindness you’ve gotten in one year’s worth on this very day alone. “After you, princess” Taehyung boldly declares while opening the passenger door for you, your face scrunching at his obnoxiously loud volume, and hand reaching up to pinch his cheek “You are so annoying and dumb but sweet. Thank you.”

Despite looking down into your seat while buckling up, you can’t help but feel Jungkook’s needy eyes roam your full figure, a notion you’d normally feel insulted by, but you realize he means no harm. He’s never seen you dressed up like this: tight fitting clothes, exposed collar bones, and heels, and even you seem to blush under his gaze.

“Alright Gguk, as much as you want to be staring at Y/N’s tits all night, we don’t have time for that. Let’s hit the road.” You turn around in your seat and slap Taehyung’s leg aggressively, causing him to laugh loudly in response and Jungkook to clear his throat while turning on the engine.

“Oh, don’t be such a dick Tae, and you” you sit turn to sit forward again, burning right through to Jungkook’s soul with your glare, “don’t stare at my tits and please drive safely. Thanks.”

Taehyung’s laughter is still dying down as Jungkook nods to turn on the stereo, but the air is still light knowing that’s the dynamic between you all. You’re pretty used to it by now considering most if not all of the people you interact with are men with their brains deep in the gutter.

Your favorite bar is in the heart of downtown, meaning it’s a little ways from where you live, but you really only go there on special occasions, and on nights like these, the boys really don’t mind. Through and through, you were a city girl, and if it weren’t for the insanely high price of living, you’d find yourself living in the apartment of your dreams overlooking the tall skyscrapers in the day and losing yourself in the city lights at night. To most people in your city, it was the same thing, different day, every day, but that wasn’t the case for you. You’ve managed to paint most of the town red, but there are still nooks and crannies that you have yet to uncover, and places you haven’t even hit just yet. It was like there was something about this side of the town that called to you. Something that had you longing for more, and you were absolutely determined to find out just what that was.

Pulling up to the curb, you groan at the sight of a short line at the entrance. “It’s literally a Tuesday evening, what are people doing at a bar?”

Taehyung sits forward, placing a big but gentle hand on your shoulder “literally the same exact thing we are.”

“Wow, you really got me there!” you shrug and state sarcastically, Jungkook giggling at your banter.

“Have fun tonight you guys, and happy birthday again Y/N!” You smile at him tentatively, feeling a little sad that he’s come all this way not to come with you. “Thank you, but are you sure you don’t want to grab just one drink?”

Before he could answer, Taehyung interjects “Nah, the dude has plans to play some tournament with some friends when he gets back. They’ll have their own fun.” Your gaze turns to Jungkook for confirmation, and he simply flashes a cute little bunny smile and nods.

You unbuckle your seatbelt and give Jungkook a quick hug, not noticing the way his face flushes pink before waving him goodbye and getting out of the car. Taehyung pats his shoulder next, thanking him then jumping out to meet you at the end of the line.

As much as you’d normally be impatient to wait in such a line, Taehyung passes the time by telling you about his artwork. At his university, two of his pieces have been chosen to be displayed at an exhibit of high prestige that buyers have the option to bid on. There is an amount of proceeds that go to the artists upon selling, but that was just a perk in the line of his work. He made pieces for the sole reason of creating art that spoke to him and those who got to see it. You even managed to snag a piece that he held onto dearly but ended up caving in and giving it to you at how much you loved it.

It reminded you of your mother.

It was an airy piece, but one still full of matter. It was light, it was delicate, and it was sweet. It made you feel calm, and it made you feel warm. It now sits above her recliner in your living room.

You finally make it to the front and are pleasantly surprised when the guard at the front even greets you a happy birthday. You smile and nod your thank you as you and Taehyung link arms and walk inside.

The bar is spacious yet relatively crowded for a Tuesday night, causing the temperature to rise from all the body heat, but it’s nothing you can’t handle. The ceilings are high, decorated with modern sconces that illuminate a dim, warm light. The scene is a perfectly balanced mix of a traditionally modern bar scene, split on the bottom floor with a lounge area and the actual bar itself, and the top floor for reserved parties and table service.

You were about to make your way to your usual spot near the back walls before Taehyung pulled you back to look at the staircase over to your right. “Hey, come on, you’re getting that special treatment tonight” he says with a wink, and you try to hold back all urges to gag.

“Excuse me, what? Tae we can’t just sneak up there, they have a list-”

Your bickering comes to a halt as Taehyung speaks to the server who stands at the bottom of the steps. “Uh yeah, we have a reservation under Kim.”

The server eyes Taehyung from head to toe in an almost doubtful way, then scans the two paged list within his hands. You’re almost about to apologize for Taehyung’s behavior, but the server speaks up “Ah, Mr. Kim I presume?”

The way in which you glare at Taehyung has his boxy smile shine thru, and you can only loosen up and squeeze his broad shoulder in return.

“Right this way.”

The two of you carefully climb the spiral stairway, giggling at the awfully nice treatment you are getting. The server walks all the way towards the end, missing the booths for two completely into a booth that could fit at least a few more guests.

“The waiter will be with you shortly. Enjoy your evening.”

With only a quick bow, the server turns on his feet to find his way at the bottom of the stairway once again. You blink a few times in disbelief, before turning to face Taehyung who is seated across the table from you.

“Tae,” you start with a pout, and he tilts his head and smiles “you really didn’t have to do this. I already know how much this costs and I know you’ve been selling many pieces lately but-”

“Oh shut up, Y/N. It’s your birthday! You deserve it, and you already know I’ve been saving up to do something, anything, with you, so ta-da!”

How in the world have you gotten so lucky?

You scoot over in the wide booth to sit closely by Taehyung’s side, leaning your head on his shoulder and happily sighing. Closing your eyes, you tune in to the music from the live band that is playing downstairs, tapping your foot to the downbeat of the rhythm the drummer is playing before a beautiful toned saxophone breaks through the air and plays a hypnotizing improv.

“Okay,” you say with your eyes still closed “but it must’ve costed you even more to get a full booth like this. What’s up with that?”

“Actually-” Taehyung’s voice is cut off with the sound of dress shoes clacking on the hardwood in front of you, causing you to open your eyes and sit up with shock at the sight that beholds you.

“Seokjin!”

Seokjin. The Kim Seokjin, that you made a complete and utter fool of yourself in front of the last time you were with him, oddly enough, at this very bar as well. Taehyung met Seokjin at a film festival held at his university last year, thanks to Jungkook. Seokjin, an alumna of the school, had become an incredibly popular actor and well desired by many, but always knew to remain humble and stay true to his roots by participating in judging the at the annual festival, granting Jungkook’s indie film his first top three prize.

You knew of his existence, and have seen him in trailers and movie posters alike, but never bothered to give into any of the media craze, as you thought of him as only an actor of what the market has built him to be. The night that Taehyung had set the two of you up, you drank one too many shots and revealed your true emotions for him, or at least, your perceived thoughts on who he was, and though Seokjin was kind enough (or most likely drunk enough) to let it slide, you made matters worse by insulting one of the earlier movies he starred in, The Deserted, claiming the plot was “lame” and the actors were “dry,” when Seokjin had a big part in the production, and the story had elements true to his life.

And here he was now, standing before you like one of the most handsome men you’ve ever seen in this world with your two eyes. His dark hair was perfectly swept and styled, his lips were so perfectly pink and so perfectly plump, and he was dressed simply in a black dress shirt, slacks, and dress shoes to match.

You don’t notice how you slightly topple over in the absence of Taehyung’s torso when he gets up to greet Seokjin, and you look to the side, rubbing your arm in embarrassment.

“Hey guys, I’m sorry it took a while, the driver had to take me to the back to avoid being seen in the front, you know, all that.”

“Damn, dude, didn’t realize you were getting that huge already!” Taehyung teases while playfully pushing Seokjin’s arm.

“Yeah, no, not really. The workers didn’t even know why I had to come through the back, but it was just for safety purposes.”

As if sensing your sudden alienation, Taehyung turns to slap your arm and get your attention, and you try not to squint too hard his way before turning to Seokjin and smiling as best you can, without letting the embarrassment eat you alive.

“Happy Birthday, Y/N! You look stunning tonight.”

“Ah, don’t flatter her” Taehyung jests, and you get up to slap his arm back and hug Seokjin in thanks.

You feel so small engulfed in his broad frame, but so warm in his embrace. His arms rest perfectly in the small of your back, making you feel as if you don’t want to let go. You haven’t had as much affection as a whole embrace in ages, considering Taehyung doesn’t even bother to hug you like this, and almost as if Seokjin agrees, he lets go when you do, but keeps holding you by the waist.

You don’t dare move.

“Thank you, Seokjin. I’m glad you were able to make it tonight.”

He laughs even more boisterously than Taehyung does, a sight to behold that makes your heart melt. “Well of course I was able to make it, I’m the one who booked the reservation!”

You gasp at the unexpected information, raising your brow at Taehyung who lifts his hands in surrender at your gaze.

“Hey, hey. I wasn’t lying when I said I was saving up. I’m at least paying for some of the drinks tonight, but Jin was so kind as to offer setting this all up.”

Seokjin did this all for you? What even is this luck with men suddenly being so kind to you?

You only tell Seokjin millions of thank yous after that, but you’re quickly ushered to sit inside the booth while Seokjin starts going down the menu and ordering round after round of drunks, eyeing Taehyung to see just how much he’d be willing to pay, and to your pleasure, he was willing to spend big just for you.

The menu that table service guests receive have names of drinks you haven’t seen before despite how many times you’ve been here, and Jin definitely isn’t shy to introducing you all to them.

What makes you really happy about tonight is that on most nights, you come here to ease your stress and forget the worries that life has thrown at you for just a couple of hours, but instead, you’re here with your best friend and potential man friend(?) who are paying for you to get happily drunk and enjoy your special day. Eventually you all get to the point of intoxication where your eyes are starting to droop, your limbs feel light, and your vision is only slightly wobbly, and that’s when you have to put your foot down.

You open your mouth to speak and don’t even realize how slow and slurred your speech is, “Listen... I appreciate you both so much right now, but you guys need to stop shoving liquids in me because I am this,” you hold your hand up lazily and with your fingers, try to create as small a gap as you can “this close to being completely and utterly shitfaced, and last time I was like this, I made a horrible fool out of myself in front of Seokjin”

Taehyung doesn’t seem to catch that as he’s asking the waiter for water, but Seokjin closes the gap between where you’re seated completely and places a hand on your thigh.

“Hey, I’m not even worried about that anymore. If I was, I wouldn’t even be here” he chuckles heavily, moving his hand up a tad more “don’t even sweat it.”

Oh, on the contrary, you’re sweating as if you’ve just ran a race while sitting under his gaze, but you’ve been trying to hide it as best as you can by dabbing your forehead with the readily available napkins when the drunken mess of men in front of you weren’t looking.

When your water finally arrives and you all take a minute to chug it down, Taehyung offers to go downstairs and dance, as the live band has been replaced with an open dance floor and loud beats that echo throughout the bar.

You hesitate only for a moment, wishing to stay under Seokjin’s lingering touches, but Taehyung grabs your wrist and drags you out of the booth to waddle downstairs, the both of you holding on for dear life in order to not topple down altogether.

The small floor is almost packed, but you manage to squeeze through behind Taehyung, Seokjin shortly following. You’ve always managed to dance playfully with Taehyung on nights like these, but now that Seokjin is here, you’re not quite sure what to do. After only one song, Taehyung pulls you close and speaks in your ear “Hey, I see some chick eyeing me from across the floor, you go have fun with Jin, kay?”

“Wh-what? Tae wait!” you manage to garble out without processing much of what he said, but before you can linger on it, you feel strong hands pull you by the waist as you crash into Seokjin’s firm body. It takes a while to get used to the sensation of dancing with him, but a song comes on that you recognize, and you throw all caution to the wind and just start having fun.

On this dance floor, you’ve seen many of the people around you start to get rather sleazy, dancing on their partners like this was their bedroom, but for the most part, Seokjin didn’t seem like the type to try and advance with you. Sure, his grip on your waist would get tighter every now and then the more you felt yourself in the songs that played, but it seemed as if the both of you were genuinely having fun. Holding onto each other tightly. With thanks to your heels, practically face to face mind the few inches up that you still had to look at him.

You could feel how intense his stare his gotten, his expression that looked just like what it did earlier when he had his hand on your thigh.

You were going to risk it all right then and there.

And by risk it all truly you just wanted to kiss him because god knows how long it’s been since you’ve kissed a man, especially a man with such plump lips, but before anything could be done, you hear someone calling for you from the side.

“Hey! Y/N! Listen...” he starts, eyeing up you and Seokjin holding onto each other tightly and shortly chuckles after, causing you to apologetically look up at Seokjin and peel yourself off of him.

“Oh this better be good Taehyung”

“Uh huh, yeah, I see what I’ve walked into and I was about to apologize, but it turns out my situation here could be for the better. Apparently Jungkook lost his key or whatever and left his spare inside. I gotta head back to let the dude in.”

You smile, knowing Taehyung would have probably gotten lucky tonight as well, but he cared about Jungkook too much, and for that you really admired him.

“Hey, if that’s the case, I’m going back with you-”

“Oh no no no no!” he yells above the music loud enough for the people dancing around you to look in your direction.

“You, missy, are going to have fun tonight,” he winks, and you punch his arm. “Jin definitely has means to get you back home safely so don’t even worry. Just text me from time to time, kay?”

He reaches forward to hug you tight, another first of the night, and you reach to embrace him back, yelling to him to text you when he’s home as he makes his way through the crowd.

Seokjin grabs you by the waist again, leaning down to talk into your ear “Oh, is he heading back already?”

You nod and speak loudly back since you can’t necessarily reach his ear. “Yeah, Jungkook got locked out and he’s being the hero.”

“I see” Seokjin says calmly, reaching down to whisper into your ear now, and you shiver at his breath against your lobe. “How about get out of here too, to just talk one on one?”

Your heart starts to race faster in your chest, somewhat managing to sober you up right then and there. As much as you’d love to see where the night takes you, you don’t necessarily feel comfortable in the idea right now, especially since your head is starting to pound mercilessly along with the loud music the dj keeps spinning.

“I, uh, actually should head home as well. It’s getting late and I’m actually thinking of picking up a shift tomorrow.”

You weren’t, but you figured you should say anything just to convince him, as it seems that his expression has barely lightened up, before he sighed and smiled softly before guiding you out of the crowd and outside to wait by the curb.

“I’ll call one of my drivers and he’ll take you home, alright?”

You nod frantically “Oh, no, Seokjin, you don’t have to do that, I can just call a taxi.”

He notices you shivering, and puts an arm over your shoulder to bring you closer as you both lean on a nearby wall.

“Just call me Jin, sweetheart, and” he pauses, typing fast with one hand and looking down at you right after “I already called him. He’ll be here shortly.”

“Oh, okay, thank you Jin.” you try to say politely behind chattering teeth.

It’s quiet for the next few moments, but now that you’re outside, you can definitely feel the alcohol still running through your system, as when you turn your head to watch the passing cars, you still manage to get slightly lightheaded.

“Are you alright?” he asks with a low, almost guttural voice. You turn to look up at him and lazily nod. He then proceeds to stand in front of you, pushing you up against the wall, maybe to hold you up, but from the way his body is reacting, probably for ulterior motives.

“Yeah, Jin, I’m fine, really” you smile back placidly, as he brushes a piece of loose hair behind your ear. You must be a complete mess once again in front of him, yet he’s still looking so intently at you.

“The offer still stands, you can come crash at my place, I can help you feel better.” The hand that moved your hair finds its way to your cheeks, caresses your jawline, and ever so lightly feathers over your neck.

The comfort he brought you before with his touch is now replaced with a feeling of fight or flight, your heart starting to pound in your chest, as you weakly try to push him off.

“N-no thank you, I think at this rate I just really need to sleep at home, really-”

“There’s no harm in letting me take care of you Y/N, I swear I won’t do anything you won’t like.”

“Jin please I said no-”

“Get off her!” a familiar voice rumbles not too far in front of you, and you can see Seokjin’s expression of concentration falter as he turns in the direction of the shout.

You prop yourself up weakly against the wall and squint your eyes to see a figure backlit by oncoming cars approaching you, almost as if to save you.

“Jimin…?”

Jimin rushes to your side as you practically fall into his arms, almost falling back himself but holding you steady into his welcoming embrace.

“Hey man, when someone says no, just let it go.” the way in which Jimin is speaking is a complete contrast to when you met him only hours ago, but you’re thankful as it seems to set Seokjin straight.

“Ah, I seem to have crossed the line.” he states somberly, his driver pulling up to the curb beside him. “I’m sorry, Y/N. Have a good evening.”

You say nothing more and wait until his car disappears from your line of view before sighing and sinking even further into Jimin’s arms, leaving him to giggle softly as grunts to pick you up bridal style, catching you completely off guard.

“Oh my god, please you literally don’t have to carry me like this, I can walk, I swear” he only shakes his head in protest, laughing even more.

“With the way you drank tonight? I don’t think so. It won’t be for long, I don’t live far so just enjoy the ride.”

You smile for the first time after what happened between you and Seokjin, and you thought to yourself that maybe you can relax in the arms of yet another stranger, until you start feeling light drops of water hit your face.

“You’re kidding” you state crossly, and Jimin starts to walk faster, almost jogging now with you still in his arms.

“I can’t cover your face or I’ll drop you, but protect that pretty face of yours, it’s just around the corner!”

You can feel how fast his heart is beating as your head rests against your chest, and at such endearing words, yours starts to race just as fast.

You both manage to make it into his lobby only moderately wet, Jimin’s hair sticking to his forehead and white shirt soaked through. You try your best now to stare at his chest while he lowers you onto your feet.

“Thank you so much, really, for all of that just now. I don’t even know how but you really just saved me.”

Jimin shakes his head aggressively before running a hand through his wet hair, eyes closed, exposing his forehead, looking like a man straight from a magazine spread. His shirt clings onto his torso as if for dear life, outlining his abdomen and… is that a v line? His denim is sticking onto his thick thighs like glue and you can’t help but feel yourself slightly drooling. Thankfully when he calls out to you, you wipe it off your face along with the water that drips down your cheeks and play it off like normal.

“My place is this way, only if you would like to come up. I can get you some dry clothes.”

Having been invited from one man’s place to another, you gladly accept Jimin’s invitation and find yourself anticipating what is bound to happen next.

a/n: ahhh this has been highly anticipated on my own behalf and I am so happy to have finally posted it! I have such a strong connection and good feeling about this story already, and hope you can enjoy even further down the road! much love always <3

[klove0511]

At Any Cost Chapter 6

Castiel whirled, catching the angel behind him in the abdomen, then spun back around to his right and blocked a second angel’s blade. They clashed for another moment before Cas saw an opening, dropping his second opponent to the ground and giving him space to attack a third. The numbers were thinning, finally, but Raphael would be back any second. Dean was still fighting an angel, and Cas could see the vial of grace on the altar, tucked away safely. His hand closed around it just as he heard Dean’s distressed cry ring out. Turning, he spotted Raphael on the battlefield across from Dean. It took another moment to spot Sam lying limp and bloody. 

He flew to him and crouched by Sam’s head, healing damage as quickly as he could, but Sam was already dying. Cursing silently Castiel lifted Sam’s head, gently tipping the grace into his mouth. 

He could tell when the grace took hold; his healing efforts were suddenly useless. Sam’s eyes opened, and they glowed a brilliant blue before a wave of power lit up the area, throwing Castiel back.

“Sam!” Dean screamed as his brother landed with a sickening crack and fell limp. Nausea threatened Dean’s composure, a dangerous prospect with Raphael just five feet in front of him. But Sam was dead or dying, Dean was sure of it, and he needed to go to him. Wouldn’t do anyone any good if he got himself vaporized though. Raphael smirked and lazily waved in Dean’s direction.

As he tumbled to the ground on his own flight path he caught sight of Cas crouching by Sam. His stomach lurched; Sam should be moving by now if Cas healed him. He tried to have faith—in Cas, in Sam—but his gut was sure the angel had been too late. Grief welled up, numbing him to the world. The world Sam had died for twice, now. Dean staggered to his feet, clenching his angel blade. He wasn’t going to let Sam die in vain. Before he could close the distance to Raphael, though, a surge of power flattened him to the ground.

When Dean raised his head, he saw Sam, wings glowing grace blue and on full display. Thunder rumbled, and Dean would have sworn the earth shook under his hands. He felt power rippling out from his brother. Even though he knew this was exactly what they had been aiming for, Dean felt his stomach flip-flop at seeing Sam look so obviously other.

Raphael snarled, then vanished. The battle was on. Dean couldn’t follow most of it—Sam and Raphael flying all over the cemetery in an attempt to gain an advantage. They flung power at each other that whizzed over Dean’s head and exploded gravestones when it landed. The air smelled of ozone, and the temperature had climbed noticeably in the last minute. He and Bobby were going to cook if Sam didn’t end this soon.

Raphael, apparently, had other plans. Dean had lost Cas and Bobby in the scuffle, but as the flurry of wings came to an abrupt halt, he realized the archangel was holding Castiel at knifepoint. Sam looked on, grim determination on his face. He wasn’t faster than Raphael. That much was obvious.

 Sam watched Raphael press the tip of his blade into Cas’s throat. A pinprick of grace leaked out, and Sam struggled to keep from reacting. He was exhausted, but his mind was running on overtime, trying to figure out Raphael’s angle here. His chest tightened when he figured it out. He might only match the archangel in speed, but he’d been winning. If he was nearing the limits of his powers, then Raphael must be on his last legs. It didn’t make this situation easier, but it might give them an opportunity. Sam was careful to keep from looking at Dean and Bobby—both positioned behind Raphael, though not close enough to do anything without alerting the angel. Frantically, he tried to come up with a plan. He rifled through their code words for one made for a situation like this. Not Funky Town. Definitely not Poughkeepsie, much as he wanted Dean and Bobby gone and safe. Dancing Queen would work if he could get Dean close. They didn’t have on for “I’m about to use my power on you,” but he’d wager they would going forward. Assuming they survived today.

Sam wasn’t sure he could use his power on Dean without alerting Raphael, but he didn’t see any other options. If it worked, if he could fill Dean in, they might have a shot at this.

Ignoring the spiraling fear he had for Dean and Cas with this plan, he cleared his throat. Raphael had been monologuing about lost causes while Sam thought, and he tuned back into the conversation.

“—think you could beat an archangel? You are nothing more than a filthy half-breed, and I would have killed you already if your stolen grace weren’t necessary to retrieve my brothers.”

“No offense, but I’m not going to let my Brain Stew on that.” Come on, Dean. Pay attention. I’ve got a plan. “I’m you’re so convinced you can take me, let’s dance. I’m a regular Dancing Queen these days.” He saw Dean shift his weight out of the corner of his eye. Good. Message received.

Sam reached for his power, trusting it would do as asked if it could, and bent space around Dean until he was right behind Raphael. It happened in an instant, and Sam saw Raphael’s eyes widening in surprise as Dean punched him in the face. It didn’t hurt anyone but Dean, but it drew just enough attention that Sam could fly into close quarters and pulse his power through the archangel. Sam felt it manifest itself in his hand as an angel blade—outwardly similar to all the others he’d seen, but when he tightened his grip, it sang. This blade was his, and only his.

He stabbed upward, catching Raphael in the back under his ribs. Power shot through the blade, and before the angel’s eyes started to glow he knew he’d done it.

The three of them stumbled away and closed their eyes against the supernova. When it was over, Raphael lay sprawled in the grass, wings still sparking as they turned to ash.

 Sam hastily checked over Cas, who was essentially uninjured, before turning to Dean. He was holding his hand to his abdomen, radiating pain. Broken ribs or hand, possibly both, if Sam knew anything about his brother.

“Let me see,” he said, reaching for Dean’s rapidly swelling hand.

“I’m fine, Sam. Where’s Bobby?”

“I’ll find him,” said Cas, who promptly vanished.

That left Sam and Dean alone, which made Sam unexpectedly nervous. He pushed it away, opting to continue his little brother duties of nagging Dean until he let Sam check his injuries.

Finally, with a loud sigh and an epic eye roll, Dean acquiesced. Sam gingerly held the broken hand and reached for his power, then stopped. “Can I? Or would you rather Cas healed it?” he asked.

Dean looked surprised. “You can?”

Sam nodded. He’d never done it before, but he knew he could. He could feel the broken bones, knew where they needed to reconnect. It was dizzying. Or maybe he was just tired. Maybe he shouldn’t. He’d probably freaked Dean enough for one day.

“Do it,” Dean said, a little breathless.

“Sam searched his face, looking for uncertainty. It was there, but under something that looked a lot like love. His power trickled out, and the broken hand and bruised ribs were healed in moments. Dean sucked in a breath, but when he released it the tension coiled in his body left too.

It hadn’t taken much to heal Dean, but Sam was apparently already running on fumes from the fight, and his adrenaline high was starting to wear off. He wobbled, caught himself, then distantly heard Dean’s concerned “Sam?” as his knees gave out.

 He blinked and lost time. He was on his back, looking up at Dean. His head was pillowed on Dean’s lap, which frankly felt too close to cuddling to be acceptable in Dean’s world. Still, Dean grinned down at him and said, “Hey there, Sleeping Beauty. How about next time, you don’t use up the last of your power healing me like a dumbass. Cas could have done that. He can’t heal you though.”

“What?” Sam asked. “I mean, I wasn’t hurt, but—”

Dean’s happy grin transformed into a glower. “Try again. That tumble you took just about did you in, and we all know it.”

“I was fine. The grace—”

“Was still trying to heal you while you were flinging power everywhere. Even super-powered little brothers have a limit, and you hit yours.”

“Sorry,” Sam said, though he really wasn’t. He didn’t like his grace much, but he liked being able to heal Dean, being able to protect everyone from psychos like Raphael. He liked how it buffered the rest of his mind from his time spent in Hell.

Awkwardly, he cleared his throat. He felt ok—none of the lingering pain or nausea he belatedly realized had dogged him throughout the fight. Still, he didn’t really want to move. Dean’s lap was comfortable, and he was looking at Sam with a fondness he hadn’t seen in weeks. Not since they left Lisa’s. He hardly dared to hope.

The moment was broken when Dean gently shoved at Sam and said, “Come on, Sasquatch. Let’s go home.”

 The four of them reappeared in Bobby’s kitchen, and Bobby promptly abandoned the group, muttering about a drink and some sleep.

Dean shifted nervously. He didn’t want to talk about this, but there were things that had to be said. Sam might figure it out without the chick flick moment, but Cas wouldn’t. “Look,” he said, not sure where the rest of that sentence went. He felt their eyes on him. Man up, Winchester, he thought. “When we were in Sam’s head. We saw…things.” He glanced at Sam to gauge his brother’s mood—tense, scared. “Cas, you’ve made it clear how you feel about Sam.”

The angel nodded, expression serious, though his eyes were smiling.

Sam had turned bright red, probably remembering their impromptu make-out session.

“Right. My turn.” He closed the distance to Sam, gripped his brother’s shirt and tugged him in for a brief but heated kiss. They broke apart, panting a little, but stayed in each other’s space. “I’m game if you are.”

Sam choked. “For which part?” he spluttered.

“All of it,” he said simply. “I’ve lost count of how many close calls we’ve had this week, Sam. I’m done avoiding this. And I don’t mind sharing if Cas makes you happy. That work for the two of you?”

Cas hummed in answer and pressed himself along Sam’s back.

Sam looked lost, like he couldn’t believe this was happening. “Are you sure? I mean, I’m not—” He swallowed. “I’m not exactly human anymore.”

Dean smirked. “Yeah, well, you’re still my pain-in-the-ass brother, and nothing changes that. I’m sure, Sam.”

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