#We’re all so busy and most of my teachers don’t allow us to just have our pcs out whenever we please so I can’t message them

[spinobsessed]

I want so desperately to be with my friends again but whenever I get the rare opportunity to meet up with them, it just leaves me more hurt than before

[edenavari]

On the Matter of Mirrors

Eddie is still trying to convince Steve he and Nancy are made for each other. It comes up, like, everytime they hang out, which is all the time, because Steve couldn’t stay away if he wanted to. He doesn’t, but he also wishes Eddie would quit trying to set him up with someone else. 

‘Cause, like, here’s the thing. Steve likes girls. He also, he realized sometime after Robin came out to him, quite likes boys. He likes Eddie. Like… Really likes him. Practices pick-up lines in front of the mirror kind of like. Wears a little more black and tousles his hair just right to give himself a subversive edge he never used to have, just the right amount to trigger a subconscious response without appearing to be tweaking his fashion sense at all. Has mastered the art of wearing eyeliner without looking like he’s wearing it, and it took him a fucking while to work up the nerve to go out like that, not that anyone but Robin noticed. 

But Eddie just will not drop the Nancy case, no matter how many times Steve tries to stir the conversation away from her, and between his budding crush and the crushing fear that it’s never gonna be anything but one-sided, between the slightest of sore spots Steve still sports about the way things with Nancy ended in the first place and the bitter edge of never managing for something to start with Eddie after weeks of efforts, it’s beginning to grate, right? 

“So what’s the problem?” Eddie insists, bounding circles around Steve like an eager puppy, and something in Steve’s ribcage snaps. 

They’re in Steve’s room studying when it comes up once a-fucking-gain. Eddie is taking accelerated summer classes so he can finally graduate by September, and by some inexplicable fuckery of fate, despite Steve’s own dirt poor records, he’s turning out to be a decent tutor. Something about Eddie managing to focus in a way a classroom environment never allowed him to. Maybe because most teachers and over half the student body were openly hostile at worst and aggressively ignoring Eddie at best, all because of his last name or his tattoos or his loud brassy cheek.

All the same, Eddie does get distracted fairly easily, and an hour in, he’s bounced off the bed and started rattling reasons Nancy Wheeler is definitely Steve Harrington’s soulmate. Steve groans noncommittally, gets up to grab his water from the desk and takes a long swallow as Eddie keeps needling him. 

“You’re the problem, Eddie,” he all but snarls, when he really meant it to come out exasperated at worst.

He snarls, though, and Eddie stiffens, his eyes going cold and hurt and the corner of his mouth turned down in anger. 

“Right,” he says, and it sounds so casual Steve thinks he won’t make a big deal of his tone after all. Fool’s hope. “I’ll get out of your perfect hair, then,” Eddie spits out as he makes for the door, only Steve stands in his way, hands up in surrender. 

“Wait, I didn’t mean it like that,” he starts. 

“No, you’re right, it’s none of my business,” Eddie interrupts, but he steps back, gesturing wildly as he speaks. “It’s not like we’re even friends, you just got saddled with me because of Dustin. We saved the world together? Big deal! My involvement was incidental, really, more of an inconvenience than any kind of help. Why would you want my opinion, of all people’s, right? Even by this point. Get out of my way, I’ll quit stepping on your toes. Go on!”

“I don’t want you to go, Eddie,” Steve tries again. 

“Just want me to shut up, is that it? Not really my strong suit, you might have noticed.”

Steve can’t help smiling. “I have noticed.”

It only seems to rile Eddie up even more, throwing his hands out and making to step around Steve again. “Man, what do you want from me?”

“Is this allowed?” he breathes out, extending the last word beyond its scope. 

Which puts him within reaching distance of Steve, who grabs him by the lapels of his jacket and presses him, careful not to jostle him too bad but firm enough to counter his manic strength, against the wall. He doesn’t know what to say, so he doesn’t say anything, just presses a touch too close, lets himself imagine that he’s going to close the distance entirely, cocks his head and licks his lips and hangs there in a way he hopes spells it out for Eddie without inducing any kind of panic. 

Eddie, hands still up at shoulder height, lets out a little huff close to a whimper when his back hits the wall, bracing himself for a hit that would never come, and maybe some part of him knows this, because he doesn’t look scared or angry anymore, just kind of confused with a side of grief, and it doesn’t take two seconds for him to start to look intrigued, maybe even, if Steve allows himself a little optimism, interested. 

His lips part on a sharp inhale, and they’re close enough to smell each other’s skin, and Eddie’s eyes drop to Steve’s mouth, a little watery and out of focus, edging forward in a way that could just be a twitch, just a consequence of holding his breath the way he is, plausibly deniable, subconscious no doubt, only when Steve mirrors the movement, he does it again, gaze moving up and down from Steve’s eyes to his lips and back and back again without blinking, until twitch by twitch their noses graze and their mouths connect and Steve closes his eyes and concentrates on maintaining that seal over Eddie’s plush, pliable pout, because if he didn’t focus, he’d be way, way overeager for a first kiss. 

He moves back after several seconds with a shaky exhale, swallows as he finds Eddie’s eyes again. His blood is thrumming in his fingertips, somehow he feels both cold between his shoulder blades and warm down to his toes, and if Eddie looks at all put out he thinks he might never manage another mirror in his life. 

The look on Eddie’s face is pure disbelief. 

Steve shrugs, not quite settled on the matter of mirrors. “I thought you made a point of breaking the rules?”

A glint starts to wake in Eddie’s eye that’s looking more delighted by the minute. 

“Just as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone.”

“We’re in the clear, then,” Steve whispers, leaning in, just a smidge. 

Both of Eddie’s hands sink into his hair as he pulls him into another, much steamier, kiss. Steve lets his fists fall from Eddie’s lapels and knot over his back instead, lets his mouth drop slightly open, an invitation Eddie wastes not a second to follow through on, teeth scraping and back arching like he wants to sink all the way into Steve, and by the time they’re parting, breathless, cheeks flushed, mouths stinging, Steve’s one hand is braced against the wall, holding himself up, knees too weak to do the job on their own. 

“I thought you could barely stand me,” Eddie heaves.

“I can’t,” Steve admits. “You drive me nuts. Just not how you thought.”

Eddie frowns, suddenly serious. 

“You should forget all about Nancy.”

Steve frowns too. “That so?”

“Hm-mm. She’s taken, man. And not all that. You need to move on.”

“Damn,” Steve sighs. “Am I being desperate?”

“Pathetic,” Eddie nods, barely a whisper against Steve’s lips, and they break into smiles in tandem. “Forget all about her,” Eddie repeats. 

“Who?” Is the last word Steve gets out. Then he’s busy enough he really does forget. 

When he fixes his hair in the bathroom mirror in the morning, he walks away with a wink.

Give us a kudos, if ye dare x

[peanut-tyrug]

Inside Out Fanfic: Testing Turmoil

Riley’s first big test of High School has finally come to pass. The emotions can’t help but lose their cool over the bombshell looming above their heads.

—

I want to mention (So Disney doesn’t sue me or smth) that I don’t take credit for Inside Out, it’s sequel, characters, or concepts/premises. That goes to Disney and Pixar.

I also had a friend assist me in characterization and coming up with ideas for this fic, a friend who I’ll call Luigiman64. He’s basically my co-writer for this.

—

TRIGGER WARNING: This fic contains pressure from anxiety, crying, angry outbursts, and caps. If you are not comfortable with these things, please don’t read this.

The end of the school day felt slow and boring. It was the last class of the day, and there wasn’t much that was worth noting. People talked and giggled amongst each other. All while Riley eyed the clock on the wall within her Algebra teacher’s room that eerily and steadily ticked away.

…Even Riley’s emotions eyed the clock with her from time to time, Joy appearing the most bored out of her mind. The other emotions found ways to keep themselves busy while Joy and Ennui sat at the Console, awaiting the days end. Joy keeping Riley’s mind active with a daydream while Ennui keeps the girl in her bored headspace.

Fear silently sat in one of the chairs in the room, fidgeting with his hands and greatly trembling. The silence within Headquarters was slowly but surely driving him up a wall.

Fear’s expression descends into a horrified look as he pulls a paper bag from his pocket and hyperventilates into it. After a moment, the bag pops, suddenly whacking the emotions out of their individual states of boredom.

“Can you shut up!?” Anger suddenly shouts, lifting the newspaper in his hands away from his face.

“What!?” Fear exclaims. “It’s so quiet!”

“And you can’t not keep your trap shut!?” Anger exclaims back.

“You both need to shut up!” Disgust quips. “I can’t relax with all your dumb yapping!”

“…Fighting makes me sad…” Sadness says to herself.

“AGHH! I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!!” Envy suddenly butts in as she rushes to the Console and lays on it. “Why can’t the day just be over already?” She whines.

Ennui only roles her eyes from the seat she sat upon. Embarrassment only stood off to the side, not wishing to comment on the chaos around him.

Joy then turns to the others behind her, a peppy smile crossing her lips. “Hey, come on! We only have… four minutes til the bell!” She says. “Think positive!”

Suddenly, a sharp shriek tears through the air. Everyone turns toward the back of Headquarters to spot Anxiety flailing in the air as she scurries over to Joy in a panicked hurry.

“S-s-something’s gonna happen, Joy!” Says Anxiety, gripping her hair. “I can feel it in my FIBERS!!”

“Come on, there’s barely any time left in the day!” Says Joy. “What could happen?”

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Says a voice. The emotions look up at the teacher as he only now begun to speak. Joy takes the daydream out of Riley’s head, allowing her to pay attention.

“We’re having a test next Monday!” Says the teacher. “I expect you all to be prepared, especially since you can’t use your notes! It’s a big test!”

The entire class then groans, and the emotions only look on perplexed and confused… even Ennui perked her head up a bit before looking back down at her phone… and then the teacher speaks again.

“…To motivate you all, I’m also giving a reward to the top scorer!” Says the teacher. “A Get up and Glow ticket!”

Envy then appears interested at the sight of the ticket, before Disgust drags her off of the Console.

Joy smiles brightly at the idea of the reward, but most of the other emotions seem more focused on the test…

“…T-t-t-t-TEST!?” Anxiety stutters.

Most of the emotions then speak out of their frustrations in a cacophony of remarks and complaints. Joy then turns back to the others and tries to calm the sudden storm.

“Hey!” Says Joy. “We’ll be fine! Just relax!”

“What if we forget something important? What if we can’t focus?” Says Anxiety as she paces. “What if we fail!?”

Envy also seems to join Anxiety in the worry party. “What if someone gets a better score than us?” She says. “And someone starts bullying us? AND WHAT ABOUT THAT TICKET!?”

“We won’t fail!” Says Joy. “We’re great at Algebra! Look!”

With a press of a button, a memory of Riley taking a look at previous Algebra test grades on a printed on a report card appears. Most of the grades are A’s and B’s, except a single F sticking out like a sore thumb.

“Look at all those good grades!” Joy points out.

“But what about that F!?” Anxiety retorts.

“It was just one!” Says Joy. “It’s fine! We’ll be fine!”

“But these tests aren’t easy, Joy!” Says Anxiety. “I’ve kept track of those questions! There nothing like what’s taught! …Oh, what if we fail again?”

“But has any of that stopped Riley before?” Joy asks.

Anxiety pauses. “…No.” She says. “But what if—!”

“Ah!” Joy interrupts, placing an index finger over Anxiety’s mouth. “We’ll be fine! We don’t need to worry! Let’s just spend our weekend like it’s the last weekend of our life!”

The bell then suddenly rings, dismissing the students from the room.

“Have a good weekend!” Says the teacher. “And study!”

Hearing that only drives Anxiety further down her own rabbit hole. She then turns to Joy as the emotions watch Riley step out of the room. “…Can we at least study?” Says Anxiety. “Just in case?”

Joy then seems to consider it for a moment before turning back to Anxiety. “It wouldn’t hurt.” She says. “Riley’s very smart though! I’m sure she’ll be alright, whether we study or not.”

“…Really?” Anxiety questions, sounding slightly uncertain.

“Of course!” Joy reassures. She then takes notice of how stressed Anxiety was. “Maybe take a seat in your Special Chair? That might ease you up!”

Anxiety then rethinks herself as she turns to the leather chair off to the side. “…Yeah.” She says. “Maybe I do need it…”

Anxiety steps to the chair and sets herself in it, allowing herself to relax as the others watch Riley exit the school and wait for her ride home.

—

Saturday night has fallen upon Riley and her emotions. It’s late at night, later than her normal bed time as her parents let her stay up. She sits on the couch, binging some old horror movies she found.

The emotions, all except Fear and Embarrassment, sit within Headquarters, excitedly watching the movie as it plays out.

From the side, Anxiety slowly scoots over to Joy, who doesn’t seem to be paying attention to her presence.

“…Hey, Joy?” Anxiety asks. “It’s getting late. Shouldn’t we be studying?” She probes a bit as her voice shakes in worry.

“I’m sure one more movie couldn’t hurt, Anxiety.” Joy responds almost immediately without even looking toward the anxious emotion… she wasn’t paying attention, Anxiety noticed.

“Shhhh!” Envy hushes. “This is getting good!”

Anxiety then turns to the face the film, only to swiftly gasp in horror before looking away. “I don’t think you should be watching that!” She shrieks.

“DON’T EVEN TRY TO GET HER AWAY FROM IT!!” Fear shouts from the bedroom upstairs. “I tried to get her away from it, AND SHE BIT ME!” He cries.

Anxiety doesn’t even try to get Envy off the console as she only looks to the small emotion in perplexity before looking back up toward Joy.

“…Just… please, Joy.” Anxiety pleas. “Remember! We need to be prepared!”

“Don’t worry! We’ll get to studying when we get there!” Says Joy.

…Anxiety doubts Joy’s claim as she paces a little behind the other emotions. Joy turns back to face Anxiety, a smile plastered on her face.

“It’s okay!” Says Joy, now getting on her knees to get to Anxiety’s level. “We’ll get there! I promise.”

The sudden sound of chainsaw whirring on the TV knocks Joy out of her sincerity and glues her eyes back to the TV. Anxiety lets out a guttural shrill of terror before scurrying away out of the room while the other emotions look on at the horrifying sight.

Disgust then recoils at the sight, immediately feeling sick to her stomach. “Ughhh!” She groans as she suddenly feels the need to puke. She then runs off.

Anger then seems enraged. “Why did he run into the garage!? There’s a guy with a chainsaw after you, and you dragged your sorry self into a corner!?”

Sadness only looks on in distress. Ennui breathes out a small chuckle, smirking a bit. Envy’s eyes sparkle at the scene as the sound of a chainsaw and blood-curdling screams fill the air. She smiles in an eerie delight as she bellows. The laugh descends into a sickening, menacing cackle.

“GUTS!!” Envy exclaims as she cackles.

…If only Fear were here right now…

~~~

Midnight has struck, and the emotions are heading to bed, as Riley can barely keep her eyes open without nodding off.

As Joy heads up to her bed, Anxiety appears behind her and taps her shoulder. Joy turns back to see a mildly distressed Anxiety, still not dressed in her night gown and her hair crinkled.

“…Joy?” Anxiety questions. “We need to—!”

“Oh! I totally forgot!” Joy interrupts, startling Anxiety a bit. “I’m sorry, Anxiety. But, hey! We still have tomorrow! And Riley’s too tired to stay up any longer.”

“…You’re right.” Says Anxiety, sounding slightly defeated. “We can’t be up any later. It’s past midnight… please, just remember tomorrow?”

“I will.” Joy reassures. “Good night, Anxiety.” She then turns up to the bedroom and heads to her bed.

“…Good night, Joy.” Anxiety stammers. She then hurries to her Special Chair… she always found herself asleep in that.

…Although, no matter how relaxed she could possibly feel in that seat, she just couldn’t fall asleep… the stress of it all was getting to her.

—

It’s early the next morning. The emotions are preparing for another day… all while Anxiety clings to the armrests of her chair, hair crinkled and messy with a horribly worried expression smacked on her face.

As Joy struts into Headquarters’ main room, she spots Anxiety, looking more stressed than normal. She immediately feels worried about her as she walks over to her, eyebrows furrowed.

“Anxiety?” Joy questions. “Did you sleep at all last night?”

“NO!!” Anxiety shrieks, tugging her hair. “I can’t help but worry! We still aren’t ready for the test!”

Joy seems confused for a moment… before remembering. “Oh! That! I’m sure we’ll be alright!” Joy reassures. “We’ll get there. I’ll make sure of it!”

Anxiety’s hair relaxes as an idea pops in her head. She smiles and looks up to Joy from her chair. “We can study before bed!” She says. “It helps with remembering important information!”

“That’s the spirit!” Says Joy.

“…I’ll plan out what we need to study.” Says Anxiety as she gets up from her chair. “Let me know when Riley’s ready!”

“I will!” Says Joy. Her expression falters into slight worry. “…Will you be okay?”

“I’ll be fine!” Anxiety responds. “I still have energy drinks left over!”

Anxiety then hurries upstairs, grabbing an unused clipboard as she heads to a back room. While she was busy preparing, Riley could have some fun before she studied.

…Or, at least, that’s what Joy was expecting the plan would be.

~~~

Anxiety had been preparing for the entire day, awaiting Joy’s word that she was ready… but never heard anything from her.

She waited, tapping her foot against the floor anxiously. Wondering where she had been, or what she could be doing.

Anxiety then collects her clipboard and hurries out of the room into the main area, expecting to see everyone there… but she saw no one.

The room was empty and dark. Deathly quiet, with only the anxious emotion’s steps and breathing bringing sound into the room. The memories that would normally be on the shelves also appeared to be absent.

She peered out the window at the back of the room, gazing into the humongous maze that was Long Term Memory… only for the sky above it to be a deep navy blue.

Anxiety’s hair crinkles as she becomes increasingly distressed. She turns to the screen beyond the Console, and Riley’s eyes aren’t open… she had went to sleep.

And Joy never told her she was ready for Riley to study.

…What could’ve possibly come up? Some trip with Mom and Dad or Bree and Grace? Something else entirely? Anxiety could only let her mind race at what could’ve distracted Joy from something so integral and important to Riley’s success.

There wasn’t much anyone could do at that point, much to Anxiety’s dismay. She couldn’t just wake Riley up in the middle of the night. It wasn’t healthy.

Anxiety could only worry. Be rightfully upset with Joy’s actions… fear the worst.

Fear that Riley will fail. Fear that Riley will be held back a year. Fear that she’ll be bullied by kids who were able to score higher. Fear that she won’t graduate on time. Fear that she won’t have friends, or lose the ones she already has…

Anxiety’s fears and thoughts continuously spiraled in her head with no sign of stopping. She tried to sit in her Special Chair again as a desperate attempt to relax… but it didn’t work.

The chair wasn’t helping at all. Anxiety’s breathing wasn’t slowing, and her body continued to remain tense for the entire night.

She could only worry about how else the next morning could possibly get worse.

—

…The next morning has arose. The emotions had all just woken up and were prepared for the day… and were met with a swift jolt of energy the second Anxiety noticed them all come in the main room.

“JOOOOOY!!” Anxiety shrieks. She runs over Joy and grabs her by the shoulders. “Where were you!? We needed to study! It’s Monday! The test is today!”

Joy then scrambles through her mind, trying to figure out what Anxiety’s talking about… before it clicks.

“Oh!” Says Joy. She then seems a little lost for words. “…I forgot. I’m sorry.” She says, sounding upset and slightly ashamed.

“We don’t have time!” Says Anxiety. “We need to get ready right this minute!” She then hurries to the Console, ready to help Riley prepare, before Joy pulls her away.

“Wait!” Says Joy as the other emotions step by her. “Riley just woke up! Give her a minute! And we have time before that class anyway. It’s the last period.”

“But we only have so long!” Says Anxiety.

“We’ll be alright!” Says Joy.

“But what if we aren’t!?” Anxiety questions.

“It’s too early for this!” Anger butts in.

“Anger’s right. It’s too early.” Says Joy. “Let’s just get ready for school first, and then during lunch, we can study. And if that���s not enough, we can always recall a memory or two.”

…After a moment, Anxiety reels back and begins to calm down. “…Okay.” She says semi-confidently.

“Grab the deodorant!” Disgust suddenly declares to Joy. “We’ll need it after gym.”

“And the good kind!” Envy butts in.

“On it!” Says Joy.

“Don’t forget her backpack, Joy!” Fear butts in. “…I don’t want to deal with another class putting us on the spot for forgetting our homework…” He says as he fidgets in his spot.

Embarrassment clings to the draw-straps of his hood the moment that day was brought up. Sadness then negatively reminisces on that moment.

“…Riley was very hard on herself for that…” Says Sadness.

“Well, we won’t have to be. I won’t be forgetting again.” Says Joy.

…And yet she forgot that Riley needed to study?

Joy pays no mind to the obvious mistake of hers looming over her head as the emotions help Riley prepare for the day. Shortly after finishing her breakfast, Riley and her mother are out the door. The two of them step in the mother’s car and they head off.

“Another good day is ahead of us!” Says Joy.

After those words leave Joy’s mouth, Anxiety begins to descend further down the downward spiral she had been stuck in the moment the morning started…

~~~

The day was half way done, as lunch was in session. Riley had just finished eating, and was left without anything to do…

Or so, that was assumed to be true.

“Joy!” Anxiety exclaims. “Since we’re done eating, we have time to study!”

“Oh!” Says Joy. “Yeah! Let’s find our notebook!”

With a few button presses. Riley turns to her notebook and rummages through it… only for her expression to falter.

Her notebook was missing.

“…W-where’s our Algebra notebook?” Anxiety questions she turns to Joy. “Where is it?”

“…I don’t know.” Says Joy. “I could’ve sworn we had it…”

“I knew we should’ve checked if we had everything!” Says Fear.

“Okay, calm down.” Says Joy. “How about we retrace our steps! Where did we leave it last?”

“We had it on our… desk…” Anxiety falters. “WE LEFT IT ON OUR DESK!! And the teacher is on his break! We can’t get it back!”

“Don’t worry!” Says Joy. “We can just recall memories about the teacher’s lessons!”

Joy then turns back to the Console and taps a small recall button. Everyone sits and waits for the expected memories to show up…

~~~

Down in Long Term Memory, a group of Mind Workers walk through Riley’s memory banks, placing memories where they need to go. Their work is then suddenly interrupted by the group’s leader stepping in with a recall request from Headquarters.

“Hey!” Says the group leader, voice assertive and gruff. “We got a request for math memories! Get to it!”

“…Which ones?” Asks a Mind Worker.

“Not specified.” Says the leader. “Just send everything up there.”

The Mind Workers scatter to where each math memory is located, and swiftly sending them up to Headquarters, hoping they all arrive without causing a jam…

~~~

…The emotions sit and wait as they watch the recall tube descend… but nothing comes through.

“…W-why isn’t it working?” Anxiety questions. “It should work!”

Joy, appearing puzzled, steps to the recall tube and inspects it. She looks up the tube, and spots various random memories stuck inside it, unable to pass through.

“…They’re stuck up there…” Says Joy, sounding perplexed.

“What!?” Anxiety shrieks. “How much did they send in?”

“…A lot.” Says Joy.

“W-what’re we gonna do now!?” Fear stammers. “If we can’t recall anything—!”

“We won’t get that ticket!” Envy interrupts.

“Other kids’ll start judging us.” Disgust remarks. “Which they shouldn’t be doing at all…”

“And that’s why the stupid Mind Workers should do their job right!” Anger suddenly grumbles.

“What if we fail!?” Anxiety exclaims.

“Hold on!” Joy butts in. “I’m certain we could just try our best, right?”

Before anyone could agree or retort, Anxiety gets an idea. A smile appears on her face as she turns to Joy.

“Wait!” Says Anxiety. “…What if one of us went down to Long Term Memory to retrieve the memories we need?”

“…One of us out in Long Term?” Joy questions. “Are you sure?”

The idea of an emotion going out into Long Term Memory was never anticipated until it was knocking at their door. It was never intentional or at certain people’s will… but it happened anyway. And it wasn’t like there was much of an option either.

They could’ve used the extending stick that was once used to bring the Riley Protection System down, but with that gone, the stick was no longer needed, thus disposed of.

They could’ve stacked up and try to pick the memories out, but who knows how many had been sent up. It’d probably flood the entire main room.

They could try the recall button again, but who knows if the Mind Workers will do their job right the second time. They always seemed to screw up at the worst times…

Someone leaving Headquarters was their only option if they were to retrieve the memories they needed.

“I’ve studied the area from here, and made a map of Long Term Memory!” Says Anxiety. “No one should get lost out there! Whoever goes down can go through the Stream of Consciousness and make it back up through the Belief System!”

Joy smiles. “Always prepared! Great! As long as whoever goes can find their way there and back!” She says. “Who’s going?”

“Hehe… no.” Says Anxiety, as Joy turns to face her.

“Nope.” Says Fear, moving back.

“Never again.” Says Disgust.

“I don’t wannaaaa.” Says Envy.

“Non.” Ennui states in her monotone voice.

“What? You think I’ll say yes?” Says Anger.

Sadness shakes her head… only leaving Embarrassment to go out to Long Term Memory. His eyes widen and he hides himself under his hood.

“Come on, Embarrassment!” Says Joy. “It’ll be good to get out there! Plus, you’re the only one that can reach those tall shelves!”

Embarrassment only shakes his head, still hiding his face… before Sadness walks to him and taps his arm. He looks down, and sees the small emotion looking up at him.

“…I can go with him.” Says Sadness. A small smile then crosses her face. “…It’s okay, big guy. I’ll go with you.”

Embarrassment seems flattered by the request, glad he’ll have some company rather than be completely on his own.

Anxiety rushes to Sadness and Embarrassment, small clipboard in hand. “Take this!” She says, handing Sadness the clipboard. “The most up to date map of Long Term Memory I have! Be quick!”

Both emotions feel a bit upset that they’re being put on the spot… but it’s for Riley. They know that.

“Get to the recall tube, and find what we need!” Says Anxiety, pressing a small button below the tube with her foot. She shoves the two emotions under the recall tube as it reaches the floor, trapping them both inside it. “Go, go!”

The press of the button prompts the memories on the shelves within Headquarters to fall and tread along the various tracks and tubes within the room, including the descended recall tube.

Neither emotion has barely anytime to react as Sadness is sucked up the recall tube. Embarrassment struggles a bit as he goes up the tube with her, eventually going up behind her.

~~~

Sadness and Embarrassment travel through the recall tube, various random memories trailing behind them. The Personality Islands pop in and out of view as they quickly reach Long Term Memory.

It isn’t a long journey down at all, as Sadness falls into a cart already full of memories just as quickly as she was taken up the recall tube. She sits in the pile of memories, momentarily stunned, as she gets on her back. She then looks up the tube, awaiting Embarrassment.

…Although, he doesn’t show up.

Sadness grows increasingly worried, still looking up the tube. “…Embarrassment?” Sadness calls.

After a few moments, Embarrassment suddenly appears at the recall tube’s end and is quickly squeezed out into the cart, which he can barely fit in. Sadness has no time to move away as she is suddenly crushed under Embarrassment.

After Embarrassment recovers, he is quick to pick Sadness up and see if he hurt her anywhere, his face glossed in worry.

Sadness looks up to Embarrassment, looking slightly dazed. “…I’m fine.” She says.

Embarrassment gently lets Sadness down onto the ground, and sets himself out of the cart. Although, he can’t get out of it without knocking it over. He then scrambles to pick up the fallen memories and put them back in the cart, red in the face. Sadness is also quick to assist him.

Once the memories are picked up and placed back in the cart, Sadness’ expression falls into a deep worry. She looks on the ground for a moment, then back up to Embarrassment. “…W-where’s the map?”

Embarrassment’s eyes widen… he didn’t know. And neither of them had seen the clipboard map when picking up the memories. They didn’t even see it in the cart…

…It must’ve gotten lost in another recall tube…

Sadness then gasps in horror. “We lost the map!” She cries, tears already forming in her eyes. “What do we do? How are we going to find the memories now? We can’t find them without it…!”

Sadness’ rambling descends in a spiraling state of whimpers and cries. Hopelessness drowns out any word she could possibly form. Embarrassment wants to reassure her, but isn’t sure of what to do.

After hastily trying to make a decision, Embarrassment picks Sadness up and places her on his back. Despite being distressed, Sadness is surprised by the sudden act.

Embarrassment carries Sadness through the maze that is Long Term Memory, hoping that maybe the lost map is nearby…

~~~

The end of 5th period slowly approaches. Riley sits at her desk, nothing to work on and bored out of her mind.

Within Headquarters, most of the emotions sit at the Console, Ennui driving. At the back of the room, Anxiety paces. It had been almost an hour and Sadness and Embarrassment had yet to return.

…It shouldn’t have taken them as nearly as long as it already had. The memories they needed weren’t far from where the recall tube led according to her map and knowledge of how memories are organized… what could possibly be holding them?

Anxiety’s worries spiral into a ramble. “…What if they’re lost out there? Did they lose the map? Were the memories displaced? What if they don’t find them!?”

Ennui then turns back to the pacing Anxiety. “You worry too much.” She says.

Anxiety’s head swiftly turns to face Ennui. She then begins to approach the Console, seething. “I worry too much? I can’t help but worry!” She says. “It’s Joy’s fault that this happened at all! We wouldn’t be in this mess if Joy actually remembered! You didn’t even remind her!”

Silence engulfs the room like a blanket. Ennui, now left without an argument, only silently accepts her defeat. She didn’t have the energy to argue with her anyway.

…The other emotions didn’t pay much attention to Anxiety’s words… all except Joy.

Joy felt awful, deeply ashamed… she couldn’t deny what she caused to happen.

~~~

Embarrassment had been walking for what felt like ages, despite it only having been an hour and a half. It didn’t help that he didn’t know where he was going. Sadness, still sitting on Embarrassment’s back; was trying her best to help, but even she didn’t fully know what was where.

As they pass another shelf, they spot a Mind Worker organizing the new memories. Off to the side on a small workbench was an orange clipboard… and they were about certain that the clipboards the Mind Workers used were brown.

…It was only right that it was Anxiety’s.

Sadness and Embarrassment look on at the clipboard with widened eyes. If they didn’t catch that board now, who knows where it could end up. Embarrassment looks up to Sadness, his eyes appearing uncertain. Sadness places an index finger over her mouth, communicating that he should be as silent as possible.

Embarrassment, although hesitant, slowly creeps toward the workbench. He walks on the tips of his toes, wincing at any sudden sound from his steps. Sadness worriedly clutches Embarrassment’s hoodie.

Once Embarrassment finally reaches the bench, he reaches for the clipboard and gently wraps his hands around it. He slowly rises, satisfied he was able to retrieve it.

…Just as they’re about to leave however, the Mind Worker looks back to spot the emotions and sees the clipboard in Embarrassment’s hand. Embarrassment freezes as the Mind Worker takes a good hard look at him and Sadness.

“Hey!” Says the Mind Worker. “Give me that back!”

In a panic, Embarrassment hurries away with the clipboard in hand while the Mind Worker follows them, trying his hardest to keep them in his sight.

~~~

6th period was approaching it’s end. Everyone within Headquarters was bored, but still uncertain of what outcome they could have during 7th period, especially Anxiety and Fear.

“Alright, everybody!” Says Joy, turning to the other emotions. “The period’s almost over. We have a minute!”

As the last minute of the period ticks down, Anxiety continues to pace. She’d pace one second, then anxiously tap her foot the next. She’d bite her nonexistent nails, chatter her teeth, ruffle her crinkled hair… but nothing could sway her worries away.

Suddenly, the bell goes off and Riley gets up from her seat. As the emotions watch Riley leave, the Console glows orange.

“Have a great day, everyone!” Says the period’s teacher. Although, it’s unheard by the emotions and Riley as a sudden wave of anxiety about the test crashes over her.

Anxiety begins tapping at the Console in her usual organized and calculated fashion. The emotions move back, and watch as Anxiety drives.

As Riley exits the room and treads to her next class, she begins to speed walk, which slowly descends into a small jog.

Out of nowhere, another person appears at her side. Fear suddenly appears behind Anxiety, pointing up at the screen in front of the Console.

“LOOK OUT!! AHH!!!” Fear exclaims as he rushes to the Console’s front levers and reels them back. Riley moves to the right, just getting out of the person’s way. She continues to hurry for her last period class.

“Come on, Riley!” Says Anxiety. “We gotta go! Let’s go!”

After a few more steps and an extra turn, Riley makes it to her Algebra class, just as the bell rings. She then awkwardly sets herself in her seat.

Anxiety lets go of the Console just as Riley sits down. She moves back, and takes some deep breathes, trying to calm herself.

“Alright, class!” The teacher then announces. “It’s test day! I hope you’re all prepared!”

The teacher then hands out the test to each student. Riley appears a bit distressed, as she rightfully should be.

“…Game time.” Joy says in a stern yet confident tone. “We just gotta try our best!”

…Anxiety didn’t feel confident of being able to try at all.

~~~

Back out in Long Term, Sadness and Embarrassment hide behind one of the many shelves… and the Mind Worker passes them, not even noticing them.

Embarrassment peeks past the shelf and waits for the Mind Worker to be far away enough to where he can walk away. After a moment, he shimmies away from the shelf and hurries away, holding the map up to his face. Sadness peeks down to take a look at it.

“…It’s that way!” Says Sadness, pointing the direction of where the algebra memories were stored. Embarrassment rushes in the direction Sadness pointed to. It doesn’t take long for them to reach their destination.

…Although, distress covers them both.

“Oh, no!” Sadness cries.

The area where the algebra memories were kept was blocked off by a newly placed shelf… construction was still going on around Long Term, and it seemed like Anxiety hadn’t noticed…

Anxiety normally updated the map everyday, but she had been so caught up in getting Riley to study, it completely slipped her mind. The map she had given them was no longer up to date.

“It’s blocked!” Says Sadness. She becomes teary-eyed again… just as Embarrassment takes a turn.

Sadness looks down to Embarrassment. “…Where are we going?” She asks.

Embarrassment only points forward… he wasn’t following the map anymore. He was going down a path that would hopefully lead them to their destination.

…Although, both of them were uncertain of if it was truly the correct path.

All they could do was just wing it… just like the others in Headquarters.

They could only wonder what they were doing up there.

~~~

As Riley works on the test, her mind struggles to think of what to do. She was barely half way through the test

“What kind of question is that!?” Anger grumbles.

The problem showed various exponents and numbers… it was not only long, but extremely unfamiliar.

Joy squints. “…It’s nothing we’ve seen before…” She says.

“That’s what I was trying to tell you, Joy!” Says Anxiety, stopping her pacing again. “But you didn’t listen!”

“We can still do this even if we didn’t study!” Says Joy.

“Can we?” Asks Anxiety. “Or are you just saying that?”

“When we get those memories, we can get this done right!” Says Joy. She then turns back to the window showing Long Term. “…I wonder what’s taking them so long…”

“…It couldn’t have taken them that long, could it?” Fear asks.

Disgust sighs. “…I’m already so done…” She says.

“Done with this test? Because we will be!” Says Joy, trying to brighten the mood.

“I’m done with all of this, Joy!” Says Digust, turning back to face her.

Suddenly, the console glows again, this time cyan… Envy sat on the console, her eyes sparkling. As she sits in her spot, she giggles in delight.

“…W-what did you do?” Fear asks worriedly. “What’re you doing?”

“We’re gonna cheat!” Says Envy. “We need that ticket!”

Shortly after Envy has started driving, Riley slowly turns her head to the student next to her, doing her best not to be caught by the student or teacher. The student doesn’t seem to notice initially, before turning her head to face Riley.

The emotions gasp in horror, while Disgust and Fear hurry up to the Console.

“No!” Disgust shrieks. “Get off!”

Disgust pulls Envy off of the Console, causing the cyan color to fade away. Fear then slams and hand onto the Console, causing Riley to swiftly move her head away.

“We can’t just cheat!” Says Fear to Envy.

“We know cheating isn’t right, Envy!” Says Joy.

“But we need the ticket!” Says Envy.

“Do we really need it that badly?” Joy asks.

“Yes!” Envy exclaims.

“…Doesn’t even know basic algebra…” Whispers a kid from behind Riley.

The emotions look up, Anger appearing the most offended.

“…What did he say?” Asks Anger.

“Now, Anger,” Joy begins. “I thought we talked about this.”

“You think we can just get through life without talking back, Joy?” Anger questions.

“Not during a test we can’t!” Says Fear.

“…He has a point though.” Says Disgust. “Nobody has a right to be talking to us like that anyway.”

“But it’s a test!” Says Fear.

Anger seems to ignore Fear as slams a button on the Console, prompting Riley to look back at the snarky kid behind her… this time, the teacher seems to notice her.

“Riley?” The teacher asks. “Are you okay?”

With another sudden move, the Console glows indigo.

“I’m fine.” Riley says nonchalantly as she turns back to face her paper.

The emotions turn to face Ennui, who now has her hand pressed on the Console. She turns to the other emotions, her expression the same as ever.

“You people are idiots.” Says Ennui.

“Calling me an idiot, huh?” Says Anger.

“Yes.” Says Ennui.

“Oh, really?” Anger argues.

“I said it.” Ennui confirms.

Anger and Ennui’s argument descends into a battle Anger could never win... Joy knew that this stress was getting to them, and there wasn’t much she could do, but she was still desperate to try and fix things.

Joy only watches for a moment longer before turning to Anxiety. Maybe she could help them with the question?

Joy’s cheerful smile fades as she sees Anxiety leaning against a wall, mind racing. She could barely think.

Joy scrambles to think of something, before finally stepping to Anxiety.

“Hey, Anxiety?” Joy asks. “How about you take a seat in your Special Chair? I think we need help on this—!”

Anxiety then hurries over to her Special Chair and turns it on herself… but it doesn’t seem to be helping at all.

Joy hurries to the chair, trying to think of a way to help Anxiety calm down. She scrambles again, before grabbing some tea for her, a full cup now in her hand.

“Maybe this’ll help?” Joy asks, trying to hand the cup to her.

As Joy struggles; Envy, Disgust, and Fear turn toward the chair while Ennui and Anger continue their argument.

…Despite Joy’s attempt to help her, Anxiety doesn’t take it. She only sits there, completely alone her head. She can barely read what’s around her, or even hear Joy suggest her tea.

“…Joy?” Fear stammers. “That’s not helping!”

Anger and Ennui even stop their back and forth banter, now looking to Anxiety, who seems to be struggling to keep her sanity in tact.

As Joy continues to try and help, Anxiety sits there, tapping her foot, all while the tension within her boils and boils. She feels like a ticking time bomb, ready to simply blow her fuse. As she sits, she begins to twitch. A bit of orange electricity sparks off of her.

“She’s gonna blow!!” Envy shouts.

The other emotions take a few steps back, while Joy still tries to help.

…After a few more moments, she can no longer take it.

Anxiety jumps from her chair and cries into the air. She rushes to the button below the recall tube, prompting the memories to fall from the shelves.

“Anxiety! Wait!” Joy cries… as if it would do anything.

As the recall tube falls, Anxiety goes up the tube, appearing as a ball of electricity. After the memories have been sent off again, the recall tube ascends, with Anxiety now traveling to Long Term.

Silence drapes over the room… no one is certain of how to proceed…

As they process what has just transpired, Joy realizes the task at hand, and that they were beginning to run out of time… there was only one thing they could do. She turns to the other emotions with a nervous smile.

“…Why not just try to finish the test?” Joy suggests. “What could go wrong?”

~~~

Anxiety is going so fast, that she’s even surpassing the air flow of the recall tube. She eventually reaches the cart at the tube’s end, only to bounce against it and knock it over.

As Anxiety traverses Long Term, she bounces against its many shelves. The force of her hits being so strong, that she causes the shelves to shake.

~~~

Embarrassment and Sadness have been walking through Long Term for what felt like ages… they were lost.

They couldn’t figure out where they were, or if they were even going to get there. As they walk, they hear the sound of banging against some shelves not to far from them…

Embarrassment stops in his tracks and cowers under his hood while Sadness hides her head, before perking up a bit. She glances at the shelves, and spots an orange ball bouncing against them…

Sadness only knew of one person that could ever be capable of such an ability.

“…Anxiety?” Sadness questions, making Embarrassment perks up his head a bit.

As Anxiety bounces against the shelves, some of them tip and fall, causing a domino effect to occur. Various shelves tip over and collapse on top of one another.

Noticing the inbound threat, Embarrassment hurries away from the falling shelves into another part of Long Term toward the Stream of Consciousness. Sadness screams as the toppling shelves barely approach them.

As Sadness and Embarrassment flee and begin going down the stream, Anxiety zips through the shelves until she finds the one she needed. She scours through the shelves at a lightning fast pace before zipping away from the shelf, the memories in her grasp.

Anxiety soars through the air like a firework across Long Term Memory, until reaching a section of the Stream of Consciousness. She plummets down the stream, the electricity fizzling away from her body as she falls.

After a long fall, Anxiety falls into the pool below, barely able to reach the surface due to the weight in her arms. She kicks upward, but can’t get to the surface…

As she struggles, a pair of arms wraps around Anxiety’s slim figure and pulls her up from the pool… as she recovers, taking in as much air as she can, she realizes that Embarrassment had picked her and placed her on his back.

Anxiety also notices Sadness… along with that they appear to be using a calculator produced from the stream as a raft… how intuitive of them.

The three of them make sure to keep the memories on the raft… they needed these memories now more than ever.

Not too far ahead was the Belief System, but since they had little time on their hands, they had to be quick… and Anxiety was already antsy at how slow Embarrassment was paddeling.

“We’re going too slow! We don’t have time!” Says Anxiety. “We gotta go!”

Anxiety then drops from Embarrassment’s back, being careful to grab any memories that could fall off the raft. She then grips onto the edges of the raft and dips her feet in the water. Her legs then seem to function like a high-speed motor as Anxiety runs on the water, quickly propelling the raft forward.

Embarrassment and Sadness are quick to keep both themselves and the memories on the boat as the Belief System becomes more clear in the distance.

It only takes a minute for the raft to reach the Belief System. The three emotions rush off the raft, carrying as many memories as they can. Anxiety leads while the other two follow behind her as she rushes them.

“Move! Move!” Anxiety demands.

With a kick of the system’s elevator button from Anxiety, the door opens. Embarrassment squeezes himself in first with the others entering after him. The door shuts, and the emotions are propelled upward by the elevator.

It doesn’t take long for the elevator to reach the top of the tower. The elevator door pops open, and Anxiety is the first one to exit. The other emotions follow her out as best as they can, scrambling to exit.

“Joy!” Anxiety calls. “We got the—!”

“And we’re done!” Joy exclaims.

…Anxiety completely freezes. Sadness and Embarrassment do the same.

“…W-what do you mean you’re done?” Anxiety asks, trembling. “D-done with the test?”

“Yep!” Says Joy. “We got it done while you were gone.”

“How!?” Anxiety questions.

“We just guessed!” Says Joy. “I’m sure we did fine! C is almost always the right answer!”

Anxiety’s hair crinkles as she grows increasingly more distressed… she then tried to desperately reassure herself.

“…It’s fine! It’s totally fine!” Anxiety stammers with a panicked giggle. “We can probably just go back and—!”

The sound of the dismissal bell knocks Anxiety out of her desperation… there wasn’t any time left. Any chance they could possibly have had was smothered like that… or really, the chance had already been gone, due to a certain someone’s incompetence.

Anxiety stands her spot, frozen in place. Her fingers crinkle and ball up into fists full of raging fury. Anxiety’s balled up fists shake as she grows increasingly infuriated at all that had happened.

She couldn’t take it anymore. Anxiety then lets out a loud raging shrill. She turns to Joy and lunges at her, firmly grabbing her shoulders.

“None of this would’ve happened if you had just listened to me!” Anxiety shouts. “But NOOO, you just couldn’t listen! We are going to fail this test, and it’s because of you! Even everyone else! None of you bothered to remain her!?”

As Anxiety continues to ramble, Embarrassment creeps over to the Console and gently presses a button, prompting Riley’s face to turn red… she couldn’t help but be embarrassed about what happened over that entire hour. The chaos in her head as she scrambled was too much.

“Why did I even trust you to do something so simple!?” Anxiety questions Joy. “I thought you could do it, but I guess not!”

“Anxiety—!” Joy tries to interject, but it falls flat as Anxiety doesn’t let her speak.

“You’re supposed to make her happy, and yet you didn’t do everything you can do to achieve that!?” Anxiety questions. “The very simple thing you were born to do?”

The entire room goes silent as Anxiety quiets down, expecting an answer from Joy as she stands in her spot, stunned at Anxiety’s sharp words… before her face falters in an ashamed look.

“…You’re right. I wasn’t able to do that.” Says Joy.

…Anxiety pauses, slightly shocked at Joy’s response… to think she’d defend herself after the multiple instances where her methods have proved to bite her in the back…

“The entire day, I’ve tried to stay positive. Calm everyone down and fix what I did.” Says Joy. “…But I didn’t. None of this would’ve happened if I had paid attention to you, if I hadn’t been so overconfident… I’m sorry.”

…Anxiety doesn’t seem to be accepting of the apology yet as she storms toward the elevator down to the Belief System and goes inside it… she was too angry to want anything do with them.

Joy only stares blankly as she watches the elevator descend… she feels broken. Like Anxiety was a hammer that smashed onto her and shattered her into pieces… she felt she deserved it.

The very thing she set out to do, make Riley happy… her methods, again, snapped back at her. She couldn’t defend herself, or make herself seem like the victim.

…All she could do was atone… but now, she couldn’t process how she felt. She drops to her knees, and begins to softly sob on the ground.

The other emotions looked on, also ashamed. It wasn’t just Joy that caused this, despite most of the blame being on her… the blame went to all of them.

As Joy cries, Sadness walks up to her and tries to console her… she needed this. To let her sorrow pour from her body and recover from the loss of her own perception of herself.

She needed this.

—

It’s late at night. Riley is heading for bed. Within Headquarters, no one speaks. The area is dead silent, the air from before still lingering… Joy is also missing, having gone upstairs to her bed.

As Riley is ready for bed, her phone vibrates on her small counter next to her bed. She turns and picks up her phone a notification from her email… an email from her algebra teacher.

Riley opens her email and reads what’s been sent to her. Her face contorts into that of shame as she reads… although, she kind of expected this to happen.

'I expected better of you, Riley.

You made a 35 on the test today. I’d suggest seeing me sometime for tutoring.

Have a good night, Riley.

~ Sylvester, Johnathan'

“Awww man!” Envy whines, breaking the silence. “We didn’t get the ticket!”

“Is that really all you care about?” Anger grumbles.

“Yes! It’s important to me! And Riley!” Says Envy.

“And passing isn’t?” Disgust remarks.

“…And now look at us!” Says Fear. “Other kids are gonna judge us, we’re gonna get a failing grade in the class… and now Anxiety’s mad at me…”

Disgust seems repulsed at the comment… she’d never understand what he sees in her.

“She’s mad at all of us, nitwit!” Says Anger. “Quit making it about you.”

“But I wanna make a good impression!” Says Fear.

“…Shove that good impression where the sun doesn’t shine.” Anger grumbles to himself… although Fear seems to hear him. He is swiftly appalled at the quip.

All while the tension around them brews, Embarrassment sits while Sadness goes up to the Console and drives, causing Riley to cry to herself to sleep.

“…We’re sorry, Riley…” Says Sadness.

Despite the chaos, Ennui carelessly scrolls through her phone, paying no mind to anything.

…Even if she was covered in her blanket, Joy heard all of what was said from her bed… the shame swallowed her, and wrapped itself around her…

…Anxiety wouldn’t have snapped, the others wouldn’t have panicked and argued, Sadness and Embarrassment wouldn’t have had to leave… none of this would’ve happened if she had done what Anxiety told her…

Despite the shame… Joy couldn’t help but wonder if she was ready to talk.

—

It was beyond late. Most of the emotions had already headed to bed… but after everyone else had gone to sleep, Joy was awake, heading to the elevator down to the Belief System.

…She knew Anxiety had a lot of energy, and that it took awhile for it to fizzle away, especially after a blowout like the one she had earlier that day… but maybe, Joy could be lucky?

Joy takes the elevator down, and the door opens. The first thing she sees is Anxiety lying on her side, appearing tired and worn out… all of her energy had been burnt out, and now she was just lying in complete solitude.

“…Anxiety?” Joy asks. “Are you awake?”

Anxiety doesn’t respond. She only lays still on the floor.

Joy then walks to Anxiety and sits next to her. She turns her head to see Anxiety’s eyes wide open… she was awake, just unwilling to talk.

“…I was overconfident. I didn’t know any of this would happen… I meant to have her study, I did… but it completely slipped past me. So much happened, and I just forgot…” Says Joy.

Anxiety doesn’t speak… only listens.

“…I didn’t do my part like I should’ve, I broke promise to you, and I’m not proud of it.” Says Joy. “You have every right to be mad at me.”

Anxiety, again, doesn’t respond.

…Joy wants to make it up to her. She genuinely wants to improve… and she may know how.

“…But we can still bounce back… and so can I.” Says Joy. “I can prepare for things better, focus on what’s important more… maybe we can come up with a better way for Riley to study, both effective and fun! We can both help Riley be happy.”

…Anxiety then perks her head up a bit. “…Really?” She asks, sounding skeptical. “You’re actually going to try?”

“I know I can do better.” Says Joy. “I’ve always been able to get back up on my feet, so has everyone else. I may have steered us the wrong way, but I can also get us back on the right track.”

Anxiety rises from her position and sits upright… with her furious rage now gone, she felt more accepting of Joy. Glad that she understood where she was wrong, and was willing to improve and be better… just as she had been.

“…Will you help me make Riley happy?” Joy asks.

“As long as you don’t mess around again.” Says Anxiety. “…Don’t do it again.”

“I won’t.” Says Joy. “I promise.”

“Do you mean it?” Anxiety asks.

Joy then rises to her feet. “I’ll stick to my word… I really will this time.” She says.

Anxiety smiles brightly, despite it being slightly crooked. Joy and Anxiety head back up for the night… and Joy was ready to face any instance where she needed to be prepared.

No longer would she lose focus. She’d try her very best to help Riley succeed, whether it was needed or not… it wouldn’t hurt to prepare.

—

It had been a few weeks since Riley’s big test, but what had happened didn’t keep her from improving.

Riley had went to her algebra teacher for tutoring, and was also paying more attention in class. Another test was coming up, and she was ready to prepare herself.

“Anxiety!” Joy calls. “Riley’s ready!”

Anxiety hurries from the bedroom upstairs and rushes over to Joy, bunches of papers in her arms.

“I’ve prepared everything!” Says Anxiety. “Everything we need to look over, I’ve written down!”

Anxiety smacks the papers onto the Console, then looks back up to Joy. The pile was full of practice problems and notes for Riley to look over… nothing had been left unchecked.

“Great!” Says Joy. “Now, what music should we listen to while we study?”

“Nothing too distracting!” Says Anxiety. “Something soft and easy on the ears…”

“Smooth jazz?” Joy suggests.

“…That could work…” Says Anxiety. “Let’s try that!”

Joy then turns back to the other emotions. “Alright, everybody!” She declares. “Let’s get to studying!”

…The emotions try their best to assist in Riley’s studying endeavor, suggesting certain methods or helping with problems. Even using what they learned from the teacher’s tutoring.

Joy couldn’t help but be glad… she knew Riley would do better this time.

—

It was the next night, and the test came and went… no one panicked, no one argued, no one had to leave Headquarters… it was smooth and steady.

Riley was beginning to head to bed, and so were the emotions.

“Alright!” Says Joy. “What do we think Riley made on the test?”

“Better than everyone else!” Says Envy.

“We better have!” Says Disgust.

“…We better have passed so we can teach that kid behind us a lesson.” Says Anger, gritting his teeth a bit.

“Well, we just have to wait and see!” Says Joy.

Riley’s phone then vibrates against her counter. She walks up to it and checks her notifications… and spots an email from the algebra teacher.

Anxiety then gasps. “It’s the teacher!” She says.

“…Wonder what he wants… maybe congratulate us for passing?” Joy suggests.

“What are we waiting for, Joy?” Fear questions. “Just open it!” He begins to tremble in his spot a bit… the suspense was getting to him.

Riley opens the email… and a wide smile crosses her lips.

'I’m very proud of you, Riley! You made a 92 on the test today. I’m very glad you went out of your way to improve from before.

You also ended up being the top scorer this time! You should be really proud of that, no one’s ever gotten this high of a score on this test.

Have a good night.

~ Sylvester, Johnathan'

The entirety of Headquarters goes silent… before it erupts into cheers, at least from some emotions.

“We’re better than the other kids!” Says Envy.

“Hah! Take that, nerdy punk!” Anger cheers, referring to the kid that sat behind Riley.

Fear only sighs in relief; while Sadness, Embarrassment, Ennui, and Disgust look on at the screen, proud of their girl.

“We did it, Joy!” Anxiety cheers. “We did it!” She then squeals with delight.

“We sure did.” Joy says tenderly.

…Joy wasn’t just proud of Riley, but the other emotions as well. All of them were able to help Riley succeed with simple preparation. They were able to work in synch with one another, keeping each other on track. They were all able to help Riley be happy.

It truly never hurt to be prepared or understand when to get busy, regardless of how confident one can be… it never hurts to be ready.

- END -

[fanficshiddles]

Jealousy and Tricks, One Shot

Thank you for the prompt, toshisurtsdottir: Snape railing Toshi and Tom is somewhere in the background passively standing around so the one shot passes the requirements :)

I shoulda known you’d submit something like this! Haha! I’ve changed it quite a bit, since I know you just want the Toshi and Snape smut, so I came up with a diff idea around it and had a little fun.

Note/warnings: Hogwarts/Asgard AU thing. Jealousy. Un-accepted Voyeurism? I dunno how else to describe it. Basically, Severus and Toshi being watched unknowingly. *shrugs*

-

‘I think it’s ridiculous that Dumbledore has resolved to having idiotic gods in the school.’ Severus huffed as he and Toshi made their way down one of the halls.

‘I think it’s a good idea. If it helps keep the kids safe, we can continue on with our lessons without worry.’ Toshi shrugged. ‘Besides, that Loki one is quite hot.’

Severus raised an eyebrow and his head whipped round to face her. He opened his mouth but found he couldn’t say anything. He despised Toshi and she him. They got on each other’s nerves, she always bugged him while he was busy making potions, hanging around him and interfering. She was so infuriating…

Yet, he couldn’t help but have a bit of jealousy creep up inside him at the thought of her crushing on someone else…

Toshi noticed his reaction, she smirked to herself and flounced off into her classroom. Leaving Severus to continue on his way without her.

That evening during dinner, Severus was sitting in his usual place at the top table and he noticed Toshi speaking with that Loki at the side of the banquet hall. The way Toshi was blushing slightly and giggling, touching his arm where possible didn’t go unnoticed by Severus.

Loki smirked charmingly at the beautiful young woman who seemed to have taken a shine to him.

He had been reluctant at first when Odin demanded that he, Thor, and a few others were to go and protect a ridiculous ‘magical’ school for wizards and witches on Midgard. He found their way of using magic tedious in comparison to his. Though after arriving, even he couldn’t deny that after he had seen some of the more experienced students and teachers use their magical powers that some were rather impressive. Toshi was one of those.

Though as the days went on, Loki didn’t fail to notice that Toshi was often looking in the direction of the potion’s teacher, Severus Snape. And that Severus was often looking at Toshi, and glaring daggers at Loki whenever Toshi was next to him.

Loki wasn’t stupid, of course he put two and two together very quickly. He was surprised to learn that the two teachers disliked one another, that they found the other irritating, but the glances at one another was so evident to him.

One weekend, Loki bided his time and he knew that there was a dance tomorrow night. So, he decided to put his little theory to the test. The teachers were all just hovering around, talking and having a drink. Loki waited until Toshi was near Severus, then he approached her.

‘Ah, Toshi. I’ve been looking for you.’ He smiled charmingly at her.

Toshi did find herself melting a little, he was a very good-looking god. Very charming, too. Though it made her realise she most definitely had a certain type…

‘Hey, Loki. Everything ok?’ She smiled at him.

‘More than ok.’ He grinned and could see out of the corner of his eye that Severus was listening and watching intently, even though he was pretending to listen to Hagrid rambling on about his Hippogriff, Buckbeak.

‘I heard about the dance tomorrow, we’ve been told we’re allowed to attend. I thought I’d ask, whether you’d like to be my date for it? Providing you don’t already have one, that is.’ Loki asked her.

Toshi’s cheeks turned a little bit red. Loki noticed she glanced very briefly over at Severus before looking back at Loki and she nodded in agreement. Before she could speak though, Severus was suddenly right beside her, hand firmly gripping her elbow.

‘She does indeed already have a date for the dance.’ He announced quickly, glaring daggers at Loki.

Loki raised an eyebrow at him. ‘Oh, well, my apologies. I wanted to make sure that this beautiful woman wasn’t going solo.’ He grinned.

‘No need to worry about that.’ Severus said through gritted teeth.

Toshi was in too much shock to say anything, she couldn’t do anything but look at Severus with wide eyes.

‘A word, Toshi.’ Severus said in a rather clipped tone, he guided her out of the room by her elbow.

Loki smirked as he picked up his drink and watched them leave.

‘What are you looking so smug about, brother? I hope you’re not up to your mischievous tricks again.’ Thor asked suspiciously as he approached him.

‘Oh, just using my observant skills to help two people realise their feelings for one another, is all.’ Loki grinned.

Thor just looked utterly confused in response.

-

‘What on earth are you doing? Why would you say I have a date for the dance when I don’t? I could’ve gone with Loki, a literal God!’ Toshi hissed at Severus once she got her brain to kick into gear.

‘You are not going with him. I’m your date for the dance.’ Severus said determinedly, he kept walking as he dragged her along. Though with his large strides, she was struggling to keep up without tripping over her own feet.

‘Sev, stop!’ She yelled at him and pulled free from his grasp.

Severus raised an eyebrow at her and surprised her by backing her against the wall, he placed a hand firmly on the wall beside her head, making her jump a little. Though she was instantly aroused, even if she was trying not to be…

‘What have I told you about calling me that?’ He narrowed his eyes at her and got far too close for comfort… but Toshi didn’t want him to move. She liked having him this close. She could smell him, and he was making her head swim.

Toshi smirked and shrugged. ‘I thought you’d know by now, I don’t do what you tell me to.’ She said snarkily.

Severus raised an eyebrow at her and he gripped her chin. ‘Well, maybe you should start doing what I say and behave yourself.’ He growled out and kissed her roughly, surprising her completely and knocking her off guard.

Fuck, his lips were so soft against hers. She instantly melted and Severus could feel the change in her body straight away, he couldn’t help but smirk against her lips.

His hand slid down to her neck, he gently caressed her there for a moment and then wrapped his hand around her further and squeezed slightly, making her gasp into his mouth.

‘Maybe it’s time I put you in your place.’ He drawled slowly, punctuating every word carefully as his other hand landed on her hip.

Toshi squeezed her thighs together at the thought. She knew she had to pick her words carefully, this was it. The moment she had been waiting for…

‘I’d like to see you try.’ She whispered.

Severus smirked, then in a flash, he threw her over his shoulder and stormed down the hall, until they reached his office and he bundled her inside. He didn’t bother locking the door behind him as he had his hands all over Toshi, he just kicked it closed.

He went straight for his desk and shoved everything off it in one large swoop of his arm, not caring that his papers scattered to the floor and ink splattered everywhere.

Toshi quickly found herself folded over his desk, her cheek was pressed against the wood and she felt bits of spilled ink seep onto her skin. Though she found she didn’t care and had other things to think about, as Severus used his wand to remove her clothes in an instant, making her gasp.

She did attempt to lean up, but Severus put his hand at the back of her neck and forced her back down.

‘You will do as you’re told.’ He barked at her, then, using his wand he began spanking the back of her thighs.

Toshi gasped and moaned with every strike, even as he got higher and began spanking her ass with it. It stung like hell, biting into her skin, she found she was a bit relieved when he relaced his wand with his hand, which made the pain a little more bearable… Though not by much, he had a mean swing with a lot of strength behind it.

‘Naughty girls get punished. Good girls get rewarded. Now, are you a naughty girl or a good girl?’ Severus growled into her ear as he stopped spanking her and leaned over her body.

‘Good… I can be good…’ Toshi panted, she struggled to stay still, feeling his weight against her back, his clothes rubbed against her raw ass.

‘Hmm, we shall see. You’ve certainly been naughty up till now. I don’t know if you deserve a reward. Though I know I certainly do, and you need to learn who you belong to. Not some god that thinks he’s every girls wet dream.’ Severus sneered.

There was a brief and strange cold wind that seemed to flow through the office, making them both shiver. Toshi did look up and could’ve sworn she saw a large shadow in the corner of the office. She didn’t get to dwell over it for long though, as Severus rudely shoved his hand between her thighs.

‘Jesus, you are soaking. It seems you’ve been desperate for me all this time, hmm?’ He tsked at her.

‘Please, fuck me, Sev. Please!’ Toshi whined.

Severus rapidly brought his hand down on her ass again, making her yelp. ‘What did I say about calling me that?’

‘Severus! Please!’ Toshi yelled, she began wiggling frantically in need.

‘That’s better, good girl.’ Severus purred as his fingers glided through her soaking wet folds. He felt her body tremble in response to his praise.

‘Ohh, you like being my good girl, hmm?’ He grinned. His finger began to trail over her throbbing clit, causing her to buck against his hand as she gripped the sides of his desk so tightly, her knuckles started to turn white.

‘Yes! Please... I’ll do anything.’

‘Hmm, there is so much I’d like to do to you, and have done to me by you… but right now, you need to be claimed thoroughly and properly. So there will be no more shenanigans from you and you’ll never forget who you belong to.’

Severus was saying all the right things to set Toshi’s body alight. She had never seen this side of him before, but her body was cheering in delight at the revelation.

Toshi began to see stars when he thrust two long fingers into her, twisting and curling in all the right ways to make her crumble. She didn’t expect him to make her come so soon, but he did… He enjoyed feeling her come all over his fingers, and he sucked them clean after with a moan.

‘I’d say you’re more than ready now.’

He pulled her a bit closer to the edge of his desk, for easier access for him. He flipped his cape back out of the way and undid his trousers, letting his cock spring free.

Toshi kept wiggling her ass, tempting him to hurry up as much as possible. He smirked at the sight of her, splayed out on his desk. So desperate and wet for him to take her.

He gripped her hips as he pressed his cock into her. They both closed their eyes for a moment, catching their breath… Then Severus unleashed hell on her. His fingers dug hard into her hips, leaving marks, as he pulled back until just the tip of his cock was still inside her, then he rammed back into her as far as possible.

Toshi began unashamedly moaning and whimpering as Severus fucked her roughly. The legs of the desk began to wobble and shift, neither of them cared though if it were to break.

Severus’ jaw was clenched hard as he focused on fucking her into next week. He wanted to break her, to make her completely high on his cock, a blubbering wreck… and that’s exactly what he did.

Toshi couldn’t form sentences or even think straight, she knew in the moment she definitely saw someone in the corner of the room, and was sure she even heard another lewd moan that didn’t belong to Severus… Though sounded slightly familiar. Yet, she forgot about it within seconds. All she could focus on was Severus’ cock pounding into her.

Severus let go of her hips, his nail prints were embedded in her skin, and he opted for grabbing a fistful of her hair. He tugged her head backwards as he lay himself over her more, his lips right by her ear.

‘I’m going to fill you up, make sure that every step back to your room you take, you will feel me inside you, trickling down your thighs. You’re mine, and you’re my date tomorrow night.’ He growled ferally as he thrust deep and held himself there as he came inside her.

That set Toshi off like a rocket, too. She clamped down hard around his cock, like her body was trying to milk everything out of him. They were both panting hard and a sweaty mess as Severus collapsed on top of her, though she found she enjoyed feeling the weight of him pin her down. Even if the edge of the desk was digging into her abdomen, she would’ve stayed there all night if he wanted her to.

‘Holy… fuck…’ Toshi gasped after a while.

Severus chuckled and kissed her shoulder as he forced himself up off her. He gently helped her to her feet and turned her around, her face was flushed and grew even redder when she saw Severus eye up her body hungrily. She looked down and saw his cock starting to harden again already.

‘I think we should take this to my room.’ Severus hummed as he stepped in closer to her and held her chin to kiss her.

Toshi moaned in response and nodded in agreement.

Neither of them noticed the flash of green from the corner of his office as they left…

-

The following night at the dance, Toshi was delighted to be on Severus’ arm for the duration. He barely moved away from her the entire time, dancing with her and keeping her company.

They both noticed Loki with a woman on his arm, an ex-student who was training to become a teacher at Hogwarts. Loki noticed them both staring in wonder at how he got another date so fast.

He wandered over to them after telling the woman he’d be back shortly.

‘Nice to see that my plan worked.’ Loki grinned widely as he approached.

‘Plan?’ Toshi frowned.

Loki chuckled. ‘Did you really think I was so blind to not notice the way you two lusted after one another?’

Toshi and Severus both blushed a little bit as they glanced at each other.

‘I knew that Severus was close to bursting with jealousy, he just needed one last little push…’ Loki picked up two glasses of wine from beside Toshi. He tilted his head at them. ‘It was quite the show in your office last night, Severus.’

Severus’ face dropped and he looked furious. Loki put his finger up to stop him from saying anything.

‘I got it to happen, I had to take my reward somehow. A god has needs, too. Besides, I already had a date for tonight lined up. They don’t call me silver tongue for nothing.’ Loki winked at them and then headed back to his date. ‘You’re welcome.’ He called back to them over his shoulder.

‘So there was someone else there!’ Toshi gasped.

‘I’m going to kill him.’ Severus snarled.

Toshi couldn’t help but laugh. She put her hand on Severus’ chest and patted him. ‘To be fair, his plan did work.’

Severus sighed and glared down at her. ‘If he pulls anything like this again, can I kill him?’

‘Deal.’ Toshi nodded.

[leclsrc]

i (no, we) need an addition to the carlos sainz luis miguel universe.

Pretty please!!!! love you!!!!!

kind of love – cs55

genre: flufffff. a spin-off (of sorts? it’s not a sequel per se) to this

auds here… love u guys and listening to luis miguel gets me in a Mood. late req i’m sorry i’m sooo busy lately… xxxxx hope u like it! :)

“You never teach me anything in Spanish,” you lament. “It’s always hola or te amo.”

“Are you saying you have no need for te amo?” Carlos asks, rifling through the Madrid keychain rack to look for your name, which he gives up on after a few moments. He spots your narrowed eyes and accused face and laughs, backing off. “Kidding. I didn’t know you were interested in learning it, mi vida.” He turns to search for more novelty souvenirs.

“Of course I am,” you respond, leaning closer and pressing your chin onto his shoulder. It requires a generous tiptoe allowance, but you brave it and waddle around behind him. “It’s your language, is all—I find it beautiful. And you know all your English already!”

“Not all,” he corrects, lifting up a beer bottle shaped magnet. “Do you think Max will like this?”

“Oh, obviously.” You pause, and then laugh at a memory that enters your mind. “Yeah, remember in Canada when you totally botched your order at that brunch place?”

He groans amusedly. “Don’t tease me.”

“It’s cute,” you remind him firmly, pressing a quick kiss to his jaw before disengaging from the hug to peruse the shelves yourself. There are a few cute ones, though most of them are a bit too tacky for your taste.

One bunch of them, lying on a discarded sale pile (seeing as though it’s well past February), is Valentine’s Day themed. They all have a variety of names printed on the metal, with red hearts all around them. You rifle through the Miguels, Annas, and Harrys before you luck out and find it collecting dust on the bottom of the basket.

“I found one!” You cry out, jingling the metal. 

“Let’s see it,” Carlos says, but he’s elsewhere in the tiny store. You peer behind a shelf to find him rummaging through a half-off CD bin. Strange behavior, considering zero people ever use CDs for music nowadays, but you approach him anyway.

He turns briefly. “Can I see your purchase?”

“Not yet,” you say proudly. “It’s a surprise. What are you doing going through that?”

“Well, I figured since you want to learn Spanish, I’ll be your teacher. Or he will be.” He digs out a dusty CD and you scrunch your nose as you dust off the cover, revealing a Spanish man posing for the camera behind it. Carlos flicks at the printed image, clicking his tongue. “Top hits, Luis Miguel.”

“Okaaay.” You turn it over, read over the list of songs. “I was leaning more towards Shakira being my teacher.”

“Mi vida, you know I’m her biggest fan,” he begins, taking the CD from you and walking you both to the counter, “but this is the good stuff. Trust me, mi amor.”

You both pay for your tiny purchases and enter Carlos’ Golf, where he wastes no time inserting the disc into the player and clicking the console buttons to get the audio just right. You’re content to watch, smiling softly at his excitement which is no doubt more than enough for the both of you. “I assume we’re taking the long way to your house,” you tease, even if you secretly love long car rides with him.

He starts the car and laughs. “For Luis, yes.” He pauses, clears his throat. “And for you, too, princesa.”

“Nice save, baby.” You link hands, and the music starts to flow softly through the car.

And so does the singing. Where Carlos got his golden voice from, you don’t know—he didn’t sing along much to the songs you both love—but something in these songs brings it out, and it causes your heart to swell with fondness. Sure enough, the song’s in full Spanish, with the romantic guitar to match as well.

“What’s this one called?” You ask aloud, gazing at the scapes of Madrid passing you by.

He pauses his passionate belting to answer you. “Sabor a Mi,” he says. “It means… it’s a very nice love song.”

“On the subject of love and Spaniards,” you say, momentarily unlocking your hands; his moves to rest idly over your thigh. You pick out the keychain from your bag and hang it on his rearview mirror. “Like it?”

His eyes flit to them and back to the road quickly, to keep you out of potential danger. He smiles.

“I love it, amor. I only wish it read your name.” He squeezes your thigh, searches for your hand, and lifts it to his lips. While the back of your hand’s pressed to them, he begins singing again and you giggle at the ticklish sensation of it.

The song fades out promptly, and into the next one—still Spanish, still romantic, still Luis Miguel. Carlos shifts in his seat with visible excitement, mumbling somethings in Spanish out of excitement. “One of my favorites, amor! Seriously!” He hums to the lyrics, half-distracted by the road, but eventually settles into singing.

“Si antes de amar… debe tenerse fe,” he pipes, pressing his and your interlocked hands to his chest out of sheer passion. “You must learn this one. It’s called Mucho Corazon. It reminds me very much of you, you know?”

He turns onto a quiet cobblestone road, and uses it as an opportunity to gauge the love of his life’s reaction to Luis Miguel (an important moment, he supposes, in everyone’s lifetime.) And he sees you reading over the booklet of the CD, mouthing along the lyrics as the song goes. He slows his pace, watches the greenery complement how beautiful you look, just here beside him.

Be it in Spanish or English, with rhyme or without, accompanied by idyllic instruments or not, Carlos often finds himself stumped with the love he has for you. Because, simply because really, he hasn’t felt this way and so strongly for anyone else before. To him, you’re everything—you’re the song in the car, the greenery outside, the spring that tints all of Spain. You’re all the nicknames, all the small kind gestures, all of it.

You could disappear right now and he’d park the car and wait, just for you to come back. He knows it’s impossible but he’d do it, he really would. He wants, needs, loves you, all the time. All the time. 

It’s strange and beautiful and he realizes now that the best way he can really put it is by singing you a Luis Miguel song. He takes one hand off the wheel to flick at the keychain, and it shines in the sunlight. He smiles to himself and continues singing. He’s sure he dreamt of this once.

—

Life takes Carlos on a path far away from Madrid. It loops him around the world and averts him away from that shabby tourist souvenir shop. He takes money out of his generous paycheck, though, to make sure it never goes bankrupt. Writes checks under an alias because if the tabloids found out, they’d wonder why, and he’d rather not explain.

Life takes you on a path far away from Carlos. It loops you into cities he hasn’t been and won’t plan to visit and averts you from Spain, from their house in the hills. You write emails to his sister sometimes if she writes first, though, to avoid being a stranger. Lie on the subject heading—Doing great in NYC/HK/Seoul/Bali—because if she knew how you really were doing, she’d ask why, and you’d rather not explain.

Life is funny, though. Because even when the connection is gone, nearly everything forgotten, it’s always sending you little love letters.

For some it’s a keychain on the rear view mirror of a brand new Ferrari. For others it’s a Luis Miguel song, nailed perfectly on the karaoke no matter the city.

[syngasm]

“ OUTTA TOUCH “

includes ; my goat tenya iida, open relationship kirikami, virgin tenya

pairing : eijirou x kaminari x tenya

—————-

Tenya’s eye twitched, staring blankly forward at the television as Eijirou held Kaminari close, whispering his ear and kissing along his jawline.

To be fair, the four, including Izuku, decided to split an apartment. The three were much closer to each other than Tenya, but the raven hair was suggested when they all pivoted at the point where they didn’t want to pay much for rent. Tenya however seemed to be better off than the other three, or at least much more than they let on.

Eijirou and Kaminari had allowed themselves to be openly affectionate during the morning, Tenya worked hours as a pro hero, following his brother, and Izuku as a teacher, it was usually just them in the house on days Kaminari they both had off, which was contrast to Izuku’s every working weekday, and Tenya’s working as much as possible.

“Hey, Iida!” Eijirou noticed his existence, nudging him on the couch. “Eijirou.” Tenya spoke, his voice coarse. Kaminari watched with careful eyes, lingering amongst their faces.

“So, while Midobro isn’t here, I have a weird..question.” Tenya’s eyes bored over to Eijirou’s face to look at his actual features as he introduced the nature of his question.

He wondered quickly about what he would ask, maybe the question he’d been wondering all day, why is he here? Just in general, what made Izuku ask him to move in with them. Tenya’s lips parted as he noticed Eijirou didn’t seem to be ready to say anything.

“Are you a virgin?”

Tenya blinked, almost frozen in time. “What?” It came out fast, like he had never spoken english before. Kaminari averted his eyes, looking at the TV.

“I won’t judge! Denki wanted to know, really- Ow!” Kaminari slapped his arm, not looking at his face. “You fucking asked me! You said ‘Kami, do you think Iida has a girlfriend?’ and I said ‘Probably not, he never brings anyone around’ and then you said..”

Tenya got lost somewhere in that conversation, did he seem lonely? He didn’t feel lonely, their apartment only had two bedrooms, and he shared his with Izuku. Izuku was a good roommate, he was cleanly and..

No, Tenya, he was getting distracted, he synced back into the conversation. “and then you said ‘Maybe he’s a virgin!’”

Tenya tenses, he missed most of the conversation. He tends to do that nowadays. Eijirou rolls his eyes. “Basically, he asked. Anyways, are you?” Tenya squinted, attempting to remember.

“You can..touch me, y’know.” She said, guiding Tenya’s hand to her chest, to which he pulled away quickly at the sound of the front door opening in his head. No one came in, he worried nonetheless. “Maybe another time!” He then quickly put his hoodie and shoes on, then left.

That was his only even slightly sexual encounter, not counting the girl at the amusement park who strapped in his belt and touched his lower stomach, to which he jerked to for weeks.

Eijirou looked slightly concerned at Tenya, which alerted him that he had zoned out again. “Oh, sorry. I’m a virgin, yes.” He said, really trying to pull back the blush from his cheeks.

“Are you gay?” Kaminari asks, leaning forward and looking up at Tenya.

“Do you like me?” The boy asked, Tenya’s best friend at the time. “Of course I do! You’re my best friend.” He smiled softly as he held his hand. The boy leaned in and kissed Tenya hard. His eyes widened, out of shock, he pushed the boy to the ground, then ran away blushing.

“I don’t know..?” He scratched the back of his neck, never really labeling himself had not paid off like Jirou said.

Eijirou looked over to Denki, it was almost as though they had a conversation wordlessly.

Tenya turned his attention back to the television, and played with his fingers absently.

“Would you fuck us?” Eijirou asks, both his and Denki’s eyes reading over him. “We’re both switches, but as soon as I wanna top, Kami wants to top, and you’re not very busy-“ Kaminari hits Eijirou yet again, making him yelp.

“Basically, we need a submissive. Midoriya is in a relationship with Kats, Sero is a top, and Todoroki is apparently straight?”

Tenya blinks slowly yet again, very slowly comprehending the offer. “What.” he repeated the same as earlier, then as it hit him, his eyes widened. “You both wanna have sex with me?”

Kaminari nods and Eijirou smiles. They weren’t kidding. Tenya’s mouth went dry, he didn’t have much of a reason to say no, so he just nodded.

“Okay.”

Eijirou clasped his hands together. “We got an okay!” Kaminari takes his wrist and walks him to their shared bedroom. “Right now?” Eijirou hums in confirmation as he pushes Tenya’s back.

——

Tenya covered his chest with how Eijirou and Kaminari looked at him in hunger. “Look at him, Eij.” Kaminari grins, running his hands through the raven strands of soft hair. “He’s so pretty.” Eijirou leans down, and kisses along the strong jawline. “Shit, and he’s sweet.”

Kaminari’s eyes travel along the nipping marks that Eijirou left, smiling as he continues to play in his hair. “Iida.. how are you a virgin?”

“I just usually say no.” He says, his hands leaving his pecs and rubbing his arm. “We’re special, Eiji. Now we’ve really gotta make it special for him.” Kaminari lowers his tented boxers, his cock springing free and slapping Tenya’s chin, the light yellow pubes stick out to Tenya’s receptors.

He sways his hips, slapping Tenya’s cheek with his hard length. “You gonna open up for him, Pretty?” Tenya parted his lips as Eijirou egged him on, Eijirou grabbed hold of Kaminari’s length and guided him into his mouth.

“Oh shit, it’s so warm.” Kaminari moans, he tugs on Tenya’s short hair.

Beginning at a slow pace, he thrusts into his mouth. Eijirou stands beside Kaminari, Tenya slowly takes his cock into his hand, stroking it at the same pace Kaminari holds with his mouth.

Eijirou’s whine comes out strangled, Kaminari turns his face to kiss his boyfriend, it’s a sloppy kiss, jyet Tenya can feel his own length twitch at the sight.

“Shit, your mouth, Iida-!” The pace quickens, Kaminari chasing his peak. Eijirou hissed at how quickly Tenya’s hand moved now, taken aback momentarily before rolling his hips into his hand.

Tenya let out an attempted sentence, the vibrations has Kaminari’s eyes rolling back. There’s a moment, a singular moment before Kaminari’s length is spurting cum down his throat.

It’s a loud cry that follows suit, which has Tenya making a mental note of Kaminari’s loud orgasms, as he swallows and makes a sour expression. “Hope you’re ready, Ten-ya.” Eijirou says teasingly, and it makes Tenya question whether he is ready.

——

He, in fact, was not ready.

Eijirou pushed him to the middle of the bed, capturing him in a mating press, which he wasn’t ready for.

Kaminari’s cock flooded his throat yet again as he turned his face to the side so he could use it, which he wasn’t ready for.

Eijirou was vocal, he made sure to tell Tenya exactly how it felt, as Kaminari could only moan i groan as he fucked his throat.

“T-Tenya!”. Eijirou gasped. “F-Fucking swallowing me up, aw fuck!” His hips began to stutter but he showed no signs of stopping. The clap of skin to skin was pornographic, which only spurred Tenya’s cock to dribble with precum even more.

He let out whines around Kaminari’s length, which was more than he usually stretched his mouth to fit. Both boys were abnormally thick, which had Tenya known..

He would’ve still said yes.

“I’m gonna nut in you, gonna fucking nut in your tight little ass.” he growled into Tenya’s ear, just hearing it sent Kaminari over the edge, groaning as he shot down Tenya’s throat.

Kaminari pulled out from his throat, overstimulated. He collapsed beside Tenya. The mating press only deepened, Eijirou took that as an opportunity to connect his lips to Tenya’s, as he bred the boy’s hole full.

——

Eijirou sat up beside Tenya, and just stroked his hair, Kaminari laid on his chest. “Next time, I wanna fuck him.” It’s more to Eijirou than Tenya, who just smiles warmly.

[cryptic-beans]

Fifty Shades of EraserMic - Chapter One

"Please, Sho? Can we?"  

Can they? The offer, the suggestion, that just came out of the blonde's mouth was so wild and absolutely like him to spit out that Shouta Aizawa had no clue whether to be disgusted by the boldness of his husband or proud of it. He stared at his husband, a squint to his eye as he stared at the blonde who was wiggling on the couch like an overgrown golden retriever waiting for their master to throw them a toy to play with.

His hands were locked together underneath his chin as he bounced on his knees, his green eyes wide and hopeful behind his glasses as they pleaded at Shouta as well. He felt a faint heat threatening to crawl up his neck to his face and he blinked at the blonde who wiggled with a smile on his lips that was just as hopeful as the rest of him when Shouta let out a breath. He reached up to rub at his forehead, taking the moment to look away from the man sitting just inches away from him, and he tried to piece his words together.

How did he say it without sounding like an absolute dick or like he was shooting down the idea before even allowing Hizashi to explain himself further? He dropped his hand to look at the blonde again who was wiggling again, his little bounces making the couch cushion under him move in time with the bounces, and he twisted slightly to drape his arm across the back of the couch, hand dangling off the edge as his finger began picking at the skin on the side of his thumb nail.

He held up one finger which made the blonde smile brightly as his brows raised hopefully with a hum leaving him when Shouta cleared his throat in an attempt to piece his sentence together without it sounding rude. The last thing he wanted to do was make Hizashi feel stupid or disgusting by the offer.  "So, let me get this straight, you want us to do a challenge? A sex challenge?"  

"Yes!"  

"And it's this is something that you came up with today?"  

"Yup!"  

"With the main idea being that we explore fifty different kinks?"  

"Uh huh!"  

"Why?"  

"Because it'd be fun! While our sex life is far from being stale, I want to explore other stuff that we can try! It's not like we can't afford to buy the things with kinks that we decide on!" Hizashi happily explained as his hands broke apart to bob with his words, like he was too hopeful not to move, and it made Shouta's brow raise at the blonde who then leaned forward planting his hands on the space between them with that bright smile still in place.

"Don't you think it sounds fun? We can look online or discuss things we've heard of and might be interested in! And then we'll make a list of the kinks and ideas, keep it in our dresser or somewhere that the kids won't see, then we check off each kink we do! A kinky check list! And that way we can say we tried something! Doesn't that sound at least a little interesting to you, Sho? You can't tell me that honestly, right now, there isn't some small part of you that's not interested in doing something like this!"  

"I'm not going to waste my breath denying it but, Zashi, doesn't something like this take time? Where would we find the time to even do these things?" Shouta questioned as he lifted his hand up to press the tips of his fingers to his temple.

The blonde's hopeful look was almost painful to look at and it made Shouta look away instinctively when the look quite nearly had that heat in his neck crawling into his cheeks. However, the movements of his husband had his gaze flicking up then down rapidly. Back and forth between his lap and the sight of his husband. "We're both teachers, you have patrols on the weekends during the day most of the time, and the radio station while I have patrols at night. Plus, we have two kids that are constantly around, so tell me where in this little idea of yours does it work out that we have the time for it?"  

"We always have time! Our sex life is active despite all of that, which is an accomplishment given our busy schedules! You'd think it'd have died a long time ago! But if we have too we can go to a hotel!"

Hizashi seemed to be rocking back and forth on his knees, his hands pressing on the cushions to push himself backwards much like his knees rocked him forward, and his lashes were fluttering at him in a way that made him pointedly look away again. "If you don't want to do it, though, you don't have to! Just because I have an idea doesn't mean you have to go along with it or humor me, Sho. If it makes you uncomfortable, then we absolutely do not have to do it but just know if we do do it then you have full control as well! Your opinions, your decisions, are just as important as mine! I'd never, ever, in a million years suggest something that would only benefit me."  

Fuck. He swallowed as he kept his gaze down, his fingers digging into his temple, his lips pressing together as he kept them from trembling wordlessly and he watched his own hand grip a fistful of fabric tightly. He didn't know if he wanted to say yes or no. His choice was swaying uneasily in him because there were so many pros and cons to something like this, so many things that could or could not go right, and it was that uncertainty that made him wary on answer. He looked at his husband again who was staring at him with that same hopeful look but there was a warmth in his eyes now that he knew was from the blonde trying to comfort him.

"I-What did you want to start it off with if I did agree to consider it?"  

"Oh easy! Easy stuff! Like, to start us off I'd say let's watch porn together!" Hizashi cheerfully replied as he looked down then at the tight grip Shouta had on his pants then smiled gently as he reached out pressing the backs of his fingers to his cheek softly. "Sho, I promise if you do agree that I wouldn't put you in something you don't want to be in or something that you're not comfortable with. So, if you say yes, I promise that you'll have all the control in the world about how we go about this."

"Oh, I will, will I? All the control in the world?"

"You will! We both will! Think of it like this; I came up with the plan but you're the director! You control what we do and how we go about it! That way you can have the same sense of control over the situation that I would! And if you at any time want to back out, want to stop, then we will! Does that sound okay to you, baby?"  

Watch porn? Together?  His face flared with heat at the thought as he looked down when the hand stroking his cheek flipped around to press its palm against it, swallowing while he released his tight hold on his pants to pluck them instead. Why did Hizashi always suggest the lewdest things in the most cheerful manner? It was disorienting. He knew that Hizashi was honest, that what he said he meant, and yet there was still a little trace of doubt in his mind as he looked up again with a breath.

Even with this doubt covering his thoughts like a light fog he knew that he was given an out; if he doubted this too much, if he thought it wasn't working, Hizashi wouldn't be mad at him if he backed out. He wouldn't be upset, that much he trusted. He took a breath as he continued plucking at his pant leg, a thumb stroking against his cheek gently, did he look up at his husband who was watching him with a hint of worry on his face.

"Okay."  

"Okay?"  

"Okay, we can do it. We'll try this at least and see how it goes before I give you a definite answer."  

"Fuck yeah! Awesome! I promise you won't regret it, baby! If anything makes you uncomfortable while we’re watching, then feel free to stop it! I promise to make everything comfortable and fun for the both of us!" Hizashi cheered his words flying forward to throw his arms around Shouta's shoulders tugging the man to him, his mouth pressing to the blonde's clothed shoulder for a moment before he was being pushed back.

There was light, excitement, in those green eyes that seemed so wide and expressive behind his glasses. It was honestly one of the things he loved most about Hizashi and he had to fight down an awkward little smile as the blonde then began speaking a mile a minute at him. "Okay! Okay, okay! Let's get to the bedroom! I can pull up some stuff on my laptop for us to watch! Is there anything in mind that you want to watch?"  

How he asked what porn he wanted to look at as casually as he would ask for what movie he wanted to watch on Netflix, Shouta would never know. He rubbed at the corner of his eye looking away feeling a fresh wave of heat to his face as he looked down mumbling a simple 'whatever is fine' and felt Hizashi leap off of the couch rushing around the coffee table then out of the room leaving Shouta on the couch.

He found a pair of blue and green eyes staring at him, Cosmo and Simba, and he tried not to feel a flash of guilt as he climbed to his feet as well only to find that they felt weak. Like his anxiousness, his shyness, was too much for his body to handle and he forced his legs to move around the coffee table in the direction his husband went in. He was grateful that Eri and Hitoshi were gone for the night, both having their respective sleepovers.

Well, not a sleepover for Hitoshi but a "boys' night" as he heard them babbling about as they left class that afternoon. He took a deep breath to steady himself as he entered the kitchen letting his gaze flick over to the cat bowls, half hoping they were empty only to find them definitely low with the bottoms showing but nothing that required a fresh scoop any time soon. After all he had just filled them when he got home.

He walked through the kitchen to the little hallway leading to their double doors, his fingers twisting into the sleeve of his shirt as he paused in front of them reaching out a hand. He wasn't scared. Far from it. He was nervous about this challenge, nervous to be watching porn not only for the first time in a while but in front of his husband was like something out of a nightmare. It should be the last thing he did with his partner but here they were about to sit down in front of a laptop and watch a video of two other men having sex.

He nearly groaned at the embarrassment that reared its head but he swallowed the noise down in favor of using his trembling hand to open the doors slipping in quickly shutting them behind him before a cat could even think of running in with him. He flipped the lock before taking one, final, breath before turning around to face his husband who was sitting cross legged on the bed with the laptop in his lap and he fidgeted before walking over to the bed.

He held his sleeves tightly against his palms causing the shirt to slid lower to reveal more of his shoulders, of his collar bones, and Hizashi smiled at him. He tried for a glower but it did little to sway the blonde's cheerful expression. The excitement he saw there. "You better be using the incognito browser."  

"Of course, I am! I'm not stupid, Sho!" He couldn't help a little twitch of his own lips when the blonde scoffed at him before beckoning him to come onto the bed and he climbed on feeling a tremor of anxiety run up his back as he crawled over to his husband before settling against his side.

A position they would come together in when they were watching a movie on the TV or a show on Netflix and he curled his legs underneath him. He didn't know if he wanted to be this close to Hizashi when they started watching but he also didn't want to make the blonde worry about him being too far away. He looked at the screen only to feel the tips of his ears burn with his blush as he watched Hizashi's mouse fly across the screen to pull up the categories. He did this all while navigating Pornhub like an expert while humming before he leaned his head against Shouta's.

"So, I know you said whatever is fine but do you have anything you wanna watch? Anything catching your eye?"  

God, this was embarrassing! He clenched his jaw for a second as Hizashi's fingers rested lightly on the mouse pad, the cursor holding still on the screen, and he took a shallow breath as his stomach gained that airy feeling one got when dropping from a large height or perhaps even anxious or worried. It made him feel sick. His hands curled into fists against his thighs as he looked away from the screen.

It was hard not to think about what they were about to do with the site up before then with millions of thumbnails all screaming to be watched and it did absolutely nothing to help the anxious embarrassment boiling away at him. God, he hadn't seen anything yet and here he was flustered beyond believe. He took a breath in an attempt to keep his voice firm when he cleared his throat lightly to speak.

"I don't care what we watch. Whatever you want, Zashi, I don't care. I just- Let's get it started so it can be over, okay?"  

"Shouta, baby, you don't have to be so anxious or nervous! It's just me here, no one else, and it's alright! It's just porn, baby! We fuck all the time so it's not that weird to watch two guys online fucking! No one will know you even looked at it but me and I won't tell a soul! "

Then he felt a kiss against the top of his head as breath brushed over his hair softly. It sent a gush of warmth through his veins but it did little to help the embarrassment that was still flooding every part of him. From the head down to his toes did he feel the embarrassment but the little affection from his husband was a welcoming sensation. Even the gentle breath against his hair was comforting in just the right way but it did little to relax the tension in his back and shoulders.

"Remember what I just said in the living room? If you're uncomfortable with this or want to stop you can, baby, I won't be mad. I want your opinion and I want you to enjoy yourself too so don't be scared of being vocal, okay?" He squirmed against his husband's side as he felt his lips tremble when they parted for another shallow breath, and he began plucking at the fabric of his pants again.

"I, um, I really don't mind that one?"

He lifted a trembling hand up to point at a category making Hizashi hum softly before feeling the blonde's cheek lift against his head after he had pressed it against his hair again and he nearly groaned at the mischievous little laugh he got. If Hizashi was trying to help him relax it really wasn't working. He watched as Hizashi clicked on the category and he tried not to let his overwhelming embarrassment crush what little courage he had as he stared at the screen. He let the blonde slowly scroll through the videos, as if letting Shouta read the titles, and God were they embarrassing for him to even read in his head let alone to ever say them out loud but Hizashi beat him to it.  

"'Blonde Bimbo's Outdoor Party' sounds like a good one! Ooooh, what about 'Blonde Slut Gets Brains Fucked Out'? Oh! Oh! How about 'Blonde Babe Eats Out Best Friend's Brother'?" Oh, come on! Shouta felt his cheeks throbbing from the heat as he glared at the screen while his husband happily chirped out titles that had embarrassment bursting through every little inch of him. "Oh, oh, oh! 'Blonde Bitch Goes For A Ride' sounds promising!"

He was going to go away from homicide. He was going to actually do harm to himself if he had to it here a moment longer listening to his husband cheerfully list off porno names right next to him like they were settling in to watch Netflix together. It made his face painfully, unbearably hot as he tried his best not to shrink in his spot when his husband squeezed his arm lightly around him as he reached up to rub his right eyebrow. This man was going to be the death of him.

"So, what do you think, Sho? Any of these sound interesting to you? I personally am interested in the blonde slut one! Judging from the thumbnail alone I think it'd be a good one!" He watched the cursor make circles around the video in question as if debating it before speaking again and he could hear the smirk in his husband's voice. "So, you like watching blondes?"  

"N-No! I just-We're watching it together, so I mean-!"

Words, words! He needed better words! He was stumbling, falling, and stuttering over these damn words of his that choked off before he could stop them or make them come out strong and confident as he wanted. Then he jumped when Hizashi leaned away just enough to look into his face, an amused glimmer to those green eyes of his, and a raised brow that made his hands fidget against his thighs.

"I don't watch this kind of stuff often, you know that! I just-!" He raised his hands up to rub at his face, his blush scalding beneath his fingers, and he then blew out a breath before dragging his fingers down his cheeks before leaving them to cover his mouth as he looked at Hizashi as he spoke from behind his hands. "Just- Do that one. The one you're interested in."  

Hizashi chuckled at the muffled quality to his voice as he leaned in and kissed the tip of Shouta's nose lightly making the black-haired man flinch in response before he could control himself properly. Then his husband was turning to the screen with a hum as he shifted himself in his spot to get comfortable. "Alright! We'll watch this one then you choose the next one, okay? We could switch off! You chose the category first and I chose the first video! Now you choose the second video and I choose the second category!"

Shouta felt a stab of horror as he stared at the blonde. They were going to watch more than one? Hizashi smiled at the horrified look on his husband's face and chuckled softly as he fought the urge to kiss his nose again. "That is if we make it through this one without being hard that is!"  

Was he an idiot? It was porn! And as cheesy, eyeroll worthy and unrealistic as porn was there was still one goal for it when being made and it was to get the viewers aroused. He kept his fingers against his lips as he then looked to the screen as Hizashi leaned back against his side, the laptop going on the little stand on the bed, settling it in so they could both see it clearly. He was doing this. He was really fucking doing this? Jesus Christ, this was nearly too much to deal with.

He was feeling strangely overwhelmed, the feeling swelling inside of him, and he took a deep breath.  He flexed his fingers out against his thighs, feeling them tremble lightly as he kept himself from gripping the fabric again when Hizashi clicked on the video then full screened it. It remained on a black screen for a moment, a spinning gray circle in the middle of the screen as it loaded, and then the all too familiar intro to Pornhub ran out quietly from the laptop speakers.

Shit, shit, shit, shit! He rubbed his palms against his thighs now when the video started up, his back straightening a bit when Hizashi wrapped an arm around his waist, his breaths nearly rasping out of him. It was fine at first. A little conversation that was lulling Shouta into a false sense of security as he tried not to cringe at the god-awful dialogue but that didn't stop Hizashi from snickering at the lines being delivered. All seemed okay.

The video itself was only twenty or so minutes long, nothing too bad. But then he was tensing up as it changed. It was the rather slick, nearly disgusting sound of lips smacking together as the actors began to kiss one another so ferociously that he felt a wave of embarrassment wash over him when the lips parted and he could see their tongues. God, is that what it looked like when he and Hizashi were making out? He was stiff against his husband's side, whose fingers were kneading at his waist, as he struggled to push down his embarrassment.

It was gripping him so viciously, he feared he'd never be able to unlock his body after this. Then Hizashi was snickering again under his breath again as his fingers continued massaging him, making Shouta want to peek at his husband's face but given that his head was on his shoulder that wasn't really possible without it being noticeable. Then, as if to prove the dialogue and kissing was tame, the moans started.

Whimpering moans that were high, clearly put on theatrically, but they sent a strange feeling through Shouta as he remained tense despite Hizashi trying to coax him into a relaxed state like he was. They were still kissing, perhaps far more eagerly than before, and hands were reaching to pull at the clothing of the man who was clearly supposed to be the top in the situation. Meanwhile the man playing the bottom had on the scantiest pair of underwear and stockings he'd ever seen in his life.

He hated the burn to his cheeks especially when he could practically sense how Hizashi's eyes were locked on the screen watching every little thing taking place. It was a complete difference to the urge to look away for him. Fuck, he wanted to look away but the noises would no doubt draw his attention back so it was a lost cause.  He twitched at how quick things jumped from what he could only imagine as a five to a ten in the seconds it took him to get his focus back on the laptop and he squeezed his hands into tight fists against his thighs again.

It was embarrassing. It should be embarrassing but shouldn't it also be okay? To be alright in watching something like this with his husband? He heard of other people doing things like this, heard of it but balked at it. He gawked now at the screen at the sight of the actors in the video twisting, the blonde in the video having his face pressed down into a couch with hips raising up as the underwear being pulled down.

He was...fascinated? He was still embarrassed, but he was strangely enraptured by the sight before him because it was going fast, so fast, and he knew if a video had a time limit it did have to go fast after all. He wanted to shift, to adjust himself, when he pressed his lips together to keep any sort of sound whether it be a breath or a hum of embarrassment from leaving his throat as he stared at the screen.

Was this really how fast things went down in porn? He hadn't watched a video since he was a teen, but this seemed so much different to what he had watched back then. He felt a wave of heat ripple under his skin, goosebumps raising on top of it at the moans that now rang out from the laptop, and he swallowed as his fingers twitched despite their tight curl. He didn't know what to do with himself, pull away or stay close, but his heart was beating uncomfortably hard against his chest as he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment.

How that only made the tinny moans so much louder, he had not a damn clue. Then he felt the hand on his waist sliding up his side then back down to his hip gently prompting him to open his eyes again to stare at the screen only to feel his jaw drop as air rushed out of him at the sight. He knew they got more well-endowed men to do porn now a days, men specifically searched out, but that had to be one of the biggest dicks he'd ever seen in his life.

While he thought himself average at six inches, Hizashi at a good seven and a half inches this actor's dick had to be closer to eight or nine. Huge. Positively huge. And the fact that the blonde actor was taking it so easily was absolutely gawk worthy as he stared at the screen feeling Hizashi chuckle softly beside him as that hand continued its path up and down his side. "Mans got a big dick, don't he? Like, goddamn! I dunno if I'd be able to take anything like that so easily."  

He blinked when Hizashi spoke, moving his head to rub against his shoulder when he twitched to look at the blonde only to stop at the last moment, and he took a deep breath before he felt confident he could speak without stuttering. "Yeah. I mean, don't they prepare actors before shoots anyway?" He questioned when Hizashi hummed softly, his hand bunching the fabric of his shirt sometimes from the movements and he fought a shiver at the thought of Hizashi's hand on his skin.

Especially while watching something like this. Then the moans on the laptop crested to a cry that both men twitched at, and he looked up instinctively to the source. It would be hard not to look up at it and once he did, he was gawking shamelessly at the screen. The slick sounds of the absolute horrendous amount of lubricant they used was a... unique sound. Almost like macaroni. And he blushed hotly at the comparison because he had heard Hizashi say countless times that stupid phrase 'that's what good pussy sounds like!' in his ear anytime pasta was being made.

Almost always when he was making mac and cheese for dinner if it was a lazy night. He always elbowed him in the stomach making him wheeze out his laughs but now that he was sitting here watching this, listening to the sounds, he couldn't help but agree no matter how shameful that was. The moans were so high, strung out and clearly fake like any Porn stars would be but it was nearly overwhelming to listen too.

And then he felt his dick twitch making him look down in horror at himself. What? Even though he knew porn was made to get men aroused it was shocking that he anything about this slightly hard-on worthy. He fought the urge to shift his hands to casually cover his curiously twitching dick because he’d never hear the end of it if Hizashi saw. If he knew his body was reacting so strongly to the stupid video.

He swallowed as he shifted slightly, pulling his knees up slightly closer to himself instead and he let out a little breath as quietly as he could. He watched the sight of the blonde on screen getting exactly what the title had promised; his brains fucked out. He knew if he had been watching it on his own the time jump from zero to six minutes would have spooked him. Watching it progress naturally was strange.

As a teen he would always get impatient, wanting to skip to the good parts, and while it mortified him to think that he just couldn't deny it. He squeezed his thighs together. His feet then twitched only to wiggle against the sheets as he tried to keep his breaths from being the tingles that already raced down his legs. Begging to be stretched out again. He instead flexed his cramping fingers out. Fuck, it was getting to him more than he initially thought it would.

He thought he'd be too embarrassed, too horrified, to even think of getting aroused but here he was struggling to keep still because Hizashi surely wasn't that affected yet, was he? It was embarrassing what a simple video was doing to him. The whimpers, the groans, and the cries were painfully loud as he blinked quickly while closing his mouth to swallow in order to soothe his dry throat.

Jesus, he needed some water. Did this mean he was thirsty in two senses of the word? Oh, Hizashi would find that fucking hilarious. The sharp sound of skin slapping on the computer was tinny, just like the other sounds so far, and yet it was making him feel hot. His skin was burning underneath his clothes, he was sure Hizashi could feel it beneath his hand and against his side, and he wanted to peek at his husband so badly just to see his face.

What expression was he wearing? Was it his concentrated one that he got when reading or watching something? Brows tugged together, eyes stormy, lips being bit at lightly? A sharp moan from the laptop brought him out of his thoughts as his nails lightly dragged against the fabric of his pants bunching the fabric into his palms as he struggled to keep his body from moving. It was difficult when his previously twitching dick was hardening and he knew the fabric of his sweats wouldn't hide it as well as it should.

It wouldn't be obvious if he were wearing his regular pants but if Hizashi looked- He nearly whimpered in time with the actor in the video as he squeezed the fabric in his hands. How much longer? How much? He wanted to squirm, to whine, and twist against his husband's side but he held himself tight. He hoped Hizashi would mistake it as the stiffness he'd had earlier and that he would just assume Shouta's embarrassment was still prevalent.

He hated this! Hated it! He was getting aroused watching porn with his husband sitting right fucking there! What did that say about him as a person? He clenched his jaw as some part of his mind marveled at the video, at the sight of skin jiggling with each harsh thrust. He marveled at the blush to the blonde actor's skin, a gentle red and he wondered was it from the heat or perhaps was it blush?

He didn't know but the urge to rub his eyes was strong, yet he knew if he moved even an inch, he'd lose the tight control he had over every muscle in his body right now and the embarrassment would swoop in. That just wasn't worth it. He then felt Hizashi shift next to him. He twitched with a renewed tightness to his shoulder as that hand paused on his hip to rub and knead at it gently through his clothing but there was something different about it.

Was it because he was actually aroused now? Was that what was different about it? Then his brain, his disgustingly traitorous brain, whispered to him as he watched the blonde on screen twist and writhe as he shouted out only for it to end on one of those famous, long drawn out Porn star moans.  

What if that was Hizashi? What if I was making him feel so good that he moved and sounded like that?

He couldn't stop the little shiver that ran down his spine at the thought, his face and neck felt uncomfortably hot much like the tips of his ears when he felt the hand rubbing at his hip comfortingly rub at his side again while trying to coax him closer. He wanted to resist it. But Hizashi felt nice against him now, much more comfortable than he had moments ago, and so he let himself wiggle to readjust his position against his side.

He blinked then looked over at the sound of Hizashi's hand rubbing at his thigh that was followed by a low breath leaving the man. He couldn't see his face but God did he want too. His hands were trembling lightly from how tightly he gripped his pant legs, and he wondered if Hizashi could see that, if he had been watching Shouta in between. He fought another shiver that wanted to streak down his spine.

Then that signature Porn star moan had him looking at the screen with that same thought whispered through his mind only now was he willing to build on it. He wasn't big like the other actor on screen but that never seemed to matter to Hizashi so maybe he would still squirm and shout like that? If he ever agreed to bottom someday then would he? But he could make Hizashi sound like that even if he wasn't ever going to top the blonde and he could make Hizashi writhe and scream with just a movement of his own hips.

He then felt Hizashi shift as his hand lifted from his thigh to the mousepad swirling over the video and he noticed the little tremble to his hand before it moved away after confirming the time. Twelve minutes in. God, there was another thirteen minutes? He bit his lip when the whimpering moans seemed to lightly crackle on the speakers, and he swallowed down a noise of his own as he fought the squirm that made his legs twitch. The hand on his side was sliding up and down, then it paused to grip a fistful of the fabric making him blink when he heard Hizashi clear his throat.  

"D-Do you care if we choose another one now? Not that I'm not enjoying it, far from that, but I just don't think we should watch whole videos like they're shows to binge on Netflix! Would that be okay with you, baby?"

Oh god, his voice! It was pitched low, gritty almost despite him clearing his throat and he loved the sound of it as the sharp slaps of skin on skin, the wild moans and low grunts from the actors had him sinking his teeth harder into his lip as he wondered if he could speak without stuttering again. He did pretty good last time so surely it would be firm this time, right? And yet his lips refused to move even when he dragged his teeth over his lip as he released it.

He felt Hizashi squirm then against his side, a twitch moving over the hand on the mousepad, and he released his grip on his pant legs as he curled his legs tightly to his stomach now. "Sho?"  

"It's f-fine with me. You said I picked the next one, r-right?"

Ah, shit! It wasn't as bad as it could be but the wobble to his own low, rough voice was unmistakable, and he felt the hand gripping his shirt tighten for just a moment as Hizashi took a breath before letting it out. He could only imagine the nod the blonde possibly gave when the hand released his shirt and he straightened up slightly. Shouta then used his hand that that would have been between them to press to the mattress to keep him upright.

He watched the video exit from full screen and then he hit the back button on the web page twice to bring them back to the categories page once again cutting off the moaning and the resulting silence felt too loud. Like the room was bigger without the sharp, crisp smacking of skin on skin and the high staccato moans that made him want to shiver. He watched Hizashi scroll through the categories for a moment before he settled on a strangely obvious and perhaps hilarious selection. Brunettes.

While Shouta had just been choosing blindly at the blonde's category he couldn't shake the feeling that Hizashi's choice was intentional, and he had to pick on him just a little bit. "Brunettes, huh?"

"Shut up, you! It's better to keep it easy! I don't want to spook you with anything." He mumbled the words as he began scrolling through the videos slowly letting Shouta gaze at the names feeling his ears burn hotly from his blush and he wondered if they were as red as he imagined them being.

Hizashi always said his ears were brighter than anything when he blushed. This time, strangely enough, Hizashi didn't happily read the titles out loud and his fingers trembled against the mouse as Shouta let his eyes scan over the videos feeling strangely locked up. Like he couldn't force his lips to move much less think of saying them. He then shifting making Hizashi's finger stop, swallowing, and pointed to a thumbnail listening to the blonde swallow himself.

"Th-This one? You sure?"  

He couldn't trust himself to speak so he nodded when he felt Hizashi's eyes on him, his knees still bunched up to his stomach, his hands scratching his knees through the fabric. He dug his nails into them when Hizashi clicked on the video, once again full screening it, before he settled in with his hand reaching out for Shouta and he squirmed closer again pinching his lips together as it took a few seconds for it to start.

The Pornhub logo, the iconic music, and then the video was starting much like the one had before. There was the playful, cringey dialogue that bordered on flirtatiousness between the two actors when he shifted his legs slightly. They were cramped, aching with the desire to stretch them out but he refused. He couldn't. This time he was hyper focused on the video in front of him as once again that familiar, slick sound of the two actors making out with everything they had rang out and he couldn't find it in him to be disgusted this time.

He was absolutely, one hundred percent, fascinated by the video. He barely reacted to the hand rubbing his waist again but he didn't need that reassurance, he didn't need the comfort, because his embarrassment was far gone by this point. It was lost beneath the lust, the arousal, that was burning through him faster than even Endeavor's flames. He watched with every little bit of his brain power on the tongues that flashed in the kiss, the hands that pushed at pants on the actors, the way the bottom moaned gratuitously into the kiss.

He was enraptured by the sight as he pressed his trembling hands firmly to his knees that twitched, and he couldn't control the breaths that came unevenly but he did try to keep them quiet. He almost felt like a teen again. So goddamn horny that he was nearly squirming with impatience for them to just do it already. He bit down at his lip as if he could bite down the impatience boiling in his chest as he stared at the screen.

The moans were kicking up, like before only this time he watched as the dark-haired man was plucked up and plopped onto what he could only assume was supposed to be a kitchen table and he felt a tingle of excitement as his breath froze for a second. Hizashi did that all the time when they were younger. Fucked him on the kitchen table back when they were living in an apartment and he'd loved every second of it.

The way the wood didn't give beneath his nails like skin would, the quiet creaking as it wobbled back and forth in time with their frenzied movements, how cool it was beneath his back when Hizashi pushed him down. How he then thrusted so hard the table jumped from merely creaking to squeaking loudly beneath him and he had wondered if it would break. God, they really couldn't keep their hands off each other even then, could they?

He jumped from his thoughts when Hizashi's hand discreetly pulled at his shirt lifting it up and then he shivered when his palm pressed against his skin, his wedding ring cool against his hot flesh. Surely, he knew now, right? Could he feel how hot he was and how he was nearly burning up with his arousal? But Hizashi didn't say a word as he began moving his hand slowly, up and down, on his skin making it quiver beneath his touch and Shouta almost whined.

Almost. The sound of the actor on screen moaning loudly covered his tiny sound he made as he tried to strangle the whine in his throat, but he felt confident Hizashi heard it.  He then felt Hizashi squirm next to him again only it wasn't the tiny little movement but a larger one this time and Shouta heard the blonde take a breath that shuddered both in and out. The sound made his stomach squeeze in excitement and eagerness, and he hated how it made him want to throw up.

The airy sensation, the butterflies in the stomach idea, was almost too much for him when he could already feel his heart flying against his chest only to stumble over its beats. The sensations were too much paired together. He bit at his lip again as he watched the dark-haired actor on the screen spread his legs, wider than he thought possible and he wondered briefly if the man was flexible, when the slick sound of the other actor pushing into him had him shivering.

He blinked slowly when he heard Hizashi's palm brushing against his thigh again only this time it was faster, firmer perhaps, against the fabric of the jeans he had changed into when they got home in order to go out to the store together. It nearly made him look away from the screen but then the thrusts, the way the actors moved against each other, was gobbling up his focus as he saw the table began to rock with the pace that was chosen.

He could hear that shitty table of theirs squeaking in their apartment. Could feel it beneath him. He shivered again as Hizashi's hand swept upwards on his side before dipping low to his hip again to lightly scratch the flesh there for a second before rubbing it away. He was breathing unevenly, quietly as he could but he was sure Hizashi heard them. Sure that he felt them from the movement in his shoulders as his chest fluttered up and down with his breaths.

The loud moans were loud, that absolutely abhorrent squelching of the lube as the other man thrusted in was loud in the room and he could hear Hizashi's breaths next to him. They were also uneven, nearly panting, and he could only imagine the look on his face. His neglected erection throbbed against his thighs, thighs that he rubbed together now making him twitch, and he choked off another whine in his throat as he stared at the video unable to stop a squirm of his own.

The hand on his skin was hypnotic in the way it would shift from rubbing and caressing his feverish skin to scratching it was absolutely putting him into a trance as it went hand-in-hand with the lewd sounds coming from the laptop. Then Hizashi did something that threw everything off. He heard that palm brushing over his thigh again, nails dragging against the fabric of the jeans, as if to claw at it with that shaking hand as a louder, shaking breath left his husband again.

That's when Hizashi moved slightly next to him making him twitch himself as he moved instinctively to keep himself pressed to his side, his eyes still on the screen as he watched the table wiggle viciously beneath the actors. He about jumped out of his skin when Hizashi moaned. He jerked himself upright while pulling away from his side only for his gaze to fly down to see Hizashi's hand rubbing at himself, fingers shaking and thighs twitching as the whisper of his hand against the fabric had him twitching.

Then he was looking up at his husband who wasn't looking at the video anymore. Had he been looking at it all? His pupils were huge, his iris's mere rings of green, his face was just as red as he imagined his own to be, his lips parted with his uneven breaths and his lashes were lowered, giving him that bedroom look he adored. The hand that had been on his waist slid against his lower back with his movement and he looked down again at the hand that rubbed at the bulge of his erection before swallowing as he looked up.

A moan from the laptop had them both looking at the screen instinctively and then Shouta forced his gaze away as he found himself rolling onto his knees lunging forward. Hizashi threw his hands up to catch the black-haired man with a happy sound leaving his throat, low and rough to Shouta, but then his lips were on the blonde's and it didn't matter. He pushed the blonde onto his back from the force of his lunge, his hands planting on either side of his shoulders while trying not to pin his hair against the bed or pull at it on accident to cause genuine pain.

He swung his left leg over Hizashi's waist, knees digging into the mattress firmly, and his whimper was covered by Hizashi's enthusiastic moan as he ground his erection to the blonde's. Hands gripped at his waist as their lips moved against each other in a fast, perhaps even desperate, type of kiss that screamed its own lustful intentions. He couldn't stop himself from grinding against the blonde now that he had started and the pleasure that rushed through him was too addicting to even consider stopping his movements.

He then made a little noise as Hizashi moved to flip him onto his back, the blonde reaching up to tug his hair down all the way and he then pulled from the kiss as Shouta's hands flew down to fumble with the button of his jeans before ripping it open and pulling the zipper down while Hizashi tugged his shirt above his head throwing it behind him as his nipple piercings flashed at Shouta happily.

He then turned his attention from trying to get the jeans down, the action near impossible given their position, but he could try dammit and he finally gave up with an annoyed grunt as he reached down to pull his own shirt up over his head with a little difficulty. It was hard to get a shirt up when it kept bunching up because of the blanket beneath you. Then he was throwing the fabric as hard as he could, not caring where it flew off too because Hizashi was coming down pressing their chests together as his lips found his again and he was humming as his toes curled.

He could understand his embarrassment at the start of this but now? Now he was grateful he had agreed to it. So goddamn grateful. He moaned into the kiss as Hizashi's lips pressed firmly to his own, almost crushing their mouths together, as he kissed him back with that same starving and frenzied quality that had him squirming. He hissed in a breath felt Hizashi's nipple piercings rub against his chest when the blonde moved causing such a unique feeling that it made him whine.

He felt Hizashi lick at his lip, and he parted his lips quickly only to hear the answering moan from Hizashi as his tongue met his own with that same frenzied movement. He panted unevenly through his nose as he twisted, licked and caressed Hizashi's tongue with his own when he began playing with the tongue piercing happily as Hizashi moaned into the kiss this time. The image of the make outs in the videos made him feel a stab of embarrassment.

At the mere thought of himself and Hizashi kissing that sloppily but then Hizashi's thumb was rubbing circles into his jaw as if to soothe him.As if he knew that he'd felt embarrassed for a moment and wanted to quell it. He squirmed when the blonde slid the hand from his jaw down along his side and he was moaning loudly when the hand slipped between them to grasp at Shouta's erection through the fabric of his pants.

He could still hear the video playing at the edge of the bed, but he couldn't focus on it now, not when Hizashi was rubbing his piercing against his tongue making him twitch against the blonde. He could feel drool gathering in the corner of his mouth as he swallowed the best he could when Hizashi was sliding his hand from his erection to pull at the waistline of his pants insistently before pulling back. He almost whined at the loss of his lips, staring up at the blonde who was panting quickly as he sat back on his knees and slid his right hand up his chest making his back arch into the touch.  

"Take'em off right fucking now!"

He got the words out on a breath that sounded choked to Shouta and he nodded eagerly as the blonde moved from between his legs to move into a sitting position as he began pushing at his boxers and jeans as fast as he could. He did the same. His clothing was flying over the edge of the bed with Hizashi's following afterwards and he shivered at the sight of Hizashi's erection, the sight of his happy trail that gave way to the thick patch of blonde pubic hair that he trimmed religiously. He always had.

He had revealed to Shouta when they were teens that he did it and ever since then he sometimes did it in front of Shouta only to offer to do the same for him, but he always brushed it off. He didn't care about his own appearance down there and Hizashi seemed to love it anyways. He was then rolling onto his knees again, the black-haired man shivering in anticipation when a moan flew from the laptop, and he looked over instinctively like he had before then back to his husband.  

"Turn it off!"

He pointed to the laptop watching as Hizashi then leaned forward on his left hand reaching out to slam the laptop's screen down cutting off the sounds when he was turning back to Shouta. He then squirmed against the bed reaching for the bedside table, his hands shaking, and he yanked the drawer open to dig for the box of condoms and lube he had there when Hizashi was pushing his legs apart making him whimper. He felt them slide up his thighs making them tremble beneath his touch and Shouta scrounged desperately for the items he knew were there.

He bought them just the other day! Where is it? Where the fuck were they? He moaned when fingers caressed the underside of his erection, his fingers frantically moving around the drawer looking for the shape of the condom box and the tube. "Wait! Wait, wait, wait, Zashi!"  

"Don't want to, baby, I don't want to! Look at you squirm! How long have you been hard, Sho? How long into these videos did we get into before you got turned on?" Hizashi questioned through a moan as he wrapped his fingers around his husband's erection giving a few strokes that had hips jumping up and a loud moan flying from the man.

Shouta couldn't think to answer as he forced himself to keep looking for what he knew was in there. He gasped when his fingers finally brushed the edge of a box, grabbing it quickly then finding the tube next to it rolling slightly from his movement and he snatched it up as well before turning back to Hizashi. He then cried out when Hizashi's thumb rubbed at his tip sending such an intense wave of pleasure through him that it about ripped through him as easily as the lust and arousal had making his hips jump up frantically.

"Answer me, baby! Tell me!"  

"Ah! Ah, ma-maybe ten minutes in? Tw-Twelve? Mmmm, I don't kn-know! I-I didn't c-care enough to really think 'bout it!" His own words were a lustful, slurring moan as he looked down at his hips jumping up making Hizashi's hand move with him, and he whined softly when the thumb pressed against his slit rubbing firmly in small, tight circles.

He twitched when the hand then slid down again to resume the stroking past from tip to base that had him whimpering as he pressed the backs of his hands to his forehead as he grit his teeth. Fine, if Hizashi wasn't going to listen to him and wait then he could play dirty too. He would play dirty! He took a few breaths when his eyes threatened to roll up at the pleasure that burned in his very veins when Hizashi squeezed his erection with just enough pressure to make his hips jerk up in that same frenzy they had before.

"Za-Zashi, do you 'member the t-table?"  

Hizashi squinted at him as Shouta fought the urge to shut his eyes, his hands shaking against his forehead, and he watched confusion roll over his husband's face as his glasses slipped down his nose before being nudged back up. He felt a laugh crawling up his throat at the sight, the brows that came together tightly on his forehead as he blinked rapidly a few times before squinting at him again as if his confusion deepened and then tilted his head as he paused his hand.

It made him whine loudly before he could stop himself, his hips jerking desperately to recreate the strokes when Hizashi finally spoke, beginning to move his hand again though it was slower and not at all what Shouta wanted. He wanted fast. He wanted to be squeezed so firmly it bordered on pain. "What table?"  

"T-The one at our old apartment?"

He knew he hit the spot directly when Hizashi's eyes lost their squint, flying open giving him a wide-eyed look instead as he stared down at Shouta who bit back the smirk that quivered at the corners of his lips. Not yet. Not yet. It was hard to keep it off his lips when he felt a smug satisfaction run through him when he felt the fingers beginning to move again slowly this time, as if to see what he would say next.

"Yeah, you know what I'm talkin' 'bout! That table that -Ah, shit! Mmm!- th-that we bought at the y-yard sale because we co-couldn't afford a brand new one yet? A-And it was all scratched up and ne-needed a book under one of the legs to keep it stable?"  

"It was a p-piece of shit! A shitty ass table!" Hizashi got his words out with a breathless laugh accompanying them as Shouta moaned when the hand began moving faster, his legs squirming on either side of the blonde restlessly. His breath rushed out over his lips making them feel dry when he pressed them together to swallow.

Though, he honestly didn't care right then because those fingers were then rubbing at the tip, and he was crying out jerking his hips upwards as his legs shook. He gasped as the fingers of his left hand curled tightly over the box and tube in his hand so tightly he feared that he'd burst open the lube and get it all over his hair. It happened once before and it wasn't pleasant at all to get it out. He sucked in a breath when Hizashi leaned down to kiss his throat only to begin moving lower.

Kissing his chest softly as he made his way down his stomach which quivered at the soft press of his lips and his thighs twitched to open themselves as wide as they could while his hips arched up. A silent plea. "What about that table's got your attention, baby? Why are you bringing it up now?"

"B-Because of the video! The one I-I chose! It made me 'memeber it!" He breathed out when he felt Hizashi's breath against his hip before a kiss was pressed there then a nip of teeth that made him shiver and he whimpered when he felt Hizashi kiss the underside of his erection.

He knew exactly what he wanted to say, to spur Hizashi on, but the words clogged in his throat for a moment as the blonde began kissing down to the base, his lashes fluttering as he looked up from under them at him before moving up towards the leaking tip when he held out a hand curling his fingers. It took his brain a moment to piece it together because it was fizzed with the jolt of lust that zapped him when lips pressed again his tip making his whole body jerk and he bit his lip though it did nothing to quiet the moan that tore out of him.

He then moved his hand from his forehead and all but threw both items at the blonde's hand which got him a hum when he took a breath to speak. "Ju-Just somethin' made me think of when w-we had it and sometimes you wo- Nnnngh!"  

He thrust his hips up eagerly when Hizashi licked at the tip, rubbing the piercing against the slit his eyes smoldering up at him and his hands came up to cover his eyes which he also squeezed shut. It should be illegal the way the blonde licked at him, rubbing that sinful barbell against the head as if he were eager to lap up the droplets of pre-come that welled up. As if he was eager to taste it. He didn't have to see to know how his husband was looking at him, didn't need too because he could see it so clearly behind his eyelids.

He wanted to watch his husband, but he couldn't; strange how he could sit through half of a porn video and the first five minutes of another one but he couldn't will himself to look down. He whimpered when Hizashi then began kissing down the side of his erection making him gasp in a breath that made his chest heave when the blonde spoke again, this time his voice pitched dangerously low. Using his quirk this time, the wicked bastard.

"What would I do, Sho? Did I do something to you that involved the table?"  

He could do it. He could say it. God, he wanted to say it! He just needed a second to catch his breath as he felt his erection twitch as he ground the backs of his hands against his eyes as he swallowed and then licked his lips taking a little breath. "So-Sometimes I'd be making d-dinner or washing the d-dishes and you'd walk in acting all in-innocent and bother me!"

How embarrassed he should be as gasped out those words. Yet he couldn't think of it when it got him rewarded by lips pressing to his thighs now, fluttering kisses that would be placed on his face, and the muscles in his thighs jumped at the lips caressing the sensitive inner flesh. Go on. He didn't have to hear the words from Hizashi to know it was what he was thinking. "An-And then you'd start t-touching me! Touching my ssstomach and hips u-until I couldn't focus!"

"Mmmm, what does that have to do with the t-table, baby?" Hizashi's voice was still pitched low, dangerously and deliciously low, making him tremble when his voice vibrated across his skin from how close his lips were. He could only imagine those smoldering eyes looking up at him, pupils blown wide.

He whimpered when he heard the cap of the lube popping open followed quickly by the quiet, slick little noises as it was spread over the blonde's fingers, and he couldn't control the way his breath raced. How it came out jaggedly, heaving and rushing out too fast, and he squirmed when he felt the fingers moving between his cheeks to rub over his entrance. It made his hips twitch against the fingers rubbing at him, the eagerness overpowering for just a moment, and he felt lips against his inner thigh again.

"Tell me, baby, what did I do after that?"  

Jesus. Already the images from the videos felt farther away but still flashed behind his eyelids as he struggled to keep from moving in time with the fingers rubbing at him slickly. "Th-Then you'd touch me d-down there! Touching m-my thighs, my ass and my hi-hips then you'd rub m-me!"

He sounded utterly, completely breathless when Hizashi began pushing his finger into him making him twitch as he bit at his sore lip to compose himself as his breath hitched and shuddered down then out before he could speak again. And even when he did his voice was strangely thick, raspy and not at all like Hizashi's deeper pitch but the shudder he felt from the hands on him told him it affected Hizashi about as much as the blonde's voice affected him.  "And-And when I g-got hard you wouldn't ta-take me to the bedroom!"  

"Where'd I take you?"

God, his voice was a shot straight to his groin making his erection throb at the sound of it and Shouta squirmed as he twitched his hips as Hizashi began thrusting his finger slowly. Like he was testing the waters. He nearly yelled at him to hurry up the preparation, that he was impatient and wanted more right now and if he didn't get it then he'd lose his mind. And to think this was all because of two little videos on Pornhub. People really knew what they were doing in getting people aroused and fired up, didn't they?

He jumped when he felt that second finger nudging at him before pushing in, making him hiss out a breath through clenched teeth and his hips jumped up desperately in search of something, anything, to give him what he wanted. "Wh-Where did I take you, baby?"  

"To the table! The ta-table!" His throat felt dry from how he gasped his words, but they were flying out of him in each breath he used leaving his lungs hungry for another breath and he was desperate to get the words out of him.

He planted his feet on the mattress, doing his best to move his hips in time with the fingers thrusting into him, and he could feel those eyes burning into his feverish skin making his very blood flame with lust. He wanted it, he needed it, and he was going to get it, goddammit! God, he hadn't known the effect porn would have on him at this age. The last time he watched it actively was when he was a teenager, his hormones being in overdrive and his sex drive through the roof once he realized his feelings for Hizashi.

It had driven him out of his mind the way he was always so close but untouchable had killed him. So naturally he turned to porn. But since he and Hizashi have been together he didn't have a need for it, not as often as he would have in the past, because he had the object of his desire and lust with him. He hissed in a breath when the fingers spread outwards pushing at his muscles spurring him to speak.

"You'd pu-put me on the table! And-And-!"

"And what, baby?" Hizashi's spoke with that low tone, but it came slower now, like he was close to falling asleep but the fast movements of his fingers spoke nothing of it and he whimpered when the tips of his fingers just barely touched his prostate.

His hips jerked down to get them to touch, to press against it but the fingers pulled back right as he moved down and he cried out at the indignation, the unfairness, that ripped through him at being denied it. He heard the low, vibrating chuckle against his thigh as lips pressed against them again but began crawling back up, making him gasp hopefully as they kissed at the juncture between his thigh and groin.

"Move your hands, Sho, look at me."  

He moved his tightly fisted, trembling hands from his eyes and peeled them open looking down at his husband who was smiling up at him sweetly which was such a contrast to his tone that it made him blink at him in confusion. Then he was shuddering, his hands flying downwards to grab the long blonde locks as Hizashi delivered a lick from the base all the way up to the tip rubbing his piercing against it before he covered it with his mouth.

He shouted when Hizashi suckled, his tongue lapping at the slit before dipping his head down making his hips arch up only for hands to come up pressing his hips down as he gasped for a breath. Fuck, fuck! He could feel his thighs shaking as his toes curled tightly before twitching as he cried out breathlessly as his husband kept moving down. It was only when he was down to the base, the tip of his nose pressing against him, did he gasp.

In fact, he swore he gasped so deeply and so violently, that he heard the rasping quality to it as it scraped down his throat.  Heaved a lungful of air down, feeling his chest heave with the motion as he paused to swallow. Then he used his air, his air that he wanted to save, to form words. He had to continue, anyhow, because what he saw in his mind was blending the memories with the videos they had just sat through, and he knew his memories were so much better, but it was- He just needed-!

"And-And then you'd fuck me so hard that it would creak and wo-wobble! So hard, so fast! And it'd be s-so gooood! So good, Zashi! Better than any fu-fucking video could ever m-make me feel!"  

He screamed, howled, his words as he stared at the ceiling as he gripped and twisted those blonde locks around his fingers tightly when he was grinding his hips upwards when Hizashi swallowed. The movement was almost too much paired with the fingers that had bumped up to three, thrusting in and out of him while fanning out until he was writhing against the sheets gasping when Hizashi began to bob his head.

He loved when Hizashi went down on him whether it was for a blowjob or to eat him out, the man had a magical mouth no matter what he did and Shouta loved every damn second of it! He could hear the quiet sounds of Hizashi sucking at him, swallowing when he went down to the base, as he moved his fingers in time to the movements of his head making Shouta moan so loudly, so violently, that he felt his vocal cords straining.

His hands coaxed Hizashi downwards each time he went up and his hips were shamelessly rocking against his mouth each time he went to the base. He was sure he was going to lose his mind. All because of two videos they didn't even watch all the way through. He jerked when Hizashi pulled his fingers out, a whine that sounded closer to a keening sound, only to wail when the blonde pushed against his hands as he began sliding upwards giving a suck to the tip before popping off.

He was gulping air down, unsure if it was sobs flying out of him, but he was making some kind of strangled sound in between each lungful of air he took as Hizashi pulled his hands from his hair to sit up. He choked the sounds down the best he could which wasn't great, but he could hear Hizashi fussing with something for a moment, his head lifting as his chest heaved. He whimpered when he watched Hizashi rip open the condom in his hand viciously, like he couldn't get it open fast enough, his hands shaking as he rolled the condom on.

His movements were fast, jerking movements that trembled as he picked up the lube perhaps a bit too hard if the way he squirted a decent amount out onto the blankets but that didn't matter. It didn't matter because he was pressing a dollop onto his fingers then moving back between Shouta's legs, the black-haired man spreading them open with a whimper as the fingers dove down smearing the lube against the hole that twitched beneath his fingers.

He then reached out for Shouta's waist, lifting his lower half up and the man used his feet to push himself up just enough to help out the blonde who let his lips quirk into a little smile. He was reaching out for Hizashi, his hands shaking much like the rest of him, and then he was crying out so loudly in such a high tone that his right hand flew up to cover his mouth as Hizashi nudged at him before diving in.

He didn't know what to do with his left hand, didn't know if he was still reaching, but it quickly clapped over his right hand as he released another noise that was so lewd, so lustful, that even muffled it made embarrassment prickle. Hizashi's hands squeezed tightly at his waist when he bottomed out and he closed his eyes for a moment. He just needed a moment. Were his lashes wet?

He could feel the sweat beading up on his forehead, sliding down his temples, but did he have tears? Why? He didn't know, he couldn't understand why his eyes were watering but here they were. Was it the embarrassment? Or the euphoria of Hizashi’s erection twitching inside of him? He truly didn't know at this point but what he did know was he couldn't really believe he released anything like that! It was so-!  

"Do-Don't do that, Sho!"

The blonde's hands then lifted from his waist to grab at his wrists gently but he shook his head as he opened his eyes to stare at his husband who was staring down at him with such hunger, such absolute lust, that it sent chills down his spine. The fingers lightly squeezed his wrists before tugging at them and he knew he could fight them, he could resist the tugging, but he didn't. Was it because he also wanted to hear himself?

Or because he knew it was a fruitless struggle? He let Hizashi pull his hands away from his mouth only for them to be pinned by his head, hands sliding up to interlock with his own tightly, and he whined softly as he looked up at his husband. God, he looked like he was going to devour him. And maybe he would let him. He was burning hot - he was on fire- and he would do anything Hizashi said. If he said to jump into a pile of broken glass, if he told him to break his own arms, or throw himself out the window he would do it.

He would do anything just for him to keep looking at him like that. "Let me hear you, baby! You sound more erotic, more fucking h-hot, than any Porn star could ever hope to be an-and I want to hear it! Please let me hear it, baby, please, please! Please!"  

He clutched at Hizashi's hands fiercely, tight as he dared, when he felt the blonde grinding his hips slightly before pulling back just a bit before thrusting forward making a gasp fly out of him. He used the leverage of his feet and moved his own hips, pulling backwards before pushing forward to thump against the blonde's pelvis drawing a moan from the blonde as his hands squeezed his own.

He moved his hips again confidently, excitedly, drawing another sound from Hizashi only for it to melt into another moan that sounded far more throaty than the first and he shivered at the sound as he let his eyes shut. Concentrate, he needed to concentrate. He knew this position wasn't the best for moving as hard or fast as he could on his knees but he could still do both. He could still move as fast as he could, and he could still move as hard as he dared before his legs even thought of giving out.

He began moving his hips faster, his back sliding just a bit as he moved, and he loved the sound it was rewarded with as the blonde's hips began moving in time with Shouta. He shouted out wordlessly when Hizashi angled his hips just enough for his prostate to be hit, the pleasure that ripped up his spine was burning and left him feeling so hot that he wondered how the bed wasn't aflame yet.

He jerked his hips faster, aiming for a harder force that made Hizashi rock back just a bit before the blonde was growling at him thrusting just as hard into him and it had his legs shaking as he squeezed the hands in his.  He whimpered softly at that look on his husband's face coupled with the growling, incohesive little words that slipped out and he could feel the muscles straining his legs to keep pushing, to keep moving as he began meeting his husband's thrusts.

He was spinning, flying through the emotions and sensations raking beneath his feverish skin and Hizashi's hands in his own were the only thing keeping him grounded as he clung onto them. Clung and dug his nails lightly into the backs of them as Hizashi's thrusts began adopting a pounding rhythm that he responded to eagerly, meeting them just a harshly as they were delivered until he was crying out.

The sound was high, reedy and it made another rush of embarrassment burst through him at the sound until he heard Hizashi moaning out in the same high manner, a keening sound. If he knew, at any point, that watching porn with his husband would make the sex following it this fucking hot he would have done it a long time ago. He whined when Hizashi wiggled his hands away from his making fingers curl tightly to his palms in the absence and he then yelped when Hizashi was moving his hands down dragging his nails against his thighs making the muscles jump.

He trailed his hand upwards making the skin quiver under his touch, Shouta squirming as his panting breaths seemed to hitch and shudder in anticipation and he watched the hand traveling past his hip. His hips paused in their thrusting to jump up eagerly when Hizashi lifted his hand to drag the back of his fingers against his stomach before smirking at him.  The sound it pulled out of Shouta when his fingers finally, finally wrapped around his erection again was something he couldn't even place.

It was so much more than a cry but not quite a yell, nor a scream but maybe something in between? He wasn't sure but it was again high and louder before it deepened as Hizashi began stroking quickly in time with his thrusts making both men shudder at the sound as it choked off. It was hard to focus on anything, anything at all, outside of his husband's body moving desperately against his own and it was hard to hear anything besides the moans flying out of the blonde.

It was as if the moment he crawled on that bed, the moment he became fascinated with the pornos, the world had ceased to exist outside of their bedroom. He gasped for a breath, one that would help the strange spinning in his head, and it quickly came out as a loud moan leaving his lungs hungry for another proper breath, but he just couldn't manage it. His hips moved desperately, lustfully, in time with Hizashi's and it was all he could think about, all he could focus on.

In the moment it was all that mattered to him. He winced when Hizashi's moans began rising higher in pitch, his low groans sending shudders down his spine, and God if they weren't doing something to him. He hadn't been lying when he said Hizashi could make him feel better than any video could and the absolute smoldering, burning heat beneath his skin was testament to his words.

He whined when he felt his legs trembling lightly, as if growing tired, from the movements and he could feel his orgasm creeping up on him. As if every throb his erection gave dragged him closer to the edge.  Did he say something about it? Should he say something? He hated the embarrassment that flooded him in bursts each time an overly lewd sound left his lips but loved the shuddering gasps it earned him from the blonde and the way he would get a few thrusts that were harder than the rest.

So hard that the sound of their skin meeting, slick and loud would become thunderous cracks from these thrusts and he wailed each time they were delivered. Now that his mind was aware, hyper focused in fact, on the orgasm that was building with an increasing pressure in his groin he was squirming against the sheets desperately as his hips worked to move faster, harder. Chasing the heat that he knew would rip through him, cresting and then making him shudder as it crashed around him.

He didn't want to hold it off, for once, and he didn't want to ignore it. He wanted to hunt down the orgasm building, desperate to jump off the edge, just because he knew he was too riled up. To desperate for his own good and he gritted his teeth for a moment before taking a breath that hissed down. He had to- He wanted to say- Where were his words to let Hizashi know that-! "Ah! Ah, ah, ah! Zashi, I ca-can't! I can't, can't, can't! It's too-! Everything is-! Yo-You're too much! Nnngh, I-I need-!"  

"I know! I know, b-baby! God, I fucking kn-know!" Hizashi was howling as his nails dug into Shouta's thigh as his other squeezed just enough to make Shouta wail out just as loud as his husband, his legs trembling as his knees shifted to press against Hizashi making his movements stutter.

He planted his feet again as he resumed his frantic, frenzied movements as Hizashi clawed at him when he jerked his hips forward, grinding roughly against Shouta dragging another loud sound from his throat as his hips instinctively ground back against him. "Ohhh my fucking god! Shouta! Wh-Why didn't we do this before? It's- Fuck! Fucking hell! Sho, Sho, I love you! Goddamn, you're so r-riled up from two little videos? Mmmm! Ahh, yessss! Yes!  Hell fucking yes, baby! Keep doing that! Nnngh! Like that, like that! Shit! I- Fuck me! Fuck me you're so fu-fucking good! I'm gonna-!"  

He heard the click of teeth as Hizashi tried to control his howls by shutting his mouth, his hips slamming against his own with such intensity he wondered if the blonde would be sore tomorrow and if that meant they wouldn't be doing something new. Well, no, not necessarily. Hip soreness never really stopped Hizashi before. He was writhing, his hands pressing against his eyes again as lashes trembled from how tightly they clenched shut.

Then he felt his foot slip making his hands slide up to press the heels of his palms to his forehead. He quickly tried to put his foot down again only for it to slide against the sheets again before he could get it to stay in place. He was close, dangerously close, and he was trembling at the thought. "Do it! Do it, please! Pl-Please! Please, please, Zashi! Nnngh, yes! Ha-Harder, harder, harder! Harder, Zashi! Fas-Faster! Ah! Mmmmnn, I love you to-too! Motherfu- Ohhhh ssshit! Shit! Shit! ! Zashi, I'm-!"  

He was howling just as loud as his husband when he felt the hand leave his throbbing erection making him wail loudly only to feel the hand slide down to his thigh and he was gasping as his legs were shoved upwards to his chest. It rendered him motionless and he moaned loudly, with that same Porn star lewdness to it, as Hizashi began delivering those pounding thrusts that he had come to love in the few times Hizashi had delivered them.

He was jerking his hips backwards harshly then slamming forward just as hard, the slapping of their skin ringing like shots as his thrusts had Shouta sliding just a bit with each one delivered. He could hear grunts leaving Hizashi each time his hips slammed forward, groans that rang out with such intensity he was sure it would vibrate even the heaviest object. Each slamming thrust hit and stimulated his prostate head on making his moan crest into a keening sound as his toes curled tightly, legs shaking in Hizashi's grasp.

He would have laughed at the sight of Hizashi's glasses flying off of his face any other time, any other day, but at the moment he couldn't, not when he didn't have the air for it. And even if he could laugh the air he did suck in was feeding into his moans and whimpers. He was on that edge, wavering and wobbling, his chest aching from the heaving movements and then-then-! He couldn't believe the scream that left his lips, shocked at the sound leaving him as it rang in the rooms rather thick and heady atmosphere making Hizashi whimper wildly.

His hands clawed and gripped at the sheets as his orgasm positively ripped through him, his body writhing as each throbbing twitch his erection gave rewarded it with a spurt of come that landed onto his stomach. His scream morphed into a scratchy, raspy moan as he trembled at the own loud shout that left his husband as his hips slammed forward once, twice and three more times before he was trembling against Shouta.  

His moan, which he thought had been ending, ripped out of him anew at each throb his husband's erection gave as he held himself tightly against Shouta. His gasping breaths had his head spinning and he feared for just one second that he might faint. It was too much, too much, too much! Everything was unbearably hot, steaming against his feverish skin, and he was shaking as his gasps sounded scratchy, sounded like they were scraping his throat raw, and he could hear similar sounds leaving his husband.

And then it was over. The erection inside of him was stilling, softening slightly as Hizashi's fingers dug into his thighs, his head bowing forward making a few sweat droplets fall onto Shouta's own sweaty skin as the stillness seemed to make itself known. As if it wouldn't be ignored now that all movement had stopped. He whimpered quietly feeling the strain in his throat, the ringing in his throbbing ears that his mind called into focus now that he was burning up, when Hizashi pulled his hips back slowly.

He shivered when he slid out then flopped down onto the bed next to Shouta making it bounce under his weight as they panted quickly, the black-haired man turning his head to look at Hizashi who seemed to have the same idea. His face was red, a deep crimson, sweaty and absolutely euphoric as a droplet of the sweat ran down his cheek and Shouta knew he wasn't any better. He then watched the smile, wide and so completely smugly satisfied, curl over Hizashi's lips making his mustache twitch with the movement.  

"S-So, thinking about that shitty table back in our shitty apartment really did it for you? Because of some dude getting fucked on a table in a porno?" Hizashi breathed out as he rolled onto his side reaching out to wrap his arm around Shouta's chest pulling him closer and he allowed himself to be tugged towards the blonde.

He wiggled closer as the amusement in Hizashi's voice made itself known and he shut his eyes as lips pressed to his sweaty forehead, feeling Hizashi wiggle before jerking a little grunt. Then a hand was pushing at the strands of hair clinging to his sweaty face softly, reverently, and stroking down the side of his face before the soft sound of fingers brushing over Shouta's stubble came audibly to both of them. Was Hizashi's voice always so muffled? So faint? Shit, did he do more damage to his ears than he thought?  

"Mmmm, not exactly. I-I guess the first video kind of fueled it though." Shouta whispered feeling a small stab of embarrassment in his chest but the euphoric satisfaction weaving inside of him blocked out the chance of it being felt intensely.

Then he turned his head to kiss Hizashi's throat, feeling the vibration of the hum he got in response beneath his lips, and he then pulled back feeling the corners of his lips twitch when Hizashi looked at him with wide eyes. He could actually see one hearing aid sticking out more than the other and it nearly made him cackle at the sight, but he held it down as he allowed a small smile to curl at the corners of his lips making those lashes flutter as his eyes opened as wide as they could possibly go.

"But I decided. On this stupid little challenge of yours."  

"And what's the verdict?" Hizashi asked with a breathless, hopeful tone as his eyes sparkled at him making him chuckle quietly, under his uneven breathing, and the blonde then blinked before cringing with curse as he rolled onto his back. "Give me a second, keep talking though!"

He then sat up, the bed bouncing lightly as he moved, and his legs spread awkwardly as he began pulling at the condom, grimacing a bit as he pulled it off carefully and tied it off making Shouta raise his brows at the tip of the condom. He never actually looked at a filled condom before and it had his cheeks flushing with a fresh blush, but he knew it would go unnoticed as his face was already so red without a doubt and he looked away when Hizashi's gaze flicked back to him.

"Well? I said keep talking, baby! I wanna hear what's going on in that coconut head of yours! Are you gonna tell me you wanna do it? Do you want to? Or do you not want to?"  

Shouta smiled at the blonde's babbling when Hizashi began to pat the sheets for his glasses, blinking again once he realized they weren't on his face, and he cursed under his breath again as he found them where they'd fallen next to Shouta's side. Well, technically they fell on his stomach first and then fell to the side but he hadn't been concentrating enough on that in the moment.

Hizashi lifted the frames up then slid them into place, reached up to nudge his hearing aid back into place and turned to look at him with such excitement that he looked just like a child at Christmas time eyeing a pile of presents. He felt his own stomach flutter with that airy sensation, or butterflies as Hizashi liked saying, and cleared his throat before speaking as he let his smile widen up at the hopeful blonde.

"I'll do it."

[sciencestyled]

Folding Dimensions: Origami, or How I Learned to Outsmart Paper (and You)

Ah, origami—the ancient Japanese art of folding paper into dainty little cranes, frogs, and, if you’re really ambitious, a representation of your dwindling sense of self-worth. But don’t be fooled by its delicate appearance or the fact that your kindergarten teacher once used it as a distraction while she quietly wondered why none of you could count past ten. No, no, origami isn’t just a fleeting hobby for those with too much paper and too few social obligations. It’s a mind-bending exercise in mathematical mastery, one that reveals more about geometry, symmetry, and even biology than your pea-sized brains could ever hope to comprehend.

Let me break it down for you, dear readers (and I use that term loosely, since I know half of you are just here because you accidentally clicked the wrong link). Origami is more than art. It’s a cosmic (rolls eyes) collision of precise mathematical principles with the delicate movements of my infinitely more sophisticated hands—okay, any hands. We’re talking angles, symmetry, and lines so sharp they could cut through the very last shred of your self-esteem. So buckle up, because we’re about to fold reality itself—metaphorically, of course. I doubt you could handle that.

But first, the basics. Origami is traditionally defined as the art of paper folding, usually starting with a square piece of paper—if you can't even find a square, I suggest returning to preschool, stat. The goal? Transform that bland, lifeless sheet into a three-dimensional masterpiece. No scissors. No glue. And definitely no tears. Unless you’re me, weeping over the intellectual chasm that separates us.

Now, let's get geometrical, because I know that’s why you’re all here. You see, every fold—every last crinkle of this poor, defenseless paper—follows strict geometric principles. In fact, paper folding is the perfect way to demonstrate things like angles, lines, and symmetry. Ever folded a crane? Of course not—you’ve got TikToks to watch. But if you had, you’d know that every fold of those wings forms a perfectly symmetrical pattern, proving that nature, mathematics, and my superior knowledge are all part of the same delicate balance. Kind of like how my patience and your ignorance precariously coexist.

Speaking of ignorance, did you know that mathematicians (yes, actual mathematicians, not that guy in your dorm who claims he “gets” calculus) have used origami to solve problems that would leave your heads spinning faster than trying to understand NFTs? One of the most famous conundrums? Folding a circle into a square. That’s right, nerds. While you’ve been scrolling through memes, some of the greatest minds of our time have been folding circles—CIRCLES!—into squares. It’s a real-life “cutting corners” situation, but with infinitely more math and infinitely fewer brain cells on your part.

But let’s not stop at geometry. Oh no. The rabbit hole goes much deeper than that. The principles behind origami aren’t just limited to creating paper cranes to decorate your sad little dorm rooms. No, my undereducated friends, this craft has applications far beyond your comprehension. Allow me to enlighten you. First up: protein folding in biology. Cue collective gasp from those who barely passed high school biology. Yes, the very same principles that govern how you fold a piece of paper are applied to understanding how proteins fold themselves into shapes. These tiny, crucial biological molecules fold in ways so complex, they make your origami crane look like a kindergarten craft project. Oh, wait, that was your kindergarten craft project. My bad.

Then there’s technology. Did you know that scientists have applied origami principles to design space telescopes? Of course you didn’t. I’m sure you’re much too busy watching science videos of exploding watermelons and people trying to explain why the moon landing was real (spoiler: it was). But in the real world, NASA engineers have used origami to design massive, foldable telescopes that can fit inside small spacecraft and then expand in space. Imagine that—origami not just for hobbyists and procrastinators, but for literal rocket scientists. Which, judging by your blank expressions, you are not.

And just when you thought origami couldn’t get any cooler (though, to be honest, you probably never thought it was cool in the first place), we’ve got medical applications too. Picture this: tiny, foldable stents designed to open up blocked arteries inside the human body. They fold up neatly like a piece of paper, and then, boom—they’re deployed inside your bloodstream, keeping you alive long enough to finish reading this masterpiece of an essay. Now, isn’t that a nice thought?

But hold on to your subpar IQs, because it gets even better. Origami isn’t just for scientists and doctors and all the other professions you’ll never enter; it’s for classrooms too! That’s right, we’ve now reached the part of the essay where I must gently pat you on the head and explain how even your rudimentary understanding of shapes and folds can be enhanced by this ancient art. Teachers around the world have been using origami to teach abstract mathematical and biological concepts to young, impressionable minds that are—dare I say it—marginally sharper than yours. Folding a piece of paper can teach students about angles, proportions, and symmetry in ways that staring at a textbook could never accomplish. And let’s be honest, you’ve spent most of your life staring at textbooks without absorbing anything anyway. This is what we call “active learning,” folks. Look it up if you can figure out how to use Google.

Now, I suppose it’s time for the grand conclusion, though I doubt half of you made it this far. The truth is, origami represents a fascinating fusion of art and science, a harmonious (ugh, did I just compliment something?) marriage of geometric precision and creative artistry. In one hand, you hold a delicate sheet of paper; in the other, the vast (I’m choking on this) potential of the universe itself. It’s both a simple and complex tool for understanding everything from mathematical dimensions to protein folding. You just have to be smart enough to see it—which, in this case, means not you.

So, in closing, I’ll leave you with this thought: while you’re out there wasting time on Netflix binge sessions, some of us are folding circles into squares, deploying space telescopes, and literally keeping hearts beating. But don’t worry. If folding a paper crane is still too much for you, there’s always that participation trophy waiting at the end of the semester.

[keeping-up-with-the-sanders]

WHAT IS UP EVERYBODY

welcome one and all to the official intro post of this account

while this is a Cosplay & AU centered Account it also functions as an RP account so without further ado-

God, can we just get this over with?!

damn, touchy. Well alright, introduce yourselves ig

Do we wanna go in order or something?

Sure, rainbow?

Ugh, why do you get the fancy font? Alright, I am the grand prince Roman-

Just because your family’s rich doesn’t mean your a prince

My darling spider, I love you but hush. Back to the topic at hand: I’m Roman, Remus & Pryce’s sibling. I work at this kinda shitty office job that I don’t want to talk about and an actor on the side. One random fun fact about me: My legal name is Roman Creatil Triton the III.

I guess I’m next, ugh, this is stupid!

Come on tangerine, please, for me

Don’t “tangerine” me, your still in trouble for that stunt you pulled earlier. For fucks sake, let’s get done with this! I’m Orange, you don’t get my real name. I’m the lead of a band and work at the Shell near the house. “Fun” fact: I once broke someone’s kneecap with a chair.

*Eyebrow waggling* damn, you like to play rough~

My my, Your text looks different.

It alright, hon. You don’t have to. :3

Wait, why does he get the Minecraft achievement thing and I get red

And any chance of rainbow order is fucked so I’ll go, I guess. I’m Virgil, y’all can call me like virg or whatever. I’m Andy’s twin brother, the older-

By half a minute!

Whatever you say, bro. Anyway, I work at a hobby lobby a little ways from the house. Fun-ish fact: I have a spider plush named Kat because Patton refused to allow an actual spider in the house.

It appears we’ve abandoned any form of structure with out introductions or as, Virgil put it, “Is fucked” so I volunteer to go next. My name is Logan Logios Istrailt. I work at a high school roughly thirty minutes from our house. I will not be revealing the name of the school for privacy reasons.

so serious, teach. Lighten up!

*Long deep sigh* For the fact: I am legally blind without my glasses

Anyhoo, I’ll go next! I’m Remus, Ro-ho and Pryce are my sibs.

Why do I get “Ro-Ho” but Pryce doesn’t.

I’m just better

Die.

No thanks.

So, hoes, I work at the same bar as Janny, but a different job obvs. I work the stage while our favorite double D snake boi’s a bartender!

Mhm. Welp, fact time! I make my own cleaning products!

He’s allergic to a specific ingredient that’s in most soap.

remember that one time he accidentally got stabbed with that soap covered knife.

nice of you to finally join us, Emilie.

oh, are we doing intros?

Yeah. Your up.

Yeah, thanks Dai- Orange, man I gotta get used to that name.

Yeah, whatever, I’m out.

Ok… Well, I’m Emilie! I work as a therapist at a building a bit away from the house and I really like cotton candy.

Wow, we’re shocked.

Roman! Be nice.

Sorry, love. Oh! You should go next!

Well, alright. Hey there, I’m Patton! I’m a kindergarten to Second Grade teacher at the Elementary School a block away from home. Like Logan, I’m not gonna say the name or anything, wouldn’t want to accidentally put any of the kiddos in danger

Is that everyone?

Hey lo. And yeah I think so.

What about the others?

They’re busy right now

Which reminds me, we need to go!

Coming!

Yeah, we better go too, I’ve got to grade papers.

GOODBYE

[houseofmuzes]

Rules & Requirements|| By Rhiannon. - #ofherdowlingohara, #ofhermedicine, #ofherdragons

Little about me:

My name is Rhiannon, Mutuals May call me Rhia for short.

Pronunciation for my name’s : Ryeh-Ann-on& Ryeh-uh

I own three other accounts. This is a side blog.

Multi account @ofherdowlingohara

HOTD account @ofherdragons

Nurse Jackie Account @ofhermedicine

0. My education comes first before everything else! I will try and respond during class changes, and breaks. I also work full time, and occasionally on weekends.

1. No hate, No drama, No Godmodding. Absolutely zero tolerance for bullying or harassment. Please note that my anon asks are off, they are off for a reason and I will not turn them back on. Want to ask me something privately, message me.

2. No one under the Age of 20+ years old is allowed to Interact with my muses. 18+ are welcome to follow, ask questions, and have OOC interactions. Just not In character interactions.

3. If you have a problem with what I post, be that most of my characters are apart of the LGBTQ+ community. Don’t follow, just block.

4. I am a multi fandom rp blog. I do accept Cannon and Original Characters, to Rp with. I do have Two OC’s myself, and three cannon characters in two different verses. Two cannon characters I have made my own. Jackie I can play as the OG storyline if need be.

5. Please let me know if you have triggers beforehand. This will save if either of us get upset or triggered with something either of us use in rp or in a post.

6. With that being said in rule number five, I can tolerate mentions of Miscarriages, Rape. But not full detailed. I would prefer those too not at all fully role played out or at all. Mentions are fine. I am very sensitive to those topics as of current.

7. Please Rp in third person, and literacy. I will except Semiliterate and Literate as well as advanced literate Rp responses. If you’re not literate I most likely will not respond, but I will make an acceptance for people with dyslexia or if English isn’t your first language. I have been there before, English is my third language. German, Polish and English are the ones I speak and understand.

8. I am a Full time College Student, I am a Theatre Arts Major so I will be busy most of the time. Please don’t spam me, you are allowed Five post tags a day. No more, no less.

10. I do not condone to rp Student x Teacher rps. That’s creepy and disgusting.

11. If you fail to follow these rules and guidelines, I will either soft block you for a few weeks. Or I will block you and put your account(s) on a blacklist for DNI between mutuals to keep them safe from your toxicity.

12. Please for the love of god’s, do not go to other people if we have a problem with something. Nor have them come ‘confront’ me about an issue I am not aware of, come directly to me like the adults we are supposed to be so we can talk an issue out. Nor come to me bashing about some other blog, bc they did this etc., I generally do not care what they have done to you (unless you are my mutuals that I interact with on the daily, I will defend my mutuals if they haven’t done me wrong.) it’s unnecessary drama especially if there’s no solid evidence. It’s not that I don’t Care for my mutuals deeply, I just don’t want to be dragged into unnecessary stress drama. Do not come to me with your OOC drama with other blogs. You can always come to me with your personal issues and that is it. Unless we’re in the same GC then I’ll deal with said OOC drama before defending myself and leaving. Any violation of this specific rule, will result in an immediate Blacklisting. I will make a physical List to share with blogs I’m mutual with.

13. I do have medical issues such as seizures and fainting spells. That can and will get in the way of replying. Please don’t take offense if I don’t respond for a few days and disappear. I will not ghost anyone intentionally, but will give heads up if I lose interest in rp. Or if I’ll be on hiatus for brief periods of time.

With this being said, I hope I covered all my rules throughly. I will add things as I see fit. I will add an interest tracker soon. I will encourage you all to please take time in reading my rules. This account is my safe space as well as my writing blog. I do have a side Blog that is a backup, please follow said side blog in case of something were to happen to this account. @houseofmuzes is my backup.

[ofherdowlingohara]

Rules & Requirements|| By Rhiannon. - #ofherdowlingohara

Little about me:

My name is Rhiannon, Mutuals May call me Rhia for short.

Pronunciation for my name’s : Ryeh-Ann-on& Ryeh-uh

I am twenty years old.

0. My education comes first before everything else! I will try and respond during class changes, and breaks. I also work full time, and occasionally on weekends.

1. No hate, No drama, No Godmodding. Absolutely zero tolerance for bullying or harassment. Please note that my anon asks are off, they are off for a reason and I will not turn them back on. Want to ask me something privately, message me.

2. No one under the Age of 20+ years old is allowed to Interact with my muses. 18+ are welcome to follow, ask questions, and have OOC interactions. Just not In character interactions.

3. If you have a problem with what I post, be that most of my characters are apart of the LGBTQ+ community. Don’t follow, just block.

4. I am a multi fandom rp blog. I do accept Cannon and Original Characters, to Rp with. I do have Two OC’s myself, and three cannon characters in two different verses. Two cannon characters I have made my own. Jackie I can play as the OG storyline if need be.

5. Please let me know if you have triggers beforehand. This will save if either of us get upset or triggered with something either of us use in rp or in a post.

6. With that being said in rule number five, I can tolerate mentions of Miscarriages, Rape. But not full detailed. I would prefer those too not at all fully role played out or at all. Mentions are fine. I am very sensitive to those topics as of current.

7. Please Rp in third person, and literacy. I will except Semiliterate and Literate as well as advanced literate Rp responses. If you’re not literate I most likely will not respond, but I will make an acceptance for people with dyslexia or if English isn’t your first language. I have been there before, English is my third language. German, Polish and English are the ones I speak and understand.

8. I am a Full time College Student, I am a Theatre Arts Major so I will be busy most of the time. Please don’t spam me, you are allowed Five post tags a day. No more, no less.

10. I do not condone to rp Student x Teacher rps. That’s creepy and disgusting.

11. If you fail to follow these rules and guidelines, I will either soft block you for a few weeks. Or I will block you and put your account(s) on a blacklist for DNI between mutuals to keep them safe from your toxicity.

12. Please for the love of god’s, do not go to other people if we have a problem with something. Nor have them come ‘confront’ me about an issue I am not aware of, come directly to me like the adults we are supposed to be so we can talk an issue out. Nor come to me bashing about some other blog, bc they did this etc., I generally do not care what they have done to you (unless you are my mutuals that I interact with on the daily, I will defend my mutuals if they haven’t done me wrong.) it’s unnecessary drama especially if there’s no solid evidence. It’s not that I don’t Care for my mutuals deeply, I just don’t want to be dragged into unnecessary stress drama. Do not come to me with your OOC drama with other blogs. You can always come to me with your personal issues and that is it. Unless we’re in the same GC then I’ll deal with said OOC drama before defending myself and leaving. Any violation of this specific rule, will result in an immediate Blacklisting. I will make a physical List to share with blogs I’m mutual with.

13. I do have medical issues such as seizures and fainting spells. That can and will get in the way of replying. Please don’t take offense if I don’t respond for a few days and disappear. I will not ghost anyone intentionally, but will give heads up if I lose interest in rp. Or if I’ll be on hiatus for brief periods of time.

With this being said, I hope I covered all my rules throughly. I will add things as I see fit. I will add an interest tracker soon. I will encourage you all to please take time in reading my rules. This account is my safe space as well as my writing blog. I do have a side Blog that is a backup, please follow said side blog in case of something were to happen to this account. @/florencedowlingohara is my backup.

[oceanoecielo]

The young man could politely disagree as much as he wanted, but it would still be true.  Everybody’s work does and will get forgotten, even if it is remembered for a sustained period of time.  Even if somebody’s work is recognized for as long as there are people on Earth, just give the universe a billion or a trillion years, and the Earth will be blasted into oblivion by its own sun, nobody left alive to remember anything, including the fact that this floating dustmote ever existed in the first place.

It is easy to predict where he was going with that, especially given that the man has undoubtedly heard it from others.  But when other people say it, they don’t understand it.  They don’t feel the weight behind it, the power, the freedom in it, not in the way that Simon does.  When other people say it, they do so to be depressing and—dare he say—edgy, all, ‘What’s the point of doing anything if it’s all not going to matter to anybody else?’  And Simon believes that to be a massive load of rubbish.

If those people understood anything, they would know why it’s essential to do things and have fun instead of constantly stressing oneself out over things that don’t matter.  Nothing matters!  There’s no need to worry about mistakes or failures, not like he did when he was working under Tintoretto, trying to complete his masterpiece on the side.  He was so occupied with being good enough, being great enough, and when he embraced the fact that there would always be something much, much bigger than him, he started enjoying life for the first time.

“It seems we’re both off our game today,” Simon says with a chuckle and a wink as he draws his hand away.  “Our teachers would be ashamed of us, so how about we make this our secret, hm?  What they don’t know won’t kill them?  But it is a pleasure to meet you, and I’m sure they’d be contented knowing I said that much.”

He then waves off the notion of him being learned.  “My boy, my education was so long ago, I barely remember it now.”  That is not expressly true.  He still paints, and indeed, he remembers just about all of the techniques he learned from Tintoretto and some others he has picked up over the centuries.  But anything resembling a formal education is four and a half centuries behind him, and he remains behind in most subjects.  He could attend classes—he has the time and money for it—but he would rather spend both on drinking, dancing, fucking, and adventuring.

“Wise, maybe,” he allows with another small chortle, “although who knows, seeing as I still can’t get people to heed my advice.”  Not that it is important.  People will do whatever they want, and Simon will not allow that to ruffle him.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that,” he says.  “We’ve only just met!  And while I am given to boredom, I think two minutes would be a bit ludicrous, even for me.”  Then, as he usually does when talking to new men, he decides to test the waters with a little flirt.  “Besides, it’s hard for me to lose interest in such a handsome face.”  There are, after all, many things that Simon can think to do with such a man once one or both of them tire of conversation.

“Astute, aren’t you,” he praises, raising his eyebrows.  “Yes, I’ve been living in London for some time, although people there sometimes ask me where I’m from, too.”  While the years have washed almost every trace of Italy from Simon’s voice, there remains something about his English accent that doesn’t sit quite right, although it is distinctive enough to be recognized by outsiders.  “I stand out a little more here, don’t I?  But yes, I’m from there; I just travel often, for both business and pleasure.”  His eyes flick pointedly over Johnnie’s person.  “I’m still on the fence about which this is.”

@oceanoecielo // cont. from here!

Johnnie simply watches the man with bewilderment, brows furrowing at the implication that no one was important. He could see where the older man was going; everyone dies and most of their work is forgotten. However, before he could politely disagree, there's a hand being offered to him. The journalist takes it and gives a nice, firm shake as he was taught to do.

A matching smile grows on Johnnie's face as well before he introduces himself. "Johnnie Herschel-Gold," he states, "I suppose I've missed my own classes; I should've introduced myself before asking such a question. It's a bit rude of me, isn't it? My apologies." He gives a light-hearted laugh, shaking his head. Perhaps they both had their idiosyncrasies, such as appearing absolutely odd yet so intriguing at the same time. Such quirks added character though, did they not?

"Oh no, I'm just as curious too! There's certainly a lot to see and learn about out there. I'm sure you're wiser and more learned than I am, though," he remarks as he switches weight to his better leg, idly holding onto his cane. "I hope I've not lost your curiosity then! I'd hate to be boring, sir. You see, I can't stand it either!" He was mentally kicking himself, feeling his attempts at small talk were indeed boring. Such a peculiar guy warranted his attention, however. "You're--you're from England, are you not? My family's from overseas, but I've never been myself."

[mishafletcher]

Are you a Gold Star lesbian? (Just in case you don't know what it means, a Gold Star lesbian is a lesbian that has never had the sex with a guy and would never have any intentions of ever doing so)

So I got this ask a while ago, and I've been lowkey thinking about it ever since.

First: No. I am a queer, cranky dyke who is too old for this sort of bullshit gatekeeping. 

Second: What an unbelievable question to ask someone you don't even know! What an incomprehensibly rude thing to ask, as if you're somehow owed information about my sexual history. You're not! No one—and I can't reiterate this enough, but no one—owes you the details of their sex lives, of their trauma, or of anything about themselves that they don't feel like sharing with you.

The clickbait mills of the internet and the purity police of social media would like nothing more than to convince everyone that you owe these things to everyone. They would like you to believe that you have to prove that you're traumatized enough to identify with this character, that you can't sell this article about campus rape without relating it to your own sexual assault, that you can't talk about queer issues without offering up a comprehensive history of your own experiences, and none of those things are true. You owe people, and especially random strangers on the internet, nothing, least of all citations to somehow prove to them that you have the right to talk about your own life.

This makes some people uncomfortable, and to be clear, I think that that's good: people who feel entitled to demand this information should be uncomfortable. Refusing to justify yourself takes power away from people who would very much like to have it, people who would like to gatekeep and dictate who is permitted to speak about what topics or like what things. You don't have to justify yourself. You don't have to explain that you like this ship because this one character reminds you a bit of yourself because you were traumatized in a vaguely similar way and now— You don't have to justify your queerness by telling people about the best friend you had when you were twelve, and how you kissed, and she laughed and said it was good practice for when she would kiss boys and your stomach twisted and your mouth tasted like bile and she was the first and last girl you kissed, but— 

You don't owe anyone these pieces of yourself. They're yours, and you can share them or not, but if someone demands that you share, they're probably not someone you should trust.

Third: The idea of gold star lesbians is a profoundly bi- and trans- phobic idea, often reducing gender to genitals and the long, shared history of queer women of all identities to a stark, artificial divide where some identities are seen as purer or more valuable than others. This is bullshit on all counts.

There's a weird and largely artificial division between bisexuals and lesbians that seems to be intensifying on tumblr, and I have to say: I hate it. Bisexual women aren't failed lesbians. They're not somehow less good or less valid because they're attracted to [checks notes] people. Do you think that having sex with a man somehow changes them? What are you so worried about it for? I've checked, and having sex with a man does not, in fact, make your vagina grow teeth or tentacles. Does that make you feel better? Why is what other people are doing so threatening to you?

Discussions of gold star lesbians are often filled with tittering about hehe penises, which is unfortunate, since I know a fair few lesbians who have penises, and even more lesbians who've had sex with people, men and women alike, who have penises. I'm sorry to report that "I'm disgusted by a standard-issue human body part" is neither a personality nor anything to be proud of. I'm a dyke and I don't especially like men, but dicks are just dicks. You don't have to be interested in them, but a lot of people have them, and it doesn't make you less of a lesbian to have sex with someone who has a dick.

There's so much garbage happening in the world—maybe you haven't noticed, but things are kind of Not Great in a lot of places, and there's a whole pandemic thing that's been sort of a major buzzkill? How is this something that you're worried about? Make a tea, remind yourself that other people's genitalia and sexual history are none of your business, maybe go watch a video about a cute animal or something. 

Fourth: The idea of gold star lesbians is a shitty premise that argues that sexuality is better if it's always been clear-cut and straightforward—but it rarely is. We live in a very, very heterosexist culture. I didn’t have a word for lesbian until many years after I knew that I was one. How can you say that you are something when your mouth can’t even make the shape of it? The person you are at 24 is different to the person you are at 14, and 34, and 74. You change. You get braver. The world gets wider. You learn to see possibilities in the shadows you used to overlook. Of course people learn more about themselves as they age.

Also, many of us, especially those of us who grew up in smaller towns, or who are over the age of, say, 25, grew up in times and places where our sexuality was literally criminal.

Shortly after I graduated high school, a gay man in my state was sentenced to six months in jail. Why? Well, he’d hit on someone, and it was a misdemeanor to "solicit homosexual or lesbian activity", which included expressing romantic or sexual interest in someone who didn’t reciprocate. You might think, then, that I am in fact quite old, but you would be mistaken. The conviction was in 1999; it was overturned in 2002.

I grew up knowing this: the wrong thing said to the wrong person would be sufficient reason to charge me with a crime.

In the United States, the Defense of Marriage Act was passed in 1996, clarifying that according to the federal government, marriage could only ever be between one man and one woman. It also promised that even if a state were to legalize same-sex unions, other states wouldn't have to recognize them if they didn't want to. And wow, they super did not want to, because between 1998 and 2012, a whopping thirty states had approved some sort of amendment banning same-sex marriage.

Every queer person who's older than about 25 watched this, knowing that this was aimed at people like them. Knowing that these votes were cast by their friends and their families and their teachers and their employers. 

Some states were worse than others. Ohio passed their bill in 2004 with 62% approval. Mississippi passed theirs the same year with 86% approval. Imagine sitting in a classroom, or at work, or in a church, or at a family dinner, and knowing that statistically, at least two out of every three people in that room felt you shouldn't be allowed to marry someone you loved.

Matthew Shepard was tortured to death in October of 1998. For being gay, for (maybe) hitting on one of the men who had planned to merely rob him. Instead, he was tortured and left to die, tied to a barbed wire fence. His murderers were both sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison. This was controversial, because a nonzero number of people felt that Shepard had brought it upon himself.

Many of us sat at dinner tables and listened to this discussion, one that told us, over and over, that we were fundamentally wrong, fundamentally undeserving of love or sympathy or of life itself.

This is a tiny, tiny sliver of history—a staggeringly incomplete overview of what happened in the US over about ten years. Even if this tiny sliver is all that there were, looking at this, how could you blame someone for wanting to try being not Like This? How can you fault someone who had sex, maybe even had a bunch of sex, hoping desperately that maybe they could be normal enough to be loved if they just tried harder? How can you say that someone who found themself an uninteresting but inoffensive boyfriend and went on dates and had sex and said that it was fine is somehow less valuable or less queer or less of a lesbian for doing so? For many people, even now, passing as straight, as problematic as that term is, is a survival skill. How dare you imply that the things that someone did to protect themself make them worth less? They survived, and that's worth literally everything.

Fifth, finally: What is a gold star, anyhow? You've capitalized it, like it's Weighty and Important, but it's not. Gold stars were what your most generous grade school teacher put on spelling tests that you did really well on. But ultimately, gold stars are just shiny scraps of paper. They don't have any inherent value: I can buy a thousand of them for five bucks and have them at my door tomorrow. They have only the meaning that we give them, only the importance that we give them. We’re not children desperately scrabbling for a teacher’s approval anymore, though. We understand that good and bad are more of a spectrum than a binary, and that a gold star is a simplification. We understand that no number of gold stars will make us feel like we’re special enough or good enough or important enough, or fix the broken places we can still feel inside ourselves. Only we can do that.

The stars are only shiny scraps of paper. They offer us nothing; we don’t need them. I hope that someday, you see that, too. 

[subpar-ghoulfriend]

School Nurse

@letstalkaboutfandomsbaby led me to yet another 2D man that I want to get wrecked by

How would a school nurse react to Hwajin’s presence? Dabauchery will ensue.

AN: this started out as a short little drabble, turned into a long smutty mess that I finally rangled in with romance because… after care. As a nurse I was getting to into the logistics of the pencil stab

TW: smut, degradation, praise kink, breeding kink, power exchange, mild wound description (pencil stab), sex in a nurses office, oral sex

NO MINORS

Hwajin knew you would look good on your knees. You had a bratty, stubborn nature that he wanted to overpower. He thought you were too gentle with trouble makers. When he told you this, you argued that it was your job as a school nurse to take care of all the students.

How was it that you were so hostile with him but when it came to even the worst students you were so gentle. It irritated him. You actively avoided him. Maybe he wouldn't care if he didn't find you so damn adorable. Thoughts of you kept him company late at night.

Even when he forced you to take a baton after he saw a student get in your face yelling. The only person you used it against was him. Apparently you wouldn't allow him to pull students out of your office regardless of their offense.

He was shocked to learn that few students ever bothered you. The worst offenders would constantly make advances at you and since you would have his head, he disciplined them only once you were out of range.

And you were equally irate. He treated you like a child when you tried to present him with research that aggression towards children under the age of 18 was just as detrimental as ignoring their bad behavior. You weren't against addressing the students inappropriate behavior, but the number of visits to your office had tripled upon his arrival.

It become rare that schools had a nurse on campus, barely coming back in to practice following the hands off policy. And at the most part you were mainly treating the faculty and the more unlucky students. If the Ministry of Education wanted to bring in people like Na, would you even have a job much longer?

/

"What are you doing here? I'm not harboring any students," You hissed as the warden entered your office.

"If I remember correctly, I'm here to oversee the whole school. That includes you. Besides I actually need medical help."

Hwajin turned the lock on the door before unbuttoning his shirt. He turned around to show you a shallow hole between his shoulder blades. You tried to keep the blush from creeping on to your face as you scanned his muscular body.

Apparently a student surprised him by sinking a pencil into his skin.

"Violence breeds violence," You chided when the realization hit. "Oh god, did you kill the student?"

You were truly alarmed. He took slight offense to that question. He wasn't a great guy but he wasn't going to kill someone on the job.

"Just give me something to bandage this up," he rolled his eyes.

You motioned for him to sit on the medical table but of course he had to make things difficult, choosing to straddle a chair instead. In spite of his protests that he could take care of things himself you pulled on a pair of gloves.

"Don't be such a pain, Mr. Na. There's no way you can properly clean what's on your back."

You probed around the wound that was already angry and red. The blood has begun to dry. Trying not to cause unnecessary pain you attempted to visually assess the bed of the wound for any debris that may lead to infection.

Instinctively he howled in pain as you began to clean.

"Will you just put a bandaid over it so I can get back to my job?"

You had to admit you were getting some sick satisfaction from this. The wound was clean and you applied an anti bacterial ointment but it was in a location where the skin tended to pull and stretch so you were sure it would bleed throughout the day-

"Are you smoking in my office?"

Hwajin gave you a cheeky grin before blowing smoke toward your face.

The nerve. In retaliation you flicked the inflamed skin while avoiding the actual wound.

"Ouch, you're cute when you get angry," Na laughed.

Your cheeks were scorching, "Okay Mr Na, you're all wrapped up. Stop by at the end of the day so I can change the bandage."

He winked while buttoning up shirt, "I knew you liked seeing me."

"Out." You hissed.

As he walked down the halls he chuckled to himself. He couldn't wait for you to submit to him.

/

Through out the day your mind wandered to Hwajin. Him sitting in front of you, shirtless and rippled with muscle. The parts of his skin left unscarred were so soft compared to his attitude. You wondered if his palms were as soft or were they were rough and calloused.

As if on cue the man walked into your office, catching you during one of your fantasies. Was it already the end of the day? Sure enough, the clock showed school let out half an hour ago.

Just like before he secured the door and stripped off his shirt. The bandage wasn't soaked, but it did need to be changed. The day warped your work and some of the tape was lifted away from his skin.

This time politely in the chair, he hummed as you removed and replaced the soiled bandage.

"Starting tomorrow you should just leave it open to air. This is really just to keep you getting your blood on your shirt. If you start thinking you have an infection go to the hospital." You turned around to discard your gloves.

As you turned back, you bumped into Hwajin Na. He smiled down at you and ruffled your hair, "Thanks, nurse, you took such good care of me. You'll have to let me thank you."

He lowered his mouth to your whisper in your ear, "what should I do for you?"

Your were in a losing position, you didn't want to make eye contact but you couldn't stare straight ahead, he still wasn't dressed and it was too overwhelming. You settled on looking down toward his feet.

You quickly snapped your eyes back up when you notice a bulge trying to push past his pants.

"Uh, no need to thank me. It's my job." You stepped back against the wall, at least giving you a bit more space.

Hwajin placed his arms against the wall so he could close the space between you.

"What's wrong? You're flushed. Let's see if you have a fever." He pressed forehead against your. "You feel a bit warm, but not worrisome."

You stammered, "Uh, Mr Na, it's late so we should probably wrap up."

"Mr Na," he mocked you. "Why do you do that? We're both adults, you can call me Hwajin."

Your eyes darted around the room. Maybe you were being punked. Was he testing you?

"It's respectful, it would be rude to call you by your first name."

He brushed a stand of hair behind your shoulder, pleased with your response.

"Well I can think of other titles you could call me that I would enjoy much more."

You were struggling between your desire and your fear of losing your job. Surely he knew what he was doing to you.

Of course he knew, the gleam in his eyes made that clear.

"Well, it's pretty late and I don't know about you but I'm tired after today so I'll see you tomorrow."

He dropped his hands and you took that as the end of his teasing. But instead he hoisted you against him, grasping the back of your thighs.

"My poor little nurse, I've kept you so busy. How about you lay down and let me help you relax."

"Hwajin, put me down," You smacked his shoulder. Listening, he sat you down the cot you constantly sanitized. In spite of what you were saying you allowed him to crawl on top of you.

"Hmm, now you use my first name, little nurse? And here I thought you were respectful," he nipped at your ears.

You shivered.

"Well pick one," You groaned. "First, no last name, then no first name. What's left."

His tongue darted across your neck while began tearing at your clothes, "how about you just be a good girl and call me 'Sir'."

At this point the primal part of your brain took over as you pathetically began to rub against his thigh. Your Irrational brain didn't need a job, it just needed this man to fuck her.

Nearly all your clothes were discarded to the floor as his mouth began to tease your breasts. Your hand tangled in his hair when sink his teeth into your tender flesh.

"Talk to me baby," he sighed. "Use your words, ask for what you want."

You lay out a whimper and tugged at belt loops, "fuck me."

He pinched your in thigh, "Now that's not using your manners. Am I going to need to teach you to behave?"

You mumbled a response that he could barely hear, eliciting another pinch to your thigh.

You huffed, "fine, please fuck me, Sir"

Pleased with your response he tugged your panties to the side, stroking your soaked pussy with his middle knuckle.

"Atta girl. You're so fucking wet for me. How long have you been waiting to be my little slut?"

He slid one finger inside of you with ease, arching you back as moved inside you. You were trying to fumble at his the button of his pants but he pushed your hands off him.

With a growl he removed his hands and your underwear from your body, "Not yet, although I'm flattered how desperate you are for me. Turn over, ass in the air, show me what's mine."

You were happy to obey, sliding into one of your favorite positions.

"You're not be very nice, sir," You teased. "You could at least remove your pants."

His hands came down hard on your ass causing you to cry out in pain and pleasure.

"Watch what you say, unless you like being disciplined. You already know I don't tolerate disobedience. And as much as enjoy your screams, don't forget that just because school is over doesn't mean everyone is gone."

You bite your tongue as he spanked you again. He certainly wasn't holding back. But he was right, there were after school clubs and some teachers stayed as late as 8. His fingers found their way inside your warmth again, fluid dripping from your aching cunt. You had adjust to his rhythm of spanking when his fingers were at their deepest. You felt so close to release. When he withdrew from you yet again.

You let out a frustrated groan until his hand made firm contact with your pussy. Once, twice, three times produce a wet spanking sound. You couldn't hold in your tears, thankful you were a glutton for pain.

"You still with me, princess?" He cooed, getting off the bed. You nodded. "Good girl, hold that position for me just a bit longer."

You nodded again, words evading your mind. You appreciated the coolness produced by the cot. Hwajin repositioned the pillow that had fallen on the floor and removed his belt.

Standing next to you on the bed he finally directed you into another position. He helped you stand, barefoot on the linoleum floor. You were held against his chest as you gathered your bearings.

He nuzzled against your hair, "I'm not a gentle man, if you need to stop at any time you say so okay. And that's an order. Can you do that for me princess?"

You told him you would as he helped you sink your knees to the pillow. He ruffled your hair again, telling you how good you looked. Finally he unzipped his pants, his erect dick right in front of you.

"Look at me."

You complied, tearing your ways away from his cock.

"If you want my dick then prove it. Open up that pretty mouth of yours."

He grabbed you by the hair, guiding your lips his shiny tip. Your tongue circled around him, admiring his taste. You weren't usually self conscious but you couldn't help but be nervous you'd disappoint him. As you began wrap your lips around him, Hwajin inhaled sharply. He gave your hair a gentle tug.

"Eyes on me. Good. You're doing so well. All the way to the base, baby."

You were almost there when there was a knock at your door. Hwajin kept his grip firm on you, instead of allowing you to pull back he shoved his throbbing dick down your throat and began fucking your mouth while putting a finger to his lips. He was smirking like the devil. Your throat constricting in protest.

"Excuse me, nurse," one of the school kids called. Knocking again.

"Fuck," Na muttered as he released into your mouth. Tears spilled over your eyes as you struggled to swallow.

The nock persisted, "hellooo? Come on I need to pick up a physical form."

"She's busy, fuck off."

As the footsteps faded down the hall Na released you from his grasp. He couldn't help but laugh at you when you pouted up at him, your were glistening and your cheeks were rosy and puffy. God, next time he swore he would take a photo of you on your knees after sucking his dick.

"Really, you had to open up your loud mouth," You whined. "You could've just pretended no one was here."

He shrugged in response, helping you off the floor.

This time on the cot you were both undressed. Hwajin sucked and bite on your neck. You nudged him off telling him he was gonna leave a mark.

"You're telling me I can't mark up my little whore?"

"Just not where students can see."

That was fair enough, there were other places he'd rather leave bruises. Between your thighs. Your stomach. Your breasts. Proof that he had made you his.

He wouldn't bite too rough, not want to scare you off. He planned on making more of these moments with you. You were better in person. Exceeding his late night fantasies.

Finally he began to slide his cock inside you, your pussy searing with pleasure at his size. It was a struggle to control the volume of your moans.

"Does my little slut like that? You want me to stuff you?"

"Please," You cried, needing more or his touch. "Please don't stop, Sir. Please let me cum on your dick."

Hwajin began to pound harder into your tight pussy, admiring how your body reacted to the sheer force of him. Each time he snapped his hips against you, your lush breasts, along with the rest of your body, followed with an intoxicating jiggle.

You were exactly what he needed and he wished to consume you. His mind flashed to images of you tied up and exposed for him, placing all of your trust in him. Or he could snap a pretty collar around your neck and tie you to the bed with a leash, you would be begging him to fuck you like a bitch.

"Tell me need me," he growled. "That no one else can fuck you into submission and make you dumb with pleasure. Your mine and I don't share."

Tears rushed down your face as a mixture of pain and desire burst the pressure in your core. You clenched around him, babbling what he instructed you to and meaning every word.

The tightness of your orgasm shocked both you and Hwajin. Paired along with your heat pushed the man past his limit, releasing his thick cum inside of you. Even through the near blinding pleasure of his own release Hwajin felt a moment of worry, he hadn't meant to pour himself inside of you, he was fully aware he wasn't wearing protect and had gotten your consent.

Between your gasps and moans you were were repeating a breathy thank you. Unless he had died and gone to Heaven You were actually begging him for more of his seed. Crying out that you needed him to stuff you full. The man nearly confessed his love for you on the spot.

However he maintained his composure. Pressing closer to you and guiding you through the high of your orgasm.

He combed his fingers through your hair, whispering praises and reassurance. Telling you to relax into him, he wasn't going anywhere. Finally your grip on him relaxed as a gluttonous smile graced your lips.

Na propped himself up next to you with his elbow. His other hand cupping your face.

You looked at Hwajin, "This doesn't mean I'm going to ignore your behavior towards the students."

"You know, seeing you protective over a bunch of snot nosed punks makes me want to fuck you until your nine months pregnant. It would keep you out of my hair while you were stuck waddling around home safe and sound. Win-win."

You gawked at him. Joking that you had yet to see any paternal instincts from him.

"I am actually great with children so long as their raised right. Like hell I'd let my kids turn out like these delinquents."

The two of you bantered back and forth while re-dressing. It was dark by the time you exited the school. Na was lighting a cigarette the minute he was past the schools threshold. You began to tell him goodnight where the two of you should naturally part ways but Hwajin caught you by the wrist, a confused expression thrown your way.

“Where do you think you're going? I'm not done with you yet," he said, cigarette hanging from his mouth. You were about to respond when he cut you off. "Round two will be so much better in my bed. You'll be lucky if You leave my place in time for work tomorrow. But we should probably feed you first. I gotta take care of my little nurse."

[forestlingincorporated]

I wanna talk about Janet Drake

I’m not against exaggeratedly evil versions of Tim’s parents, tbh. It’s fanfiction, if we can depict an Exaggeratedly Good version of Bruce (which we can, and I do, and I love) then we can depict the Drakes as Exaggeratedly Bad. As someone who personally identifies with Tim, and his brand of complicated parental abuse in particular, I find it cathartic to uncomplicate that abuse and rescue him from the Obviously Evil Bad People. 

That said, since much of comics lore is passed down word of mouth, the oral tradition surrounding Tim has developed this idea of Janet as The Worse Parent between her and Jack that was never really present in the comics. We see much LESS of Janet, and we have 20 years worth of comics depicting Jack as a neglectful hotheaded idiot who ultimate does love his son. More importantly, Jack isn’t very much LIKE Tim, so there is a habit to attribute Tim’s traits to his mother... and, as someone who really really identifies with Tim, Tim has... some negative traits. Tim can be a bitch sometimes. He’s fiercely intelligent and sweet and kind, with a strong sense of justice, but he can be cold and judgmental and unthinking - he fights those traits, but he does have them. 

And it is perfectly fine to depict Janet that way. I’ve enjoyed depictions of Cold Calculating Janet Drake, but it’s not the ONLY option, and I want to challenge fans to consider different avenues. Tim could pick up these traits from anywhere: a nanny, Mrs. Mc Ilvaine (”Mrs. Mac”), a teacher, tv, Sherlock Holmes novels, Bruce Wayne himself. Tim is capable of not being like EITHER parent. 

So, what do we KNOW about Janet? (I’ll also touch on Jack, but only in scenes he appears with Janet.) 

When Janet was first introduced she was depicted as a gentle but “modern” woman. This was written in 1989, told by a 13 year old Tim, so this theoretically was meant to take place in 1979. I’m not here to give a lecture on the history of sex discrimination in the united states, but much of the legislation protecting women in the workforce or surrounding women’s bodily autonomy would have been very very new in this initial depiction. 

Here, Janet is shown to be encouraging, emotional, maternal, and projects her own feelings onto Tim. Jack is shown to be slightly sexist, possibly discouraging, but not overbearing. And the artist is shown not to know how to draw children. 

To insert some speculation, I think it’s important to note all the Drakes witnessed a terrible murder/accident that day. I point this out, because this is the last time Jack and Janet are depicted this way. It’s possible they changed as a result of this event specifically. 

However, this is also a story being told by Tim. It’s also possible these events aren’t really “real” at all, and Tim is misremembering what his parents were like as a three-year-old, possibly projecting a more palatable version of his parents into the narrative. This is entirely up to personal interpretation. 

In fact, the Drakes are shown in Legend of the Dark Knight attending Haly’s Circus, and the artist knows what a toddler looks like and they’re depicted as already having a slightly strained relationship. Jack is clearly on the defensive, and Janet seems to be passive-aggressive, though she could just be attempting to explain the situation to her toddler honestly. The intended tone isn’t especially clear. 

I do want to point out, in this depiction, Tim isn’t being carried like he was in the previous one. He’s walking ahead of his parents, which isn’t a terrible horrible crime, but could be dangerous in a crowded place like the circus. Might be a subtle hint to his parents overall neglect. 

Back to A Lonely Place of Dying, in Tim’s memories of the night he discovered Robin and Dick Grayson were the same person at nine-years-old, his parents are home, and watching TV together while Tim played... trucks, idk, in the living room with them. (This is semi-interesting, because you could say “oh, Tim liked vehicle toys as a kid” or you could extrapolate that this is another subtle indication of Jack’s sexism, providing Tim with appropriately “boy toys.” Either interpretation is valid. If Tim was assigned female at birth, would they have been given “girl toys,” or allowed to play with whatever they wanted?) 

This is, to my knowledge, the only panel of the Drakes when Tim is between ages 3 and 13. They’re all together, which might indicate that the Drakes were home more often when Tim was 9, only later going on business trips when Tim was “old enough” but... 

This is Tim’s boarding school when he’s 13. While most boarding schools in the US are for grades 9-12, Tim is clearly not a freshman at age 13; look how much younger the other kids in this panel are. In the US, the youngest you can attend most boarding schools is 7. 

That means Tim could have begun going to boarding school anytime between 7 and 13. He most likely spent all of middle school in boarding school, at least. There are an almost infinite number of possible ways the Drakes handled having a business that required lots of international travel, an archeology hobby, AND a very young child. Janet staying home until Tim was 7, 11, 13, is equally possible as the Drakes having a nanny until 7, 11, 13. Tim just doesn’t talk about that period of his life very much.

(”What about Mrs. Mac?” - it is unclear when Mrs. Mac begins working for the Drakes. We only see her when Jack comes out of his coma. She could either be a long standing staff member, or a recent hire.) 

Note: I’ve seen it said that it’s canon that “According to Tim, when his parents were home, they made a point to try and include him in their activities, bringing him along to events that were normally adults only.” I have never seen this panel, or I don’t remember it, so I cannot confirm, but I also cannot debunk this because... comics. 

By the time Tim is 13, Jack and Janet are away on business trips a lot, with limited communication, and no firm return date. If I’m feeling generous, I’d say it was harder to communicate internationally in 1990 than it is today. If I’m not feeling generous, I’d say the Drakes are extremely wealthy, and international communication was easier than ever before in the 80s and 90s. They’re not even going home to see Tim in a week or two, they’re going home and calling Tim at boarding school in a week or two. 

Even Bruce thinks its weird, though he doesn’t say so to Tim’s face. It’s written almost as if Tim’s parents’ neglect was meant to be a plot point that just got forgotten about. 

Tim’s parents are fighting at this point (their poor assistant), but Janet still goes with Jack on these business trips. And she’s clearly involved in the business, somehow, but the comics never SAY what Janet’s JOB is. We’re told Jack is the exec, but Janet is ONLY ever referred to as Jack’s wife, though they’re later described as the “heads” of the company, plural. 

Just to be clear, this is Jack’s business. There’s a perception that Jack is a bad business man because he and Janet fight over company decisions, and Jack looses the business after Janet dies, but Jack looses the company YEARS after Janet dies, and maintains it for about a year after No Man’s Land at that. We’re not told how Jack looses the business, but he’s got to be doing something right. Janet isn’t necessarily the “real brains” of Drake Industries. 

And I’m not... gonna... touch the... exploitation and racism because... I’m not qualified to do that. But, here’s the panel. The Drakes sure seem exploitative and racist in their business decisions. Someone else can... analyze that with more nuance. 

Regardless how how long they’ve been fighting, when their lives are in danger, the Drakes fall back into a loving husband and wife. Their marriage may be falling apart, but they do care about each other. 

I want to show these panels because it shows that Tim and Jack do have things in common. They’re both level headed in a crisis and can be somewhat cold in their practicality. Janet meanwhile and silent. Jack is later willing rant and rave at their captors, but Janet remains silent. 

That is, until they’re alone, and she finally lets herself fall apart. 

God, Jack can be obnoxious. Janet just looks miserable and resigned. I actually think Tim takes after his parents in this respect in equal measure. Tim can have a temper, but he can also be fairly melancholy and defeatist. 

Jack keeps reminding Janet to be strong and in control, which could be period typical sexism? But Jack seems so practiced and ready with the words of encouragement, and with Tim’s history with depression, I wonder if Janet has an inclination towards it as well. 

As the end approaches, when Jack brings up Tim, Janet seems to have a lot of regret. She talks about “wasting” the good things, and I don’t think it’s too big of a stretch to assume she’s talking about time spent with her only child. 

From this point on, Janet is at times spoken of, but not seen. Like here, when Jack says Janet wouldn’t approve of him and Tim being so “far apart.” He says this after he tells him he takes back his threat to send him back to boarding school, which might imply Janet was against the idea of boarding school? Though she obviously lost that argument when she was alive. 

Jack will of course renege on this later, but that’s Jack Drake for you. 

Or here in Tim’s illness induced dream, where he gets everything he wants. Though, since this is a fantasy of Tim’s, where his father and girlfriend are both more accepting and understanding than they are in real life, I would take this depiction of Janet with a grain of salt. 

After loosing Drake Industries, Jack thinks about Janet (though, they call her Catherine/Cathy for some fucking reason) during his depressive episode. And... uh... 

Hallucinates a Valkyrie???? Is this symbolic of suicidal thoughts, or is she... real? Or is he seriously hallucinating? 

Anyway, we’re not here to discuss Jack’s mental state, the fact that he forgot Tim’s birthday, or that concerning “I was going to knock some sense into you but you’re still bigger than me” statement from Tim, we’re here to talk about Janet. And even though this entire arc is about Jack mourning his first wife, they don’t SAY anything about Janet herself at all. I mean, they don’t even get her name right, so I guess what was I expecting. 

Then there’s Origins and Omens, which also doesn’t say anything about Janet, except that Tim’s memory of her is faulty - Janet was poisoned, her assistant Jeremy’s throat was slit on television, but Tim seems to have conflated the death he did see with the death he didn’t. 

The only piece of canon to suggest that Janet might be cold, is Tim compares her to Thalia. And even then, he’s really just saying Janet was protective of him. It’s kind of a scary look to make at your kid, but Bruce does the same thing, so. 

I do want to say... it’s not 100% clear if Tim is even talking about Janet. He could be talking about Dana. Dana was observably protective of Tim, though I don’t think he’s ever called her mom. He PROBABLY means Janet. 

And finally we have Tim visiting his mother’s grave (in a duel Christian/Jewish cemetery, make of that what you will), where Tim says she was “a little religious.”

And that’s it! That is all we know about Janet Drake in New Earth. Hardly the Mom From Hell, but she isn’t perfect. I’d be interested in seeing some alternate depictions of her within the fandom. 

I’m still gonna eat up Terrible Parents From Hell like a starving puppy dog, though. Just some food for creative thought. 

[nott-emotionally-stable]

Professor Widogast stumbles into his classroom one particular Monday morning, silencing the murmurs of "if he's more than 15 minutes late, we're legally allowed to leave!" Well, he presumes that's what they're saying; his ears are still ringing from last night.

He gives his students a quick logical puzzle as a warm-up. However, more than a few moments later, the kids are all still gaping at him. Caleb doesn't blame them; it's not every day that your teacher comes in looking like a human punching bag. There's gashes still visible on his neck and hands, and his body is basically one big bruise. Even Caduceus’s healing paired with a long rest wasn't enough to fully restore him.

"Aright," he sighs, resigned. "Who has questions?"

Every hand in the room shoots up simultaneously. Caleb feels an amused smirk pulling at his lips- at least they're curious.

"Wonderful. Once you complete the warm-up, you may bring it up to my desk and ask one question each."

The sound of pencils scribbling across paper fills the room. The children start quietly muttering to one another, some discussing the problem, most discussing their teacher. Caleb rests his eyes for a moment. Ohhh, that feels nice.

It feels like not a moment later when his trance is broken by the sound of confident footsteps and something being placed on his desk. Without opening his eyes, he responds, "Yes, Elise?"

An assertive, yet slightly squeaky voice answers back. "How'd you get so hurt?"

"I got into a fight last night." He says matter-of-factly.

The room bursts into sounds of disbelief. "No way!" one boy exclaims, as another one shouts "I told you!" Caleb peeks his eyes open and sees a few hands exchanging some copper, as twenty students start demanding more answers out of him. Caleb allows the volume of the room to rise a little longer before trying to regain some control.

"Please calm down everyone, I do not need the other teachers angry with me. In fact, I believe Professor Biesdorf is giving an exam right now, so let's tone it down a notch."

The students are not relenting, so Caleb decides to remind them of the rules. "I am not answering another question until there is another paper on my desk."

It helps a little. Some kids are too busy staring at him in awe to continue. They all must have assumed he slipped on some ice or tripped over one of his cats. These students are too young to have been taught of any of his exploits, so to them, he's just a stuffy professor who spends too much time in the library.

Another paper gets tossed onto his desk. "What did you fight," a boy named Otto demands. He's trying to act unfazed, but there's excitement sparkling in his eyes.

Caleb pauses for a moment for dramatic effect. "Someone I used to call a friend." Gasps echo around the room.

Not much longer, another paper is slammed in front of him. “Did you kill him?”

Caleb grins, “Ohhh, no. She’s much too clever for that.”

Soon enough, there’s a steady stream of worksheets being scattered around him, as his students congregate excitedly on the other side of his desk.

“Did you win, though?”

“Hmmm… I would say no.” Caleb squints his eyes faux-menacingly. “But you better not tell her that.”

“Who is she?”

“For security reasons, I cannot give her name out.” An uncontrollable smile fills Caleb’s face. “However, in this room only, we may refer to her as Fiona Fancypants.”

“Fiona Fancypants?” One girl manages to say through her giggling.

“Yes,” Caleb says with wide eyes. “And you better not underestimate her.”

“Why? What can she do?”

“She is not a sorcerer, and yet, she can create magic without a god, without music, and without a spellbook.”

“But isn’t that supposed to be impossible?”

“It is, yes.” (A/N: don’t come at me if i’m wrong, im dumb and its 2am)

“What kind of magic can she do?”

“I’ve seen her send large beasts to another plane of existence. I’ve seen her glue together petrified people and then bring them back to life. I've seen her deceive an ancient hag with nothing other than her own cunning and a moldy blueberry cupcake.”

“Are you in love with her?”

Now it’s Caleb’s turn to laugh in surprise. “No, but I do love her.”

“Then why did you fight her?”

“She betrayed me.”

“What did she do?”

“Yes, what did she do?” a deeper voice asks from the doorway. All the kids spin around to identify the unknown voice. There stands a dark elven man with curly black hair that sits at his shoulders. In his left hand he is carrying a brown paper bag. Caleb mentally kicks himself. Since he used up all his spell slots last night, he slept at the Blooming Grove with the rest of the Nein, and then he teleported right to the Academy in the morning. Which means he forgot to pick up his lunch from home.

“Everyone, I’d like you to meet… Ussek.”

Essek, who has started making his way (🎵making his way🎵) through the classroom, momentarily freezes in bemusement. “Ah, yes. My name is... Ussek. It’s very nice to meet all of you. I’m sorry to interrupt, but even the smartest teacher in the world forgets things sometimes.” Essek places the paper bag on Caleb’s desk, next to the cluttered mix of papers. He picks one up and studies it with a serious expression before turning it around, revealing it to be nothing more than a series of scribbles. “Hard at work, I see,” he says in the driest of voices.

“Yes, well thank you for the reminder. We were all just getting back to our seats.” Caleb gives his class a pointed look. The kids all groan as they return to their spots. They watch closely as the two men turn away from them, speaking in hushed voices.

“So what did Fiona do?” Essek teases with a quirk of the eyebrow.

“... It was a complicated-”

“She challenged your word in Scrabble again?”

“Yes! Every time we play!”

“And you responded by attacking her?” Essek asks dubiously.

“What do you think?” Caleb retorts.

“That she attacked you?”

“Ah, at first it was just Thaumaturgy, but then it… escalated.”

“Well, do not worry. Next week, I’ll be there to protect you.”

Caleb looks at the ceiling and sighs, a smile dancing on his face. “I am going to ignore the insinuation there, and just say that everyone missed you at family dinner.”

Essek mirrors his boyfriend’s easy smile. “Of course they did. I do float, after all. Now, you better return to your students before they figure out my identity and rat me out to the Bright Queen.”

And Caleb most certainly does not blush, because there is no way his super hot boyfriend just made him forget that he’s supposed to be in the middle of a lesson.

Essek holds Caleb’s gaze as he does a quick series of hand motions and vanishes. Caleb just rolls his eyes as he turns back to his class, because he knows Essek just Dimension Door-ed into the hallway to impress the kids.

And it worked. The entire class has their mouths agape once again. Except for one terrified-looking child in the back of the room, who has his hand up.

“Yes Charlie?”

“Is Fiona Fancypants still looking for you?”

Schiesse. It was not Caleb’s intention to traumatize any children, so he shakes his head and responds, “Do not worry, she is on a boat right now on the other side of the world. She has no idea where I am.”

And indeed, Jester is sitting on the deck of The Nein Heroez on the other side of the world. However, at this moment, she is giggling through her scry spell as she’s describing all of this to her own boyfriend. (“He looks sooooo fucked up right now, Fjord, you have no idea.”)