#Whenever I actually add my Maddie it's going to be all over for you guys | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

titan-fodder · 4 years ago

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Prima Vista Part III

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Rating: E (explicit; mdni) Pairing: Mike Zacharias x fem!reader

Warnings: a lot of feelings, handcuffs, testosterone, quite a bit of sex, one surprise kiss (cause Erwin is a privileged dick), parents, domesticity A/N: I apparently did not write an author’s note for this originally, but uh, this is one of my favorite sections of the whole fic, so.

Mike uses the rest of the break to relax, to get his head on straight so that when he gets back on campus he won’t be overbearing. He knows that’s the last thing you want from him.

You text back and forth a few times a day, but most of it is dumb shit, and the conversation dies off pretty quickly—either Mike not knowing how to respond or you just growing bored.

He busies himself by spending time with his parents and playing with Scout who eats up all the attention. Family comes over for Christmas, and his mom and aunt get into an argument. It’s nothing new.

He’s happy to get back to the school and back in classes just to stimulate his brain. More than that, he’s happy to see you again. Even if it means the two of you go back to friend-only status.

Things are awkward between him and Erwin, though. It isn’t the first time they’ve had a hiccup in their friendship, but this one has really rubbed Mike the wrong way. Erwin tries to apologize a few more times, but every time he does, all Mike can manage is an unconvincing, “It’s fine,” which the other man obviously doesn’t buy.

He tries not to be possessive when you start coming to the house again, but it’s fucking hard whenever he has to watch you and Erwin talk and joke around. Mike figured you’d be at least a little annoyed that he’d just walked in on the two of you like that, but you act like it never happened.

Eventually, Mike has to ask about it, just can’t help himself. “Aren’t you, like, even a little mad that he did that? Don’t you think it was fucked up?”

You’re sitting on Mike’s bed, a controller in your hand as you play Mario Kart, sound a little distracted when you respond, “I mean, yeah, it was fucked up, but I never really expected anything more from him.”

“What do you mean?”

You look at him from the corner of your eyes before staring at the screen again. “Erwin is a cocky motherfucker. I’ve seen the way he gets the girls on campus, probably thinks he can charm all of them which means he probably thinks he’s entitled to all of them. Us.”

“Are you calling him a predator?”

You shrug your shoulders. “I don’t think he’d ever, like, rape anyone. He at least has enough class and common sense not to do that. But I think… He doesn’t care who he goes after. Single girls, girls in relationships, happy girls, damaged girls. He just has a one track mind when it comes to sex. That’s what I’ve gathered anyway.”

Laying back on his bed, Mike laces his fingers behind his head and thinks on what you’ve said. “That just sounds like a drawn out way of saying he’s a flirt.”

“A massive flirt. Without any real care about whose feelings he hurts in the process.”

“Sounds about right.”

“I don’t appreciate it,” you sigh, “But he’s your best friend, so I’m willing to put up with some shit from him.”

“Even him perving on you?”

“Not the first time it’s happened to me, probably won’t be the last. He’s curious, I can tell.”

Mike snorts and rolls his eyes. “Yeah, he is.”

You stay quiet for several seconds, toggling over to another track on the game, then ask, “That make you uncomfortable?”

Blinking up at the ceiling, Mike wonders what the right answer to this is. He doesn’t want to scare you away, but he doubts he’ll be able to act as aloof as you do.

“A little.”

You hum, nodding in a thoughtful manner before suggesting, “I think we can keep hooking up through this semester.”

Mike sits up on his elbow, looks at you with high eyebrows. “Wait, really?” He sounds too excited, he knows.

“Yeah. I have mostly easy classes, or really, I have interesting ones which makes studying for them easier. Plus, it might teach Erwin a lesson.”

He falls back flat, scoffing. “I don’t want you to fuck me to prove a point to Erwin. I want you to fuck me because you want to.”

The game music stops when you pause it, and then you’re straddling Mike, hands on his chest as you smirk at him.

“Don’t let this go to your head, Zacharias, but no one has ever fucked me the way you do.”

Mike tries not to grin, triumph blooming inside of him, and he grips your hips a little too tightly. “Oh, that’s definitely going to my head.”

You grind your covered pussy over his denim-clad cock, and Mike feels all his blood flow south.

Laughing, you lean down to ghost your lips over his and murmur, “Both heads, apparently.”

That day, the two of you start a routine that leaves Mike falling harder and harder with every passing day.

“Come on, please just be my date,” Mike begs, thinks about getting to his knees if it’ll help convince you.

“Why?” You ask, looking up from your textbook.

You and Mike are sitting in the library—you studying, him bothering you. “I’m honestly so tired of parties at this point.

“It’s not like the big parties we throw, though,” he tells you. “It’s just the brothers and their girlfriends.”

“That makes it even worse,” you push one little laugh through your nose. “What makes you think I wanna spend an entire night with a bunch of frat boys and their matching sorority girls?”

Mike rolls his eyes. “They’re not all sorority girls, just like, eighty-five percent of them.”

Your head lolls, an expression that reads nothing but apathy aimed at Mike, and he gives you a hopeful smile and adds, “On the bright side, we get to stay together all night…?”

“Oh god, it's a cuff party, isn't it?"

All he can do at this point is beg because the more he explains it, the more he realizes how not appealing this is to you. “Please.”

Sitting back in your chair, you cross your arms over your chest and puff your cheeks out as you exhale heavily. “What’s in it for me?”

Fuck yes. Half the battle is won.

“Uhh,” obviously sex is the first thing that comes to Mike’s mind, so the first offer he makes is, “I’ll go down on you ‘til you cry.”

You snort. “Try again.”

“Fuck you ‘til you pass out?”

“Jesus—why do you want to hurt me? Try again. Third time’s a charm.”

Mike brainstorms for a solid thirty seconds, thinks about what you’ve mentioned to him over the past couple of weeks, sex and school and—

“I’ll help you study for your geochemistry exam.”

You finally look interested. “I’d actually really appreciate that. You took the course?”

“Yeah, environmental geochemistry was sort of my jam last year. Final grade was a ninety-seven.”

“Holy shit.”

Mike shoots you a satisfied smile, but before you can tell him to wipe it from his face, he asks, “So, you’re in?”

“I guess.”

This is how you both end up in the frat house handcuffed together. No one seems to be surprised at the fact that you’ve come with him, all the brothers used to you hanging around the frat house.

Most couples are walking around holding hands just because it takes some of the pressure off of everyone's wrists, but Mike doesn't dare try it with you. Too cute. Too comfortable.

These types of get togethers are Mike's favorite, though, always more relaxed than the open parties. There’s still drinking and music, but the energy is different since it’s a tighter knit group.

It takes about an hour for Erwin and his date to approach the two of you, fingers laced together, drinks in their free hands.

“Looking good,” Erwin greets with a smile. "Very… trapped."

“Yeah, you too,” Mike says, trying to ignore the subtext of Erwin's comment.

Blue eyes flick to you, and you’re questioned, “How’d he end up talking you into this?”

You don’t miss a beat as you reply cooly, “Bribed me with sex and study help.”

“Ah, of course he did.”

Mike’s eyes narrow, but he doesn’t say anything, just reaches his pinky out to link with yours, a subtle claim. When you rest your head on his arm, he looks down at you and smirks.

“Anyway,” Erwin pushes on. “You remember Maddie, don’t you?”

Mike lies, “Yeah. How are you?”

The girl’s voice reminds him of who she is, “Well. How are you, Mike?” It’s a little high pitched and nasally with a northern accent. He especially remembers what she sounded like moaning for Erwin through the wall, obnoxious but Mike can’t really judge since he’s subjected the rest of the house to the same thing once or twice (or a dozen times) before.

“Glad to hear it.”

The group stands together for a few more awkward seconds before Erwin clears his throat and asks his date, “Another drink?” then makes his exit.

“You have got to get over this grudge, dude,” you take your head from his shoulder, and Mike immediately misses the warmth. “Like, it’s cute that you’re trying to defend my honor or whatever, but it’s time to move on. You guys are friends. Just talk it out.”

He sucks his teeth, almost tells you about the way he and Erwin had nearly thrown punches at the ranch house, the way the blond had basically admitted to wanting to try you out, but Mike decides against it, doesn’t want to talk too much shit only to end up making up with him.

“Guys don’t really talk it out. We usually fight it out.”

“That’s fucking primitive. You should learn to communicate like mature humans.”

“Probably,” Mike hums. “But not right now.”

Being connected to each other means every activity is a partner activity. The most interesting is playing beer pong against Nile and his on-again off-again girlfriend, Marie, house rule for the night being whoever is throwing has to use their cuffed hand. It’s like a twisted three-legged race and requires an amount of teamwork and coordination Mike has never had to deal with before.

It’s also the first time he manages to beat Nile. Mike had no doubt that the other man would have crushed you by himself, but it turns out the actual couple does not work together very well. All their shots are clumsy, and Nile gets frustrated right off the bat which only makes things worse. Meanwhile, you and Mike come up with a strategy after the first terrible throw and use it for the rest of the game.

You’re both challenged by a few other teams and end up winning every time which has Mike feeling smug about the victories and giddy at how in-tune the two of you are. Gelgar even tells you both, “You guys are good together,” which makes Mike cough as you wave him off.

You drink a little more, converse a little more, and then—as always—end up in Mike’s bedroom.

“You want me to get the key and take these off?” He asks between kisses.

You smile into him, let out a little laugh and play, “You don’t think it’d be kinda fun to fuck with ‘em on?”

“It’ll be harder,” Mike snorts. “But, we can. Won’t be able to take shirts off, though.”

“Good thing we just need to take our pants off.”

It’s clumsy and silly, and you both tug in opposite directions more than a few times. Mike laces his fingers with yours when he goes down on you, relishing in the way you arch off his bed and squeeze his hand. On the floor, you give him head in the same fashion, and fuck, Mike can hardly focus on you sucking him off while your fingers are woven together, even if it is just for the sake of convenience.

He fucks you from behind that night, your face buried in his pillow as he’s buried in you. Both of your arms are stretched behind your back, held at the wrists by Mike’s much, much larger hand. He uses his free one to grip your hip, pushing and pulling you on his cock to his heart’s desire.

You’re so pretty, damp with sweat and moaning his name when your head is turned only to shove it back into his pillow when he makes you scream. Your dripping cunt opens up for him perfectly, making Mike feel more inebriated than alcohol ever could, but as his balls tighten and that warmth spreads in his gut, he has a single moment of clarity, assess the position he has you in and pants, “Shit, I can’t pull out.” Not without ripping your god damn arm out of socket or fracturing his dick.

“Mmm—fuck, just come inside, come inside me, Mike.”

That alone makes him lose it, shooting a fucking copious amount of cum into your pussy, so much that it drips from your hole and runs down your thighs.

“Fucking C-Christ,” he laughs a little hysterically, gathering thick white and slipping it back inside you. Transfixed by the way his added finger pushes more of his cum out of you, he asks in a daze, “You on birth control?”

“Yeah,” you answer in a breathy voice.

Mike hums. “Good. Just gonna sit here for a while then.”

You let out a whimper that turns to a whine when he rubs his slick finger over your clit. Twitching around him, you tease, “F-finger painting again?”

He chuckles, “You know it.”

Honestly, if he could cover you in cum, he would—admire your body painted in white strings, watch it drip down your ribs and thighs. If Mike hadn’t just gotten off, he would be hard again at the mere thought, but for now his focus is rubbing your little clit. Still face down, you spread your legs more and more, and Mike has to curl over you, breathing heavily on your neck as you wriggle and buck, overstimulating him as he keeps his cock nestled inside of you.

He groans just as loud as you do as you start pulsing around him, pussy clenching in a way that actually pulls a few more drops of cum from Mike, then you both pant for a little while until Mike straightens up and pulls you with him, your back to his chest as you hang your head.

“You good?” He questions, brushing his lips over your neck as lightly as possible.

“Yeah,” you tell him. “Just… Full.”

Mike’s body heats all over again as he rests his forehead on your uppermost vertebrae. “Can’t just say stuff like that,” he warns, sinking his teeth into your shoulder.

“Hmm.” He can see the little smile on your face without even looking up. “You did offer to fuck me until I pass out.”

“I have a refractory period, you know.”

You glance over your shoulder, and now Mike gets a good look at your smirk and twinkling eyes. “I can wait.”

Both of you emerge from the room in the early hours of the morning, still stuck together as you quietly make your way downstairs to find the key to the handcuffs. You’re wearing a pair of Mike’s gym shorts, the mesh falling far past your knees and barely staying up around your waist. He knows you’re still messy and can tell by the way you’re walking that you’re sore, but he has every intention of cleaning you up and taking care of all your aches and pains in the shower.

It’s party after god damn party with classes and studying and fucking in between. You have never had this much sex in your life, but you’re not complaining. It takes the edge off, and Mike isn’t the worst company. Far from it, actually. The more you get to know him, the more he falls into what you think is his real personality.

The brash frat boy is a front, you come to find out, a mask to fit in with everyone else, one he wears very well.

But, when it’s just the two of you in his room playing video games or watching TV, he actually relaxes, gets quieter and much more reflective. The pastels and khakis and Hawaiian shirts stay hung up in his closet, both of you lounging in t-shirts and joggers more often than not.

He more or less tutors you in geochemistry, and between that and all the nerd shit in his room, you realize… Mike is kind of extremely smart. And, it’s kind of extremely hot.

“I still don’t understand why you hide it,” you tell him one afternoon as you watch him play Ocarina of Time.

He shrugs, green eyes wide and focused on the screen, gives you the same answer he did last semester when you’d asked a similar question: “People are more interested in other things.”

“So you adopted the obnoxious frat boy persona?”

“I guess. It makes the college experience a lot easier.”

You cock your head to the side, genuinely curious when you ask, “Doesn’t it wear you out? Seems like you’re just an introvert in hiding.”

Mike laughs, pauses the game, and looks at you. “It used to. Some days it still does. But, it’s easier than taking shit from the guys.”

Squinting at him, you mumble, “I will beat up anyone who gives you shit about being a nerd.”

It makes him laugh. Loudly. And, you see a certain curiosity glimmering in his eyes, unasked questions—probably something along the lines of when you started caring and getting protective over him.

You’re not. Not exactly. You just don’t like the idea of anyone giving him a hard time.

“No offense, babe, but I don’t know how much damage you could inflict on anyone. You’re, like, two feet tall.”

You straighten up, chest puffing up as you pull your fists up to your chin and rock back and forth like a Street Fighter character. “You wanna fuckin’ go, Zacharias? I’ll show you how much damage I can inflict.”

He grins in that boyish way that always makes you look away. It’s too cute and too charming and makes you feel too many things.

Mike hangs his long legs over the side of the bed and pulls you on top of him with no problem whatsoever. You’re eye level with him now, heart beating too fast as you hold his shoulders, eyes flicking to his lips.

“We can go if you want. We can do whatever you want.”

He has feelings for you. You know he does, can see it in his eyes, can feel it in the way he fucks you, and you really should cut things off, but… You don’t want to. He’s the most tolerable person you’ve met on campus, much less annoying than Hitch. You have things in common and joke around until you’re both rolling in laughter. And, of course, the sex is incredible.

It’s just casual, you keep telling yourself. Mike is smart enough not to push things. He knows better, knows you’ll just turn him down, and though it’s hard to admit, that wouldn’t just hurt him; it’d hurt you too.

In his lap now, you don’t encourage him to take things further, mostly because you’re still sore from the night before, and he understands that. Instead, you lock your arms around his neck and change the subject to something that’s still bothering you even after several weeks.

“Have you and Erwin made up yet?”

Mike makes a face, answers, “Not exactly.”

“The hell does that mean?”

“It means we’re talking a little more, but it’s always short conversations and the problem still hasn’t been addressed.”

You let out a little, “Ugh,” then state, “You guys are impossible.”

It really doesn’t make sense that he’s so upset about it, especially since you’ve gotten over it. It was a shitty thing for Erwin to do—walking in like that—but you don’t think it’s anything to end a friendship over.

And, with that thought in mind, you spend the rest of the afternoon devising a plan. It’s not in your nature to meddle, but it seems, in this case, you’re gonna have to.

Mike is in his fancy ecology class when you walk into the Pike house, nodding at everyone in the den as you step further inside. You learned a few months ago that it’s much safer to keep your shoes on, less jarring to step on a sticky floor the first years didn’t do a good job cleaning.

Nile is reclining sideways on the couch with Marie between his legs, an action movie playing on the ridiculously big TV mounted on the wall.

“Is Erwin here?” You ask.

Nile looks at you with a frown, one that’s completely warranted since you’ve literally never asked this before.

“Uh, yeah.” He points up at the ceiling. “In his room.”

“Cool, thanks.”

“You know which one it is?”

Squeezing one eye shut, you’re honest when you tell him, “I think so.”

The way Marie is quick to pipe up, “Second furthest to the left, right next to the bathroom,” is very amusing, especially when Nile clicks his tongue, clearly irritated.

You make your way upstairs, following Marie’s directions, then take a deep breath before knocking on Erwin’s door, clueless as to what his lock code might be.

It takes a few seconds, but the door opens, revealing a very tired-looking Erwin. His eyes widen a bit when he sees you, craning his neck back like he’s shocked that you’re standing outside of his room. That’s fair.

“Uh, hey?”

“Hey,” you greet shortly. “Can we talk for a sec?”

Erwin blinks a few times then steps to the side, murmuring, “Yeah, of course.”

His space is very different from Mike’s, more organized, framed pictures, bed completely made. Even his desk is clean, papers and books all stacked neatly on one side of his open laptop.

“Studying?” You question.

“Yeah. Would you like to sit down?” His voice is deep—not as deep as Mike’s—and always so proper, like he spent his childhood in country clubs (he did).

“Not really,” you answer without any hesitation.

Unsurprisingly, Erwin leans against his desk instead of taking a seat himself, arms on either side, fingers hanging off the edge of the polished wood. It makes the muscles in his forearms become more prominent, veins popping against his skin. You have to give it to him, it’s a good move.

“So, what’s going on?”

Running your tongue over your teeth, you recall what you planned to say—cut to the chase, stay firm, don’t get caught up in any of his tricks.

“You need to make up with Mike.”

Erwin immediately snorts. “You don’t think I’ve tried?”

“Half-assed apologies aren’t gonna work, dude. Actually sit down with him and hash things out.”

“Yeeeah,” he drawls. “That didn’t work very well the first time.”

“Maybe try again? You guys are, like, best friends.”

“Levi is my best friend,” Erwin corrects, “And, I’m pretty sure that you’re Mike’s at this point.”

“Don’t say that.”

“It’s true,” he smirks.

You wave him off, getting back to your original point. “At the very least, you guys should make up just because you have to live in the same house.”

Erwin crosses his arms over his chest, blue eyes deviating upward as if he’s thinking hard. You doubt he is.

“So, you’re not mad about what happened?” He asks after a few seconds.

You're blunt when you respond, “It was a shitty thing to do. Wouldn’t advise trying it with anyone else, but honestly, I’m not super surprised you’d pull something like that.”

His facial expression turns to one of true offense, blond eyebrows furrowing enough for a little wrinkle to form between them. “Excuse me?”

You take a step toward him, almost jab a finger in his chest but resist. “No no no. You don’t get to be pissed. You’re the one who fucked up here. I’m just telling you the truth.”

Eyes narrowing, he pushes himself off the desk, standing to his full height to loom over you. It’s obviously an intimidation tactic, one he’s probably used before on many people, and it makes your blood boil.

In a futile attempt to make yourself look bigger, you straighten your spine and tilt your head to look up at him, lips pursed, eyes narrow. You remember what Mike said about you being too small to hurt anyone, but you can be scrappy. You’re not above slapping a face or kneeing someone in the balls.

Erwin peers down at you, jaw setting for a moment as he really studies you, then breaks into an infuriating smile.

“You’re cute, you know that?” He moves to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear, but you swat his hand away.

“Jesus, what is wrong with you?”

This close to him, seeing the way he acts behind closed doors, you wonder how Mike ever even got close with him. They’re so incredibly different. For the last semester and a half, you've only known Erwin as Mike's somewhat obnoxious, spoiled friend. Now, it seems he's showing his true colors.

“Nothing’s wrong. In fact, I’m feeling pretty great right now.”

Oh, you wanna hit him. You wanna hit him so badly, but honestly, Erwin kind of seems like the type to call the fucking police if you did.

“You don’t have any reason whatsoever to be feeling good.”

He’s still grinning, eyes bright and wide as his pupils dilate.

Are you calling him a predator?

He sure looks like one now, a lion with his sights set on an antelope, and as you stare at him, it dawns on you that this was a bad idea.

“You know what? Nevermind,” you shake your head. “You don’t deserve to be Mike’s friend anyway.”

The laugh that pours from his lips is not at all humorous. His voice drops when he challenges, “You think so?”

You need to leave, need to get out of here before this argument goes any further, but as you make a move toward the closed door, he slides in front of you. You shouldn’t have walked so far into his room.

“Erwin,” you grit through your teeth. “Don’t do this.”

“Just tell me—because I need to know—” he breathes, still staring down at you with that unnerving gaze. “What does Mike have that you like so much?”

Both your hands flex by your sides. There are so many ways to answer this question, all of which will evoke a different response.

But being who you are, you speak before you think, spitting the first thing that comes to mind: "You want me to make you a list, Smith? 'Cause I sure fucking can."

He makes a little circle with his hand, a 'go on' motion, and prompts, "Please, enlighten me."

And, so you do.

"Warmth, sincerity, class, depth, understanding—"

"So, it isn't just about the sex," he cuts you off, sounding more sure than curious.

You pinch the bridge of your nose, tired of these god damn frat boys and their obsession with getting their dicks wet.

"I mean, it started out that way—not that it's any of your business."

"I can give you more, you know. Satisfy you better—"

"Please shut the fuck up," you beg, getting madder by the second. The confidence, the entitlement, is making you sick.

"You don't believe me?" He steps toward you again, and you back up.

"No, I don't." Because how could he? Whether it's stimulating conversation or sex, there's no way Erwin could compare.

And now you realize just how much you appreciate Mike.

Erwin is closing the distance between you, moving slowly but purposefully. "This is how it started with you and him, right? You made him chase you?"

"Get out of my way," you demand, trying to shoulder past him—

And, you should have seen it coming, should have been prepared for the way he grabs you, strong hand closing around your upper arm to pull you to his body. Thick fingers tangle in your hair to pull your head back, face tilted up, and all you can really do is shove at his chest with your free hand, growling in your throat as Erwin crushes his lips against yours.

Adrenaline courses through your body. You try to shake the hand on your head, try to jerk your arm from his grip, but he's too fucking strong, and it terrifies you.

Your voice is muffled as you plead, "Er—mmf—shtp—"

You lift your hand higher and manage to hit him just beside his eye with the side of your palm, and it makes him break the "kiss" (you refuse to actually call it that).

He breathes a heavy, "Just let me—"

"No." You push his chest again, and he lets go of your arm. Quickly wiping your mouth with the back of your hand, you tell him, "You're a shitty friend and a little fucked in the head, but you're not low enough to force yourself on someone," you pant, shaking with nerves and rage, "So don't."

Hopefully, you're not giving him too much credit. Despite the overflowing fury and fear, you still think there's a little hope for him. Not with you, of course, just in general.

He stares at you, expression changing from confusion to understanding to regret, and before you know it, he's scrubbing his hands down his face and muttering, "Fuck, I'm sorry. You're right I—I got carried away. I've been jealous of Mike and curious and—"

"Why?" You blurt because you do not get it. "Both of you are, like, top athletes and in a fraternity, could get literally anyone you wanted, so what is it? Is it because I'm a nobody? Because you're bored of the sorority girls? Am I the one chick on your list you haven't screwed?"

"I… I don't know. You just—"

"Is it because Mike has a toy he doesn't wanna share?"

"Maybe." Erwin is frowning again, like he's stumped. He doesn't even know what he's feeling. It's honestly a little pathetic.

"Well, pick someone else. I know you have Maddie wrapped around your finger, so take advantage of that or whatever. Just leave me out of it."

Ocean eyes are wide and troubled. He really does look remorseful, but that doesn't change what he just fucking did. God, you're disgusted. And a little hurt.

"Don't ever try that shit on me again—or anyone else—'cause I swear to God, I will break your fucking nose."

"Yeah, okay," he nods.

You go to walk past him again, voice loud and unforgiving when you tell him, "Move," and then you're out of his room, slamming the door, and getting as far from Pike house as possible.

That did not go the way you had planned it to, but you should have been ready for the worst case scenario. That's on you, you guess.

Because Erwin Smith may not be a predator by definition, but he's certainly something—something you want to stay away from.

"Why are you acting weird?" Mike's voice pulls you from your empty head, and you take your eyes off the loose string of your hoodie—his hoodie—and look up at him.

"What are you talking about? 'm not acting weird."

He moves from his place at the edge of his bed and crawls to prop himself up next to you on his pillows.

"Uh, yeah you are. Have been for the past week or so."

He isn't wrong. You've kept to yourself a little more since your "conversation" with Erwin. It had just been so uncomfortable and jarring, and you don't want to tell Mike because you know he'll just get pissed all over again which would be very annoying since he and Erwin finally made up. Just like you wanted them to.

Except now you know Erwin a little better, and you're not sure you want him having any more influence over Mike.

Rubbing your face, you shrug and easily lie, "I've just been tired."

And, of course, Mike is too smart for that.

"Tired? That's the go-to answer for anyone who actually feels shitty."

"I mean, yeah, but I'm actually tired in this case." It isn't a complete lie considering how fucking late he kept you up last night.

Mike hums. "Wanna take a nap before the party?"

The acid in your stomach churns. The party. The one you do not have any desire to go to. The one that will push you over the ledge of annoyance and into the realm of genuine discomfort. You don't want to go. You don't want to hang out. You don't want to see Erwin.

Sliding your legs under the covers, you lay down in Mike's bed, turning on your side so that your back is facing him. You've told him on numerous occasions that you don't have any interest in certain events, but he always talks you into going to them anyway. So, what'll be different this time? You're just gonna end up downstairs huddled in a corner refusing to drink as your eyes scan over everyone, ready to make a quick exit if you have to.

Mike settles in closer behind you, the heat of his chest pouring across your back, and you can feel the pillow dip when he rests his head on it. He waits for a while before letting his arm fall over your waist. It makes you squeeze your eyes shut, makes something crawl into your throat, trying to scratch its way out.

"I really don't wanna go tonight," you murmur.

You expect some form of protest, a convincing argument in the form of a well thought out fucking speech while he kisses down the back of your neck, but instead, a low rumble of, "Okay," spills from his mouth, and you hate how it makes you feel—how grateful you are for him.

He's getting to know you. Has gotten to know you after spending so much time together. He can read your ups and downs now, can tell when you're joking or serious, take the hint when you want him with a single look (that one might be the most irritating), but it just goes to show how perceptive he is, how much of himself he's been hiding while in college.

The shallow jock you thought you knew is no comparison for this.

"Spring break's coming up," he speaks into your hair, inhaling deeply and whispering to himself, "Citrus kills me," like you can't hear him.

You pretend not to because it's soft and personal and would probably make him adorably self-conscious, and you can't deal with Mike blushing.

"Yeah, it is. Couple more weeks."

"What're your plans?"

You shrug against him, trying not to get too wrapped up in the way his body feels over yours, longer legs tangling between yours, his draped hand nearly covering your entire stomach, his stubble scratching your neck and cheek.

When did you get this close? When did you decide it was okay to be this intimate? This is what couples do. This is comfort.

And, you didn't think you needed it, but fuck—

"Nothing, really. Go see Mom, I guess."

"Come stay with me," he says quickly. "Just for a few days."

You wriggle to turn on your back and frown up at him as a myriad of questions fill your mind.

Mike takes a deep breath, somehow reading every one of them.

"I know that sounds like a 'come meet my parents' thing, but I promise it's not. I just thought it'd be cool to hang out not at school and not at a party. Plus," he shows a broad grin. "You can meet Scout."

"Mm, tempting," you laugh. "I do like dogs."

"And, you'll love her! She's so sweet and so goofy and—"

"I'll think about it," you stop him.

Mike bites his lip, looking hopeful, but tries to play it off with a, "Okay, cool," then leans down to kiss you as if you've already said yes.

Honestly, you have, just not out loud. He had you at 'hanging out'.

Studying sucks. Midterms suck. Avoiding parties, however, does not suck. Mike still goes to most of them, kind of has to considering they're usually thrown at the PKA house, but sometimes he just shows his face then comes to your dorm. You try to convince him to stay, hang out with his friends, but he usually just shrugs and digs through your stash of movies until he finds something he wants to watch.

It's fine with you, makes passing geochem a lot fucking easier, but it also means little sleep and a perpetual soreness between your legs.

You just… Can't get enough of each other. And, you think that's how it's always been since that first party. Afterward, you had denied him in the courtyard and then broke as soon as he got into your room to get his stupid shirt. Denied him at the bar then broke as soon as he leaned over you at the pool table. Denied him at the after-game party and broke after… Seeing his room? Watching movies? Acting like friends for the first time? Whatever it is, you're always falling into bed together, some kind of unstoppable force against your obviously very movable object.

It's something you think about too much now, always somewhere in the back of your head. At this point, you should probably just be with him, don't know who you're kidding with that lie about focusing on school (your grades have never been better actually), but you're scared. That's really what's been hard to admit to yourself, not the fact that you're attracted to him or the fact that your irritation has bloomed into genuine fondness and admiration. It's that's you're fucking terrified. You can feel it in your bones.

Don't get too attached because people leave. All the time. People let you down. People disappoint.

You don't want Mike to disappoint you, so you won't give him the chance to.

Of course, all of that is easier said than done as you look over at him in the Wrangler, one huge hand pn the wheel as his other arm hangs out of the open window, catching the wind that batters against it like he's trying to push back. You hate it when he does that, too many horror stories of car crashes that end in traumatic amputations, but it's one of Mike's strange simple pleasures, makes him grin as if it's his head hanging out instead. At his core, Mike Zacharias is just a huge fucking puppy dog.

A dubstep song from too long ago is blasting through his speakers, the vibrations hitting you square in the chest as you bounce your leg and bob your head. It's beautiful outside, winter's bite melting away into sunny springtime days. Some of them still bring a chill to the air, but it doesn't matter since you basically live in one of Mike's hoodies, dark green with the school's lacrosse logo stamped in the middle. It's faded and worn out and far too big on you, but it's quite possibly the most comfortable article of clothing you've acquired.

The drive to his parents' house is a good three hours, but between the playlist he's made (stellar, not that you'd admit it), the road games you play, and the road head you give him ("Oh, Jesus Christ, this isn't safe—this isn't safe—fuck—") you make it there in one piece and in good spirits, though you have take a few drinks of the soda you got at the convenience store to wash the residue of cum out of your mouth before meeting his god damn family.

He grabs both your bags from the backseat, slinging them over his shoulders, then starts up the path to a… surprisingly small home. It isn't a shack by any means, but after what you saw of Erwin's stupid ranch house and some of the pictures and stories Nile and Gelgar have subjected you to, you just kind of figured all of them had ridiculous amounts of money.

Then again, you know Mike got a full ride to college with a sports scholarship, and he rarely talks about his family and their lifestyle aside from Scout and little tales from his childhood—trips to the zoo, the one time he rode a dirt bike and broke his collarbone, he and his dad rescuing an injured bunny from the park.

You should've known back then that you'd get in too deep.

The small garden that lines the house is well-kempt and full of blooming flowers, and the porch is home to a wire table and matching chairs with an unsavory gnome sitting on top.

"What in the world…"

Mike doesn't even glance to see what you're looking at, just opens the screen door and informs you, "That's Leonidas," so casually that it makes you snort and push him into his own house.

It opens up to a living room, long couch, recliner, coffee table and all. A TV sits right in the middle of a beige entertainment center, DVDs stacked on one side, blu-ray discs on the other. It smells clean—like the lemon wipes you use in your dorm—but even stronger than that is the smell of food.

"Must already be cooking," Mike muses, then calls out in a different fucking language that has you turning to him in confusion.

Before you can ask about it, a plump woman a couple inches taller than you comes rushing out of what you assume to be the kitchen. Her graying hair is tied into a loose bun, cheeks rosy from the heat, and she's still in her apron and a single oven mitt.

"Miche, γλυκό μου αγόρι!"

She stops in front of him and reaches up to grab his face, peppering it with little kisses and babbling words you do not understand in the slightest.

Mike is laughing, speaking to her in the same fashion, possibly answering questions or defending himself judging by the way he holds his hands up. You think you have an inkling about why when his mother turns to you, puts her hands on your shoulders to look at you, then pulls you into a tight hug.

You squeeze her right back, rocking to and fro as she does, then look up at Mike from the corner of your eyes in a panic.

What do you do, what is happening, what hasn't he told you?

It’s about this time that a large dog runs into the room and actually jumps into Mike’s arms. He grunts as he hoists Scout up, nuzzling into her beautiful coat as she tries to lick his face.

"Mamá, let her get settled first," Mike laughs from where he’s getting attacked. His mother lets go of you, but it’s only for Mike to set the dog back down, and Scout takes the opportunity to sniff and paw at you. “Be nice,” he warns her, pulling you in front of him and pushing you toward the hallway.

That need to snoop around is ever present as you enter his room, but the much more pressing issue is, "You could've prepared me, ya' know. Given me a little heads up that you're…"

"Greek?" He snorts, wiping his face with the bottom of his shirt. "My last name is Zacharias. That's a pretty good indicator."

"I—..." You pause, pout, then mumble, "I'm not a genealogy expert."

"Obviously not."

He dumps the bags on his bed, a queen size, thank god, because he had told you last week they didn't have a guest room (and had seemed pretty happy about it at the time).

"I'll get mom and dad to speak in English for the next few days."

"I mean," you shake your head. "It's their house. I don't wanna intrude on that. Let 'em do what they're most comfortable with."

He steps over to you, makes his classic move of staring down at you and smoothing his hand over your hair to make you tilt your head up. "That's sweet, but I know they're dying to talk with you, so actually being able to understand what they’re saying is kinda necessary."

Humming, you stand on your tip-toes just as he begins to stoop lower. Before you can meet in a kiss, though, you smirk, "And, just why do they wanna get to know me, Miche? Is that a secret Greek name too?”

He licks his lips, voice husky when he replies, "I've mentioned you a few times--”

“Uh huh,” you smirk, too close for him to actually see.

“And no, I think it’s Hebrew or something.”

You snicker before your mouths meet, breaths grow heavy, and the only time you break apart is so that you can look him in his light eyes and tell him, "By the way, the whole speaking a different language thing you can do?" He grunts, encouraging you to continue. "Very hot."

You feel him smile against you, a self-satisfied, "Yeah?" making you burn against him.

"Yeah."

It's hard to leave the room, but you both know you have to, hoping neither of you look too kiss-swollen when you walk back into the living room, and when Mike's mom is no longer there, he brings you to the kitchen instead.

"Smells good," he tells her, leaning over the stove and taking a whiff of the prepared dish that’s been set on top--stuffed tomatoes and peppers that make your mouth water.

She says something, and Mike lets her finish before asking, "Can we speak in English while she's here? It's kinda hard to add to a conversation when you, like, don't know what's being said."

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" She immediately gushes, turning to you with a worried look. Her accent is thick and charming, but she doesn't ever stutter, clearly fluent, just more comfortable in her apparently native language. "I just get so caught up when my Miche comes home, I—"

And, she's hugging you again.

"I'm Maia! Christopher—Miche's father—should be home soon."

You rub Maia's back until she lets go and turns back to the stove, but even as she does, she's asking you, "How is school? What are you studying? Miche's told me very few things."

He shouldn't have told you anything at all, you want to say.

"Um, it's good. I'm an earth sciences major, geology specifically, so Mike—uh—Miche's been helping me study a lot."

He leans down to speak so only you can hear, "Not necessary to call me that. She's gonna know who you're talking about when you say Mike."

Not that you'll tell him, but you kind of like the way 'Miche' feels, the way it rolls from your lips to the back of your mouth, and for just one second, you think about how you'd like to moan it in his ear.

"So, uh," you shake your head in an attempt to get it back on straight. "Yeah, it's going good, I think."

"It is nice that you study together," Maia hums, slicing into the dish to portion it out. "Miche probably enjoys the break from his fraternity life."

Mike makes an unsure noise, but you grin and lean on the counter, eyes shining as you look at the middle-aged woman, "You know, speaking of that, I need to know what he was like before the whole frat thing 'cause—"

"Uhh, we don't need to talk about that," Mike quickly cuts you off.

Maia, however, catches your eye and winks, a silent promise that she'll fill you in later.

Mike sees it, whines a dramatic, "Mamá, please."

You laugh, glancing over at him with a devious smile that makes him roll his eyes and grumble something.

The creak of a door opening followed by the sound of a screen slamming back against the frame signals the arrival of Mike's father. It takes him a couple minutes to join everyone in the kitchen, probably taking the time to get more comfortable after what you assume to be a long day.

When he does walk in, once styled hair fallen out of place, top two buttons of his shirt undone, you see exactly where Mike gets most of his looks. He may have gotten his fucking mane from his mother, but he definitely got his height and his eyes from his father.

"Oh!" He stops short when he sees you, looks at his wife, then at you, then at Mike. "Is this the girl?"

"Dad!"

Both of his parents snicker as he turns to you, pleading more than telling, "Just ignore them, they don't know what they're talking about."

You don't pay him any mind, join in on the fun when you lift an eyebrow and tease, "Am I, Mike? Am I the girl?"

"Oh my god, this is gonna be a nightmare," he groans, the tips of his ears growing red. Still, he tries to put on a stern face as he points at his parents, speaks in beautiful, rolling words that are beyond you, then turns his flashing gaze to you and commands, "And you, don't encourage them."

"Mm, no promises." You stick the tip of your tongue between your teeth and wink at his mom the way she had at you earlier.

All of you sit at an actual table for dinner, something you haven't done in at least a decade, as you talk and laugh between bites of food. Scout is laying underneath, waiting for someone to drop a piece of food, and every once in a while, you feel her wet nose nudge against your calf.

Maia and Chris are very kind and very funny, and it isn't just because they pick on their son all the time. Chris talks about his day in the office, complaining about coworkers the same way Mike complains about his brothers—"I just don't understand why you would eat sardines in the break room! Someone explain it to me!" Maia tells everyone about the three hour phone call with her mother—"My god that woman can talk. Every time we said goodbye, she would just start on something new!"

"Explains where you get it from," Chris says with a chuckle.

Maia scoffs then stabs a piece of his food with her fork, eating it with purpose as her husband watches.

You lean over to Mike and murmur, "They're cute. I like 'em."

He grunts. "That makes one of us."

Sucking your teeth, you mimic his mother's actions and dig your fork into the meat of his pepper, stealing a bite and scraping your teeth over the utensil in a way you know drives him crazy.

You immediately regret it when you realize how big the piece is, filling your mouth so that it's hard to chew, and you grab a napkin to cover yourself while Mike snorts and smugly says, "Yeah, bet you feel real smart right now. How does thievery taste?"

Shoving his arm, you manage to swallow down enough of the food to talk and tell him, "Tastes delicious."

When you look back across the table, you find Maia and Chris staring at you and Mike with shining eyes and matching grins.

You get along well with Mike's parents. A little too well in his opinion. There are a couple mornings you wake up earlier than he does and share coffee with his mother. He'll walk in to hear her sharing terrible stories about how, "He was such a sensitive little boy," and, "I miss the days he and his friends would spend afternoons here playing their little games."

She even breaks out the photo albums one evening after dinner, leaving Mike mortified as you laugh and 'aww' at the pictures of past birthdays, Boy Scout outings, and the horrors of middle and high school.

"Look how cute you are with braces!"

"Please stop."

"All dressed up for Easter, oh my god, are those bunny ears?"

"Mom made me."

"You were so skinny. What happened?"

"Are you calling me fat?"

"No, I'm calling you buff. Dummy."

Less embarrassing are the long walks the two of you take with Scout (who also loves you, of course). She stays close to your hip as you wander around the park, only leaving your side when you throw her favorite ball. At the house, she noses at you until you shift to let her lay either at your feet or on the couch with her big head in your lap.

It's the cutest fucking thing Mike has ever seen, and he hates it because he can't do anything about it. He can't tell you how much he likes seeing you walk around in his house. He can't tell you how much joy it brings him to hear your laugh ring out alongside his parents'. He can't tell you how much he loves seeing you slide into his old bed in nothing but one of his shirts, making yourself comfortable against his chest and weaving your legs between his.

He can't tell you, but he can do his best to show you.

Late at night when his parents are asleep, when the buzzing TV is the only thing lighting the room, Mike moves inside of you with deep, slow thrusts. He hikes your legs up to lock around his waist or pulls you up against himself if he's taking you from behind. No matter the position, it leaves you clawing at him, breathing heavily, jaw dropping open in a silent scream.

You feel so good, so tight around him even after he gets you ready for his cock. Your silken walls squeeze and milk him, pulling every drop of cum from him to soak into you. Fuck, he's so glad you're letting him do that now, fill you up until you can't take any more, until white is dribbling from your messy pussy. The way you look at him all fucked out is intoxicating, eyes droopy, smile lazy, body twitching with aftershocks as he sucks on your neck and kisses down your shoulders.

You have to know. You have to. Mike knows his feelings are written all over his face when he looks at you, may as well be carved into his skin. The words are on the tip of his tongue every night, but he muffles them with kisses, with burying his face between your legs, with sinking his teeth into your soft flesh.

He can't say it because saying it makes it real. Saying it will make it hurt more.

So Mike keeps his mouth shut, watches you every day as you converse with his parents and play with Scout. You poke around his bedroom in your usual nosy fashion, finding the rest of his Magic cards, old D&D books and privacy screens. The dusty record player he'd inherited from his grandfather interests you above all else, vinyls stacked around it, some old, some new, and as you flip through them now, cross-legged on the floor and swimming in his hoodie, you tell him the little things you talked about with his mom earlier in the day.

"She showed me your baby teeth," you say with a snort. "Why do parents keep those? My mom did too."

"Black Magic, obviously," Mike says seriously, but when you glance up at him, he chuckles. "I don't know, babe. It's fuckin' weird, though."

You grin and look back down at The Alan Parsons Project vinyl in your lap. You're quiet for a moment, but when you do speak up, it's in a quiet voice. "I'm pretty sure they think I'm your girlfriend."

Mike cringes on the bed, shutting his eyes and sighing. "Yeah, that's probably 'cause I told them you were."

"What?" You turn your whole body to face him, eyes wide and incredulous.

Sitting up, Mike holds his hands out and questions, "What was I supposed to tell them? Hey, mom and dad, I'm bringing home this girl I fuck at school all the time."

"We don't just fuck," you scoff. "You could've said friend or… Study buddy."

"Study buddies with benefits," he lets out a humorless laugh. "How many of those study sessions end with your mouth around my cock?"

"That's beside the point." You stand up and walk over to the bed, hands on your hips as you glare at him in an unconvincing manner. You're not actually upset, Mike realizes. A little annoyed maybe but more surprised than anything. "The point is they expect us to do couple-y things."

"We do do couple-y things." Mike reminds you, rolling his eyes when you snicker and murmur 'ha, do do'. "Oh my god, you're a dork."

"So are you. And, a dumb one. What happens when they find out we're not actually together? Are we gonna have to stage a break up somewhere down the line?"

"Stop worrying about it," Mike tries, reaching out for one of your arms to pull you on top of him. You must be very used to straddling him at this point. It seems like you're in his lap more often than you're not these days, even if the two of you are just talking. "Just chill and fake it for a little while longer."

You pout, glancing to the wall for a second before you mutter, "Might be tough. I've never had to fake anything for you before."

Mike groans and traces his fingers up your sides, stopping at your shoulders and using them to guide you closer to him. With your face only millimeters from his, he barely even has to whisper when he presses, "Fake it just this once."

You nod, lips brushing his, and from there you both devolve into sloppy kisses and desperate hands. As always.

[ next ]

#mike zacharias x reader #miche zacharias x reader #aot x reader #aot fanfic #snk x reader #mels prima vista

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fandomcelery · 3 years ago

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Day 3 of Prompt List: Sweater

Fandom: 9-1-1

Pairing: Evan Buckley/Eddie Diaz

Note: I honestly have no idea where this would be placed, probably around season 3 somewhere. The sweater that I'm referring to in the story is going to be at the end because it's a photo so yeah lol here you go

Tagging: @useless-fanfictions

“Buck and Eddie are on their way,” Chimney states, putting away his phone. They had texted the group chat to let the entire team know because they all were hanging out at a bar. Bobby, Chimney, Hen, Buck, and Eddie had the day off, it so happened to be the same day Athena and Maddie got the day off as well.

“Wait, so they’re arriving together?” Hen asks, setting her drink down on the table and giving Chimney—what Maddie likes to call—the Look. She’s seen it a lot whenever Buck and Eddie hang out, it’s the look that Chim and Hen give to one another because those oblivious fools haven’t noticed yet. Maddie hopes that they figure it out soon, so the bet of “when Buck and Eddie get together” the entire fire house put together can end, and so Buck can stop whining to Maddie about it.

Of course, Buck has a crush on his best friend, except instead of coming forth with it he hides it, even though they all know Eddie feels the same way.

“I wonder what’s taking them so long. We all got here 30 minutes ago,” Athena comments, sitting down and handing Bobby the water he asked her to grab for him from the bar.

“Who knows,” Hen takes a sip of her drink, “I’m surprised they’re still coming; I was sure they just would have decided to hang out with one another instead of all of us.”

“What’s surprising is that Eddie’s late, usually he’s the one early or at the least on time to things,” Bobby adds.

“Oh, that’s definitely Buck’s doing, he’s never early to things,” Maddie remarks, drinking her water—she didn’t want to drink, she was going to be the designated driver—and looking over at the entrance.

Right as she does Buck and Eddie walk in and slowly scan around. Buck makes eye contact with Maddie who waves, and he grabs Eddie’s arm to bring him along. She looks at her brother, who looks cheerful as his hand goes from Eddie’s arm to his hand, and after a few seconds he lets go.

“Hey guys,” Buck smiles at everyone before taking a seat across from Maddie. Eddie waves and smiles as well before taking his seat next to Buck.

“Glad you boys can finally join us,” Athena says, drinking from her glass.

“What took so long anyway?” Hen asks while she looks between the two of them. Buck’s face flushes and he looks over to Eddie, who’s just smirking at the table.

He looks back over at Hen, “Oh we uh, just got caught up in watching a movie.”

“Right, a movie,” Chimney comments as he takes a swig of his beer, giving Hen the Look a second time that night.

Maddie wasn’t paying attention too much to what was being said because the moment Eddie had gotten closer, she had seen the sweater he was wearing. It looks oddly familiar to her, but she doesn’t think she’s ever seen him wear it. The sweater is an orangish brown color with small stripes through the fabric. She looks over and sees Bobby staring at it too, clearly, she wasn’t the only one that questioned it.

“Hey Eddie,” Bobby asks, “have you worn that sweater before?” Eddie looks down at it with a puzzled expression.

“I don’t know, it was just in my closet, so I grabbed it.” He responds, looking over at Buck who is trying very hard to stifle a laugh behind his hand.

“Are you doing okay there Buck?” Chimney raises his eyebrow at him, which makes him laugh a little more.

Then Maddie recognizes the sweater, and so does Bobby.

“Oh my god you’re wearing Buck’s sweater!” Maddie exclaims, a big smile on her face. Eddie quickly looks at her before looking down again, the realization rushing over him. Buck does finally laugh, and Eddie smacks him.

“Why didn’t you tell me I was wearing your sweater?”

“Because I thought you knew!” Buck laughs a little more, and Eddie starts to smile.

After a second goes by, “So, you don’t think it’s weird that he’s wearing your sweater, Buck?” Chimney comments, hoping that they would finally realize that bros don’t wear each other’s clothing.

“Uh, no why would that be weird, I thought that’s what boyfriends do?” Buck asks. Both him and Eddie sit there in silence waiting for the shock to wear off and for one of them to react negatively.

But it never comes. Instead, they all start cheering for them (Hen, Chimney, and Maddie sighing, “finally”).

“So, who asked who?” Maddie questions, looking directly at her brother.

“Eddie did, actually,” Buck responds.

“Was it romantic?” Athena asks, and Buck and Eddie glance at one another.

Buck flushes once more, “Yeah, uh, something like that,” he mumbles.

~~~

(Extra) Later: “So, who won the bet?” Chimney asks Hen while Eddie is standing close by. They originally were playing darts but as the night went on and more got drunk, they realized pool was probably the safest option.

“What bet?” Eddie asks, watching Buck as he takes his turn.

“Shush, I wasn’t talking to you,” He turns slightly more to Hen, “Who won?”

“Which one are you referring to Chim?” A slightly more sober Hen asks.

“You know, the one of Buck and Eddie.”

“The what?” Eddie questions, but they ignore him.

“Oh yeah, I believe I did,” Hen responds.

“We’ll just have to check our next shift.” Chimney says, walking to the table to take his turn, and Buck walks over to Eddie.

“Did you know they had a bet on us?” Eddie asks.

“Yeah, Maddie mentioned it once or twice,” Buck comments, watching a very drunk Chimney stumble over to Maddie who has a fond expression on her face. Eddie stands there shocked for a second before accepting the fact that his friends made a bet for when they were going to get together. They have bets on everything else, so it kind of made since.

~~~ uaanjadabgvhadj i think i did good with this lol i like it, but anyway thanks for reading!

here's the photo of the buck sweater:

as always, if you saw any spelling or grammar mistakes um, no you didn't <3

#elliry writes for spook month #911 on fox #911 #evan buckley #eddie diaz #buddie #maddie buckley #chimney han #hen wilson #bobby nash #athena grant

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wackybuddiemewbs · 4 years ago

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Random Buddie Fic Snippets - no title, just (bad) vibes

Here’s to another snippet of things that ghost through my Word files. This one’s particularly headache-inducing for me personally. For one, trigger warnings galore. And then I have *checks file* 41k (!!!) words worth of non-fic noted down, but it’s really just unassembled bits and pieces of mostly dialog. Grrrrrrr. 😖

Since such a fic would take a lot more planning... which is basically the antithesis of me for all intents and purposes... I pester you with snippets like they are pestering me. Said it before and can only reiterate: I make you suffer with me. *cackles*

Basically, the story plays on the idea that Eddie and Buck grew up together due to plot convenient purposes and meet again at the fire station after years apart. Anyway, here’s to more madness mingled with angst! Cheers!

Buck slings his duffel bag over his shoulder when his phone vibrates. Sighing, he shifts his weight to take it out of his pocket and take the call. A smile creeps up his lips when he sees the picture flare up on his screen.

“Hey, what’s up, Mads?”

“Hey, I just wanted to let you know that you were right about that little bakery downtown. It’s so worth the twenty minute trip,” she nearly groans. And Buck can relate. When he found that authentic Mexican bakery on a long run through the city, he may or may not have shed a few tears of happiness. And he may or may not have bought pastry worth a hundred bucks.

Totally worth it to run all those extra miles for the carbs, though.

“How many conchas did you have?” Buck asks, chuckling softly.

“I’m pleading the fifth.”

“Did you drive back to get more?” he questions, though Buck is fairly sure what the answer is already, which comes promptly, “Which is why I might be late for work.”

Buck laughs, leaning back against his car. “They are in the top 5 of conchas I ever had, which is saying something. So yeah, I get the feeling.”

And he should really know, he’s had the best in the world and no. 2 and 3 also. Though those are not up for sale.

“So, I need a bit of distraction to keep myself from digging through the remains of the bag before I make it to the car,” she tells him.

“Sure, what do you want to hear?”

“Howie told me that you’re getting someone new on the team today. Are you excited?”

“… Oh, ugh, sure.” Buck can feel his jaw cramping at that.

“You know you just sounded more excited about me being on a sugar high thanks to Mexican pastry than you are about your new teammate arriving.”

He’d hoped to avoid that conversation before he got over with it. Because that’s how he normally rolls with it. He gets over with it.

Works with band-aids and most situations that give you discomfort.

But Maddie has maybe not the sixth but seventh sense apparently big sisters seem to inherit by birth, so it appears that not even the most amazing conchas up for sale in all of Los Angeles will spare him having that conversation now. Which is the equivalent of tearing duct tape off, but slowly.

“I’m a huge concha fan, what can I say? And sure, it’s cool. It’d be nice to have a partner on the team, like, permanently, like Chim and Hen, more like.”

Buck rolls his eyes back as far as they will into his skull. It’s a small wonder that Maddie doesn’t buy his bullshit. He was fine just dodging the topic until now, it’s what normally works best for him. But yeah, Maddie just knows how to coax it out of him, and he loves and hates her for it.

“Talk to me, Buck.”

Buck looks up to the sky. “… I guess I’m just a bit nervous.”

“You are nervous? Don’t you think it’s up to the new teammate to be a bundle of nerves?”

“That’s kind of my thing, though,” Buck argues.

He has been ever since Bobby announced that they’d get a newbie, not a probie, but someone to be on the team with them. Dutifully, Buck laughed at the comments about how Bobby seemingly hired him a babysitter to make sure he doesn’t do reckless stuff all the time.

The nervous energy settled in when he got home that day and his leg wouldn’t stop bobbing well into lying in bed, trying to sleep. He only fell asleep halfway through reading the Wikipedia list of minor planets named after people.

“Then why do you feel nervous?”

“It’s nothing.”

“You know you can tell me,” she says softly.

Buck closes his eyes. He understood by now that yes, he can. But that doesn’t mean he wants to. Most of the time, Buck wished he didn’t have to tell anyone anything ever again and simply exist in the here and now. Because the here and now is sunny and tastes of pretty damn awesome conchas.

“I know it’s stupid, but…” His voice trails off.

And maybe she can read his mind, Buck wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out to be the case, because Maddie goes on to say, “You know he’s not taking your place, right?”

“What? Yeah, I mean…” Buck chews on his bottom lip. Whenever Maddie starts to talk like that, he feels like he’s sitting with a therapist. And suddenly, what he wants to believe are just his antics sounds like food for the shrinks.

“This is supposed to be your partner. Someone to have your back, not stab you in the back,” Maddie points out.

“Rationally, I know all that. It’s just…” He stretches out his legs.

“It’s just what?” she asks in a gentle tone of voice.

“What if he’s better than me?”

What if they realize that he’s expendable after all? What if someone comes along who can do things better than Buck without the attitude? What if he can’t prove his worth anymore because that guy can do it just as well, maybe even better?

“Then I will be glad because that means someone capable is watching out for my baby brother,” Maddie answers, pulling Buck back to the current conversation, not the fictional ones inside his head.

“What if we end up hating each other’s guts?” Buck continues. He had to restrain himself from actually typing a list of all those questions on his phone when his mind went spiraling upon receiving the news. Because that’s what’s been going on ever since Bobby announced. And Buck knows how stupid it is, but his brain didn’t get the memo. There are so many what ifs that it’s making him dizzy thinking about them.

“Then you talk about it like actual adults. And anyway, no one can hate you to your guts. You’re amazing.”

Buck has to fight hard not to blush. “Thanks, but you’re biased because you’re my sister.”

His heart still beats a little faster every time he says those words out loud. Something that comes so light and casual these days, though it isn’t. It is closer to what it should be. Because it should be casual, natural, given.

But apparently, the world didn’t get that memo yet. Seemingly a pattern.

“And as your sister, I’m also always right.”

“Are not.”

“Are too.”

He laughs. She chuckles back.

“Listen,” Maddie continues. “Just be yourself. You’re going to figure it out. This is exciting, Buck. More people to add to your family, okay?”

“Yeah, okay. Thanks,” he croaks.

“I’ll call you during lunch time, unless you’re out on a call. And then I want all the details on the newbie.”

“Alright. Pro tip: Put the bag of pastries in the trunk of your car. Only way to keep your paws off of them while driving.”

“I may actually crawl back, but yeah, it’d require a lot more effort.”

He smiles. “Drive save.”

“Will do.”

“Alright, I’m heading in,” Buck says, pushing away from his car. “Or else I will be running late, too.”

“Love you, little brother.”

“Love you, too. Talk to you later.”

“Bye.”

Buck hangs up and stuffs his phone back into his pocket.

Maddie is right. There is nothing to be nervous about. He has a team now. No one is leaving. New people are arriving. That’s how it works. That’s normal. And he gets to pester the newbie. So he should really be excited, as Maddie said. Buck knows he should focus on that. On how great this could turn out to be. On having a partner. Someone to have his back. All the time.

He sucks in a deep breath as he comes to stand in front of the door leading inside the fire station.

“The door is not closed,” he mutters with closed eyes, grabbing the handle. Buck pushes inside. He is greeted by the familiar hum of the fire station coming to life. People are talking over coffee, some are still fastening the buttons on their shirts as they make up the stairs.

And there’s no place he’d rather be. Buck knew that the moment he first walked into the station for the first time, and that assessment hasn’t changed since.

Buck makes for the locker rooms to change, not wanting to run late like Maddie. Once changed into his uniform, Buck finds himself a little more at ease. Athena once pointed out that they wear those uniforms as a way of protecting themselves. You take them off after work and leave all the bad behind that you’ve witnessed on a call. For Buck, the other way is just as true, though.

When he puts on that uniform on, he can leave his anxious, knee-bobbing self behind and do something meaningful. Because that’s what he found here, beside the team that means so much to him. He found a purpose. A way of answering a calling that lies far back in a past he can’t and won’t remember. To save lives.

Buck looks at his reflection in the mirror, straightens out the collar, makes sure his hair sits perfectly. His glance lingers on the name tag a moment longer, brushes his fingers over the metal plate, the one thing he can’t fix or straighten out.

But that won’t make me flinch. Ever.

“Buckaroo! Time for coffee and talk! I need new material on that show Denny and you are watching and that you need to update me on, so I don’t have to watch it!”

Buck smiles as he closes the locker to see Hen standing there with two cups of coffee.

“Coming.”

But that fixes a whole lot already.

-------------------

Hen sips her coffee in silence as Bobby goes on about who is doing what for the day. She is glad that she isn’t assigned truck cleaning duty. That’s one of the best things about newbies and probies coming in. They get to do the dirty work for a bit. She had to jump those hoops, too, like everyone did, so it only seems fair.

Chim nudges her in the side, pulling her out of her musings. “Have you seen the newbie yet?”

She nudges him back a bit harder to tell him wordlessly that he is supposed to stop doing that. “If I had, don’t you think I would’ve told you by now?”

“Just saying, being late on the first day is not a good sign.”

“Can I help you with something, Han, Wilson?” Bobby calls out. “Care to share with the rest of the team?”

Buck laughs beside them, earning himself a nudge from Hen. That kid is going places sometimes, but Hen learned to love him fiercely after he stopped being a punk.

Fine, he’s still a punk sometimes, but we got to see there’s a heart of gold underneath all the punk and muscle and hair gel.

He grew on her the way he managed to grow on anyone, even the Captain who doesn’t like to admit that more than anyone around the station. He fired the boy first week in, and it was well-deserved, but he proved capable and kind.

Hen knew she was done for this humanoid golden retriever when she fussed over not having a babysitter for Denny and Buck jumped in after he’d just done a double-shift. She and Karen were still working things out and he just made the room, even though the boy deserved bed more than anyone else. Still, he took Denny to the park, finished homework with him, and got him to go to bed even though the kid is not so much a negotiator as he is a small dictator when it comes to bedtime. Karen and she found Buck passed out, snoring like a lawnmower, a book still in his lap while sitting next to Denny’s bed.

“Nothing, Cap,” Chimney answers. “Just sharing excitement about the newbie.”

“You’ll meet him shortly. He had to pick up his gear first and talk to the higher-ups another time. Once he arrives, you can pester him with questions as I know you will.”

“On it, Cap.”

Bobby rolls his eyes, but then his mind goes back to the clipboard and the rest of the chores yet to be divided among the firefighters on shift. The rest of the morning routine goes without further incident, so the three are soon walking down the stairs to their designated task of checking their stocks on medical equipment.

“Okay. That is a beautiful man,” Chimney says, suddenly stopping in his tracks.

Hen trains her eyes on the dark-haired Latino, putting on a shirt. That should be the newbie, then.

“Where’s the lie? And I like girls.”

“Eddie…,” Buck breathes beside her.

Hen whips her head around at the sound.

“Wait, you know this guy?” Chim asks, but Buck doesn’t say anything. Instead, he starts to walk towards the new guy, or almost staggers, she should rather say. The newbie only takes notice of him when his head pops out from the shirt.

“Buck?”

To Hen, it feels like the two just go in slow motion while the rest of the fire station is crazy and busy as always. As though the whole world disappeared around them.

She can’t make out whatever words may be exchanged between them before the new guy covers the last few steps between them and pulls Buck against him in a tight hug. Shock is written all over his face, but also huge relief. Though Hen honestly wished they stood the other way around, because she would like to know just what expression is flitting across her little golden retriever’s face.

“What on earth is going on here?” Chimney mutters.

“I ain’t got no clue.”

The newbie pulls away, smiling over both ears, both hands deftly resting on Buck’s arms. Even though Hen still can’t see Buck’s face, it seems that the guy is doing all the talking for a change. Then he is hugging him all over again.

“I repeat, what on earth is going on here?”

“Only one way to find out.”

Before they can overcome their paralysis, Buck starts to move, gesturing behind himself. The new guy nods with the brightest of smiles, not once letting go of Buck’s arm as they start to walk towards them.

Her confusion is multiplied by the way Buck carries himself, eyes downcast, looking nothing but nervous.

Did someone exchange the 118’s golden retriever this morning, or what’s going on here?

“... can’t believe we meet again in this place of all places,” she can hear the new guy say as they approach.

“S, same.”

Buck is stuttering. To repeat the repeat: What on earth is going on here?

“We have so much catching up to do.”

“Yeah.”

“Buckaroo?” Hen calls out, or maybe demands. She no longer cares for the details here. She needs to get down to the bottom of this. Fast.

“Oh, sorry, I just… this is Eddie.”

“Hi.”

“Hi Eddie, it is a pleasure meeting you. We will greet you good and proper in only just a moment. Hold the line,” Hen says, before turning her attention back to Buck. “Now to you, Buckaroo. Spill the beans.”

“Yeah,” Chim agrees.

But Buck is not forthcoming. Boy looks like a fish out of the water, his mouth opening and closing without any sounds coming out. This makes the sirens ring inside Hen’s head, not the ones at the station. Because their Buckaroo never stops talking, even when he should sometimes, and even when he wants to stop talking, he will keep talking. So him not finding anything to say may or may not force Mother Hen to have to look after her punk chick here.

“We grew up together,” Eddie says after a pause, still all soft smiles and maybe even softer curls, by the looks of it. Hen will worry about that later, too. “I honestly had no clue he was working at this station, let alone that he was in L.A. Color me surprised. Abuela will not believe this.”

“Abuela?”

“My grandmother. She’s the one who fostered him before…,” Eddie continues, but then stops himself when he notices the look of sheer panic on Buck’s face. “They do not know this.”

Buck shakes his head.

“Dios.”

“Wait, you were in foster care?” Chimney almost cries out.

“In Texas?” Hen adds, her mind still short-circuiting thanks to that input.

“Yeah. I was adopted by the Moores after that.”

Chimney gapes at him. “You were adopted?”

“Yeah.”

“Wait, they don’t know about that either?” Eddie asks, now almost as frantic as they are.

Welcome to the club, hon.

“Now they do,” Buck mutters.

“But Maddie isn’t adopted. I should know.” Chimney lifts his index finger.

“Right,” Hen agrees.

Eddie makes a face. “Who’s Maddie?”

“My girlfriend, Buck’s sister.”

“You have a sister?” Eddie slaps his hand against Buck’s arm, shock taking the place of confusion.

“Wait, you grew up with him and don’t know his sister?”

“It’s a long story,” Buck sighs.

“Like how you’re Texan?” Hen scoffs.

Buck holds up his hands. “Okay, guys, can we stop spiraling for a second?”

Hen opens her mouth to give him a piece of mind, but she’s abruptly cut off by their captain standing at the top of the stairs. “Buck! I could use a hand up here!”

“On my way, Cap!” Buck yells back, the amount of relief to opt out of the conversation more than imminent. “Sorry, duty calls!”

“Hey no,” Chim hisses, but Buck isn’t having it. He pats Eddie on the shoulder. “We’ll talk later, okay?”

“Okay.”

With that, he starts to jog, or rather run, up the stairs. All watch him go, before their eyes fall back on the people standing right in front of them.

Well, if that’s not awkward.

“So, ugh. Hi again,” the new guy says, smiling sheepishly. “Eddie Diaz, your newbie.”

“Hi. Hen Wilson.”

“Howard Han, but you can call me Chimney or Chim. And why I’m called that is between me and God.”

“Okay. That may be only the second most confusing thing to happen on my first day.”

“We don’t normally act like this,” Hen tries to reassure him.

Chim makes a face. “We don’t?”

Hen nudges him in the side hard enough to make Chim gasp.

“Wilson, Han, you’re supposed to get on with the stocks!” someone calls out.

“You’re not our boss!” Chim shouts back at what turns out to be that jackass Lambert from B-roll no one likes because his attitude stinks about as much as his aftershave.

“But Cap is and he told me to tell you to move it!”

“I hate that guy,” Chim grumbles.

“I think I’ll like it here,” Eddie chuckles.

“They are so young and innocent when they join,” Chim snorts.

“Welcome to the 118,” Hen says, giving the younger man’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. “I suppose you should go up there as well and talk to the captain.”

“Alright, I’ll see you around.”

“Most certainly.”

“That was only mildly threatening,” Chim laughs, rolling his eyes well before Hen jabs him another time.

“Good to have you here,” he adds.

“Indeed.”

“Good to be here. See you later.”

“Later,” both say in unison.

Eddie smiles at them before climbing up the stairs.

“You try to get a hold of your boo, I’ll see what info I can squeeze out of Cap or Buck, whoever I get my hands on first.”

“Aren’t we supposed to get on with…”

Hen glowers at him.

“I said nothing.”

“Less talking to me, more talking to your girlfriend.”

Chimney makes a mock salute, before walking away while fiddling with his phone. Hen let’s her gaze wander up to the gallery with a grimace. Something is not right, but she is going to figure it out. Because Hen Wilson keeps all her little chicks on track, even more so now that they got a new one to take care of.

-------------------

Eddie tosses the sponge into the water bucket. Getting some of the crappier chores for the day is something he fully expected to happen. What he didn't expect, not in a million years, was running into Buck. Eddie’s head is still reeling because of it. And for what it seems, the same is true for Buck.

Buck.

To say that he seemed shocked is an understatement. Eddie knows the way Buck expresses panic. He’s grown up making sure the kid breathed instead of keeling over when it hit him, so Eddie knows that this was not just surprise, this was fight-or-flight level panic. Eddie knows by now he was so panicked because his colleagues didn’t know about the fostering or adoption – and he could still kick himself for bringing it up unawares.

He jumped to the conclusion because Buck used to talk about it freely to anyone who asked, especially after he was adopted by the Moores. Because it was his way of signifying to the rest of the world that he’d made it from being abandoned to finding friends and family. So Eddie assumed that Buck wouldn’t act any different around his colleagues.

Far from it!

“Eddie, my friend.”

Eddie nearly jumps when Hen and Chimney materialize next to him.

Speaking of…

“Hi,” he greets them.

“How’re you liking it thus far?”

“The detergents smell not as bad as some others do,” Eddie snorts. “But I’m pretty sure that’s not what you came here to ask me about.”

“Just so that you know, you can tell us anything,” Hen says in that mild tone of voice, though Eddie is pretty sure she only says it this way not to scare him away.

“You are looking for bribing material on Buck, I take?”

“We always appreciate it, but we are more like… trying to get up to speed. Until you came to the station, we didn’t even know he’d been fostered,” Hen answers.

“Or adopted,” Chimney adds.

“In Texas.”

Eddie chews on the inside of his cheek. “Yeah, about that. So he actually found his sister?”

If seeing Buck nearly floored him, hearing about his sister was definitely not adding to Eddie’s calm.

“Yes, she’s my girlfriend. You’ll get to know her soon enough.”

There is a part in Eddie that’s very much relieved to hear that Buck found at least part of his family, but another part of him hurts at the news just as much. Because that means Buck likely learned some very uncomfortable truths about his past that won’t have added to the man’s confidence.

“Back in Texas, we knew nothing about where he came from, including whether he had siblings or not. There was an assumption, but no one could be sure.”

“How old were you by the time your grandmother fostered him?”

“I was eight years old.”

“Eight years old… Buck made it sound like he and Maddie were out of touch like, only by the time she got to know Doug.”

Eddie frowns. “Who’s Doug?”

“No one you want to know.” Chimney shakes his head.

Eddie shakes his head. All of this starts to make less and less sense. Why didn’t Buck tell them about any of this? Why didn’t he when he apparently found his sister? Why are they about as clueless as he is, even though they’ve been working side-by-side with him for how long now?

“We lost sight of each other when the Moores moved away from Texas. So they aren’t around anymore?”

Hen shrugs at that. “Let’s say we’ve never met them, never talked about them, or seen any pictures.”

“Kid arrived here with a travel bag and the will to become a firefighter,” Chimney adds.

Eddie can’t help but smile at that. “That sounds like him.”

“You sound pretty clueless actually, and not gonna lie, that is strangely reassuring,” Chimney snorts.

“I prepared for meeting many new people today. Not my best friend back from childhood.”

“Aw.” Hen clutches her hands in front of her chest.

“I just hope he’s not mad at me.” Eddie grimaces. There is something tugging at his heart, just thinking about it. A memory that goes way back in time. When he thought he’d messed it up with Buck forever and always, but he forgave quicker than Eddie could forgive himself.

“I don’t remember our Buckaroo being capable of keeping grudges for long.”

“Then that hasn’t changed at least,” Eddie sighs.

“I think you two should definitely get something to drink after work, reminiscence about the good old times. Catch up. Report back to us in the morning,” she says, her voice trailing off.

“You are aware that they are childhood friends.”

“But I can be far more intimidating.”

“I think getting something to drink and catch up is actually a good idea,” Eddie ponders. “So thanks.”

“You, I like.”

Eddie grins.

“You still missed a spot, though.”

Eddie chuckles, shaking his head. Buck made some good friends here, for what it seems. And he is more than glad for it. They can surely figure this all out.

-------------------

Waking up this morning, Buck thought his biggest worry would be to sort himself out with regards to the newbie and his standing on the team as a result. While that remains true, he just didn't imagine for one hot second it may be Eddie of all people in the entire universe.

Eddie.

When Buck saw him at the station, he didn’t know how to breathe. Even though he hadn’t seen him in years, he knew instantly, only to know that he suddenly knew nothing anymore. Buck used to think he made his peace never seeing Eddie again after they moved away, but then Eddie was hugging him and all those things Buck made sure to bury deep in the ground started to crawl up through the dirt, scratching at a way too thin surface.

And now he is sitting at a bar, nursing his alcohol free beer – because he doesn’t drink when driving, he has to get people out of cars thanks to that behavior way too often, thank you very much. He is at a bar. With Eddie. His Eddie. Because Eddie invited him to get a beer after the shift, and Buck didn’t know how to say no.

Story of my life, isn’t it?

“… I don’t even know where to begin,” Buck admits after a while of awkward silence spreading between them, wherein both men just started peeling the label off of their bottles of beer.

“Same. I mean, you got a sister.”

“Yeah, ugh, I would have told you that, but Chim is still over the moon with her, so of course he mentioned her before I could. They are cute together, but at the disgusting kind of stage,” Buck ponders.

“I’m just so happy for you that you found your family, Buck.”

He manages a feeble smile. Because Buck knows that Eddie means it, understands it perhaps better than most. Because he had to deal with it growing up, had to deal with Buck dealing it growing up.

“I didn’t really find Maddie. We just… happened to meet again. Like us two did today.”

Eddie blinks at him. “Really?”

Buck nods his head. The universe always had the strangest kind of humor when it came to him.

“She’s a dispatcher now. We talked over dispatch for a while, not knowing who we are to each other. We decided to hang out. As friends. She didn’t know people in the city after she moved there only recently, so we also went to a pub and… we started to talk.”

Déjà-vu much, huh?

“Over time, I told her some stuff about my past and, well, Maddie realized that the timing seemed oddly familiar to the brother she thought had died,” Buck continues. “DNA test confirmed it.”

“I was wondering about that,” Eddie sighs, still trying to process that input for what it seems. “I mean, I really put my foot in it, just blurting out with this.”

Buck holds up his hands. “Eddie, no. You had any reason to believe I had told them. I suppose I’ve been blowing this up out of proportions anyway, so this is really just on me.”

“It’s your choice what you want to share with people about yourself, Buck.”

Buck blinks. Sometimes, he forgets how wise Eddie used to be already at a young age. He was also a dumbass a lot of times, but when it came to talking about Buck’s feelings instead of his own, the guy always knew how to make sense of the chaos and make Buck feel like his feelings weren’t just a tedious affair best ripped off like band-aids.

Eddie always understood Buck, even when he couldn’t understand himself. And Buck wants to think that the same was true the other way around, for as long as it lasted.

“Thanks.”

Eddie smiles at him, sipping from his beer.

“Speaking of, thanks to Maddie I now know my official name,” Buck continues, doing his best to sound jovial. “Evan Buckley.”

“Buck-ley. Well, that explains how you got the name,” Eddie ponders, before tilting his head to the side with a cocked eyebrow. “So do I call you Evan from now on?”

“If you want me to call you Edmundo?”

Eddie narrows his eyes at him. “You wouldn’t dare.”

Buck sniggers. “You should know better than to tempt me.”

“Evan.”

“Edmundo.”

“This sounds all kinds of wrong,” Eddie laughs, shaking his head. “For me, you can only ever be Buck.”

“Which is convenient, because I can only be Buck.”

There was a brief moment in time when Buck considered changing his name, taking on that identity, the one intended. In the end, he dropped the idea for what he hopes to be for good. He doesn’t know who this Evan Buckley was or what he’d be now. He knows what Buck was like growing up. He knows what the guy is up to these days. And while they have their qualms, he’s mostly at peace with Buck.

Even a name tag doesn't change a thing about it.

Because he’s Buck. And thankfully, Eddie sees it the same way. So maybe he’s not entirely crazy for holding on to that, however schizophrenic it may be in the end.

“Anyway, part of the reason why I managed not to let anyone in on this is that Maddie agreed to run with not mentioning it. We just stuck to the part where we lost sight of each other and found one another again when anyone asked. And until now, no one really questioned the timeline.”

“And no one ever made the connection between Buckley and Buck?” Eddie asks.

Buck shakes his head. “Maddie’s married name is Kendall. She considered changing it back to Buckley after she broke up with her scumbag husband. But when she found out what kind of scumbags our parents are, it was out the window. So no one had reason to question the difference in names and just assumed that Maddie’s birth name was Moore, too.”

“I take that there is no good explanation as to how you ended up in Texas, then,” Eddie sighs. Buck can tell that he’s trying to sound casual, soft, but the white-knuckled grip on the beer bottle is an entirely different story.

“No, not really. As far as we understand it, our parents moved across state borders under the pretense to get treatment for me. Then they just dropped me at a fire station and drove back. They told Maddie I died.”

“Why would they do that? Why would anyone’s parents…?” Eddie shakes his head, disbelief settling in. Buck knows the feeling oh too well. When he found out, it didn’t make sense to him at all. But as more details were added, the clearer the bigger picture became, though it turned none the brighter.

Buck looks around, just to be sure none of the 118 was sent here to spy on them. Once he is sure there is really just them, Buck hunches forward in his seat.

“Well, I was a big, fat disappointment, I guess. They had me to save their oldest son, Daniel. He had juvenile leukemia. I was… I was a savior baby. Just that… ugh, I didn’t save him. My guessing is that they never wanted me, so they gave me away after Daniel died. I was just there for spare parts anyway.”

Buck suddenly feels something cold in his neck, only to realize it’s Eddie’s hand gently squeezing it. Buck tenses for a moment, then eases to the familiarity of the touch, suppressing the urge to lean into it like he used to.

“I’m so sorry. I would’ve hoped for something else to come out of this.”

Buck manages a feeble smile. “It’s fine. I got a sister now I never expected to find. That’s great. Over the moon kinda great. And now I also ran back into you, too. So I’m one lucky bastard after all.”

Eddie’s hand lingers for a while, no words spoken and yet all is said between them. And how much Buck missed that. Not having to say things for them to be understood.

Eventually, Eddie’s hand falls on his shoulder, giving it a light pat before returning to his beer. “So we’re still friends after I spilled to your colleagues?”

“I didn’t stop being your friend after you got so mad for me saying that you couldn’t bake for shit, so you covered a balloon stuck to a cardboard box in frosting and told me you’d baked a cake and I cut the thing only for it to explode in my face.”

“To this day one of my proudest achievements when it comes to pranks,” Eddie snorts, breaking out laughing at the memory.

Buck can’t help but laugh along. Many of those memories got stuffed away alongside the ones he’d buried in the ground. He had no reason to unearth them because he chose not to tell anyone. But with Eddie, those things come back to light and they shimmer like gold, even after all those years of packing on dust.

“Laugh it up all you want, I got back at you eventually.”

“Don’t remind me,” Eddie groans. “I got grounded for a month because you led my parents to believe I’d be stupid enough to have a folder for porn on the family’s computer and made a message pop up every time that the folder was overloaded and created a system error.”

“Yeah. That was a masterpiece,” Buck sniggers. “But anyway. If that didn’t cancel our friendship, I think we’re fairly good with all this here.”

“Then I’m glad. When you fled the scene, I got kind of worried.”

Buck shrugs. “You know me. I’m a whirlwind of emotions, so I thought it’d be best if I took the time to cool down.”

“That was definitely not how you went about it before,” Eddie argues.

And Buck can’t argue with that. Back in the day, Buck just let the storms rage, never minding the consequences. On the job, that’s still how he rolls, but it was also how he talked, how he presented himself. After he got to meet the Diaz family, he stopped hiding a lot of things. He screamed when he felt like screaming and he cried when he was sad. He laughed when he was happy. And sometimes he even cried because he was that happy, but he learned that this was okay. Abuela always told him this and he took it to heart.

At least for as long as I could.

“Which is why I’m working on it. But anyway! Enough of me. Tell me about you. How long have you been in L.A.? What got you here?” Buck asks. Judging by the look on Eddie’s face, his transition of topics is not nearly as smooth as he’d want it to be, but Eddie rolls with it anyway.

“I moved here only shortly, for the job,” he says. “Before that, I was working some odd jobs. Before that, Afghanistan.”

Buck winces. “Shit.”

“Yeah, that’s one way of describing it. After I came back home injured, I couldn’t do this anymore. I had to set priorities differently, and somehow… I ended up in L.A.”

“Fresh start.” Buck nods his head. There is still so much to unravel in just those few sentences. Afghanistan. Injury. Priorities. Eddie tends to hide a lot more in his words, even more so when they are scarce. But for what it seems, he will now get the time to dig deeper. Because that is what Buck knows someone has to do in order to understand someone like Eddie Diaz.

“Yeah, exactly.”

“I get that feeling,” Buck says. “Los Angeles is great for that, worked out for Maddie and me, too.”

“We’ll have to drink a lot of beers to catch up on all those years we didn’t hear from each other to wind up having a fresh start in the same city.”

“Then it’s a date.”

Eddie wants to say something, but then his phone vibrates. “Sorry about that.”

Buck holds up his hands. “It’s fine.”

Eddie takes out his phone and checks his messages. Buck can see the instant shift in the other man’s demeanor. He knows that change like the back of his hand, even with years between where they parted ways and now crossed them again. Eddie’s shutting down.

“Hey, uhm, sorry, I gotta head out. It’s urgent,” he says, grabbing his wallet, clearly embarrassed and beat-up for having to leave so suddenly.

Some things don’t change, do they?

“Hey, it’s fine, man. We, ugh, we are stuck together now anyway, right? We’ll find enough time to catch up. It’s a date, after all,” Buck assures him. “Also, you’re not paying for the beer, unless you wanna pick a fight with me. Just go.”

Eddie smiles at him wryly. “Thanks. I’ll pay next round?”

“Sounds like a plan to me. Now off you go.”

“Sorry another time. I really gotta…”

“See you at work!”

“See ya!”

Buck manages to keep up the smile until the door shuts behind Eddie. His shoulders drop and he sucks in a deep breath. He pays for the beers and nearly flies out the door.

He makes for his car and climbs in. Buck realizes only now how badly his hands are shaking. Struggling for breath, he takes out his wallet again and fishes out that one crumpled piece of the past he carries with him whenever he’s not on the job, so to be sure it doesn’t get further damage.

Buck unfolds the faded photograph with shaky hands and presses it against his mouth, breathing hard against it. The tears keep coming, no matter how hard he tries to stop them. They are happy and sad. Desperate and relieved. Everything and nothing. And all that at the same time.

Eddie is back.

Eddie is back in his life, just like that, after the years it took him to accept he’d never see him again. That he’d moved on as he should have.

How do you rip off the band-aid or duct tape for that?

Or maybe that’s just the universe telling him that some things really can’t be fixed.

Because apparently, the universe is still mocking him.

#buddie #buck x eddie #eddie x buck #buddie fanfic #fanfic #snippet #y'all let me in and now I'm making y'all miserable #:)#long ass snippets that pester me and now you too #by a non-native no less #bon appétit

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jazzytriestowrite · 5 years ago

Note

Can I request a hq one shot for Tsukishima? Maybe where the reader confesses to him that she likes him, but then downplay it and walk off, because she thought it'd be pointless to tell him/he wouldn't like her the same, but in reality he does like her :> tyy 💕🧡💞

Fandom; Haikyuu!!

Pairing; Tsukishima Kei X Female Reader

Synopsis; You were tired of running in circles, tired of not knowing if your best friend had liked you back or not, or if you were a fool with a one sided crush. Deciding to get it over with once and for all, you pull Tsukishima to the side and confess your silly crush to him hoping that in the end you gain a boyfriend and not a broken heart.

Warning; Fluff, well as fluffy as a Tsukishima fic can be

Word count; 2155

A/N; I have been feeling low for some time, and actually saw this request and my heart leaped. I hope you enjoy this maddi!! Hope i did this salty hoe some justice :))

☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆

You had to do this.

You were tired of sneaking glances at him in class, face heating up every time you were caught or the teacher called you out about it. You were tired of sitting with him at lunch and pretending like your heart didn’t hurt every time he called you his ‘friend.’ It was tiresome, and if you had to deal with being unintentionally friendzoned again, you would rip out all of your hair and move to some farmtown to live out the rest of your days hiding from society.

His constant teasing was starting to leave a huge impact on you, and instead of getting snarky like you usually got with him, you ended up going silent whenever he playfully insulted you. Now taking his playful insults more personally than ever.

You had to do this. The fear of not knowing if he liked you back or if the side glances and extra touchie gestures were nothing but him getting more comfortable with you. Being kept in the dark had only made it more frustrating. You needed to confess and see what happened after that. No matter what happened, he was still your best friend first right?

Wrong.

While you were trying to give yourself that lovely pep talk, you had finally noticed that your palms were sweating. Rubbing them together created a grimmy feeling that made your stomach turn and rumble. The sudden confidence you had earlier had vanished, and now your hands gripped the end of your skirt, shaking lightly as they fiddled with the flimsy material.

You had now stopped in your strut towards the blonde haired male, watching as he messed with his headphones, probably going to put them on and start heading home as usual. Were you going to stand here in fear, never to confess and watch as the boy you’ve liked for so long slip out of your grasp because you were too nervous and too scared to admit you had some silly crush on him?

Taking a step forward, your words died in your throat as you felt a sudden chill. Panic clawed at your throat, making you momentarily freeze. The sudden thought of being rejected flooded your mind, and now just the thought of that made it hard to breathe.

He was your best friend, yes, but who's to say he wouldn’t suddenly start ignoring you because you had made it weird between the two of them? Would you be the one to ruin such a good friendship the two of you had just because you ended up catching feelings.

While you kept tearing yourself down, making it seem like there wasn’t any hope, a small flicker of hopefulness filled your heart. The ‘what if’ he did like you backs filled your mind, drowning out the raging negativeness that seemed to overflow your brain.

What was the point in all these ‘what if’s?’ Why not just figure it out and then go from there, in the end, admitting your feelings to someone wasn’t a crime, and sure as hell shouldn’t end a good friendship the two of you had built if it was a genuine one.

“Tsukishima!’’ You call out, breath catching in your throat as you watched him whip his head in your direction, a scowl already sitting on his face. Walking towards him, you gripped your bag tightly in your hands, making confident steps towards the tall male.

Looking down upon you, Tsukishima didn’t look too impressed to see you standing in front of him. Or maybe he did? You could never tell because he either had a scowl on his face or a teasing grin, and both you didn’t like in the slightest.

“What is it y/n, if you couldn’t tell, I was trying to leave this hellhole and go home for some peace and quiet” He says bluntly, golden eyes staring you down as the height difference between you two became more apparent than ever. His tone was the usual annoying one, the one where it made it feel like you were bothering him.

Gripping your bag tighter, you open your mouth to say something but instead end up closing it with nothing coming out. The panic was still there yes, but standing in front of him right had made it more real now that it was really happening. Shifting back and forth on your feet, you looked everywhere but his eyes now, knowing you wouldn’t be able to tell him when his unwavering gaze was on you.

That was your first mistake, showing him such a panicky side of you would only make him more interested in what you had to say, and that was a known fact. Now instead of looking at you with disinterest, he now had a shit eating grin on his face. His whole demeanor changed in a second, taking your moment of weakness lightly and in his favor. He was now interested. It was easy to see.

His hand now rested on his hip and he leaned in closer to you, wanting you to spit out whatever you had to say to him. He had even stopped messing with his headphones. His attention was now all on you, and you didn’t like it.

“Come on cupcake, by now I could have been halfway home”

His words were playful and provoking. You knew it was too late to go back, he already knew something was up, and giving him some lame excuse or telling him nevermind would surely make him angry.

Taking a deep breath, you looked up and met his golden eyes once more, trying not to get sucked into the beauty of them. He was always handsome when he grinned at you, since it was so different from the scowl he gave everyone else.

“Any Day now, I believe I’ve aged a few years standing here like a fool”

“I LIKE YOU OKAY”

You blurt out, his previous statement making you just spit it out. It had felt good to finally say it, but it also made you cringe when you realized you yelled. What made it worse was when you noticed that a few students had stopped their chatter and walking, stopping to look at you who had created a scene.

Rubbing the back of your neck, you continue your previous statement. ‘’I like you, way more than friends. You are very annoying and half the time punching you seems like the greatest idea in the world. Despite your often teasing, I’ve come to like your annoying, weird, dino loving ass and keeping it to myself has been tough. I just want to let you know how I feel, in the hopes that you like-”

You had paused in your mini rant when your eyes met his again, searching his face for any changes. You had been able to catch the flicker of shock that had crossed his features, but it had changed to his usual shit eating grin again. That grin had made you nervous once more, making your heart close up and your words die in your throat.

‘’You know what” You take a step back, letting your eyes fall to the ground in shame. “April fools, bet I got you huh” Your voice didn’t match your words, and instead of your usual upbeat voice, it was replaced with a sad tone, a tone on the verge of tears. “I’m a good prankster I know”

The silence that you were met with only fueled your now aching heart. ‘’I gotta go’’ You say, turning around and walking away before you not only embarrassed yourself more, like crying in front of a guy who would definitely make fun of you for it.

You felt a hand grab your wrist, and before you could shake it off, you were turned around abruptly, head almost falling off your neck at the sudden force. Stumbling towards the male who had pulled you back, your teary eyes met Tsukishima’s once more. A silent ‘what’ being communicated through your expression.

You watched as he leaned in, so close you felt your face burn painfully now that you could feel his soft breath on you. One of his hands came up and was placed on your cheek, softly caressing the soft flesh. His eyes were filled with an emotion you had never seen before on him, and that took your breath away.

The sunlight had perfectly hit his features, making his golden blonde hair look gorgeous in this lighting. The light breeze helped in his favor, blowing it in the wind to add an extra effect to this moment. His large hand caressing your cheek had made you flustered, along with the look he was giving you. How he had to slightly bend to reach your height added some magic to it.

“You idiot, I had thought I was being perfectly clear with the hints I was dropping. Don’t be scared y/n, I’ve liked you for a while too, and while I may be very annoying, you probably didn’t notice that I ONLY act that way with you.’’ He paused, gazing into your eyes for a few more seconds. “y/n, you can stop being so nervous now” One hand now rested at your hip, holding you in place.

Was this some sort of dream? Her crush just admitted he liked her back and was also acting all cute instead of douche. The new unknown side he was showing you had made your heart race, and for a while you couldn’t even think of something to say. Instead your mind was filled with happiness. He wasn’t that much of a jerk after all.

The way he stared at you like you were the only girl here made you feel special. The way he was publicly grabbing you without being ashamed of what someone else seeing had also made your heart flutter. Maybe Tsukishima could be that hot guy who showed his true feelings to someone he liked, someone who deserved his attention.

“Ow” Your hands fly up to your forehead, your body stepping back and ripping yourself from his embrace. While you had thought the two of you were having a moment, he had decided that your lovey dovey time was over and flicked your forehead with a bit of too much force.

Laughing, his shit eating grin was back. “Idiot, acting all nervous and stuff like I was going to reject someone like you’’ It had sounded like an insult, but listening in closer you heard the compliment amidst it.

Opening and closing your mouth, you watched as he rolled his eyes at you. “Let's not stand here any longer, we should get walking. And maybe, just maybe we can stop and get some snacks” He says, using your shock to slip his big hand into your tiny one. He didn’t give you a chance to notice, instead tugging you so you would start walking.

And god, if you had pointed it out he would have surely blushed at being caught trying to be smooth.

In the end, you hadn’t cared enough to point it out. Instead, you silently agreed to his previous statement. The toll of being stressed out and worried had finally worn off, happiness filling your insides. You had claimed yourself a salty french fry, YOUR salty french fry. Nothing felt better than this.

Tsukishima walked, hand in hand with you in silence. The silence wasn’t uncomfortable, it was a mutual silence that felt good. The two of them needing the time to comprehend everything that happened in such a small amount of time.

Since your eyes were averted, he finally dropped his shit eating grin, a real genuine smile replacing it instead. It might sound weird, but he wasn’t just some cocky bastard who had no feelings. He was a human being who had crushes as well.

And as he watched your big grin as your eyes stared off ahead had made him feel butterflies in his stomach. He had liked you for some time, but he himself wasn’t brave enough to say something and opted to drop crazy hints instead. While that didn’t work, he still got himself a girlfriend in the end.

Watching you be happy about being with someone like him amazed him. How you lightly swayed their intertwined hands was making him feel some kind of way, a feeling he wasn’t used to. You were the prettiest girl in the world to him, and just the thought of someone like you liking him back made him feel good.

He had liked you so much, and now that he was able to act on his feelings, he would be sure to give you hell.

He was, after all, Tsukishima Kei, the saltiest human to exist.

“Also, It’s march, not April you fool.”

#tsukishima x reader #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu imagines #tsukishima kei x reader #fluff

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highfivecalum · 6 years ago

Text

Dark In Your Heart {CEO!CH} 7

Previous Chapters: One Two Three Four Five Six

◈◈◈

“Good morning, Mr. Hood!” Maddie greeted Calum happily. Ever since their conversation in her apartment, after they got stoned, ate pizza, and watched Breaking Bad together, Maddie felt less tense around him. Less nervous. Sure, she was still undeniably attracted to him, who wasn’t? But she felt more comfortable. And it seemed as if he did too.

“Mornin, Maddie.” Calum took his coffee out of her hand as he passed her and went straight to his office. He set down his bag, plopping down in his chair, and rubbing his eyes. He was tired and was not in the mood to work, but he had to. Just because he was the CEO didn’t mean he could fuck around whenever he wanted to. “Maddie!”

Maddie jumped up from her chair and entered his office, face expectant, and ready to do whatever he asked. Calum, in the morning, was usually grumpy and bossy, but once the afternoon hit, he was more laid back and less uptight about everything. Maddie learned that quickly into the job. She had only been working there for a little over three weeks, but she got to know the way Calum was in the workplace.

“Yes, sir?”

Maddie asked innocently, and Calum really wished that she would stop calling him because it made his pants tighten every time he heard it, along with Mr. Hood, but he knew she wouldn’t stop calling him that. She was too professional to call him by his first name in the office. Outside of the office? Sure. But inside? Definitely not. She didn’t want the people around her, her co-workers, to get the wrong idea if she casually called him by his first name.

“Can you go into the break room and get me a bagel? Toasted with regular cream cheese. None of that strawberry cream cheese bullshit that Claudia uses.”

“Mhm. Be right back.” Maddie didn’t mind doing the little things for Calum, she didn’t. He easily could have gotten up, walked the thirty feet to the break room, and toasted his own bagel, but he was busy and Maddie was his assistant. That’s what she was there for.

Maddie rounded the corner, entering the break room, and smiling at the few other people that were in there. She didn’t know most of them that well, not one to really socialize while working, but she was still friendly. Mostly everyone left the room while she toasted Calum’s bagel and one for herself, leaving just her and other guy she wasn’t familiar with.

She had only seen him a few times, never actually introduced herself to him, but she always caught him staring at her. She wasn’t sure if he did it on purpose or was just staring into space, his eyes accidentally landing on her, but with the way his gaze burned into her back, she knew it was on purpose.

“I don’t think we’ve met before,” He approached her, resting his hand on her lower back, as he smirked at her. She wasn’t fond of that. It was way too early for her to be getting hit on and touched by a man she didn’t know. Even if she did work with him. “I’m Ian.”

“Maddie.” She offered him a short glance, less than a second, and returned her attention back to the bagel. It was taking way too long, she thought, and all she wanted to do was get out of the break room, give Calum his bagel, and eat hers in peace.

“A few of the guys and I are going out for drinks tonight after work. You interested in coming? Get to know us all a little bit better?”

“Oh, uh thank you for the invite, but I can’t tonight.” Or ever, Maddie wanted to add.

“Do you have plans already?”

“Yeah, I do.” She didn’t, but there was no way she was going out with a group of men she didn’t know for drinks. She would have rather done anything but that. Finally, the toaster popped and Maddie quickly, in a half assed effort, spread the cream cheese on Calum’s bagel, completely forgetting about her own. “It was nice meeting you, but I have to get back to work.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Ian grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks, and pulled her closer to him. Unbeknownst to both Ian and Maddie, Calum was standing outside of the break room, looking through the window that was on the wall, watching the scene unfold. “I’m not just gonna let a pretty girl like you walk away from me that fast.”

“Um,” Maddie swallowed. “Can you please let me go?”

“Now why would I wanna do that?” As if it couldn’t get any worse, his free hand that wasn’t gripping and squeezing her arm, slid down her back to grip her ass. “Kinda jealous that you’re Hood’s assistant and not mine. Would love to spend my days with you.”

Maddie tried to push him off, dropping the bagel on the floor next to her feet, but he wouldn’t budge. She started to panic, even though she knew that nothing would happen to her, there was no way. She was in the middle of her work day, in the break room, surrounded by people. And she knew, if Calum was near, he wouldn’t let anything happen to her.

“Ian,” Calum, who finally intervened, not wanting to see it go any further, barked at him and he instantly let go of her, pushing her away lightly. Everyone was scared of Calum and Ian was no exception “What do you think you’re doing?” Calum looked at Maddie; rubbing her arm and looking anywhere but him, and he tried not to let his anger get the best of him. “We don’t tolerate sexual harassment in here.”

“What? I wasn’t harassing her!” Ian threw his hands up in surrender.

“No? You put your hands on her, inappropriately, without her consent. What do you call that?” Calum was pissed. He was pissed because he had creeps like Ian working in his office and because a man who wasn’t him had their hands on Maddie without her consent.

“I-“ Ian tried to explain himself, tried to make up an excuse, but Calum didn’t let him get another work out.

“If you don’t want to lose your job I highly suggest you keep your Goddamn hands to yourself.” Calum’s voice was eerily relaxed despite how pissed he was. He knew he couldn’t lash out or cause a scene, not wanting the attention on either him or Maddie. “Now get the fuck out of here and go back to work.”

Calum wasn’t one to curse in front of or at his employees, but in that moment, he couldn’t have cared less. There was no way in hell he was going to let him get away with that. Especially since it was Maddie. His assistant that he couldn’t stop fucking thinking about.

Once Ian was out of the room, Maddie relaxed and let out a breath, leaning against the counter and gripping it in her hands hard enough to turn her knuckles white. Calum noticed that and the discarded bagel that was on the floor next to her heel clad feet, and he felt guilty. If he hadn’t asked her to get him a bagel, if he just got off of his ass and made his own bagel, that wouldn’t have happened.

So, he picked the bagel up, wiping the cream cheese off of the floor, and threw it away. He couldn’t give less of a shit about that bagel, more about his assistant. Carefully, Calum placed his hand on her shoulder, startling her out of her thoughts. “Are you okay, Maddie?”

She finally lifted her head up, her bottom lip in between her teeth, and she let out a shaky breath. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay.” Maddie nodded her head. “Thank you.”

“Dude is a fuckin’ prick. He’s a good worker, one of the best employees I have, which I hate to admit, but he’s a tool bag. I’m sorry that happened.”

“It’s fine, Ca- Mr. Hood. It’s not your fault.”

“Right.” Calum cleared his throat. “Now, let’s get back to work, yeah?”

“But, your bagel-”

“I don’t care about the bagel anymore, Madeline.”

With that, Calum turned on his heel and left the break room, leaving Maddie to gather herself and calm down. She was appreciative of him helping her, if he hadn’t shown up when he did, Maddie didn’t know what would have happened.

◈◈◈

“Mr. Hood?” Maddie knocked lightly on the already open door to his office and he glanced up, seeing her standing there with her coat on and her purse hanging off of her shoulder. He checked the time on his watch, seeing that it was already nearing five-thirty. “Do you need anything before I leave?”

Calum let out a heavy sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. He had a deadline, tomorrow, and he wasn’t even close to being finished with what he had to do. His small job, that seemed nearly impossible at the time, was reading and picking between seven scripts for one of the books he had published that was being made into a movie. The movie was obviously not spot on from the book, movies never were, and there had been multiple scripts written for it, and it was now his job to pick the best one. They weren’t perfect, they all needed some work and some editing, but that, thankfully, was not his job this time.

Maddie could tell instantly that he was stressed by the way his hair was so disheveled from running his fingers through it and the three empty cups of coffee on his desk. He had switched to Red Bull, which wasn’t his smartest idea, but it seemed to be helping.

“You look stressed. Do you need help with anything?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.” Calum finally leaned back in his chair after being hunched over his desk all day, and let out a sigh. Even though it was only a Monday night, Calum wasn’t sure if Maddie had plans or not, and he didn’t want to make her stay if she was busy. “Unless you have somewhere you need to be.”

“Just my couch.” Maddie laughed and adjusted her purse. “What do you need help with?”

“I have to read all of these scripts by tomorrow morning and pick one and I’m not even halfway done. Your help would be very appreciated.”

“You really trust my judgement to help you pick one of these?” Maddie asked as she looked through the stack of papers. Calum’s eyes lingered on her ring clad and black nails as she fingered through the stack of scripts, and his mind instantly went to how her fingers had been in his mouth the night they met.

“You’re an English major, correct?” Maddie nodded her head. “Then yes, I trust your judgement. Now, take a stack, sit down and get comfortable, and start reading.”

Maddie did as Calum said and took a small stack, walked across his office, peeled her coat off and put her purse down on the couch next to her as she plopped down on it. She had never been in Calum’s office for longer than ten minutes, and she had never had the pleasure of sitting on the way too comfortable white leather couch that was a few feet away from his desk, so she felt a little bit out of place.

The two worked in a comfortable silence, lost in the scripts, until Maddie’s stomach growled louder than she would have liked. Calum looked up, a smirk on his face, and laughed when he saw the red on her cheeks. He checked the time again, seeing it had been an hour and a half since she had sat down on his couch.

“You hungry?”

“A little bit. I haven’t eaten since this morning.” Maddie admitted sheepishly.

“I’m starvin’. You wanna order Chinese takeout?”

Maddie’s mouth nearly started watering at the mention of Chinese food. So, excitedly, she nodded her head and Calum laughed as he pulled his phone out to dial the nearest Chinese place phone number. It wasn’t a delivery service, but it was only a two minute walk from his office building, so he didn’t mind.

“It’ll be ready in thirty minutes.” They went back to reading and after thirty minutes, Maddie stood up and started to shrug her coat on and slip her heels back on, which she had taken off after an hour of sitting since her feet started aching. The commotion had Calum looking up. “Where are you goin’?”

“Um, to pick the food up?” It came out as more of a question than a statement.

Calum shook his head and stood up, only towering over Maddie a little bit as he put his own coat on and checked his pockets for his phone, keys, and wallet. “It’s dark out and even though we’re not in a bad part of town, I’m not lettin’ you walk there by yourself. Especially not after what happened this mornin’ with Ian. So I’ll go get it and you stay here, yeah?”

Maddie’s heart swelled at how nice Calum was being. Sure, he would have probably done that for any one of his employees, but for some reason, it made her extremely happy, but it didn’t help with her feelings when it came to him. She didn’t even know what she felt towards him. She was attracted to him, that much was obvious, and she was around him five days a week, so she could feel herself liking him more and more, but she tried to force herself not to. She could not fall for her boss.

“Dinner is served,” Calum announced, pulling Maddie away from looking at the picture he had on the corner of his huge desk. It was him and his family, she guessed, since they all looked alike, and she smiled fondly at it. “Let’s eat on the couch.”

They sat down next to each other, an appropriate distance, and Calum opened the food and took out the two chopsticks, handing one to Maddie. He delved right in, not noticing the confusion on Maddie’s face as she tried to figure out how the hell to use chopsticks. She had tried to learn how to, but never successfully did.

“Um,” Maddie cleared her throat. “Do you have a fork?”

“Here,” Calum put his food down on the small table and took the chopsticks out of Maddie’s hand. “I’ll teach you.”

After successfully teaching Maddie how to use chopsticks, after ten minutes, the two sat and ate, talked, laughed, and acted like they were old friends. And after Calum dropped Maddie off at home, not wanting her to take the train so late at night by herself, she shut her door with a smile on her face that she could not wipe off. She was already in deep.

◈◈◈

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duckapus · 6 years ago

Text

My Danny Phantom Reboot (as was owed for the Phight)

Okay, so first off I should mention that this is going to be less “what if someone made a reboot of Danny Phantom now” and more “what if Danny Phantom was done right to start with.” This means there’ll be more emphasis on storytelling and characters, none of H*rtm*n’s usual shenanigans, but the storyline as it was is going to be more-or-less intact, depending on what I think I can salvage.

So, let’s talk powers.

Danny is going to have all the powers he did in the show, given gradually and with clear foreshadowing. His ghost sense is currently just a bit too conspicuous, so I’ll be changing it from a wisp of cold breath to a chill up his spine, though for the sake of the audience there will be a visual and audio indicator of it, much like Spider-Man’s spider sense. Starting out, he just has that and the three basic ghost powers, though they won’t work properly for a while, and I’ll make it clear that this is because his half-ghost status prevented him from gaining the instinctual knowledge to control them outright. While there are some abilities that he gains during times of stress (like ectoblasts and the ghostly wail) he’ll have to actually practice in order for them to work with any level of consistency.

Like I mentioned, there will be some foreshadowing, specifically when it comes to his ice powers. There’s going to be multiple points where someone mentions that he has cold hands, with many of those people being ghosts to imply that it isn’t a ghost thing. There’ll be more emphasis on Ghost Cores and Core Types. Danny isn’t going to be as affected by warmer or colder temperatures as other people, usually being the last one to need to put on a jacket. He’s going to be somewhat weak to fire-based attacks. And there’s going to be a multi-episode buildup to his powers freezing him.

I’m also going all-in on the space motif. His bedroom is covered in star stickers and NASA posters. He tends to look up at the stars whenever he needs time to think. He isn’t afraid of heights at all because up is good, up is safe, up is home, and flight is the only power he never has trouble with as a result.

And now, for Danny’s parents. First off, for this, they do not want to destroy ghosts. They want to study them, understand them, and keep people safe from the ones that cause trouble. They know full well how little they actually know and how small their sample size is- that’s why they’re working on equipment to actually explore the Ghost Zone in the first place! Yes they’ll screw up, and jump to conclusions, and be a bit too enthusiastic. Yes, they’re working off of some pretty big assumptions, because that’s all they’ve got. But at the end of the day, they’re the first to admit they’re not perfect. And as far as priorities are concerned, they’re parents first, scientists second, and hunters third(if even that).

Jazz and Tucker are already good as-is, as are most of the ghosts, so let’s move on to Sam and the “A-listers.”

So starting off, because I’m not Fartman, I will not be vilifying the popular kids just because they’re popular. For Qwan, we’ve already got the fanon of him being a sweet cinnamon roll who’d be a great friend to everybody if he were just able to say no, specifically to Dash. And with Star I’ll be going with a strong-willed girl who’s fully willing to call the others out when they’re bullshit goes to far, though she’s admittedly got a looser definition of “too far” than she should.

And now the big three. So my interpretation of Sam, Dash and Paulina is that a big chunk of their issues come from them not quite growing out of their jackass middle schooler phase(you all know what I mean). That’s not all of it, or even most of it, but it’s a big enough part that them acknowledging it will be a huge step in the right direction.

In Sam’s case, a lot of it also stems from her need to control as much of her life as she can, which developed in response to how little control her parents let her have. This ranges from harmless (her love of gardening and “ultra-recyclo-vegetarianism”) to really not okay (her tendency to manipulate or strong-arm people into doing what she wants) with her harsh judgement of people and trust issues landing somewhere in the upper middle. All of this to say that she’s a lot more like her parents (and Paulina, to a lesser extent) than she realizes.

With Paulina, while she does still have a lot of problems, being a crazy, obsessive fangirl isn’t one of them. She knows full well that her feelings for Phantom are just a celebrity crush and they aren’t about to get together any time soon (the boy’s dead as far as she knows, for god’s sake!). She’s also very observant, not to the point of finding out the truth about Danny but enough to realize quite a few other important details…

With Dash, all I’m really going to be changing is that his Football Star status absolutely does not give him free reign to do whatever he wants, because I respect Mr. Lancer more than that.

Admittedly I haven’t quite figured out their other classmates yet. And Valerie’s arc is already good as-is, though I won’t be including her getting shunned by the “A-listers” because this version of Star ain’t gonna let that fly. I’m also including Wes, because his antics are glorious and I think I can do some cool stuff with him.

Now, along with giving the characters better characterization in general, I’ll also be giving them their own time in the limelight to show what Danny’s situation looks like from an outsider’s perspective. Valerie in particular ends up as something of a secondary protagonist.

And now we come to Vlad. Oh, Vlad.

Okay, so in this version, Vlad inviting the Fentons to the reunion was a genuine attempt to reconnect. Unfortunately ghostly obsessions are powerful things, and he sort of relapsed into hating Jack and wanting Maddie for himself. Things more-or-less continue as normal, though with his desire to take on Danny as an apprentice coming off as him actually, genuinely wanting to teach Danny how being a halfa works, which makes it a little comically awkward when he tries to turn their battles into a teaching moment. He still becomes the mayor, though this time around it’s because he genuinely thought it was a good idea, and he got voted in legitimately.

Unfortunately it all sort of goes downhill after a while. Due to his current mentality of “tired old uncle just wants to get over his issues and help out” clashing with his obsession with Jack and Maddie, he’s sort of cracking, and the fact that Danny adds an extra layer to both isn’t really a good thing.

And then we get the clones. In this version, they all last a lot longer, and sort of act as Vlad’s minions for a while. The Frankenstein’s Monster-esque one sort of acts as a big brother to the others. He’s also very smart, even if he can’t really say much, and as time goes on he starts to realize that something is very wrong with Vlad. It all comes to a head when Dani is created, because Vlad realizes that even with a human half she still isn’t stable and something inside him just snaps. At this moment, there’s now two Vlads in there; Masters, who’s honestly just tired of all the fighting and pushing people away, and Plasmius, who’s essentially season three Vlad in all of his megalomaniacle obsession-fueled glory. Frankendanny’s destabilization is a big moment in this, as are the other clones holding back Vlad as they’re melting so Danny and Dani can escape at the end of the episode.

Dani still ends up traveling after that, though she’s not just ignored as she’ll be sending Danny postcards of places she’s been and there’ll be a few episodes dedicated to her adventures (with some hints to her instability getting worse.)

D-stabilized is where thing get really crazy. This is because while I’ve been distracting you with my Danny Phantom remake, there’s been a secret, second remake of Fairly Oddparents hidden in the background! I won’t go into too much detail, since that’s not what this is about, but It follows the same structure of apply overarching story, focus on characters, trim off what doesn’t work. Because of this, Timmy happens to be in the same city where Valerie finds Dani (I don’t think they were in Amity Park yet, but I’m not sure) and meets Dani before Valerie does. The episode plays out more-or-less the same (Val uses Dani as bait to catch Danny, gives Dani to Vlad, Danny appeals to her better nature, she finds out that Vlad is an evil half-ghost and that not all ghosts are evil thus shattering her world view) but with the addition of Timmy tracking her down to her weird holding cell/torture room place (seriously, what was up with that?) and then tagging along and somehow holding his own against Fright Knight with nothing but a blaster he managed to swipe from her (since not only does he have to deal with having human allies, but also the fact that magic doesn’t work that well on ghosts, which means no fairy help).

After that, there’s a few breather episodes to the end of the third season, mainly to do with Valerie processing everything she’s just learned.

And then Freakshow gets the reality gauntlet, because I’ve been holding that off until now. Danny gets his identity revealed on live television, the Guys in White are after him, and Freakshow is holding Amity Park hostage until Danny can find the three stones he scattered.

There’s just a few small changes I’ve made:

The stones got scattered across the planet, instead of just the country

There’s no easy way to track the stones unless one gets activated, unlike in the original where they had ecto-signatures

Wes and the “A-Listers” get dragged along for the ride

Because Freakshow isn’t a complete idiot and realizes that it will take a significant amount of time to find the stones, the team has until the end of summer.

Instead of everybody being in cages (since that won’t really work with this time frame) Amity Park is surrounded by an impenetrable dome, and both ghost portals are clogged up. Nobody gets in or out unless the ringmaster says so.

The second and third parts of Wishology and an adaptation of Nicktoons Unite are happening alongside all of this, so along with GIW and ghosts the team is going to be dealing with the Eliminators and The Syndicate.

Carl, Sheen and Libby have somehow tagged along.

We’ll be calling this arc the Road-trip from Hell, and it, along with the other two story arcs, will be taking up the entirety of the fourth season. The other two arcs will experience changes as well, such as Dani going with Timmy, Mark Chang and the Villains to find the Wind Wand due to being in Dimmsdale when it happens, Catman, Chip Skylark, Elmer and Sanjay getting captured along with the rest of Timmy’s friends, Valerie and Tootie getting recruited by Jimmy to fight the Syndicate since Timmy and Danny are busy and they’re honestly the only two options, and Anti-Cosmo being the Fairly Oddparents representative for the Syndicate since Crocker is also busy.

For the sake of storytelling, I should mention that GIW is a fanatical splinter group of MERF in this continuity, and have already been established as major antagonists. Also throughout the season Fairy World is basically going to be a warzone locked in a three-way battle between the Fairies, the Anti-Fairies and Syndicate, and the Eliminators, which all three groups see at one point or another.

The final battle is really going to be four going on simultaneously- Danny and Team Phantom(which by this point will also include the reformed agents O and K, because I like them) vs Ghost Freakshow, the robot army just outside of town, and Lydia; the Nicktoons vs the Syndicate’s doomsday device; Cosmo in his Godzilla form vs everything the Syndicate and the Eliminators can throw at him, and Timmy vs The Destructinator (which will actually be a full-on fight, with the outsmarting thing just being Timmy’s trump card). It’s going to be really cool with a bunch of well-timed jump-cuts and everything.

Then in the aftermath I’m going to basically spit in the face of the status quo. Danny still erases peoples memories of his reveal, but leaves out the new members of Team Phantom (because if he has to remember the road-trip from hell, so does everybody else), and it also doesn’t work on Valerie (or Tootie) since they were in Jimmy’s universe at the time, which is going to be Fun for Danny to deal with when she gets back. Timmy, Chester and AJ are also immune, due to AJ secretly making the three of them immune to memory wipes in general so Timmy wouldn’t have to forget his fairies or go through what happened in the first Wishology again. He would’ve done the same with Elmer and Sanjay, but he didn’t get the chance.

After all that, season five is a return to the norm, other than dealing with the new character dynamics, the Vlad situation, and all the Fairly Oddparents stuff leaking in. I haven’t really worked out all the specifics, since I sort of got caught up in the season four stuff.

Note: For obvious reasons, I cannot actually reboot Danny Phantom and/or Fairly Oddparents. Unless I come up with ideas later on down the line, or other people decide to add their own ideas, this is what you get.

(@phandomphightclub, I did it!)

#danny phantom #dpreboot #fairly oddparents #reboot #concept #phantom phight club #lost a bet #phantom planet isn't canon #this was fun #long post #sorry

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phantomphangphucker · 6 years ago

Text

The Lessons A Mother Gives - Phic Phight

Prompt Creator: @bibliophileap Prompt: He’s flying. Or is he? Summary: Maddie gives a lesson on ghost powers to Danny's class with Lancer, and Danny is highly intrigued by Gravity Nullification.

Warning: slightly depressing, bullying, analysis of the human condition.

also on my AO3 at GothMoth

“Alright class, today we have a presenter-“ Lancer gets cut off by slightly enthusiastic cheering, while Danny simply stares out the window to his left. Lancer, coughing to recapture the students' attention “as I was saying, due to all the recent ghost attacks the school board has decided to have a local ghost expert-”. Danny jerks his head over to Lancer muttering “oh no”, as Lancer continues. “-Ms. Fenton.” Lancer walks over to the door opening it to let Maddie in. “Please welcome Ms. Fenton and try to behave like the young adults I know you are.” Lancer sighs as he sits in his corner chair. Maddie stands confidently at the front of the class and gives a little wave to Danny. Who visibly shrinks in his seat, as a couple of jocks snicker at him.

“Hello class! I’m sure you all know me as Danny’s mom but today I’m here as a professional. So address me as Ms. Fenton not Danny’s mom, please”. Maddie finishes her intro with a soft smile. Walking over to the whiteboard she quickly picks up a green marker and starts to write as she speaks. “So it was decided that you all would get educated on how ghost do what ghost do, meaning their powers. Rather than how to fight them.” Turning around for a second to shrug. “The principal decided teaching teens how to use ecto-weapons was a bad idea, I say pah! To that but rules are rules.”. Turning back to the board she finishes writing out a vertical list of all the main, well-known ghost powers.

Ecto-Blasts

Ecto-shields

Invisibility

Intangibility

Body manipulation

Over-shadowing

Duplication

Gravity nullification

“Miss?” Paulina asks with her hand raised, lowing it when Maddie looks to her. “What’s that last one?” Paulina finishes her question with a few agreeing nods. Maddie smiles, glad to see they’re paying attention; unlike her son. Unbeknownst to her, Danny is actually paying attention. Just with his head in his arms, listening both to her and sneakily watching out the window through his arms for any ghosts. “Well, gravity nullification is probably better known by you as” air-quoting “flying” end air-quoting “ but that’s really the wrong word for it”. Star, looking highly confused just asks “what do you mean?”. “You see ghosts aren’t made out of the same things as you and I, they’re just shells wrapped over ectoplasm.” Maddie doesn’t notice the way Danny faintly shivers at her words and how he grimaces. “And ectoplasm reacts differently to the environment compared to any other substance. Functionally, it is always in a state of weightlessness. Ghosts actually have to force solidity into their ectoplasm to even be affected by gravity at all.”. Kwan shoots his hand up. “Yes?”. “What about that metal one, we’ve all seen him falling and crashing around? Wouldn’t he not be able to do that if he’s weightless?”. Maddie chuckles lightly but quickly scolds Danny’s still slouched down form before answering the question. “Danny dear, please sit up straight. You’ll ruin your back like that.” Maddie scolding is sweet as the class snickers at him more. Danny jolts right up, face red but keeps a hand in front of his mouth, just in case his ghost sense goes off. “Anyways, the metal ghost is an anomaly as it’s actually a small blob-like ghost wearing a suit of armour. The armour, like any armour, isn’t inherently weightless. Meaning the ghost has to extend its natural weightlessness to the suit!”. Maddie is quite pleased with herself hearing the “ooooo”’s and “ahhhhh”’s from most the students. Danny, meanwhile, is wondering just how the hell his mom actually knows about that. Sure, he found out about Skulkers real form right away but he doubts his mom found out the same way he did. And even though he’s not on good terms with Skulker, Danny can’t help but frown at him being called an “it”.

Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t take long for Paulina to ask about Phantom, much to Danny’s dismay and the rest of the classes joy. Maddie shakes her head at the clear display of fondness for the ghostly “hero” but answers honestly anyway. “Phantom as a whole is an anomaly itself, very little about that one makes sense and finding out anything about it has proven to be, more or less, impossible. However, considering Phantom’s lack of any suit or exoskeleton, it’s safe to say it’s as inherently weightless as any normal ghost.”. Danny is kinda shocked by the genuine response and it does get him to ponder about his “flying” ability. Muttering into his hand quietly, “well it’s not like I can really feel wind strongly flying by, and the wind resistance doesn’t change regardless of how fast I go.”. Tapping his chin, “and thinking about it yeah, it feels like being suspended in water...but more floaty. Huh, I used to notice that a lot actually”. Shrugging, Danny smirks “the perks of getting used to things I guess”. Danny is pulled out of his mutterings by Mr. Lancer “Daniel, of all people I would expect you to be paying attention” causing Danny to jolt and look around, earning him more snickers. Meanwhile, Maddie just sighs and shakes her head. “As I said, all ectoplasm has this quality due to its composition. The particles it’s made out of are so densely compact, that it actually has its own gravitational force. That force is only strong enough to negate the earths pull, however, so you don’t have to worry about being pulled into an average ghost” Maddie adds with a chuckle.

Paulina, spring her hand up again, “but what if the ghost is carrying you? Would it make them easier to hold you?” Blushing slightly “I wouldn’t want Phantom to struggle carrying me”. Danny physically groans as his mom frowns, “you shouldn’t be that close to any ghost, especially not Phantom. Regardless of the ghosts act, it is evil and it does not care; just like all other ghosts.”. This earns her almost unanimous glares from the students so Maddie just sighs. “But yes, being that close to a ghost would allow for its ectoplasms gravitational pull to have a slight effect on you, instantly making you lighter. But most ghost will almost instantly extend their gravity nullification to anything they try to carry on instinct. So you’d effectively be weightless yourself.”. Dash grins wide “so that’s why Phantom can lift so much...it’s not strength but some weird gravity thing. Cool man, I would kill for that on the field”. Someone chuckles next to him “you’d have to be killed for it” which earns a couple laughs, even one from Danny; who’s ever fond of dark humour. Sighing Maddie corrects Dash, “not quite true, a ghost carrying something would have to exert adequate strength to extend enough gravity nullification to the item in question to render it weightless.”. Danny mulls over this in his head, things were definitely not as heavy or as hard to pick as Phantom; even from the very beginning. Now that both his halves were physically stronger, due to the constant exercise and fighting he did, most things were freakishly light. Even in Fenton form. Muttering again, “though I guess my ectoplasm is a constant in me so I guess I constantly have at least some of this gravity nullification active at all times. Huh, for once I’m learning something that actually helps me”. Noticing Lancer’s glare he makes a point of following his mom with his eyes, instead of staring into space. As Dash pipes up again “so Phantom really is built then? Awesome! I knew he wasn’t punny”. Maddie looks dumbfounded by this, muttering under her breath; though Danny can hear due to enhanced hearing. “I can’t believe how fooled that ectoplasmic scum has all the children. I’ll have to have an honest talk with Jasmine and Danny about their own fondness of him. At least Danny has a healthy fear of ghosts, even if it is a little overboard.”. Danny internally groans, dreading supper, as Maddie continues addressing the class. “Punny isn’t really possible with ghosts, Mr. Baxter, all of them have dangerous powers and most have unique abilities as well.” Earning a couple raised eyebrows from the students. One band geek asks “but what about that box guy? He doesn’t seem capable of doing much of anything” at this most the class laughs, including Danny. Maddie smiles loosely “that one has some sort of power that lets it get into our world whenever it pleases, which is a threat in and of itself. If it wasn’t for how lacking it is in all other areas, it would be an absolute nightmare”. Danny can’t help but laugh hard at this. The idea of The Box Ghost, even after the Pandora’s Box incident, being a genuine threat is so absurd. Danny earns a few odd looks, including from his mom, over his wheezing laughter. Someone in the back mutters “isn’t Fenton, like, terrified of ghosts?” His friend next to him shrugging “I guess even that scaredy cat doesn’t fear the Box ghost.”. The first boy mutters again “That’s kinda sad for the Box ghost actually.”. “Moving on,” Maddie says over the two boys, still shooting Danny curious looks. “Is there any other main powers you’d like me to talk about first before I go down the list?”. Kwan sticks his hand up at the prompt, “uh yeah, what’s intangibility mean?”. Maddie chuckles sweetly, “why it’s the ability to go through solid objects without damaging them. Both intangibility and invisibility have relatively the same explanation, so I do both”. Turning back to the board Maddie cross off gravity nullification. “Basically, ectoplasm is capable of vibrating at specific frequencies and speeds that nothing else really can. This is excluding ecto-raineum which is why ghost hunters make their equipment and weapons out of it.”. Maddie smirks to herself, “this vibration allows for ghosts to move their ectoplasm at such a rate that they surpass that of all the materials around and/or light itself. Rendering them capable of going through almost anything and blinking out of visible range.”. Maddie paces around the front of the room as she continues, “Some theorize that many animals who can see wider ranges of light can always see ghosts, but this is still hotly contested.”. Danny muttered to himself while she was speaking, “yeah and it’s a hell of a lot harder than it looks.”. Star shoots her hand up asking, “I’ve seen ghost turn people invisible and what not, does that hurt the person? Vibrating the persons' cells or whatever like that?”. At that question Danny makes a mildly horrified face, whispering “I never even thought about that, oh god I’m going to have to ask Sam and Tucker about that.”. “Thankfully, we’re certain it doesn’t hurt, if it did I’m sure many more people in Amity would complain about it; considering how commonly that happens here”. The students nod, all but Danny accepting this answer at face value. Danny’s learned not to fully trust all of his parents “science”, after learning so much for himself. He’d rather verify something that could potentially be inadvertently hurting people, for himself.

“Moving on, I’ll talk about ecto-blasts and ecto-shields like I did for the previous two abilities. Both are nothing more than a ghost expelling ectoplasm outside of their manifested form, in a controlled fashion.”. “So kind of like spitting?” Dash jumps in. Maddie, turning to him, replies “That’s about as close as a human can get, yes. Ectoplasm isn’t something ghost can just randomly expel out of their body’s however they please. Ectoplasm is their bones, organs, skin, blood and consciousness. A ghost could destroy itself with over expulsion.”. Paulina makes a disgusted face and pulls her hands up to her chest “so ghost are like? Throwing around their own blood?!”. Maddie grimaces, “in a way, yes, but it’s so vastly different from actual blood that it’s really nothing alike.”. Paulina still looking grossed out, “Well, Phantoms the only one whose ecto-whatever isn’t nasty then”. Danny can tell his mom is restraining herself from going off on a tirade about ghosts. He finds himself rather impressed by her rare show of not going overboard. “Yes well, ectoplasm should always be handled as carefully as possible, you absolutely should not touch it and you absolutely should avoid it; as best you can anyways.” At this Lancer gives a curt nod of agreement. “The last thing any of us want is you, mostly bright, young students getting hurt or worse.” Lancer sighs darkly. While Danny just chuckles to himself “I’ve already done the “worse” option, twice over so...little late for the warning.” Smirking, he can’t help but feel glad for not getting the warning though. He wouldn’t trade his halflife for anything else, though he could do with a break sometime.

“Now duplication is one of the trickier things a ghost can pull. Not a lot of ghost can do it and it’s very difficult for them, but it also makes catching a ghost impossible if you don’t get every duplicate. The body manipulation is similar, being a more basic form of duplication. However, Phantom seems to be one of the few ghosts that actually utilizes body manipulation both offensively and defensively.” At this Paulina grins proudly. Danny’s not sure whether to be creeped out or pleased about her grin. “On one hand she loves me, on the other she’s completely obsessed” Danny sighs. “Yeah, I think I saw him turn his stomach into a freaking donut once” Kwan chuckles. Maddie nods enthusiastically “yes that would be an example of body manipulation, duplication is just body manipulation taken to the extreme. How ghosts manage to control two separate bodies is a bit of a mystery but the general consensus is that since their ectoplasm is their consciousness it’s no different to them than controlling two hands at once.”. Danny has to cover his eyes to keep from boring holes into his mom’s face with his glare. “There is nothing fucking easy about duplication...though I’d have no clue how to explain having 6 heads to a class.”. “I had like 10 bodies once! It was a nightmare, even if it made playing pass more fun.” Kwan shivers slightly as Maddie roles her eyes. “The stories kids spin”.

“Lastly, over-shadowing; easily the most unpleasant and evil power ghosts have. I’m sure you already know but it’s the power to take over a real persons body and control it. Over-shadowing is near impossible to detect without special equipment but ghosts can’t maintain it forever.”. One of the students in the back scoffs “I’m pretty sure all of us have had some experience with that trick.”. “Yes and it’s the only way for a human body to have ghost powers. While possessing a human body ghosts can still use gravity nullification, invisibility and intangibility. Though it is much harder to do.”. Danny can’t help but smirk as he watches his mom talk so self-assured, when a halfa lives in the same house, eats the same food, and talks to her every day. “There’s something hilariously ironic about a scientist living with the very thing that disproves their theories.”. Maddie walks over to the board and draws a red person shaped outline and then a green one just over top. Tapping the drawing with the pen, “this is basically how over-shadowing works. Ghosts layer their own ectoplasm overall a persons internals, including the brain. Allowing it to use its ectoplasm to control all the nerves and access every sense of the body. This is also why no one really remembers what happened. The ectoplasm coats over the brain muting all the synapses and their communication.”. Dash just groans “I didn’t think there’d be so much brain stuff with ghosts.”. Danny, chuckling “what? Your head hurts?”. Dash turns and pelts Danny with a pencil, the only thing he bothered to bring with him to class. “Mr. Baxter! What did I say about behaving!” Lancer crosses his arms staring at the boy, releasing a disappointed sigh as Dash just glares and sits back down. Meanwhile, Maddie has her hands on her hips, clearly not impressed to see even a hint of the bullying she’s been suspecting Danny’s been getting all his injuries from. “Baxter, the only time going on the offence against someone or thing is when that thing is a ghost. People, unlike ghosts, are not inherently out to hurt you. So control your anger and Danny, don’t antagonize him.”. Danny grumbles “it’s called a joke, not my fault he can’t handle being the joke”, at the mild scolding. “Ghosts are the things that lash out violently at the slightest displeasure, you kids aren’t a bunch of ectoplasmic scum.” Danny sighs “and here comes the anti-ghost rant...plus last I checked I’ve still got my healthy amount of ectoplasm so at least one of us here is indeed ghostly.”. In his mutterings, he completely misses the rest of his moms' rant, though he doesn’t miss noting all the unimpressed teenage faces. Even Mr. Lancer seems put off. Maddie, brushing some imaginary dirt of her thighs, “Anyways, I figured to wrap this up, we’d have a little discussion about which of these powers you’re most impressed by and how you’d use them for good; instead of doing what ghosts do.” Looking around at the suddenly very interested students, Maddie nods contently. “We’ll break up into groups of 4 based on seating and you’ll debate amongst yourselves which power’s best.”. Then giving the floor to Mr. Lancer, “I expect written personal reports from each of you, this will count as your creative writing assignment. Worth 20% of your grade, lates will NOT be accepted.” Lancer finishes as he hands out the assignment sheets, all the while glaring at Danny. Danny just rolls his eyes, muttering under breath “hmm an assignment about something I constantly think about and have years of experience with...”. It takes Danny all of two seconds to write down gravity nullification on his sheet, only slightly intending to actually fill the rest out later.

Maddie and Lancer set about pushing everyone into their groups. Danny ends up with Dash, Star and a random band geek. “What’s up Fentit! If you say anything other than that gravity thing you’ll be eating my toenail clippings for a week.” Danny groans sarcastically “oH wOw WhAt A cOiNcIdEnCe, ThAt’S jUsT wHaT i WaS tHiNkInG.”. Star giggles a little while the band geek just stares in awe and mild horror at Danny’s guts. Dash glares at Danny but turns to then glare at the geek who quickly chirps, “gravitynullifcationisbestforsure”. Star sighs, “I was going to say body manipulation but that seems pointless now”. Danny raises an eyebrow at her, genuinely curious, “why that one, it clearly doesn’t have many uses?”. Star rolls her eyes, “for perfect skin of course. Who cares about floating or flying or whatever. When you can make your skin, hair, eyes and everything else look exactly how you want it to.”. Danny sighing, not quite sure what he expected, replies anyways “pretty sure it doesn’t work quite like that and you wouldn’t be able to keep it up forever. Nothing compares to being up in the sky”. Dash rolls his eyes “space nerd much, try caring about something real. You can bench so much with that power. It’s like super strength but better. Gosh, Phantom is so lucky.” Danny smirks, “Well yeah, the strength boost is great but that still doesn’t beat flying. Normal people can be super strong but they can’t fly.”. The geek jumps in, correcting Danny “your mom says it’s not really flying though, just like weightless floating. I think I’d vomit” his face, as if to prove a point, looks like just thinking about it will make him vomit. “Astronauts are weightless most of the time and they don’t constantly vomit.”. Danny rebuttals while painting a hand at the geek. “Yeah well they train for that, I certainly have no training” the geek rubs his stomach. Just as Dash punches him in the arm “that’s pretty obvious wimp.”. Star just rolls her eyes at the boy’s behaviour.

Pretty soon after, Lancer calls everything to a halt and has one person from each group say their piece. Over-shadowing, invisibility and gravity nullification; are the only powers picked by any of the groups. Teams for over-shadowing would use them for politic influence.

Teams for invisibility would use it to make their own lives easier.

Teams for gravity nullification are split on using strength to help people and using floating to become a high-class travel system. Listening to all the reasons people give out, Danny can’t help but be glad that he’s the one who actually wound up with the powers. “Sweet Plasmius, things like this really smack me in the face with how much more serious and mature I’ve become; compared to everyone else.”. Shaking his head “literally none of them even considered being just like Phantom. Sure, some talked about helping but not to the same degree at all.”. The last group leader manages to wrap things up just before the end of day dismissal bell rings.

Danny stands, looking out the window, as the rest of his classmates file out; he can see Lancer approaching from the corner of his right eye. “Fenton, I expect to see that assignment tomorrow...”. Noticing Lancer’s slightly less collected than usual demeanour, “ but that’s not really what’s on your mind, is it?”. Lancer sighs “you’re always more intelligent than your work says and you pay way too much attention to everything. But yes, your mothers, uh, beliefs on ghosts are, honestly, quite harsh and even cruel.” Lancer leans his hips against the windowsill, “I’ve had many personal encounters with, including with Phantom, ghosts. I can’t say I agree with her view of them being pure evil. Even more so in the case of Phantom. While I do not envy him, it’s clear to me he’s a good soul.” Lancer looks down at Danny in time to notice his soft smile. “Both me and my sister agree with you Lancer, but my parents would never hear of it. They’re scientist yes, but their theories matter more than the proof.”. Lancer shakes his head at this, “that’s not how it should be even if they know many things, speaking of work. I’d like to know your opinion now, since I genuinely doubt I’ll actually see that paper. I’m hopeful but not a fool.” Chuckling, Danny’s smile widens “gravity nullification, how could it be anything else. Though I do consider it flight even if it’s really not, which is kind of neat to know now”. Lancer raises an eyebrow at him, “you mean to tell me you never learned this from your parents before? I expected that they’d have taught you this before I even met you.”. Danny laughs at Lancer's shock, “I kind of tune all that out, normally their talk about ghost is completely hateful, today was a rare day where she tired to keep her biases out of the conversation. Pleasant surprise really.”. Lancer shakes his head frowning, “Well, I’m glad you don’t carry that hate yourself. So what draws you so much to gravity nullification?”. Smiling, Danny replies in earnest “the sky is a home, a comfy place where you could just be free. You could sail over oceans, hover over a neon-lit fast food sign eating take out, or you could just go up”. Danny motions his hand upward and looks to the clouds, out the window “space was always my dream and with that power I could just go up and up and up. Get to see the stars like I always wanted; drift amongst Ursa Major, Aquila, and Eridanus. There’s a whole lot up there and to be able to just go and see it all on a whim? Nothing could compare.”. Lancer stares in awe at his most problematic student, unsure of how to respond. Eventually though, “you have wonderful dreams Daniel, though I can hear in your voice that you think you’ll never get see them through. The teacher in me wants to say work hard and you will, but I’ve started to realize that for some unknown reason you’re blocked from giving me your best. That hurts to see but I understand. Life doesn’t always work and a teenager being mature enough to be so introspective and watchful; tells me that something has indeed not worked out.”. Putting a hand on Danny, Lancer asks him one last question, “I could tell you were displeased with the other students reasons and uses for their selected power. Why is that?”. Smirking Danny looks at Lancer square in the face, this boldness takes Lancer off guard a bit. “Because of Phantom, no one, not a single person; aimed to do what he does. Self-sacrifice, leadership, heroism.....none of them aimed for that. They all wanted looks, or political gain, or money, or power for powers sake.” Chuckling, Danny continues “Phantom’s like hope here and none of them wanted to be that hope.”. Lancer is once again shocked but he smiles anyways “even I never thought of that Daniel, that says a lot of good things about you I believe.”. Patting Danny on the back, “go home and sleep, and I look forward to seeing your paper tomorrow”. Danny nods and walks to head out but Lancer just manages to catch Danny mutter “who knows maybe one day hope will fly away and sleep too”. Danny, chuckling heartily to himself “or I guess “nullify gravity or whatever”.

Lancer sits down heavily in his chair, just managing to catch a glimpse of Phantom flying by. “I wonder if Phantom even understands what he possesses and how he’s viewed?” Shaking his head he stares at Danny’s seat. “That kids mind is like a supernova shackled by whatever chains it is that keeps him grounded. In all honesty, I’m starting to just want to see him happy and content rather than grandly successful. And as a teacher, I find myself unsure what to do with that.”

Up in the sky, Danny fly’s around lazily in circles. “Well today sure was something and I now have a new look and appreciation for “gravity nullification”. Shaking his head with his hands behind his back, facing the sky; he slowly continues to defy earths gravitational pull and floats home.

End.

#phic phight #fanfic #phan phic #Danny Phantom #phandom #the lessons a mother gives #slightly depressing #bullying #analysis of the human condition #phantomphangphucker #have a fic suck my dick #mr. lancer #Maddie Fenton #danny fenton #kwan #paulina #star #dash

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marvelouslytrekking · 6 years ago

Text

Winner

Pairing: Tony Stark x Reader Summery: You win a bet with Tony and he is not too happy at first with your all powerful request. He doesn’t stay that way for long though. Word Count: 1.6K (I got carried away) A/N: I found this on my computer saved under 71... who knows... anyway I rewrote the ending because whenever I last wrote it, I wrote a sucky ending so I changed in and made it purely fluffy goodness Warnings: None... Just some fluffy goodness (possible in the form of a cat)

“Ha! I won!!” You say as you jump up and down. You and Tony had a bet going to see how long it would take for Natasha to actually get Steve a date that lead to a second one. Tony had said it would never happen but you had faith in both Nat and Steve, so you gave it about 4 months.

“Won what?” Steve asked, quite confused with your outburst when he told you he was heading out on his 2nd date with a girl named Maddie.

“Oh nothing. Nope. Sorry. Have fun tonight! I need to go find Tony.” You said and then ran off. You found Tony working away in his lab. “Tony! Guess where Steve is headed tonight??”

“I don’t know, on another first date that you think will go somewhere this time?’ Tony guessed not even looking up from his work. You walk up behind him and put your arms around his waist resting your head on his shoulder.

“Wrong. He is going on a date with Maddie, a second date.” You smirk. Tony quickly turned around almost knocking heads if you hadn’t step back fast enough.

“You’re lying. I don’t believe you.” Tony stated and you pretending to be insulted.

“A. I am hurt that you don’t trust me, B. go ask.” You glare at him.

“Fine. JARVIS ask Natasha to come here.” Tony said.

“Please.” You add and then give Tony a look.

“She is on her way.” JARVIS informed you two.

“Not sure why you couldn’t have called her or texted her.” You huff.

“It’s more fun this way when I catch you lying.” He smirked. You just rolled your eyes.

“I’m here what did you need?” Natasha came into the lab in a hurry.

“(y/n) here told me that Steve went on a second date with that Maddie chick you set him up with. And I just need you to tell her that she is mistaken or lying for me.”

“Well if I did that I would be lying because he finally is going on a second date for the first time in his life.” Natasha said, then crossed her arms.

“HA! I win!” You stick your tongue out at Tony.

“Win what?” Natasha asked you.

“Tony here didn’t think Cap was going to get a second date in the near future so I made a bet with him, saying that he could within 4 months, it’s only been 3.” You explain.

“Well, what did you win?” She asked with a smirk, obviously glad you won.

“whatever I want.” You smirk never letting your eyes leave Tony’s.

“Well I’m going to leave then.” Nat said as she hurried out the door.

“So, what’s it going to be babe.” Tony asked, “But before you say, know that I literally would get you anything you asked for anyway but make your wish.”

“I want a cat.” You said. It was the one thing you had always bugged Tony about but he wouldn’t budge.

“no, literally anything else. I will not work in the lab for an entire month or literally anything else. Anything.” Tony begged.

“For the last 3 months I have been praying that Cap likes a girl just enough to go on a second date for the soul reason that I really want a cat. And now that I won, you are getting me a cat.” You give Tony a death glare. “Besides I already have one picked out at the animal shelter, she’s missing the tip of one of her ears and they said it makes her almost unadoptable. So, we must save this cat.”

“Of course, you already have one picked out.” Tony just rolled his eyes.

“Well of course. And if I had lost I was just going to bring her home anyway.” You send him an innocent smile. “What’s your objection to a cat anyway?”

“Well first off, they are quite destructive”

“No more than you” You interrupt him.

“I am going to choose to ignore that. Also, we go on missions a lot. Who is going take care of it while we’re gone?”

“There is usually someone left in the tower, and if not, I am sure Happy would gladly watch a cat for me.” Tony scoffed at your assumption.

“I highly doubt that he does anything ‘gladly’”

“You just don’t have the right touch to get him to do what you want.” You smirk. “Anyway, since you have no real reason for saying no to a cat, when are we going to pick Zoe?”

“What is Happy can’t watch her?” Tony tries a last-ditch effort.

“Then you will use your billions of dollars to hire someone!” You huff. “Or was that to complicated for your genius mind to come up with?”

“Okay ouch.” Tony faked pained “fine. Since I can’t come up with any better reason not to. Let’s go get your earless cat.”

“Not earless, just missing a tip on one.” You point out. “I’ll go grab my jacket!”

Tony just rolled his eyes and followed you out of his lab. “JARVIS, order the stuff we will need for a cat.”

“No need to sir, miss (y/n) has already ordered everything. Should be here in a matter of hours.”

“Dammit (y/n)! What if I had refused?”

“You lost a bet, you couldn’t refuse.” You state. “Plus, we both know that you can’t resist my puppy dog eyes.”

“Whatever.” Tony grumbles.

You and Tony make your way to the animal shelter that you had found Zoe in. Tony was surprised that it wasn’t the one closest to the compound, but you had been searching for the perfect cat and the few closest ones didn’t have what you had been looking for. You always had a soft spot for cats, but you also were the type of person to want to help everyone, animals included. So, you set out with a goal of adopting an “unlovable” cat. The second you saw Zoe you were in love. She was just a little over one years old, but she was the sweetest cat you had ever met. Her missing piece just making her all the cuter.

“You’re going to love her!” You beam at Tony, who can’t help smiling back.

“Let’s hope so.” With that you walk into the shelter.

“Hello! My name is (y/f/n), I came by about a month ago and looked at a cat named Zoe, I would like to start the adoption process today!” The front desk lady smiled at you.

“Alright, would you like to go see her again first? I know you were alone the first time.”

“Absolutely, Tony is going to love her.” You follow the lady. She takes you and Tony back to a small room and then goes to grab Zoe. You sat yourself on the floor and Tony looked at you skeptically but didn’t say anything. She came back with Zoe and your face lit up immediately, it almost made Tony feel badly that he tried to get out of this.

The Lady set Zoe on the floor and she immediately came over to you. “I’ll leave you guys with her for a while, just knock on the door when you’re ready to get the adoption process started.”

“Thank you!” You say without even looking up you were too focused on petting Zoe. “get down here Tony, say hello to our new daughter.

“Why hello there little cutie,” Tony got right on the ground and started to play with the cat. Zoe took right to him and started to rub against him.

“I think she likes you.” You chuckle. After all that fuss Tony was almost instantly in love with her.

“She is adorable, I can’t believe people have deemed her unadoptable!” Tony seemed offended as he pets Zoe’s head. He started to talk to the cat, “Well you are getting adopted now, so all is well”

You let out a laugh “and to think someone didn’t want a cat.”

“I still don’t think our lives are very suitable for a cat, but we will just have to make it work.”

You picked Zoe up and she curled right into you. Tony stood up and knocked on the door to let the lady know you were ready.

“You guys ready to take Zoe home?” She beamed.

“Very much so!” Tony smiled.

“Alright just a few forms to fill out and she’s all yours. For the fee we just ask the you give a small donation of your choice. I will be at the desk if you need anything.” She hands Tony the clipboard.

“You will be giving a large donation. Correct?” You give Tony a look that lets him know it was more a statement then a question.

“I didn’t bring my check book” Tony realizes.

“Good thing I grabbed it.” You smirk.

“You are always on top of everything.” Tony takes the checkbook from you and writes out a large check for the small animal shelter and quickly finishes the forms. “Looks like we’re all good.”

“Alright just grab the cat for a second I can’t exactly get up and keep ahold of her.” Tony gladly takes Zoe from you, and then proceeds not to hand her back when you stand up.

“She’s already got you wrapped around her paw.” Tony just rolls his eyes but smiles down at your new cat.

Tony lets you drive his car back to the compound which shocks you to oblivion, but you just hop in and drive the three of you back. The whole drive Tony’s full attention is on Zoe. You almost think you made a mistake. Almost. Then you look over at Tony and he looks to be more relaxed then he has in years and you know Zoe was 100% the right choice.

#tony stark #anthony stark #iron man #tony stark x reader #tony stark imagine #iron man x reader #iron man imagine #marvel #mcu #marvel imagine #tony stark fluff #captain america #steve rogers #natasha romanoff #JARVIS #ts #ts x reader #aimee's masterlist #aimee writes

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staarblaster · 6 years ago

Text

Chapter Three

Hey, guys, before I upload chapter three I want to add another really boring announcement. School starts up again in tomorrow days, and I know my uploading schedule will be scarce. However, I will try to have chapters up whenever I can. Anyways here is chapter three and four, four is going up with a separate post. My posting schedule will be pretty random and I will post when I can. Also,, I’m gonna take a hiatus, for a month(?)

Chapter Three

“The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself”-Mark Twain

Perfection (n): the embodiment of being perfect

My grandmother was my hero when I was little she would tell me stories about her childhood. Growing up her father was a sound technician for MGM and her mother did the makeup and sometimes the celebrities would come over on special occasions like her birthday.

I suppose that’s what prompted her to want to work in the media and journalism.

She used to tell me stories of her adventures, across Europe and her interviews with varying monarchies. It was on a train back to California where she met my grandfather, she was drinking a scotch soda, which unbeknownst to him was more soda than scotch.

He was deep in a game of poker with several of his friends who were coming down to California, she was drinking a scotch soda, unbeknownst to him had more soda than scotch.

He was deep in a game of poker with several of his friends, she watched in silence with both curiosity and intrigue, occasionally getting glares from the men sitting around the table.

She watched as her future husband flushed hundreds, more like thousands of dollars into the game until she confidently said she was going to play next which got a few hearty chuckles, which caused her to roll her eyes, most of them were drunk and she had a very good poker face. As the game commenced she managed to not just win back the money but two engagement rings, a pocket watch, and even her husband’s heart.

She used to tell me at the end of every story that curiosity and wit were our greatest gifts and with them, we could solve any mystery.

But once she died she became like a ghost, pictures of her were removed, only leaving rumors of her behind.

I couldn't let her disappear, so I decided to conduct my own private investigation.

When I was a little kid and I found a picture of her and my grandfather and my mom. I smiled as I held my first real lead.

In the picture, my grandparents looked so happy and then I noticed my mom hiding behind her leg. Slowly and gently I tried to remove the picture from the frame, and as I slowly got it out my mom ripped the picture from my hands.

Her facial expression was a bright beet red as she violently ripped it out of my hands.

“Why can't you just play your role, Juliana? For once I'd like if you kept your nose of business that doesn't even involve you. ”

I felt the tears swell up inside of me. But, instead of fighting back my better instincts (crying) I immediately hugged my mom.

She sighed,

“I love you Jules... sometimes I wish you'd be normal. Can you do that for me please?”

I nodded my head up and down slowly.

As she tucked me in again, she kisses my head and holds the photograph in her hands, the next day I decided to take a little more time to try and fit in.

From then on stopped keeping my blonde hair up and let it down, I ditched my glasses for my more comfortable contacts.

I started to get involved more but it never seems to be enough for my parents. They kept insisting that I should do more, eventually leading me to dance and violin lessons (fortunately only lasting two years).

In the dance class, I realized that I was going to need ”subjects” after all a queen couldn't lead on her own.

In the dance class, I found the Chrissy's, they seem to have the dance studio under their boot heel.

If I could “liberate” them perhaps they'd follow me.

It didn't take long before I eventually made two friends in the class, Ophelia and Madison.

Madison was at least five foot eight and according to the Chrissy's had two left feet. She had light dyed purple hair and her eyes were a light Hazel although she seems like the last person that would be in the dance class she could actually dance pretty well. She would put the facade of insecurities but with confidently dance to Tchaikovsky. She was free to express who she was, as dancing was apart of her.

Ironically, however, being raised by a single dad and four brothers she had to keep the tougher shell in class for the sake of showing fragility. However, once she opened up she was loyal, dedicated and a really good listener.

Ophelia had a caramel skin tone, she was shy and had a shortened forearm but had the biggest heart.

She would walk dogs, and volunteer anywhere to show that she wasn't a girl with just a short arm.

As our friendship blossomed we decided that we would have a come have a “dance battle” against the Chrissy’s which was seen as ridiculous. But my girls and I were ready we could be successful.

However, on the day of our “battle” Ms. Clarke surprised us with all one-on-one auditions with Warren Academy, i.e one of the most prestigious art boarding school, it was basically Teen Julliard. Not everyone would make it in (obviously), but if you did you had potential to be a Broadway legend.

Krissy and I were unfortunately paired together and our theme was duality. One of us would play the person staring into the mirror “angel” and the other would play the reflection the “devil”.

Of course, yours truly got stuck playing the devil and Krissy had to defeat me. Everything was going smoothly but as soon as I was getting ready to give Krissy my final blow Krissy had stepped on my ankle hard.

She claimed that it was an accident only to tell her friends that was indeed deliberate which prompted a) Warren offered me a full scholarship b) my parents threatened to sue the dance studio and Krissy's parents of criminal action weren't taken.

Eventually, it was with Krissy being sent to juvie for two to five years.

As I began to start at my new school Maddie, Ophelia and I began to drift away from each other. I had to do well in this Art School even if I was alone.

Over time I gained a sort of popularity stemming from the incident with my ankle it just started casually saying that I broke it following an audition and then warping into a story of me breaking it while I was on a Broadway stage.

My attempts to quell the rumors only spawn more rumors and newfound popularity and a new boyfriend. My life completely changed when I entered Warren and I never expected any more changes.

---

Wednesday’s were personally my favorite day of the week: Dance team and theatre practice. We were putting on the musical Chicago.

I had gotten lucky and was allowed to the Assistant Choreographer.

Between that and balancing four classes, two of which being Advanced Placement it was a miracle I could stay focused.

I heard my phone’s alarm going off as well as an obnoxiously loud knock. I tried to stop my alarm which was Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall from the speakers of my phone which I did kind of successfully.

I opened the door, I saw one of the girls from my dance team, her face was completely flushed, it was clear that she had ran to see me.

Her breathing was hitched, I awkwardly invited her inside my single room, and got her some water to drink which she drank eagerly. I recognized her immediately, she was Hana Andersen, a shy yet over-eager freshman on the dance team. She was a little rusty but was a little ball of energy when it came to freestyle.

“Han you wanna tell me what’s going on?” I asked carefully.

My door was closed, so no one could see the empathy I had hidden for years.

Her hands started to shake and I gently started to coax her into speaking, and she gently took a small breath.

“I-I...Don’t think I’m fit to be at Warren,” she whispers.

Her tone is soft and a bit distressed, but still sad nonetheless.

I nodded, gently taking her hand,

“You know.. I think you do. Everyone’s been in your shoes at least once. Hell, even you can’t expect to become a star overnight. If you want I can help you, at least if you want me too?”

Hana’s eyes light up as well as faintly brimmed with tears and she nods overzealously and immediately hugs me.

“Thank you! Thank you, Juliana...Jules!”

I nod and look at the time, 7:25 am. Shit, if I’m not careful I’m going to miss breakfast.

“Meet in my room before dinner?”

She nodded again, as she opened the door and smiled, and said

“Pink Floyd's my brother’s favorite! ”

I smile and lie effortlessly,

“Same with mine.”

I closed the door behind me, I looked at the time again, 7:32. There was no way I was going to get breakfast in time, I had to take a shower and get ready for my advanced English class across campus.

I frowned, going straight to the back of my room grabbing my lilac and rosewater body wash.

I pulled out my school sweater and a pair of leggings, fortunately, there was also a pair of flats by my bed frame.

I grabbed my ID plus my shower stuff and was surprised at the silence as I walked through the hallway of my residence hall.

It was a nice contrast from the usual hustle and bustle I usually experienced which came from running several clubs and homework as well as living in New York.

As I got out of the shower and put on my “runway” outfit and I was greeted with several texts from my Dance Team Group chat and Jaxson (my boyfriend).

Where are you 😟

We’re abt to go on!! 💃🏻💃🏿👯

hey babe, dunno if you forgot lol u dont forget. First classes are canceled. the big pep rally with the new students. the dance team is looking for u! 8:25!

My eyes widened in shock, how could I have forgotten that. There was no time to change and I couldn’t miss this especially with the rumor of a Broadway talent scout in the audience.

I texted them both back

On my way!! ✨💜

I grabbed my backpack, my English Book and quickly ran to the gymnasium and I saw my team about to go out on the floor.

“H-hey! I’m here!”

Jaxson immediately hugs me,

“Jules! Thank god! ”

I smiled immediately kissing his cheek.

“Let’s get this show on the road!”

“You’re gonna kill it!” Jaxson said excitedly.

As we get ready to get on the dance floor Hana looks at me and then looks awkwardly at Victoria who is scowling at me.

Victoria was about 5’7”, dark blonde hair and dark blue eyes, she was the lead in the musical who personally wanted my job as the assistant choreographer.

“What the fresh hell are you wearing?!” she hisses at me as we enter the gym.

I ignore her for a moment, but for a moment smile,

“I’m just showing school spirit”

As the music starts, I feel like I can feel everyone’s eyes on me, people murmuring to each other and then I make eyes with the talent scout. Her eyes are a cold and piercing amberish hazel and I can feel my hands shaking and I get cold and sweaty, it goes black almost immediately.

---

I’m in the woods, its calm, and I know I’m not home. The surroundings are familiar yet strange and I could assume this could only be how this is how Alice felt when she fell down the rabbit hole.

I turn for a moment, seeing a girl, she couldn’t be older than me but if she is it has to be a least a year’s difference.

She looks at me with a small smile, there is a quartz crystal crown on her head. She walks closer to me, gently placing a warm hand on my cheek. Her voice is calm as she gently says.

“You need to wake up. We’ll meet again soon Jules. I promise”

My eyes shoot open and I realized that I was in the nurse’s office and I see Jaxson is holding my hand. He smiles looking at me with calm jade green eyes.

“You feeling okay?”He gently squeezed my hand.

Jaxson opens his mouth to start talking, almost immediately the school nurse comes in.

“You had a textbook anxiety attack. I’d recommend resting, I’ll write you a note excusing you from class. Just collect your homework.” she says as she writes something down on a blue slip of paper.

Jax holds my hand as I get out of the cot, and I take the blue slip from the nurse’s hand.

“Take it easy Jules... Don’t overexert yourself.” the nurse recommended.

As we exited the office Jax kissed my cheek, and walk around the campus to collect my textbooks.

“You wanna get lunch at my parent’s place. You didn’t get to eat breakfast today.”

I was about to say yes but I got a text from Reyna, Victoria’s understudy for the role of Roxie Hart in Chicago.

Can u pls pls help w All that Jazz 😟

I sighed, telling myself I’d eat dinner, besides Reyna was more important especially with the show being the first mark as a choreographer. Sure, I had choreographed the dance team routines but this was bigger.

“We can grab lunch tomorrow?”

Jaxson kisses my forehead and walks off.

“Of course love”

Sure np! Lemme drop off my books.

I put my phone in my pocket, and I notice a tour going on the group looks pretty excited, but as the group gets closer, one of the girls sticks out.

She has a small silver stud in her right nostril, and her brown hair has been cut short. But otherwise, her other features look the exact same from when we were kids.

Under my breath, I silently muttered out of fear and confusion.

“Krissy?”

It couldn’t be, could it?

I unlocked the door to my dorm and dropped off my books and texted Reyna to let her know that I was on my way. As I walked into the room I checked my old group chat, the last messages were old invitations and good luck messages from Ophelia and Maddie.

Hey, I know I haven’t been on here much but I’m p sure I saw Krissy? Wanna meet for some 🍕 Maybe @ 7 ✨💜

I shove my phone into my pocket and heading to the music room and I see Reyna stretching on the bar, as she finishes, she notices me and gives me a smile.

“Ready?” I ask her curiously as I set up the music track up on my phone.

She nodded,

“As I’ll ever be.”

I nod,

“5...6, 7,8” As I hit the play button and watched her sing and dance, there were instances where she’s strong like her singing, but her dancing gets sloppy when the chorus hits. When I break down the routine, Rey starts to look and sound polished and I considered starting the routine of the Cell Block Tango when the bell rings, bringing lunch and our practice to a close.

“Thanks, Jules! You’ve saved my ass!” She hugs me happily and walks off.

I smiled and head back to my room ordering some lunch cause I am starving, I order a simple grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup, and as soon as I arrive I feel so much better and start with writing out my notes.

---

As the day slowly begins to wind down, slowly begins to wind down, I can see the sun begin to set. I check the old group chat for anything from my last message about Krissy and is met with silence, I sigh as I get myself in some dance clothes in preparation for practicing with Hana.

I check my phone again, still nothing, and as I let out a sigh until I heard a knock on the door. As I opened the door to see the smiling face of Hana who immediately hugs me.

I smile faintly,

“Okay, you ready to get to work?”

She nodded, her eyes light up instantly

“Heck yeah!”

I chuckled remembering my own enthusiasm from last year.

“I’ll go first.I’ll see how you do.”

I hit the play button and Zella Day’s Hypnotic comes on and as I count myself in, I let the music flow through me.

I smile a bit making myself look as if I am a siren entrancing a sailor in Ancient Greece. When the song ends Hana is staring, her hands visibly shaking.

“You’ve got this” I remind her gently.

She nods weakly and as I started the music she tries to replicate my moves, just like Reyna she is strong in some spots. I smile and start to dance with her until she’s more comfortable.

It’s not long before she’s getting it, I smile giving her a high five as she starts to nail the moves.

“Thank you so much, Jules!!”

I smile,

“Don’t mention it. I was gonna grab some pizza. You wanna join me?”

She nodded eagerly.

“Come on now! I’m paying.”

---

As Hana and I finish our pizza its almost 7:40, we’re laughing and joking but we pass by my house. All the lights are off, except for my bedroom light and the one in the attic. I also notice that my parents aren’t home, and I stare at the window.

Hana looks up with me,

“Jules? You okay?” Han asks gently.

I blink snapping out of it,

“Yeah... You go back to Warren I’ll catch up. ”

She rose an eyebrow,

“You sure?”

I actually wasn’t too sure in all honesty, but instead of sending her away, I politely and calmly whispered.

“Keep watch.”

She nodded, but gasped silently,

“What if we get in trouble?”

I chuckled,

“This is my house, we’ll be okay..”

I went around back to the emergency exit and smiled looking at the slightly faded pink blossoms. I hated to uproot them but I found the spare key taking it to the front door. I ran back down and opened the door.

Hana looked around, her face etched with fear.

“Jules!” She whimpered.

“It’ll just take a minute!” I insisted.

As I go up the stairs to my room, I cringe at some old pictures, remembering how many hours it took to get right. I push the door open to my bedroom, everything appears to be normal except a box made out of faded old wood is in the center of my bed.

I grabbed the box and closed the door and put the key back under the pot, and lead Hana back to Warren.

“That’s enough excitement for one day,” I say examining the box.

I run my fingers over it, and offer Hana a chance to look at it.

Hana picks it up, her hands fumbling over it, and the box awkwardly fell out of her hands. The box falling to the ground, a wedge from the bottom, peeking out. As she hands it back to me I slowly pry it back its contents spilling out. Letters, Photographs; all things that I’ve never seen except the one of my grandmother and my mom hiding behind her leg. Hana and I start to go through the items and in the slew of things there was a white knight piece. Hana is holding an envelope with a letter and I’m looking at a picture.

It looks like a simple polaroid, that says: Me, Andrew, Patrick, Oliver and Sophia. Sophia’s hair is a dark black, and flowing. She is smiling a bunny ears. The other three boys are smiling in their uniforms.

“Hey Jules.. You should read this.”

I nodded and reading out loud, holding the envelope that was awkwardly torn.

January 11th

Dear Sophia,

I am writing this letter as a warning. In three days time He will find you. He has been in my dreams quite frequently and I fear he knows about the iteration. You have to hide it, you and Jeremy have too close with Daisy. And I know after our disbandment we promised we would never talk again but I pray to Elysia he doesn’t find Daisy. The vision that caused our severance is much clearer to me. The Demon King will return this iteration.

Run Sophia Run

Yours

The name is cut off but all I can wonder is who is Sophia?

First

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#who is me?#yes #that oliver #gwens father #what does sophia have to with this?#who wrote the letter #tw: gambling #tw: alcohol #prismverse #artes original work #happy birthday to me!!#ch. 4 goes up march 5th #meant to add this when i posted #oopsies #rm lqnlt xdc cqn kuxp ouxfna-lqrum-mjrbh ;) fqx twxfb fqjc hxduu orwm #ftq smyq ue mnagf fa nqsuz

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