#Sorry not sorry I’m just insane about this series and these characters
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little-mouse-adventures · 2 years ago
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Many things are touching about the end of TLG, but one that always makes me heart smile and break at the same time is Butler calling Artemis “Arty” when the boy gets resurrected.
Butler’s never done that before! It was always Professional Town between them, as best they could given their insane codependency. But then Artemis full on dies. Not just disappears, he dies. There’s a corpse. And Butler refuses to believe that, but he still is faced with the implications of it. He can’t guard Artemis, or plan for his return. He’s essentially jobless for the first time in nearly two decades and battling grief and his own failure and trying to manage things in the new world after it all goes to hell. And then Artemis comes back! And Butler, for the first time after all the adventures, after all the years of being a father-figure and friend to this boy - hell, after years of being called “old friend” by this boy - acts as a friend to Artemis. He calls him Arty, a pet name, a name of familiarity, a name for only the closest of friends and family to use.
It makes my brain buzz like happy bees are having a fun little dance party.
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thebestusernamepossible · 4 months ago
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Literally going insane, might have to write fanfic for the first time in 2 years because the people™️ do not get my favorite female characters like I do and I feel the insurmountable urge to write her. I’m going to bite drywall why don’t ppl see her complexities. PLEASE STOP WRITING HER ETHIER AS DOMICILE MOM OR BITCH (or just for shipping) she is so so cool please guys please.
Also while I’m here, fandoms tendency to shove women in the ‘pure powerful goddess who can do no wrong’ box and then proceed to never give them an actual narrative role other than like ‘supportive’ or ‘took out a few background guys’. Like why DOES this incredibly badass and complex female character just get shunted into doinging some cool flips, getting praised about it (she’s the strongest fighter, so feminist wow) then never getting actnowleged as a 2 dimensional character.
I saw this a lot when I was in the Batman fandom, particularly with Cassandra Cain. She is a highly complex and interesting character, but in fandom she’s kind of shunted to ‘Badass therapy dog who takes care of the men’. Because even on the slight chance her backstory is brought up it’s always never delved into and mostly used to make her etheir more tragic and in need of support on a surface level or to let her be compassionate with the men characters who get their actual problems foucused on. It’s a unqiue kind of frustrating because it’s like almost letting the cool female character be cool, but it’s more like the idea of a badass women is shoved in your face, maybe joked about (or if we’re lucky she gets to beat up a few bad-guys), but ultimately treated like a cardboard cutout. Interestingly this actually isn’t entirely a female character thing, it’s also common with like old grandfather/grandmother characters and the elderly in general. But it’s usually badass women from what I see. :/ Why can’t fandom explore their stories (people do but why is it so much less), why can’t they be the prtags of cool AUs or time-travel fix-its, or crossover events
Idk I think I’m just frustrated, and I typed out more than I thought I would. Also Ive seen what happens to some other posts complaining about fandom misogyny, so please know if you’re a TERF, fuck off you have no place in this discussion. We will never agree, and frankly all of these points apply to canon Trans Women characters. Don’t say shit ill fucking end you.
#This is about Katara Avatar because I peaked into the fandom since I’m rewatching#you don’t get her like I do sorry#Azula too#I could save her#I think Azula needs to go on a time travel fix-it fanfic journey#you don’t even understand#this is also Alpha Undertale (the best written Undertale character)#ALPHYS NOT ALPHA#this is also about Cassandra Cain#but actually I don’t think I could write her well- but the way she’s portrayed in fandom drives me insane#and Steph brown#not dungeon meshi actually- those guys got the lesbians who are winning actually#cassandra cain#probably can tag her#I’m not an avid comic reader but I know she is being done DIRTY by fandom#Fandom misogyny#I actually really like fandom spaces#but I do have to be#fandom critical#at times#More female characters I think are done dirty: Mable pines (She needs a cool time travel fix-it where she has to hide it from her brother)#Urakaka from bnha should be in a toxic Yuri situation w/ Toga- but also should be in the time vortex and should be dropped in a crossover#though the source material there doesn’t treat their women the best so I’ll give some grace to fandom#but if you can give background character 108 his own spin off you can spare some characterization for Urakaka who is awesome#Toriel is actually awesome and I think she should get a solo fic series foucusing on her grief of being a mother again to frisk#also I love Asgore but she owes him nothing and they should stay divorced#I think Mad Mew Mew should just become the 3rd skeleton sibling#I won’t elaborate#that’s most my fandoms down- Deltarune isat Orv and stp fandoms don’t really seems to have this issiue#but Odile and Mirabelle very interesting and I will beam them into your brain
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nicolibbyquotes · 8 months ago
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“Other lives, other existences, it didn't matter. They were polarities, and wherever they went, his half would always find hers.”
- “The Atlas Complex” by Olivie Blake
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loderlied · 5 months ago
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one thing about tales of arise sucking major ass is that at least i can appreciate my faves of the series that much more through the contrast lmao
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chromaticroses · 1 year ago
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self care is blocking v3 haters ☺️🙏
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syl-stormblessed · 23 days ago
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every time i think i start liking jezal he goes and does something so embarrassingly stupid and vain that it makes me want to die
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couldeatthatgirlforlunch · 24 days ago
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For the yandere! Justice League x assistant reader, how would they react if they had Deadpool as a friend? Like he randomly shows up. They would try to keep the reader as far away from him as possible, but it's Deadpool. Lol. How would Yandere Justice League feel if the reader liked Deadpool because he's funny and makes the reader laugh even if in a tense situation, randomly just talking about nonsense and/or making funny jabs at some of Justice League members? Not only that, but he would just annoy them for his and the reader's amusement. I can also imagine Wonder Woman or Superman trying to kill/critically injure him but finding out he has a super healing ability. LOL. I can imagine the scene where Deadpool punches Colossus, but his hand breaks, then he tries again while saying, "Cock shot!" but his other hand breaks. Instead, he does it to Superman and says, "Oh, your poor Lois Lane!" I feel like that would make the reader laugh out loud.
I finally saw the Deadpool & Wolverine movie, and I loved it! So now I want to see more content about Deadpool. I forget how funny he can be. I would like you to add a Deadpool & Wolverine, but I don't know if you have seen the movie yet. But I recommend you go and watch the movie.
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A Day in Life: Best Friends Forever
Synopsis: A day in your life where a visit from your friend ends up in Deadpool losing his thumbs and re-attaching them back.
Pairing: Yandere!Justice League X Gn!Assistant!Reader; Platonic!Deadpool
Tw: 18+; No spoilers from the movie; Some violence; Light gore descriptions (not really); Some sexual comments (it's Deadpool); English is my 2nd language.
Word count: 830
Requested? Yes.
Extra notes: I loved this request, saw the movie on like the same week it came out, sorry this took so long</3
General masterlist | A Day in Life - Series masterlist
— So that's what happens when I’m not around, huh?! — Hal Jordan snarked, faking amusement by the sight in front of him, but being very much not amused.
How? Was the question going through everyone's minds, as they watched their dear assistant (Y/N), in the middle of Hall of Justice, chatting away with a very infamous criminal known all around the hero-villain underground, who every single soul despised, and yet, there you were, choking your laughter and in tears with Deadpool, acting as if you've been friends all your life.
Diana was the first one to approach, followed by the rest of the Justice League.
— (Y/N), is this man bothering you? — She squared up and stared directly on Deadpool’s blank white lenses. That grounded you and helped you come back from the stories your friend was telling you.
— B-Bothering me? — Your laughter slowly died down, and you wiped your tears. — No, we’re just talking. — You shrugged and sniffled, so happy that a genuine smiled was fixed on your face, hypnotizing all the heroes for a moment.
— Wonder Woman! — Deadpool gave little fangirl jumps. Diana swallowed a groan. — It’s amazing to see you again! I’m even wearing my fanciest anal plug and thinking about you, all in your honor. — Diana couldn't control the disgusted and astounded expression on her face, while Wade saluted her. You bite your lips to not giggle.
— Don't be silly, Pool. Not everyone understands your humor. — You lightly slapped his shoulder and he sighed.
— I know! That's why I'm so introverted and depressed! — He shook his head. — That's why Disney sold me to DC, they couldn't handle my deep and complex character. Let's hope James Gunn knows what he's doing now. — Everyone, including you, furrowed their eyebrows, but no one decided to question what the hell he was talking about, since the mercenary was known for being insane. — And just after my third movie with Wolvie came out! Unbelievable. — He threw his hands in the air and shook his head while looking at an empty space as if there was someone there. He did that sometimes.
— You seem… Close. W-When did that happen, (N/N)? — Flash looked between you and Deadpool, biting his lower lip, slightly anxious. You blinked.
— Oh, well. Like, a few months ago? He sent his curriculum because he wanted to be part of the Justice League. There were no records of him in the system so I Interviewed him. Obviously he didn't pass, but we became good friends! — You shrugged with an easy smile.
— That's… Great, (N/N). — You narrowed your eyes on Hal Jordan.
— Hey… — Deadpool's mask gave the slightest hint that he was furrowing his eyebrows, and he pointed at Green Lantern. — (Y/N) told me about you. I don't like you. — He took his guns out of the holsters and pointed at the brunette. You gasped and stepped back, slightly regretting having told Wade about that. — STEP BACK WORST RYAN REYNOLDS SUPERHERO MOVIE OR I’M GONNA BLOW YOUR BRAINS OUT IN 4K R-RATED! — Hal raised his arms. He was already on thin ice with you, and beating your bestie would probably be a bad idea to start over.
Batman grunted for someone to cover your eyes and threw two batarangs that disarmed Deadpool before he could react. Deadpool gasped and looked at the ground wide eyed. His thumbs had been chumped off in the ordeal (Batman was jealous and also knew he would just regenerate).
— WHAT? WHAT’S HAPPENING? — You blindly yelled, since Superman had zoomed to just behind you and was covering your eyes.
— HE CASTRATED ME! — Deadpool cried, reaching back for his swords, but since he didn't have thumbs anymore, he couldn't even hold them, making him just cry more from frustration. — THE DADDY ISSUES JUST GET WORSE! AND JUST BECAUSE I WAS READY TO BE ADOPTED BY YOU! — Batman furrowed his eyebrows at the mention of him having more than just one kid.
— Guys, we should all just calm down. — Flash tried to play the pacifist, standing in the middle of the chaos with his hands up, but Wade’s cries were covering his voice.
— WHAT'S HAPPENING? — You tried to tug Superman’s hands off, but he didn't let up, and started trying to sooth you.
Deadpool got to his knees and pathetically tried to push one of his thumbs into place, trying to accelerate his healing process, and after 30 seconds of chaos, he perked up when the thumb got attached again. He did the same to the other one.
— The sight is gross, (Y/N). You do not want to see it… — Wonder Woman mumbled, eyes fixed on the scene, feeling a mix of grossed out and impressed.
— Gross? This is natural. Like the birth of a little naked newborn baby. You wanna know what's real gross? My roommate Blind Al’s stink! She might as well be dead at this point… Uh, oh… — Wade slowly got up. — (Y/N)... Call me an Uber. I need to check on someone.
Like, comment and reblog 🥰
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tightjeansjavi · 3 months ago
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♡ And They Were Roommates ♡
chapter 1 : The Guard Dog
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Pairing | Joel Miller x Logan Howlett x f!reader
A/N: this chapter got away from me so fast, but I’m really pleased with how it turned out! After seeing Deadpool & Wolverine for the first time a couple weeks ago, I immediately re-entered my marvel phase and rewatched both Deadpool movies and all of the x-men/wolverine movies (yes, it’s an obsession) the Wolverine was always one of my favorite marvel characters outside of Deadpool and Iron Man. I’m so happy that myself and others are taking the leap to write for him and other characters 🥹 I hope you all enjoy this mini series! I’m super excited for it 💗 comments and reblogs are always appreciated! Thank you @sinsofsummers for betaing and letting me yap at u! And thank u @syd-djarin for also letting me yap 🥰
word count: 8.8k
Summary: after saving the world with Wade, Logan finds himself in a new, strange world. Human life is scarce, (as far as he can see). There’s weird looking mushroom-headed fucks, and he doesn’t have a clue what year it is, either. After traveling aimlessly for months, the Wolverine runs into you, and your guard dog of a boyfriend, Joel Miller.
Warnings: mature themes, smut, implied age gap, brief mention of a gunshot wound, touch of angst, language, derogatory comments about mutants (by Joel) alcohol consumption, brief mention of ouid, pining, hints of a throuple/love triangle, voyeurism (sorta) this Logan is the ‘worst’ variant, but you can picture him however you’d like!, reader has no physical descriptions (I imagine her to be short, but she is a blank slate) +18, minors dni!
series masterlist
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If someone had told you before the outbreak that in 20ish years, (math is not my strong suit, sorry) you would be living the life of “luxury” with not only one guard dog as a boyfriend, but two who also were boyfriends, you would have laughed in that person's face and told them that they were in fact insane—but now? Now you wouldn’t even question it. Your life in Jackson before meeting Joel Miller and Logan Howlett was the closest thing to normalcy that you had experienced since the outbreak. You had a home again, a job, and a purpose. But like all things, you were craving more; something new and exciting. Instead of you finding it, Joel Miller found you—or was it the other way around?
He was old fashioned in every sense. Insisting on properly pursuing you after you caught his eye at the corner of the bartop of the tipsy bison. Your care-free spirit and intoxicating aroma had his mind reeling at the thoughts of what he could be doing to you if it was just the two of you in the Bison, all alone with no distractions or disturbances.
He hadn’t thought about women, or sex, or settling down with someone in over 20 years. But here you were, throwing back another shot of whiskey and subconsciously unnerving him further without having any idea as to what it was that you were doing to him.
You were, however, aware that he was watching you, carefully between his harsh swigs from the glass that was perfectly perched in one of his meaty palms.
Mr. New and Exciting is right there. What are you waiting for? Your mind pointed out the obvious as if there was a flashing arrow right above the man’s head of thick, salt and peppered streaked curls that you were dying to run your fingers through.
You downed the remaining contents of your glass for that extra boost of liquid courage and made your move before he could even properly execute his own plan to approach you.
He stiffened, jaw ticking when he felt the bare heat from your arm brush against his own, sending sparks shooting down his forearm all the way down to where his large hand was tightly gripping the glass.
“I’m here to break the ice between us, stranger. Y’know, considering you’ve been staring at me for the past…hour.”
“Excuse me?” He scoffed, bringing the rim of his glass up to his lips for a moment. “Think you oughta get your eyes checked out first before ya start makin’ accusations.” He grumbled, low and deep. His eyes flickered in your direction, brows furrowed together across his forehead in a harsh line.
“Think my eyes are working just fine, thank you very much.”
He tore his harsh gaze away from your face and focused his attention on the mounted moose head on the wall instead. “Buzz off, darlin’. I ain’t lookin’ for conversation.” He snarled and went to slide off the worn down seat, but he was frozen in his spot when your hand wrapped around his bulging bicep, and he felt like a leashed, obedient dog.
“You think I’m here to talk?” You laughed and he immediately felt a hot flush rise from his neck and creep up his face at your brash confidence.
“Ain’t that what most women want nowadays?” He countered your boldness with a gravelly chuckle that sent warmth immediately spreading across your entire body at the scratchy, deep, sound that emitted from his throat.
“Lucky for you, I’m not like most women. Now, how about instead of eye fucking me from across the bar, why don’t we skip the small talk and you take me home instead?” You said with a coy smile and a suggestive tilt of your chin. You loosened your grip around his bicep only to then drag your fingers down the expanse of his arm, watching the muscles there subtly flex from your featherlight touch.
He weighed out his options, glancing around the crowded bar, leaning in close to crowd your personal space entirely. His eyes flickered down towards your lips, and then his heedy gaze met your own almost in a challenge.
“Don’t gotta tell me twice, darlin.’” He rasped, reaching for your hand.
And only when you found yourself with your back pressed against Joel Miller’s front door, and his lips attacking your own, did he finally tell you his name between bruising kisses and wandering hands.
And well, the rest is history.
~~
Your arrangement with Joel worked flawlessly for an entire year, and while you both were content without having any labels, being known as Joel Miller’s girl never failed to make your heart melt, and he fucking turned into a goddamn puddle on the floor anytime he got to hear refer to him as your boyfriend.
Life truly could not have gotten better for either of you, but it certainly could get worse in Joel’s case of repeated misfortune. That misfortune being Logan Howlett, the last standing mutant to exist in this universe and now the bane of Joel’s existence.
“What in the fuck are those things comin’ out of your hands?!” A very angry, cold, and bewildered Joel Miller barked over the metallic click of the Wolverine's claws being unsheathed between his knuckles.
“Ya got two workin’ eyes, don’t ya, pal? The fuck do they look like to you?!” The stranger growled, advancing towards the other man.
“Joel?!” Another man’s voice was heard in the distance, followed by thundering hooves and a sharp whinny.
“I got this handled, Tommy!” The other man snapped when Tommy rode up beside him, immediately hopping down from the saddle with his rifle at the ready at the immediate threat in front of them.
Logan was able to quickly piece together with limited information that these two men were brothers, just based on their similar looks and mannerisms.
“Listen, boys, if I was you, I’d lower them guns and pretend that ya never crossed paths with me.”
“Are those fuckin’ knives coming out of his fists?!” Tommy Miller whispered to his brother who nodded in confirmation.
“Yeah, he’s some mutant freak. Somethin’ FEDRA musta cooked up.” Joel responded in an equally hushed whisper.
Logan swiftly turned his head to the side, an audible cracking sound in his neck could be heard through the chilling evening air. “You’re really gonna regret callin’ me that, bub.” He snarled, barring his teeth like a rabid dog and advanced forward with full intent to slash his claws through the other man’s chest.
Joel’s reflexes were surprisingly fast even in his age, and when Logan advanced forward, he pulled the trigger on his own rifle, the shot ringing through and startling a flock of birds in a nearby tree, sending them flying upwards towards the sky in a haphazardly direction, squawking loudly.
The bullet hit Logan square in the chest, but the Wolverine barely even staggered backwards from the force of the bullet, and he let out an animalistic, nothing-short-of-pissed-off growl while the two men a short distance away had equal looks of horror on their faces when Logan’s body began to push the embedded bullet out from his chest and heal the once open wound.
The single bullet landed in the snow beneath Logan’s boots just as a high pitched whistle could be detected in the distance.
“What the actual fuck…his body can regenerate itself?!” Tommy whispered to his brother in disbelief.
Joel ignored him and raised his rifle towards the Wolverine again, thumb hovering over the trigger when you appeared on your horse through the snowy cluster of evergreens.
“JOEL! HOLD YOUR FIRE!” You demanded and swung your leg over the saddle, landing on the ground without fault and quickly inserted yourself between the Miller Brother’s and the seething Wolverine with your hands lifted in the air above your head.
“What the hell are you doin’ here?!” Joel diverted his attention to you and your untimely arrival. “Get behind me! We don’t know who or what the fuck this guy is, and he’s clearly dangerous!”
“Listen to your girl, bub. Lower your fuckin’ gun and jus’ let me pass, and we can forget this whole thing fuckin’ happened!” Logan yelled over your shoulder, nostrils flaring and muscles flexing with unbridled rage.
“Will you both just shut the fuck up?!” You snarled in frustration and glared over your shoulder at your unpredictable boyfriend. Let’s all just lower our weapons and take some deep, calming, breaths.”
“Un-fuckin’ believable.” The Wolverine scoffed, fighting the urge to roll his eyes at your assertiveness.
Joel and Tommy both slowly and very reluctantly lowered their rifles towards the ground, but the Wolverine’s extended metal claws did not retract at your demand.
“That includes you too, knives.”
Logan couldn’t help but smirk at your choice of nickname given the current circumstances. Man, you had some bigger balls than your boyfriend, that was for damn sure.
“Say it to me a little more gently, sweetheart. Your boyfriend over there got me all riled up, and I jus’ really wanna slash him to bits right now.” He cooed, smirk only then expanding into a wide, toothy grin at both your reaction, and Joel’s.
“Hey! Don’t you fuckin’ talk to her, you—”
“Alright, boys!” You hissed and turned your back so it was fully facing Joel. “Now, this ain’t some contest to see who has the bigger cock, alright? Looks like y’all got off on the wrong foot…clearly.” You stated the obvious.
“Yeah, and I was just passin’ through the area when your boyfriend and I unfortunately crossed paths.” He said gruffly, hackles raised in irritation.
“You’ll have to excuse my boyfriend, he can be trigger happy at times, but within reason. So, let’s start this whole thing over, alright?”
“Think we should just send this freak on his way—”
“JOEL!” You and Tommy whispered loudly in unison.
“Maybe you oughta put a muzzle on that one. Seems like he can’t keep his fucking mouth shut.” Logan snickered.
“Yeah, don’t worry about him, alright? He’ll get muzzled later. So, uh—where exactly are you headed…?” You questioned him warily, realizing that you still didn’t know this mysterious man’s name.
As if he was capable of reading your mind, he could tell by your facial expressions and body language alone that you were wondering what his name was.
“It’s Logan.” He answered your hypothetical question softly, far softer than he had spoken to Joel. “Logan Howlett. That’s my name. And to answer your question, I’m not headed anywhere in particular. Like I said, jus’ was passin’ through the area. Not lookin’ for trouble.” He lowered his fists to his sides, claws finally retracting into his knuckles, the skin healing over instantly.
“Logan.” You repeated his name just as softly. “I understand that you were just passing through, but unfortunately, we can’t just let people pass through without stopping them and questioning them.”
“Yeah, well, don’t think your boyfriend had any intention of just questioning me, sweetheart. S’a good thing that you arrived jus’ in time, cause the way that I see it…” he clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and cockily tilted his head to the side, “you wouldn’t have a boyfriend anymore, and woulda been bringing what’s left of him back home in pieces.”
Joel’s muscles went rigid and his eyes darkened, appearing like two black holes instead of the comforting warm brown tone that you were accustomed to. He shook off Tommy’s hand immediately when he went to grab his shoulder to drag him away from the intense brewing situation.
You let out a sigh, rubbing your temples with your gloved fingers. Fucking men and their big dicks and even bigger egos. Un-fucking-believable.
“That is quite enough!” You snapped through the frigid air. “Tommy, please be a doll and escort your brother back to town. I can handle this on my own.”
“Like hell—”
“She’s got this handled, Joel. She’s more than capable. If she ain’t back within the next hour, we’ll come back.” Tommy reassured him with a gentle, yet firm squeeze to his shoulder.
“Fine.” Joel muttered under his breath, pulling his shoulder free again and took a few steps towards you. “See you at home, baby.” He whispered only for your ears to hear and pulled you in for a swift kiss on the lips.
Logan couldn’t help but let out a low wolf whistle at the sight. Fair play. He mused to himself.
“Yeah, see you at home.” You mumbled against his lips, kissing him back and gently shoving him away towards the direction of Tommy and their awaiting horses.
“That’s some guard dog of a boyfriend that you got yourself there, darlin’,” Logan said in amusement, unsheathing his middle claw in Joel’s direction with a condescending and dripping in arrogance grin.
“You have no idea.” You said with a light laugh, turning on your heel to face him again. “So, you’re just passing through the area, right?”
His middle claw retracted slowly with a clink, and he crossed his broad arms against his chest with a tight nod of his head. “Yeah, that’s right.”
“Are you infected?”
“The fuck—infected? I don’t got a goddamn clue what you’re talkin’ about, sweetheart.”
“Y’know, the cordyceps infection? The outbreak happened like…twenty somethin’ years ago, but there’s still infected roaming about.”
“Huh.” He chuckled softly, balancing his weight from one foot to the other. “That would explain the lack of humans that I’ve run into lately. This earth seems pretty damn scarce.”
“This…earth? I don’t think I quite pick up what you’re putting down, Logan.”
He pushed out a deep sigh and slowly dragged a hand over his face. “Don’t even get me started.”
“Alright, and your claws…have you always had them?”
He steeled his expression, lips curving downwards into a subtle frown, and his body language alone was an indication that you crossed an invisible boundary.
“Since I was a kid, yes.” He flexed his hands and stared at them as if they weren’t attached to his body. “Used to be less…metal.”
“And what about the fact that your body can regenerate itself and heal? Is that…part of your mutation?” You gestured to the bullet laying in the snow by his boots, still stained with his blood, and yet there was no sign of a wound in his chest any longer.
“Yeah. I still…feel physical pain like everyone else, but it only lasts for a second at most. Well, depending on the severity of the wound, and how many I sustained.”
A hidden flush rose up his cheeks and he coughed into his shoulder to hide his bashfulness from your prying eyes. He gave you a disgruntled look, nodding in an attempt to be polite, but it came out gruffer than he intended. “The hell is FEDRA?”
It was your turn to feel flustered beneath his stare, and stoic demeanor. You almost didn’t notice the way you spewed out the facts, familiar to you like the back of your own hand.
He inclined his head, but looked back up and narrowed his eyes. “And these…infected? They used to say that about us—I mean, me. What’s the difference?”
You tried not to look so shocked at his confessions of ignorance, and somehow managed to blurt out an explanation.
“Oh, those mushroom head lookin’ freaks? Yeah, I’ve run into them a few times here and there, but they all run away from me.” He shrugged. “What in god's green earth is a rat king?”
Your eyes widened drastically. You had never heard of such a thing. “You’re telling me that the infected run away from you? There’s no way—I mean, that’s a first. The rat king is…never mind. Let’s just hope you don’t meet one.”
“Might have somethin’ to do with the Adamantium is my guess. Gotta say, they’re pretty nasty lookin’.”
“Yeah, no shit.” You snorted under your breath. “Look, Joel is probably gonna kill me, but given the current circumstances…do you want to come back to town with me? You’re a long way from wherever you came from, and well, you look like you could use some rest and a proper meal.” You knew with full intent that offering Logan to come back to Jackson with you was risky for a multitude of reasons, and the biggest reason was knowing that Joel was gonna throw a fucking fit.
“I don’t think your boyfriend would really like that idea, sweetheart.” He said with a sigh, picturing what the next few months would be like in total isolation, with no reprieve or end.
“He’ll give me an earful about it, but morally, I can’t just leave you out here alone. So, are you capable of riding a horse?” You gestured with your thumb over your shoulder in the direction of your horse impatiently pawing at the snow.
“I suppose a bit of hospitality doesn’t sound all that bad. Y’all got liquor? Could use me a stiff drink about now. And yeah, I know a thing or two about riding.”
Oh.
“We got more than just liquor, Logan.” You leaned in with a small grin, “we got a bar, bacon, and endless whiskey that has since been perfected by Joel’s brother, Tommy. He’s the more reasonable one out of the pair.”
“Shit. Are ya serious? Bacon and whiskey?” His mouth was already watering at the phantom taste of liquor on his tongue. He couldn’t remember the last time he had a damn good drink.
“Deadly serious.”
“Well then, lead the way.” He nodded in your horse's direction.
You made the choice to stay in the front of the saddle while Logan situated himself on the back and instinctively wrapped his arms around you. “Sorry.” He whispered when he felt your body tense up in his loose grip. “Old habits.”
“S’alright. I just wasn’t expecting it is all.” You tighten your grip around the leather reins, squeezing your calves against the horse's side followed by a gentle click of your tongue to urge the horse into a trot.
The ride back to Jackson was a comfortably quiet one, and it was obvious that Logan wasn’t much of a small talker, and you were more than okay with that.
The only sound between you and him was the occasional squeak of the saddle, a soft snort from your horse, and the thundering hooves across the almost frozen landscape. You slowed to a lope, reaching behind you blindly into the saddlebag and grabbed a white flag, raising it in the air above your head.
The large, looming gates that protected Jackson from outside forces were suddenly pulled open, revealing the hidden community inside and Logan was completely awestruck.
You looked over your shoulder to see his reaction, and you couldn’t help the smile that slowly crossed over your lips at the sight of this brutish, and conflicted man, almost with tears in his eyes because he was seeing what remained of civilization and humanity at the core.
~~
To say that Joel was pissed when you showed up with that fucking mutant freak outside his front door was an understatement. Joel was livid—furious—charged up with rage the second he locked eyes with Logan.
“You have got to be fuckin’ kiddin’ me. You brought him home?!” Joel hissed between his teeth, almost trembling from how riled up he was.
Man, imagine if this fucker was unfortunate enough to meet Wade fucking Wilson. Logan thought to himself, shaking his head and chuckling under his breath at the mental image of Joel meeting Deadpool for the first time. What a sight that would be.
“Joel, I know you’re angry, and rightfully so, but he’s not infected, and it felt morally wrong for me to just leave him out there on his own.”
“Oh, so I guess we just fuckin’ take in strays now? Is that it? Y’know, you’re supposed to run these things by me first before you just do something irrationally stupid like this!” He hissed.
“Ellie was a stray, and you took her in. I see no difference in this, Joel.” You attempted to reason with him.
“Who’s Ellie?” Logan chimed in, leaned against the entryway with his arms crossed over his chest like he owned the damn place.
“None of your goddamn business, bud.” Joel snapped back quickly, his words cold and biting, but they had no effect on the Wolverine.
“Ellie is his kid. Well, his adopted daughter. Actually, wolvie, she’d lose her goddamn mind if she got to meet a real superhero like you.”
“Not a chance in hell. This—thing isn’t staying here, and he sure as fuck ain’t meetin’ my kid.”
“Ah, so we’ve gone from mutant freak to thing? I’ll take that as an improvement.” Logan snickered under his breath. “I ain't a hero. Far from it actually, so she would unfortunately be met with disappointment.”
“Okay, well, unfortunately, you aren’t the only one who calls the shots around here, Joel. Now, I promised Logan that I would get him a proper meal and a stiff drink. So, either suck it the fuck up and come with us, or stay here and pout like a little kid.”
Damn.
“I hate when you act like you got the bigger set of balls in the relationship, baby.” Joel grumbled under his breath and was already reaching for his discarded coat that was hanging along the well-loved couch.
“Actually, I do have the bigger set of balls, hun. You just need a little gentle reminder now and then.” You shot him a playful wink and pivoted on your heel just as Logan quickly moved out of the way so you could pass through the doorway.
Joel gave the other man a cold stare as he passed him, one that was returned with an acknowledging nod and a small grin before the door swung shut behind the three of you.
Logan had five straight glasses of whiskey in under 20 minutes, leaving you, Joel, and Tommy equally impressed and a tad concerned considering a normal man would surely be on his ass by now after consuming that much liquor in one sitting, but Logan didn’t even appear to be tipsy at all.
“Wanted to apologize to you fellas for how things went down earlier.” Logan announced over the loud chatter and leaned in over the bartop where Tommy was drying off a glass and Joel was swirling the amber contents of his own glass, lost in thought.
“No hard feelings, man.” Tommy was the first to speak up. “I’m sure she told ya why we acted that way in the first place, yeah? We get all kinds of folks crossin’ our paths on patrol, and as long as they ain’t infected, or appearing to be an immediate threat, we let ‘em in.”
“Well, apparently those who appear to be an immediate threat surpass the rules and get let in anyway.” Joel added, tone dripping in sarcasm over the rim of his glass against his lips.
Logan stiffened, jaw clenching and unclenching and he could feel the concealed claws beneath the skin on his knuckles just begging to be unleashed, but he held them at bay.
“I get it, bub. You’re viewing me as a threat, ain’t that right? I show up in your town as a stranger, an outcast with your girl, and you got your hackles raised like a goddamn guardog. Well, I can assure you that I’m not a threat. Learned the hard way a long time ago to not impose on another man’s relationship.”
“As if I’m gonna trust your word?” Joel scoffed, rolling his shoulders forward before he directly looked over at the other man. “I ain’t gonna win a fight with her on this one, but if I even catch a whiff of you tryin’ somethin’ on her, I’ll kick you out so goddamn fast.”
“Noted. Although, I think I’ll stick around for the time being. If your ego wasn’t so inflated, you would probably realize that keepin’ me around is gonna benefit you and this community.”
“Benefit me how exactly? If you’re talkin’ weapons, we don’t need your assistance there. We’re stacked with enough manpower in case there ever was an attack. No one’s got the balls to do that.”
"Like, adamantium.” Your voice floated sweetly over the two brooding men, as you slid into the empty seat between them. “Not only that, but the infected literally turn the other way when he’s crossed paths with them, and oh, let’s not forget that one of his mutation powers is that he can regenerate and heal himself which means he’s pretty much immortal.”
Joel’s face turned red hot with embarrassment with a twinge of irritation. He downed the rest of his glass and slammed it on the counter. He barked an order at his brother to top his glass off. “Bullshit.”
“Would be a shitty lie.” Logan rasped, sliding his empty glass in Tommy’s direction. “I’m older than you, bub.”
“I think I’ve had enough of fantasyland for one fuckin’ day. Adamantium this, mutation that, fucking knives coming out of your hands? Yeah, sure. Older than me? Fat fuckin’ chance, pal.” Joel scoffed, shaking his head and muttering more profanities under his breath.
“He’s like…at least a century old, Joel. If not older.”
“Who is at least a century old?” Ellie chimed in next to Joel as she leaned over the bartop. “Uncle Tommy, can you pour me a beer, pretty please?”
“Ellie.” Joel grumbled, “shouldn’t you be at home doin’ homework?”
Ah, so that’s the old man’s kid. Fitting.
“Dude, it’s the weekend, and I already finished my homework. Dina and I are goin’ to the movies later, but she’s at home freshening up.” Ellie reached over to mess up his hair, but Joel already knew what she was about to do and gently caught her wrist in his hand before she could even get close to his hair.
“The movies?” Logan's question immediately drew Ellie’s attention as Joel dropped her wrist.
“Never seen your face around here before. You new to town?”
“Somethin’ like that.” Logan shrugged. “You're Joel’s kid then?”
“The one and only.” She beamed proudly while Joel scowled. “Wait, so who is at least a century old? I know we’re not talking about you, dad. But you are getting up there. Is that another gray hair I’m detecting? Soon you’re gonna be wearing diapers—” her playful rambling was cut off by Joel’s sharp and scolding tone cutting through the air like a sharpened knife.
“ELLIE!” He half yelled, cheeks inflamed and face turning and even brighter shade of red.
“I’m only kidding! Well, half kidding! One day you will be wearing diapers, old man.”
Logan laughed, a full on, belly-ache inducing laugh where the corner of his eyes crinkled and his smile lines appeared. “Holy shit. Your kid’s a riot!”
“I’ve been telling him that forever, and he just won’t admit it!” She giggled and gently wrapped her arm around Joel’s shoulder to give him a half hug to which he begrudgingly hugged her back, trying to hide his small grin from being noticed.
“You remind me a lot of…well, an old friend of sorts.” Logan looked down.
Ellie finally found her chance to ruffle Joel’s and seized it before he could stop her. “What was the name of your friend? I’m assuming he’s dead, so rest in peace.”
“Ellie!” Joel softly scolded her, “it’s rude to assume that someone died—”
“Wade Wilson.” Logan said softly, staring down at his empty glass with a sigh.
Ellie’s eyes expanded, blown wide in shock and utter disbelief. She was a comic book nerd, and well—a nerd in general. Perhaps it was just sheer coincidence that this stranger knew a Wade Wilson. Surely, it couldn’t be the Wade Wilson that she immediately was thinking of, right?
“Holy fuck. Please don’t crush my dreams and tell me that I’m wrong, but are you talking about the Wade Wilson as in Deadpool? Dude—are you an Avenger?” Ellie leaned over the bartop in Logan’s direction, voice low in a hushed whisper.
“Kid, I’m the furthest thing from an Avenger.” He said quietly, sinking his weight back against the bartop stool. “But I did know Wade pretty well. The fucker is probably alive, somewhere. He’s like a cockroach that you can never kill.”
“Okay, but if you’re not an Avenger…then what are you?”
“I was an X-Man at one point, but they’re all dead now—because of me.”
“Oh my god, are you—you’re the Wolverine, aren’t you? What in the fuck are you doing here? Is this real life? Someone pinch me right now, because there is no way that Logan fucking Howlett is here in the flesh! Dude, can you show me your claws?!” Ellie asked excitedly and it was Joel’s job to rein her in a bit.
“Alright, kiddo. That’s enough questions, alright? Don’t wanna go and overwhelm him. He can show you his…claws another time. Last thing we want is all these people freaking out and screaming bloody murder, right?” Joel said softly to her in his usual dad tone.
“Yeah, yeah you’re right. Sorry about that, Logan. I’m just like—a huge fan of you and the comics. I actually still can’t wrap my head around the fact that this is real life. Anyway, I’ll get out of your hair. Hope you stick around!” She said sincerely before swiping up her glass of beer that was waiting for her and walked away to a different section of the crowded bar.
“Sorry about my kid. She is a huge fan, and definitely meant no harm by freaking out like that. I hope she wasn’t too invasive.”
“S’alright. There’s no harm done.” Logan reassured him.
Joel tapped his knuckles along the bartop, looking over at his brother first who was now at the other end of the bartop where his wife Maria was sitting. And then he looked at you and finally Logan. “Look, we got off on the wrong foot earlier today and I’m sorry about that. If you don’t got nowhere to go, you should consider staying in town. Sounds like you could be useful, like you said, and my kid would probably kill me if I kicked the Wolverine out for no good reason.”
“I don’t wanna impose, I swear. My plan was to just have a bite to eat and a few drinks and then I’ll be on my way.”
“Logan.” You finally spoke, “you should stay. There’s plenty of room for you here. We’ll have to figure out living arrangements, but in the meantime, you can sleep on our couch?”
The Wolverine’s warm hazel eyes slowly flitted over to you, a soft smile gracing his face before he glanced over at your boyfriend whose jaw was beginning to tick, again.
“Only if your guard dog is alright with that arrangement, sweetheart.”
Joel took a deep breath and released the built up tension that he felt in his shoulders. “The couch is all yours, Logan. We’ll get you out on patrol starting next week. You’ll fit right in.”
And boy, did he fit in.
~~
Logan did more than just fit in, he added a new welcoming dynamic to Jackson and he was an absolute hit with the kids both old and young. (He may or may not have smoked weed with Ellie, Dina and Jesse one night, but no one will ever know the truth)
He looked forward to being on patrol with Joel and Tommy every single day, (sometimes in the evenings). Having a purpose in his life again made him feel complete, and there was that extra perk of getting to kill people—bad guys, every now and then. Logan took numerous bullets for both Miller brothers and he felt this swelling sense of pride in his heart when Joel would go out of his way to tell him that he did a good job out there and sometimes there was even a firm, lingering pat on his shoulder followed by a, thanks for keeping the town safe, Logan. Don’t know what I’d do without ya.
Logan liked to hear those words from Joel’s mouth more than he was willing to admit. Almost as much as he liked coming home to you at the end of the very long and grueling day. Despite his promise to Joel that he wouldn’t try anything on you, he felt that there was nothing wrong with developing a harmless crush on both of his roommates, right?
Well, lucky for the Wolverine, you were beginning to fall down that rabbit hole, too. Especially when Logan would strut around the house shirtless in the mornings while you were getting ready for your day at the barn, ripped abs, resembling glossy freshly baked rolls were on full display paired with that knee-weakening smile that appeared over the rim of his steaming mug of coffee. He’d even accompany you to the barn, spending time with you and the horses till he would saddle up for patrol.
“Joel.” You whispered through the darkness in your shared bedroom.
“This better be goddamn important.” He grumbled tiredly, rolling over so he was facing you and draped his arm across your bare waist, tugging you into his chest so he could pepper your face with affectionate, sleepy kisses. “Thought you said you were too tired for round three, baby.” He drawled against your ear, playfully nipping at the lobe with his teeth.
“Baby, I promise you it’s super important.” You pressed a kiss to the sliver of exposed skin on his neck, throwing your thigh over his hip so if he wanted to, he could slip right into your silky, enticing warmth with ease.
“Mmm. Alright then. Spit it out. What’s on your mind, pretty girl.” He hummed against your skin, rolling his hips languidly into yours, a small grunt slipped past his lips when the head of his cock brushed through your slick folds and dragged upwards across your still sensitive clit.
“Y—you have to promise that you won’t get mad at me, okay?” You gasped softly, biting down on the juncture where his jaw met his neck.
“Baby, if you don’t fuckin’ spit it out right now, I’ll just have to fuck it out of ya.” He said through gritted teeth, reaching between your bodies with his freehand so he could grasp the base of his cock with ease and slowly feed himself into your warm, wet, enveloping walls with zero resistance.
“I want to fuck Logan.” You finally spit it out, waiting for your partner to scold you, but he did the complete opposite and bucked his hips against yours so he was completely bottomed out, stretching you open the same way he did a couple hours ago. “Yeah.” He gruffed out, finally finding your lips in a searing kiss, “know you do.”
Just down the stairs, lounged out on the couch with a glass of whiskey in one hand and tv remote in the other, Logan was trying his best to distract his brain from what he was hearing upstairs (damn his heightened sense of hearing). For the past 20 minutes he had been listening to you and Joel getting it on, and now he was dealing with a small problem—a rather large problem, actually. That problem being that the crotch section of his jeans were becoming unbearably tight, and even after he popped the button and yanked the zipper down, that wasn’t enough relief.
He let out a frustrated growl, throwing his head back against the couch and brought his freehand up to his forehead, rubbing his temples and squeezed his eyes shut. He was fighting an internal battle of whether he was going to act like a nasty dog and jerk himself off, or fight the urge all together. He fumbled with the remote, turning the tv up to full volume thinking that it would drown your sweet little noises out, and Joel’s manly grunts, but it did jack all and he finally gave in and gently palmed himself through his jeans.
That’s when he heard your voice as clear as day.
I want to fuck Logan
That’s all it took for the last shred of his resistance to fall away at the same rate that he had pulled his cock free, squeezing it firmly in his fist before he pulled his hand back, splitting a glob of saliva onto it and wrapped it back around the base of his cock.
~~
You let out a surprised squeak when Joel bucked his hips against yours, burying himself completely in your warm cunt. You scrambled to find something to grab onto, sinking your nails into his strong biceps when he withdrew his hips halfway before thrusting them forward again.
“Known for awhile that you want to fuck him, baby. Neither of you are great at hiding it either. You should see the way he drinks in your appearance the minute you walk into the goddamn room.” He mumbled against your lips, caging you in his arms when he began to pick up a steady rhythm, listening to the soft squelch of your pussy sucking him in further with each powerful thrust. “Thought about tellin’ Logan that he should just make a move, but I wanted to discuss it with you first.”
“Oh, fuck.” You moaned freely, lips falling away from the kiss briefly before finding one another again like two magnets. “So, you’re okay with it then?”
“Fuck yeah, I am. But under one condition.” He stilled his hips, reaching his freehand back down between your connected bodies so he could play with your clit at his leisure.
Your body twitched in his arms from the sudden stimulation and that familiar tingling feeling that was blooming deep in the pit of your stomach as your walls clenched tightly around him, squeezing his cock like a vice. “What’s the condition?”
“I get to watch him fuck you. If y’all wanna get acquainted and fool around beforehand, that’s fine with me, but I get to watch him fuck you.” He rasped and in one swift movement, he maneuvered you onto his lap, cock still buried deep inside of you. The kiss was broken briefly so that he could gaze up at you through hooded eyes. “And if you’re lucky, maybe I’ll even wanna join in. Jus’ am curious to see how well you take another man’s cock, baby. M’sure Logan is gonna be thrilled.” He grabbed a handful of your ass, squeezing and kneading the soft flesh with his thick fingers. “The way I see it, It’s a win-win situation for everyone involved.” He let out a sharp breath when you instinctively rolled your hips against his, foreheads pressed tightly together.
“I fucking love you so much, Joel.” You whispered against his lips, carding your fingers through his hair and tugged on the roots gently so his head was tilted back slightly. You could feel his smirk form in the sloppy kiss, and the way he tugged you closer, chests pressed together.
“I love you too, baby. Jus’ wanna see my girl happy s’all. And if fucking the goddamn Wolverine makes you happy, then so be it.”
Logan could hear every squeak from the old mattress, the wooden frame smacking the wall in sync with the heavy weight of Joel’s thrusts, and he could even hear the wet, squelch of your pussy, and skin slapping on skin. The mental images he created in his mind spurred his wrist to move faster, jerking his cock like a horny teenager that had stumbled across the adult magazine section in a grocery store for the first time.
He gnawed on his lower lip till it began to bleed and then healed over immediately after. His lashes fluttered, muscles growing taught and veins bulging the closer he got to cumming in his fist. He bit down on the back of his hand, hard enough to draw blood, and the stinging pain mixed with pleasure sent him right over the edge with stars dotting his vision before he slumped back against the couch, cock spent and growing soft.
“The fucker probably can’t wait to bury his face between your thighs, inhale your scent and eat your sweet pussy like a man starved. Bet it’s been so fuckin’ long for him, that he’ll cream his pants the second he even catches a sliver of your skin.”
“Well, bub, you got one thing right, that’s for damn sure. I can’t wait to bury my face between your girl's thighs and eat her sweet pussy like a man starved.” Logan chuckled to himself, letting out a content sigh as he glanced down at the mess of his release coating his hand, and his happy trail.
He reached over the coffee table for his almost abandoned glass of whiskey and quickly downed the rest before snatching up one of the cigars Joel had so kindly gotten for him and a box of matches. And just as he lit the end of the cigar, and kicked his feet up on the coffee table so he could get more comfortable, his ears were blessed with the high pitched sounds of you orgasming. “Fuck.” He nearly groaned, cock twitching pathetically at the pornographic sound you emitted.
~~
The sun had not even begun to rise in the sky, but there was a chill in the air, a telling sign that fall was on the horizon and the changing of seasons. The early morning light was softer now compared to the summer months, and bathed Joel’s exposed back in a warm, golden glow.
You curled your body around his, hugging him like a koala when he went to untangle his legs from your own. He let out a throaty chuckle, raspy and sticky with prior slumber when you tighten your grip around him.
He blindly reached behind, finding your bare thigh and gave it an affectionate squeeze and gentle pat with his calloused palm. “C’mon, baby.” He rasped, “gotta pee, and then I’m gonna go find Tommy’n get an early start.”
“Stay in bed.”
“S’temptin.’” he mused, rolling over with a soft grunt so he was facing you finally.
“It’s fucking freezing in here, Joel. You’re my personal heater, and I forbid you from leaving.”
“Mmm.” He nuzzled his face against your pulse point, inhaling your familiar scent with a content sigh. “Could always ask Logan to take my place…” He trails off.
“Are you trying to make me soaking wet right now?” You teased.
You could feel him grinning against your skin as he pressed an open-mouthed kiss at the juncture where your jaw met your neck. “Why? Is it working?”
“Why don’t you find out?” You said coyly, finding his hand to slowly drag it between your bare thighs, but he was acting stubborn; the gall he had.
“No can do, my little minx.” He retracted his touch from you all together, finding an opening to slip out of your warm embrace and swung his legs over the side of the bed before pushing himself up. You could hear a faint crack in his lower back the moment he stretched his arms above his head, and he cheekily pivoted his hips to the side just so you could enjoy the little show and dreamily watch the way that his heavy cock swung between his thighs.
Letting out a groan that was nothing short of frustrating, you rolled over onto your stomach, kicking your legs up behind your head languidly with your chin propped in your palms. “Can’t believe you’re gonna choose your brother over me, and my drooling pussy, Joel.” You said with a noticeable pout.
He bent down, grabbing ahold of his discarded shirt from the night before and pulled it over his head and shoulders, obstructing your view of his broad chest and soft, kissable tummy. “You and your droolin’ pussy will live, sweetheart.” He took a few steps towards the bed, leaning down to brush his lips against yours in a sweet peck.
“Actually, I don’t think we will. I think we’re both gonna die a truly excruciating death if you don’t be a man and take care of the mess I’m making in your sheets.” You mumbled against his lips, attempting to deepen the kiss further, but he swiftly pulled back, brows crinkled in amusement as he observed your pout of frustration, and that yearning look glossed over in your eyes before his gaze traveled down the curve of your spine and between your thighs.
He chuckled in amusement when you arch your back and spread your legs further just so he could see how swollen and puffy your pussy looked from this angle, dripping with need, desperate to be played with, to be filled.
“Put your pussy away, you preening slut.” He said teasingly, not meaning it in an overtly degrading way, and simply just a jest; all in good fun.
“Fiiine.” You sighed in defeat, dropping your weight from your elbows and plopped down, face first into his pillow dramatically.
“Poor baby.” He cooed and leaned down, pressing his lips to the side of your head. “I’ll let Logan know that you and your needy little pussy will be waiting for him.”
“Go piss already, old man.” You grumbled into the pillow.
“Goin’ straight for the jugular, huh?” He chuckled and grabbed the end of the sheet, draping it over you gently before he pivoted on his heel and padded over to the attached bathroom.
~~
Logan was still passed out on the couch when Joel crept downstairs, fully dressed now. There was the faint stench of tobacco, musk, and oh—
Joel didn’t mean to look, he truly didn’t—but it was staring him right in the fucking face, and immediately sent a hot, red flush rising up his cheeks and sweat began to pool at the nape of his neck.
Logan stirred in his heavy slumber, one arm propping up behind his head as a makeshift pillow, bicep muscles bulging even in a relaxed state. His freehand slowly drifted southwards, brushing against the protruding vein on his lower abdomen and trailed right down to the soft, dark, enticing hair on his happy trail.
“I’m fuckin’ losin’ it, I swear.” Joel muttered to himself, scraping his own hand down his face before he quickly made a departure for the kitchen.
He was careful to be quiet, as he didn’t want to disturb the other man while he prepared himself a steaming mug of coffee, one of his many guilty pleasures that he never believed he would get to indulge in again.
cue me breaking the 4th wall. I know what you’re all thinking. Gianna, are Joel and Logan going to fuck yet? No, my lovely readers, I’m going to continue to edge you just a little more 🙂‍↕️ (and by a little more I mean you have to wait till chapter three 😔 but don’t worry! The sexual tension is there, and it’s simmering, but first, some angst!
P.S. if you read this in Deadpool’s voice, I fucking love u and we’re gonna make out now.
Okay, that’s all, folks! Back to the gay pining!
The Wolverine began to mumble in his sleep, not just fragmented words, but names—names of those he once knew, those he lost. The nightmares were never-ending, a constant reminder of the past that could never be undone. Even after teaming up with Wade, and saving the world, Logan still would think about the X-Men. That’s the funny thing about trauma, it never actually goes away, you just learn how to mask it as time goes on.
“Howlett?” Joel hesitantly said from the threshold of the kitchen, footsteps padding towards the living room.
Logan shot up from the couch, with an animalistic yell emitting from his throat. His eyes were wide, sweat pooled down his bare chest and his claws unsheathed with that familiar metal swoosh. He blinked a rapidly, registering where he was before he fell back against the couch and retracted his claws as he caught his breath.
“Logan?…Y’alright in there?”
Fuck.
“Jus’ fine, Miller. Sorry for startling you.” Logan muttered, voice raspy with sleep. It dawned upon him then that last night, after he—well, got himself off, he passed out before he had a chance to tuck his cock back into his jeans.
Guy must really fuckin’ think I’m an animal.
“Are ya decent?”
So, he did see? Fuck.
“Jus’ a minute.”
Joel waited till he heard the sound of a zipper being pulled up, and the metallic clink of a belt before he made his presence known, leaning against the opening of the kitchen with two mugs of coffee now.
He observes the other man silently, watching as he slowly sits up, rubbing the heels of his palms against his eyes, taking a deep lungful of air before exhaling.
“You’re shaking.” Joel states the obvious and hesitantly approaches the couch, sitting down against the side of it.
Thanks, captain obvious.” Logan snorts under his breath, fighting the urge to grin at the other man’s obvious hesitation.
“Those things have a mind of their own, huh?” Joel refers to the metal claws that were once protruding out of Logan’s knuckles.
“Somethin’ like that.” He eyes the second mug of coffee before finally meeting Joel’s gaze. “That for me?”
“What? Oh—the coffee.” Joel feels a flush creeping on as he holds the mug of coffee towards Logan almost as a peace offering. “Yeah.”
Logan reaches for the mug, meeting Joel’s hand halfway before taking it from him. Their fingers brush, and he tries to not notice how fast Joel moves to retract his hand.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.” Joel’s response is unintentionally gruff sounding. He sighs, taking a sip from his own mug.
“Do you have them often?”
The Wolverine raises a brow, confusion etched over his face. “What?”
“The nightmares.” Joel clarifies, “do you have them often?”
“Every night.” Logan said just above a whisper. His eyes cast downwards towards the mug in his hands, an unreadable expression crosses his face.
“Well, we got somethin’ in common after all.”
Logan looks up in surprise, studying the other man for a moment. He wants to ask questions, but he doesn’t want to invade Joel’s privacy or pry where he’s not wanted, let alone welcomed.
“Sun ain’t even up yet, bub. Where ya off to?”
“Patrol with Tommy, once I find him. Wanna get an early start.”
Logan doesn’t even think twice before he starts to swing his legs over the side of the couch to stand up, but he’s stopped in his tracks when he feels a warm, calloused palm press down against his bare chest. The movement shocks both men, and the Wolverine falls into submission, sinking back down against the couch pillows that were already crushed under his weight.
“You’ve done well out there, Howlett. Take the day off, and keep my girl company instead.”
Don’t move your hand, bub. Keep it right there. Is what Logan really wants to say.
“Y’sure, Miller?” He tests the waters for any possible ulterior motive that Joel may have.
Much to Logan’s disappointment, Joel slowly removes his hand from his chest, bringing it down to his side, fingers flexing and then curling into a fist as if he’s in disbelief over what he just did.
“Yeah, I’m sure. Between you and me, there ain’t no hidin’ your attraction to her. And well—seems like she’s takin’ a liking to you as well.” Joel said with a light chuckle, bringing his mug back up to his lips and took a quick sip. “And seeing as you won’t grow a pair and jus’ make a move, I figured I’d give you my permission.”
“I ain’t worthy of her, Joel. That’s your girl. If I’ve overstepped—”
“Yeah?” Joel leaned in, close enough that from this angle, Logan could make out every little detail on the other man’s face. “Guess you don’t wanna hear how she’s upstairs right now, leakin’ all over my goddamn sheets like a bitch in heat, huh?”
“And you want me…to—take care of it?” He chooses his words carefully.
“I know you ain’t all that innocent, Logan. You don’t gotta hide that shit from me. You want her? She’s all yours. But, a word of advice, if I may. Let her come to you. She enjoys the chase more than she likes to be chased. Play coy with her. That one lives for a good fuckin’ game of cat and mouse.”
“And this isn’t a trap? Yeah, of course I want your girl. I’d be a goddamn fool if I didn’t.”
“It ain’t a trap. I’m appeasing to both sides, Logan. My only condition is that you can’t fuck her—not yet, at least. I want to be there to watch. Everything else, however, is on the table, so do with that as you will.” He finished off his coffee and pushed himself off the side of the couch. Before the Wolverine could even respond, he had one last thing to say before he would take his leave.
“Oh, and Logan?”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll know if you fucked her without me.”
My panties just disappeared…how did that happen? AND my rose toy just flew into my hand like Thors hammer! Weird…
~~
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oni-gory · 8 months ago
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Genshin boys in heat! PT. 1
ᡣ𐭩 characters: Tighnari x afab reader
ᡣ𐭩 cw: Minor writing smut, penetration, public sex, masturbation (kinda?), Switch Tighnari
ᡣ𐭩 notes: New series of oneshots! (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵) my posting schedule is so inconsistent omg yall im so sorry— 😭
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Tighnari
You and Tighnari were nothing but coworkers, both of you were members of the Vanara that often bumped into each other. Well, that’s how you saw him at least. Tighnari on the other hand, found you quite attractive. He was interested in you, but knew better than to pursue his romantic ambitions. Especially with a coworker. So he just often caught himself staring at you.
One morning, while you were getting ready to go patrol with some other forest rangers, you bumped into Tighnari. But… he was acting strange. His face was very red and he seemed really fidgety. You tried to apologize nonetheless, “Oh- I’m sorry Tighnari! Uhm… are you alright.?” You asked, but Tighnari didn’t respond. He just quickly pushed past you and hurried away into the forest. That made you really worried. So instead of going on parol like you were assigned to, you went looking for Tighnari.
After searching most of the areas you knew he frequented, you ended up wandering around the forest by the Gandharva Ville. That was when you heard panting coming from a… tree? You approached quickly, worried that it was an injured animal. But when you peeked your head past the tree, you instead saw the Forest Watcher. He was leaning against the tree, sweating profusely while gripping a bulge in his pant. Your face flushed red and you quickly looked away, hoping to quietly sneak away and pretend it never happened. But all of a sudden Tighnari grabbed your hand.
His sense of smell was outstanding, and it seemed he noticed you. Tighnari looked up at you with a red face, a desperate look in his teary eyes. “I-I’m sorry.. plea—please help..” He begged you, pulling on your arm. Despite his appearance, Tighnari was shockingly strong. You struggled to find the words, not wanting to say yes… but he looked so desperate. Tighnari seemed like he needed you. So you feebly nodded, mumbling an embarrassed response, “Okay.. Uhm- What do you need.?” Tighnari looked around to make sure nobody could see him before leading your hand to the bulge in his pants. Just you touching him, even through his clothes made the Forest Watcher shiver.
Your face was red while you continued touching him through his clothes, listening to Tighnari’s whimpers. He moved from laying back against the tree to laying back against you. “Moree..” He whined, sweating while trying to make you remove his pants. You bit your bottom lip before removing his pants. This entire situation was so embarrassing… But for some reason Tighnari was to blinded by his lustful heat, which you were still oblivious to. His hard cock was poking out of his underwear, longing to be released. You let out a shaky breath when seeing it, surprised by how large your supervisors cock was. Your hands trembled, pulling his underwear down to his knees so you could get a better look at it. You felt so perverted as your fingers wrapped around his lengthy dick. Tighnari’s eyes rolled back into his head as he lifted his head, letting it rest on your shoulder. He was so sensitive..
You were standing in the middle of the forest jerking off the Tighnari of all people… This was insanity. But his sweet moans clouded your mind, distracting you from the thoughts running wild in your head. You got the chance to focus on just pleasuring him, swirling your fingers around his tip and watching as the green eyed man whimpered. He was getting a bit loud, and Tighnari noticed. He covered his mouth, muffling his moans just barely. He even started breathing heavier, and you could tell he was about to reach his edge.
Then, just as you thought, a rope of sticky white cream bursted out of Tighnari’a cock. He hyperventilated, tears trickling down his cheeks after the intense pleasure. Your hand was now a mess, and so were your panties. Your eyes were locked on his still hard cock while Tighnari tried to collect himself. “T—tha..Thank yuo…" He mumbled, leaning against a tree. His face was flushed with blush and a bit of tears and Tighnari didn’t notice that you had bent down onto your knees until you gripped his sensitive cock. The Forest Watcher let out a yelp, his ears drooping against his head. "W-what are you d— oh archons~..” He shivered, biting his bottom lip as you opened your mouth and began to suck on his cock. Tighnari’s legs trembled, feeling sensitive after his orgasm. But even still, He wanted more. Much more than only your mouth. He wanted to breed you.
It had been an hour since the two of you were gone, and none of the others forest rangers knew what was happening between the both of you. They had no idea that by now, Tighnari had you against a tree, ramming his cock inside of your cunt desperately. He was holding your legs up even after your protests against it, clearly determined to breed you. “Ti—Tighnariii~!! Too— too much~..” You moaned out, gripping the tree in an attempt to stabilize yourself. Tighnari had his face nuzzled in your shoulder, smelling your arousal, which only fueled his thrusts. You continued to moan until you heard his muffled voice, “You’re being too… loud.." Then you made an attempt to quiet down by covering your mouth with your hands. He was fucking you like a rabid dog, and honestly, he basically was one. Tighnari began to feel your pussy clenching around him, and he noticed your back was arching. So he decided to try pounding into you deeper, feeling his own orgasm reaching near. All of a sudden, you felt the Forest Watcher’s cum overflowing in your pussy, dripping onto the grass. As the high of your orgasm ended, you knew that the two of you wouldn’t just stay coworkers.
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cutielando · 9 months ago
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the last social media au was so cute!! maybe one where george’s gf is a famous romance book author and when they make the relationship public his friends cannot believe posh “arms against the wall 2023 intro package pose” george could be the inspiration for all the smutty scenes his gf is famous for (only if your comfortable of course!)
romance is in her books | g.r.
social media au
my masterlist
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yourusername working on something very special 🌸
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booklover101 YAS BITCHES WE'RE GETTING A NEW BOOK!!!!!
chillypeppers Y/N on her way to releasing yet another banger😮‍💨😮‍💨
zendaya what u cooking bby?😉💞
yourusername something with an extra bit of spice🥵
user1 is nobody else wondering who she's writing the *explicit* scenes about?
user2 lol she most probably has a boyfriend or something
user3 or maybe she's just like any other young woman lmao
lilymhe i'm literally obsessed with the way you write🤤
yourusername thank you baby. i'll let you in on a secret later for this ;)
user4 we all want to be lily right now :((((
landonorris do you ever run out of things to write?
yourusername not really, no
lilyzneimer the book is coming along beautifully ❤️
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oscarpiastri did you give her a sneak peek??????????
yourusername ...maybe
oscarpiastri deeply betrayed
georgerussell63 my beautiful girl this comment has been deleted
user5 GEORGE????????
user6 IS GEORGE THE SECRET BOYFRIEND?????
charles_leclerc can't wait to read it
yourusername you’re just like one of the girlies charlie 🌸🌸🌸
user2 the amount of money i spend on her books is so unhealthy but i don’t care. TAKE ALL MY MONEY BABY 😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨
user3 is it a stand-alone or is the new book going to be part of a series?👀
yourusername i’m planning a new series soon, but my next release is going to be a stand-alone 🌸
user4 i love her, she is the sweetest 🥰🥰
iMessage
george 🩵
i might have just fucked up
y/n ❤️
you're hopeless
george 🩵
do you think people saw the comment?
y/n ❤️
judging by the way my phone has been blowing up, i think they have
george 🩵
i'm sorry, my love
y/n ❤️
it's okay, don't worry. now we can mess with the fans for a bit ;)
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yourusername “racing hearts” is now yours, my lovelies. this book holds a very dear place in my heart and i hope that it will speak to you like it spoke to me when i first started writing it. thank you to everyone who came to the book signing yesterday, you make my life all that more special ✨❤️🌸💞
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georgerussell63 beautiful book, who were you thinking about when you wrote it?🤔
yourusername you know, just a random Brit
georgerussell63 must be one hell of a guy to get a book of his own
yourusername he really is
zendaya you have outdone yourself once again. reading your books has become a MUST ✨✨✨
yourusername thank you honey 💞💞💞
landonorris you went wild again, didn’t you?
yourusername i might have
landonorris do i even wanna read it?
yourusername honestly? probably not
lilyzneimer it’s even better than what i thought 💞
yourusername i always have a trick or two up my sleeve 😉🌸
charles_leclerc someone should censor you
yourusername where would be the fun in that?
charles_leclerc how does your manager approve of this?
yourmanager i’m one of the girlies 🌸
charles_leclerc that explains it
booklover101 THE WAY I SCREAMED WHILE READING IT HAS ME INSANE
booklover101 YOU DESERVE EVERY AWARD IN THE WHOLE WORLD
chillypepper i have no words. i said it before and i’ll say it again. she is the best author of her generation
user1 never beating the dating allegations now
user2 she literally named her main character RUSSELL, HOW DO PEOPLE STILL THINK HER AND GEORGE AREN’T DATING??????
user3 George is the luckiest man in the world😭😭
user4 he must really rock your world if those scenes are anything like the real thing
yourusername you have no idea 🤭
mercedesamgf1 I couldn't put it down. Amazing work, Y/N!!
yourusername thank you admin 🌸💞💞
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georgerussell63 Words can't describe how proud I am of you. The way you connect with your readers, the way you give life to every story you write never ceases to amaze me. I'm thankful to be able to watch you do your thing, watch you inspire so many young writers to chase their dreams. I love you 💞 P.S. Yes, I am the inspiration behind the sexy scenes ;) tagged: yourusername
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yourusername your support means everything to me. thank you for always being here for me, helping me through my writer's block and cheering me on. i love you more than you know💞🌸
georgerussell63 i love you more❤️
landonorris i know way too much about your personal life now, mate
georgerussell63 jealous?
landonorris as if
yourusername don't fight boys, what would Russell and Brendan think about you two fighting?
landonorris BRENDAN IS ME?????????
yourusername oops👀
user1 i am in love with their love😮‍💨❤️
user2 going to jump off a cliff, brb
user3 i cannot believe i know stuff about George Russell's sex life👀
user4 George's? HOW ABOUT OUR PRECIOUS LITTLE Y/N'S?
alex_albon simp
georgerussell63 how can i not be? just look at Y/N
yourusername baby🥹💞❤️🌸
alex_albon you two make me sick. i preferred it when you weren't public
georgerussell63 and i preferred it when you shut up
lilymhe we are all in love with Y/N ✨❤️👀
yourusername but you’re the one who has my heart baby 💞💞
georgerussell63 ?????????
yourusername sorry babe 😁💞
mercedesamgf1 Our favorite couple!❤️ liked by yourusername and georgerussell63
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bully⋆.ೃ࿔*:・
the endings
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⋆˙⟡ zbully1 smut series masterlist! hanbin, jiwoong, hao, matthew, and taerae included. click here for game day (group) chapter.
⋆˙⟡ wc: member endings are ~1k each, group endings are less than 500 words each! (in total: ~5k)
⋆˙⟡ reader: no pronouns used for reader at all in any of the endings :)
⋆˙⟡ series summary: five bullies. six days. it's gonna be a hell of a week, babe. stay hydrated.
⋆˙⟡ endings summary: choose your own ending! jiwoong, hao, matthew, hanbin, taerae, group (quasi-poly), and group (revenge) are all included. most are angst/fluff and some are suggestive.
⋆˙⟡ warnings: there is no smut in these endings, but they allude to smut that happened previously or suggest smut that would follow these endings. please, minors dni still with this post! member endings are all happy (with angst). revenge ending is also happy, depending on what makes you happy! lol.
I'M SO SAD IT'S OVER. writing the bully series was so much fun! thank you to the anon who suggested it in the first place a couple months ago and for everyone who has given positive feedback/input! i appreciate it so much. these endings are all crafted with so much love! let me know which one you love most. maybe i'll put a poll at the bottom lol. ily, catch you in the next series!!
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˚    ✦   .  .   ˚ .      . ✦ 
jiwoong 🎭
“so i’ll hand out these scripts and we’ll get started right away,” professor lee announces, walking around the room and handing out scripts for everyone’s assigned scenes. mina sits next to you as usual, except this week she’s staring daggers at jiwoong from across the room. you guess it beats her making googly eyes at him.
mina had called you last night to rant again about how much of a jerk “jiwoong-sshi” is. note the absence of the word “oppa”. you were sorry that he’d stood her up, but you knew what kind of a person he could be long before last week. 
and she unfortunately didn’t seem to care how much of a jerk jiwoong was when you were the one bearing the brunt of it.
but you don’t want to dwell on it. you’d just fucked him and four of his friends in the campus activities lounge and had no plans to tell her. she’d asked you how the “revenge” went, but you’d kept it all pretty vague. mina was no prude, but she might have the urge to gossip a bit with news as insane as that. you wouldn’t blame her if she did.
still, you didn’t regret what you did saturday. not even a little bit. in fact, it made you feel kind of proud every time you thought about it.
you spend all of class working on a scene with mina in which you play a really outrageous set of characters trying to escape arrest. it’s a role that you’ve never opted to take before— one that requires you to be bold, funny, and brave. 
professor lee praises you after you present it at the end of class. “excellent work. what’s gotten into you, (y/n)-sshi? whatever it is, let’s keep peeling back that shell!”
you smile with pride, eyes scanning the rest of the room until they happen to land on kim jiwoong.
he’s smiling, too.
when class ends, you pick your bag up off the floor and toss in your marked-up script. you’d normally throw it in the recycling bin, but you want to keep it this time. as a reminder of what you’re capable of when you’re sure of yourself.
mina giggles as you walk out the door together and into the hallway. “i’m surprised, but you really pulled that off!”
“i’m not.”
both of your heads whip around to find kim jiwoong leaning against the wall behind you.  
“you just needed some... encouragement,” he says with a smirk, but there’s a noticeable warmth in his eyes.
“and what exactly do you need in order to be able to show up to a commitment you made?” mina asks with a scowl. your eyes narrow at him, too.
“listen, i–... i’m really sorry, mina,” he responds sincerely. the fact that he even got her name right has you stifling a gasp— let alone the apology that prefaced it. “i shouldn’t’ve stood you up. that was mean. so i’m sorry.”
mina sucks in her cheek, looking at the ceiling as she considers his sentiment.
“but i actually have something else to apologize for, too,” he adds quickly, gaze moving back and forth between the both of you. “i... i wasn’t really interested in you in the first place. i was—... i used you. to get a reaction out of the person i’m actually interested in.”
his eyes meet yours. your lips part in shock at his sudden confession. you stare at him for a long moment, unspeaking until—
“AREYOUKIDDINGMEYOUABSOLUTEDICKOFAHUMANBEINGYOULIETOANDSTANDUPMYFRIENDANDLEAVEHERINFUCKINGTURMOILOVERYOUANDTHEN—.”
you glance over at mina, expecting to see tears running down her face but instead...
she’s grinning. from ear to ear. and not in a joker sort of way— just genuine happiness.
“i knew it,” she says, clasping her hands together in front of her face and jumping excitedly. “i KNEW it! i knew you both liked each other!”
“you—... what!?” you exclaim, eyes bugging at this bizarre turn of events. “what do you mean, ‘you knew we liked each other’!?”
“i’m also confused,” jiwoong says with a frown. “considering i didn’t really know until, like, yesterday.”
“well, i knew you were going to like each other. eventually,” she says with a nod. “you know, shy, quiet person and arrogant, attractive person trope. it’s destiny!”
“if you really thought that, then why did you wanna go out with him so bad?” you ask through furrowed brow.
“‘cause he’s hot. duh,” she says, shaking her head with a smile as if your question was very silly. “can you blame me for wanting a taste first?”
“well, if it’s just a taste we’re talking about—,” jiwoong starts to offer with a smirk.
“one more word and the only thing you’ll be tasting is—” you interject, balling your hand into a fist.
“aw, first lovers’ spat! i’ll leave you guys to it,” mina says quickly before sprinting off down the now-empty hall. 
you look down at your shoes awkwardly. “i have nothing else to say to you.”
“then, you won’t mind if i talk?” jiwoong asks, not waiting for a response to continue. “when hanbin made me start bullying you last year, i honestly didn’t want to. you were pathetic enough already without my help.”
“gee, thanks,” you reply with with a frown.
“but then i sort of started to have fun with it. the way you reacted was absolutely intoxicating. you made it all so rewarding— coming up with a new plan to drive you crazy every day,” he explains. “then last week, when we started that competition, i found a whole new way to drive you crazy. and i liked it a lot more.”
“this is the most convoluted apology i’ve ever received,” you remark with a sigh.
“after saturday, seeing you like that... you were far from pathetic. and it made me proud. i think, somewhere along the way, i just became really fond of you,” jiwoong confesses, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “and i also desperately want to buy you better clothes.”
“okay, i’m leaving now,” you announce, turning on your heel.
“what a coincidence. me too,” jiwoong says, grabbing your hand and lacing his fingers with yours as he starts to drag you with him down the hall. “you’re hungry, right?”
you start to protest, but as you look at his handsome side profile— dark hair covering the tips of his ears— you realize you are, in fact... hungry.
“starving,” you answer. 
he stops walking to look at you, eyes widening with surprise. “yeah? what would you like to eat then?”
staring at his lips, you can’t help but lick your own. “mina’s right, y’know.”
jiwoong’s head tilts, the corner of his lip upturning slowly as he registers your expression. “is she?”
“mhm,” you answer, pressing your lips to his. he responds quickly: soft, lazy, and stupidly addictive. you can’t believe you let him get away last week without kissing you. you could give him just one chance, couldn’t you? “but what she doesn’t know...”
he attaches your lips again, free hand cupping your jaw.
“is that one taste of you...”
jiwoong inhales sharply as you gently bite his bottom lip.
“just isn’t enough.”
˚    ✦   .  .   ˚ .      . ✦ 
hao 🎻
you rush into orchestra on tuesday, already five minutes late. unfortunately, your regular bus never showed at the stop. and then your back-up bus also never showed. which means you had to walk all the way to campus when you hadn’t planned to— your violin case in tow.
rehearsal having started already, you make a beeline for your seat and frantically open your violin case. luckily you’d warmed up your instrument before you’d left your house this week and your bow is ready to play when it hits the violin strings. 
or, it would be, if you didn’t just realize you forgot your sheet music.
“oh, for fucks sake,” you mumble, looking up at the sky and begging for the sweet release of death in this tragically embarrassing moment.
a soft creaking noise draws your attention to your left, where you find hao’s music stand is suddenly angled in your direction.
he doesn’t say anything or look at you. he just keeps playing. and so you follow the first chair’s lead.
rehearsal goes surprisingly well. you’re sure you managed to correct all of your mistakes from last week after being able to put more rosin on your bow.
“third and fourth chair are falling behind the tempo,” hao replies when professor ahn asks him for notes about the performance. your eyes widen when he names a violinist other than yourself that needs correcting. “it makes it harder for first and second chair to successfully introduce and complete the next movement.”
first and second chair? hao was voluntarily grouping you together?
professor ahn seems as surprised as you. she nods, writing down her own notes in the binder on her music stand. she waves her hand, dismissing the orchestra for the day. you clean your violin, getting it ready to be put back in its case as your classmates begin to file out of the orchestra room.
“(y/n)-sshi,” professor ahn calls suddenly from the doorway. your heart drops to your stomach at the mention of your name. “you actually played quite well today. i’ll assume it’s because you had the help of the concertmaster’s annotations. don’t be late again.”
you nod quickly, bowing your head respectfully to her. “thank you, professor-nim. i’ll play even better next time.”
you’re left alone with hao as usual, both cleaning your violins with the utmost care. when you finish, you place your instrument in its case before fishing around in the side pocket and pulling out something small.
hao locks his violin case, placing it sideways at his feet. finally, he looks at you.
you hold out the cake of rosin that he’d given you last week and told you to bring to your next rehearsal. you’d be remiss to notice that even though you didn’t show him until after class, he never told professor ahn that you’d stolen it like he threatened.
hao examines the rosin, completely ruined from what you’d both done with it. there was no cleaning it and you couldn’t use it if you tried.
you expect to catch some attitude, but, to your surprise, he smiles. “guess it couldn’t be salvaged, huh?”
“guess not,” you agree with a shrug. “at least you got some use out of it.”
“mm,” he hums after a moment before reaching down and reopening his violin case delicately. his hand disappears into one of the side pockets and pulls out a fresh cake of his premium rosin.
and then he hands it to you.
you stare at it in your palm, wide-eyed. “w-what are you—”
“you’re a pretty decent violinist,” hao says matter-of-factly. “sometimes— not often— but sometimes i feel like you have the potential to be almost as good as me. but you’ll never reach it if you don’t start using higher quality products to care for your instrument.”
“oh,” you reply, brow furrowing as he locks up his violin again. “so you’ve decided to take pity on me now?”
he smirks. “something like that.”
“i guess it’s better than pure hatred,” you respond, rolling your eyes as you tuck the box of rosin into your own violin case.
“i never hated you,” hao says with a frown. you sit back up, lips parting as your eyes meet his. “i didn’t particularly like you, but i only told professor ahn about the mistakes you were making because they were careless. you always came in the next week with those same mistakes completely perfected.”
“so you were motivating me through public shame?” you clarify, one brow piqued in disbelief. 
“doing whatever it takes to improve the sound of the orchestra is what sets a great concertmaster apart from a mediocre one,” he explains, deciding to paint himself as a misunderstood martyr. 
“oh, i’m sure it was so difficult for you to step up and take one from the team,” you mock, a laugh escaping you at hao’s audacity. “do you hear what you’re saying? you’re so fucking full of yourself. who gave you the right to play god and—?”
hao leans in, connecting his lips to yours mid-rant. your breath hitches in disbelief as he pulls back.
“would you be mad if i said i wanna get to know you better?” he asks, hand resting on your thigh.
you look down at his long fingers on your soft skin. “furious,” is what you answer.
he presses his lips together in a hopeless smile. “i’ll take it that means you don’t feel the same way then.”
“you always think you know everything about everything,” you huff, grabbing his hand in yours and bringing it further up your thigh. “but you don’t. so i guess you will have to get to know me better if you wanna keep being an insufferable know-it-all.”
as soon as a smile appears on hao’s face, it’s replaced by the cutest frown. “i’m sad now.”
“why?” you ask, not sure how your answer could’ve possibly made him sad when it was the one he wanted.
“i took for granted how absolutely fucking adorable you are when you’re angry,” he whines, a disheartened little pout on his pretty lips. “kind of makes me wish i could keep making you angry from time to time.”
you blink at him, looking around awkwardly as a reluctant smile grows on your face. “i mean—... i guess i’d have to worry about my playing skills suffering if you stop completely. that wouldn’t be very responsible of concertmaster-nim.”
“no, it wouldn’t,” he replies, biting his lip in a smirk. you’re fully aware of what this title does to him. “so what should i do to keep you playing well?”
you look up at the ceiling, considering your options. “maybe you could see what other things in the music room fit up my—” “that’s depraved,” hao scolds, shaking his head at you in shock before a grin peeks through. “are you free right now?”
˚    ✦   .  .   ˚ .      . ✦ 
matthew 💪
with three weeks left of your soccer unit in phys. ed, you braced for an awkward class on wednesday. as you wait outside in the warm, spring breeze with your classmates, you waited anxiously for matthew to show up.
he doesn’t. 
coach yang blows his whistle, signaling for you to form a straight line in front of him. luckily one of your classmates asks the question for you.
“coach-nim! where’s matthew hyung?” the younger boy asks in front of you. “we wanted to talk to him about the game.”
“ah, matthew-sshi is on a strict regimen of weight-training and cardio until the championship,” coach yang answers with a sigh. a little quieter, he adds, “and maybe that’ll teach him to stay in line.”
maybe, you think. maybe not.
it’s a surprisingly pleasant p.e. class. your classmates are respectful, giving you as much grace during the game as possible. your sunbaenim from your calc class even pushes you behind him when a ball comes a bit too quickly towards your face.
“thanks,” you say with a smile.
he smiles back. “don’t mention it.”
this class sure was different when someone wasn’t trying to kill you the whole time. that being said, you’re pretty disappointed that matthew isn’t here. you can’t help but wonder how he would’ve treated you today after saturday night.
when class is over, coach yang hands you a hose, some rags and a ball trolley. he still can’t look you in the eye after what happened. “here’s your supplies. shouldn’t take you more than an hour.”
you nod ashamedly, getting to work right away.
“and a word of advice,” coach yang adds over his shoulder. “don’t be afraid to put him in his place from time to time. you played well today without him. it’s nice to see you have some more confidence, (y/n)-sshi. good luck.”
the last thing you were expecting today was a pep talk from coach yang. you walk over to the right side of the field and pick up a muddy, grass-stained ball and bring it over to the hose. washing it thoroughly and buffing any stains with a rag, you drop it into the ball trolley and make your way to the back of the field to retrieve a couple more.
you grab one from behind the goal, turning around to fetch the other one. but as you do, you come face to face with matthew— tossing the ball gently back and forth between his hands.
“hi,” he greets shyly. 
your lips press together in an awkward smile. “hi.”
he doesn’t say anything else for a moment, so you brush past him— bringing your ball back to the hose. he follows behind you quietly, placing his soccer ball on the ground beside yours. you pick up the hose and douse them both in the cold water.  matthew picks up a rag and kneels down on the ground next to you, buffing the soccer ball you’d brought over.
you pick up the one he brought over, doing the same. “that one was mine.”
his eyes widen, holding out the ball to you wordlessly in an attempt to give it back.
you can’t help but laugh. “i was just kidding.”
“right,” he replies with a nod, returning to cleaning the ball. “sorry.”
you raise one eyebrow at him quizzically. “are you okay?”
“hm?” he asks before nodding quickly. “oh, yeah. i’m fine.”
“are you sure?” you question further. “because this is my punishment and you’re helping me when you should be getting ready for practice.”
matthew shrugs. “it was my fault.”
“it absolutely was,” you agree, tossing your soccer ball into the trolley. “and you got away with it scot-free.”
suddenly, matthew’s hand reaches toward your forehead— thumb brushing over the tiny scar from where the ball he kicked had scraped your skin. “i shouldn’t have.”
well this is... new. matthew taking accountability for his actions? you never thought you’d see the day.
“i—... um...” he stutters, starting to pick at the grass in front of him. “i think i should probably be punished. for that. and for a lot of things.”
oh.
so he’d really liked it.
“oh. should i tell coach yang to—,” you play dumb, starting to stand up like you’re about to march right into his office yourself. 
“NO! ... no. no,” matthew grabs your hand, keeping you seated next to him. he bites his lip, clearly embarrassed by what he’s about to say. “want you to do it.”
“huh,” you reply with frown. “i thought you didn’t really prefer people who were tainted.”
“you aren’t tainted,” he says, shaking his head. “that—... that was really immature of me to say. and gross. and i’m... i’m sorry.”
you look at him for a long moment, studying his eyes to see if he’s being genuine or not. there’s no obvious signs of lying. he’s very nervous, but it’s not because he’s being untruthful. maybe it’s because he finally is.
“and i can also assume that you said sorry to the waterboy?” you ask, pressing your lips together in an attempt to not laugh at his panicked expression. “and that defense player on the other team? actually, you should probably just draft a mass apology and send it to every university team you’ve ever played against. it would save some time.”
matthew nods sullenly. “yeah. i can do that.”
you have to admit, you like matthew quite a bit when he’s like this. he’s agreeable, apologetic, and distressingly adorable.
“i appreciate your willingness to cooperate,” you reply, patting him on the shoulder gently. “i think... maybe... we could make this work.”
matthew’s eyes light up at this. “really? you’d wanna keep doing... this?”
you smile. “yeah. it doesn’t sound so bad, now that you’re being nice to me.”
matthew smiles with embarrassment, avoiding your gaze. “i guess i should’ve tried this approach last year. but i—... have you ever heard of alpha male podcasts?”
“matthew,” you groan, palm flying to your forehead in disbelief. “you’re gonna unsubscribe from every single one of those, okay?”
he nods frantically. “of course. they didn’t get me anything anyway, except a light ‘roid addiction.”
“do not tell anyone that, oh my god,” you reprimand, hitting his thigh. “you’re also gonna throw all of that out immediately.
“ah, it was so expensive though,” he winces, tilting his head as he weighs the consequences. “can’t i sell them instead?”
“JUST GET RID OF—,” you shout, cutting yourself off when matthew suddenly leans over and kisses your cheek.
he grins. “you’re so beautiful when you’re disappointed in me.”
“you’re—... you—...” you stutter until matthew leans in again, pressing his lips to yours this time. he pulls back, leaving your brain hazy. “please don’t be so mean to me again.”
he shakes his head decisively. “i won’t. i promise.”
you smile, stomach fluttering as he beams at you. 
“but, like... you’re okay with being mean to me sometimes, right?” matthew asks, scratching the back of his neck.
“oh, absolutely,” you answer with a nod. “i’ll start now.”
he laughs passively, obviously interpreting this as a joke. “sure, sure.”
you stand up, hovering your foot over his crotch. “finish cleaning these soccer balls. now.”
matthew’s eyes widen with fear, hopping to his feet immediately, bowing his head to you, and sprinting off to the end of the field to complete his task.
˚    ✦   .  .   ˚ .      . ✦ 
hanbin 📝
“hanbin-ah!” you shout, running down the dimly-lit, empty hallway. how far could he have made it in the few minutes since he’d stormed out of the activities lounge without so much as a word. 
“hanbin-ah...”
a banging down the hallway to your right seems to signal his location. you turn down it, running until you reach the end and a long hall of public lockers unfolds before you. to your left is a very distraught hanbin, clanging his locker door about as he holds a small book in his hands.
the floor is littered with torn up pieces of paper, that seem to be coming from the book he’s holding.
“FUCK,” he yells, ripping out another page from the book and crumpling it up— tossing it onto the ground, where it lands at your feet.
you bend down and pick it up, carefully unfolding it and reading what’s written:
what the fuck does (y/n) see in junseo hyung-nim? i thought that poem was for me. could (y/n) really choose him over me? is he better than me? i don’t understand. what did i do wrong?
it’s a diary entry— your name, mentioned twice. the confession contained in it sends a chill down your spine. hanbin had posted your poem about junseo sunbaenim out of spite.
out of jealousy?
you pick up another crumpled paper and unfold it, reading:
i just hung up all the copies of the poem around campus. i got the other guys in on it, too. maybe this’ll teach you not to take people for granted. maybe it’ll keep you thinking about me.
hanbin throws his empty journal across the hallway, sitting down on the ground with his back against a locker as he runs a hand through his hair in distress.
you walk over to him cautiously, standing in front of him and waiting until he looks up at you. you hold out the pieces of paper from his journal and drop them on his lap. “so you decided to ruin my life because you couldn’t have me?”
hanbin reads the writing on the crumpled papers, tears suddenly spilling over and streaming down his cheeks. he wipes them away as quickly as they come. his chin dimples up with sadness. it reminds you of something...
you look in his locker, finding his messenger bag and opening the flap. you dig around gently until your hand wraps around it.
you sit down next to hanbin, back against a locker as you place the little, plush hamster in his lap. he stares at it for a long moment before finally picking it up in his hand and giving it a gentle squish. a tear falls onto the hamster’s nose.
“you found this the other day?” he says, rubbing the back of his hand across his cheeks again.
you nod. “he’s cute.”
hanbin smiles. “i was hoping you’d think that.”
“what do you mean?” you ask, a confused pout forming on your lips.
“i was hoping you’d think he was cute,” he says, running his thumb over the hamster’s fur, “when i bought it for you.”
“what?”
“on the class trip to the national library last year,” he continues. “we sat next to each other on the bus and you pulled three plushies out of your bag like it was the most normal thing ever. and you told me all their names and what they wanted to be when they grew up.”
“hanbin-ah...”
“and we took those polaroids of each other outside on the grass. and ate kimbap at the picnic table in the garden. and ran around together finding the weirdest books we could. and then, in the giftshop, they had a bunch of cute plushies themed off of children’s books and...” hanbin rambles wistfully. “and i bought this one for you while you weren’t looking.”
“hanbinnie, i’m so sorry,” you interject truthfully. you see the full picture now and you never had before. “i shouldn’t’ve been so oblivious as to make you feel like i was leading you on, but i was. and i never should’ve told you about that poem in the first place. i’m sorry.”
he blinks back at you before shaking his head adamantly. “it’s— it’s not your fault.”
“but i hurt your feelings,” you assert, meeting his gaze. “and i never wanted to do that. you were my first friend i made at university. actually, you’re the only friend i’ve made at university. how pathetic is that?”
he shakes his head again, brow furrowing sadly. “it’s not. it’s—... it’s my fucking fault that that happened. it’s... it’s all my fault.”
“hanbinnie, it’s—... it’s okay, you—,” you try to alleviate his burden, like the moral person you are.
“no, don’t do that. don’t say it’s okay, because it’s not,” hanbin asserts, rubbing his forehead with the heel of his palm. “i made you share something you didn’t want to. and i betrayed your trust. and i—... fucking—... all because i couldn’t handle my own emotions?”
you chew your cheek nervously. “listen, it’s okay—.”
“you’re the nicest person on the fucking planet if you can sit here and say that’s okay,” he says, a sad laugh escaping him. “i don’t deserve your forgiveness, but... i don’t know if i’ll ever be able to fully express to you how sorry i am.”
you don’t respond, stunned by hanbin’s genuine apology. 
“i could try, though, if you want me to,” he blathers on anxiously. “i could write a hundred thousand words worth of apologies and you could rip them all up and make me start again and—.”
“he looks like you,” you interject suddenly.
he frowns. “hm?”
“the hamster,” you clarify, holding out your hand. eyes wide, hanbin places the hamster in your palm. “he looks a lot like you.”
hanbin doesn’t say anything, his eyes trained on the side of your face as you squish the little plush. 
“it’s funny, actually,” you hold the hamster up for him to see. “looking at this hamster and trying to be mad at him is a lot like how it feels when i look at you.”
eyes still wide, hanbin’s bottom lip finds its way between his teeth— not sure how to answer to your overwhelming mercy.
“you’re right. that wasn’t okay,” you say as you bring the hamster to your lips, giggling after you give him a little peck. “but this is okay.”
“this?” he repeats.
“doesn’t this feel pretty nice?” you pose, eyes locking with his. “us getting along?”
hanbin nods slowly. “yeah. it does.”
“what do you say we continue this?” you ask with a smile. “indefinitely.”
“i—...” he stutters as a smile grows on his lips as well. “i’d really like that.”
“me too,” you agree, eyes abruptly narrowing. “but it’ll cost you.”
his brow raises, swallowing hard at your words. “absolutely. anything. name your price.”
you hold up the hamster to the side of your face, doing your best to mimic his little expression. “i want him.”
if hanbin’s eyes could turn to cartoon love hearts, they would. but because he’s a human person, his pupils simply dilate. “you—... i—... he’s yours. he was always yours.”
you grin, giving the hamster a hug. “thanks.”
“thank you,” he says, still reeling from your cuteness. “i’ll miss him, but he’s where he belongs now.”
“maybe you can visit him sometimes,” you offer, biting your lip shyly. “you’re clearly his biological father, after all. i’m sure your presence in his life is nothing less than enriching.”
he laughs. “some father i am. i didn’t even manage to give him a name.”
you smile. “he has a name.”
hanbin tilts his head curiously. “he does?”
you nod. “his name is binnie. jr.”
his cheeks turn red at this suggestion. “really? you want to name him after me?”
you don’t answer. instead, you ask softly, “hanbinnie?”
“yeah?” he replies eagerly.
“do you...” you start, finding the confidence to finish your question. “do you still like me?”
hanbin’s breath hitches in his throat. “um...”
“it’s okay if you don’t,” you assure with a sigh. “i just... a year ago, i didn’t even know someone like you would be interested in me. you’re so handsome. and smart. and the soccer team’s star player. i never even considered the possibility that you felt that way about me. but now, i—... i have more confidence. maybe you accidentally gave it to me, but i have it nonetheless.”
he looks at you intently, waiting for you to continue.
“and i think i realized that... i want you to like me,” you confess. “i wanted you to like me the whole time. i just didn’t want to admit it because i was afraid it was too much to ask for. and i—.”
“(y/n),” hanbin interjects with the fondest smile imaginable. “i like you so much i think my chest might explode.”
you can’t stop the grin that spreads across your face. neither can he. hanbin brings his hand to cup your jaw, leaning in and pressing his lips to yours. 
“oh and i’m sorry i fucked all your friends right in front of your face,” you say, pulling back momentarily.
hanbin laughs, shrugging it off. “i totally deserved it. and... it was pretty hot.”
“keep kissing me,” you request with a smile.
“don’t have to tell me twice.”
˚    ✦   .  .   ˚ .      . ✦ 
taerae 🎤
after a completely bizarre session of portraits and quotes for the campus newspaper, the boys all awkwardly grab their things and head out the door. as you place your clipboard and pen on the activities director’s desk, you see a familiar backpack shoved behind a chair. you forgot you’d stashed taerae’s bag and phone in here when he didn’t come back for it on friday.
you walk over to it, picking it up off of the floor and slinging it over your shoulder. you shut off the lights, walking down the hallway until you spot your former best friend— sitting alone on the entrance steps to kang hall in the spring night air.
you plop yourself down next to him, placing his bag on the step in front of him. he turns to you, eyes red and watery.
“oh, tae,” you whisper, head falling instinctively to his shoulder. 
“why’re you comforting me?” he asks with a sniffle. “you should be punching me in the face or something.”
“would you prefer it?” you joke, trying to get him to smile. “because i can absolutely just—.”
“this is good,” he says with a breathy laugh.
“good,” you affirm, lifting your head to meet his gaze. “i love you.”
“(y/n),” taerae seems to plead. “i can’t—.”
“i love you,” you repeat. “and i miss you so much.”
“i—...” he stumbles verbally, but grabs your hand in his. “i—.”
“when did you lose your virginity?” you ask, tilting your head curiously. 
he gulps. “uh... a couple years ago.”
“and you didn’t tell me?” you question, a little hurt that he’d kept this big news a secret from you even when you were still friends. “to who?”
taerae shakes his head anxiously. “it’s not that important.”
“oh, come on,” you urge, squeezing his hand. “i told you i lost mine to sungchan oppa during that pool party at mina’s dad’s house.”
he flinches at this. “i remember.”
“it was that same pool party where you threw up in the pool,” you say with a smirk. “an eventful night for both of us.”
“mhm,” taerae mumbles shortly. he was definitely growing more bothered with each mention of that party.
“and to think, a couple of years later we’d do what we just did,” you muse in an attempt to dig something more out of him. “we’ve come so far from you throwing up in the pool at the thought of kissing me.”
“i never said that!” taerae exclaims with frustration. “you said that. and i just... went with it.”
you shake your head, brow furrowing confusedly. “then why did you throw up?”
“because—... because i was nervous,” he says softly. “i was so nervous to kiss you that i threw up in mina’s dad’s pool and then i was so embarrassed that i couldn’t even open my mouth to deny that i was disgusted by the thought of kissing you.”
you blink at him in shock. “did—... did you have feelings for me?”
after a long moment, he nods. but there’s more tension lingering under the surface. you know there’s more that needs to be said.
“i really liked you,” taerae confesses softly. “i never wanted to weird you out or anything, but i just liked you from the first day i met you. i loved being your friend, but i just couldn’t help it. when you told me at that party that you’d hooked up with sungchan hyung... i just got so jealous. i thought i could be cool about it, but i was drunk and...”
your eyes are wide, clinging onto his every word.
“and i hooked up with someone, too,” he admits with a pained expression. “i thought it might be the only way to make you jealous back, so i—... i—...”
you hold your breath.
“i hooked up with mina!” he exclaims quickly, looking down at his lap in shame.
“YOU WHAT!?” you scream, grabbing his jaw and forcing him to look you in the eyes. “that’s not fucking funny!”
“i know it’s not,” he replies despairingly. “i regretted it instantly afterwards. no— while it was happening. i was so disgusted with myself. i hated lying to you, but i just couldn’t bring myself to tell you the truth. i thought i wouldn’t have to until last year, when hanbin hyung came up to me in the hallway after class.”
your brow furrows at the mention of hanbin’s name.
“he said he knew what i’d done with mina. apparently he had a few friends that went to the party,” he explains sadly. “and that if i didn’t do exactly what he told me to, that he’d tell you what i did and he’d make things even worse for you. i just couldn’t let either of those things happen.”
“how—... how did you even manage to bag mina?” you ask in a daze.
“well, i mean,” taerae grimaces. “it’s mina.”
“she’s a total slut,” you nod, catching on immediately. “more power to her.”
“the most power to her,” taerae agrees quickly. 
“why didn’t she tell me?” you wonder.
“oh, that one’s easy,” taerae answers with a shrug. “she said she’d rather die than let anyone know we slept together.”
“that sounds like mina,” you affirm. so the truth was out. it’s hard to wrap your head around everything all at once, but you were definitely relieved that taerae didn’t actually hate you. he was just an idiot.
“i’m so sorry, (y/n),” he apologizes genuinely. “for everything.”
you sigh heavily. “i’m sorry, too.”
taerae’s eyes widen in surprise. “what do you mean? you don’t have anything to be sorry for.”
“i’m sorry i bragged to you about losing my virginity. i could’ve been more sensitive with that information,” you reply. “and i’m sorry that i said you threw up in the pool, because you didn’t want to kiss me and never asked you what the truth was. i could’ve been more considerate of my best friend.”
“i love you,” taerae says abruptly. “being without you this year was literally the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.”
you nod in affirmation. “let’s never do it again.”
“never,” he agrees with a wide, dimpled grin. that smile you missed so much. you watch it fade naturally, replaced by a fond gaze. but you desperately want to see it again.
so you do the only thing that you can.
you kiss him.
he pulls back after a moment, that perfect grin shining back at you. it’s enough to light up the night sky. 
“i know i was using the past tense before, but,” taerae says, biting his lip. “i still really like you.”
you smile, pulling him back in to meet your lips again. “prove it.”
˚    ✦   .  .   ˚ .      . ✦ 
group (poly) 🥵
you look around the room, every boy avoiding eye contact with you in an attempt to quell the awkward tension. it feels amazing. exactly how you were hoping it would.
"so, uh," jiwoong starts, scratching the back of his neck. "are we gonna do those interviews now?"
you shrug. "you can just text me a quote, if you want. probably easier actually."
they all agree nonverbally, the uncomfortable haze still lingering in the air.
"you can also text me about when you'll be free again," you add, the boys heads turning rapidly to look at you.
"uh... which one of us?" matthew asks with a frown.
you shrug. “whoever’s down.”
“you—… you wanna do this again?” hao asks, lips parted in shock.
“why not?” you answer honestly. “i had fun. but if you’re not into it, that’s okay too.”
“i’m into it!” hao replies a bit too quickly. “i just meant that… i didn’t know you would be.”
“i guess before last week, someone would’ve had a hard time convincing me that i’d wanna do this once— let alone twice,” you admit with a smile. “but i think i’ve proved i changed.”
“and you’re okay with… changing?” taerae asks, worry in his eyes.
you nod definitively. “yeah. i am.”
“so, after all this, you’ve decided you just wanna fuck all of us whenever you want?” hanbin asks, standing up from the desk he’s sitting on and walking over to you. “you really think you’re hot enough for that?”
you smile at him. “no one’s forcing you to participate.”
hanbin frowns, studying you as you hold eye contact.
“don’t be too upset, hanbinnie,” you say with a pout. “you’re the one who wanted me to fuck your friends in the first place. you just forgot to consider i might end up really liking it.”
he stares at you for another long moment. and then, he smiles. “i guess you’ve won your own game then?”
you smile back. “i guess i have.”
“then i have to pay the price, fair and square. we all do,” hanbin nods with respect— an undeniable warmth in his gaze. “congratulations.”
you look at the other boys around you— excitement reaching their eyes as you grin. were they really all yours now?
“thanks,” you say happily. “i couldn’t have done it without you.”
˚    ✦   .  .   ˚ .      . ✦ 
group (revenge) 😈
˚    ✦   .  .   ˚ .      . ✦ 
you look around the room, every boy avoiding eye contact with you in an attempt to quell the awkward tension. it feels amazing. exactly how you were hoping it would.
"hey, is that camera on?" jiwoong suddenly asks, pointing at the camera you set up by the photo wall to take portraits for the campus activities interviews.
at least, that's why you told them you set it up.
"there's a little red flashing light," hao observes with a frown. "to the left of the lens."
"did—... did you record this?" matthew asks, fear palpable in his eyes as he looks at you.
you hop off the desk you're sitting on, grabbing your shorts and shimmying them on. walking over to the camera, you hit the record button again to stop filming. then you, take the camera off it's tripod and throw it in your bag that's sitting on the ground beside it.
"it was a pleasure doing business with you boys," you say, making your way towards the door.
hanbin stands up, grabbing your shoulder. "what are you gonna do with that?"
you shrug. "nothing."
his brow furrows tensely, not sure whether to relax or not.
"yet," you finish.
"(y/n), please," taerae begs from behind you. "please don't post that."
"i'm not gonna post it," you say, rolling your eyes. "i'm in the video, too, remember?"
the boys look around at each other, not sure what to do.
"but if i have to," you threaten, unlocking the door, "i won't hesitate. could anything be worse than what you've already put me through?"
"wait, (y/n)!" jiwoong calls. "we're—... we're sorry. we're all really sorry for everything."
"i'm sure you are," you reply, opening the door and exiting the activities lounge...
"i'm sure you'll stay sorry for a long time, too."
369 notes · View notes
tsukimefuku · 6 months ago
Text
CHAPTER TWO: MISTAKE OF FACT ❀ HIGURUMA SENSEI SERIES
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masterlist link | mdni!
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❀ mistake of fact.
the concept “mistake of fact” describes a situation in which someone acts unaware of circumstances that could turn their actions into criminal acts. this can affect the assessment of their intent or culpability, reducing their penalty or even excluding the criminal nature of said act.
wc: 7.2K | ❀ pairing for the series: professor!higuruma x student!reader
❀ summary.
classes, law Firm meetings, and a little grit about it all. after taking and not doing so well on your first criminal law class assessment test, you decide to get hammered at the campus party. you just didn’t expect to accidentally bump into the professor of said class there.
❀ tags and c/w.
non-curse au. college au. silly slow-burn rom-com between professor and college student (this is purely a work of fiction, okay guys?). smoking and drinking. corporate trauma. itafushi is also a slow-burn. higuruma hates doing cardio (mood). nanami needed a subplot and kusakabe had to be in it, the voices told me so. exams suck. campus parties are a special kind of hell. the return of the ugly red scarf.
❀ notes etc.
as i said previously, some characters will have their subplots, hope you enjoy reading them too (they all tie into the main plot). yes I’m working through some issues regarding the lawyering world while writing this fic, how did you notice?
also, some love for the betas: @redlikerozez and @dottedsilktie thank you two so much 💛
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You had a habit, a very ugly one. Ironically, the habit you used to unwind was currently driving you insane as you tapped around your pockets, failing to find the lighter for the cigarette you held in your mouth for the past two minutes. You stroked your bangs back in annoyance and grunted, a strand of hair poking up like a spike.
“Fucking hell,” you muttered to yourself the moment the bells went off, letting you know it was time for yet another Criminal Law class. At least this time you managed to wake up somewhat early and were already by the building.
Good job, me.
“Oh, hey!” you heard the light-hearted voice chirp from a distance. Darting your eyes towards it, there came the fluffy ball of pink hair and upbeat mood frolicking in your direction.
“Hey, Itadori! Do you by any chance have a lighter?”
He shrugged, “no, I’m sorry.”
Of course he didn’t. As the best track field runner you had ever met, you wondered if Itadori even knew what a cigarette was.
“You should stop smoking,” a broodier voice said. You noticed the spiky black hair student who was also approaching.
“Ah, get off my case, Fushiguro,” you retorted, putting your cigarette away, “which class are you guys here for?”
“Criminal law! And you?” Itadori replied.
“Oh, me too. I didn’t see you guys in his class last week, though.”
“We saw you!” Yuuji answered, completely oblivious that this was definitely something which would render you uncomfortable. You blushed, and after a few seconds, Fushiguro elbowed him. “Ouch, why did you do that?”
 Fushiguro sighed loudly at his friend’s cluelessness, and you sheepishly giggled.
“Yeah… I guess everybody saw me.”
The three of you were sharing an uncomfortable silence for a few moments before Itadori spoke again.
“So… Why isn’t Kugisaki enrolled?”
 You shrugged, “she wanted to have other classes during this year to fast track her internship opportunities, I guess. I kind of did the same thing.”
“Is that allowed?” Yuuji inquired.
 “Yeah, it is, as long as you take some other 101 classes before doing it,” you answered, while you three began walking into the building.
 “I did that too, I want to pursue an internship in the public defense office as soon as possible,” Megumi interjected.
 “Oh, nice! Me too,” you answered him, “but I’d totally take a position in a private law firm if given the chance.”
Fushiguro made a face you couldn’t quite identify, and didn’t answer anything in return.
The conversation about an internship in criminal defense died down as the three of you entered the elevator together, and while you were walking towards the classroom, Yuuji and Megumi began bantering.
More specifically, Itadori seemed keen on making small-talk about amenities, meanwhile Fushiguro simply did not take the hint and was shooting down every conversation topic his friend tried to bring up. You felt for Yuuji, noticing he was clearly eager to engage Megumi in a conversation, but the guy wouldn’t budge. At that point, you entertained Itadori for the remainder of the quick walk down the corridor.
Perhaps, you thought to yourself, Megumi was the clueless one.
Entering the classroom, you saw Professor Higuruma already seated by his desk fidgeting around with his glasses. This time, there was no suit jacket in sight, and he wore a white buttoned up shirt with a black tie, all under a suit vest.
You weren’t too proud to realize that you noticed the way his vest hugged his torso just right.
To top it off, after he was finished fidgeting with his glasses, Higuruma opened the cuffs of his white shirt, rolled up the sleeves up to his elbows, and slightly loosened his tie with two fingers hooked around it.
The way his arm muscles popped while he was sliding his fingers side to side around the fabric of the tie had every thought in your head poofing away instantly, and you looked away before your staring became too obvious.
The other students were coming in quickly. You made your way towards three miraculously empty seats in the front and sat on one end, while the boys took their places right beside you.
Higuruma noticed you and nodded softly as you met his eyes. You weren’t sure if he’d remember your face, but given the circumstances, it’d probably be hard not to. You greeted him back, smiling, and gestured around your regular-not-pajamas blouse, to which he replied by discreetly gesturing down his clean, not-coffee stained white buttoned up shirt.
Cute.
This time you thought that maybe sitting in the front would keep you safe from the Professor’s experiments. You had already tested your luck sitting in the back and it surely backfired — no pun intended.
After the students were settled, Higuruma got himself up and walked towards the white board, writing self-defense on it. He then turned on his heels, shoved his hands in his pockets and asked, “can anybody tell me what self-defense is?”
From your row, only Megumi raised his hand, but Higuruma’s eyes landed on Yuuji.
“You. What’s your name?” the Professor inquired, pointing at Itadori.
You heard him gulping by your side at that very same moment.
“Itadori Yuuji.”
“Then, Itadori, tell me what you think self-defense is.”
“I mean… self-defense is protecting yourself from someone trying to hurt you.”
Higuruma nodded, “you’re on the right track, but that’s not the entire answer. There is still something missing. Criminal Law occupies itself with criminal activities, so why do we need to study acts taken under self-defense? What else can you tell me about self-defense?”
Yuuji didn’t come up with something else to say, so Higuruma lifted the whiteboard marker in front of him.
“Itadori, I’ll throw this at you now.”
You and Megumi were instantly shocked, and Itadori began stuttering.
“W-wha-”
Higuruma actually threw the marker towards Yuuji’s chest, but Yuuji quickly grabbed it, glancing incredulously at the Professor.
“Now, that wasn’t self-defense in the way that it interests Criminal Law,” Higuruma noted, resuming the class as if nothing had happened.
Truth was, you could try sitting in the back, in the front, or anywhere in between,  but when it came to Higuruma Hiromi’s class, apparently, there was no safe place to hide.
“It wasn’t?!” Itadori exclaimed.
“No. Self-defense, you see, is used to exclude the illegal quality of an action that would otherwise be considered a crime, like assault and battery, for example.”
Higuruma stepped into Yuuji’s direction, and excused himself as he picked the marker back in his hand, leaving the three of you dumbfounded as to how he could nonchalantly do these absurd things and think it was just alright.
The professor began writing on the white board and the classroom was filled with scribbling and typing sounds.
“Self-defense is when someone uses force, against another person, to protect themselves from harm or imminent danger offered by this other person’s criminal actions. In that sense, you didn’t use force against me, you solely protected yourself, hence, that’s not actually self-defense as the concept that matters to us in this classroom.”
Well, the example was crystal clear, indeed. Once again, he illustrated what he wanted to say brilliantly.
But holy shit, did he really have to do those crazy things every damn time?
“Before we proceed, I have some leisure homework for you all. I’d like everybody to watch the first three episodes of this TV series for us to discuss during our next lecture the evolution from legitimate self-defense to extrapolating it and finally committing a crime.”
He wrote the name for the show on the white board.
A shy hand lifted on the other end of the class, and a girl with blue hair and crooked bangs spoke after Higuruma pointed at her.
“Professor, won’t you ask us to watch one of those old movies other teachers usually do in introductory classes?”
“Most definitely not,” he answered — not without scoffing first, “this is Criminal Law, here things are interesting. If you’d like to sleep, go to Professor Nanami’s class, Commercial Law I.”
A tiny chuckle echoed from the back.
“Someone gets it,” he concluded before proceeding with the lecture.
The class went on without a hiccup with Yuuji quickly forgetting the marker debacle a few minutes in. After Higuruma was finished talking about the day’s topic, though, he remembered everyone about next week's assessment test, receiving mumbled complaints in return.
“Yeah, I know. I hate these things too, but unfortunately we have orders from above. Be sure to study everything up until the end of the self-defense module,” Higuruma said as he sank into his desk’s chair and fished his phone out of his pocket, “I wish you all best of luck.”
As the class was done, everyone began leaving.
 “So, where are you going now?” Yuuji asked as you were currently fumbling around in your bag looking for your lighter — perhaps it wasn’t in your pockets after all, right?
 “I… if you two are tight on time just go without me, I’m looking for something in here and it might take some time,” you answered, thinking that some physics law might’ve been broken. Your bag seemed larger from the inside than from outside, and your lighter had surely disintegrated into thin air.
 “It’s fine, we can wait,” Fushiguro answered.
Yuuji suddenly seemed to remember something and came at you sort of hyped, asking “will you be at the campus party by the end of next week?!”
 “Sure, sure,” you answered absentmindedly, still fondling your things around and considering flipping it all on the ground.
 “There will be a party next week on campus?” Higuruma asked with his eyes still glued to his phone’s screen.
Fushiguro elbowed Yuuji again, as it was kind of a secret from faculty members, just so none of them would butt in — there were the clueless ones, like Professor Gojo, for instance, that would always find their way into the free drinks and free food celebrations that were supposedly just for students.
 “Y-Yes… it will be pretty late, though.”
Higuruma hummed, completely unfazed, “when I was a student here, we’d usually have those after 11PM to avoid faculty members, it’s a good idea. My suggestion is that you all just keep the noise down and use the space behind the brown brick building, there’s a blind spot there from the rest of the campus.”
Yuuji and Megumi shared a look before nodding hesitantly. Higuruma noticed they were both somewhat worried and sighed.
 “Don’t worry, I’m not telling the other Professors, and you can all be completely sure I won’t be there.”
The bated breath the two students shared finally subsided.
“God fucking damnit where is this fucking lighter?” you mumbled to yourself.
That caught Higuruma’s attention, and he called your name.
Your hand stammered inside your bag and you looked at him.
 “Do you need a lighter?” he asked you, lifting his eyes from his phone towards your direction.
You had the impression his eye bags were smaller that day.
 “Yes, I lost mine.”
He reached into one of his pockets and pulled a small, yellow, disposable lighter, stretching his arm in your direction, “you can take this one, I have tons of these.”
You got up, threw your bag over your shoulder, and went to pick it up from his hands. As your fingers wrapped around the lighter, you accidentally locked eyes with him, now sure his eye bags were definitely smaller. Higuruma spared you a small smile and you immediately felt your cheeks warm as you took the tiny yellow lighter from his fingers and stepped back.
I’m pathetic.
 “So, we’re good to go?” Fushiguro asked, looking at you.
“We’re good to go,” you answered him, then looking at Higuruma, “thank you, Professor.”
 “It’s no trouble, Sanrio” he answered, redirecting his attention back to his phone, completely unaware he had just called you that out loud.
After a few seconds, realizing what he'd just done, Higuruma sheepishly lifted his eyes, seeing two confused boys and you looking away with your hand over your mouth, coughing softly. You bore the same weirdly twisted face you made days before, when he asked you to leave in the mock expulsion.
Truth was you wanted to laugh, equal parts amused and mortified.
“Sanrio? What?” Yuuji asked.
“My next class is Civil Law II! What about you, Fushiguro? We should go!” you blurted out, ignoring Yuuji’s question while stepping away, “bye, Professor. See you next class!”
 “You three have a good day,” Higuruma muttered, sinking further into his chair as he looked away to conceal his own embarrassment.
The boys, still at a loss, followed you outside, also bidding Higuruma a good day.
***
This is hell. I’m a smoker and this is my personal, dantesque circle of hell for that sin.
With one leg launching in front of the other at a steady pace, Higuruma was jogging down the street while accompanied solely by the rhythmic thuds of his feet on the pavement. He had already put at least a mile behind him.
His blood felt like battery acid pumping through his veins, and lungs and muscles were burning with the strain of an exercise he was doing for the third time this week thanks to the encouragement of his best friend.
This time, however, there was no distraction from the discomfort while Higuruma dragged himself completely alone on this morning run. His usual jogging partner, Nanami, told him just ten minutes before the scheduled time that he would not be able to make it.
 “Did something happen?” Higuruma asked on the phone, “It’s unlike you to cancel appointments with such short notice.”
Truthfully, Nanami was someone extremely considerate of other people’s time.
 “Nothing too serious. I’ll have to be in a meeting with a Labor Law associate. It involves one of the companies we represent here at the firm,” he replied with an involuntary sigh. Nanami did not enjoy being taken by surprise like this.
 “A meeting for one of those Union settlements?”
 “Yes.”
 “Yeesh, good luck with that. Don’t be too harsh on the workers, though.”
 “I’ll just be there to oversee the meeting and report the outcome to our client, I have no say in the matter.”
 “Really? Couldn’t the Labor Law associate do that, then?”
 “It’s Kusakabe. He doesn’t do anything he’s not specifically paid to do.”
 “Oh, right.” 
Higuruma paused for a moment. He was already at their usual meeting point, all propped up and ready to go, but didn’t quite feel like subjecting himself to that torture alone.
 “You should just do your run today, I’ll join you back after tomorrow,” Nanami told him, as if reading his mind.
 “I don’t know. Having company makes this slightly more bearable.”
 “Is that so?” Nanami barely concealed the hint of amusement in his voice.
 “Tsk, shut up.” Higuruma retorted.
 Nanami huffed, nearly a chuckle, and proceeded, “this routine seems to have affected you positively, you shouldn’t miss a day for such a pedestrian reason.”
It was true. As a consolation prize for this suffering, the Professor had managed to sleep better those past few days and his mood had improved too.
Prior to his breakdown, Higuruma had never given much thought about his overall health. After he came back to normal life — or as normal as it could be —, he tried to eat properly and exercise at the gym most days of the week. 
“I guess,” Higuruma finally conceded, defeated, loathing cardio with every fiber of his being.
 “Then, off you go.”
“Okay. I’ll run and suffer alone today after being ditched,” Higuruma stated, half in jest.
 “Don’t be so dramatic, Hiromi,” Nanami remarked, “you can do it just fine.”
Just fine… I’m not sure if “fine” is the word I’d choose for this self-imposed torture.
Taking one of the final turns, Higuruma passed by a storefront. On it, there was a big illustration of Hello Kitty that covered most of the space. He hadn’t noticed that store before, but seeing the cartoonish cat with its pink bow brought an amused smile to his face as he remembered the student that, for some random reason, decided to attend his class using a kitty’s pajamas — you.
That moment got him to reminisce on the occasions that he, himself, was also too tired or too out of it to properly change before going to class, leading to some similar debacles during his undergrad years.
Ever since that day, the Professor had nicknamed you Sanrio in his head, a silly inside joke with himself. 
As he reached the end of the usual route, Higuruma paused and hunched over, inhaling deeply through his mouth, oxygen failing to properly enter his cells — or at least it felt like it. 
I wonder if I can take a taxi to go back home...
Involuntarily hearing Nanami’s voice in his head chastising him for wanting to take the easy shortcut, Higuruma grunted and took a deep breath before jogging his way back.
***
Nanami churned on his coffee’s last sip as if that alone would be enough to realign his chakras and soothe his growing headache. 
It wasn’t.
Nanami rarely saw himself pulled into other people’s work, but he detested each and every time it happened. As someone that usually planned his day thoroughly, with every minute properly accounted for, these types of unforeseen events would, most times, end up causing a domino effect over everything he had arranged in his schedule.
This time, however, he wasn’t sure if his distaste for the situation stemmed solely from the fact that his agenda got fondled around.
Something else about it was bothering him, even if he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
The contrast on the meeting table was clear — on the company’s side, he sat with Kusakabe, at least three mid-level associates, two juniors and one random intern. Behind them, the firm’s logo hung high on the wall, casting its brushed steel sheen over the expensive mahogany table. 
On the other side, though, sat an Union representative with one single lawyer beside him. Since the firm had rescheduled this meeting on short notice four times, demanding it took place in one of their offices — which was everything but close to where the union-office was located —, the Union only had enough money to pay for the expenses of sending the minimum amount of people required to legally sign a settlement.
Nanami slowly realized, as the negotiations went on, what was bothering him so much.
This wasn’t a negotiation meeting.
It was a power play consisting of intimidation techniques. Clearly an attempt at wearing the Union down and pushing them into accepting any settlement to end the strike as soon as possible.
It all said we can take you on — if you don’t accept our offer and take this to Court, we have the money, the people and the ways to win this fight.
“These are our terms, as we had already discussed, printed and ready for you to sign,” Kusakabe remarked, as he pushed a pile of papers towards the two.
The Union representative seemed ready to crumble under a put-upon expression, his black hair parted in the middle and thick framed glasses not doing nearly enough to conceal it. He knew exactly what was going on, how this had happened, and also that this strike couldn’t go on for much longer without causing serious issues in the lives of all the workers. 
The company was successful in their attempt of making it look like they tried to settle the dispute, and it had been long enough that people would start falling like dominos in the firing list.
The blond woman beside him seemed ready to toss her attorney’s license in the nearest dumpster and go do something else with her life.
The Union representative took the pen in his hand and sighed.
 “Are you positive you want to do this, Ijichi?” the lawyer asked, looking at him with a tinge of concern in between her brows.
 “We don’t have another choice, Nitta,” he replied, signing those papers away so quickly it felt like his hands were about to get burned in the fiery pits of hell. 
She exhaled sharply while leaning back on her chair.
“I’m glad we got to settle this amicably. We expect you all back on the grounds by Monday,” Kusakabe concluded as he pulled the pile of papers back to him and lifted himself up on the chair.
Everyone got up, but when Kusakabe extended his hand towards Nitta, she and Ijichi just turned around, stepping towards the exit.
Nanami’s slight discomfort had grown into an actual stone weighing in his gut, and he didn’t quite think about what he ended up doing next.
He walked behind Nitta and Ijichi, and called them by their names — something that surprised them both, given they didn’t expect him and most of the people inside that meeting room to be paying any attention at all. 
“So, you did listen to that meeting and weren't there just to add numbers?” Nitta asked begrudgingly.
 “I did,” Nanami answered.
 “What do you want?” Ijichi inquired, itching to get himself out of that building as quickly as possible. He felt dirty, to say the least, and needed a minimum of three full baths to feel like himself again.
 “To give you both my business card.”
Both of them looked incredulous.
 “I don’t mean any harm nor am I trying to get something out of a terrible situation. I just... That was...” 
He really didn’t think this through.
 “What I mean to say is that if there is anything you both need, this is my contact info.”
Nanami pulled the slim piece of cardstock and offered it. Ijichi and Nitta shared a hesitant look right before she took it from his hands. With a bow, both of them left, still feeling a little dumbfounded.
 “Are you trying to get yourself in trouble? You’ve made it to Partner in the firm, leave it alone,” a slightly muffled voice echoed behind Nanami. It was Kusakabe, who had just shoved a lollipop in his mouth and had his hands inside his pockets.
 “That didn’t bother you at all?” Nanami inquired, gesturing towards the now emptying meeting room.
 “I’m not paid to get bothered. I come, I do my job, and I go home.”
 “Still,” Nanami remarked, “it was...”
 “I know,” Kusakabe answered him. He took a few moments before sighing, leaning himself against a wall, and repeated in a lower tone, “I know.”
For the briefest moment, Kusakabe’s expression resembled a slight grimace.
 “You don’t seem completely unbothered, even if you’re not getting paid to care,” Nanami stated.
Kusakabe looked at Nanami and said nothing as they made their way back into their respective offices.
***
Higuruma also had a bad habit.
Due to his terrible memory regarding people’s names, he gave everyone a nickname in his mind. Beyond calling you Sanrio, his nicknames for the pink haired fluffy guy and the brooding dude always by his side were, respectively, Clueless and Porcupine. 
At that moment, he watched as Sanrio, Clueless and Porcupine sat beside one another while taking their first assessment test for the Criminal Law class.
You were so laser focused on the test, eyes darting from one end to the other of the paper frantically, hand periodically brushing your bangs back in desperation, that he feared you might actually end up accidentally activating a laser beam and burning the thing. Clueless was… well, clueless. He looked like someone who had never been properly alphabetized in his entire life. And finally, Porcupine didn’t seem bothered in the slightest, calmly reading and selecting each answer with the ease and certainty of someone that knew what he was doing.
He was sort of amused to realize Sanrio’s bangs had a small lock of hair poking out.
Higuruma glanced his eyes over the class, and made the sad realization he’d have dozens upon dozens of tests to grade and submit to the Dean the following morning.
What a nightmare, I’ll be here forever grading these after hours.
He had completely forgotten, earlier that day, that he’d have to deal with assessment test shenanigans. The information popped back into his mind five minutes before he arrived at the Uni, and Higuruma got a little desperate, remembering he needed to pick up the pile of tests inside the brown brick building’s print center before darting his way to class.
At least, he was more accustomed to running by then.
After parking near the building, Higuruma ran against the clock, and made it by the skin of his teeth. The Professor was completely relieved, failing to realize that his memory had fucked him over more than once that day.
You, on the other hand, weren’t fending off much better.
What do I do, there is more than one answer to this, it fucking depends, goddammit, you cursed inside your mind while answering most of the questions in that assessment test.
I need a cigarette.
You were particularly bad at taking multiple choice tests, especially in subjective areas — which was definitely the case for Criminal Law.
You had this little curse of wanting to select two different answers in nearly every question and always choosing the wrong one.
At least I can drink this failure away at the party today. 
“Ten more minutes!” Higuruma’s voice echoed through the classroom, and you must’ve looked particularly more hectic than before, because you felt his eyes on you, and when looking up, noticed he seemed a little concerned.
Very charmingly concerned in that disheveled suit and slightly messy hair.
Ah, shut up, brain.
After the ten minutes flew by, a cacophony of pens being put down or clicked around could be heard. People got up, and one by one, the students put their tests over Higuruma’s desk. He dangled over his chair lazily, bidding his students a good morning with a mumble.
You were the last one left, and stared at your test like it was a nuke falling right into your future criminal defense attorney career. Sad wasn’t the best word for it — you felt disheartened.
Sighing defeatedly, you lifted yourself from your chair like your clothing was made of lead and walked towards Higuruma’s desk, handing him the paper. His eyes lifted towards you while he took the test from your hands. 
“What did you think of the test?” Higuruma inquired, organizing all the papers into a neat pile.
You huffed.
“Sanrio is worried about this test,” you replied, smiling while poking a little fun at him.
His eyes widened a little, and for a second, Higuruma looked embarrassed. 
“About that, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to...” he began.
“Oh! It’s...”
Completely okay. Kinda sweet. Something I might’ve actually liked. 
“Fine. I didn’t mind. It’s not always, but sometimes I nickname people in my head too.”
He offered you a discreet awkward nod, “okay, then.” 
Noticing you might’ve made him unnecessarily uncomfortable, you decided to lighten up the air.
“So... No random experiment for torturing your minions today? I mean, the students.” 
Higuruma chuckled softly.
“Ah, no. I figured this test was enough torture for one day,” he answered, spirited, “I’m not that ruthless.”
Remembering the Yuuji marker debacle, you thought about something for a moment before you resumed speaking.
“You know,” you began, “perhaps you should ask for students to volunteer before doing your… things.”
“I used to, actually,” he promptly answered.
“You did?” your voice sounded surprised.
Higuruma nodded, “Yes, but students rarely volunteered.”
That sounded a little off.
“Quick question, Professor. Did this scarcity of volunteers happen before or after the first volunteer demonstration?” you inquired.
“After. Why do you ask?” He asked while putting the tests into his briefcase.
Oh my God, he’s so clueless.
“No reason. Just curious.”
***
“Hey, people! I brought us beers!” Yuuji exclaimed, light spirited, as he walked towards you, Megumi, Nobara and Maki all seated on the grass behind the brick building. He quickly descended to sit beside the group.
“You are the best, but I’m not mixing today,” you thanked, greeting him with a cup full of pure vodka, “this should do the trick for tonight. Also, it’s pretty fucking cold for beer.” 
“Is that why you’re wearing that thing?” Nobara inquired while pointing at your ugly red scarf around your neck. 
“Get off my case, Nobara,” you retorted, gulping on your drink with some unidentifiable desperation.
“Shit, was the test that bad?” Maki asked you as she took a single can from Yuuji’s arms, while mindlessly pulling Nobara closer and kissing her head.
“It was weird, I was so confused, it felt like every question had at least two answers,” you complained, stretching your body over the grass. 
“You probably did fine, you tend to be overly dramatic about these things,” Nobara stated while pulling another can from Yuuji, smacking on his shoulder with a fist. He whined in complaint, and she chuckled like a tiny ginger demon. 
“I agree with Kugisaki, you’re smart!” Yuuji chirped in, while scrambling his way to sit beside Megumi, “I had no idea what I was doing. If you thought about at least two answers to each question, you’re already better than me.”
This poor, poor kid, you thought.
“There’s more to exams than just being smart, you need to know how to do them, and I do not, unfortunately…” you answered, a tinge of disappointment to your expression.
“This is solely an assessment test, anyway. It doesn’t compute in our final grades, there is no need to be so upset about it,” Megumi interjected, shushing himself when you glared at him. 
He was terrible at comforting people. 
“So, Fushiguro, I didn’t quite know what you’d like to drink, so I brought three types of beer,” Itadori mumbled, extending three different cans of beer towards Megumi like a raven with trinket offerings for his favorite human.
Not exactly smooth, but definitely cute.
Nobara and Maki shared a look, both of them with cheeky smiles on their faces. You covered your mouth to conceal your own smile — you were far from being as saucy as the power couple by your side — and waited with a bated breath for Megumi to pick up on the hint from Yuuji.
It was about time, considering it had been months of Yuuji trying to make a move. 
“No, thank you, I won’t drink today,” Fushiguro cluelessly replied, and Itadori visibly deflated from that. 
“T-then… I can grab a soda for you, or…” Itadori clumsily interjected, while scratching the back of his neck. 
“There’s no need, I will go-” 
Perhaps it was the vodka, the dreadful day or how much Megumi had just cock-blocked your shipping dreams, but you blurted out your next few words. 
“For fucks sake, Fushiguro, if you don’t take a beer can from Itadori right now, I will body slam you into oblivion.” 
“… We’re on the ground. How would that even-” 
“Bitch, don’t test me.”
Fushiguro was somewhat taken aback by your interjection, but hesitantly extended his hand and picked one of the three beers Itadori had selected for him, prying it open with a wheezing click. Megumi looked at you, then the beer can, then at Itadori, suspiciously taking a tiny sip. 
“It is… good,” he muttered, as a smile slowly returned to Yuuji’s Kirby persona. 
“Now, thank him,” you complemented, pointing at Yuuji, “he did find three types of beer in this God-forsaken campus party only for you, after all. I’d never have bothered to do so, and I bet Maki and Nobara feel the same.”
The power couple raised their drinks in agreement towards you, and Fushiguro sighed. 
“Thank you, Itadori.” 
Yuuji happily nodded, “you’re welcome! Do you want something to eat? I could-”
“Baby steps, buddy… baby steps,” you interrupted, putting your hand over Yuuji’s shoulder. He nodded sheepishly while Megumi was at a loss.
“O-okay,” Itadori acquiesced.
Suddenly, you all heard a voice calling Megumi’s name from a distance, sounding like some kind of haunting, and began looking around as he buried his face in his hands.
“Who is that?” you asked.
“Megumi! Where’s the food!?” the voice inquired in a light hearted tone. In the distance, you saw a fluffy, white ball of hair approaching under sunglasses. At night.
Megumi groaned from the depths of his soul.
“Argh, for fucks sake,” he complained, well aware as to who was coming.
Trying to dodge the faculty members didn’t do much to keep his adoptive father away, apparently.
Not so far from there, Higuruma sat in a poorly lit office grading the tests the entire class had taken that morning. After finishing grading yours — and you didn’t do very well, just as you had anticipated — he muttered to himself, out loud, “what happened there, Sanrio?”
The Professor failed to notice he did remember your name perfectly, even if he kept calling you Sanrio. 
“Will you sleep in here today?” a familiar voice scowled from the door, and Higuruma turned his face to meet the dusty blonde head of hair peeping through. 
“I’ll just finish grading these and then I’ll go home, Kento,” Higuruma answered with a tired smile on his face. 
“And couldn’t you have done that from home?” his friend asked, looking at the menacing pile of paper over the man’s desk, “or maybe tomorrow morning.” 
“Oh, I’d never get to it if I had left it for later. I’m already here, might as well just ditch this Pavlovian nightmare as soon as possible,” the other stated, flailing a test on his hand before proceeding, “what are these even meant to assess? Someone’s capabilities of answering formulaic questions like trained dogs? Ugh.”
Higuruma was ranting.
Nanami huffed a slightly amused chuckle, but underneath it, he seemed a little beaten down. 
“Is everything okay, Kento?” Higuruma asked, interrupting his ranting when noticing his deflated friend. 
“I’m… fine.”
Nanami had forgotten for a second that Higuruma, underneath all his antics, was a very perceptive person. 
“Are you sure?” Higuruma insisted, “you don’t look so well.” 
“It’s nothing. I’m just thinking about work, that’s all.”
And that he was. That meeting had stuck with him for those past few days. 
“Oh, how was the meeting with the Union?”
Nanami’s breath got caught for a second before he mustered up something to answer. 
“It wasn’t what I expected it to be. I might be switching things up soon,” Nanami said with some understated grave finality. 
“Truly?” Higuruma sounded surprised. 
“Yes. Perhaps exploring new fronts beyond Corporate Law.” 
“Well, then, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help apart from practicing law.”
Higuruma’s voice cracked softly right at the end of his sentence. ​Nanami didn’t fail to notice it, and kept silent as his friend seemed to mull over bitter memories. 
“Hiromi,” Nanami began. 
“I can’t, I… can’t.”
Higuruma had visibly tensed up, his fists unconsciously clenching as his forearms laid flat on the desk.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Nanami concluded, careful not to dig too deep on the matter.
Both of them shared an uncomfortable silence before Higuruma hesitantly steered his gaze to meet Nanami’s. Unsure, Higuruma gave his friend a tiny nod, and moved his attention back to the task in front of him. 
Understanding that the talk about it was over, at least for now, Nanami asked, “I’m leaving, do you want me to help you carry those to your car?” 
“Oh, there’s no need. I parked far, behind the…”
Oh, shit. 
“Nanami, what day is it today?”
*** 
“I’m not drunk,” you mumbled, while filling your third cup of vodka. 
“I’m not so sure about that,” Nobara said, giving you a light push to your shoulder, having you nearly tip over. Meanwhile, Megumi, Yuuji and Maki were entertained with Yuuji trying to score Gojo’s open mouth with peanuts like it was a basketball hoop.
Megumi was the least entertained of the trio.
“Knock it off!” you complained, slapping her hand away.
You fished your pack of cigarettes from your pocket, and she instantly grunted. 
“Those things stink and itch my nose, go smoke them somewhere else.” 
It was your time to grunt. 
“Ugh, fine. Then I’ll find a new best friend that’ll let me smoke — hell, one that might even smoke with me!” you  replied, getting ready to leave. 
“Make good choices!” she poked at you, and you playfully brushed her off. 
“I won’t!”
You walked away — not before hearing Yuuji and Gojo cheering right after Yuuji managed to score ten peanuts in a row — and gave your cup of vodka another sip, having the burning tingle dripping down your throat, warming you up against the cold wind.
After about two minutes or so of walking, sure your smoke wouldn’t blow on anyone’s faces, you put a cigarette into your mouth and pulled the lighter Professor Higuruma had given you, trying to light the cig up.
However, the wind wouldn’t let you, no matter how much you tried to tent your hand around it.
God, why? you thought to yourself, fidgeting with your bangs in annoyance.
While darting your eyes around, looking for any sort of shelter from the wind, you found a beat up, dark navy-blue car that surely had seen better days parked just behind the brick building. In your drunken haze, you figured that squatting between both would be the best idea.
Stumbling your way towards the gap, you quickly went down on the ground in a crouched position, holding your cup in one hand and the lighter on the other, cig strongly held in between your lips.
Flick, flick, flick.
Nothing.
God fucking damnit. 
“Hey!” a male voice exclaimed from behind you, scaring the shit out of your soul. 
Your body moved on instinct. You instantly jumped up, startled and screaming, and tossed the entire vodka contents from the cup towards whoever had nearly given you a heart attack.
Higuruma stood there, completely stunned and incredulous, as the beverage hit his shirt, vest, tie, face and coat. 
“… I didn’t mean to scare you,” he offered, taking his glasses off to shake the liquid from them before putting them back, “but why?”
For a split second, he was just glad this wasn’t coffee or wine, the staining demons of liquids. It could’ve been worse.
Oh my God. I can’t believe I assaulted this man with my drink again. This has to be a prank.
This time, already impaired from two full glasses of vodka in your system, and increasingly nervous at that situation, you couldn’t hold it in. 
You began cackling, directly to his face, as his expression became profoundly confused. He lifted an eyebrow, not knowing if he should feel scared, amused or offended.
"I-I just… Just laugh in i-inappropriate… moments- I’m sorry!" you tried explaining, in between laughs and huffs, drying a tear that bubbled up at the edge of your eye with the tip of your fingers.
You both stood there for a few seconds until your laughter died down, and he was then sure you definitely had a few screws loose.
It amused him.
“Here, let me use this to dry your shirt," you told Higuruma, approaching him with your red scarf, pressing it against his chest. He put his free hand over it and haphazardly rubbed it over the damp patches of his clothes alongside you.
This up close, he couldn’t help but notice once again that tiny hair lock which swirled away from your bangs.
Realizing he was staring at your hair, Higuruma diverted his eyes elsewhere, having them landing over the ugly red scarf. 
"Ah, that hideous thing." 
Shit, I said that out loud, he thought to himself, facepalming internally. 
To that, you looked at him, wide eyed, and laughed wholeheartedly, having Higuruma blushing embarrassment at his own incapacity to control his words. 
"It is hideous, isn't it?" you noted, surprising him.
For the second time in that interaction, he was nothing short of perplexed. The Professor was more than accustomed to having people get deeply offended at his talking mishaps from time to time.
"I thought you might be laughing because what I said was terribly inappropriate," Higuruma admitted, somewhat relieved.
"Oh, no. It was funny. I also laugh at funny things," you jested with a mindless smile pulling on your cheeks.
It was his time to chuckle, and you didn’t fail to notice, even in your tipsy fog, how a tiny crease would form on the edges of his hangdog eyes when he was laughing. And how his voice reverberated. And how his disheveled hair framed around his face beautifully, highlighting his beautiful hooked nose. And-
Shit. I have the hots for the Professor.
"... Is there still anything on my face?"
That snapped you out of it, but not entirely.
"Uh? Why?"
"Because you're staring at it."
Yeah. That checks out. 
“I just… never mind,” you told him while blushing discreetly, scrambling around to give him some space. It was only then that Higuruma noticed he had his hand resting over yours for a while after you stopped trying to pat him dry with the ugliest scarf known to mankind. 
Clearing his throat, he asked, “why were you slouching by my car?” 
“I was trying to light a cigarette,” you replied, pointing at the cig on the ground after the debacle, “the wind is pretty unforgiving today.”
“I see. I’m sorry about the fallen soldier,” he stated. 
“No worries, I’ve got more,” you replied, pulling your pack from your pocket, “do you want one?” 
I shouldn’t, smoking is bad, I’m doing cardio three times a we-
“Yes.” 
You pulled two cigarettes from the pack, put them both in your mouth, cupped your hand around the cigs to light them up, and it actually worked.
Well, that’s convenient.
You inhaled the smoke for a second, feeling it waving into your mouth. It immediately soothed your crave.
Taking one of them in between two fingers, you extended your hand towards Higuruma, who grabbed the smoke. 
“Thanks,” he offered in a calm tone.
“No worries, it’s the least I could do after assaulting you with vodka,” you shrugged with some embarrassment.
“It’s oka… pure vodka?” 
“Yes.”
That’s… a lot.
He was a little taken aback, but decided not to ask anything. 
“Well, at least it won’t leave a stain, unlike coffee,” Higuruma remarked. 
“Yeah, it won’t,” you replied while mindlessly giggling.
Higuruma finally bowed his head towards you and you retributed the gesture, bidding him goodbye before leaving on your way to your dorm room. 
Once you were gone, he went inside his car, cracking the window open. As he was finally alone pulling the cigarette towards his lips, Higuruma noticed something around the edge of the cig. A soft pinkish-red ring that went all around it.
Is this… her lipstick?
It was.
Against his better judgment, Higuruma blushed softly, instantly shaking his head to weave off the heat that had pooled around in his cheeks before flipping the engine on.
Get a hold of yourself.
He did, however, hold the cig in his mouth, smudging the faint lipstick tint it had on his lips until the smoke was all spent up.
-
Tag list:
@arusearu @yammy-yammy-yama @markleeisdabestdrug @redlikerozez @delirious-donna
@alwaysfreakingout @murderofravens @senseifupa @higurumapet @cindyneko-strider 
@ohhheymessa @bigbaddulce @actuallysaiyan @s-witch-bitch @pseudowho
@soft--cherry @bsaeshell @quinnyundertow @traffi
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desideriumwriter · 2 months ago
Text
Anyone But You | Chapter 11
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Chapter Summary: It's now Fred's turn to hold a grudge against you, you try to smooth over things with him by returning something of his. After unexpected events unfold at the third task, you get comforted by the last person you'd want to be comforted by. You think.
Pairing - Fred Weasley x Fem!Gryffindor!Reader
Category - enemies to lovers + hurt/comfort
Content Warnings - reader is in denial once again, canon character death, grief, crying, this one is just a mess of emotions yall
Word Count - 4.5k
A/N: supriseee, this is why i changed the dates of the tasks, buckle up. this one is...a lot. sorry.
Series Masterlist | F.W Masterlist | Previous | Next | Navi
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Fred hadn’t made any contact with you since your outburst at the Ball.
He paid you no mind when he walked past you the next day to board the Hogwarts Express. He never sent any owls like he usually did over the remainder of winter break. He nor George bothered you anymore in potions. During the second task of the tournament, Fred stood as far away as he could from you on the wooden dock.
It had been almost two months since you lost it at him and the most he did was glance in your direction and shove past you once in the hallway.
Yet, there were still constant reminders of him and you lingering around.
God, you were infuriated when you saw a photo of Fred and you had made it onto Rita Skeeter's section in the Daily Prophet.
“That bitch is a bloody liar!” You exclaimed as you looked at the newspaper.
Of course, her photographer had to get a photo at the exact moment you smiled and let out a small laugh instead of when you stood up and began shouting at him.
Now that seemingly innocent split second of a moment between Fred and you was playing on a loop in a heart shaped frame.
“Woah! Language!” Cedric was shocked yet amused by your outburst.
“Young love? This is what you call young love?” You mocked, pointing at the photo of Fred and you, “How’d she even get in? I can’t believe it!”
“Maybe it’s a sign.” Cedric shrugged, laying down on the stone bench.
“A sign for what? That Rita Skeeter has no idea what the hell she’s talking about?” You went on as Cedric closed his eyes and sighed. “I mean, come on. I smile at him for three seconds and all of the sudden I’m in love?”
“Merlin's beard, just put us all out of our misery and admit it already.“ Cedric let out a dramatic groan, rubbing his face.
“Admit what?”
"Admit you have feelings for him."
"Only the worst ones." You whacked him with the newspaper. “Besides, I already told you what happened. I’m sure he hates me now too.”
“I’m sure he’s just heartbroken. The first stage is denial.” Cedric commented, earning him a disagreeing head shake from you. “You know, some time in the future you’re gonna look back and think: Damn, Cedric was right, I am in love with Fred Weasley, I’m just too stubborn to admit it.” He teased in a high pitched voice. You hit him again.
“Shove off, just tell me how your date went with Cho.”
It seemed like no matter what you did, you couldn’t escape Fred.
Even with Angelina and Katie refusing to bring them up, even with Fred or George no longer bothering you, even with Fred literally hating you now, you couldn’t escape him.
Like when you opened your dresser doors, looking for your missing glove, only to find Fred’s hat he gave to you at the first task.
You didn’t realize you still had it, you didn’t realize you never gave it back.
He never asked for it back.
The guilt was settling in.
He never asked for it back though. He could’ve taken it back after the first task was over, or the next day, or really any other time. But he didn’t. He let you keep it. All this time has passed and he let you keep it. Why?
Fuck, you felt like you were going insane. You had to talk to someone about this.
“Cedric! Cedric!” You called out, running up to him in the empty courtyard. You were quite lucky to find him alone these days, he usually was always walking in a group of his supporters. “I need your help! I really need your help!” Cedric acknowledged you, but he didn’t stop walking.
“I’m not sure if I can help you right now, I promised to meet Cho at the pitch in like ten minutes-”
“Your snogging sesh with her can wait!” Cedric goggled at you for a second, continuing to walk.
“It’s urgent! It’s about Fred!” You grabbed onto his arm, pulling him to stop.
“Oh my- When is it not?” He groaned, his face scrunched up and scowling.
“I’m thinking about apologizing to him.” You blurted out, Cedric's face dropped into a serious stare, he paused for a moment before speaking.
“To Fred? Are you serious?” You nodded, still straight faced. “You are?” He asked again, looking at you like you were speaking another language.
“Yes! I have a plan! Hey- what’s so funny about that?” Cedric began to let out small laughs, now you were scowling.
“Oh I’m sorry, I just, you’re so deep in denial.” He said through chuckles, he actually found this humorous. “I’ve been waiting forever for this, I cannot wait til i see you two walking hand in hand in the hallways after this!” You gaped and gave him a shove.
“Hey! I still hate him! I absolutely do! I just…feel bad.” He raised his brows at you in disbelief, giving you a look that said Really? That's it?
“I’m scared that it could end badly if it doesn’t work out.” You admitted, shamefully looking down.
“End badly? Oh please, you already hate each other. How much worse could it get?”
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Worse, it turns out.
You had a plan. The next time you saw Fred by himself. You would stop him, return his beanie back, and apologize. And, you would make it clear that you weren’t friends, that you still found him bloody annoying. You just didn’t want anything of his in your space.
Maybe it wasn’t the best plan, or the best way to apologize. It was also a bit weird carrying around his beanie in your bag everywhere you went. But, you didn’t know how much longer you could go having his belongings in your presence.
You didn’t know how much longer you could go with him ignoring your presence instead of bothering it.
You were able to stop him after you caught him wandering down an empty hallway. Honestly, you wanted to hide behind a pillar and let him walk past without noticing you. But, he couldn’t avoid you forever, neither could you.
“Fred?” You stepped out of your hiding place, he saw you but he didn’t show you any acknowledgement, continuing to walk with a stone cold expression.
“Fred, wait.” You called out, following after him, “Can you just stop avoiding me for a second?” You exclaimed. He drug his feet along the ground as he stopped, turning to you with his arms crossed.
“Stop avoiding you? Reckon that’s what you begged me to do the last time we talked.” He spat out, shaking his head.
“I didn’t beg-” You bit your tongue. Now's not the time for your defensiveness. This is not the time for an argument.
You reminded yourself that and took a deep breath and swallowing your anger. Fred let out a breath of annoyance as you composed yourself.
“I’m not here to apologize.” You blurted out, your plan was now abandoned. Fred's face scrunched up for a second in confusion, you rummaged through your bag hanging from your shoulder, “I’d just thought you’d want this back.” You pulled out his hat, holding it up in between the two of you, your eyes on the ground.
Though you didn’t dare to look straight at him, you could see his posture soften in your peripheral vision. Wanting to get this over with you shook it at him, signaling for him to take it.
“You didn’t have to stop me out here, you should’ve just left this on my bed or something..” He trailed off as he reached out one arm, keeping the other tucked around him as he snatched the hat from you awkwardly.
Both of you stood there in silence for a moment, Fred looking at his returned hat, you adjusting the strap on your bag.
“Uh, cheers.” He gave you a tight lipped smile, turning and walking back to his original direction.
Okay, maybe it hadn’t gotten worse than it already was between you two, but it was sure as hell awkward now.
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“So you didn’t do what you said you were going to do?” Cedric stared at you, expressionless.
“I didn’t say I was going to do it, I said I was thinking about it.” You shrugged. Cedric fully sat up in a swift manner, jaw ajar and eyes narrowed as he stared.
“You said you had a plan!” He then cried out. Oh, so he was listening and not just laughing at you earlier.
“To give him his hat back! Not beg for forgiveness.” You huffed, slouching against the tree. “Besides, he never begged for mine all those times.”
Always a battle between you two, Cedric wanted to say, but he knew that’d only tick you off more.
“Yeah? And what’d he do instead?” Cedric questioned, it made you feel suspicious about what he had to say.
“He’d just go back to annoying me.” You shrugged, a bit hesitant since you could see the cogs turning in his head.
“So why don’t you?” Cedric suggested, “Why don’t you go and bother him like he always did to you?”
You opened your mouth, stammered out something unintelligible, and closed it. You had hit a wall, all this time you’ve worried about when Fred would acknowledge your presence, you weren’t doing anything to get him to acknowledge it.
You can’t say Cedric’s got a point. You won’t admit to that.
“Because I’m happy he doesn’t bother me anymore, I’m not going to put an end to that! I enjoy him leaving me alone!” You crossed your arms, putting up your wall of defense.
“No you don’t.” Cedric let out a breath through his nose, his face was stoic, unamused.
“I do!”
“You’ve complained about it a million times since he has!” He exclaimed. “Oh, Fred did this! Fred said that! Fred bothered me in class! Fred pissed me off a the ball! Fred won’t talk to me! Fred doesn’t like me!” He mimicked, gesturing wildly with his hands.
Fine, maybe you had mentioned how Fred was now avoiding you in the past two months. Maybe those mentions of it spiraled into rants, rants that Cedric had to listen all about.
You just shook your head doubtingly, Cedric sighed and moved over. He slapped a hand on your shoulder.
“I’ve only seen people care this much about another person, about what they’re doing, what they’re saying, unless they loved them.” He grabbed onto both shoulders, holding on in the way coaches do when giving their players a pep talk.
“I have been your bestfriend for six years now.” He shook you slightly with each word, putting an euphemism on them. “And I have never, never, seen you care so much about another person. Maybe, you should think about that.” He gave a sympathetic smile, the silence letting his words sink in.
Nope. You weren’t going to let it.
“Piss off! I am not in love with him!” You wriggled out of his grasp. Cedric grumbled.
“You should think about it!” He repeated, putting his hands up in defense.
The bell rung for the next class. Cedric stood up, giving you a brotherly pat on the shoulder.
“Tell me how it goes, when you're stuck with him in the Gryffindor section of the pitch.”
“Tell me how winning feels, I’ll let you rub it in my face. Good luck Ced.” You smiled.
“Good luck, Y/N.”
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The third task began at dusk, the sun beginning to set and casting a golden glow on everything.
Now it was pitch black outside, Fleur had been pulled out early, and it felt like there were no signs of the task being won by the other three anytime soon. Your leg bounced wildly up and down in anticipation. Angelina and Katie noticed, you could see them staring in the corner of your eye.
“Something feels wrong, it’s been nearly three hours.” You spoke out, resting your head in hand.
“It’s a twenty-foot-tall maze, it’s gonna take a while for them to figure it out. Especially with your thick headed loverboy.” Fred blurted out, voice laced with mockery. You hated it, you were only stuck near him because Angelina and Katie were.
“Will you stop calling him that? You don’t have to be so rude all the time.” You said, exasperated already.
“That’s rich coming from you.” Fred muttered as he eyed you.
“It is a giant maze with whatever is in there. It might take a while.” Angelina said in a nicer way than Fred, budding into your and his blooming debacle.
“I know, I’m just worried that something might go wrong. Like, what if something messes up?” You gestured, biting your nail.
“He’s made it out of the past two just fine, I’m sure he’ll make it out of this one charming as ever.” Fred blurted, earning pointed glances from Angelina and Katie.
You tried to ignore your anxieties, trying to focus on whatever Katie and Angelina were chatting about. But your eyes kept darting back to Fleur on the sidelines, and Freds shitty attitude towards you wasn’t helping. Godric, is this how he felt all the times you’ve been pissy to him?
She looked terrified when she got pulled out, the tear stains on her face were obvious. You could see her rambling to the teachers about something, causing some of them to blink and give each other concerned glances.
She had seen something.
“What’d you think happened to her?” Katie took a look at Fleur, who was now surrounded by a group of girls clearly trying to comfort her.
“Don’t know. Maybe it was just too much for her.” Angelina shrugged, letting out a disappointed breath.
“She looks horrified.” You thought out loud. Eyes now locked on Fleurs face.
“I would be too. Battling dragons? Having to swim in the black lake? Going through a dark maze in the cold? Seeing all that, I’m a bit glad my name wasn’t picked.” Angelina muttered, leaning back.
“You’d have to pay me more than a thousand galleons and a dumb cup to get me to swim with ze Grindylows.” Katie nudged, mimicking Fleurs accent, earning a small breathy laugh out of Angelina and you.
Awhile after Fleurs return, a loud whoosh was heard, you got a glimpse of Cedric and Harry falling into the ground together.
The entire stadium shot up from their seats, including you. There was an uproar of cheer and the band playing the classic march.
“Did you see? It’s Harry and Cedric! They got back at the same time!” Angelina shouted, still clapping.
“Oh don’t tell me it’s gonna be another tie!” Katie groaned out. Fred and George pushed past the three of you, already excitedly running down to the field. Angelina grabbed onto your and Katie’s hands, creating a chain to follow them.
By the time you were hopping down onto the grass, a harrowing scream came from Fleur, she cupped a hand over her mouth and looked away.
Before you got to the front of the already forming crowd around the two champions, you could tell something was off.
None of Cedrics friends were cheering, neither were Harrys. Even the twins were dead still and staring.
As you got closer to the front of everyone, the music stopped and the noise of the crowd died down. Going from cheers to concerned whispers. You could hear the sobs of someone.
“No! He’s back! He’s back!” It was Harry. His voice was hoarse and heavy.
Pushing your way between the twins, now standing in front of them, you could see what was going on.
“He’s dead!” Harry cried, clutching onto Cedric’s limp body when the teachers tried to pull him off.
Time felt slow, stopped, frozen. You didn’t cry, you didn’t scream, all you did was stare. Feet stuck to the ground, and it felt like the only thing you could do was watch with wide, terrified, and glossy eyes as Harry grasped onto your bestfriends body, sobbing over him.
“Diggory's dead!” A horrified voice from the stands yelled, causing the entire pitch to fill with gasps and more whispers.
Soon the sight took hold of you. The scratches and blood smudged around Cedric’s pale face, his wide open yet lifeless eyes, his body having no reaction to being shook and held onto.
He was dead. Cedric Diggory was dead. The boy you grew up with, the boy who you saw as blood, the boy who was your bestfriend, was dead.
Taking in a shaky breath and blinking away the tears that had formed in your eyes, you attempted to step back, stumbling a bit and bumping into Fred’s chest.
“Oh shit,” Fred looked down at you, noticing the stray tears that had fallen from your eyes, “Oh shit, don’t look. Don’t look.” He grabbed onto you. You unconsciously yet willingly turned your body to his, allowing him to wrap his arms around you, attempting to prevent you from staring at the sight in front of you any longer.
“Don’t look.” He repeated.
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Everything after the night of the third task felt foggy. It was a blur. Hell, it was a blur since then.
Classes were canceled for the next few days. Most days blended into each other, even when classes resumed normally. It was all foggy.
Most days you weren’t focused on anything. Stuck in a weird state of dissociation. Everything felt static.
You didn't remember a word Dumbledore said at Cedric’s memorial in the Great Hall. You didn’t cry with the others, you just sat and stared.
Even though you were usually in a daze, you still noticed things. You heard what people would talk about. You had ears, you could still hear.
“I’m worried about her. I haven’t seen her cry or…do anything really.” Katie whispered to Katie once you got up from the table.
“I know. I mean, we all have our own ways of grieving, maybe this is just hers?” Angelina leaned over.
Of course your friends tried to talk to you, not about what happened. But have regular chats, though you didn’t add much to the conversation, single worded responses or a short sentence.
On the nights you couldn’t sleep, you sat in the common room. Usually staying there until you went back to your bed, staying awake and sleep deprived the next day until you fell asleep where you were sitting in the common room.
“Hold on, shhh.” Fred stopped George as they snuck back into the common room, returning from another late night run to Zonkos. Fred pointed you to, knocked out on the leather chair.
“Should we wake her up?” George whispered, looking over at your curled up position and closed eyes.
“No, let her sleep, she needs it. I don’t think I’ve seen her actually go to bed in days.”
You noticed the faces you got from others when you walked by.
Pitiful glances. Sympathetic smiles. Apologetic looks. You noticed it all. You hated it. You hated being reminded of it. You hated feeling this way.
A shell of yourself is what you felt like. When you walked through the halls you felt like you carried the same presence as one of the ghosts in the castle.
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It’s been nearly two weeks since Cedric passed and you still found yourself doing things you normally did with Cedric.
Stopping in the hallway after McGonagall's class in hopes to talk with him before he went in. Skimming your eyes around the Hufflepuff table looking for him. Waiting in the Courtyard after the school day for him to stop by and chat.
It was strange. It was like your brain hadn’t processed that he was gone.
You often wandered around, going on walks to clear your mind, even though it never worked. You found new places to sit and hide at.
Tonight, it was the Astronomy Tower. Rarely anyone came up there this late, the cool wind on your face helped ground you, and you had a pretty damn good view of the starry sky. You’d get in trouble if you were caught out here, especially with the strict rules they enforced for the rest of the year after what happened at the tournament.
You sat against the planet structure in the middle of the tower, your back against the hard marble while you brought your legs up to your chest, resting your head on your knees and wrapping your arms around yourself.
Swaying yourself gently side to side, you stared at the sky, almost not catching the quick footsteps coming up the stairwell.
Fred appeared.
Fuck. Why is he here?
“Hey.” He greeted quietly, putting his hands in his front pockets once he felt the cold air hit them. “It’s pretty cold out here.”
You stared at him for a second, a bit confused on many things. He gave you an awkward smile.
“So, what’re you up to?” He rocked back and forth on his heels.
“Why are you here Fred?” You unraveled from your position. Your tone wasn’t mean, it wasn’t snarky or sarcastic, it was sad. Defeated. Fred noticed.
“I was looking for you.” He unraveled, “I was worried. Katie told me you weren’t in your bed or the common room. Her and Angelina were freaking out looking for you, they thought you might’ve…done something.” He mumbled the last few words.
You only stared at him for a few seconds through lidded eyes, an unamused look on your face.
“I'm not up here to throw myself off the astronomy tower, if that’s what you assumed.” You muttered, turning your gaze back to in front of you.
“No! No! Not at all! I didn’t assume that.” Fred squeaked, trying to defend himself, “I was just a bit concerned, is all.”
“Since when do you care?” You muttered, only paying attention to his last sentence. Fred spent the last two months hating you, but oh, now your bestfriend is dead and of course he feels guilty for being so mean.
“I just…I’m worr- a lot of us are worried about you.”
“You should be worried about Cho, I know I am. She’s doing worse than me.” You huffed, you weren’t trying to sound mean, you were telling the truth. You knew Cedric's death was tearing the poor girl apart, she was his girlfriend for Godrics sake.
“Yeah, she’s driving herself mad.” Fred tried to joke as he looked down, but failed. “She’s worried about you too though.” He said softly. You let out a small hum, picking at your pajama pants.
The both of you stayed there for a good few seconds, maybe a minute, silent and awkwardly keeping your eyes away from each other.
You took in a sharp breath, breaking the silence.
“I don’t know what to do.” You looked over to him, “What am I supposed to do? With everything?” Your voice cracked a tiny bit and it made you cringe. Did Fred know how to handle grief? Probably not, but he knew what you were asking.
“I don’t know.” Fred's voice was quiet, barely above a whisper. You clenched your jaw to try and keep from crying.
Giving him a nod and tight-lipped smile at his response, you bit the inside of your cheek and turned your head away when a few stray tears fell.
This is the first time you’ve cried since Cedric’s death.
It was horrible. You hated that you were crying, and that Fred was there to see you so vulnerable, or that he was talking to you, but you didn’t think it mattered during that moment, you just needed comfort. You would really take any comfort too at this point.
“Can I sit?” He nodded to the empty spot next to you.
“I don’t care anymore.” You shook your head and shrugged weakly.
Fred walked over and sat a comfortable yet close distance next to you, his long legs bending at the knees.
“Can I ask you a question?” Fred played with a loose thread on his sweater, likely knitted by his mum.
“Sure.” You didn’t have the energy in you to say no, or be snippy towards him, you felt exhausted.
“Were you in love with Cedric?” Fred looked at you. You rolled your eyes and scoffed, a small bit of hope bloomed in Fred’s chest, he’d gotten a classic reaction out of you. You hadn’t become a shell of yourself, you were still you.
“No.” You let out a small, humorless laugh. “I know everyone thinks that. But I wasn’t. He was a brother more than anything.” Fred wanted to let you know not everyone thought that, mainly just him, he was just curious.
“He was too in love with himself,” You joked, “Always so cocky.” Fred noticed the way the ends of your mouth slightly curled up as you shook your head.
“Yeah? I always knew he was too thick headed for his own good. He’d probably use the reflection of the cup as a mirror.” He breathed out, a lighthearted attempt to make you laugh. It worked, somewhat. A slight smile appeared on your face as you let out small bits of laughter.
“I’m serious, Lee told me that he caught him posing in the sink mirrors in the prefects bathroom!” Fred began to laugh with you, as you laughed even harder, your body bending forward a bit due to it.
This is the first time he’s ever made you laugh.
His laughter was mostly confused. He was puzzled at how you could find that to be this funny, until your weak chuckles turned into strong sobs. You broke. Crying into your hands.
Fred wasn’t sure what to do at this moment. His way of comforting was humor, and it worked, but not the way he expected it to. So, he just hugged you, he actually hugged you.
He closed the small gap between your bodies and wrapped two long arms around you. And you let him. You didn’t hug him back, you just sobbed, letting your heavy limbs fall and lean yourself into him.
He had one arm wrapped around you, holding you tightly while the other was brushing his hand over your hair.
It was strange, you didn’t care that Fred Weasley was hugging you, holding you. You didn’t try to shove him off, or break out of his grasp, you were too exhausted to protest.
Instead, you shifted into a position where you could grasp onto him, you wrapped your arms around his lanky torso, crying into his chest, letting out heavy sobs that wracked your entire body.
You said his name through a sharp breath, Fred cupped your face with both hands as you brought your head up to look at him.
“Fred, I’m sorry.” You broke down again, “I’m so sorry.” You said through sobs.
“Shh, it’s alright. Save all that for later. It’s alright.” He shushed you, pulling you back into your cradling position again.
If you told yourself from just a few months ago that this was happening. You would’ve never believed it. You would’ve never thought it’d be a real moment between you two.
But tonight, it was, it was real, it was happening, you were crying on the top of the astronomy tower while Fred Weasley, out of all people, held you.
You tried to apologize, and you sobbed into his chest while Fred Weasley, raked his fingers through your hair and held you.
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tell me what you thought here! <3 or ask tba to the taglist for this series!
TAGLIST: @sublimepenguinpeach-blog@five-seconds-flat @nal-leo-17 @rhunew @albertdabuttler @weak-aesthetic @whotfskai @m00nymarauder @miaandthediamonds @hpstuff244444 @tarzanathetumblingwarrior @isabellavolere @navs-bhat @honeybee240 @pillowjj @df841 @siriusmarryme @ooopsiedaisy997 @imamexican @residentdemonhunter @ma1dita @b4tm4nn @anonymously-ominous @mistpx
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starnana7 · 5 months ago
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every time I remember that the hit show supernatural made God, the literal God from the Bible, canonically bisexual but couldn’t do the same with a random guy who hunts monsters it actually makes me feel physically ill.. like blasphemy is okay but we draw the line at making the main character a little bit queer because it would “upset the heterosexuals men”? okay ig… and it’s so funny to me that they tried SO bad to make dean like really really straight and macho and a manly womanizer (I mean dude has literal porn brain and is obsessed with cars and is a film nerd) And still is the number 1 bissexual boy.. I mean no one that into cowboys is 100% straight 🙄 and if they actually wanted him to be that much of a cishet guy WHY would they make him have a codependent homosexual friendship with his best friend for more than a decade ?? and we have so much subtext to corroborates it that it’s actually insane.
and it’s also rlly funny to me that sam would be the most obvious choice for a queer storyline. like i’m not sure this is true but i heard somewhere that he actually was supposed to like be lgbt and that it’s implied in the show he’s pan bc he basically have sex w/ everyone and doesn’t care (like monsters and stuff). i wholeheartedly disagree bc sure he hited a demon and a werewolf and a kitsune and God knows what more But it still were just women and for me he’s still just straight 💀 we do have gabriel however and i would say that’s a valid argument but i don’t actually like them together because of the whole torturing-sam-every-tuesday-over-and-over-again but it’s still a good take ig. again this is just my opinion But anyways doesn’t matter my point Is that sam always felt like a freak and wanted to be normal and like was more open minded and “less-macho-toxic-behavior” than dean. he was a theater kid and talked about his feelings and all. STILL THO dean went and become The bissexual icon (Not Sam, Dean!!). and the fact that he was more manly actually only emphasized to his sexuality (and him being closeted) and sam being the straight one, and bare with me here. as sam winchester once wisely said “well you are kind of butch they probably think you're compinsating.” (to dean asking why people always assumed they were gay) and like this is so true, sam always felt comfortable in himself and like his nerdier and less cool strong man personality. But dean, oh, dean, no, no, no. and it could all be linked to john. we know how much dean wanted to gain his father approval and respect, all he ever wanted was for john to be proud of him. so he’d listen to the same music as john, same clothes… and so on. but when we really see a glance of him, we realize he’s actually much more “““girly””” (sorry for the term i lacked a better one) than he shows, Especially when compared to sam—who’s supposed to be the more girly one (again sorry for the term lol) or whatever. dean canonically likes taylor swift, chick flick films, actually liked when a woman made him wear underwear, the bailarinas shoe were “speaking to him” in that one ep of cursed objects, and so on. and every time he makes fun of sam for doing something not-manly-enough (like drinking lemon water or drinking from tiny coups) he eventually goes and do the same thing 😭 and i’m 100% sure that the writers just thought “haha funny scene this really straight deadly man does something not so convencional/more feminine(?) haha comedy relief time!!” but it actually just made him have a whole perfect queer background developed in the series. specially with the fact that He Does Overcompensate. why is he always flirting with women, why is he so butch and scary, always talking about straight sex and so on? because he’s really just deep in the closet. and it makes so much sense with john being his father, with him having to hunt two lesbians nuns in his 17 bday, always having to be strong and macho and cool and perfect—and therefore straight. even without cas, dean really does immaculate the bissexual experience and i’m so sorry but this is just true.
and now pointing to the subtext that i mentioned in the first paragraph (lol i can’t believe i’m making a whole rant as to why dean winchester is a confirmed bisexual), that whole confession to that priest where he says he wants experience new feelings, new people, FOR THE FIRST TIME. that always that the show mentioned a gay couple it ALWAYS focused on dean—not sam, DEAN. the gay hunters, the gay couple on the bar that the cupid “made”, the two cosplayers partners… the fact that every time that dean liked something it was borderline fangirl (gay) obsessive (the dr. sexy episode, that wrestler fighter). he Had a gay thing—and was all flustered about it. he flirted with a guy throughout charlie. THE MALE SIREN. the male siren like after that ep i was 100% convinced that man was not straight. he had a hot demon sumer with crowley?!!! and it’s so funny to me that not one of these things involves castiel, so if they really wanted to make dean be that straight why would they do that?? and only to dean, not even once to sam. Like. and not to mention all the homoeretic tension with benny??? sam never had a male best friend like that.. all of that and i didn’t even entered on destiel. Because this then really just confirms that he is Not straight. even if he wasn’t In Love with cas, they had something going on and the fact that if cas was a girl it would 100% be canon and filmed and Everyone would ship—and I really mean everyone—it just makes me go fucking insane. they could’ve had it all. the fanfic episodes, the parallels between dean and cas and “real couples”, ruby and cas duality and the fact that sam indeed had a relationship w/ her. Anyway i’m a # bi dean truth believer and i know this bc same boy # happy pride month to my fav bissexual boy in the whole world
also to anyone that says that “destiel” was unrequited love yes it kinda of was but only bc dean was so deep in the closet, he did love cas. he was indeed a bissexual man. i’ll die on that hill.
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little-pondhead · 2 years ago
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Some fic because I love your au, Fenton is gender brainrot, and little baby dan cracks me up. Full disclosure, my only familiarity with DC is DP crossover fanfic, and a Batman movie I fell asleep during. (If I had a better grasp on the characters I would totally write more :(( i love interactions) also sorry for the weird spacing. Idk why tumblr did that
~~~~~~~~
There was an empty cardboard box on the table of the Justice League’s main conference room. Taped on the top flap, next to a doodle of Fenton’s logo, was a jump drive.
Heaving a sigh, Batman plugged it in and pulled up his screen on the projector. The drive, which was named “little baby dan’s evil playtime”, contained two files; WATCH_ME_FIRST.mp4 and its-a-secreeeet.pdf. He clicked on the video file, and immediately the projector filled with a blurry close-up of Fenton’s goggles.
After a moment of fiddling with the camera, Fenton stepped back, giving a cheery wave. His lab coat and goggles were a pastel pink, which was new. “Heeeeya, Bats! Whoever else is there! If you’re watching this, you probably weren’t there when I dropped the box off, aaand it’s probably empty.”
He clapped his hands together gleefully. “And Connie, if you’re there, this is payback for cussing around my daughter.” Batman was instantly relieved that Constantine wasn’t on base. Hopefully the situation wouldn’t require Constantine’s expertise. (Or any of the Justice League Dark. Fenton seemed determined to drive them all to an early grave with his casual refusal to acknowledge the supernatural air around him.)
“Now, as you’re all heroes, I’m sure you’re all familiar with the whole,” Fenton paused for a moment, as if searching for the proper words. “”You ate a burger on a Tuesday or something equally inane, and it kickstarted a series of events that led to you going insane and evil and murdering 95% of the Earth’s population and now you must fight your evil alternate self, because your time-controlling cryptid Peepaw said so,” shtick, so I’ll skip the backstory. Say hi to Dan!” Fenton grabbed the camera, and Batman quickly jotted down several notes about the concerning number of things the boy had just said.
The camera swiveled around to show Nightingale, holding a strange beast in a manner that reminded Batman of an “elongated cat meme” Nightwing had shown him when he was still a Robin. The creature bared a maw full of razor sharp fangs at the camera. Nightingale adjusted her grip to hold the creature’s paw and make it wave, which evoked a deep growl.
“Haha, he’d kill me if I did that. Dan likes Nightingale much more than he likes me.”
“Because the worst she has ever done is attempt to shoot me.”
The camera had moved, so Batman couldn’t visually confirm that the deep voice had come from the creature, but the voice didn’t match any of Fenton’s previously revealed companions. “Yeah yeah, her aim sucked back then.” Fenton gave the camera a toothy grin that was only slightly less unnerving than the creature’s. “Dan’s not technically me, he’s much more like Dani, actually, but the world would probably end again if we left him with his other... What did you call him?” Fenton glanced offscreen.
“Bane of my accursed existence.”
Fenton chucked. “The other half responsible for his existence.” Batman added more notes to his file. “So, yeah, Clocky left him with us for a bit to help along his rehab. But a certain psychologist-in-training I know says that repressing rage isn’t healthy, and even without a lot of his powers, he can wipe out most of a city in- what, an hour? We tested it. It was around an hour.”
Everyone present shared a look of deep concern. As if able to see their reaction, Fenton quickly held up his hands in surrender. “Don’t worry! Clocky reset it. Approximately zero people have died from Dan in this timeline.”
“Yet.” Came a furious rumble from off-screen.
“Yes, you’re very scary.” They heard Nightingale coo.
Fenton laughed. “Yeah, we need him- and all of you, -out of our hair for a bit while we concoct more evil plans, and you’re all the least likely to die to him, so you get to babysit! Thanks!”
He reached to shut off the camera before pausing and turning away. “Foley! Which of the furries is the one who really likes animals?”
“Man, do you realize how that sounds out of context?” Foley laughed. “I think Tim said it’s the little one. Damian?”
Fenton nodded and turned back to the camera. “Don’t let Damian try to adopt Dan. Or anyone. Dan will bite their hands off. I mean it!” To emphasize his point, he removed one of his hands.
Batman sighed and added “ability to remove limbs” to a list of Fenton’s powers.
“I’ll include a list of “tasks”” Fenton’s disembodied hand made finger quotes, “we gave Dan to keep him occupied. There’s some at the bottom for you guys. They’re mostly just blatant abuse of his powers for the sake of fun and science. I’d appreciate it if you’d let him mark things off the list and add notes on how it goes. Or you can do it. Or I can steal your cameras. Your choice.”
He thought for a second. “I think you’re supposed to leave, like, pizza money or something, but I don’t think you can get pizza delivered to space. Anyway, thanks for letting me blab your ears off while Dan’s probably committing war crimes for twelve minutes. For your sake, I hope he inherited my interest in space. Good luck! Thanks for babysitting!”
Waving with his still detached hand, Fenton ended the video. Batman closed it and opened the PDF as the few other members present murmured amongst themselves. Most of the pages were filled with a curling script Batman didn’t recognize. The fourth page had a huge, bolded header, reading JP TASKS.
The door opened and shut in half a second as the Flash burst in. “Superman!” The speedster wailed. “I can’t get this thing off of me!”
The Flash waved his arm around, sending small droplets of blood flying as he tried to dislodge the creature sinking his teeth into the speedster’s arm. Batman raised an eyebrow beneath his cowl as Superman quickly lent his super strength in attempt to pry the creature’s jaw open. Dan didn’t budge.
Well, he could certainly see the family resemblance been Fenton, Dani, and Dan. Shaking his head, he turned back to the list.
Task 1: Find Dan. He’s probably attacking someone.
He highlighted the text and crossed it out. This was going to be a long shift.
[Anon, this is me crying over the wonderful gift you have given me. You bastard.]
---
"Do you think Fenton's regeneration powers extend to his..." Green Lantern frowned, trying to remember the word the kid had used but coming up blank. "I dunno. But do you think if we cut off little Dan here, he'll heal back up with no problem?" He gestured helplessly to the scene in front of him. Flash was still screeching about the beast on his arm, and now Superman and Wonder Woman were trying to pry him off. Batman was standing to the side, silently bemoaning the lack of quiet. He just wanted one peaceful shift. Just one. Please.
"I'd like to see you try, hero. And I'm not little." Dan spoke, startling all of them. His grip on Flash's arm tightened, making the speedster squeal before releasing the man and spitting out a mouthful of his blood. Batman noticed that his mouth didn't move despite the clearly spoken words. In fact, when Dan closed his mouth, it was like he didn't have one at all.
"So you do speak!" Superman marveled.
"Of course I do. I am not unintelligent, unlike you lot."
Despite his pain, Flash still made sounds of protest that everyone promptly ignored.
Superman flushed. "I just wasn't sure. It was hard to tell in the video."
"Ah, yes. The video that the Fenton menace sent you. Was there a note for me in the flash drive?"
"Uh, no." In one of his less finer moments, Green Lantern stuttered over his words and moved in front of Batman, obviously lying. Dan merely growled and flew through both men, heading straight for the giant monitor. Batman barely suppressed a shiver. Density shifting? Might as well add it to the list. He could see Martian Manhunter, who was in the back of the room, tilt his head at the display.
Dan ignored the room as he used his entire body to manipulate the computer mouse and scrolled back up to the top of the page. Staring intently at the scribbles no one could make out, the heroes could do nothing but shoot each other nervous and confused glances. More than a few of them jumped when Dan chuckled deeply. Honestly, his tiny body was at complete odds with his baritone voice.
"Maybe rehab will be fun if he's letting me do this." Dan sneered, flashing their reflections a sharp fang. No one wanted to ask what exactly he was in rehab for. The little beast turned his gaze to Batman. "You are the one called Batman, who rules the cursed city, correct?" The dark hero nodded, not trusting himself to say anything. "Excellent. You will be my chaperone for now, just as Fenton decreed it. Good luck, mortal man. Pray, I do not destroy your home a second time."
Without any time to unpack that conversation, Dan promptly disappeared from view. Some blinking text caught his attention, and Batman scrolled back down to the English text, glancing at the next few items on the list.
Task 2: Do not let Dan read his portion of this letter until you have a way to track him. There is no containing him.
Task 3: Keep him with a chaperone at all times. (If you can)
Task 4: Do not let Dan back into Gotham unless you're fine with a sudden decrease in the clown population.
Task 5: Take him for a walk in Death Valley. He likes hunting lizards.
Task 6: Make sure he goes down for his 2pm nap every day.
Task 7: He'll ask for it, but do not give him any burgers for mealtime. It upsets his stomach.
Task 8: Dan gets ONE(1) sweet after dinner before brushing his teeth. Those green pop rocks Batman always carries will do fine; he likes those. :)
A sudden alarm blared from his wristwatch, making Batman tear his eyes away from the screen, indicating an emergency at Arkham. This time, Batman actually sighed out loud. There was more to the list, but right now, he really needed to find their new charge before he killed the Joker, from the sound of it.
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afyrian · 2 months ago
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bats in your hair akaashi keiji x gn!reader (hurt/comfort) wc: 810 | halloween event: day one
    “they’re just over-exaggerating,” you lean up against akaashi, quickly rolling your eyes.
  most of the fukurōdani volleyball team made their way through this particular haunted house. most of those members claimed that it scared the shit of them. only a few tried to give off the impression that it was merely a walk in the park, laughed at by those who openly proclaimed it to be terrifying. 
  so to say you garnered high expectations was an understatement. staring at the large warehouse-like building, adorned with cobwebs and skeletons, you wonder what the inside will look like. how actors are hidden behind elaborate structures, animatronics littered throughout. “you say that about every horror experience. every movie, video game, everything,” akaashi wraps an arm around your shoulders.
  “because it’s true!”
  “okay just because you have a high horror threshold doesn’t mean that it’s overrated,” you look over at him, instinctively shaking your head, a smile lingering on your lips. 
  your hand reaches up, grabbing ahold of his as it hangs off your shoulder. “also, we’ve done so many of these now, that i’m just used to it. it’s always the same old thing,” your shoulders shrug as they always do, “we need something innovative, like an alien bursting out of a chest or something.”
  “there was one in the second haunted house we went to. which you forced me to go to and then i nearly lost my glasses after they were broken,” akaashi eyebrows raise, suddenly remembering every insane scenario you had somehow pushed him into. 
  you can remember clearly just how insane that location was. not necessarily scary… but they tend to chase you around until you can find the exit. which did end up in the upsetting destruction of his prescription glasses, trampled by a family of kids who got into more than they could handle. 
  however, he always seems to handle it with grace. always accepting going to more, pushing you to even go to a few. standing here, new glasses, you can really feel how much he cares for you. “i know… sorry again. besides, these look so much better on you honey,” you smile, scrunching up your nose as he leans down for a kiss, only a few groups left in front of you. 
  walking up to the front of the haunted house, a zombie-painted man stands in front, holding out his hand for akaashi to pass off the tickets. “welcome… to the frightening mansion,” his voice is low and slow, gravelly as he tries to seem at least semi in character, “no physical contact with actors… and don’t go off the path.”
  nodding, the two of you enter the large adorned door. inside the first room is a series of large hanging spiders. tickling the tops of your heads as you walk below them, fog machines filling the room with gallons of misty air. you can feel akaashi’s hand tighten around yours, his other hand reaching out and pulling back the curtains to walk into the next area.
  as soon as he walks in, someone jumps out from behind a pile of fake rocks. in his hand is a fake chainsaw, revving wildly as akaashi jumps back. pulling you forward like an old scooby-doo cartoon, the two of you hurry into the next room, a laugh just barely leaving your lips. akaashi holds you close to him, heart beating quickly in his wrist. 
  “he was just holding a chainsaw, there was no way you were actually sc-” your sentence comes to a close as a grouping of bats descend from the tall walls, flying down into the room, “oh shit!”
  wrapping your arm around akaashi, you push your head into his chest, holding onto him harder than you ever have before. your heart starts beating quickly, hands growing clammy. one of them knocks into your head, earning only another explosive ‘shit’. shaking your forehead against him, you wait for the action to stop, the noise to be a little quieter.
  “y/n, it’s okay, they aren’t real,” akaashi brings his hand up, rubbing your back in a soothing motion.
  “real or not, i don’t like it, keij,” your tone changes into something more cautious, scared.
  never in his life has akaashi seen you like this. you don’t even remember having a debilitating fear of bats. and all he knew was to hold his arms around you, letting the next group pass as you regroup in a corner. keeping you close to him, he tilts your head up with his finger under your chin, “it’s gonna be okay. and we absolutely don’t have to tell the team about this.”
  “okay… you tell the team about this and the next time we kiss i’m socking you in the stomach,” you purse your lips, taking in a deep breath. 
  “i wouldn’t tell a soul.”
a/n: poll is open for a week but choice will be picked every sunday night est and some characters may return in later votes taglist (open): @eggyrocks @causenessus @applepi25 @softpia @bakery-anon
@bae-ashlynn
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