#The fact that the show didn’t explain it drives me insane

[nobodysdaydreams]

*I guess for this one Garrison would also be working in the lab, but made some sort of deal with Curtain and betrayed everyone. The fact that Curtain calls Milligan a “chemist with a conscience” would imply Milligan was offered a similar deal but refused.

[snoowpee]

fuck & make up - p.js

Pairing ⇾ brat tamer!jay x brat!reader

Genre ⇾ smut, a little bit of angst

Warnings ⇾ unprotected sex (use protection!), arguing, making out, marking, fingering, car sex, taking pics. mentions of eunseok (riize), winter (aespa), jaehyun (nct). I might’ve missed something but that’s the gist of it, enjoy!

Summary ⇾ after seeing your boyfriend with another girl, you make him jealous.

Word count ⇾ 1.5k words

Playlist ⇾ Kehlani - F&MU.

The car ride was silent as the two of you tried to ignore each other, Jay was driving above the speed limit while you looked out the window, watching as the raindrops on the window traveled down.

“Do you want to go to prison?” you said with sarcasm when you realized what Jay was doing. “Stop the fucking car, I’m walking home,” You harshly took off your seatbelt. Jay scoffed and signaled to the right, he then turned to an empty parking lot, and parked the car. He turned off the engine and looked at you for the first time after you went home from Eunseok’s party. “You’re seriously gonna let me walk home?” You looked at Jay, “Are you fucking insane? Have you lo—”

Jay took off his seatbelt and leaned in to capture your lips in a harsh kiss, you kissed him back, latching your fingers on the back of his head. Jay’s hands reached for your thighs as he manhandled you onto his lap without breaking the kiss.

You slowly moved your hips to straddle Jay’s strong thighs. When you rolled your hips in the process, you received a throaty groan from Jay that was muffled by your lips.

Jay pulled away, breaking the kiss, he pecked your lips, then moved his lips on the side of your neck, leaving open mouthed kisses, “Do you know how crazy I am over you?” Jay asked while his lips rested on top of the skin of your neck. His fingers gripped the sides of your waist, pressing you down on the growing bulge underneath his pants, you let out a whine as you felt him. “You drive me insane, princess. Do you know that?” Jay rested his right hand on your cheek. “Answer me,” Jay whispered as he traced your lips with his thumb. You let out a noise that sounded like a mix of a huff and sigh.

“Yes,” your gaze darted straight into Jay, who was wearing a smug expression, and it irked you.

“Then tell me why you were being a brat tonight? Did you really think I was dense? That I didn’t see you flirting around?” Jay’s tongue poked the insides of his cheeks, “You know damn well I don’t give a fuck if you talk to other guys, it’s normal,” Jay lightly shurgged. “But fuck, what went through that head of yours? Grinding on Jake on the dance floor? Are you fucking insane?” Jay spoke through gritted teeth, you let out a huff.

“You were flirting with a blonde girl!” You roughly pushed Jay’s hands away from you, crossing your arms and resting it on the top of your stomach. Jay lightly chuckled as he rubbed his face with his right hand.

“For the record that blonde girl was Winter,” your eyes widened, your eyebrows furrowing after. “Jaehyun was in the bathroom, she was really dizzy, trying so hard to balance herself so she could find her boyfriend. As my girlfriend's best friend, I offered to take her to him. I thought you’ll find it cute and shit, but fuck you got jealous instead.” Jay explained. “Did you know how hard it was to ignore the fact that you liked Jake before me? How hard it is to not think I’m just your second fucking option, and if you get tired of me you’ll go back to Jake, who does not even fucking reciprocate your fucking feelings?” Jay let out a breath. “You drive me crazy, princess. So fucking crazy.”

“I-I didn’t know it was Winter, you should’ve told me sooner,” you said, voice below whisper.

“Would that stop you from going to Jake?” Jay looked out the window to avoid your eyes. There was a long pause after Jay’s words, “Fuck. Say something, princess.”

You could only lean in and kiss Jay, you pulled away, “That was all for show, babe.” You took Jay’s hands in yours, tangling your fingers with his, you pecked his knuckles, a small smile forming on your lips. “Don’t ever doubt my love for you. You of all people should know how important you are to me.” You kissed Jay again, this time he wrapped his arms around you. “I’m sorry,” you said in between kisses.

“You’re lucky I love you,” Jay sighed, he continued kissing you, “Can’t resist you,” Jay said in between kisses, his hands traveling up under your skin tight dress. “Babe, backseat.”

Without thinking twice, you crawled off of Jay’s lap, receiving a smack in the ass from him in the process, while crawling into the backseat, where you waited for the fun idea your boyfriend had in mind.

Jay got out of the car to join you in the backseat, he wasted no time kissing you, manhandling you back into his lap. “Take this off, will you?” Jay impatiently said, tugging on your dress, getting rid of your clothes, leaving you wearing your underwear only. Jay proudly smiled. This beautiful girl in front of him was all his. He checked you out, rubbing your sides whilst doing so. “My baby is so sexy,” Jay remarks before kissing your neck, his butterfly kisses turned to open mouthed kisses, eventually leading to him marking up your neck with love bites.

You tugged on Jay’s shirt, prompting him to take it off, which he proceeded to do. You traced the lines on Jay’s abdomen, nibbling at his neck right after. He captured your lips once again, pinning you down the car seat. You wrapped your arms around his neck to deepen the kiss.

In the midst of your hungry kisses, Jay yanked off your lacy blue bra simultaneously pushing your lacy blue panties to the side, you mewled when he ran his fingers through your folds.

Without a warning, Jay inserted two fingers inside you, his thumb rubbing circles on your clit. His fingers were moving torturously slow for your liking. “Baby, please,” you whimpered.

“Want me to go faster?” Jay asked, his tone comparable to an adult explaining something to a child, you nodded, causing your boyfriend to look smug. “I don’t know princess, do brats deserve to cum?”

“Fuck you,” you huffed.

“Oh darling, you will later just wait.” Jay chirped, provoking you.

“Maybe if I was with Jake I wouldn’t have to wait at all,” you blurted, riling up Jay.

His face dropped, pulling out his fingers, displeasing you. Jay began unbuttoning his jeans, his cock leaking with precum, he took a hold of his cock lining it up with your cunt.

“I might just have to breed that pussy of yours to show fucking Jake who you belong to,” Jay uttered through gritted teeth. At the same time your phone buzzes, Jake’s name flashing on the screen, Jay laughed humorlessly as your eyes widened. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

He shoved his cock in, delivering a harsh thrust right after. You wailed, scratching Jay’s back, causing him to hiss in pain.

The temperature inside the car rose, the windows fogging up. The car simultaneously moved with the movement of Jay’s hips.

“Look at me,” Jay grabbed your chin, forcing you to look at him. “Who’s making you feel good?”

“You.”

“Who?” Jay questioned, pretending not to hear you.

“Y-You. Fuck. You, Jay.” You stammered.

“Yeah, that’s right. Do you think Jake can do this?”

“N-No,” you shrieked, when Jay hit a particular spot.

“Found it,” Jay chortled.

He continued to ram into you, the car full of skin slapping and your loud moans. You tried keeping up with his pace, grounding yourself by reaching for his back to scratch, Jay biting your neck in return.

“Such a fucking brat. Don’t I fuck you enough? You just had to piss me off like that, didn’t you?”

“I-I’m sorry,” you moaned out, eyes rolling at the back of your head as you felt your high approaching.

Jay felt you tightened around him, groaning as he snaked his hand down to rub your clit.

“Cum for me, you little brat.”

You both held each other’s gazes as you both came. Catching your breaths as Jay slowed the movement of his hips.

For a while Jay laid on top of you, squishing you with his weight. You wrapped your arms around his body, until he was pulling out of you to sit up.

The car was silent for a while, heavy breathing only audible, when your breathing was even, you straddled Jay again, kissing him on the cheek.

“I’m sorry. I genuinely am,” you whispered, Jay didn’t respond, instead he grazed your skin with his large hands, quickly enveloping your waist to pull you close to him. You pouted, drawing a heart on the fogged up window.

You were surprised at the flash of light that suddenly appeared. You looked at Jay, seeing his hand gripping your phone, noticing that he took a photo of you. You looked at him questioningly.

“Send it to Jake and tell him, Park Jongseong is your fucking boyfriend.”

© snoowpee | DO NOT COPY OR REPOST.

[writing-makes-me-human]

🌊Love And Guests🌊

┍━━━━━»•» 🌺 «•«━┑

Pairing: Aonung x reader

PART TWO: HERE

Summary: Aonung has put out your usual sass with his recent flirting and it’s driving you insane. When he finally gets to speak with you alone as he shows off his spear throwing expertise it gets heated quickly

Warnings: Sexual tension and heated word choices, no smut but it gets close, mention of genitals 

Word Count: 3.1K

A/N: No updates, I’m getting back into writing after months of breaks so I’m sorry if i’m rusty.  Also I feel like it goes without saying that Aonung is of age in all of my writing. I am not just writing about a minor, you are close in age. 19 years old.

┕━»•» 🌺 «•«━━━━━┙

"I still don't know why you think it's better that I teach you instead of my brother", Tsireya warmly suggested as she handed you a beginner's spear to practice with.

"Because I want to learn from the best", was all you managed to say as you took the spear in your hands and inspected it with wandering hands.

The real reason you were so eager to meet up with Tsireya instead of Aonung was laughable. Aonung had been playing a dangerous game with your feelings, making you feel a way you shouldn't to fuel your thoughts about the chief's son. Avoiding the brat to the best of your abilities for weeks now was the only way you could fight the fact you were slowly starting to become infatuated with the boy that was growing into a young man.

He had become cocky now that he was of age, and while he still had a few years of learning left before becoming chief, it had become clear his training was making him more and more defined. The way his body moved with every hearty laugh or every faux wrestling match with his friends drove you up the wall, so you decided it was best to try and stop seeing him altogether.

However, this was becoming a challenge as he had recently decided to spend more of his free time harassing you than anyone else. It was very confusing, as you thought you had put this bullying behind you when you were children. That could easily be forgotten, though, as he was indeed still the next leader, and that could explain his rudeness, but what couldn't be helped was the blush that overgrew you every time he towered over you with that smirk that he didn't know affected you in such unforgiving ways.

"Well, thank you, I'm flattered", she giggled, then continued, "but Aonung is the top in the clan at spear throwing, and he's not gonna be happy if he finds out you asked me instead of him", she never felt bad for her brother. Still, when it came to the matter of his undying yet, painfully expressed crush on you, she felt merciful.

You scoffed, squaring yourself next to her as you looked towards the targets drawn on the ground.

The target range for spear-throwing was closer to the village than any of the other training areas because you needed the clear ground to allow a large windup for hurling the stick through the air. It was still private, which you enjoyed because you had a feeling this was going to be an embarrassingly miserable display of physical prowess.

The targets were set up in the distance and made up of 3 circles of fine white sand sprinkled in precise shapes on the ground. Tsireya had already collected the sand earlier in the day and laid out the rings in exchange for you to be the one that churned the sand into the dirt when you were done so the next person who came to train could easily set up the rings and get started.

"I don't think I could handle his smugness at having me asking him a favor", you smiled at her, holding up the spear like you had seen Aonung and his friends do when they came here to learn when you were younger.

It was the truth. Honestly, you wouldn't have been able to handle his smug looks or laugh or the fact that to teach you meant one on one time by yourselves. You would prefer being lectured by Ronal, and that was saying something.

She nodded, trying to copy you as she held up the pointed end of the spear into the air, getting herself ready to fling the wooden spike. The artillery was too large for her, and you watched in curiosity as she heaved it up a little higher with a grunt.

"Alright, so what you want to do is pull back and using your back leg, you want to push--" she was cut off by the sound of laughter in the near vicinity. Before she could resume her instructions, you heard the sound of foliage and leafs being broken as a group of four boys emerged into the clearing, each of them but one with their spears by their side.

Aonung was still laughing at something Rotxo had said, but when he looked up and saw you, with your arms still raised as his sister mirrored you, he felt his heart skip a beat and his face light up with delight.

You cursed under your breath and dropped the stick like it was a venomous snake, instantly turning around to hide your slightly tinged face.

This was so unfair! He hadn't even said anything so far. All he had done was smile and laugh! He never had this much of a hold on you when he was younger. As he got older and his hair grew past his shoulders, and his muscles became larger, you became less aware of what to do with yourself.

"I have to go", you mumbled, feeling the tinge fade as you turned to pick up the burlap sack you had brought with you and leave for the village.

"Well, what is going on here?" Aonung called out in the conceited tone he saved for when he was talking to you. His deep voice boomed around the clearing, forcing its way into your ears and silencing the chatter between his other friends.

You didn't respond and instead made your way in the opposite direction they had come from, but before you could escape, a few words were yelled out, making your face nearly melt off your skull and onto the floor below you.

"Somewhere to be, pretty girl?" Aonung called out while his friends spread out, tossing down their training gear and lunches they had packed in preparation for a few hours of training.

You turned sharply, trying to calm your breathing so the blood would move from the gathering in your cheeks down to your heart which desperately needed the extra help because the poor thing was beating overtime.

"Just remembered I have somewhere to be", you said rather awkwardly, not allowing yourself to come across as timid but not quite having the energy to yell back at him with the same enthusiasm.

"Oh, come on! You said you wanted to learn from the best, and he's right here!" Tsireya spoke. She lay down her spear next to yours and jogged up to you. She grinned as she gently tugged on your hand, coaxing you to come and stand to talk to the boys who were checking over their weapons.

You sighed, then gave in, dropping the sack and letting her drag you over to Aonung, who was still standing in the same spot. As you walked over, he had a proud smile etched on his face, and you wanted nothing more than to slap it off.

Your face dropped so you could look anywhere but into his eyes that would have caught you in his dangerous trap of good looks and gentle teasing and never let you go.

"Come on, teach her!" Tsireya was far too excited, nearly jumping up and down while her older brother rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Who said I wanted to help?" He snarkly asked, then continued, "and next time you're thinking of using my spear, ask!" He spat, gesturing to the spike that was laid on the ground rather carelessly. That cleared up the question of why the spear had nearly tipped her over when she held it up.

She elbowed him roughly in the chest with her free arm causing him to bend down a little in pain and scowl at her, but no sound of agony came out.

He quickly straightened himself and snarled at Tsireya, but she gave him a pointed look before her eyes darted to you several times. After a few seconds, he finally got her unspoken threat and sighed, pushing past the both of you to walk over to collect his projectile.

You ignored the feeling of his hand burning on your shoulder as he pushed between you two, breaking the hold Tsireya had on you.

"Come on, pretty girl, let's see what you can do", he called out, not bothering to turn around because he knew you'd be following.

You looked over to Tsireya before you elbowed her yourself, questioning her with a look. She knew you didn't want to speak with him, yet here he was and instead of ushering him away, she had insisted he teaches you.

She simply shrugged at you and pushed you forward before running off to sit next to her brother's friends.

You passed by Rotxo and nodded to him in greetings which he returned before tucking into the fruits he had brought with him. He was chatting with his friends, who all found a spot under a nearby tree that was far enough away from the targets that they wouldn't hear you and Aonung's words to each other but still close enough that they could still see any funny failings.Your eyes settled on Aonung's back, and you took a deep breath, you didn't even have the shame to look away when he crouched down and picked up his spear, checking it over for dirt or marks.

"You watch me first, then you try", he said, glancing over to see you were watching him with eyes slightly wide at the idea of trying to copy his expert throw with an audience.

He smiled at you, which caused you to blush and break the stare you had been holding on his body, which only made him grin, thus continuing the terrible cycle.

"Eyes on me, nobody else is watching, so you can look at me as much as you want", he called you out with a smirk when you finally scowled, giving him a reaction that he couldn't help but chuckle at.

"I worry for anybody that enjoys looking at you", you hissed while taking a step back, knowing he would have to have some space to move when he threw the spike.

He didn't say anything this time but didn't have to. His eyes spoke for him as they shone like the sea on a sunny day.

"So she speaks! I was beginning to worry!" He watched you roll your eyes in amusement with a slight smile on your face, and he silently swore at himself in his head for turning so you wouldn't see his sly grin that he only got when he made you happy.

"Let's start", he wasted no more time and held the wooden stick over his head. You watched with slightly awestruck eyes as his body moved so purposefully.

He raised the spear, and using his other arm, he aimed to secure the direction he was throwing in. He could feel your eyes on him, and it made him cocky. He wanted to show off, to show you he was strong and worthy of praise.

He pulled back his left leg, then after taking a breath, he threw it with as much strength as it took to land directly in the centre of the target. They were far closer than he usually had them, but it was to be expected since you were a beginner.

The weapon shot through the air before the sharp spearhead dug into the ground with a thud, landing directly in the centre of the most petite ring. A perfect bullseye.

He leaned back with a satisfied grin. He turned to look at you with the hopes you would be at least slightly impressed. You were still staring, mouth open in an 'o' shape, struck somewhat by just how gifted at the sport he was, and it made a part of his internal body tingle when you turned with the look changing from amazement to an affectionate smile.

"I'll admit you aren't bad, I've seen worse", you couldn't help the smile anymore. He always had a way of killing off your anxiety, and right now was no different. His cocky grin made your heart speed up, but your mind just wanted to insult him until he dropped.

"If that's all it takes to impress you, I am afraid to know how easy it is to please you", he took no shame in his words, and your smile quickly dropped to embarrassed growls as you hid your face, turning to look over at his friends that were all talking to Tsireya about something at the same time. The discussion looked heated, and none of them paid attention to you two.

You watched, eyes as focused as ever. 

"Arrogant brat", was all you could get out as you looked down at your feet and kicked at the dirt.

"Oh, did I touch a nerve? I didn't know you were such a goody-goody", he didn't wait for your smart-ass answer and walked off to tug his spear out of the ground sharply. Your mind was reeling as you heard a soft grunt escape his lips as he yanked his prize out of the ground.

You shook your head and bent down to pick up the training spear you had been given, not taking notice of your position that had your back to the sky until you felt a hand smack into your backside harshly.

The slap was loud, making your face turn scarlet red as you jumped up, abandoning the spike to glare at Aonung with a death stare.

You were shocked, he had never been so bold with his teasing, and while it wouldn't have crossed a line had you been alone, you could feel the four pairs of eyes gawking at the back of your head.

"Don't", you gently warned. You didn't want to admit it, and you knew it was wrong, and the pompous imp should have been ashamed of himself, Aonung should have been on his hands and knees begging to be forgiven, but a part of your brain was fighting not to jump his bones right now and embarrass him in front of his friends.

And he dared to look proud of himself as he laughed at your face, raising his hand in a half-assed attempt to hide the smile while you geared up to smack him across the face.

He noted how livid you looked and sighed. He hadn't meant to offend you. But when he was walking back and saw how your ass was staring at him like that, he couldn't resist the temptation.

"All right, I'm sorry" he held his hands up in surrender as a beam of playfulness poured from his eyes as a flirtatious grin overtook him.

"If you want to touch my body, ask, coward", you bit back, letting yourself grin as he took his turn of letting his mouth go slack at your actions.

"What's wrong pretty boy? Need some help?" you chuckled, nodding your head south. His eyes followed yours with a confused quirk on his brow as he looked down, and his eyes widened as he nervously took in that he had a half chub under his loin cloth.

You took a step back from him, feeling the heat between your legs signal it was time to go before you made some terrible mistakes that led you both behind a tree somewhere doing things you wanted to make him wait for.

He couldn't take his eyes off you, and as you felt the roles reversing, you suddenly understood why Aonung found the teasing so fun.

He looked back up at your smug face and peeked toward the group behind you with a silent plea in his eyes. Don't drag their attention down to his excitement.

"You need to learn some manners, Aonung, it's not becoming of the next chief to be so blatant in public, you've really hurt my feelings", you gave a dramatic exaggeration of a pout to him while your hands came to lay on your heart.

He was blocked from the sight line of his peers by where you were standing, but one step to the left or right and even from this distance, it was undeniable that he was hard.

He hadn't moved to cover his crotch yet but he dropped the spear, staring at you with begging eyes. It seemed that your sudden 360 from being a blushed-out lovesick moron to a vengeful demon had done nothing to ease him down, if anything, you made it worse.

You leaned forward, taking great pleasure in standing on your feet a little to get even with his ear, your hot breath panted onto his neck and he couldn't do anything to stop you. One move, and you'd be exposing him to his closest friends.

"Compared to me, I think it's you that's easy to please", you smiled, and he hated how he could feel the heat from your mouth as your teeth came so close to his neck that it drove him mad.

You quickly pulled away and smiled when you saw his eyes were closed, he was focusing on his breathing like he had you doing from his actions so many times before, and it felt so good to see him like this. A grown man that was bigger than you in every way imaginable was trying to calm his breath over you and your words.

"Well, this has been fun, but I'll see you later, Aonung", you felt confident for the first time in weeks and slowly, you felt the old you coming back, the sarcastic you that had just as much bark in you as Aonung.

You turned to leave, but he grabbed your arm, pulling you closer to him, not quite flush against his body, lest one of the others looked up again and saw you two so close.

"Wait a few minutes, then follow me", he didn't give you the time to reply once again as he picked up the spear and finally had the dignity to cover himself with his free hand before walking off to go deeper into the forest without so much as a glance back.

Oh, you knew you shouldn't. You should turn around and leave, let the warrior get himself off in the forest like the animal he was acting like. Still, the heat that had signaled you to go nearly 5 minutes ago had grown, and you knew that even if it wasn't visible, your body was nearly 10x as horny as Aonung was.

You wanted him.

But you knew you couldn't mate here, and certainly not like this.

'Leave, leave leave', your mind screamed as your feet took step after step of their own volition after him.

You worried for a second that somebody would call out to you and ask where you were going, but a part of you knew that everyone had already worked out the nature of what was going on with you two. They had all been staring at you after he slapped your ass, so they must have.

"I'll just talk to him", you finally muttered to yourself as you set off in a faster pace, going off to find him.

[supernovafics]

series masterlist | last part — next part

pairing: modern!college!steve harrington x fem!reader, bestfriend!eddie munson x fem!reader

word count: 3.1k words

warnings: explicit language, brief mention of alcohol/drinking, pining, a little angst

summary: steve meets you at eddie’s show and even though you’re feeling a little weird and nervous about what you two are doing, you ultimately decide that there’s a first time for everything

CHAPTER THREE | ❝𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅❞

Fall Semester 2015

Eddie was good. Like, really good.

So good that you had to keep reminding yourself to not ogle at his hands on the guitar, seamlessly moving from chord to chord, or focus too hard on the almost too pretty sound of his voice. 

You silently wondered— as he and his band finished out the last few moments of the song they were rehearsing— if you would be feeling this way as you watched him practice if you didn’t have the biggest crush on him. Or maybe this would’ve ended up being the moment you realized everything, instead of that moment happening in his dorm room just a few weeks ago.

You still hadn’t decided how to tell him, you also still weren’t sure if you even wanted to tell him at all. If you said something and he didn’t feel the same way, you had a feeling that it would mess everything up between you and him, and ultimately ruin this friendship that felt so important to you. 

Therefore, you were leaning more toward never telling him how you felt, or at least waiting for the perfect moment to do so. However, you didn’t know what would necessarily deem a moment as “perfect.” Maybe one day it would just feel right to finally utter the words to him? You weren’t entirely sure. 

For the time being, you pushed those confusing thoughts to the side, and in this moment you simply focused on the final notes of the song being played out, marking its end, and then Eddie placing his guitar down. 

“You guys are really good,” You said from where you sat barely five feet away because of how small the garage was; you couldn’t remember if this was Gareth’s place, Jeff’s, or Doug’s. “Like, really, really good. It’s actually kind of insane.” 

Eddie smiled at you. “I think you’re our number one fan now.”

“I feel honored to hold that title.”

He walked over to where you were sitting. “You wanna come with me to get the pizza?”

His question was one that you didn’t need to outwardly respond to because the answer was obvious. You simply nodded as you stood up from your chair and walked with him to his van. 

You’d go anywhere with Eddie— and that fact was the main reason why you were currently spending your Saturday in his hometown two hours away from your guys’ college, instead of holed up in the library studying for midterms. 

“I think I get it,” You said, gazing out the window as he drove and watching the small empty fields and random houses pass by in a blur. 

“Get what?”

“Why you wanted to leave here,” You answered, turning to look at him even though his eyes were focused on the road. “It’s so small and quiet. I honestly can’t even imagine you growing up here.”

“There was a record store across town that I really loved, and it was probably the only thing that kept me sane growing up,” He briefly explained and you nodded. “And my uncle. And the guys too. We’ve been doing the whole band thing since middle school.”

The thought of an eleven year old Eddie singing and playing guitar sounded quite adorable to you. 

“That’s so cute.”

Eddie laughed. “Cute was not what we were going for.”

“Sorry, what I meant to say was, that’s so cool and rock ‘n roll.” 

“Solid save.” 

“Thank you.” 

“You have to take me to your hometown next,” He said, taking a brief look over at you as he kept driving. 

You shook your head. “Definitely not gonna happen, and not just because we’d have to take a two hour plane ride to get there.”

“Come on, I brought you here.”

Just for a second, you let yourself think about the suburban town you grew up in states away; a town that you also couldn’t wait to get out of because, just like Eddie’s, it felt way too quiet and small. You tried to briefly imagine him walking down the streets you used to walk to get to school or the park that you had liked to spend most of your free time at reading, but you couldn’t see it. You could barely even see yourself doing any of that anymore. 

“This is different. You want to come here,” You told him. “Aside from my parents, and that’s only sometimes, there’s nothing that makes me wanna go back to my hometown.”

You tried your hardest not to think about how actually saying that out loud made you feel a little sad. 

“So, no band with old friends that makes you wanna go back most weekends?” Eddie asked, purposefully trying to lighten the mood, which you were grateful for. 

You gave him a small smile. “Nope, none of that.” 

That was why you liked him, he read you well and knew the right moments to shift any conversation. 

There was a part of you that wanted to just admit to him how you felt right there in his van. Let the words leave your lips and simply see what would happen. 

But then he was pulling into the parking lot of the pizza place and the moment felt effectively over. And a part of you was glad for that. 

It wasn’t that difficult to pretend that nothing had changed for you and that you still only saw him as your best friend. You honestly found pretending to be the easiest thing to do. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

Spring Semester 2018

“Robin just texted me saying, “Tell Eds I’m there in spirit. When in actuality my spirit is dead because this essay is killing me.” So yeah, she’s not coming tonight.”

“Damn, so that means I won’t hear her overenthusiastic “woo’s” after we finish every song.” 

You playfully smiled at Eddie. “I can take over that job for the night if you want.”

“That would be great,” He responded, smiling back. “We need to prove that we have at least one excited fan.”

“Okay, then I’ll make sure to take my job as your number one fan very seriously tonight,” You told him before taking a sip from your drink and then placing it back atop the high wooden table you two were standing on opposite sides of that was a bit wobbly. “I swear we always somehow end up at this specific table.”

“Either that, or they’re all fucked up.” 

“True,” You said and nodded, but you had a feeling that it was probably the same one because you and everyone always ended up occupying the same cluster of tables that were to the right of the small stage— a stage that was currently set up because he was performing in less than twenty minutes. 

You had shown up with Eddie and the rest of the band an hour earlier; which was pretty much a routine when it came to the biweekly gig Corroded Coffin had here. Aces was one of the few bars in town that was actually not frequented by college kids because they were really strict about their carding policies and could spot a fake ID from a mile away. However, Rick, the owner, loved Eddie and the band, so exceptions were made for them; and by extension you and your other friends too.  

You texted Robin back “Your screaming will be missed<3,” and then got a notification for a text from Steve that said, “Just parked.”

“Um, Steve just got here, so I’m gonna go out and grab him.”

“Okay,” Eddie said and then shook his head in what seemed like both disbelief and surprise. “I still can’t believe how good Friday night went for you two.” 

“Yeah, I’m surprised too. I didn’t expect this to happen,” You told him, which technically wasn’t that much of a lie. You really hadn’t expected that night to lead to you fake dating Steve barely a day later. 

The cold night air immediately hit you when you walked outside, even the jacket you were wearing wasn’t enough to keep you warm, so you crossed your arms over your chest as you waited for Steve. You were suddenly glad that you opted against wearing a skirt tonight and decided to settle on a pair of jeans. 

It was a solid three minutes of you looking both ways down the street and waiting for Steve to eventually come into view. And when he finally did, you met him halfway. 

“Jesus, how far did you park?” 

“Way too far.”

Steve fell into step with you as you walked back to the front door. You noticed him look up at the faded sign that had the bar’s name on it and then it seemed as if he realized or remembered something. “Aren’t they really strict at this place?”

“Yeah, but it’s fine,” You answered with a quick shrug before grabbing his hand to keep him close to you as you walked past the small-ish line of people waiting to get their ID checked and get into the bar. You gave a quick smile to Jacob, the bouncer and also Rick’s brother, who was letting you through with no hesitation. “Thanks, Jacob.”

Steve let out a breath of a laugh once you two were fully inside the small and darkly lit bar. “Okay, that was actually pretty cool.” 

You were about to respond to him with some playful joke about how getting into this place both for free and without an ID was probably the coolest thing about you, but then your eyes were on Eddie. He was saying something to the guys as they headed over to the packed bar and then he was left alone at the haphazardly pushed-together tables. Suddenly, you felt nervous and also a bunch of other things that were entirely indecipherable at the moment. 

You turned to look at Steve. “Okay, so, um, how thick are we laying it on right now?”

Instead of answering your question, he seemed to sense your nervousness, so he gave your hand that was still holding his a quick squeeze. “Just chill. Don’t worry.” 

That honestly didn’t do anything to calm your nerves or make you not worried about what you two were about to do. But, it was also weird because even though you were nervous, you didn’t want to back out of doing it. 

“Where is he?” Steve asked.

You simply nodded in the direction of the table Eddie was standing at. 

“Okay, come on,” He said and as you two walked over to the table, he readjusted your hands so that they were intertwined, which made holding hands with him feel a thousand times more intimate. And that was probably exactly why he did it, you realized. 

“Hey,” He greeted Eddie with a smile. 

“Hey, man,” Eddie responded. “Cool seeing you here.”

“Yeah, glad I can finally catch a show.” 

You stopped paying attention to what they were saying, and it wasn’t really on purpose, it was just that all you could focus on right then was Steve’s subtle movements— his hand pulling away from yours and him shifting closer to you so that he could drape his arm around your shoulders instead. He was so smooth and easy with it, meanwhile you were contemplating if you seemed too tense or if your face looked uncomfortable. 

Maybe some practicing would’ve been good before jumping into the deep end of this whole thing. But, what would practicing have even entailed? Steve holding your hand or keeping his arm around you until you felt completely normal about it? That sounded almost too embarrassingly stupid. 

He had done pretty much the same things Friday night on your date— you remembered him holding your hand and wrapping an arm around you during the movie and feeling entirely okay about it; he had even kissed you that night and initially, you had been completely okay before you got too in your head about everything— but this, for obvious reasons, felt entirely different. The point now was to look super into it, and you felt yourself slowly folding under the pressure. 

“Did you tell him about game night?” 

It took you a second to realize Eddie was talking to you because your mind was in an entirely different place right then. You barely even heard the question he asked you. 

“Yeah, she did,” Steve said, saving you. “I’ll be there.” 

“Great, we’ll actually have even teams for once,” Eddie said to you.  

“Talia’s gonna hate that. She loves being referee,” You responded, finally finding your voice and actually managing to feel the tiniest bit normal for a moment. 

“No, she won’t because she’s gonna have the best Pictionary player on her team.” 

You rolled your eyes at that because you knew he was referring to himself. “Vickie is the best at Pictionary, actually.” 

“Okay. Second best.”

“I think Robin’s second, but you’re definitely third because me and Talia are equally bad at that game.”

“Fine, I’ll take third,” Eddie responded. “Unless Harrington here has a secret talent?” 

Steve shook his head. “No, I’m terrible at drawing.” 

Eddie smiled at that. “You two will make a great team then.” 

“I think our bad drawing skills will cancel each other out and we’ll actually end up being really good,” You said, mostly kidding with your words.  

“Or we’ll be worse,” Steve said. 

“It’s very sad to see that you have no faith in us,” You joked, looking up at him, and he only laughed in response.

He and Eddie went into talking about an assignment for the class they had together, and you attempted to pay attention to their conversation, but your mind went right back to overthinking everything. You wondered whether or not things looked real or if it all seemed entirely forced and out of place. 

Steve was doing pretty much all of the work right then at making this newfound relationship look believable, and your only job was to pretend that you were happy to lean into his touch and to make it seem like you were at least a little enamored by him, which was easier said than done. You were now discovering that acting wasn’t your strong suit. 

They continued talking for the next minute or two before Eddie was saying that he needed to head on stage. “I’ll see you guys after.”  

You nodded and said a simple “Good luck,” and then he walked away, joining Gareth, Jeff, and Doug on stage. You let out a breath that you didn’t even know you’d been holding. 

“You okay?” Steve asked once Eddie was out of earshot. His arm dropped from around you, but he still stayed close. “I know we shook hands on it and everything, but we really don’t have to do this. It’s fine if you wanna back out.”

“No, I’m okay. I just didn’t expect this to feel so weird? I don’t know if that’s the right word, but yeah… I swear I’m fine, though, I’ll get better at,” You briefly gestured between you and him. “This whole thing.”

The last time you were so outwardly physically affectionate with someone was years ago; a high school relationship that ended just as quickly as it had started. You weren’t used to this anymore, and maybe it was dumb to think that it would be easy to do it, especially with someone you didn’t really even know that well.

“We don’t have to do this,” Steve reminded you.  

“No, I want to. Honestly,” You assured him, and surprisingly that still felt mostly true.

“When’s game night?”

“Tomorrow,” You answered, forgetting that that had been brought up in the conversation with Eddie. “It’s a once-a-month thing we do at the apartment.”

“Got it,” He said with a nod.

“You don’t have to come if you don’t wanna. It’s mainly just three hours of all of us screaming at each other,” You briefly explained. “That’s the reason why we only do it once a month. Friendships would be ruined if we made it a weekly thing.”

“Sounds deadly.” 

“Very much so.” 

“Also, sounds fun.”

You let out a laugh. “Didn’t peg you for a masochist, Steven.” 

He ignored that. “Do you want me to come tomorrow?” 

You took a moment to actually consider his question. Everyone else was gonna have to meet him eventually, especially if you wanted to make it seem like you “really liked him,” so maybe it would be best to just rip off the band-aid and do the introductions sooner rather than later. 

“Yeah, I do,” You ultimately answered. “You should come. I think it’ll be good.” 

Before he could even say anything in response, the band started playing and every conversation happening in the small bar became drowned out by the music. You bopped your head and softly sang along to the songs you knew, which were pretty much all of them aside from a few new covers they decided to do. And you, of course, loudly applauded and excitedly shouted after every song, just like you told Eddie you would. 

“Wow,” Steve said at one point, mouth close to your ear so that you could hear him over the music. “It’s so obvious that you like him. I honestly didn’t think it was possible to witness heart eyes in real life.”  

You playfully nudged him. “Shut up.” 

You had a feeling that he was mostly joking with his words, but still, you couldn’t help but think, Did it really look that obvious? 

You turned to look at Steve and were about to ask him what exactly looked so obvious and how was he so easily able to notice something that Eddie somehow never had. 

However, you immediately noticed that his attention was on a girl across the bar who was looking right back at him with a matching smile on her face. 

“Keep it in your pants tonight, Harrington,” You told him, elbow bumping his side again. “And until the end of February too.” 

“I know. Sorry,” Steve said, looking away from the girl and back at the stage.

“Y’know, I was mostly joking last night when I said that not dating anyone this month would probably be hard for you. But, now seeing that it actually is hard for you, I’m just concerned. There are tons of support groups that you can join to help with this problem,” You said, trying your hardest to keep a straight face as you said your words, but ending up smiling the entire time. 

“Ha ha,” He said sarcastically, which only made you smile more. 

You focused back on Eddie, listening as he said that he was about to perform what would be the last song of the night. You shouted happily in anticipation and smiled at him when his eyes met yours. 

Once again, you couldn’t help but wonder, Was it obvious?

At some point during that final song, Steve placed an arm around you again, and it surprisingly didn’t feel all too weird that time around. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

next part!

taglist (lmk if you want to be added or taken off<333); @eddiernunson , @loulouloueh , @the-aster , @blckburd , @totally-bogus-timelady , @yujyujj , @irhdifartzamfyaa , @mochminnie , @munsonssweets , @blckbrrybasket , @xprloki

[miniwrites1]

The Feeling's Mutual - Ominis Gaunt

Requested! - Mutual pining! (Couple of similar requests merged together!)

Word Count - 1.2k

Theme - Fluff

Breakfast was never a dull affair for Sebastian, watching you closely as you gazed at Ominis like a lovesick puppy. You’d been the same way for weeks now, staring at him with wide eyes, escaping into a fantasy land of some form. He couldn’t help but cringe slightly at how you looked at Ominis with adoration and love, it was almost like someone had slipped you a love potion.

He sighed, turning back to his breakfast that was slowly going cold. He knew that you liked Ominis, and that Ominis liked you in return, but somehow you were both clueless to that fact. Quite frankly it was driving him insane. Every class that you all had together, he’d sit with Ominis and hear all about how wonderful you were, outside of class he’d hear from you the same things about Ominis.

Pursing his lips, he turned his head towards the Hufflepuff table. He smiled when he spotted the perfect person to help him. Quickly, he stood from his seat, stepping over the bench and walking towards his future accomplice.

“Hello Poppy, I need your help with something.”

You were sat outside in the Transfiguration courtyard, eyes closed, enjoying the feeling of the sun on your skin when you heard someone sit next to you. Your eyes gently fluttered open, taking a moment to adjust to the light. Once they’d adjusted you turned and spotted Poppy sat on the bench next to you, a bright smile gracing her lips.

“Hello (Y/N).” She spoke quickly, her smile only seeming to grow.

“Hello Poppy, how are you?” You responded softly, returning her smile.

“I’m well thank you, I’d actually like a hand with something if you’re free?” She mentioned casually, explaining to you that she’d agreed to help Mr Moon find some demiguise statues that he was convinced were tormenting him, but there was one that she was unable to access.

“Of course I’ll help you Poppy, where is it?” You asked with a soft smile.

“Follow me, I’ll show you.” Poppy gestured, quickly standing up and motioning for you to follow her. You followed her all the way to the room of requirement, climbing up countless steps in search of a demiguise statue. It wasn’t the way you’d planned to spend your afternoon; however it was a lot more fun. Once you were outside the room of requirement, the door opened to grant you entry revealing a room stacked from floor to ceiling with books and old paintings. Your brows furrowed as you turned to Poppy.

“The demiguise statue is in here?” You asked incredulously, Poppy nodded her head in confirmation before pushing you inside the room, quickly closing the door behind you.

“Have fun searching!” She called out as you hear a click of a lock turning. She’d locked you inside the room of requirement.

“I didn’t even know that was possible.” You thought to yourself, pondering why she would have locked you in until you heard faint shouting coming from behind a wall of books. Your brows furrowed as you thought about finding the person, the books immediately parting to reveal Ominis, trapped under a pile of fallen books. You couldn’t help but laugh slightly which caught his attention.

“Who’s there? Is that you Sebastian?” He spoke, anger lacing his tone. “Sebastian, if you don’t free me this instant, I will jinx you into next year.” Ominis threatened, drawing another laugh from you.

“No Ominis, it’s me (Y/N).” You said with a smile, thinking about Ominis being freed from the book mountain that had been created around him. The books levitated away at your command, reforming themselves into neat piles.

Ominis sighed slightly, enjoying the feeling of not being trapped under the books any longer. He pushed himself from the floor and brushed off his robes, small speckles of dust floating up into the air.

“What are you doing in here?” You asked softly, helping him to get the last specks of dust off of his robe. Ominis laughed slightly.

“Sebastian asked me to help him find a demiguise statue for Mr Moon, but once he brought me in here a pile of books collapsed on me, the last thing I heard from him was his laughter as he left the room.” Ominis explained, annoyance evident in his words. You couldn’t help but laugh, unable to contain the bubbling laughter.

“That’s interesting, Poppy asked me to do the same thing. For some reason she locked the door.” You explained, Ominis’ brow raised slightly.

“I didn’t realise you could lock the room of requirement.” He responded in slight surprise; you hummed in acknowledgement, scanning your surroundings.

“I could do with a place to sit down for a moment.” Ominis mentioned, making you smile as a table with two chairs appeared out of thin air. You guided Ominis over to the seats to sit down, assuming he must ache slightly from being trapped.

You sat for a while in comfortable silence, gazing around at the room and looking at how different it was to yours. It was quite incredible.

“Why do you think Sebastian and Poppy locked us in here?” You asked softly, jolting Ominis from his thoughts. He smiled slightly.

“It’s something that Sebastian has been teasing me about for a while now.” Ominis started, his cheeks turning slightly red at the thought of what he was about to say. “I have a crush on you (Y/N).”

You blinked once, then twice, unable to believe the words that Ominis had admitted, it brought a wide smile to your face and turned your cheeks a bright shade of pink.

“Ominis, I have a crush on you too.” You admitted, immediately seeing his face light up, a bright smile appearing. You gently reached for his hand, linking your fingers together.

Your moment alone together ended quite quickly, at the sound of the door unlocking Ominis shot to his feet, however he still held your hand, fingers interlocked with yours. You couldn’t help but laugh again.

“Is that Sebastian walking through the door?” Ominis asked you gently. You hummed a yes, watching as Ominis pointed his wand at the figure.

“Ominis, I know I shouldn’t have collapse those books on you but you need to understand, it was for the sake of you both.” Sebastian began to explain. Ominis’ eyes narrowed as he thought about his choice of words carefully.

“Sebastian, I’m going to give you to the count of five before I jinx you into next year.” Ominis spoke, slight frustration ebbing its way into his words. Sebastian’s eyes widened slightly as he began to back away.

“One, two.” Ominis spoke clearly as Sebastian continued to back away from him, his hands slightly raised in surrender. Ominis paid no mind to his friend’s hand gestures. “Five.” Sebastian took off running down the corridor, trying to escape Ominis’ wrath, Ominis was in hot pursuit following Sebastian down the corridor until they were out of sight. You couldn’t help but laugh at their antics, secretly thanking Sebastian and Poppy for pushing you together.

A/N - As always, feedback is appreciated! 😊

[heyclickadee]

Okay, to try to explain why the Bad Batch finale is driving me crazy

Imagine if Rebels ended at season three. (Thought experiment time!)

Not that it got cancelled; no one is saying it was cancelled, everyone is saying that this is where they wanted to end that chapter. And the entire season plays out exactly the same as it did in the real world*. Zero Hour, exactly as is, ends up being the series finale.

And the initial reaction is, “Great! They’re alive! They made it out, no one else besides Ahsoka died, we’re so relieved,” except—

What about Lothal? We built up to trying to save Lothal even in the third season—are we really just forgetting about it? What about Ezra becoming a Jedi? The whole sequence with the Bendu was really cool, but what about that foreshadowing line he gave to Thrawn in the end? Where is that supposed to go? Why did we waste a whole episode on space whales? Why didn’t Ezra’s talent for connecting with animals ever go anywhere? What about the side episodes about the Rebel Alliance? The episodes in the season were very good on their own-in fact, a few might be close to the best episodes in the show—but because there’s no payoff and nothing goes anywhere, it all sort of falls apart. Kallus’s redemption arc was fine, but what’s he going to do now, or is he just going to feel bad about what he did? I’m glad they’re all alive and all, but that’s it? Theres no real victory except survival? Why did we spend multiple episodes in the temple on Lothal if that wasn’t going to go anywhere besides getting Ahsoka killed?

Speaking of, Ahsoka really died, and we never dealt with it? Thirty seconds of Ezra crying, everyone looking sad, a sorrowful look from Rex, then we never discuss it, and the only time she comes up is when we’re discussing her job as Fulcrum? It was ambiguous enough to begin with, then we never really got confirmation or any processing on screen at all. We had a whole episode for Ezra to process learning that his parents died, and we never even really met those characters! But nothing for Ahsoka? She’s a fan favorite, and she means so much to a lot of people in the audience. She seemed like she was Dave’s favorite, even! It’s not like her death affected anyone either—all the character motivation was driven either by Kanan’s blindness, the fallout with Maul, or Ezra being tempted by the holocron. It was noble and tragic, sure, but narratively, they just killed her for shock value. If she’s even supposed to be dead! We don’t know for sure!

So you’re thinking through all of that, trying to figure out what the hell happened here and how a show that was otherwise very good only resolved two or three subplots, none of which was the main one, never really dealt with a main character’s death, and never fully 100% resolved anyone’s character arc, all while the showrunners refuse to say that this is the last time we’ll see these characters and insist on using the word “chapter” to refer to the end. So you’ve got a sneaking suspicion that the story isn’t actually over, that there’s something weird going on, but you don’t know for sure, and you can’t just let things lie because it’s not that it’s just a bad ending, it’s that it’s bad in a particularly insane way that would come back around to being incredible if there ended up being any follow through for a series that was somehow 99% set up and no payoff.

Anyway, this is where I’m at with The Bad Batch right now.

* For the purposes of this thought experiment, we can add a except that there’s a little epilogue at the end—not the epilogue we actually got at the end of season four of Rebels, but an epilogue where a fifteen-year-older Ezra has a conversation with Hera (no one else, and no Jacen around, no sign that Jacen even exists) about needing to go do something, and then hopping into a ship that looks a bit like the Phantom and has little mementos from various members of the ghost crew family around. Ezra mentions Zeb, Sabine, and Chopper, so we at least know they’re alive, but he doesn’t mention anyone else, and neither does Hera. Something with Ahsoka’s fulcrum symbol is sitting on Ezra’s dashboard. We learn nothing about what anyone does in the meantime. It’s completely open.

[lukecastellanshandholder]

You do understand that Luke groomed and used teenagers, also asked a teenager if she loved from when she was sixteen and he was 23…

(I only dislike Luke, I don’t completely hate him, but reading your account description made me wonder…)

*sigh* ok, I’m going to try my very best to be nice and explain Luke’s character. (I only say this because I’ve made countless posts about these things already, but you seem new so I’ll explain)

First of all, Luke himself was groomed by Kronos for about 2 whole years before the events of The Lightning Thief took place. Kronos started coming to Luke in his dreams shortly after his quest to retrieve a golden apple from the Garden of Hesperides. Kronos came to Luke with his offer to help him dethrone the gods when he was upset and thinking irrationally because of his (very justified) anger towards Hermes. After this, Kronos continued to haunt Luke’s dreams, making him think that they both had the same goals.

Luke had always wanted a better life for demigods and for their godly parents to treat them better, he never wanted to hurt other demigods (as is plainly said in The Diary of Luke). While Kronos just wanted to gain power over Olympus again and to reshape the world. However, Kronos convinced Luke that he didn’t want to bring harm to demigods and that he could help Luke achieve his goal.

When Luke started to realize that Kronos just wanted power and that he no longer wanted to help Kronos, Kronos tortured him with nightmares. He was verbally and mentally abusive, driving Luke to near insanity until he broke and became Kronos’ perfect little soldier.

“But Luke groomed and used teenagers!” First of all, what do you think that the gods and Chiron do to all of the children at camp Half blood? They use those poor kids to run their errands and fight their wars under the guise of offering protection from monsters in the mortal world. And Camp half blood had been around long before the Titan Army was established.

Secondly, do you think that the gods are such good parents to their children that they didn’t have other kids who would willingly want to dethrone them? Because we have at least 2 examples of demigods who wanted to dethrone the gods for their own reasons. Ethan Nakamura and Alabaster Torrington. Ethan could’ve cared less about putting Kronos in power, he just wanted minor gods and their children to be treated better. Then Alabaster couldn’t have cared less about Luke but did want to see Kronos in power only because he would treat his mother, Hecate, better than Zeus did. So to say that Luke groomed every demigod who joined is completely ignoring the fact that the gods were terrible parents who have wronged so many of their children.

And third, Kronos was the one who wanted that army to fight against the army that Camp Half Blood had been building for years. Kronos was the one with all of the control, because once a demigod joined they were put under a haze. They were under Kronos’s influence and didn’t come out of it until Luke killed Kronos. So to blame Luke for the use of those demigods is also completely ignoring who had the true power in the situation. The gods and the Titans started this feud hundreds of years ago, Luke, Percy and the other demigods were just dragged into it.

Now about the whole Annabeth thing. I’m 100% sure that when Luke asked her if she had loved him, it was meant as in platonic/ familial love. As we see in The Diary of Luke (the only story that we ever see from Luke’s POV) we always see him thinking of Annabeth as nothing but a little sister or even a daughter. The only person that we ever see him show romantic feelings towards is Thalia when they were on the run together before going to camp. Well, except for Kelli, but I feel like that’s a special kind of situation.

“But Percy said-.” Percy is the most unreliable narrator out there, and he was a jealous teenage boy. Of course when Percy has a huge crush on Annabeth and he hears Luke ask Annabeth if she loved him, that Percy is going to think he meant it in a romantic way! He doesn’t have all of the information about practically anything going on! Now I’m not saying anything against Percy, but again he didn’t have all of the information and was just going off of what he thought he knew.

“But Annabeth said in the Heroes of Olympus series that-!” In this situation, Annabeth is also an unreliable narrator. Think about it, if you have or had a crush on someone and they asked you if you ever liked or loved them, aren’t you going to automatically assume that they mean it in the same way as you do? Aren’t you going to assume that they meant in a romantic way and think that they also had a crush on you? And again, I’m not saying anything bad against Annabeth but, the only time we get to hear from Luke’s POV about Annabeth he’s always referring to her as his little sister. So, are we going to believe what Luke says in his own point of view? Or are we going to believe what two people without all of the information think Luke meant?

So yeah, if you were wondering if I like Luke, the answer is yes! He’s one of my absolute favorite characters because his story is so interesting and intriguing to me.

No, I don’t blame Luke for what the gods and Kronos caused. I don’t think that he’s some evil monster like most of the fandom seems to think he is for some reason. Luke is a victim of the gods and Kronos. He was used just like every other demigod and in the end, died a hero.

I hold the actual villains of the story (Kronos and the gods) accountable for their actions instead of just blaming everything on one of their victims.

[rc-writes]

𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬

𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙨 | 𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢

pairings: benny weir x reader (could be seen as platonic or romantic)

warnings: two curse words??, if you’re reading this as platonic there’s one mention of wearing couples costumes but friends can totally do that to, uhh i think that’s it

a/n: alright i could have probably thought of a million more but it was literally 1am when i wrote this and i was tired lol. also i will admit that was me fulling self projecting on the info dumping about movies part and wanting to text someone at an ungodly hour, but in my defense i do genuinely think benny would do those things as well. also this was requested by an irl friend of mine who mentioned friends to lovers after i finished this so look out for that coming soon! also this is my first writing related thing i’ve posted on this blog in like 2 years!!

will try to learn spells just to impress you

of course there was a few that went wrong

maybe more than a few, but it’s the thought that counts right?

will send every meme or funny video he finds

does not matter if its 3pm or 3am he will send it immediately after he found it

which speaking of 3am i can see him not being able to sleep so he tries texting you

if you answer i can see him texting “hey what’s wrong?? why are u up so late?? everything okay??” and completely ignoring that he too is also awake at this hour

“you are aware you texted me first, why are you up”

“i asked you first”

benny absolutely loves video games and will want to play a few with you even if you don’t like video games

which if you’re with him there a good chance you love them too

but if you don’t you will most likely start liking them even just a bit because he makes them fun

getting to spent time with him and watch him do something he loves makes it special

it also can be really funny

can guarantee at least once he’d say “watch this babe” or “this ones for you” and immediately fail/die

this is also something that definitely happens in the outside world with him trying to throw something away or something

pure of heart, dumb of ass

also i don’t know shit about video games so i cannot go into anymore detail then this lol

is 100% down with spontaneous movie nights whether that be binge watching movies at home or going to the theater

if it’s a movie he’s obsessed with but you’ve never seen he will be trying his hardest not to info dump and potentially spoil the whole thing

but if it’s a movie he knows you have seen he is more than willing to explain every single fact about it he knows

“did you know that while filming this bit they had film it completely in reverse to make it look like that?? insane right!?”

speaking of movies if it’s a horror/scary movie you can bet he will try to act all tough and not scared before it starts

even if you already know how much of a scaredy cat he is he will try to play it off

but the second the first jumpscare happens there will be popcorn flying everywhere

he is no longer allowed to hold the bowl

you’re still finding popcorn in the couch

he will still continue to pretend that he’s not scared despite shaking like a scared chihuahua

you will have to be the one to grab onto him

which then leads to him hiding his face into your neck or behind you

he still refuses to let you turn it off even if you insist it’s okay

there is a part of you that feels bad but also a part that thinks it’s so funny

your contact names in each others phones are han solo and princess leia

the only suggestions i will take on this is that yours is han and his is leia

will take you to every convention within driving distance

if the convention if for some game/show/movie you don’t know be prepared for a whole powerpoint presentation or a weekend of binge watching whatever media it is

“didn’t you just say you hated doing a powerpoint for history??”

“babe this is way more important and interesting than anything school can teach”

you both will be going all out costume wise every convention

i can totally see you guys going in couple costumes or like hero and villain

if the latter you two take turns on who gets to be the villain or hero

if you are with benny there is no way you can be a halloween hater

he can do freaking magic, of course it’s his favorite holiday!!

this also can follow what i said for conventions with the costumes

at some point there is a competition on who can get the most candy

if he loses, he will say that the candy was just too hard to resist, and he had to eat just one piece that turned into him eating many pieces

this is a true fact whether he loses or not

side note if you can go a whole night of trick or treating without eating a single piece of candy while doing so i don’t believe you

[kimbappykidding]

Imagine your brother Jeonghan trying to set you and Scoups up but you refuse claiming Scoups is too goody-goody, which drives the leader of Seventeen crazy

It took 2 weeks after you moved to the same city as your brother for him to start trying to set you up with his friends. To be fair Jeonghan had been saying you'd really get along with Scoups for a while now but you'd managed to dodge any awkward dates or outings...until now. Your brother had invited you over to his place for dinner. He'd told you none of the guys would be there but when you showed up guess who happened to be joining you? 

The leader of Seventeen was a lovely guy and you didn't mind his company. It was your brother's prying that put you off the whole thing. You had a habit of doing the opposite of whatever someone wanted you to do and blamed your rebellious brother for teaching it to you. Usually it only annoyed other people but tonight Jeonghan got to experience it first hand. After dinner, Scoups left the table to go to rehearsal leaving you and Jeonghan alone. You'd had a nice meal and the conversation had been good. You and Scoups had joked around all night and found a lot of common ground, so your brother assumed you were in love. "So..." Jeonghan said after Scoups left the room and you smiled back pretending to be oblivious "so...". "Don't you agree Scoups is so great?" he asked. You smiled "yeah he's really nice and funny, I'm sure it drives some girls crazy". Jeonghan knew from the way you said some, you weren't talking about yourself and he couldn't believe it. "Don't tell me you're not including yourself? The two of you were so hitting it off!". You laughed "we were chatting Jeonghan that's all". "You weren't chatting you were connecting and I know it! I could see you liked talking to him so why are you denying it?". You shook your head "I'm not denying anything. Sure he's nice and handsome and cool but he's not my type". "Cool, handsome and nice aren't your thing?" Jeonghan asked. You shook your head "honestly it's the leader thing. It's a huge turn off and that's why I can't find him attractive".  

Jeonghan's jaw dropped "you're serious?" he asked you nodded "yes! You know I don't like rules and he's the leader! He's automatically more responsible and abiding". Jeonghan frowned "kinda but also not. He actually challenges our company and managers all the time. He's a good guy". "I don't doubt it but I don't want a boyfriend whose favourite roleplay is teacher and student". Jeonghan went to argue "but if you just gave him a chance...". "I said no Jeonghan" you said standing up "sometimes you're just not as smart as you think you are" and walked out of the room.

Insulting your brother's intelligence was the best way to drive him crazy and so when Scoups got home many hours later he found Jeonghan up waiting for him. "Jeonghan? What are you doing up?" Scoups asked and he sighed "my sister is driving me insane". Scoups laughed and came to sit beside him. Jeonghan had prepped Scoups beforehand and told him of his plan to set the two of you up. Scoups wasn't keen on dating a member's sister but thought you were pretty and funny so he agreed to give it a shot. When Jeonghan explained your feedback he was shocked and a little hurt. "So what does she like bad boys?" Scoups asked. Jeonghan shrugged "I guess? She's just never been one for conventional authority or tradition so it makes sense". Scoups frowned "but I'm not exactly a good boy" and Jeonghan laughed "I think she just sees you as our leader and not as you. Don't take offence". "Ow no I'm taking offence and making it my mission to prove her wrong". The more Scoups thought about your view of him the more it bothered him. He'd never ever been told he was too goody-goody. Sure he was a respectful citizen but all his life he'd been known for standing up to people and demanding what was right. So to hear you had this completely backwards idea of him made him want to show you the true him. That and the fact he was pretty strongly attracted to you and loved proving people wrong. Scoups had liked you since he first saw you and would've asked you out if hadn't been around so fleetingly. But now you were here, in all your glory, challenging him it seemed like the perfect opportunity. He figured the least goody-goody thing to do would be to confront you. So when you arrived at the house the next morning to go out with Jeonghan he walked up to you and asked you "do you really think I'm a pushover?". You looked up from your phone and shook your head "not a pushover per se but someone who follows the rules? Yep". Scoups laughed "y/n that's the furthest thing from me. I'm always saying stuff I shouldn't and standing up for the members...I even got us banned from isac for picking a fight with the referee!". You nodded "really?" not looking impressed and Scoups nodded "yes...why don't you believe me?". "Because you have such an innocent face there's no hiding it Scoups" you smiled "you're a good boy and that's fine. Geat even, so many people would love that so own it". Scoups pouted "but I'm not and I'll prove it to you!". "How?” you asked and Scoups paused "I'm not sure how but I will". In response you just raised your eyebrow and went back to your phone. You were so infuriating and that was kind of attractive to Scoups which was driving him crazy, so he started forming a plan. You lived close by so were at the house a lot which Scoups was banking on. He walked into the living room to see you sat there and made a show of sitting down on the sofa and taking his coat off. "I thought you had rehearsal?" you asked and Scoups nodded "I do". "Then what are you doing here?" you asked. He smiled "the benefit of being the leader is I get certain perks. If I want to skip a session I can. I just assign another member to do my work. Being on the top means you get to call the shots". "Is that so?" you asked and Scoups nodded "yep". "And you do this often? Making the other members pick up your slack?". "Whenever I want to" Scoups shrugged and you nodded "so what happened to always standing up for your members to management? Aren't you just as bad as them if you're doing this to your members?". Scoups paused unsure how to answer your question and still remain a bad-boy. "Well I'm not really palming my work off on them more...not doing it". You nodded "funny how the story keeps changing" and Scoups blushed. "Look my point is I do what I want when I want. I tell the management when something isn't right. I take a day off work when I want it. I have all the power. If I don't want them to find me then they don't" putting his feet up on the sofa for a bit of added effect. Then as if by magic his phone rang in his coat pocket. You both paused but neither of you moved. "You gonna get that?" you asked. Scoups always answered his phone and tensed as it kept ringing. He wanted to get it, but you were watching him so he shook his head "nope" and you smiled seeing him struggle. "Don't you wanna know who it is?" you asked, and he shook his head again. Your smile grew and you reached into his coat pocket to fish it out. "It says manager...sure you don't wanna get it?" you asked waving it in front of him. Scoups twitched and then sighed "I really should we're changing Dino's schedule and I need to know so I can tell him" taking the phone. You smirked and walked out of the room. "I am in control though" he called after you but you were long gone. The next time Scoups tried to show he was physically capable. Jeonghan told him you used the gym around the corner and although the company had a gym Scoups decided to go there too. He walked inside to see you doing some weights and smiled. He purposefully chose a machine near you and was going to pretend to have been here a while when you suddenly finished. He rushed to get on the machine as you came closer and started pulling the metal bars. "19...20" he said pretending to count as you appeared in front of him "hey y/n". He sighed like he'd just done a really difficult set and wiped his forehead "you working out too?". You nodded "yeah I am, I didn't know you worked out here". Scoups nodded "yeah all the time". "Why don't you use the company gym? Jeonghan said it's free". Scoups smiled "you think the money worries me? Money hasn't bothered me for years y/n". You raised an eyebrow and Scoups realised that sounded snobbish so hurried on "plus the gym at the company isn't very good". "It's not?" you asked and Scoups shook his head "see because we're all idols they don't want us to get injured or to get too big in case it doesn't fit our image". You nodded "right...so why are you only lifting 2kg?". Scoups went to laugh at your joke when he looked down and saw his machine, which he had been pretending to do many reps on, was set at the lowest weight. "Oh that I...well funny story it sometimes accidentally changes your weight". You nodded "wow how strange" and walked away. Scoups hung his head in his hands. When it was clear his attempts weren't working Scoups decided to call in some help aka the maknaes who still thought he was kind of scary. You were going out to dinner with Jeonghan one day and just as you were leaving Dino and Seungkwan asked if they could come. Jeonghan looked to you and you nodded "of course!". Jeonghan smirked "they're only coming because they know I'll pay for them" but there was actually another reason. Once you'd ordered your food Dino turned to you "y/n did you really say Scoups is a goody-goody?". "Yeah did you actually?" Seungkwan asked and you smiled "who told you him or Jeonghan?". "I heard it from Vernon" Seungkwan said rather quickly and Dino nodded "yep me too". You didn't believe either of them and smelled something fishy but smiled. "Yes I said that and I stand by it". "Seriously?" Dino asked laughing "he's our toughest member and not even just physically he's so brave and outspoken". He can be really scary too" Seungkwan said. You smiled "Scoups? Scary?". "Ow yeah Scoups is terrifying" Seungkwan said. You nodded "and what makes him so scary those cute cheeks and long eyelashes?". "His personality" Dino said "and he's very strong". Seungkwan nodded "and he just has this aura about him. When his tone lowers you get scared automatically". "Yeah one day I walked into the dorms to find him attacking Mingyu" Dino said "I was so scared I avoided him for like a month after". The guys all laughed and Jeonghan smiled "it's all true y/n". You nodded "I don't doubt it but when was this?". Dino paused "erm that doesn't matter". "No I want to know when it was" you said smiling sweetly and Dino sighed "when we were trainees but just because he doesn't do it anymore doesn't mean he's not scary!". "Yeah we're better behaved now!" Seungkwan agreed. You smiled "so when was the last time you avoided him for a month?". Dino looked down "since that day...never". You smiled satisfied "oh look our food is here" and the boys knew they'd lost. When the guys returned home Scoups was waiting. The minute they walked through the door he jumped up "so how did it go?". They all looked down and Scoups' smile faded "not well huh?". "She just...didn't really care" Dino said and the others nodded "yeah she knew the stories we were telling were from ages ago and she just shut us down straight away" Seungkwan explained. Scoups sighed "no problem thanks for trying". "We can try again if you want?" Dino asked but Scoups shook his head "no it's fine..." and walked away. Jeonghan followed Scoups and sighed "I have to get back to the company building but I don't want you to be upset". "I'm fine" Scoups said but Jeonghan could tell he wasn't. "You know this probably isn't even anything to do with you...when y/n gets an idea in her head it can't be shaken and that's just how she is". Scoups nodded "yeah I get it don't worry it's fine". Jeonghan sighed but stood up "okay well you can call me if you need me, yeah?". Scoups nodded and waved as he left. The door closed and Scoups sighed. He didn't know why you were so against him but he was done trying to convince you otherwise. He thought the two of you would've gotten along well but it clearly just wasn't meant to be. The doorbell went and Scoups figured Jeonghan must've forgotten his key or something. He opened up the door to find you stood there of all people. He blinked when he saw you and even you seemed surprised he was the one who opened the door. "Hey, Jeonghan forgot his wallet. He asked me to put it in my bag for safekeeping and forgot to take it back". Scoups nodded taking it "thanks for bringing it back". "No problem" you said and looked down "so...goodnight" and went to walk away. "Wait y/n...I have something to say to you" Scoups said. You paused and turned back around "okay". Scoups' heart was hammering in his chest but he took a deep breath and began to speak. "Look I'm not covered in tattoos and piercings. I don't drive a motorcycle and I've never gotten in trouble with the law but that doesn't make me soft. I'd fight anyone for my members because they're my family and I'd do anything for the people I love. I'm strong physically, mentally and sometimes there's more to be said for the man who sticks around and supports people than the ones raising hell and setting fire to things but if that's not your thing then that's totally fine. I just wanted to say that to you". You nodded "are you done?". Scoups nodded swallowing and you sighed before smiling. Scoups frowned and you began laughed. You let him sweat for a few seconds before coming clean. "Scoups I never thought you were soft and I'm not into bad boys". "You're not? But Jeonghan said...". You chuckled "my big brother is great but he's never met a single one of my boyfriends in person before. He has no idea what my type is and yes it's true I don't like followers but as a leader I'd say you're the opposite of that, right?". Scoups heart was beating rapidly and as you said those words he felt the blood rush to his cheeks. "Right" he nodded and you smiled "i like guys who know what they want and go for it. Ones who stand up for what is right. Ones who speak their mind" you said "I was waiting for this the whole time". Scoups laughed "so for once all I had to do was open my big mouth?". You nodded "yep but you did it now". Scoups nodded and spurred on by how you were looking at him he smiled "and what's my prize for that?". You smirked "well I have some ideas but is there anything you want?" you asked flicking your hair back. "You" Scoups admitted and he kissed you. Scoups pulled you into the house and closed the door behind you. He melted into the kiss and was encouraged by how eagerly you kissed him back. He wrapped his arms around you pulling you even closer and he backed you up against a wall. Just as Scoups was beginning to think you weren't as confident as you claimed, you bit his lip which made Scoups gasp and pull back. You laughed at the look on his face and smiled "you're so cute". Scoups shook his head and in one smooth motion picked you up "I'm a lot of things but cute isn't one...allow me to show you". You just smiled "can't wait" and he carried you upstairs. The next morning When Scoups stumbled into the kitchen the next morning looking dazed it didn't take the members long to realise what had happened. "Y/n?" Joshua asked and Scoups smiled widely making them all laugh. "So is she everything you ever dreamt of?" The8 asked and Scoups laughed "she's amazing. I've never met a more confident person. She knows what she wants and knows she can get it which I find so attractive. She challenged me more than anyone I've ever been with and it's a constant power change". The members laughed at Scoups's very happy but tired face. "To be fair hyung this might be a power struggle you're happy to lose" Jun said and Scoups smirked "yeah you're probably right. I feel like already I'm weakening". The door opened suddenly and Jeonghan walked into the room. Everyone went silent and not so subtly looked to Scoups. Jeonghan took in his messy hair and expression, and sighed "you slept with y/n didn't you?". Scoups eyes widened "what! How did you guess that?". "Because that's the face you always have the morning after and judging by how happy you look it must've been my sister". Scoups nodded "okay yeah you're right but it was totally safe and consensual". Jeonghan nodded "I know". "So you're not mad?" Scoups asked. Jeonghan shook his head "I learned ages ago I can't control my sister. Also you remember I was trying to set you both up, right? I wish it had been a little more old-fashioned but this works too". Scoups nodded "just to warn you we haven't labelled anything". Jeonghan smiled "I know but if y/n let this happen she must like you and you're clearly enamoured with her so I'm not worried about that" Jeonghan smirked making the other members laugh. "Seriously what is your bloodline made of?" Mingyu asked and Jeonghan just grinned. Scoups came back upstairs to find you towel drying your wet hair after a shower. You were wearing one of his t-shirts that you must've found and he paused in the doorway admiring you. He didn't think you'd seen him when you suddenly spoke "I borrowed one of your t-shirts". Scoups nodded coming inside "I saw...it suits you". "I was hoping you'd say that because I like it" you said shooting him a smile. "I could be convinced to let you keep it" Scoups said and you turned around fully. You shot the wet towel at a clothes basket nearby and it went in effortlessly. "I'm pretty sure if I just bat my eyelashes at you and asked nicely you'd agree" you said walking closer. You put your arms around his neck and smiled "don't you think?". Scoups stared back at you and with effort didn't back down "hmm I might need a little more than that". You smiled "you're already getting better, I like that" and kissed him. Every time he kissed you all his thoughts went out of his head and all he wanted was you. This effect seemed to get stronger with each kiss and he once again got caught up in you when he remembered his conversation with Jeonghan this morning. You'd already progressed back to the bed but Scoups pulled back. "Wait before we...go any further I need to know, what is this? Is it something casual and open or more regular and exclusive? Just I will have to tell Jeonghan and it helps to know what I'm telling him". You nodded and got off Scoups, moving to sit down on his bed. "Well which one would you prefer?". Scoups shook his head "I'm fine with whatever you want". "So you have no opinion yourself?". Scoups came to sit beside you and recalled you liked people speaking their minds "well of course i'd prefer to be exclusive and have you all to myself. But if that's not possible then I'll happily agree to a casual thing. I want whatever makes you comfortable". You smiled "I don't give my time to just anyone". "So I've heard" Scoups smiled "and I think you like me". You nodded "I do, enough to give the exclusive thing a shot if you're game". "Of course" Scoups smiled feeling like he'd won the lottery "now where were we?". You smiled "I believe you were here” you said pushing him back down onto his back and Scoups smiled “so I was” and kissed you again. 

[chaifootsteps]

Also, can someone clarify if Alastor is good or evil? Cuz I still have doubts.

Apparently, Alastor is expected to just babysit Charlie. However, if that's the case, I have several questions. For instance, why can't Lilith, or "Rosie," simply stay with Charlie herself? Why is she asking Alastor for help when he’s an Overlord with dozens of enemies who can potentially hurt her own daughter?? Secondly, didn’t he already fuck up big time as a babysitter in the pilot? As soon as he arrived at the hotel, he offered Charlie a deal, essentially forcing a soul contract onto her.. It seemed like he had his own agenda and was focused on personal gain rather than protecting Charlie. Additionally, in the pilot, Alastor never interacted with Rosie, nor had he heard of Charlie's Hotel before that. In fact, he only heard about it through the commercial he saw, which also explains why he appeared so confused over her idea. So, did he just go to the hotel for his own amusement, as he said, or not? This whole thing is just so confusing; it's driving me insane!

All things that we could all but guarantee would be addressed if this were anyone's show other than Vivzie's.

[bunniebubbleswrites]

Omggg i love your writing please do more motherly lesso x f reader like the last one if its possible xx

More Than You Know

Mother Figure! Lady Lesso x F! Reader

A/N: Gonna be honest this had been sitting in my inbox for months and I just now got around to finshing it bc school has been driving me insane but i'm back!

Warnings: None (Let me know if there are any though)

Words: 908

You didn’t know when it all started, the name-calling, the pushing, and shoving, but here you were throwing yourself against the wooden door of your dorm room. Your roommates had barricaded the door from the outside, so the only way out was the balcony and that drop no one, no matter how desperate, would try and risk. 

You had thrown spells at the door and none of them had worked so you had resulted in brute force which was, at the current moment, not working. Your breathing was heavy and the entirety of your right arm was bleeding just slightly due to the small splinters that came from the decaying wooden door. 

You could feel the tears pricking at your eyes, you weren’t getting out of your dorm room anytime soon. 

“Fuck,” You picked up one of your textbooks that had been haphazardly tossed onto your bed and threw it full force at the door in front of you. “Fuck them all” 

You kicked the door with full force letting the tears escape your eyes and roll down your cheeks. The impact from the kick left you sitting on the floor. You were tired, tired of it all. At this point, you didn’t want to try anymore. You knew about the whispers and how everyone was talking behind your back, but you could never confirm it. 

You moved to lean against your bedpost and pulled your knees to your chest and buried your face into your knees. You were a Never, you weren’t supposed to be crying over this. All you wanted was for someone to hold you and tell you everything would be alright. 

_____________________

Lesso looked around the theater of tales and she saw all her students, all of them but you. Clarissa had started to talk. She hid her worry, if you didn’t show up she’d do and check on you after the fact. 

The assembly went on but you never showed up so as soon as the students were dismissed for lunch Lesso went to turn on her heel but Clarissa stopped her. 

“Lesso, we both know what’s been going on. You should go find her.” Clarissa gave Lesso a kind smile as she turned on her heel and left the theater. How did she always know?

_____________________

You had been sitting on the floor for who knows how long. The sound of students rushing back to their dorms to grab something they had forgotten but never once had it been you. No one had realized they’d forgotten you. 

You wiped your wet cheeks off with your sleeve and pulled yourself up and sat down on your bed. You rested your elbows on your knees and just stared down at your shoes because there really was no point in trying to get out of your room at this point. 

The sound of heels moving in sync with a cane hitting the floor made you perk up. If Lesso found you like this, who knows what she would do. The sound grew closer and closer until it stopped right outside your door. The doorknob moved a few times before the lock was blasted open. 

You were met face to face with the Dean of The School for Evil and you didn’t know how to explain yourself. 

“Lady Lesso I-” You tried to get some words out but she silenced you with just a look. She walked further into your room and she shut the door behind her. 

“Okay,” Lesso’s voice came out softer than it should have.” Tell me what's been going on.” 

“Well, um.. I’m being bullied and my roommates they, they-” You tried to hold back your sobs but you just couldn’t. Lesso’s arm wrapped itself around your shoulder and pulled into a side hug. You wrapped both your arms around her waist and you cried. 

The arm that was previously wrapped around your shoulders found its way to your hair and Lesso’s hand gently stroked the top of your head. 

“It’s not okay that your roommates locked you in here, and it’s not okay that everyone has been saying things about you behind your back.” Lesso’s voice spoke out after a few minutes. You pulled back and looked up at her. 

Her hand came up to your cheek and wiped off what was left of your tears. Her hand lingered there for a moment.

 “Your roommates are in for some serious punishment, you don’t have to go to the rest of your classes today if you don’t want to, but I want you to know that my office door is always open to you and only you.” Lesso’s hand left your cheek as you nodded and wiped away the stains the tears had left behind. Lesso got up off the bed and went to go leave but you stopped her just before her hand made contact with the doorknob

“Lady Lesso,” Lesso turned her over her shoulder to look at you. “Thank you, for everything.” You gave her your usual bubbly smile and she gave you a small one back. How could someone like you be a never. 

“You’re welcome (Y/N).” She turned back around and left the room. You let yourself plop down on the bed already feeling so much better. You loved Lesso like a mom and you hoped she loved you like a daughter, because you were right. She did. She cares about you more than you know.

[corellianhounds]

Top 5 characters (any media: books, TV shows, movies, anything)

SO I’m chronically unable to pick favorites of anything unless I narrow down the category but I did my best 😭

These are based on an array of characters from different mediums that I can talk about at length who—

I enjoy as a character

Are well written in a well-written story

Influenced me as a writer/artist

Occupy a lot of brain space 😆

In order from when I experienced them (below the cut because it got ridiculously long):

1. Calvin and Hobbes. Package deal. Calvin and Hobbes cartoons were how I got into reading as a kid and were a formative part of my childhood and influenced me as a storyteller in how I write, read, and draw.

2. Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride, both book and movie. What I love about Inigo as a person IS his drive for revenge and desire for justice for his father’s murder, and what I love about his character within both the book and the movie is that his story is a subplot— We don’t know if Inigo will survive the story, much less achieve his goal. The audience knows it’s a fairytale; we know Westley and Buttercup will survive and live happily ever after. Inigo Montoya does not have that guarantee.

Additionally, I love a satisfying revenge narrative. Inigo gets exactly what he wants and there’s never this wishy-washy “oh if I kill him than I’m no better than he is” nonsense that drives me INSANE when I see it in other media

3. Nightcrawler from X-Men. The X-Men movies got me into superheroes and then at about 12 I started getting into comics, but since I didn’t have access to a whole lot of them, what I would do was scour Wikipedia taking notes and reading about all of the characters and storylines I thought were interesting 😆 I was obsessed with X-Men and that was my first foray into the idea of fandom, collecting art and printing it out to put in a binder with fanfic on notebook paper and sketches on printer paper lolol. I liked Nightcrawler because depending on the story he was either a tragic character, a comedic character, or both. He’s got a fantastic design and I loved the swashbuckling rogue archetype already, as well as the circus background and acrobatic fighting style. Definitely influential. Did I have a crush on his character? Mind your own business

4. Loki from the phase 1 MCU. I did a lot of reading/writing because of his character based on the first Thor and Avengers movies. I thought he was incredibly compelling, and there’s one fanfic author whose work I really admired and are etched into my brain.

5. Din Djarin from The Mandalorian. By episode 1 you already have a good sense of who this guy is, despite the fact he is shrouded in mystery, and I LOVE characters like that. Characters whose past aren’t fully explained are great because that tension and mystery keeps audiences wondering and coming back to them, AND it gives writers the freedom to explore and add in what’s needed as the story goes along without being constrained by a past that’s already been clearly defined.

Additionally, episode 3 has one of the best narratives arcs of anything in Star Wars in my opinion, and is one of my personal favorites in storytelling in general. From the intro we know what the first act is going to be. Karga, not knowing what the target is, in a recording saying “I don’t know if [the Client] wants to eat it or hang it on his wall.” Mando’s next line being “It’s not a toy.” The whole return to the city, the audience knowing what kind of wretched hive of scum and villainy it is. Din’s uncertainty even as he gives a child to know enemies for payment. Him asking what they’re going to do with it and not receiving an answer, but a threat.

Taking payment and the title card immediately appearing to say “THE SIN.”

The rest of the episode proceeding and us FEELING the weight of guilt in Mando’s silence, the way he’s trying to justify his choice despite the fact he knows it was wrong. The war within himself between wanting to see a helpless child safe and knowing he’s the type of person who could and should see it done— who shouldn’t have been the reason for the child’s safety being compromised in the first place— and his desire to reclaim something culturally, religiously, and practically important to a persecuted people he has pledged a faithful life and allegiance to. How the two things he cares about most come into direct conflict because to prioritize one means sacrificing the other.

THE SHOT OF THE GEAR SHIFT WHEN HIS HAND HALTS MIDAIR. SO MUCH SAID IN SO LITTLE.

AND THEN HE GOES BACK!!! HE GOES BACK AND HE SAVES THE BABY!!! LITERALLY SINGLE-HANDEDLY TAKING OUT A STORMTROOPER SAFEHOUSE BECAUSE HE HAS A WEAPON IN ONE HAND AND A BABY IN THE OTHER!!!!!

He knew they had nefarious reasons for wanting a child captured. Why else would you throw out a cradle?

And to top it all off they REALLY tighten the noose around his neck all the way up to the climax because as far as we know, he really DOESN’T have a way out of this. The Mandalorians coming to his aid IS a surprise but it’s not contrived and it WORKS and it’s a satisfying end because we’ve truly seen this guy give it his all and despite the fact he was the best Mandalorian he could be, his best was not enough and the audience really doesn’t know how he’s going to get out of it in the end (<- establishing the main theme of the show). Tension, raising the stakes, meaningful themes that aren’t spoon-fed to the audience, and a successful marriage of the emotional climax to the physical one.

AND THAT WAS JUST ONE EPISODE!!!

The scripts and ideas in Season 1 were so solid and done so well. I don’t know how they accidentally created one of the greatest characters of all time with so few lines of dialogue but they DID and I’ve been thinking about him for four years straight.

[xaharadesert]

Kidnapped MC Turned Bandit Leader - Headcanon Pt 1

Julian Devorak x MC

TW: like 1 swear

A/N: this is another year old, pretty specific anon request that I’m only now getting to. The essential premise that was requested was for MC to be kidnapped, only to show up a few months later totally fine and leading a group of bandits— the initial request asked for Julian, Portia, and Asra, but since there’s a lot of content to cover, I’ll be splitting this into 3 parts :) also, special shout out to the two anons who both sent me some version of “hydrate or die” within moments of each other— also also everyone say thank you to the anon who said they bet I couldn’t finish this draft even though I’ve been staring at it for ten minutes, you’re the real MVP here

❤️Julian❤️

When you initially went missing, this man obviously went into no-sleep panic mode

He immediately swore to search every corner of the Earth until you were found

Nadia convinced him to stay put for at least a few days, since it was unlikely that you could be taken far in a short period of time, and her guards were more likely to find you than he was alone

Shockingly, this was one of the exceedingly rare instances in which Nadia was wrong

Her guards did not find you, and this only increased Julian’s ungodly level of panic

He hadn’t slept since you were taken, save for the 16 hours he was passed out after smacking his head into a low doorway while pacing

Honestly, he wasn’t even borderline delirious, this man had passed clearly into hysteria territory

So needless to say, he began his travels to find you

However, with no clear direction, and no clues to go off of, the nonexistent trail quickly grew cold

The countless letters from his friends in Vesuvia were what brought him back, and even then, it was mostly Nadia’s point that if you were to ever escape of your own accord, you would likely make your way home

When he returned, his mental health only continued to decline

He felt useless— he couldn’t do anything to help you; all he did was sit and wait, and it was driving him insane

The only times he could be dragged out of his home were when Portia or Mazelinka made him

For a usually sociable man with a tendency to hide his self hatred behind humour and charisma, this was a terrifying change

He made absolutely no attempt to move on with his life, and insisted that everyone should leave him to wallow

Of course, they did not

It was on one of the rare occasions that Portia managed to pull him out to the Rowdy Raven that you finally returned

Honestly, he thought he was hallucinating until Portia confirmed his hopes by asking “Holy shit, is that them?!”

You looked completely fine; in fact, you looked like you were having fun

Julian still couldn’t quite believe his eyes, and stared, open-mouthed, as he tried to process that, yes, this was really you

(Portia gave him a little shove to get him started)

When your eyes locked with his, he felt all the excitement and anxiety of new love all over again. It was like all the emotions that he had felt over the months that you were gone came crashing back into him all at once

So needless to say, it was a tearful reunion, especially on his part

You didn’t stay at the tavern much longer than that; Julian really wasn’t in the right headspace for drinking or chatting with friends

The two of you went him, with him clinging to you like a koala

Obviously you were in for a long night of explaining yourself

He listened to every detail, never interrupting

Once your story was finished, he felt his heart settle in a way that it hadn’t since you left

And of course, with that sense of calm came all the exhaustion of having the world’s worst sleep schedule

He wanted to pass out immediately, preferably in bed beside you, but first, he had a few choice things to say to you

One, how dare you have such an amazing adventure without him?

Two, how dare you risk your life with bandits for months?

Three, how dare you do all of the above without contacting him?

And finally four, he loves you so so so much, please never scare him like that again, and obviously he doesn’t blame you for being kidnapped because that’s not your fault so please don’t blame yourself, but also please come home faster and don’t get involved with bandits, because believe him, he’s been down that road and it can get really messy really quick, and while he knows you can take care of yourself he really doesn’t want you to get hurt without him even knowing

He got a bit ramble-y at the end, but he was so tired that he really couldn’t process his own grammar

He asked you to come to bed, which the promise that you would talk more thoroughly in the morning when he could think properly again

And by morning, he meant like 24 hours later, because this man was practically in a coma

Later on, he would ask to meet the members of your bandit crew

He phrased it as wanting to “meet your friends”, but really he was heavily judging them to decide whether or not you were safe with them

Julian isn’t really known for being on the right side of the law, so he wouldn’t dare lecture you for your legal choices, but he does need to know that you’re being relatively safe

If this is the life you want to lead, then obviously he’s coming with you

Seeing you happy, and being with you, was more than enough for him

[lemonmatronics]

I just got done watching Out of the Past and I don’t think I’ll ever recover omg

I cried like 5 times and it took me an hour to get through cause I had to keep pausing to freak out and compose myself

That episode…GOD THAT EPISODE

I wanna ramble so spoilers below the cut since it’s like, actually a lot

So much in that episode got revealed it’s making me insane

Aja and Shana being the first Starlight Girls makes me so insane. Idk if they had ever mentioned that before and I just didn’t notice or forgot, but GOD that adds sm to the whole band’s bond. As well as adding to them working at Starlight too. They didn’t just work there because they agreed with the dream Jacqui stood for, Aja and Shana WERE the dream. That makes me sooooo crazy TEEHEEHEE

Also the reveal of how their mom died…ough

It explains a lot about Jerrica’s whole character to me tbh. Throughout the whole series so far I’ve been here thinking, “Wow, Jerrica is awfully patient and understanding with people. She’s barely ever mad at or super upset with people she cares about, and if she is it’s not for long”

and like…after learning that YEAH, Of course she’s like that! The last time she saw her mother she acted awful to her

What if she gets upset with someone and that’s the last time she ever sees them? It makes so much sense to me and makes what was seemingly a “flat and almost always perfect” type of character a lot more compelling. Not to say I didn’t like her before, I fuckin adore Jerrica, but that layer of extra complexity adds a LOT to her.

Speaking of Jerrica I loved seeing her grieve more. Both her and Kimber both seemed to have delayed reactions to each of their parents deaths, and sure that may have been accidental (most likely was), I think it’s interesting that big events and happenstances cause these emotions to bubble up later on. It’s gives a grounded layer of realism to their characters and I like that!

I also like that Jerrica used to kinda be a brat when she was younger. She wasn’t ALWAYS so thoughtful and acted like any kid and teen would to stuff happening around her, which again I like. It’s a realistic layer to her that adds a lot for me.

Onto talking about her mom more, the insight on both parents makes me nuts. Synergy being made with Jacqui’s voice and such drives me up the wall, that reveal floored me. But I like that it doesn’t change the fact Synergy is still her own separate being, she’s not Jacqui herself, only similar.

And the earrings being the last thing their father made…ohh makes me crazy. He wanted to give them to Jerrica personally…OOOH MAKES ME CRAZY….HE KNEW HE WAS DYING AND SPENT HIS LAST DAYS GETTING THINGS READY FOR HIS FAMILY…...OOOOHHHH MAKES ME CRAZY

And Eric Raymond…Eric when I catch you Eric. I’m going to kill that man I SWEAR DJJSHX Like I knew he was fucked up but OH MY GOD DUDE

Burning them in front of her!? Knowing it’s all she really has left of her mom voice!?

Slap was DESERVED. Her crying for her mom over the fire, her straight up reaching INTO the fire!? Should’ve beaten his ass.

Side note I fuckin love how much they slap men in this show. It’s not so much it loses its shock and impact when it happens, but enough to where you can say “yeah they slap guys a lot” and it’s true.

I also really like that The Misfits aren’t really active antagonists in this episode either. For multiple reasons.

The most they do is help Eric look for those tapes, and they don’t even know why they’re so important. Even after asking, and Eric is the one that finds them anyways so they don’t ever find out. And they’re left at that, no other appearance.

The Misfit’s rivalry with Jem is very petty and spiteful, as much as it may feel personal for them, it’s really not. It’s simply a band rivalry, an extreme one, but it’s formed out of very juvenile motivation.

Eric’s rivalry is not, his beef with Jerrica is IMMENSELY more personal not only because he used to be part of the company, but because he used to be a friend of the family. He knew this girl ever since she was a teenager, and she was ALWAYS a threat to him having full company control. And once she managed to kick him out the door any nice facade with her was over. She’s the reason he lost so much and depends so heavily on a band that treats him like shit (haha).

Their rivalry is infinitely more personal, and for such a personal conflict involving Jerrica’s dead mother, the woman that started Starlight, it only makes sense this would be a battle for him and him alone.

Additionally,, I just don’t think even The Misfits would go that far. Hell even Raymond with anyone else, but because it was Jerrica Benton specifically he had no issue burning her mother’s tapes right in front of her.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hi! I just saw your post on DS2 and I have a HUGE problem with that movie, and it mainly comes down to the fact that it fails (in my mind) to properly explore character development. To explain what I mean a bit more, the MCU is a franchise and that franchise is literally built on its characters. I mean, it’s not just “MOM” it’s “Doctor Strange in the MOM.” So, a lot of people are coming to see DS and Wanda and their interactions. DS had a pretty lacklustre motivation and I honestly didn’t buy his role as a mentor with how little time it took for him to let go of his arrogance, but with Wanda especially her arc is so neglected just so shel’ll play the villainous role. They set up this whole narrative for her in Wandavision ending with her grief and hope, but then just skips to her being utterly insane. This is probably even worse for people who haven’t watched the series and just witness her going from the end of Endgame to fully evil. It wouldn’t be such a problem if Marvel didn’t pride itself on its character driven narratives but it DOES. Rewrites or no, I felt that the reason the film felt so soulless was that it prioritised fan service and wider MCU connectivity over the thing that brings the audience and drives the narrative in the first place: the characters.

(referencing this post)

Hey Lovely!

YES UGH. And it's frustrating because it kind of forces people to get the streaming so they know what happened in the "in between"? like, Marvel shows should have NEVER been about "solving movie level issues" more just like about a singular character and their adventures. Like Agents of Shield and Daredevil were (to my knowledge, I haven't seen either). So yeah, to some rando, MOM just... seemed really weird? But even then ALL the characterizations were SO OFF and, as I mentioned, Doctor Strange became a secondary character in his own movie. It's like they wanted someone else for a villain and someone higher up said, NAW let's make Wanda the villain and oop how about this fan service and let's introduce a character who's powers are SO ridiculously OP'd that it changes the power scaling of the most powerful sorcerer in the MCU.

Don't get me wrong, I liked America, and I liked the Illuminati, BUT they should have NEVER been introduced in a Doctor Strange Movie? Like... it's weird.

I dunno, I'm seeing theories going around now that they're setting up Doctor Strange to be the big bad of Secret Wars instead of Kang, so I don't know anymore. I just... wanted a continuation of DS1, and Mordo should have been a bad guy in DS2.

DS2 just... is so convoluted and not even a DS movie? I didn't hate the movie, I just... felt it WASN'T a DS movie, like the first one was. It felt like it was just there to introduce the Multiverse in the most convoluted and confusing way possible.

And WandaVision, even though I didn't really like it as much as everyone else apparently, did a good job of showing Wanda's trauma. I just feel that DS2 really undid all that and just... made her a villain to sell toys because everyone loves her.

Ugh. Then again, apparently my tastes are crap because the only Marvel shows I enjoyed all the way through were Moon Knight, Hawkeye and FatWS, so what do I know. Loki was alright until they fucking shoehorned that horrid romance into it. Feh.

Anyway, thanks for sharing your thoughts Lovely <3

[drabbles-mc]

Tied Up

Rick Flag & Harley Quinn

For @the-slumberparty's Bingo Challenge! Bingo square: hostage

Warnings: 18+, blood/injury, language

Word Count: 2.3k

A/N: I would love nothing more than to just keep putting these two in scenarios and making them talk forever. I love them. 😌

Suicide Squad Taglist: @garbinge @artemiseamoon @narcolini @justreblogginfics (If you want to be added to any of my taglists, please let me know!)

When Rick came-to, he couldn’t pick one specific thought or sensation to focus on first. Every muscle in his body ached, he didn’t recognize where he was, he couldn’t move his hands or his arms. Couldn’t move his legs either. All around it just wasn’t an ideal situation. And the fact that it was almost deafeningly silent in the room only further solidified his discomfort.

If it was silent in the room, it meant one of two things. Either they caught the others from his team and they were keeping everyone separated, or that he was the only one who had been taken. If he was the only one taken, it begged the question of whether or not everyone else got away, or if everyone else just didn’t make it. Whatever the case, he was alone. And if everyone else had managed to get out of being captured, he had a hard time picturing them all showing up to try and save him.

Maybe the rest of the team survived. Maybe they survived and would come for him. Waller’s ever-present threat to kill all of them in one fell swoop had lost a bit of its luster as the days and weeks turned into months. Mostly because the majority of Task Force X that survived to go from one mission to the next lost the motivation to try and take him out. And Rick was, typically, the most mindful and cautious out in the field. This scenario wasn’t one that any of them had encountered before. It’d all happened so fast, Rick wasn’t even sure if he would’ve been able to explain what had really happened. It wasn’t any singular person’s fault—or at least, he didn’t think it was. It was shit luck, which was pretty on par for what they dealt with on a day-to-day basis.

He ran through the team roster in his head. There were a few people who had been on a majority of the missions since Task Force X was brought together. If someone was going to go to bat for him, it was going to have to be one of them. Newbies never gave a shit, a sentiment that Rick understood because he felt much the same way about everyone and everything having to do with their team when they were all thrown together at the start. He wondered how different his life would be now if he’d made those phone calls, weaseled his way out of it. He figured that, at least, he wouldn’t be cuffed and tied to a chair in a room that would be sure to drive anyone insane if they were forced to sit in it long enough.

Shaking his head at himself, he forced his mind to get back on the original track: trying to figure out who, if anyone, would be willing to try and save him. The information on each member of the team was flashing through his mind like he was flipping through a rolodex. Harley was the first person who came to mind. He’d like to think that she’d come for him if she was able to—the two of them had been through enough together. He’d done it for her before, and he’d like to think that she would do the same for him, but he could never be sure with her. Boomerang was another long-term teammate but Rick wasn’t desperate or disillusioned enough to think that Harkness would put his ass on the line for his commanding officer. Not under any circumstances, really, but especially not under the constraints of Task Force X. DuBois was new to the team but not new to Rick. DuBois was also someone who knew how to play the game, so even if he wasn’t motivated to save Rick out of any real sense of loyalty, he’d do it because it could be beneficial to him down the line. Peacemaker was another wild card. Maybe he could be swayed if someone argued a good enough case, but there was no certainty in that.

It was a short list. One that was probably shorter in practice than it was in theory in his head. He should’ve known better than to give it any further thought, but he didn’t have much else to do with his time given his current circumstances. He knew that maybe he should’ve been trying to put together a plan to get himself out of this mess, but his brain just wasn’t quite there yet. He knew better than to rely on anyone else for much of anything, but between the pain and the exhaustion it was the best that he could hope for.

Minutes ticked by, and even though the physical pain wasn’t subsiding at all, it felt like his mind was slowly getting back into gear. He didn’t want to think too much about how hard they must’ve hit his head.

He started to slowly twist and work against the rope around his wrists. There was no telling how much time he had before someone came to check on him. He didn’t even know if someone was going to come and check on him. It seemed foolish, like more work than it was worth, to kidnap him just to leave him stranded to die but he’d seen people do dumber things.

Even without being able to see it, Rick knew that the constant pull of the ropes against his wrists was breaking the skin. The sting of it was unmistakable. But through the pain of it he could still feel that he was beginning to make some progress. It wasn’t much, but the ropes were very slowly starting to give. He just had to keep at it.

He clenched and unclenched his hands. He was about to try and wriggle them out of the ropes when he heard clattering coming from outside the room. He froze, sitting up a little straighter. There was nothing that he could do in his current position to keep anything from happening, but he couldn’t help trying to brace himself regardless.

The door flung open and Rick flinched, not sure who or what was going to come storming inside. He was prepared for the worst, ready for this to be it. He was expecting that to a degree. What he hadn’t been expecting was for Harley to be the one kicking in the door, pistol in one hand, javelin in the other.

“Harley?”

“Flag!” She walked over, her expression and movements far too casual for someone who was splattered with as much blood as she was. At least it meant that most of it, if not all of it, wasn’t her own. “What are you still doin’ in here?”

The shock on his face disappeared, immediately replaced by annoyance. “Just couldn’t bring myself to leave,” he replied sarcastically.

Harley laughed, leaning the javelin against the wall once she was closer. “Little tied up?”

“Harley.”

“Admit it was funny and I’ll let you go.”

“You’d come all this way and not get me outta here?”

“Wanna find out?”

He didn’t. With a deep sigh, he gave in. “It was a funny joke.”

With a satisfied nod, Harley pulled the knife off her belt and easily cut through the ropes that were binding Rick’s wrists together. Before he could even make a move to address it himself, she also sliced through the ones that were keeping his legs bound to the chair as well. He nearly toppled out of the chair from the combination of the loss of tension and the lack of blood that had been going to his legs for however long he’d been there, but he managed to catch himself.

“How’d you find me?” he asked as he rubbed at his wrists, trying to get the blood flowing back into them.

Harley rolled her eyes. “Can’t believe you’d even ask me that.”

“No, I mean,” he slowly stood up, trying not to move too much while he got the feeling back into his legs and ankles, “maybe not how. I just didn’t think that anyone was gonna come lookin’.”

“You asking me why?”

“Yeah.”

She pointed the knife at him that she’d just used to cut him loose. “That’s worse!”

“What—”

“Why? Why did we come find you?”

“We?”

“Don’t change the subject!”

“Let’s not do this right now. Can we,” he gestured towards the door, “Are we gonna be able to get out of here?”

Harley rolled her eyes, clearly not done with the argument forever but willing to table it for now. “Got in here, didn’t we?”

“You’re the only one who got in here,” he remarked as he started making his way towards the door, trying not to think about the dull ache in his legs because of how stiff they still felt. “I got brought here. Against my will, in case you forgot.”

“Yeah, and then I came to save you,” she said as she walked out the door ahead of him, “so feel free to thank me whenever the mood strikes.”

Rick had no choice but to follow Harley as she led the way. She was kind enough to toss him one of her handguns since everything that Rick previously had on him had been confiscated when he got captured. As they wound their way through halls and down staircases, Rick was surprised at the amount of carnage when he probably shouldn’t have been. There were still a few lingering problems that they had to address, people trying to prevent them from getting out. They made quick work of it. Getting out was much easier than getting in, according to Harley.

“Boomer was in his glory,” she said with a laugh, “even if he didn’t wanna come along.”

Rick shook his head—at least he had one thing right. “How’d you talk him into this?”

“I didn’t. I was gonna get you without him. But your friend, there, with the,” she gestured to her face, “you know, the helmet.”

“DuBois?”

“Who?”

He sighed. “Bloodsport?”

Her face lit up as she cast a glance back at him. “Yes! Him!” She turned back around as they made their way towards the door. “He’s real convincin’ when he wants to be.”

He chuckled at that. “Yeah, that’s one way to put it.”

Once they were outside and reunited with the rest of their team, Boomerang was the first one to speak up. “Well, look who finally decided t’come out and play.”

Harley laughed and rolled her eyes. “Cut him some slack, Boomer. Flag just got a little ti—”

“Don’t say it,” Rick cut her off with a shake of his head. He kept walking past them, placing himself at the front of their small cluster so they could finally start to head out of the warzone they’d landed themselves in. “Would rather deal with whatever Harkness has to say.”

No one said much on the helo-ride back to Belle Reve. With the exception of some verbal jabs back and forth as they all got settled in their respective slots along the helicopter wall, it seemed like no one had much to say. Maybe for once exhaustion got the best of everyone. It certainly seemed to have gotten the best of Rick, who found himself sitting next to Harley instead of standing and lingering by the front the way that he usually did.

It was going to be a long ride back, and it didn’t take too long for everyone to start dozing off. Rick wished that he could pass out like his team but he felt too restless for that. He tried to relax his body at least even if his mind wouldn’t let him sleep. As he closed his eyes he was slowly forcing the tension out of his muscles, a simple thing that shouldn’t have been proving to be so difficult.

“Why didn’t you think I’d come get you?” Harley piped up from right beside him.

All the work he’d just put into relaxing went completely out the window as he flinched at the sound of her voice. She wasn’t even being exceptionally loud, but he was certain that she’d been passed out like the rest of them. Apparently not.

Letting out a deep sigh, his eyes stayed closed as he answered her with a response that did nothing to actually answer her question. “What?”

“You thought I’d just leave ya there?”

The twinge of genuine hurt in her voice got Rick to open his eyes and look over at her. “We’re still on that?”

“Yeah, we are.”

He gave a small shrug. “Wouldn’t have blamed you guys if you just wanted to get the hell out of there.”

She shook her head, none of her hurt feelings alleviated by his reasoning. “We don’t…do that.”

Rick scoffed. “Yeah, oka—”

“We,” she repeated the word, motioning back and forth between them for emphasis, “don’t.”

His knee-jerk reaction was to come back with a pithy remark. Something short, just cutting enough to stop the conversation in its tracks. It would’ve been so easy—he did it with her all the time. But everything felt different now. She was being more honest than usual, had been since she showed up to break him out. He wondered if he could find it in himself to do the same.

“No,” he finally conceded, “we don’t.”

“But you still thought I would.”

“Was hoping that you wouldn’t.”

“You should’ve just known.”

Rick shook his head. He knew that the two of them could fire back and forth the entire ride back. It’d take nothing for them to do so. Taking a deep breath, he said, “I should’ve.”

“Promise not to doubt me next time?”

He chuckled wearily. “Next time? Gonna let ‘em get me again?”

A grin stretched across her face for a moment before she leaned over, dropping her head against his shoulder. “Maybe. Just to prove a point.”