#also I think he should go around campus all the time in comically large clothes

[blueastrum]

Look at our general dawg we’re losing the war

[burnedbyshoto]

go the distance

(will you) go the distance

— You’re perfectly content in life except for the fact that you are not dating Deku. When his best friend won’t help you out, you turn to the dark side to get what you want.

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pairing: pro hero!midoriya izuku x bad villain!reader

warnings: 18+, nsfw, smut, manga spoilers, pro hero!au, villain!reader, ofa usage for sex lol, size difference, manhandling, public sex, slight degradation and praise, deku eats his cum outta ya pussy, big dick deku, corruption but make it opposite, deku is a pervert change my mind

word count: 12,715

a/n: well, yall already knew I wanted to make this fic a reality, so here it is for bnharems villain collab!! check out all the already amazing stories if you haven’t already. thank you to kara, sky, and jo for reading this for me because lmao im ass rn. I’m gonna go to bed because I partied a bit too hard last night.

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your quirk: distortion – can make afflicted persons vision shift 6 cm to the left or right at the cost of having their own vision shift the same way

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“Breaking news: We have yet another report to add to the slew of attacks this month, this comes just days after we broadcasted rumors of a villain running rampant over the city. This spate of attacks has put the entire metropolitan area at a standstill, road closures, and damaged property making it difficult for commuters to get to work in the morning. 

“Road maintenance endeavors to do its best to keep the city running, but it seems futile when these attacks continue to increase. The entire city was brought to a standstill by the mysterious villain who has still not been named, but reports show they are nothing like we have ever experienced before. 

“Where are the heroes now? Who will save us from the terror overwhelming our city? 

“Every day the crime toll continues to rise and we have no one here to protect us. The Hero Public Safety Commission assured us earlier in the week that the crime rate would go down, that the top Heroes are out there protecting our city, but if so, where are they? Is it really safe to go out anymore, who can we trust? Would you put your life in the hands of a Hero today? When they have proved our streets are no longer safe. We still have no information on what is going on, or who is involved, but we must remain observant. We will continue to report the latest news as we receive it, but for now, we must implore you to heed the warnings of the city-wide curfew that is soon to be implemented. If anyone has any information on these occurrences in the city, please send them to us or contact the police, you can remain anonymous. The safety of our citizens is what is most important, stay vigilant and don’t go out unless it is absolutely necessary. One thing we know for sure: we can no longer rely on Heroes to protect us. The streets of our once-great city are no longer safe, we are no longer safe.”

The female reporter closes her eyes, despite still being on the air, her eyebrows furrowed as she exasperatedly sighs.

“Was that good enough, Mirage?”

You look at her with a pout, your eyes then clenching shut as your lips move with unsaid words as you motion for the cameras to stop rolling. You tilt your head right and left, muttering a bit.

“Did that seem better to you this time? I don’t know, I don’t think it was scary enough...”

You open your eyes to see the exasperated reporter looking at you as if she personally sought to end you right where you were sitting.

“You are the worst villain I’ve ever encountered,” she deadpans, and you laugh in agreement.

.

.

.

You weren’t really a villain.

If you must put a label on what you were, you would say that you were the best PR head any hero agency could ask for. You were, after all, the top student graduate from UA’s Business Course and had been ushered into a condensed agency the moment you were finished taking your graduation pictures. 

And well, if you are actually curious about the… villainy, you would like to uphold and continue to stress that you weren’t a villain! You were just a public nuisance – like those stupid YouTubers – with the ability to garner Pro Heroes’ attention! People had no reason to scoff at what you did on the daily.

You took both of these jobs very seriously!

It was like being straight out of a comic for you!

A simple – hopefully should the heroes you’re in charge of not be stupid – nine to five job by day, and a badass, crime-committing, sexy as shit villain by night! How could anyone ever hate you for your lifestyle! How could anyone ever hate you?!

But we are all noisy people, and everyone wondered just why you became a villain because you had a beautifully stable job with an impressive salary! Why would such an amazing woman such as yourself dabble in the evilness of humanity? 

Well, you did have an answer for the public.

“Why do you engage in evil, villainous schemes?” the reporter deadpans, absolutely and utterly not being paid enough to humor you in this forced interview.

The public loved drama, pizazz, a little showmanship even from what they deemed humanities worst! So, you told the world why you chose to be evil instead of good:

“Because I want to be!” you grin, flashing a pose as you make your away from the interviewer you had very much illegally forced to interview you. “And because a hero killed my cat!’

Of course, that was a lie! Why would you ever hand over the real reason as to why you decided to become a villain! You’d be laughed right out of Japan, possibly be murdered by a horde of fangirls!

For you see, there was one reason and one reason alone as to why you decided to take your place within the villainy hall of fame. Why you chose to do more in your day outside of your already demanding job.

And that one reason was: Pro Hero Deku, civilian name Midoriya Izuku.

Now, trying not to come off as some creepy, weirdo, stalker fangirl, you could fully admit that you were in love with the stupidly large hunk of a man that debuted as an official pro a year before you graduated from high school. 

You remember how the world was finally recovering from the year-long nightmare that had ensued. To be honest, you were stupidly surprised you had even managed to graduate, given that most of schooling had become somewhat of a joke.

FIVE YEARS AGO, MARCH, 2XXX:

It had been in the evening, the clear blue sky becoming ruby red and blood orange as you made your way out of campus. The air somehow smelled of sweet hay and gasoline, but you didn’t mind. There was hardly anyone out at this time, most students had made their way home already, and the only sounds were the moving cars of businessmen just trying to get back home.

There really wasn’t any reason to suspect anything to go wrong, this was a simple daily walk back home after school that wasn’t like any other. But then there had been a loud pop, an ever louder screech, and finally, you managed to whip your head in time to see a car tumbling through the air straight at you. 

There was hardly any time to think, even less to react, and the only thing you knew was that you were not going to survive.

You braced yourself, eyes clenching and body curling, your mind screaming because this was not going to be the way things ended. But before it could happen, before the car could come down upon you and squish you like a bug under a shoe, something picked you up and you were weightless.

Waiting for an impact that never came, the tears that were endlessly streaming down your face were suddenly stopped by rough, warm fingers smoothly wiping them away.

“Hey, it’s okay! You’re safe now!” a voice says softly to you, endearingly warm and comforting. “I’m here, don’t worry.”

“Am I… did I die?” you whisper, unsure if you even want the answer, your eyes remaining closed because you refused to open them up to some angel that could confirm your death. “God, what an embarrassing way to die!”

“Oh – um, no! You’re not dead! I promise!” the voice laughs brightly, just softly enough that you believe him and not be entirely horrified by the amused reaction. Your eyes crack open slowly, just barely peering back into the world, still half praying you weren’t dead. But all you saw was green. 

Green eyes, green hair, green clothes.

You blink, once, twice, realizing only then you were staring into the eyes of a boy about your age.

He had curly hair, freckles littering his face, and eyes that easily pierced through your very soul.

Without meaning to, your breath stopped, frozen in your lungs as you were captivated by a handsome man with a curving, beautiful smile. 

“See, I told you it was okay!” he teased you, head cocking to the side as he grinned largely.

The action itself seemed to strangle the strangest noise out of your mouth as you realized suddenly and immediately that your face was burning and all you could think was:

A cute hero rescued me, a cute hero rescued me, a cute hero rescued me, acuteherorescuedme!

“Sorry about that scare! I would’ve caught that car sooner, but I wasn’t paying attention to who was around!” the green boy apologized, bowing deeply in front of you in his apology. “There’s a commotion just up ahead, so I recommend you take the next road over.”

You nod numbly, unable to conjure even the slightest hint of your voice again as he stood up to his full length. He was average in height it seemed, taller than you, but still not towering. The hero looked behind his shoulder, those big green eyes focusing onto the distance, onto something you couldn’t even begin to imagine – or see, really. He blinked and turned back to you, smile gone but the gentle aura to him remained, but now his face, his mouth, was underlined with a sense of urgency and engagement to whatever sent a vehicle tumbling your way.

“Which train do you take home?” he asked, eyebrows relaxing from his stern position, as his smile picked up again. “I’ll take you closer to your station!”

“B train,” you manage to wheeze out – unable to be the reason why he was held up but also confused as to just what he could do to get you closer to the station that was at least a mile away from here.

“Perfect! I know where that is!” he laughs for just a moment, and before you could even ask if this was going to be some escorted thing – because you definitely did not need it – his arms were fastly secured around you, and suddenly you were weightless.

A cold wind rushed against your face, nipping at your nose, cheeks, and ears, sending your hair flying around – into your mouth! Oh, you were screaming! You were soaring through the skyline, being held by some hero you couldn’t name, and you were screeching at the top of your lungs.

Making the mistake of looking down, your arms were suddenly around his shoulders, your voice growing even sharper and louder as you squeezed against his body and refused to let go. His hands, despite the gloves, were warm on your back, and his soft chuckle warming you from nose to toes as he secured his grip on you.

“I got you,” he spoke, “I won’t let you go, I promise.”

Those words don’t exactly ease you, but there’s a comfort to the genuinity to his words. You nod nonetheless, your face buried deep into his neck. The cold wind continues to whip around you, the only thing sounding in your ears is the cruel whipping wind and quiet city below.

“I’m landing now,” he informed you, body shifting in the wind, and reflexively, you clung even tighter to him, expecting the similar stomach dropping motion of a roller coaster going straight down. “You’re – ack – c-choking me!”

The knowledge of that, hearing the strain and entirely unhidden sound of him choking against the current chokehold you had on him, you released him entirely with a shriek of your own. Was it a smart move? No, definitely not because you were how many hundreds – if not thousands – of feet in the air with a quirk that could not, and would not save you.

“It’s okay! I’m fine!” he quickly said, his arms shifting around your waist as you felt your body weight drop just the smallest bit. To which your focus landed to the concrete floor so far down, and you began screaming again. He panicked just a bit too. “Y-You’re okay too! We’re landing! We’re landing!”

Soon, but not soon enough, the concrete floor came underneath your feet, and you practically felt your knees buckle underneath you. The train station behind you was practically invisible, and you felt the floor come in contact with your knees, and you collapsed onto your hands and knees. You could feel the tears streaming down your face as you wheezed and panted, unable to move from your position. 

“Hey, look, we made it!” he laughed gently, probably being said in hopes that you would feel better. (It did make you feel slightly better, his laugh was light and pretty to listen to.) You could feel him approaching you, iron covered red shoes appearing before your vision. Looking up, you saw that the young hero was crouching, his face holding a wobbly smile that was earnest, worried, and full of unspoken hope. “I do need to get back, but before I do, are you good enough to be left alone?”

You blinked your soaked eyelashes at him, still largely unable to say anything at the cute hero in front of you who had a few scratches on his cheek, right below his freckles.

“Y-Yeah, um,” you say, your tongue cotten and lead in your dry mouth. “I-I’ll be fine, I think.”

The green eyed hero nods, offering you a hand and assisting you to your trembling legs, “That’s good to hear!” he chirped, his wobbly smile becoming a grand, bright grin. “You were really brave! I was impressed!”

Now, you were an idiot at times, but even you could spot a stupid lie. Still, hearing it said with such honesty, as if this hero who was no taller than five foot eight truly believed it, made something bubble in your chest, and soon you found yourself laughing.

“No need to lie to me, h-hero,” you manage to speak between stammering breaths, “thank you for saving me, though. I appreciate it.”

You grin crookedly at him, and to your utter delight, he reciprocates it.

“It’s the least I can do. I’d offer to take you home but… I’m not quite finished yet,” he says, and you can only nod, the conversation obviously reaching its last strides. You watch as he floats up, his eyes looking at you, but somehow focused how many miles away from where he had brought you from. “Stay safe?”

“I’ll try my best,” you agree to his question, hands clasping before your lap. “Finish the job quick, hero?”

He grins, “I’ll try my best.”

You feel a breathless sort of laugh escape you as you watch him beginning to shoot back up, but a sort of horror shoots through you as you rush forward, running right after him, hands cupping around your mouth as you scream:

“What’s your name?!”

The blur of green in the air freezes, and you stop running as you see green eyes and freckles focusing back onto you.

“Deku! My hero name is Deku!”

You stop at the curb of the street, eyes focused on the sky as the green eyed hero named Deku grins one last time before shooting off at a speed probably much faster than when he held onto you. The wind blows around you, and you can only feel the heat sitting on your cheeks and the way you’re smiling as you stare after his figure that's long, long gone.

“Deku...” you whisper to yourself, ignorant to the world of commuters beginning to appear at the station. “Thank you.”

And thus came the very apparent and obvious day in which you fell head over heels for Pro Hero Deku.

Now some people called you a stupid fangirl, obsessive stalker, and sometimes, yeah, you were obsessive and weird about your slight infatuation with a stranger. It was strange, you knew that! But you also knew that you had practically no chances of ever being able to woe the man behind the image of Deku because Midoriya Izuku practically existed as Deku 24/7.

After you graduated from high school, you were put into the same agency that was currently holding Deku. Without tooting your own rom-com obsessed horn too much, you fully expected to walk in and be handed Deku’s file as his PR manager and be able to thank him for not only saving you all that time ago, but also eventually sweep him off his feet. 

But your reputation preceded you well, probably too well, because the first day you entered the office and was handed your list of three clients to work with, neither one was for Deku. Being a PR manager for heroes was hard, a job that practically held no set hours because, unlike your typical celebrities, heroes had no type of privacy or protection. They were constantly under the spotlight, being viewed by adoring fans and scornful critics. Your job served as the first line of defense for heroes against the public, and there were some heroes that were quite hilariously easy to work for because they were genuinely good.

The older PR managers typically held the quieter, easy tempered, or less combat heavy heroes. These heroes typically never had a bad thing said about them, their job was a glorified PA job but even less because there was no expected demands from the heroes they had to take in. Unless, of course, a hero wanted to do some sort of public event they hadn’t considered. 

But there were the louder, quick to temper, or the heavy combat heroes that while made you an insane amount of money, also brought you a near 120 hour work week because there was so much to do, so much to consider, so much to keep your eyes on. There was the constant slander, the people who hated the louder, quick to temper heroes because they didn’t like their attitude, completely disregarding that they had been unsafe and a liability the entire time the hero was dealing with them. The talk shows that took months to convince to allow for an interview because they heard false rumors, and so you have to practically wrestle a boa constrictor to get a measly five minute interview done. And then the combat-heavy heroes… no one would ever shut up about building damages and how this hero broke his nose while he was stealing a store! 

Not to mention having to have every single piece of social media on your phone, set to notify you whenever your clients names were brought up so that you could look at it. You’ve seen more than enough lewd drawings of your clients to last you a lifetime, enough fanfiction, and fan edits that left you with blazing cheeks and the need to never look at your client ever again. But mostly you checked each and every update because you were their first and only line of legal defense on these sorts of things.

You’ve taken down leaked nudes, fake news, and qualmed rumors and speculations.

It was hard.

So when you were shown to your desk on your first day and three files were handed to you, you were shocked to see the hero names you would be working with.

Dynamight

Phantom Thief

Shouto

Somehow, without having yet to speak with a single one of your now current clients, you knew that you were going to have your work cut out for you.

“Good luck newbie!” the woman who gave you the initial tour chirped, clapping you on the back. “You got this!”

Good lord.

Without much to do other than reading through the three’s files, you realized that you already knew a bunch about two of three of your clients. DynaMight and Shouto were two heroes that you knew teamed up with and hung out with Deku a lot, both on-field and off-field if any of the out of costume pictures said anything. Because of their connection with Deku, you had at one point learned a bit about them.

You knew that Shouto was a crowd favorite. He was tall and sweet and a complete airhead at the best moments despite him being smart. Controversy still surrounded his character, despite all the good he did, because of the past history that was brought out about his father Endeavor and his brother Dabi. The country couldn’t figure out where they stood in terms of that reveal. Endeavor did a lot before the reveal, and continued to rise up to everything in his path despite the skeletons in his closet being thrown out for the world to see. They neither forgave him, nor hated him, they only watched and waited. Then Dabi, of course, was seen as a could-have-been version of Shouto, and many tried to ask if he was really a hero and not actually siding with the League. After all, why on Earth would he be defensive of his father too?

The public had an unmoving image of Shouto based on anything but who he was as an individual, and you decided immediately that it would be your job to fix that. He was also, after all, a dear friend of Deku, so you’d do anything.

Phantom Thief was your easiest of the three clients. A relatively well mannered man who was kind and a bit weird in a fun way. He had a great sense of self and was a reliable person on the field. He made a great hero, but you could see the way his spirit blazed with an unspoken rivalry between him and the other two of your clients. Well, it seemed like he was the best until his former self appointed rivals came into the picture, but that was hardly ever, and according to Shouto, he was way worse back in their first year. 

The greatest scandal he’s had so far in your three years of working at their agency was the one time he was lied to about a quirk and accidentally copied a woman's quirk that gave her the ability to change her cup size. Safe to say that Phantom Thief accidentally broke a few buttons on his shirt and was unable to stop civilians from snapping pictures. 

But of course, the one that had you practically crying yourself to sleep nightly for more than one reason was Dynamight.

You’d known about him the moment you looked up Deku on your phone.

They were practically a hero duo in everything but name. They were always seen doing the same things together, whether that be on patrol together or maybe getting dinner, most of their top recorded fights were done with each other by their sides. You had also learned that they were childhood friends, and you practically vibrated at the thought that even though Deku was not your client, the chances of meeting him were still astronomically high.

There was no way you wouldn’t not meet Deku!

But you were wrong, so very, very wrong.

Turns out the hero duo in everything but name meant that Dynamight refused to let Deku be anywhere near him in the agency – the very small amount of time they spent in here. The few times they were in the same room, Dynamight absolutely refused to be interrupted because that was their paperwork hour. You had only ever been blessed with seeing green curls turning the corner as Dynamight gripped your forearm, refusing to let you follow.

“Like hell I’ll let you distract the shitnerd,” he stated simply, his red eyes narrowed as he stared down his nose at you. You opened your mouth, ready to defend your not so innocent intentions. “I’m not stupid, so don’t pretend like you won’t try anything.”

Your jaw snapped shut.

Safe to say that you couldn’t do anything about Deku so long as Dynamight was around.

But Dynamight as a client was exhausting to put it kindly.

There were so many opinions and thoughts and issues and praises coming from everywhere. Hell, even the fucking Americans and westerners had caught wind of the Wonder Duo at one point and while you were well knowledgable on their opinions on Deku, the ones on Dynamight were the ones that you had to focus on now.

People still called him a villain, so many unhappy with the fact that he still screamed and cursed and threatened. There were many conspiracy theories that he was working with the long dead League of Villains. They turned their nose up at the fact that he was childhood friends with Deku, claiming that no way an asshole like him could have ever been friends with him. And of course the bullying revelation that had come out shortly after your debut. 

That had been a trip, one that had you even shocked as Dynamight approached the table in front of the media, his body calm and composed. You had watched as he simply said he owed nothing to the media, that he had already done all that he could to deserve his atonement and deserve Deku’s forgiveness. He had spoken clearly, concisely that it wasn’t any of their damn business as to what he did, and if he apologized to them, the unaffected, the ones that had nothing to do with his early years of bullying Deku, of his previous weakness and insecurity, it would be a waste of his breath. 

It isn’t to them he should ever be apologizing to anyways.

You had watched as he stood up, face calm, and hands shoved into his pockets as he stood and walked away despite the screaming reporters. You had wanted to stay longer, have your own hand in damage control, but a swoop of green came in and Deku was at the microphone eyebrows furrowed as he pointed a finger at them all and said that his past with Kacchan was between him and Kacchan only, and his decision to forgive Kacchan were his and only his.

You didn’t hear the rest, didn’t even get the option to hear the way the hero you loved defended the hero you worked for – his childhood friend.

No.

Dynamight had grabbed your elbow and dragged you out of the room with him, the metal doors clanging closed the moment fierce green eyes met yours.

You watched in the company car as Dynamight looked outside the window, one elbow on the doorframe holding his chin; his gaze focused sharply on nothing but the passing sidewalk. Had it not been for the way the hand on top of his lap trembled, you would have thought he was perfectly okay.

Neither one of you talked about that again.

But just because you didn’t talk about it again, didn’t mean the world was the same. People claimed he brainwashed Deku, others demanded that Deku beat the shit out of Dynamight. You knew that Dynamight would want nothing to do with this, but you would stay in the office (an almost useless, empty office as most PR managers did their business at home) for hours long after you were supposed to be gone, practically arguing with someone who only existed behind a screen and didn’t even care that much – but you couldn’t stop.

Seeing Dynamight’s shaking hand had really done a number on you.

“The hell are you still doing here, eyelashes,” Dynamite asked from the dark entrance of the floor. “Go home already, don’t waste your time.”

You had startled at the initial intrusion, but you immediately relaxed seeing the smudged paint around red eyes and blond hair. You barely kept your gaze on him before turning back to your computer and continuing your argument.

“I’m not wasting my time, I’m doing my job,” you remark, eyes squinting at your keyboard because your vision is definitely blurry. “I’ll be heading out soon anyways.”

“God you’re fucking annoying and stubborn!” Dynamight barked, the heel of his hand slamming into his forehead. “This is exactly why I won’t introduce you to the fucking nerd!” 

“What?!” you shriek, suddenly looking at your client as if he had personally attacked you – and in a way he did. “What do you mean you won’t introduce me to Deku because of that?! I’ve already met Red Riot, Chargebolt, Cellophane, and Pinky through you!”

“Yeah, because they’re not stubborn idiots too!” Dynamight accuses, jamming a gloved finger at you as he begins stomping your way. You startle, your chair shooting backward as the explosion hero makes his way towards you at alarming speed.

“What are you—?!” you shriek, hands flailing about as he grabs you by the collar of your distressed shirt.

Dynamight lifts you up to your feet as if you were a sack of flour and you grasp onto his forearm.

“I might tell you that you’re the most annoying and stubborn bitch in the world, but you’re not worse than fucking Deku,” Dynamight sneers, his red eyes narrowed and stern. “I’m not going to let you meet him until you learn how to give or you’ll hurt him, and I’m not going to be part of any reason as to why he gets hurt again.”

Your jaw dropped, clearly offended, but you closed it just as fast; the weight of his words made you a bit sad, even for just a bit.

“You’re kinda cute when you care for Deku, you sure I’m his biggest fan?” you tease, grinning at the hero to which he rolls his eyes.

“Shut the hell up and go home already; it’s annoying seeing you fight a losing battle that’s none of your damn business,” Dynamight simply said, putting you back onto your feet and blocking out your desk. 

“I’ll go home on the condition that for my birthday you at least consider introducing us!” you say, unwilling to move from your spot. “I’ve been working for you for three years! You’ve kept me away for three years!”

Dynamight’s stare didn’t even shift the slightest millimeter, his red eyes unamused as you groaned in grief and annoyance.

“I’m stubborn? Have you met yourself?!” you grumble snatching your jacket and purse from the hook on your cubicle and shoving them on. “My names God of Explosion Murder: Dynamight and I am Stubborn™ but will never admit it.”

You continued mocking your long time client and most definitely friend if you dared to say so, and dragged the heel of your foot all the way to the elevator to which you were joined by Dynamight. The trip down the elevator is silent, and you keep your gaze locked on the closed doors, unwilling to even look at the hero next to you.

Soon enough, the elevator reached the ground floor, and you got ready to walk out.

“I’ll consider it,” Dynamight said as the elevator doors opened. “Also, fucking stop calling me Dynamight, Bakugou’s fine.”

He walked off the elevator with his hands shoved into the pockets of his pants.

“Thank you, Bakugou!” you shriek, your lungs failing you at the thought of finally being introduced to Deku! You hadn’t moved from your spot from the elevator, your chest hammering with the thought of getting to meet Deku.

“Don’t get your hopes up, you’re still irritatingly stubborn,” Bakugou merely calls over his shoulder before lifting his hand in a halfhearted wave before stepping out of the glass door.

That brought you back to reality just a bit and you scowled, knowing you would have to go beyond and above to prove that. 

But you see, there were many reasons to cry about having Bakugou as your client. Besides the stinkhole of his previous bullying, people just were not understanding his typically prickly exterior. You had to go head to head with reputation tarnished, had to slap fangirls away who demanded that Bakugou degrade them where they stood. It was hard to not be stubborn as not only his PR manager but his friend, and in less than a month, still plenty of time before your birthday, you had already grown irritated of the meeting-Deku-card he waved over your head.

“Mei, if I have to go any longer than this, I will die and hope I am reborn as Deku’s new guardian angel,” you pouted, chin pressed against a cold metal tabletop. Your hands being used as glove models for one of your best friends Hatsume Mei. “It’s first of all impossible getting anywhere near him with his guard dog Bakugou literally stopping me whenever I’m within a ten foot radius! And then I’m not even sure what will happen when we do meet again! Would I even be able to talk to him?!”

“Why wouldn’t you? You talk to all my babies with me! There’s practically nothing you can’t do,” Mei laughs, smacking you against your back before returning her intense gaze back to the gloves. “Deku’s uh… I actually can’t remember him but I’m sure he’s a great conversationalist! I think he helped me with the Sports Festival my first year.”

 “That was Iida,” you laugh, wiggling your fingers as Mei demanded. “You’re so bad with names and faces, I’m impressed you know mine.”

“You saved my baby, of course I remember you,” Mei turned her grin towards you, “but come on, why can’t you get with him besides this Bakugou guy?”

“Well, he’s just like Bakugou! He’s practically married to his job! Their schedules basically match together perfectly! There’s literally only three hours a day while they’re on the job that they’re not together! And that’s when they patrol their own parts of town because there’s hardly any activity they don’t need to be attached by the neck.” You explain and rant, your cheeks puffing as you stand up and allow Mei to run further tests on the glove. 

“Sounds like you gotta become a villain to woo this hero guy, huh,” Mei spoke, eyes focused on the glove as you pointed a finger at the far wall and watched as a beam exploded from the fingertip and pierced through the steel wall like butter. “Too bad you’re a goody two-shoes or else I could make you some serious villain gear and make you a fearsome villain to then prove that Hatusme Mei’s babies and creations are untouchable and the best in the world! Muah-ha-ha-ha!”

You know her words are more joking than serious, but that doesn’t stop your eyes from widening. Your body shifts over to where she was standing and you screech pointing at her and just narrowly missing setting off the laser again. 

“THAT'S IT!”

“What’s it?” she asked, completely confused.

“You have to make me a villain!” you exclaim, rushing over to Mei, who is eagerly waiting for her babies returnal especially since it ran perfectly. “You have to make me near-invisible gear that can keep me going toe to toe with Deku until I can seduce him!”

“You want to turn evil?” Mei questions, finger pressing quizzically to her chin. “That doesn’t seem right.”

“I am definitely not villainous to pull that off, but like I pretend to be a villain so that he talks to me and we can like get to know each other!” you exclaim, you’re unable to keep from hopping up and down on your feet, your grin unfathomably bright. “It's practically a romcom in the making!”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Mei laughs, altering the band of fabric around your waist. “You do know heroes and villains hardly speak? It’s more like… ‘I’m more powerful,’ ‘No me!,’ ‘No, ME!’”

“Um, I’m pretty sure that’s not true, but whatever! I’ll figure out a way!” you continue on unaffected because this plan was genius! Especially if you had Mei in your corner?! Her recent development of not using such… steampunk designs made her creations elusive and dangerous to own. Hence why she was an extremely sought out manufacturer, by villains and heroes alike. “And if I can go toe to toe with Deku of all people, you’ll know that you and your babies are the undeniable best!”

“Hm, that is promising,” Mei agrees with a nod as she forces you around. “Is this Deku guy all that good?”

“He’s the one you made the iron soles for!” you chirp and watch as the recognition and challenge spark immediately in Mei’s yellow eyes.

“Oh,” Mei chuckles, turning away from you and looking at her pile of made babies. “This would be good.”

“So we have an agreement?” you grin excitedly. 

“Give me a month, and we’ll have your debut!”

Fuck Bakugou for thinking you weren’t good enough!

.

.

.

You hadn’t expected the initial phases of villainy to be quite as hard as it was, if you were being honest. The late nights at Mei’s personal lab made sure to keep your plans a solid secret, but you had to prepare for the wild range of what Deku’s quirk entailed.

There was smoke, something you were already used to working in because of Bakugou and his quirk. You’ve navigated quite a bit in his smog, and as long as you knew where you were, you would be fine. 

There was also that danger sense, which allowed him to know when things were coming – something that shouldn’t be too big an issue considering you weren’t actually attempting to extract danger onto him. 

Blackwhip was a big issue. How far or how much could you do if he even grabbed a hold of you. With sleuthing and the help of Mei having files on everyone's quirks, you were able to find information that blackwhip was a creation made of energy. Meaning that Mei was now making some type of destructing material to lessen the energy of the quirk, allowing for you to escape should he attempt to capture you this way.

Float was stopped by having most of your fights occur within a confined area, which was needed for you anyways! You didn’t need to be caught by anyone else but him! You didn’t actually need to land in jail – you would prefer to not be handled by anyone but Deku, actually.

Then of course the stupid superstrength and superspeed, both of which you knew you could handle with your quirk. You’ve been head to head with people with quirks similar to that before, and you knew your quirk was tricky enough that you’d manage to slip right past his fingers just fine. After all, you knew full and well that the Deku who took down S class villains was worlds quicker than F class villains – aka you.

You would be fine.

But today was day one, first of how many days it would take to get Pro Hero Deku, aka Midoriya Izuku to fall in love with you. 

You were dressed in a black and purple bodysuit that was definitely not inspired by Shego from Kim Possible’s costume. Your hair was dyed purple by a special spray Mei created that would be washed out by the end of the day, but wouldn’t ever give away that it was fake. You wore a mask over your eyes, and grinned seeing that you couldn’t see a fleck of color on your irises. 

Perfect.

And with far too much confidence, nauseating excitement, and unjustified attitude, you marched down towards your first spot, ready and adopting the identity of who you were about to become.

Mirage.

It was time to act. Deku and Dynamight were on different patrol routes right now, and you sent your threat, readying for the moment for the man in green to come in with the desire to stop you. With the very real threat of stealing every puppy within the tristate area being broadcasted within the area unless and hero bests you, you waited for your savior to come and stop you.

“I am here to stop your villainous acts, you villain!” a voice shattered the silence just as it shattered your heart. You looked over your shoulder to see some hero you couldn’t name standing at the other stairwell entrance with his fists clenched and ready to fight. 

You groaned, shoulders crumbling with your well hidden disappointment.

“I wasn’t looking for you!” you exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at the flabbergasted hero who was just trying to figure out what was happening. “Where’s Deku?!”

“He’s – he’s not here yet,” he stammers, eyes wide. “It’s not his day anymore to patrol this area?”

“Aw fuck!” you complain, pouting at the realization that you had messed up. “Okay, I’ll be back later, please don’t come back. Bye!”

With a small wave, you easily stepped through the door to the stairwell next to you and left, your threat empty and the hero victorious despite not actually stopping you. And unfortunately, although you had wished and prayed even, this was not the last time a screw up like this would happen.

At the threat of destroying all the cats in the area, you had another hero show up, not Deku, and you groaned and left before they could even finish their call of stopping you.

You then threatened to poison the watering system, to which you found out that Deku was held up at another major villain threat in a different city. You groaned and stomped off after that. 

Then there was the time you swore you would increase the overall temperature of the city per one degree celsius should your demands not be made. Shouto answered that one and you immediately walked away the moment you saw the familiar head of red and white coming your way.

Time and time again you kept being caught by heroes you could not care about, being confronted by no names and nobodies. It was tiring, and Mei was beginning to sigh just the smallest bit whenever you showed up to try yet again.

But you weren’t a quitter!

You would win!

This was your last attempt at getting Deku to notice you.

After threatening to wrap all the citizens in the area with a giant froot by the foot, you were almost sad to say that the heroes ignored your cry for chaos and no one had come to check on you.

You sat outside the building you used as your trap for Deku, pouting into a hot dog that the neighborhood's grandma gave you because you looked like you needed something to eat. It’s a good thing you weren’t actually a villain or else they’d be fucked, you bitterly thought as you took another bite of your food. 

It had been a month of empty, no Deku appearances, and you were going to bite the bullet and pretend to be not stubborn just so stupid Bakugou of all people could introduce you.

You kicked your feet as you sat on the staircase, humming as you watched the empty streets bend with the wind. It was quiet, beautiful, peaceful.

“YOU!” a voice shrieked to your left, and you watched a pudgy, red nosed man racing over towards you, a flash drive clenched in his hands. “TAKE THIS! RUN! DON’T LET THE HEROES TAKE IT!”

You gawked at him, feeling the small plastic device being shoved into your hands as the man collapsed at your feet. You squeaked when you heard a voice yelling stop and you bounced to your feet, turned into the building and raced in.

Your breathing was erratic, heart in your throat as you raced up the stairwell, unable to begin to imagine what the hell the information on the flash drive held. You were practically hyperventilating as you reached the floor you had come to know extremely well, and you stood near the window with shaky hands and legs.

What did you take?!

“I’m going to need that back, I’m afraid,” a low smooth voice said from behind you, and you froze immediately. Old anxiety overcome by a new anxiety, one that made your stomach flip and blood burn. 

Turning around, you felt awestruck to see the one man you’ve been waiting for… for fucking years now, really, to appear before you, finally be there. In the flesh, completely, entirely. Your jaw dropped, your gaze looking down from your clenched hand that held the USB to the way that Deku looked at you with warm eyes that were underlined with steel that made you want to drop to your knees, confess everything, and beg to be his. God, he was so fucking tall. He had only been about five foot eight the last time you had actually talked, and now he was at least a foot taller. His teenager haircut was long gone, now replaced with his curls trimmed at the nape of his neck before filling out on top – not quite an undercut. He had more freckles now, surely. His skin just a bit tanner, a scar trailing from his cheek to his jaw. You knew there were more scars, just as you knew that there were dimples when he smiled.

You wanted to have him between your legs while you begged for mercy, holy shit.

Tucking the USB into your pocket, you tilted your head as you will yourself to relax.

“I went through all the trouble of getting it... I think if I’m going to hand it over quickly, I deserve to know what’s on it, no?” you tease, your confidence coming out of nowhere while a smile spreads ever so largely over your features. Deku’s eyes widened just a bit, shock overcoming his green eyes.

“I’m sorry, but that’s confidential,” Deku stresses, taking a step forward toward you. You click your tongue, taking a step backward while grinning.

“I don’t think that’s what I asked for,” you giggle as you watch Deku’s face go through an array of emotions before settling onto one – curiosity.

“What do you want?” he asked, apparently entirely ready to discuss any and all terms and conditions with you.

“Honestly?” you reply, tapping a gloved finger to your chin as you ‘think.’ Deku, however, nods. His stance relaxing, becoming one of preparedness but not the takedown he had previously entered with.

“A date with you.”

You watch as Deku’s eyes slam wide open, his jaw dropping immediately and he stammered. Oh, how your heart soared and how you felt giddy and wonderful as he seemed to slip and slide on his own tongue!

“A-A date?!” he ends up almost shrieking, his head shaking left and right. “T-That’s a total lie! You can’t possibly – well, no! Please tell me the truth!”

But you were giddy, practically drunk off the fact that you were making the most powerful hero in the world blush like a little schoolboy. You suddenly were on the offensive, stepping towards your hero who was much larger than you with power and drive behind each step. And it must have been the way you stared him down, the way you walked towards him at blank range with such brimming confidence that Deku takes a step back. But it’s something that makes you want to laugh as the heel of his foot gets caught on a raised tile, and you watch the mountain of a man tumble to the floor.

You’re on top of him immediately, hands pressed to his shoulders, knee settling near his crotch with most of your weight so he got the idea to not do anything funny. The USB sits between your fingers, and you lean over his flushed face that looks up at you with wide eyes.

“Actually, I changed my mind, I know what I want,” you say instead, nose ghosting over his. “Everytime I decide to do something… naughty… I want you to be the hero on the case to stop me. You and just you.”

You lean in closer, so close that you could see the specks of gold in his green, green eyes.

Deku hasn’t spoken, and you’re pretty sure his chest isn’t moving as you press your breasts against his.

“Understood, De-ku?”

Your teeth tug at his bottom lip and let go as he nods.

“Good, good,” you grin, sitting up on his chest and taking the USB in your fingers and slipping it into his utility belt. “Take good care of that for me, I’ll see you next time, hero…”

You had only managed to flash a quick wave before disappearing through your usual door, hoping and praying to god that whatever the hell possessed you would continue until you reached Mei’s. It wouldn’t hit you until much, much later than you had stunned Pro Hero Deku speechless within the first meeting.

Hell, you thought giddily as you answered Bakugou’s call about how he probably just got into a bit of a messy situation, maybe you do have the potential to woo him like this. 

.

Thus truly began your descent as the villain Mirage.

.

It was quickly accepted and discovered that the moment you stepped into that costume and colored hair that you were the prey for Deku and Deku only. Most of your interactions with Deku occurred within buildings, and you used Mei’s gear to gain the final laugh each and every time to allow for you to escape. There were times, however, where you could be seen racing through the sky. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop as Deku followed after you, leaping, tumbling, and even catching you at times. 

You flirted with him heavily, allowing yourself to be caught so that you could bat your pretty lashes and press your chest against his. It didn’t matter how professional he was, how good at his job he was, Deku was a pervert – so obviously a pervert it made slipping away almost too easy.

But because you had the world-renowned, world known Pro Hero Deku as the only hero on your case, soon the small block who had to play victims to your horrendous crimes became only a small percentage of people who were watching your crimes. These near daily crimes (or inconveniences/botherings as the people on the internet say to defend you and your actions) are becoming both a worldwide sensation, and so, it took nothing for you to continue having Deku at your feet and the world chipped in. So you agreed to do interviews, forcing uneager reporters to do segments on you so that the hype behind you and Deku’s relationship grew.

You didn’t want him to leave you, not until you got what you wanted, and unless you were an idiot, you were nearly positive you were almost there.

Why would you say that?

Well, a few reasons.

The first came about a week after you had first met Deku again.

You had joyously gathered the means to create a machine to shave down an eighth of an inch of everyone's shoes in the entire country of Japan without their knowledge. You had ever so evilly explained that the point of this was to ensure that for a full day, everyone would feel off and unbalanced but would not know why.

You had said this, grinning widely as you turned around to see Deku standing there attempting to fight off a very amused smile. 

“I don’t think that would be all too evil, Mirage,” he called out to you, arms folding across his chest as he watched you set up the machine to do exactly what you said you would do.

“Mm, that’s what you say now, but just wait until you’re one of the losers stumbling around,” you say back, grinning as you turn around for just a second, wagging the knife at Deku from the distance. 

“Well, regardless, you know I can’t let you do that,” Deku laughs just slightly, and you grin, standing up.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yes, so I’m going to have to ask you to stop right there.”

You giggle.

“Make me.”

You’re not sure what happens, but there’s dodging and weaving, spinning and sliding. You’re practically wheezing from how hard you’re laughing as Deku can not manage to land a finger on you with the help of Mei’s items and your quirk. It all comes to an end when instead of dodging, you throw yourself right at him, and Deku has not anticipated that. 

His eyes are wide open and you fiercely grin as he falls back onto the floor, unbalanced and only slightly frantic. You have the knife pointed at his neck, the dull blade sitting gently on his skin.

“So, Deku,” you taunt teasingly, your teeth burying into your bottom lip for just a moment at the sight of the dark flash in his green, beautiful eyes. “Tell me one thing, or I’ll continue on with my vile plans.”

“O-Okay?”

“Are you single?”

The second attempt came a few many weeks later. 

You had gathered about 75 tons of glitter bombs and were in the current process of making them one. You had plans of setting it off over Tokyo so that for practically the rest of eternity, the entire city would have glitter everywhere. The only thing is that you did have to glue the glitter bombs together because, well, no one made super giant ones.

“This is so annoying, there’s glitter everywhere, and I’m only ten glitter bombs in!” you complain to the ‘empty’ room but knowing full and well that Deku had appeared through the broken window at least five minutes ago.

“If it’s annoying to you, then shouldn’t you stop?” Deku replied and you grinned. 

He really couldn’t stay quiet, huh?

“Well, if it’s annoying to me, then that means every one of my victims will also find it annoying. Win-win situation.” you say, turning around towards him and winking. Facing back towards the glitter bombs you scowl, “stupid fucking glue gets everywhere, too!”

“Regardless, you know I can’t let you do that,” Deku said as leveled as he could although you swore you heard a laugh in his voice.

“Just try and stop me,” you reply back stone cold.

You stand up and watch as Deku stands up from the windowsill and sighs just a bit too heavily.

“Guess I have to,” he says and shoots out before you’re well prepared.

Typically, and probably in any other situation, this would have been the end. Pro Hero Deku had come at you with the speed and power as he took out any other Class F criminals, but unfortunately for him, and definitely fortunately for you that glue was EVERYWHERE.

Deku’s hand was stuck onto your arm, and your chest was glued to his stomach, and you swear you never quite got the strawberry Deku references until right now.

The perverted hero burned scarlet, his face practically simmering with heat as your body became undeniably stuck to his. You had to fight off the vindictive smirk, the practically snarling grin as you could feel something hot and heavy twitch at your hip.

“Fuck,” Deku wheezed.

“Fuck, yeah,” you grinned.

.

.

“WHAT?!”

.

.

Deku could not look you in the eyes for about 10 more interactions following that, but you counted that as a win. But undoubtedly, your starred and favorite memory of it all was something that occurred just last week of the current present events.

You had stood on top of a building, threatening the entire government of stealing (i.e., cutting off) the aglet of their shoes and sweaters and then removing all the laces so that it would result in their wasted time and entire humiliation!

“I don’t think most people even know what aglets are, to be honest,” Deku said from behind you. You turned around to see that he was standing there with an unsuppressed grin. “It’s not a good enough threat.”

You go unfazed by his judgement, choosing to instead bat your eyelashes and push your hair behind your ear.

“Not a good enough threat, and yet, you’re still here?” you tease, enjoying the way pink flushes to his cheeks.

“Where else would I be?” he says, and you have to ignore the way your stomach fills with butterflies. 

“You’re not cute when you flirt back,” you deadpan, biting your tongue harshly when he says ‘hey!’ “Enough chit chat, let me kick your ass now and then do what I need to do.”

Unlike probably what is 95% of the time, you made the first move today. 

You were on the offensive, jabbing and weaving, sweeping and punching. Deku’s green eyes were nearly black as he watched you, analyzing and taking in your movements, countering them all without so much of an issue.

“I still don’t get your quirk,” Deku grunted as his hand swiped at the empty air. “Why won’t you tell me?”

“So then you can turn me in to the government who are still salty about their aglets? I don’t think so!” you say with a laugh, rolling out of the way as Deku lunges forward. “Try again, baby, I have full faith that you’ll get it.”

Deku puffed out a chuckle and lunged again, his huge gloved hand swiping at you, with nearly accuracy despite your quirk being on. But… he wasn’t exactly perfect.

RIIIIIIIIIP!

Cold air hit your breast and your jaw dropped as your very exposed breast appeared before you and Deku. Pro Hero Deku had torn the breast of your costume, the costume that you purposefully did not wear a bra for because you had wanted this exact scenario to play out.

“DEKU!” you screech, pretending to be modest and covering your tit as Deku finally yanked himself out of staring at your breast and whipped around. 

“Oh my god, I am so sorry! I didn’t think that was going to happen! I didn’t even mean to look at your boob! It just sort of all happened too fast and it was very shocking! N-Not that you have an ugly boob or anything because actually I think you have a very great boob! But oh my god, I need to shut up please ignore me!” Deku spoke so fast in a matter of five seconds, and you couldn’t even tell him to come back as he sprinted away.

His ears burned red and you swore even as he was gone, you could still see the red of his ears illuminating the sky.

You laugh.

“What a perv.”

And so, we are back to the beginning.

Back to how you forced a local news channel to read your demands so that you could hopefully take your final bow as Mirage forever.

With the threat of having a machine that would make dogs bark at a frequency for hours on end until humans eardrums broke then bleed. You made your way to your typical building and hummed as you waited. 

The world outside was the same as always.

There were a few people out, a few cars driving through the street, and a few birds chirping here and there.

It was peaceful.

“Don’t you think the new reporter thing was a bit dramatic?” Deku chuckled from behind you.

You were used to him approaching like that, used to him trying to portray being elusive and cool. In your opinion, it just made him dorky.

“No such thing as being dramatic when I’m trying to go head to head with the greatest hero ever,” you respond back effortlessly. You spin on your heel and look back at Deku, who is leaning against a doorframe that he most definitely is slouching on so that the top of his head doesn’t hit the frame. “Hi, Deku.”

“Hi, y/l/n,” he says with a soft smile, one that's slightly victorious, one that makes your stomach knot in a pleasant way.

“Ah, you discovered my secret identity,” you observe, grinning as you begin approaching Deku. “Should I be scared?”

“Probably not, I don’t think I could do anything to you,” Deku sighs, pushing off the door frame and walking towards you too. “You’re pretty amazing, y/l/n.”

“Let’s prove that then,” you grin while zipping forward.

As if the both of you knew that this was the end of the line, the final confrontation, the battle this time was different. It was showy, flirty, full of spins and side steps, playing a game of cat and mouse while dodging and weaving. You laughed as blackwhip dissolved around your costume, and you frowned as he began using more of his power to get from point A to point B much quicker.

You’re not quite sure how it happened, what exactly you did wrong, or maybe Deku just finally figured out the pattern you used for your quirk because suddenly you were being tackled from behind. You shrieked as the two of you went down, his body flushed on top of you, his chest pressing to your shoulders. 

The both of you were heaving, panting, completely out of breath from the five minutes you took playing around. He holds your wrists in one hand, pinned above your head, and the other one is on your waist. You were trapped beneath him, unable to move the absolute unit of a man above you, arms and hips weak to his weight. You shoved your hips up, attempting to shift some of his weight off you, but you froze as he choked on a breath by your ear.

Your ass was pressed against something hard, thick, and hot.

Oh.

Ohhh fuck.

It was happening.

Holy fucking shit.

Your breathing hitches as you thrusted your ass up again, confirming you were grinding on what was definitely Deku’s hardening cock. And once again, Deku makes the prettiest, most embarrassed gravelly grunt at the back of his throat and you feel like every strand of resistance and strength snaps.

The hand on your waist pulls you even closer against his crotch, and there's lips pressing against your neck, and you absolutely lose it. 

He kisses your neck sloppily, teeth nipping at your exposed flesh, and you grind against him, moaning and thrusting back as your body feels like it's on fire. He wanted you! He wanted you and your plan to woo him worked!

“I’ve wanted this for so long,” you keen breathlessly. “Wanted you so badly, Deku.”

“Fuck,” Deku curses, his hips thrusting back against your clothed ass with power you couldn’t fucking wait to feel. “I wanted you too. Wanted you so badly, but didn’t think – holy shit.”

His hand that pins your wrists lets go of you, and moves to grab your jaw. You nearly fucking melt as his full lips slam against yours, and you moan as his lips move against yours. There’s something indescribable about how he’s kissing you, the want, the need, the months of suppressed tension bursting through every move and curve of his mouth. It doesn’t matter to you that you’re pressed up against the concrete floor, you feel like you’ve been placed into another world, an area where you can never come back.

Your arm reaches behind you and buries into his soft curls, you tug at them as your ass circles against his thrusting hips. His tongue slips into your mouth, and you whine at the hot, wet muscle in your mouth, and it sends your head spinning. You can’t take it anymore, you need him, want him flushed against your front.

“Can I fuck you?” Deku asks swollen lips pulling away from yours, his mouth frantic and trailing kisses up your cheeks and down your jaw. “Please, I wanna fuck you so bad. Wanna fuck you on the floor and against the wall. Can I make you mine?”

You nod your head frantically, unable to come up with the words to say in order to tell him yes.  

Deku laughs breathlessly and flips you over so that it’s your back against the floor now. 

And just like you want him to, Deku comes down to reclaim your mouth. Hot, open mouthed kisses, teeth tugging at your lips and hands grabbing your waist. His hands are huge against you filling up the space between your hip and your waist without an issue. Your legs wrap around his waist, feeling entirely small underneath him, but entirely ready to be fucked by him.

His lips move expertly against yours, teeth nibbling at your lips, mouth then sucking on your tongue. You can’t keep the continuous moans from leaking out, can’t keep yourself from staying quiet as your eyes flutter open and see green eyes so dark they look black, staring down at you with the intensity of a predator. 

You were his prey, and you would present to him at the drop of a hat.

His body is hot, heat rolling off of his hero costume in waves, making you feel like you were near burning against him. And the heat between his thighs sits at the bottom of your ass, thrusting up and grinding against you so that you don’t forget even for a moment that you are making him this way. 

“I always knew you’d have such a pretty moan,” Deku mumbles as his fingers find the zipper to your costume and begin to tug it down. His lips trail down your neck, biting and nipping at the newly exposed flesh. “Knew you’d look so pretty under me, waiting to be fucked into submission.”

The words spark something within you, your eyes fluttering as your hips grind just a tad bit faster and you whine. 

“Aw, is that what you wanted this entire time, y/l/n?” Deku asks, his grin pressed against your collarbone. “Wanted to be stretched out and fucked until you can’t anymore?”

“I want it,” you gasp, your fingers burying deep into his curls. “I want you, I want it, I want your dick in me already!”

“Not into foreplay?” Deku chuckles just a bit, tongue then tracing up your neck. 

“Oh I am,” you snap, fingers finding the zipper of his own costume. “You can find out later how much I’m into it, but right now, I have been wanting you for years, and you will not make me wait any longer!”

Deku only nods frantically, and it's a mess of limbs, sloppy kisses, and clothes as the both of you strip to nothing. 

Deku’s in between your legs, one hand pressed to the back of your knee, the other gripping what you believe is his dick because it makes everything in the world freeze as you see it. It’s huge, so thick that his hand wraps around it in a nice grip, and it long, curling up to his abs, curved and veiny. 

“Holy shit,” you squeak, your cunt already clenching at the thought of taking that in. 

“Are you ready?” Deku asks, the hand on your leg moving away for a moment as he cards his fingers back through his hair. “I don’t have a condom, though.”

“That’s fine, I don't care,” you dismiss his words, eyes too focused on the flush cock in his hand. “I don’t think I’ll live after you kill me with that anyways.”

Deku laughs just a bit, his dimples flashing as he leans in and kisses you deeply. You tremble underneath him, feeling so small pressed up against him, and you mewl when you feel the head of his cock pressing between your folds.

“Put it in,” you gasp, leg lifting and wrapping around his waist, “put it in! I want you to fuck me until I can’t walk, do you understand?!”

Deku nods, and with a sense of frantic need, his hand guides his cock into you.

It feels like you’re splitting in half. The girth of his cock stretching your walls out to the max, and he’s only going in. You scream loudly, both in pain and pleasure because it hurts so good.

“Take it, baby, take me all in,” Deku pants, his hips pushing out small, tiny thrusts to ram his cock further and further into your twitching cunt. “That’s i-it, holy fuck, that’s it! You’re taking me all the way in. F-Fuck… you’re so amazing! So fucking perfect!”

Tears are pouring out of your eyes, and your nails are tearing into his back, you sob slightly overwhelmed with his cock and the absolute pleasure of finally getting what you want and it being so much better than you thought. Your cunt throbs almost violently as Deku’s cock finally hits your cervix and your eyes roll to the back of your head as he thrusts in further, lips attempting to claim yours. 

“Fuck me, Deku,” you beg, hips beginning to slam and fuck up onto his cock. “Please! I need you!”

“Such a desperate little villain though,” Deku sighs, teasingly, giving you one strong thrust for good measure. It goes a long way though, the power behind his thrust and thighs promising you a bruised ass, thighs, and cunt makes your mouth water for more. “I need you to promise to never do anything like that again and be a good little manager for Kacchan.”

“W-Wha–”

“Be good and stop being Mirage, or else you won’t be fucked.”

There was no hesitation.

“Okay.”

And just like that, Deku’s soft smile curves into a knowing, fierce smirk, and you can do nothing as his hands press to the back of your knees and he begins thrusting his hips into you. And it takes you completely out of control. 

It’s a messy, frantic dance, your body holding onto his, your lips pressing against his, desperate and needy for his, and he is basically trying to imprint his body onto yours, the concrete, and the walls. Your bodies are so foreign to each other, and yet, when he fucks into you just a bit hard, just a bit faster, you come undone, back arching and toes curling as you sob his name.

It’s overwhelming to know that he can read you this well and for you to have never fucked him before. It’s empowering to see that he likes every forced and involuntary squeeze and clench of your cunt. He loved when your nails dug into his skin, raking their existence against the plane of broad muscles and scars. 

Deku curses your name as you clench around him, his hands moving to your jaw so that he can lift your face to kiss him just so. He kisses you with a heated passion, a need that strips your entire being bare, and his hips slam so loudly against you, the slicked wetness is squelching and slapping with every grunt and moan.

In and out his cock goes, and you praise him and his cock.

You praise him for making you feel so good, for stretching out your pussy with that fat cock of his. You beg for more, and more, and more. You want every snap of his hips to send new colors to your vision, and every echoing squelch of your meeting, sloppy sexes only adds to the blabbering, unmanaged sentences from your lips. 

“Harder, faster, more!” you beg, practically wailing against his shoulders, needing him more and more. The concrete hurts against your back, but you don’t care. You don’t care if he breaks your back, it’s a fall you’ll take. “Don’t hold back! Don’t you dare hold back!”

“Fuck, you’re crazy,” Deku gasps, his sweaty brow burying into your cheek. “I won’t though, I won't. Be ready, I’m not sure if you can take it.”

Before you can snap back that you can in fact take it, Deku’s weight falls heavier onto you and the angle shifts just slightly, and your words are ripped right out of your throat for a pitched, window shattering screech. Deku fucks into you with a new power, some untapped strength as greenspark falls from his skin as he ruins you for anyone ever again.

Your voice begins to scream out, the feeling of his vicious, thick cock snapping into you, shoving your shoulders further and further into the concrete was sending your head spinning. Your body is convulsing as he fucks you with new vulgar need and strength. But before you could scream your praises, Deku’s fingers shove into your mouth, and his other hand wraps around your neck, silencing your words and noises as he fucks up into you again and again and again.

“So loud, angel,” Deku smirks, fingers stroking and pinching your tongue as saliva pours endlessly from your mouth. His voice isn’t strained however, doesn’t have any indication that he’s out of breath or ready to tap out and that nearly makes you go insane. “I can’t wait to see everything that makes you look like this… you’re so pretty when you’re getting fucked.”

Your head is spinning, the heated tightness in your core clenching and throbbing as his conquesting cock never once stops or lessens. It just grows and grows and grows. His cock twitches in you, and your eyes roll to the back of your head as he lets out a deep moan. 

“Such a good and wet cunt you are,” Deku gasps as you gag against his fingers that press roughly against the back of your tongue. Your vision feels hazy, but you feel like you’re on cloud nine as his hand on your throat opens and closes, demonstrating his power over you. “I’m so glad you went through all this hard work to get me to fuck you.”

You can’t speak, so you nod desperately, you were so happy you did this too. 

Your hips buck up into him with sheer stubborn drive to get him to toss his head back and moan, you wanted to see him unhinged too. Your eyelashes flutter, as his hands remove themselves from your face, and they move to your hips to help you out. But the building tightness and demanding need in your cunt was growing louder, hotter, completely undeniable. Your teeth sinking against his skin as you whimpered loudly, absolutely pathetically as you shifted faster, fucking against him harder.

“I-I’m so close,” you manage to moan out, and a sharp escape of air comes from his nose at that revelation.

Deku nods, his head moving so that his forehead rests against yours as he looks deep into your eyes. “I need you to look at the way your belly bulges while I fuck you before you cum, I want you to watch it bulge as you cum.”

You whimper, the strain in your neck almost insufferable as you peer down at your hastily exposed stomach, and you nearly faint at the pornographic, near-insane image of your stomach bulging with his hammering monster of a cock. And just like that, the tight heat in you snaps without a hitch, and you come tumbling down from the heights of your building orgasm. White heat and light spread through your body, your jaw slacking as you moan loudly, screaming his name as you convulse against him, body entirely limp. Deku, who was barely hanging by a strand, completely loses it when your core clenches like a vice against him. 

Hot, thick ropes of cum spurt from his cock, his heavy, shaking gasps the only thing you can hear as he fucks into you once, twice more for good measure he collapses onto his forearms above you. It’s hot, almost too hot as he lays on top of you, the sticky fluid of his cum radiating against your already blazing walls, and for a bit, there’s silence.

Deku is the first to move afterward, and you whine as he pulls his cock out of your sore, abused pussy. You make a noise of curiosity then fear as Deku spreads your legs even more open and moves so that his head is face to face with your cum filled pussy.

“What are you–?!” you screech as Deku takes a lick out of your dripping cunt.

“Fuck, this does taste good,” Deku smirks as he once again licks your overstimulated pussy and you sob. “Besides, who said we were done?”

.

.

.

.

.

bonus! 

“Everyone, this is my girlfriend y/l/n y/n!” Izuku happily introduced you to his group of friends.

“What the hell?!” Bakugou screamed, thrusting a finger at you and all you did was laugh.

So much for not being stubborn, huh.

[heli0s-writes]

VII. Blessed Be the Mystery of Love

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader x Bucky Barnes Summary:  An epilogue. Six months later. A/N: The last chapter! And with that, Mystery of Love has concluded :)

A large hand paws lazily at your back as you fix the blouse you’d just slipped on. It had taken you almost an hour to get out of bed and even longer to get ready today, so you’re in a bit of a mood when the same hand starts walking itself up your shirt. You slap it with a sharp thwack and it retreats with a sniveling whine.

There’s a rumbling of laughter that follows as you slip your blazer over your shoulders.

Rolling your eyes, you land them on the bed where your two lovers lie. Steve is nursing his offending hand under his cheek as he peers up with his signature ocean gaze. Bucky is lying on his back, inoffensive limbs tucked neatly behind his head, telling you: look at me, I’m a good boy.

They’re both shirtless, taut chest and abs radiant in the chiaroscuro light your vanity table provides. The striped comforter comes up to reach just beneath their waists and you know for a fact Bucky’s completely nude this morning, but avert your gaze.

“Brat...” You shoot at Steve instead, who pouts even more. In the mirror, you swipe on a quick layer of mascara before slinging your purse over your shoulder.

Crossing your arms at the foot of the bed, you regard the men lying in it, eagerly awaiting your attention. It’s such a comical sight, you think, as you step from one heeled foot to the other, blazer fixed neatly and buttoned. You, nearly 70 years younger than them, look like some kind of sugar-momma or dominatrix, in complete command of two compliant subordinates.

As naughty as they were, keeping you up last night after they returned from a three-day-long mission, you couldn’t help but melt under their coquettish-bitten lips and puppy-dog sulking eyes. You’d been woken up past midnight and weren’t able to sleep until nearly three in the morning, and they both knew you had to be up at six.

It wasn’t entirely their fault, of course, since it only took half a mischievous bite to your neck from Bucky before your clothes were completely shed.

“Boys, this is ridiculous.” You want to be stern, but their absolutely endearing expressions melts your mood right off. A tiny quirk of your lips appear and they quickly match your countenance.

“Does that mean you forgive us?”

Your smile says more than enough. Yes, of course. Always.

“Good. I’ll drive.” Steve rises from the bed and Bucky follows. They head into the restroom to brush their teeth before pulling casual clothes on in a rush, eager to spend as much time with you as possible. You’d been taking the car by yourself for the past week, but you do love it when Steve drives. They’re much better company than what your radio can give you.

At the car, Bucky pinches your bottom and climbs in before he shuts the door.

“You know,” Steve grumbles, squinting at the rearview mirror image of Bucky nipping at your ear, “I thought you’d sit up here with me.”

“Nah, pal. I’m much better company. ‘Sides, you don’t need any distractions while you’re driving. But me? I’m a free agent back here.” He starts peeling your skirt upward, “How bout you, hon?”

You only laugh, catching Steve’s eye before intertwining your fingers in Bucky’s and kissing him, leaning your head against his shoulder. Steve puts on a song and starts singing along.

The drive is a lengthy one, and it gets even more tiresome when you get into the city. Steve is in bumper-to-bumper traffic as you gaze off in contemplation.

The last six months of your life have been the absolute nuttiest, you think, watching the streetlights go past against a gradient of orange, pink, and blue hues. Sunrise has started coming up a little bit later, now that it’s well into fall, and the chilly morning air lets Steve roll the windows down a bit.

He’s taking you to work, and it’s a procedure that you’re still trying to get used to.

You started two months ago at Cooper Union- just a visiting artist position, but still one that you take very, very seriously. Byrne kept good on his promise after the show and had given you a list of opportunities to interview for. It’s all by choice, anyway, since the profit from the show totaled more than enough to set you up comfortably for at least five years. And that’s saying quite a lot considering that you live in Manhattan of all places.

You wanted to start your job with baby steps to avoid overwhelming yourself in an academic setting. Being a visiting artist gave you a lot of freedom and just the right amount of responsibility.

The position entailed no more than three public speaking events, your own studio to develop a show at the end of the semester, and the opportunity to work closely with a mixed group of graduate and undergraduate students as their mentor. You were required to be on-campus at least once a week, but you usually went in twice just to keep your office open.

So far, it had been smooth sailing.

You look from Steve up front to Bucky at your shoulder, sighing happily and nuzzling deeper into his chest, flicking his nose with your finger. He growls playfully in response.

This had been smooth sailing too, save for a couple of rainy days and one very turbulent storm. All natural and expected aspects of being in a relationship. The biggest fight you’d had so far was a furious row after a mission where you were so cross afterward that you didn’t speak to either of them for an entire night.

You had sat in on the debriefing out of curiosity and learned that they’d taken an impulsive risk that had put their lives in more danger than the mission anticipated. Even worse, this was a regular occurrence. Tony called them the “Super-Annoying Soldiers”.

That night, you slept in Bucky’s room and ordered them into Steve’s.

The next morning, they both came in, stammering, apologetic, promising that they would never, ever be that careless again. The make-up session lasted four hours and you emerged around noon thoroughly convinced and dog-tired.

 The three of you learned new things about each other every day.

For example, Bucky religiously ate bad Chinese take-out and Steve danced in the shower. Steve loved it when you pulled his hair and Bucky loved pulling your hair. The three of you spent nights fumbling all over each other when they had time at the compound, and if one of them happened to be away, the other two would Facetime when possible. It wasn’t a necessity, by any means, it was more of consideration; they were also content to let each other be with you privately.

Jealousy never arrived to bother any of you.

In fact, you often let the boys have time to themselves. Especially on your days at work. There had been many evenings when you’d come back to the compound after dinner and they were cuddled up on the couch, enjoying a movie or a nap. It was the sweetest thing. Sam and Clint took many pictures and both turned red after you casually mentioned that they should see pictures of what else the Steve and Bucky get up to when you’re not around.

“Because... they get up to a lot. I’m not always a necessary part of the puzzle, you know.” A single wink was all it took for your friends to high tail it out of the room.

It was a running joke with the team that the three of you had a very adventurous sex life together- as predicted by Tony. Admittedly, yes, it was exciting, but beyond the sex (and there was quite a lot of it- so many positions and scheduled water breaks), you were more than happy to just sit with a cup of tea and a board game, or going for walks, or watching them spar. You had even started to go on short jogs and spent time working out with them as well. It was painful at first (leg day was fine, chest day was the devil’s invention), but the showers together afterward really made up for it.

Every day brought something new to the table.

Last night, after Bucky fell asleep on the edge of the bed a little past three, Steve settled in the middle and you laid your head on his chest, kissing the sweat-slick skin beneath your lips.

“Hey...” You began slowly, pressing your mouth to his neck.

“Mhm... Hey back,” he parroted, slurring through the sleepy fog. “What’s on your mind?”

“Honestly, kind of a lot...?” You felt yourself come down from the high peak of love and marching up a peak of anxiety. You had started to babble about the mechanics of domesticity because the television prompter in your brain began to marquee way too fast. This ritual of sleeping together and waking up together had been blossoming into some future fantasies that you’re not sure how to bring up. You supposed this was as good of a time as any.

Steve was a bit stunned from your sudden outburst, “Hold on honey... Let me wake up for this.”

“Sorry... But Steve,” You rambled onward, “What about being Captain America? And how does that I don’t know- what does that mean when it comes to a family? Marriage? Children?” Your face burned at the thought of a little blue-eyed toddler running around by your feet, perhaps fair-haired, or rowdy and cleft-chinned.

You’d been dreaming about it at night, blanket forts and stuffed animals, a nursery, and a crib, and a mobile full of stars. The rational side of your brain chastised it- you were too young, you wanted to keep exploring the world, getting used to your position, and your relationship. The rational side also continuously brought up the fact that the father of your children would be one of two Super Soldiers- Jesus, maybe both, whose lives were always precariously balancing on … God, you didn’t know what.

Underneath you, Steve buzzed awake—as much as he could.

“Well… I’d love that.” He exhaled a deep breath, arm coming up to rub your shoulders. “Always wanted to be a dad, but let’s start with uh, maybe sleep for now. What do you say?”

You mumbled against him, “I didn’t mean to sound like I’m rushing you into those things, by the way. I suppose it was just a natural discussion to bring up.”

“I know, sweetheart,” Steve had rubbed his nose against your ear, breath warm and inviting. You distinctly felt a smile grow on his face. “I also know Bucky would appreciate being in the loop. Let’s save it for the morning.” He placed a hand on Bucky’s bare back, drawing circles along his spine as he groaned in his sleep.

You kissed your man sweetly, and before you knew it, you’d fallen dreamlessly asleep in his arms.

-

“Ready, honey?” Bucky squeezes your thigh, snapping you from your daze. He’s a little concerned that you’ve been so quiet for the whole trip, and grumpy that he’d been subject to Steve’s awful bellowing. The car’s parked on the street, about a block away. “You okay?”

“Yes, sorry... just thinking about our conversation last night.”

Bucky’s eyes light up delightedly, “Kitten, I don’t know if dirty talk counts as a conversation... but I’m all ears.”

“Buck, you fell asleep early. We talked about havin’ kids, pal.”

“Mhmmm—what?” After a pause, with you and Steve exchanging concerned looks, Bucky grips your hand so tightly it almost hurts, “Babe, I... I... wh-” The expression on his face changes from shock to concern, then finally, it knocks the air from your lungs when he looks at you.

“I can’t... I can’t.”

You see the storm over the horizon in Bucky’s eyes. His blue fades into grey, and billowing clouds have cast a shadow over the sloping mountain of his nose and the sharp plains of his cheeks. You can only console him with a sad smile and kisses along his jaw. He’s lost, now, in the past of his actions, in the raging tempest of thunderous roars and lightning strikes in his mind. It’s all scorched earth and barren wasteland to him. It’s filling your chest up with embers—not for yourself, but for him, and you are struggling to speak calmly.

“It was just a thought, Buck. For the future. Don’t think about it too much.”

You exit the car, kissing both your Soulmates softly. Steve gives you a final lingering look before you disappear down the campus street, starting to fill up with student bodies. Bucky is motionless in the back as Steve shifts gears and takes him back home.

-

They spend the next hour arguing in the bedroom, taking their squabble from the car to the garage, to the common area where Natasha raises an eyebrow too sharply for Steve’s comfort. Bucky’s pulling his hair and stomping, Steve’s sitting with both fists clenched on his knees, head leaned back in frustration. It’s moved beyond just the possibility of children, and deeper into the territory of Bucky’s repentance.

It’s a conversation Steve is sick of having because he doesn’t think Bucky needs to repent for anything. Steve has physically fought for this; he’s bled for this. But every time it seems like he might have pushed his boulder to the peak of the hill, it rolls back down on top of him.

“Buddy, you gotta stop.” Steve admonishes, feeling the aggravation building, deflecting a glare from his friend, “We’re not talking about if you deserve kids, Buck. We’re just … talking about kids. That’s it.”

“Look at me, Stevie, what th’ fuck am I gonna do with a kid?” Bucky sputters and waves his arms around, and then he takes his flesh one and points it to his cybernetic one. “Look at me!” There’s a panic in his eyes- the same one that’s lasted for over an hour with no sign of quelling. “She... sh-she can have your baby. I’m not... I can’t be a part of that.”

As soon as the words leave his mouth, he feels himself clench up with a devastating truth that hurts too much to imagine.

Steve crosses his arms and stands, using his full height to stare down at Bucky. He’s not that much taller, but it’s enough for Steve to say with his body I’m bigger than you and you need to listen to me. Bucky flinches at the hard stare and puts both hands over his face with a groan.

“There is no that without you.” Steve says firmly, arms tucked under each other so tightly his biceps bulge like boulders against his chest. He’s trying not to get angry because he knows it would be like squirting kerosene into a burning building. He needs to smother the fire, not encourage it.

“There is no this without you. We are Bound, all three of us. Buck, this isn’t happening tomorrow, or even next year, or even the year after that. We just talked about the possibility of it in the future.” His voice grows softer the longer he talks, and Bucky’s fear begins to slow to his pace, fizzling out like a candlelight.

“Pal, can you blame her? She’s twenty-three. She’s in love... with you of all people. Gee, Buck. Someone’s in love with you so much they think about havin’ a baby with you... And ya run for the hills.” Bucky mulls it over as Steve approaches, and there’s regret sinking into his stomach as he thinks about your sad eyes in the backseat of the car. He thinks about how you still kissed him before you left.

“Shit. I screwed it up, didn’t I? God. We got the sweetest girl and..” He grimaces, eyes flickering with anxiety.

Steve pats him on both shoulders before pulling him into his arms. Bucky is hard, tense muscle and warm breaths as he leans into Steve and they embrace until he calms down again.

They’ve always been happy to give and receive hugs as friends, often patting each other on the back fondly or comfortingly. It’s been moreso as of late- a result of spending more time together intimately. The hugs are more tender, more loving.

When Steve wakes up in the middle of the night in-between two bodies, he often looks over at Bucky, too, admiring the way he looks when he’s at peace. It’s something Steve’s wanted to see since he found Bucky; it’s something he sees more of every day. He wants to keep it that way.

“Think she’ll forgive me?”

Steve can only laugh as he brushes the hair out of Bucky’s face, rubbing his knuckles over the bristles along his jaw. “Yeah, Buck. Of course.” The sigh against his shoulder once more is a response all on its own.

Steve thinks back to the night he woke up and you were sitting on the sofa crying. It was your first time without Bucky since the three of you had started sharing a bed together. It was the first time you hadn’t slept with both in almost a month; it was long enough to pine for and ache about. You were used to being in the middle, he had thought, so maybe piling pillows on the empty side to simulate a presence might help. You stirred anyway.

He quietly sat down next to you, kissing your bare shoulder that peeked out from under the throw blanket. There were tears in your eyes as he cradled you in his arms.

“I miss him too. He’ll be back soon.”

“It’s not that…” You sniffled, “I was just thinking about... something Pietro told me.” You turned to him, crossing your legs and opening up the blanket to invite him in. Steve wrapped the edge as much as he could around his large frame and pulled you into his lap.

“What’s that?”

“Remember that day I came back, and you saw me by the pool?”

He nodded. Of course he remembered. He had spent three days in agony, feverish at night, freezing in the morning, waking up dripping in sweat. His chest hurt every waking moment and only ached even more in Bucky’s presence as if it was the Binding’s reminder to them that there was a missing piece that wouldn’t be forgotten. Seeing you by the pool that day extracted all of Steve’s pain in a single scoop. He had almost slipped running out of the room to catch you.

“Pietro said... There are two meant to love you. You never have to wonder, it is wonderful.”

He didn’t understand why you looked so sad until you glanced over to the bed where the pile of pillows had been kicked off, exposing the vacancy. “Do you think… Bucky knows that? I don’t wonder about the future and think that either of you will leave me, and I don’t think about me leaving either of you.”

You paused to wipe your cheeks, “But does Bucky know? Does he still think that he’s unlovable? He never tells me the truth, but I see it when he’s just looking at me. It hurts, Steve. I’m so worried all the time. I don’t want him to wonder about us.”

Steve Rogers kissed you that night with the intensity of a lover leaving for war. He held onto you so tightly you thought you might sink inside of him. He made love to you on that sofa in the darkness and caressed the tears on your cheeks so sweetly you cried. He had seen more and more of your heart every day, and it filled him with so much love it sometimes hurt. You loved them, together, equally, and separately, with their individual flaws and quirks.

And God, Steve thinks, there are a fucking lot of flaws.

“Buck,” Steve says, taking his friend’s face in his hands, fingers running through the dark mane. “She loves you. She loves you more than she knows what to do with. You can’t treat yourself like this. It hurts all of us.”

Another silence envelopes them as Steve holds onto him, massaging the back of his head tenderly. They break apart after another long moment before sending each other half-smiles and understanding nods, affirmations exchanged through smiles and blinks. Bucky speaks first.

“I love you too, Steve.”

 -

The boys arrive around two to pick you up and wave from the car, parked outside of the Art Building. The students surrounding you eventually let you go but stare open-mouthed at the shiny classic Mustang and Bucky’s vibranium-black hand holding your favorite drink. It’s his own personal white flag. The conversation is casual throughout the whole ride as they sit up front and you in the back. You tell them about your day and the work you’ve been up to, mentioning a few favorite teaching moments with students. They listen intently and coil their intended conversation slowly around your own, reading your mood with prudence.

At the compound, it’s turned up many notches when Bucky falls to his knees and lays his head against your tummy.

“I’m s’rry, babe.” He mumbles “S’rry I jumped t��� conclusions and... I’m such an idiot. Please don’t be mad with me, even if I deserve it.” His twang comes back when he’s emotional. The slurring of his ‘r’s and dropping his vowels brings a slight pinch to your chest when you think about all of the things he’s been through and how he could have so easily have just been another soldier returned from war, living out the rest of his days as a Brooklyn boy. But the path he’s been on has led him to this moment, to this darkness inside of him.

You pat his head gingerly, watching the smile grow on Steve’s face as he stands beside you. You know this is his doing, pulling Bucky from his own trap and bringing him back out. You’ve spent enough time with him to know that without help, Bucky will torture himself for days, biting off his own tail in a box of his own design.

“Bucky, the problem isn’t that you jumped to conclusions; the problem is that you think you’re an idiot. And that you think you deserve it.” You’re stern with him but continue to pet his hair.

He nods, over and over frantically, but you’re not sure if he really hears you. He wants this moment to be finished, you think, and so for now you’ll let it be. Sometimes you had to pick the right battles to fight, and for now you were content with this battle ending how it will. You don’t mind repeating it later, you know Bucky needs more assurance than most, and you’re happy to a part of that constant thing for him.

For now, he wants to be touched. It’s how he knows you still love him.

So you do. You kiss him all over. Steve latches on to his wrist and takes him to the bed. You both undress him and then yourselves. Bucky lies on his back, still sorrowful and regretful, but as the two of you hang over him, fingers intertwined, he feels his sadness vanish into the sheets.

Between your soft hands and Steve’s firm grasps, Bucky falls apart completely.

When Bucky goes to starts the bath, you spend a few minutes lying in bed with Steve just to caress him. You want to let him know too that he’s just as important, that you care just as deeply and passionately for him.

“You’re amazing.” He says, eyes dancing under your gaze, “He’s just stubborn. Always has been.”

“Mmm,” you smile back, “Reminds me of someone I know.”

“Who’s that?”

You pretend to contemplate it before planting countless kisses on his lips. “Come on, he’ll get fussy if we’re late.”

He gives you a piggy-back ride to the tub.

They take turns lathering you up and each other in the water, in-between playful splashing and affectionate touches. The three of you are a sight to behold, all covered up in soap suds with mops of wet hair. Steve dutifully washes the shampoo from Bucky’s locks as you lean your head on his shoulder, patiently waiting your turn. They start getting into a powwow about whose turn it is to do the laundry next and you space out, smiling into the mass of bubbles when you feel Steve’s fingers spitefully leave Bucky’s hair and go to yours.  

You know he’s stubborn. Steve is too. And so are you.

It doesn’t really bother you when Bucky gets into one of his moods, because you know he’ll always come back. It doesn’t bother you either when Steve’s impulsive on missions because he always comes back too. They both know that they must… simply because you’re home expecting them. Unless they’re acting dangerously- which, they’ve promised that they’d stop- you give them all your trust, just like you’ve given them your heart.

You have the rest of your life with them to figure the remainder of it out.

It sinks in, like the soap and bubbles, like the perfume of the shower gel and the gentle motions of Steve’s hands on your body. It sinks in that for the rest of your life, you’ll have them, both of them. No matter where your paths take you, you’ll be walking hand-in-hand with two perfect Soulmates by your side.

In the background, Bucky and Steve nag and jab each other with their sarcastic taunts and jibes of past embarrassments. There’s name calling and noogies, pinching, and snapping of teeth against fingers. Bucky blows bubbles in Steve’s face. Steve flicks droplets in Bucky’s eyes.

You lean forward against the edge of the porcelain tub, draping yourself over it and grin at them.

“What’s on your mind, sweetheart?” Steve asks, quieting the chatter and rubs his hand against your spine.

The look you give him melts him on the spot. There’s an unfathomable light in your eyes, swimming in something unspeakably loud but necessarily silent. He wants to pull apart the puzzle of it, finding the pieces that you’re keeping to yourself, but something keeps him immobile. Bucky splashes as he leans forward too, intrigued by the look on your face.

Saying nothing, you turn back around, humming a tune and motioning for Steve to continue. You’ll let them contemplate, you think, because eventually they’ll arrive at the same ending that you have. Bucky might take a while longer than Steve, but that’s okay too.

It’s kind of funny that you’d gone through so much of your life fearing love to the point of near madness and physical ailment. It’s so strange to think of how in the span of six months, you’ve transformed into a person so far removed from who you were then.

At 23, you had once rejected love.

But also, at 23, you’ve solved the mystery of love. Its disarray of angst and apprehension that’s long gripped your mind has been untangled by your dutiful hands. It’s Gordian Knot has been completely dissembled, slipping away into the depths along with your fear and anxiety.

You now tread over its strands, blissfully following the trail leading to your lovers’ embrace.  

[marshmallow-phd]

Innocent Intentions

Part of The Untamed - EXO Wolf Universe

Genre: Supernatural, Wolf Au

Pairing: Tao x Reader

Summary: There was one thing you couldn’t stand in all your years at college: playboys. And the campus was riddled with them. So when Tao - a player with a particularly well-known reputation - inserts himself into your life, you come up with a plan to get rid of him, whether he makes your heart race or not. But the more he’s the around, the more you just might find there’s a hidden layer underneath all the rumors, including a secret you never could have guessed….

Warning: Mild cursing (let me have this warning guys)

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I 11 I 12 I 13 I 14 I Final

**

So close. So freaking close.

Tao could still feel your warm breath on his face, each shallow take like a caress beckoning him closer. His own heart was speeding away in his chest. The pounding against his sternum hurt worse than pain he’d suffered through in the past. He just wanted to know what you tasted like. Sweeter than the nectar of the gods, that was his guess.

But you didn’t let him take that forbidden bite. You pulled away and Tao was smart enough – decent enough – to not try again, to not push you when you were finally letting him take a step to shrink the gap between you.

Not even the wind whipping at his face as he drove down the deserted road back to the farmhouse could help him relax like it used to. Now he was regretting saying that he wouldn’t be showing up on Friday. But he already promised Sehun that he’d go out with him, not that Tao would have much fun anyway. What was the point of going out if you weren’t there to enjoy it with him?

Leaning his head back, he sighed and then ran one hand through his hair while keeping the other on the wheel. At least he could say he was making progress. When Anica showed up and you took off, Tao thought he was done for. He thought you would never trust another word he said ever again. But like the angel you were, you gave him another chance. He just hoped that he didn’t run out of this luck.

**

Everyone was crowded in the kitchen, buzzing with chatter. Even Tao was grinning, happy to let loose some of this energy. He and Sehun had come home early last night since Tao was “sucking the fun with all his pouting”. From his own memory, he argued that he wasn’t pouting, but he was thankful to fall down in his own bed anyway.

“Okay!” Junmyeon yelled, getting the crowd to quiet down a few decimals. “Let’s go! And remember to stick together!”

Tao was one of the first out the back door, nearly tripping over himself as he tried to keep his speed and rid himself of his jeans at the same time. He was too excited for all of them to be running together. With such a large pack, it was safer to go in smaller groups, less likely to be noticed by the wrong person. But with all twelve together, it felt more complete.

Before his paws could hit the treeline, however, Junmyeon called out for him to stop. Whining, he turned around to see why. Luhan and Kris were taking their sweet ass time coming out from the house.

Tao growled, rumbling low in his throat. Hurry up!

Calm down, Tao, Kyungsoo huffed.

When the two older wolves finally joined them, they all took off into the woods.

Tao stayed near the middle of the pack, not going to fast to avoid the barking of Junmyeon, who thought some of the others were getting a little too far ahead at times. While focusing on the pattern of his paws against the wet forest floor, someone came up behind him and snipped at the fur around his shoulder. Tao whipped around and growled at Baekhyun, who was wheezing out a laugh. The former wolf nudged the latter hard once he fell into step with him.

Enjoying the game, Baekhyun shoved him as well. Back and forth, they went, adding more and more force behind each one. Unfortunately, Tao used too much muscle and sent Baekhyun rolling down to the ground. Tao skidded to a stop and turned around, cringing at the mess he’d made.

Baekhyun only came to a stop once he’d taken Luhan down with him. Both shook off the tumble, Baekhyun apologizing as Junmyeon came running in a panic.

What’s going on?

With his head hanging down, Tao whimpered, It’s my fault, Junmyeon.

Nah, it’s my fault, Baekhyun snorted, finding the humor in the situation. I started it. It’s easy to forget how strong Tao can be sometimes. You know, considering it’s Tao.

Tao stared at him, letting the implication hang in the air for a second. If he wanted to say that Tao looked weak, he’d show him the exact opposite. But just as he began to growl and step forward, Kris stopped him.

Just leave it, Tao, Kris ordered.

Finding out it was all simply the wolves messing around, Junmyeon sighed. Okay. Let’s get- He stopped. Wait. His ears straightened up.

Jongdae tilted his head in confusion. Did you hear some-

Shush, Junmyeon snapped. After another second of straining to listen, he ordered, Everyone get behind me!

No one hesitated in that demand, shuffling quickly to their positions with Junmyeon and Kris at the head. Every muscle in Tao’s body was tense, ready for a fight if it came to that. There were too many possibilities of what could be lurking in their woods. Some were harmless, others would take the whole pack to fight off.

Then, out of the shadows in front of them emerged a wolf pack about half their size. But while a small sense of relief was rippling through the members, Tao felt himself stiffen even more when he recognized the particular wolves that had joined them.

Kris, too, recognized their old friends, shifting back into a human as he greeted,  “Well, long time no see, Kun.”

After Luhan also transformed back into his human form, Tao reluctantly followed suit with the others.

Baekhyun, who was still standing beside Tao, had to go and point out the very obvious situation that Tao was hoping to avoid. “You have a girl in your pack?”

Yeah, Tao snorted mentally. A particularly heartless one.

“It’s not completely unheard of, asshole,” Lyn barked.

Junmyeon immediately jumped into diplomat mode. “Please, excuse Baekhyun, his mouth doesn’t exactly have a filter and whatever he’s thinking just comes out.”

It was a bit comical how everyone was avoiding looking directly at Lyn, in case their eyes drifted somewhere they really shouldn’t. But while the others were doing it to avoid the small chance of their mate finding out, Tao was practically drowning in a sea of awkwardness as he looked away. Maybe she would see him among the crowd. Hardly unlikely, but he still hoped.  

He couldn’t quite describe what emotions were brewing inside his chest at the moment. The pain that Lyn had left him with was long gone, but the ghost of the scar still lingered. When the three of them had moved on from Kun’s territory, Tao’s only sense of relief was that he’d probably never have to see Lyn again. And yet, there she was, standing there in front of him, seemingly unaffected by what had occured between them.

“What are you doing here?” Kris asked curiously.

The smile that Kun had been wearing from seeing old friends disappeared as he crossed his arms over his chest. “A rumor reached our ears about a hidden hunter somewhere in the area.”

“A hunter?” Chanyeol growled ferociously. “Who? Who is it?”

Fin, who was Kun’s second, admitted, “We don’t know.”

“So, then, you guys are just passing through?” Luhan questioned with a strange tenor in his voice. But Tao didn’t linger on the odd tone of his brother. He was probably just nervous. Hunters put them all on edge.

“We planning to spend the next week around town.” Kun turned to Kris and Junmyeon. “If that’s alright, of course.”

Kris nodded while scratching the back of his head. “Yeah, not a problem. I, uh, I’d offer our place, but….”

“That’s alright,” Kun chuckled. “I’m sure that farmhouse you told us about is more than full with your pack. Still think you’re all crazy for having one so huge. And by the looks of it, the house has almost double the occupants.”

Jongdae frowned. “What makes you say that?”

The other pack’s leader snorted. “Please. I’m not blind to the way you are all acting like Lyn doesn’t exist right now.” With a softer look, he to his old friend. “You, too, huh, Kris?”

A proud grin stretched across Kris’ lips. “Yeah. Soon after coming back.”

“And he’s a father,” Sehun added from the back.

That really took Kun by surprise. “A dad? Wow. Things certainly have changed.”

“It wasn’t planned,” Kris said quickly. His demeanor changed as he thought of his fiance and child. “But I’m happy.”

“That’s all that matters.”

“I think we should talk more about this hunter rumor.” Junmyeon glanced back at Lyn for a split second before he cleared his throat. “Maybe back at the farmhouse… and clothed.”

“Good idea.” Kun turned to his members and gestured out with his head for them to follow. All nineteen wolves took off in the direction of the farmhouse, getting there quickly and without incident.

Once Tao and his brothers were dressed, they headed inside with Kun’s pack on their tails. Poor Evie, who was cleaning out the fridge to get rid of the strange smell she’d been complaining about earlier that morning, was unsuspecting as she looked to find herself no longer along.

“You guys are home early.”

Kris, unable to help himself, walked right up to her and gave her a quick kissing before answering. “We, uh, ran into some old friends that need to talk to us.”

“Old friend- oh goodness!” Evie held a hand up to block her view of Kun’s pack who’d just filed into the kitchen.

Kris was struggling to keep a straight face as he suggested, “Baobei, why don’t you go grab the clothes sitting in the front parlor that were packed for donation?”

“I would be more than happy to do that.” Evie ran out of there quicker than a deer running from a predator. She held the overstuffed trash bag of clothes up like a shield when she came back.

“Where’s Mei?” Jongin asked when he noticed the little pup wasn’t around.

“She’s already down for the night,” Evie answered. “But, you know, I think I’m going to go check on her.” Dropping the bag, she ran downstairs where she deemed it safer.

“Nice catch,” Kun teased Kris.

“I like to think so,” Kris replied honestly as he stared after Evie. In the past, the exchange would have made Tao gag, but now he understood all too well where the alpha was coming from. The little things that their mates did could send their hearts into a frenzy and that feeling within itself was almost addicting.

The others in Kun’s pack were already ruffling through the donation pile, save Lyn. While the rest of them were always more rowdy and obnoxious, Lyn preferred to be more reserved, showing the fact that she was a female wasn’t the only thing that set her apart from the others.

When the others cleared the area, dressed in pants and shirts that roughly fit them, Lyn moved forward and started rifling through the pile. Her fingers lingered on a black shirt that Tao had decided last week wasn’t his style anymore. Before he could stop himself, Tao stepped in, grabbing a red sweatshirt instead. His hand was around her wrist, but the heat between them had been snuffed out. There was no reaction to the contact and, even though he shouldn’t have expected anything else, he was relieved.

“Wear this one.” He tried to remain a dry, uninterested tone, but his actions were screaming much louder than his words. He could feel the questioning stares from his brothers burning into his back. Only Kris and Luhan knew about Lyn and Tao much preferred to keep it that way. His intrusion in helping her pick out clothes pretty much gave it away.

“Thank you,” Lyn whispered, not really making eye contact with him.

Unable to take the tension anymore, Tao slipped out the back door. Kris or Sehun could catch him up on whatever came out of this little meeting, if it was even productive. He didn’t go far, not leaving the backyard. The space was enough for him to clear his head as he sat down in the grass, leaning back until his shoulder blades hit the dewy soil. His fingers were folded behind his head like a pillow and he let his eyes drifted closed as the sound of nature echoed around him.

**

The early morning sun was starting to peek through the shades of the window, creating a striped pattern across the tan carpet. It was quiet save for the birds chirping their morning songs, giving it their best effort to enchant the sun for a beautiful day. Tao was trying to slip on his boot as quietly as he could, but his attempt was worthless. The stiff shoe was refusing to go on easy, making Tao grunt from the effort.

Behind him, the bed shifted and two thin, delicate arms snaked around his waist while a pair of soft lips pressed into his shoulder exposed by his white tank top. A shiver of delight ran down his spine.

“Sneaking out already?” Lyn purred in his ear.

“Kris called,” Tao explained with a sigh. If he had his way, he’d just stay in that bed all day. “He wants me and Luhan to help him with a lead.”

“I thought he was running away from the alphas. Not trying to find them?”

Tao snorted. “And be considered a coward? Nah. Kris wants to end them. He just needs to figure out how first.”

“And so you have to leave me?” Lyn’s pout was easily caught in the corner of Tao’s eye.

He shifted in his spot, grabbing her wrists and gently leaning her back onto the bed so he was hovering above her. “I’ll be back tomorrow. I promise.”

Lyn raised an eyebrow teasingly. “And you expect me to wait for you?”

Rolling his eyes, Tao let go of her and stood up. “Your games are annoying, you know that?”

“I’m sorry,” Lyn sighed. She slowly got up to her feet and hugged Tao from the back. “It’s just a habit. Letting someone in isn’t the easiest thing for me, you know.”

“Yeah, I do,” Tao mumbled. Gently breaking her hold on him, he turned around and stared into her eyes. “You’ve told me. And I asked you to just give me a chance. But if you keep pushing me away like this, I don’t know if I’d come back again.”

Lyn licked her lips thoughtfully. A silence hung in the air for a moment or two. Tao could feel his heart racing in anxiety while he waited for her reply. He’d never felt like this before. He’d never meant to get this attached to Lyn when they first met, but now… now he was her prisoner, at her beck and call and he couldn’t find a reason to hate it. If she severed his shackles in this exchange, he’d be broken beyond compare.  

“I want you to come back… and to stay.”

The admittance took Tao by surprise. He just stared at her as the seconds ticked by, trying to absorb the honesty that resonated in every word.

Then he kissed her. Deeply, desperately. Lyn’s hands quickly removed the tank top that Tao had just put back on before pulling him back onto the bed. Kris could wait a few more minutes.

**

Memories of that nature used to bring Tao so much pain, when he allowed himself to bring them to the surface. It was the kind of pain that he tried to cover up with date after date, hook up after hook up, though nothing had ever worked. It was always there, lingering while he lied there and stared up at the ceiling, his latest conquest sound asleep beside him.

But now they were simply that - memories. No emotional attachments, no significance, just events that happened to him in the past that had been depleted of all their power.

“It’s pretty out here.”

Tao’s eyes snapped open and he jumped up to a sitting position. He easily composed his surprised face as Lyn sat down next to him in the grass. She didn’t look at him, keeping her own gaze up at the sky as if she were trying to count the stars shining up there. He kept any words he had to say trapped in his throat, waiting for her to speak first.

“You seem to be doing good,” she commented, finally looking over to him.

“More than good,” Tao admitted. “How have you been?” It only seemed polite to ask and he couldn’t think of anything else to say. Getting up and walking away seemed like a bad option, because he figured out what emotion was manifesting as he stayed near Lyn.

Irritation. Pure and unmistakable irritation.

“Fucking terrible,” was her reply.

Tao snorted. “Oh, yeah? And why is that?”

Hurting her wasn’t exactly Tao’s main goal in sending those words her way, but that’s exactly what happened.

Her eyes began to gloss over as she looked at him with her mouth - the one he’d kissed a hundred times with love and desperation - hanging open. “Why do you think? I had to watch you walk away, Zitao. And now seeing you again….”

“You didn’t have to do anything,” he growled. “You chose to watch me walk away.” Thinking back to that moment, he scoffed. “In fact, you made me walk away when you ended it. When you threw away every promise you ever made and told me to just deal with the fact that you didn’t want to see me anymore.”

Lyn, keeping up that tough exterior Tao always hated, rolled her eyes. “Damn, you sound like a girl.”

That was it. Why was he even entertaining this conversation?

Jumping up to his feet, Tao yelled, “Screw you, Lyn!”

“Technically, you did,” she mumbled.

“God, what did I ever see in you!” Tao was ordering his feet to walk away, but they refused to obey. Because even though he felt nothing for her anymore - not love or attraction - even though he had you now, he still wanted an explanation. All these years, he’d been in the dark as to why she’d pushed him away after holding him so close. What was it that had suddenly changed?

It lingered over him and he was sure it was effecting how he coming off towards you. Because - whether he wanted to admit it or not - Lyn’s rejection made him wonder if he was good enough for you. If even Lyn didn’t want him, why would you ever see something worthy in him? “Why did you even bother to come out here?”

Lyn pushed herself up, folding her arms defiantly. But the coldness was beginning to melt away. “Because it hurts. Seeing you again. And I needed to confirm what I thought after seeing you in the woods.”

“It hurts?” Tao norted. “And you want a confirmation? Of what? Why should I confirm anything for you when you couldn’t give me a simple explanation back then?”

“I told you why!” Lyn shouted, finally showing some real emotion. “I told you there was no way I was going to be pushed aside for some measly human someday. At first, you and me, it was just fun. But then it became more than that for me. And I know it was always more for you. But some day you were going to find your mate and I was going to be left behind. I had to let you go before that happened.”

Tao shook his head. Sure, the reason was a good one. But she didn’t say that back then. She did say that she didn’t think they were meant to be together. And technically, she was right. They weren’t mates. They had others out there waiting for them. “You should have talked to me about it. We could have worked something out, prepared for that day.”

“What would be the point? It was still inevitable.”

Tao had no argument anymore. So he simply shrugged, hands in his pockets. Even his irritation was gone. It wasn’t because he wasn’t worthy. It was due to Lyn’s insecurities- her justified insecurities. Now he felt like a jerk. “I’m sorry, Lyn. I still think we should have talked about it, but I understand.”

Tears started to fall down her cheeks. The whole time Tao had been with Lyn, she’d never cried. She always held it in. He figured it always had to do with the fact that she was a female werewolf. A rarity that stunned even those born into this world. It was a situation that came with its own complications and struggles beyond just turning into a giant dog. So, she played the tough girl, the robot. But Tao had seen little pieces of humanity in her. Never this much though. He felt sorry for her, the fact that she was this fractured. It was like looking into a mirror that showed his past self.

“You see,” she sniffed, wiping the tears away. “This is why I ended it when I did. The indifferent look you’re giving me right now… it’s torture.”

Tao frowned, shocked at how easily she saw it. “Lyn, I-”

“I hope she treats you better than I did.”

The reflexive smile started to pull at Tao’s lips as your face filled his mind. “She-”

“Please don’t,” Lyn begged. “I don’t want to hear about her. Just… be happy.”

Sighing, Tao pulled her into his arms, hugging her close. At first, Lyn accepted the gesture, leaning into his chest. He could feel the little drops of warm water fall onto his skin as she struggled to hold back the tears. But then she pushed him away. With one last look in his direction, she gave him a sad smile and walked back towards the house.

There was a finality to this moment. It was like the chapter that had been haunting him was finally coming to a close and he could start the next one; the one that starred you. The scar was healed, nothing but a smooth surface left behind. Now when he offered his heart to you, he could give you something that was whole and fully yours with a confidence that he hadn’t really had before.

With one last look up at the sky, Tao smiled crookedly, wistfully. Maybe he shouldn’t have ever started something with Lyn. Maybe he could have saved them both a lot of pain. But he couldn’t change the past. But he could move forward. He could move towards you, his bright and beautiful future.

[jason-todd-deserved-better]

Welcome to the DC Universe - Tim Drake x Reader Headcanon

Request: “I really love your 'welcome to the dc universe' stuff. May i ask a Tim Drake ver? To complete it? Ty”

AN: After three scrapped drafts, four months of delays, and a whole year of planning, I’ve finally have gotten to post Tim’s version of WttDCU. I’m so sorry that it has taken so long, it’s been a long time going and after scraping it three times, I’ve finally figured out the story that I wanted to tell. It’s different than the other boy’s but in all honesty, I’ve grown to love this one so much and even though writer’s block did not help me whatsoever, I’m very proud of what this had become. I hope you guys enjoy, let me know what y’all think, and I love you guys, just want to make sure you guys know that!

Since you were a kid, you were absolutely obsessed with Batman.

Like Batman: The Animated Series was the shit for you, and you were seriously obsessed with it.

Since you were so young, you always loved the Robin character, from Dick Grayson to later Tim Drake. (Unfortunately, Jason Todd was never really in the show from what you remembered.)

Even as you grew older, you often rewatched the series every now and then.

But then you started going for the comics, and oh wow there was a richer story with them.

The Batman series were always your favorite though, you would often read through those the most, especially the ones with the rest of the Batfam.

Hell, you loved almost everyone there, especially the third Boy Wonder.

Oh man did you have a crush on that dude.

To you he seemed the most relatable, especially when you started college this semester.

The sleepless nights spent studying, the constant amount of work that needed to be done, and the ever present need for coffee. (Oh you needed that crap injected in your veins at this point, because you were about ready to crash and burn.)

Yep, very relatable.

Especially now at the most stressful wonderful time of the year, when finals are running rampant and with you craving an end to this misery called a semester.

By some miracle of the gods though, you had just made it out of your last exam of the hell quarter and you were ready to just melt away into nothing. (Or freeze into oblivion because it was way too freaking cold outside to function.)

Since it was freezing outside and you finally had a time to relax, you decided that a long and warm shower would be absolute heaven right now.

So after trudging to your apartment that was five minute walk from your campus, and tugging off your warm layers, you hop into the shower, goosebumps littering your skin from the cold.

You turned on the shower, letting the warm water tug you into bliss.

Which was interrupted by a large crash that sounded as if it originated from your kitchen.

At this, your eyes could be compared to one of a deer in front of headlights.

Absolutely no one else should be in the apartment right then because your roommate left two days ago to go spend time with her family for the holidays.

To make matters worse, you didn’t bring any change of clothes into the bathroom because they weren’t there.

Oh you really wanted to cry right then and there but you stare at the shower curtain rod that you were going to put in to replace the old one, but have now found a new use for it.

Turning off the water, you get your towel, securing it around yourself and grabbing the rod that you were now going to use as a makeshift bat.

Opening the door slightly to check if the coast was clear, you glance out, seeing nothing for the moment and opening the door more as silently as you could walking out with the rod up and ready for anything.

The hallway was clear so then you take the hallway to the kitchen.

You were thinking that it was a dumb move on your part, hell, that’s how people die in horror movies and here you are doing that exact thing.

So when you walked in and saw what was in your kitchen, you screamed.

Mostly out of shock and surprise, plus a tiny amount of fear pinched in there too.

There was a dude dressed up as Red Robin leaning against your counter trying to stay upright.

You weren’t sure what you were expecting but this sure as hell wasn’t it.

Not that you were complaining or even thinking about complaining because you notice that this dude is bleeding all over.

This is when you snap out of your freaked out daze and put down the shower rod and help the guy out.

”Okay my dude,” You pull him to sit on the stool by the counter. “I need you to sit here for a sec.”

He lets off a weak nod, his breathing very ragged, but you already left to get your first aid kit.

Not even a moment afterwards you come back with it in your hands, putting it on the counter as you pop the case open.

You then move to peel off the armor you slowly process the past couple events.

”Oh geez Tim.”  You mutter, starting to disinfect the wounds on the front off his chest.

”Wait a sec, how do you know my name?” He states, stiffening under your touch and he alcohol being rubbed in.

”You my dude, aren’t in Kansas anymore,” You stated bluntly.

”What’s the supposed to mean-” His eyes widen, “Oh crap, Wizard of Oz reference-”

”Means that you aren’t in your universe anymore, I think anyway,”  You say, moving on to another open wound.

”Yeah, but how do you know my name? Do you know this universe’s version of me?” He asks, looking at your face.

”Uh no,” You glance up at him, “Not exactly.”

”Then how do you know it?” His eyes narrow slightly, causing you to move your eyes away from his and to the work that you were currently doing.”

”T-That's going to be a lot to explain,” You stutter.

”Well I’m not going anywhere soon so please explain away.”

So you do, and Tim got very weirded out.

Not at you, but the whole “My Life Is a Source Of Entertainment” to this universe and the fact that he wasn’t even real here.

You didn’t blame him, this was also weirding you out to the max.

Like it's not everyday that your fictional crush pops out of nowhere in the middle of your kitchen.

Then there was the reason that he got there in the first place.

Turns out that he was fighting with the rest of his family against a powerful warlock, and they were winning when all of a sudden there was a flash of bright light when he then felt himself falling.

Then the next thing he knew, he landed in someone’s kitchen.

So that leads to where you two were at now, sitting on your couch, as you look through whatever DC comics you owned and showed them to him so he could see what you were talking about.

The two of you spent a couple hours reading through them.

You guys stopped when your yawns were growing large in numbers.

So you help him put the couch together for him to be more comfortable and head to bed.

Either way, you guys progressively got closer as the days pass.

Like you guys became friends very quickly.

Often times he really liked hearing you talk about your life, especially your interests and your opinions on everyone he knows.

Like how if Bruce sees an orphan he’s got to adopt them.

Or how Jason and Damian were complete and utter hotheads but still likeable in their own odd little ways.

But one that kinda rubbed him the wrong way was that you thought that Dick was a ten out of ten in almost everything. (Especially looks.)

He just shrugged it off.

What he did like the most though was that he didn’t need to hide anything from you.

It was all out in the air and it was a freedom that was kind of new for him.

Then the holiday rush really started to hit.

You were originally just going to spend a couple days with your family till after New Years.

Now you weren’t sure what you were going to do.

Eventually you got the idea to invite Tim to go with you to your parents house.

There was only one thing stopping you though.

Would he even want to?

Oh man you didn’t know where you’d put yourself if he said no.

Well, you did finally get the balls to ask him to go with you.

And you thanked whatever god was out there that he accepted.

Quite happily in fact.

So happily that he was smiling from the second you asked him to the moment he got into your car to travel to your parents.

That’s when he got a little jittery.

He wasn’t sure on how your family was going to react to him.

Like did they know about his life in Gotham?

Either way, you tried to help him out in that aspect and told him that he didn’t really have much to worry about, since in your family you were kind of the only one who was into the DC Universe.

But you guys did come up with answers to questions they might ask him.

For example;

”Where are you from Tim?” and his answer would be “I’m from New York.” (Since New York’s nickname was also Gotham and the cities are extremely similar.)

”What does your family do?” then he’d say, “My father is a businessman.” (Extremely vague but this was the only way to make sure there wouldn’t be any brows raised that would insure more questions.)

And, “What’s your major?” now this one he’s got a couple answers for but, “Criminal Science” had to be said. (For obvious reasons.)

The car ride went by pretty smoothly and the next thing you guys know, you’re at your parents house.

Oh the nerves were hitting the both of you pretty hard, but you both hid it as you guys walked inside.

Now your parent’s knew that you guys were coming (You called them beforehand.) but they were very curious about him.

It seriously wasn’t everyday that their daughter brought home somebody for them to not only meet, BUT to also stay over.

It was entirely out of character for you.

And they of course thought that there was something going on between the two of you before even stepping foot in the house.

So to say they were curious would be an understatement.

Your whole damn family was there at your house and everyone wanted to see the boy that you brought along.

All eyes were on you when the two of you walked in, hugs were given with kisses on the cheeks and the questions were flying all over the place.

Your mom though was the first one to greet the two of you, bringing you in for a hug and then going and pulling Tim in one right after, welcoming the two of you.

Tim took it very well, and he felt his nerves starting to go away.

The rest of the evening was spent with the family getting to know him and the same with him.

Your siblings liked him, your little brother especially. (He lowkey wished that Damian was more like this, and less on trying to make his life miserable.)

Your dad though was a little standoffish, and was trying really hard not to like him, like he was answering your dad’s questions with ease. (Plus, when the two of them went for a handshake, he wasn’t expecting Tim’s grip to be that strong.)

And your mom immediately liked him, she got a good vibe from him the moment they met.

The night went by in a series of laughs and good stories, but then it was time for everyone to got to bed.

The thing is all the beds were taken, except or yours.

Now when you realized this, there was a prominent heat on your cheeks.

But of course, the honorable Tim offred to sleep on the floor.

“Yeah you’re not sleeping on the ground, it’s freezing,” you state, lifting the sheets to get in, “plus I’d feel bad.”

He couldn’t argue against that so he went to the other side of you bed and crawled in.

Seeing how stiff he was, you decide to put on cheesy holiday movies on your laptop that you brought.

Putting it between the two of you, you only make it 45 minutes into the movie till you crash out.

Thing is, you were now leaning your head on his shoulder sleeping, and he blushed when he felt you nod off.

His heart was doing somersaults when he saw you sleeping, a warm feeling filling his heart.

So he turned off your computer and fell asleep with an arm wrapped around you holding you close.

After that night, the rest of your break went by in a blur.

Then the next thing you know, you were back at your apartment and life went back to normal.

Well as normal as it could have been with Tim now in the picture.

He was a good sport throughout it all.

But he needed to go home.

You guys did try your best to find a way to get him home, but it became clear that someone from the other side needed to open a portal or something.

So waiting was the only option.

It was taking his family a while though.

Enough to the point where it gave you both a bad feeling.

But you gave at least the Batfam the benefit of the doubt, Tim on the other hand, had thoughts about them forgetting him at the forefront of his mind, even as he tried to push them away.

Life goes on though, and days became weeks, weeks became months, and the next thing you knew it was March and school was eating you alive.

Currently you were in the middle of a APA essay on the couch, with Tim sitting with you, his nose stuffed in his own laptop. (Also working on stuff, but he was listening in on police conversations, old habits die hard.)

But then your roommate walks in from her 7 o'clock class.

Tim notices her pull out her phone, but something was going on with the coms, so he wasn’t paying attention to the sly smirk appearing on her face.

You weren’t paying attention, and one minute you were working on the essay and the next you had the back of a phone shoved in your face.

“And now witness the wild geek in her natural habitat, typing her life away as the rest of her sanity boils out of her blood shot eyes,” Your roommate narrates, trying and failing at doing a nature documentary voice over.

Your eyes narrow, “Bro, what the hell are you-”

“Oh but look,” Then she motions the phone in Tim’s, “There seems to be a male Geek, also having the life being slowly sucked out of him.”

She then turns the camera to face her, “Could it be some odd mating ritual? Or something else?” She lets out a dramatic sigh, “The world may never know-”

You each glanced to each other for a brief moment, and a devious smile crawls on both of your guy’s faces as you both got the same idea at the same moment.

It was lightning fast, the camera almost didn’t get it as you jumped on each other, lips meeting in a frenzy.

Cue your roommate.exe has stopped working and is now having an aneurysm because of h o l y  s h i t.

Out of all the things that she thought that you’d do, like maybe throwing her phone across the room on to the other couch, she was not expecting that.

So that is basically how the two of you became a couple.

Funnily enough, though, it was all recorded on Snapchat.

Even funnier that your older sister was friends with her on Snapchat.

You had forgotten that until your phone was ringing and you saw her face on the screen.

Oh man, was she freaking out, she was happy though, if not a maybe a little grossed out. (Ain’t nobody want to see their sister like that.)

Tim could hear the whole conversation as he left the living room with you to your room and he was trying really hard not to laugh.

This was basically how the next few weeks went.

Only now there was the addition of you going and working out with him whenever he trains. (Which was legit almost every day, and your thighs have never started to look so good, but oh my god they were never this painful.)

But in all honesty, you guys were happy, yeah Tim was kinda sad that his family never came for him.

Yet he was grateful that you were there for him, through thick and thin, whenever his mind would go back to Gotham, whenever he’d wake up shaking and heaving from a nightmare, you were there to ground him and remind him that it would all be okay.

However, fate still wanted to make Tim’s life a living hell.

It was a normal day where you got up early to head to your 8 o'clock class, everything was just the same as you sat down, but it all started going to hell when all of a sudden your classroom was filled with a flash of bright light.

Your eyeballs felt like they were fried from how bright it was.

But you could still feel yourself falling.

And you just about felt your soul leave your body from how scared you were.

Thank god that it wasn’t a considerable height that you fell.

Well, it was long enough for you to have a bruise on one whole side of your body while you forgot to breathe for a good couple of moments.

With a groan you lift yourself on your elbows, only to yelp and duck as a piece of metal was thrown over your head.

What. In. The. Actual. Hell.

There were more being thrown in all sorts of directions, and you only realized where you were when you saw a couple dudes in colorful costumes fighting it out with a dude that kept throwing white flashes of light, almost like mini suns.

They even left blotches in your eyes as you watched.

But not only was he throwing fireballs, but he was also throwing random objects, which explained the whole iron beam thing.

They kept going, and from what you realized the Batfam kept going too.

Only until the evil discount Doctor Strange threw a light ball at his feet and then he was gone.

“Damn it!” You heard Batman yell dashing to the sport where the wizard dude was but it was already too late.

“Not this shit again!” You heard the Red Hood yell out.

They were all more agitated now, but they didn’t notice you shakily stand up.

“H-Hey!” You yell out.

They all turn their heads to you, not realizing you were there.

“Y’all need to get your head in the game if we’re going to get Tim back.”

This got their attention.

The next thing you know is that you’re getting whisked away to the Batcave.

Lots of interrogation after that.

Your nerves were fried before, but now you could feel them sizzling in your mind.

So was theirs but you were pissed but how long they waited to get to him.

“It’s been months you assholes!” You let the floodgates open now, “He lies awake at night wondering why you guys haven’t come to find him, he’s been in so much pain since fucking December-”

“Woah Woah Woah,” Jason says, holding his hands up, “It’s only been two weeks, and we’ve been fighting that asshole trying to get Tim back-”

“Dude, we’ve been waiting for like four months,” You say, a voice in a deadpan.

This scared everyone in the conversation.

It even scared you.

Time went faster where you were, and nobody knows how much time has passed.

Now you were feeling horrible about leaving Tim alone.

They all got somber after that.

Conversation died off soon after, but they weren’t on your ass anymore.

Eventually, they all were ready to crash, so they all went upstairs.

Which left you and Alfred, so he offered to take you to a room to let you rest.

And so you followed, anxiety making you not really up for conversation as he led you up and into the manor.

He led you to a room, and it only took you a few seconds to realized that it was Tim’s room.

It was as tidy, with a faint smell of coffee in the air and his laptop still open on his desk.

Alfred had a feeling that you and Tim were closer than what everyone else thought, he only took you there to see if he was right or not.

From the look of your face, he knew that he was right.

“I thought that you would be more comfortable here, it seems as if you and Master Drake were inseparable,”

You smile a little and nod, “We were,”

“Then I can reassure you that we will find him and bring him home,” He smiles for a moment, shutting the door quietly behind him as he leaves.

You didn’t sleep well that night, nor the next night after that or the next.

But you didn’t have to wait long before the wizard showed up again.

They wouldn’t let you go anywhere near the action, but you stayed with Oracle in the cave, so you were able to watch the scene unfold.

At first, it seemed as if they were outmatched, but they were slowly gaining ground, and the Discount Doctor Strange saw this, but before he could set off another portal, Nightwing found an opening to his head and knocked him out with one of his escrima sticks.

It was soon after that the man was taken into custody and soon after that was he getting interrogated by Batman.

But days later, he wasn’t budging.

They were getting desperate, and you were their last option on getting information out of him.

When you walked in and saw his eyebrows raise in surprise everyone knew that they hit something there.

“Surprising that you are here, darling,” You feel your gaze narrow.

“Who are you, and why did you send him away,” You say, voice like steel.

“The question is who are you, and why are you here while he’s there?” His voice was condescending.

“You’re the reason why I’m here, and the dozens of people you’ve displaced from their homes.” (A couple of your classmates were also transported to Gotham, just scattered around the city and were showing up at the GCPD ever since looking for help.)

“Oh but you don’t realize that you have this power as well, I could sense it,” he says, and evil smile revealing his grotesque teeth. “It’s small, but it is there,”

“I don’t have-” He cuts you off.

“Ahh, but you do.” The interrogation did not go much further.

But this did end up with you in the Batcave, trying to see if he was correct.

And for the moment, you were pretty sure the asshole was messing with you.

Much to your embarrassment, as Dick and Damian were also in there with you.

Dick was supportive, but Damian was more annoyed than anything else.

“Why can’t you just suck it up and-” Damian was in the middle of one of his many criticisms, but that was the last straw from you.

“I’m freaking trying goddamnit!” You yell out, throwing your arms out behind you, too much at the moment to actually notice the light surrounding them.

It took a couple of heaving moments to notice the look of shock on Dick’s face and the smugness on Damian’s.

“What?” You ask.

“Um (Y/n), look at your hands,” Dick says pointing.

You do and let out a yelp that was half excitement and half fear.

It then took you a couple minutes to turn it off, and a couple more as you figured out how to turn it back on.

You did this a couple more times, getting the hang of it and making sure that you could control them.

Then it was really time to put it to the test, after bringing the rest of the Batfam down, you open a portal that was big enough to get you though.

You let out a nervous laugh, “Wish me luck, guys.”

“We don’t need to, we already know Tim’s in good hands,” Dick says smiling.

“Bring him home, (Y/N),” Bruce says, hope in his gaze (An emotion rarely is ever seen on his face.)

And so you walk through, light blinding your vision as you step though.

For a couple moments, you blinked away the dark blotches left by the blinding light.

You let out a cry of joy when you realize that you were back in your apartment kitchen.

Dashing out of the room, and onto the hallway, you bump straight into a familiar chest, both your eyes widening at the sight of each other.

“Tim!” You exclaim out of breath, itching to hold him close.

At first, he couldn’t say anything, bringing his hands to your face as if he was making sure that you were real and were right there, whole in front of him. “(Y/N)?”

In less than a second, you guys were on each other, your arms wrapped around his neck, and his around your waist, neither one of you wanting to let go.

“Oh my god, (Y/N), where did you go, it’s been over a week, everyone has been worried sick,” He chokes up a bit against your neck.

“Heh, it’s a long story, but I’m pretty sure you want to hear it.”

You tell him everything that happened in the passed few days for you, and while he listened, he felt a weight lift off his shoulders.

His family didn’t forget him.

After you finished with your story, Tim filled you in on what was happening while you were gone.

Your family came when they found out what happened in your class, while he and your roommate were doing all they could to figure out how to find you.

You called them after Tim told you, and then you had everyone make it your apartment in almost no time.

You were pretty sure that you were never hugged and questioned more ever in your life.

Everyone stayed late, but eventually, they went to their hotel room for the night.

Then after a long hug from your roommate, she too retired to her room, and finally, both you and Tim were alone.

That was the first night that you too actually slept decently for a while. (After some you know what.)

But then the conversation came up about what the two of you were gonna do.

Tim had to get home, but you had a decision to make on whether you would stay or go with him.

After a lot of talking, you decided that you were going to go with him, but you would take frequent trips too and from so that you can stay in contact with your friends and family.

The next day you let everyone know what the plan was, at first they were hesitant ut they knew you’d be happier with him.

And the next day, you made a portal that took you and Tim back to the Batcave.

Turns out it a day had passed since you’ve gone back so maybe you could control what time you could get to a place, you thought but were interrupted when you and Tim were legit tackled by everyone, including Damian.

Tears were shed, feelings were spared, and a whole lot of love was pouring into the room.

Once everyone had gotten their selves partially together, you reached out for Tim’s hand, your finger’s threading together.

“Welcome home, Hon.” You say, smiling brightly.

Tim’s smile matches yours with a little amusement sneaking through, “Welcome to the DC Universe, Babe.”

[365daysoftododeku]

9th April 2019

Author: Mara

Word count: 2203 words

________________________________________________________________

catch me when I fall

February

Izuku applauded himself of looking ridiculous on his first day at college, and he hadn’t even finished high school yet! This was just a general introduction. Not that many people were paying attention to him slipping and sliding over the frozen grounds, most of them were wrestling with the same issue. The campus hadn’t prepared themselves for the change in weather, though they at least could have put on a safety warning.

There was a yelp, and Izuku saw someone go down, dragging her friend down. If he didn't fear for his life, he would have laughed.

He was halfway across the campus; arms were thrown out for balance when he lost his footing. After flailing for a few seconds, unsuccessfully managing to gain balance, Izuku fell backwards.

Instead of falling on his bum, which Izuku had expected, he fell against somebody. But instead of dragging this person down, as he just had seen happening, he just leaned against someone’s solid chest, their arms wrapped around his chest to keep him from slipping.

Looking up, his gaze was met by a pair of startling eyes. One was a grey, and the other was turquoise, surrounded by a faded, red mark. It reminded him of spilt wine.

“You’re okay?” the person asked, breaking eye-contact.

Izuku nodded.

The person helped him to get back on his feet before letting go. Feeling like it was impolite to not at least thank them, Izuku carefully turned around.

This guy hadn’t any right to be out here. He was criminally beautiful, pale skin, mesmerising eyes and fluffy, pink hair sticking from underneath his beany. He was dressed pretty light for the weather, though his boots seemed much better fitted for the treacherous ground than Izuku’s sneakers.

“Thank you,” Izuku bowed carefully. “For catching me.”

The guy offered him an awkward smile. “It’s fine; the ground is slippery.”

As if I didn’t know that, Izuku’s mind supplied, but he didn’t voice that.

Checking his phone, Izuku realised he was going to be late at this rate.

“I have to go,” he blurted out, trying not to make a too abrupt movement. “Thanks!”

Izuku caught a brief glimpse of surprise but had no more time to take it all in. He hoped that he would make it in time without slipping for the second time. He doubted that the next time there was a pretty guy to catch him.

He managed in time. Actually, he was one of the first people. The rest was still trying to cross the campus to get there. It made him regret not talking more to the pretty guy. When else would he get such an opportunity?

 April

Izuku was back on the college campus, now for an introduction for his major, and this time he didn't fear for his life. The campus was bustling with students, the weather was warm and sunny, and he was going to meet potential classmates. And, in the back of his mind, he wondered if he could meet the guy from his first visit again. Maybe he attended this college? And how many people looked like they just straight got off the front page of a modelling magazine.

But there was no pink-haired student insight, and Izuku saw through his introduction feeling slightly sad. However, his disappointment was nothing compared to the excitement he felt. He finally could go to college, away from his high school, moving on his own and getting a bit of freedom. He had been fortunate to have a pretty solid scholarship (mostly because he had good grades), and a place to stay out close to campus.

Chatting with some of his future classmates, Izuku didn’t pay an awful lot of attention descending the stairs. In true Midoriya Izuku fashion, he took a miss-step, slipping. Why did Newton hate him so much? He worked hard, he loved his mother and tutored a few kids in high school. He didn’t deserve to fall so often.

Maybe he should have latched onto one of his future classmates, but he was too kind for that. He wasn’t going to drag anyone down with him.

However, instead of cracking his skull open on the stairs, he was caught by a pair of strong arms. They had hooked themselves underneath Izuku’s sweaty armpits (poor person).

“Be careful,” the person grunted, steadying Izuku on the step.

“Thank you,” Izuku said, turning around to meet his rescuer.

It was the same guy as before. He was wearing a plain t-shirt with the logo of a high school in the corner. Izuku didn’t recognise it, but that probably meant this guy wasn’t a college student yet. Which meant meeting again was a bit weird. Without the beany, his hair, dyed pink as the middle part was glowing a little red, was put up on a bun. Why was this guy so handsome?

“Do you fall often?” the guy asked. Seconds later, red started to stain his cheeks.

For you? Always, his mind said, but Izuku just managed to smile awkwardly. “Not often, no.”

The guy looked like he wanted to say more, but instead of words he just stared at Izuku. He probably thought that Izuku was a complete idiot.

Squeaking, Izuku bowed in apology, blurted a goodbye and caught up with the rest.

“You know him?” one of the girls asked.

“Not really,” Izuku admitted, wishing that the conversation would change the topic. “I met him last time I was here.”

“I think he likes you,” another girl said. She looked back at where the guy previously stood. “He is still looking at you.”

“He probably thinks I’m an idiot for tripping twice.”

 July

Izuku had yet to move into the dorms, but he had decided to explore the local shopping mall in the city. It would be useful to know where to find what, especially he would be drowning in work once college started. He wasn’t ready to underestimate it quite yet, as he needed his scholarship.

Checking out the different shop windows, keeping in mind what he deemed interesting and what wasn’t—his eyes immediately were drawn to the comic book shop—he didn’t notice the ‘slippery’ warning, left behind by the cleaning crew.

Losing his footing, he was quite sure that he was so lucky the third time around. He would finally lose his battle against Newton. Maybe it was fate that decided that he had to fall on his bum at least once this year, and the previous times he had been caught didn’t count.

Turned out, he was lucky third time around. He fell against someone’s chest; an arm curled around his chest.

“Are you okay?” the person asked, and Izuku’s heart basically stopped. No way that it was actually the same guy.

Once he was steady on his feet, Izuku could confirm it was the same guy.  He was dressed in a muscle-top and shorts, showing off a well-built frame. His pink hair, this time freshly dyed, was put up in a ponytail. Even sweating he looked beautiful. Though maybe Izuku had a little crush on the guy, despite barely knowing him, and his judgement could be slightly clouded. He might as well be some stalker, seeing as they met so often.

“Ah, yes,” Izuku said. “I’m prone of falling.”

For you, his brain supplied, but Izuku did an excellent job strangling that part of his brain.

“I,” the guy grew flustered. “I was—I wanted—”

The guy spluttered on for a while, before bowing and basically running away.

Izuku stared after him, wondering if he had been that awful to scare off this guy. Looking down at his clothes, he wasn’t wearing anything odd. He was wearing a tank top and shorts, perfect for the warm July weather. Izuku decided to think that the guy had somewhere to be, and couldn’t waste more time on him. That at least didn’t make him feel bad.

 August

He was finally moving into the dorms. Well, not technically. He was just checking out his dorm room, figuring out what he could bring along (he probably had to leave a lot of his comic books behind) and what he had to buy though he should have opted to go another day because it has been pouring and he had been huddling into a way too large poncho.

As the elevator was out of commission, and even if it hadn’t Izuku wouldn’t have trusted it with his life, he jogged up the flights of stairs. He had been unfortunate enough to be located on the sixth floor. Though that also meant he had a single room which might be worth it all. It could be lonely, but it also meant he wasn’t stuck with a messy roommate. He on his own was messy enough, and he would rather keep his geekiness to himself.

On his way to the fifth floor, he saw a figure climbing the stairs ahead of him. It probably was a guy, but the long raincoat and hood hid most of it. Perhaps a student like him checking out their dorm room.

Apparently, when Izuku wasn’t messing around with Newton, other people had to take the blame. Fall. Long story short, the person in front of him slipped, their bright yellow boots failing them. (Not that his red sneakers ever saved him).

Without thinking much—he hadn’t a lot of time to think anyway—Izuku caught up with the person, grabbing the railing and wrapped his other arm around the person’s chest and pull them close. He finally understood how the pink-haired guy felt, it was a bit awkward (and weirdly intimate).

“Are you ok—” Izuku’s voice hitched as he made eye contact with the person he just saved.

It was him. The pretty pink-haired guy who had saved him three times from falling on his arse. What were the odds that they met four times? Exactly the four times Izuku was in town nonetheless? It was either fate, or this guy was a stalker, but seeing as the guy looked genuinely shocked and flustered, he probably wasn’t a stalker.

Unable to properly even think about the words to speak, not to mention actually saying those words out loud. So Izuku just steadied the guy and slowly let go.

“Shouto,” the guy said, his face growing redder by the second.

“What?”

The guy needed a few tries until words came out.

“That’s my name.”

Oh. Oh. Did that mean that Shouto was interested? Or was he just being polite as clearly, they would attend the same college? The few seconds he wasted on pondering over it was enough for Shouto to start fidgeting.

“Excuse me; I shouldn’t have—”

“I’m interested,” Izuku blurted. Shouto halted a few steps ahead.

Their gazes met, Shouto’s eyes filled with surprise. “You are?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

Shouto just stared at him, slowly pushing his hood off. His hair was tied in a low bun, strands falling around his face. He looked the same as he had done the last time, same eyes, same hair colour, same wine-coloured mark around his left eye. He was still beautiful.

“This?” Shouto said slowly, pointing to his wine-coloured mark.

“Honestly, I don’t mind it.”

Izuku hadn’t put a lot of thought into it. It didn’t deter much from how pretty the guy was, and he found it hard to believe that there were people who actually judged the guy on something like a birthmark. They all had their marks, scars and little quirks, so it wasn’t as if Shouto was a special snowflake.

“I have freckles all over me, it isn’t just the face,” Izuku gestured to his freckles covered face. “And I have scars. So it doesn’t bother me.”

Shouto smiled softly. “I like your freckles; they’re cute.”

Izuku decided to be the better person and not going into discussion with Shouto about this. Because they would be standing here for hours and looking at their mutual interest in one-another, Izuku would like to at least exchange numbers.

Taking out his phone, he climbed a few steps, unlocked his phone, and shoved it into Shouto’s hands.

“Let’s exchange numbers. I mean, college won’t start until September, and I’m not from around here.”

He hoped that he wasn’t overstepping any boundaries.

“Can I at least have your name?”

No way. Feverishly retracting their conversation, Izuku realised he had never introduced himself. His mother would have a fit if she realised how bad his manners were.

“Midoriya Izuku.”

They exchanged phone numbers in silence, though Izuku was quite sure he was producing noise as he was basically vibrating on the spot. He hadn’t any success in dating during high school—mostly because he was awkward. Not that this had changed much, Shouto just didn’t know nerdy Izuku yet. He should treasure this as long as possible.

“Do you want to—”

“I know a coffee shop where we—”

Both laughed. Izuku couldn’t help but adore Shouto’s cute little smile. What was his mother going to say? She would be over the moon to hear that he is finally going on a date.

“I would love to.”

________________________________________________________________

Would you like your work to be featured in the 365 Days of TodoDeku Project? Apply here! (≧∇≦)/

[namjoonxorg]

𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒚 𝑭𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓 ･❪ ❁ ❫ ･ 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝑽𝒊𝒆𝒓 - 𝑫𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒆𝒓

“We always believe our first love is our last, and our last love our first.” – George W. Melville

You checked yourself over in the mirror one more time. Doing a turn, you nod, deeming your outfit appropriate.

Suddenly, your phone chimes, signaling a new message. Unlocking it, you peer down at a text from Jungkook.

Jungkook: party starts soon, you better be here

Rolling your eyes at the younger, you make your way to your car.

As you breathe in the cool air and take in the starry night sky, you can’t help but think a little relaxation is long overdue. Ever since the year started you’ve been so wound up and stressed about all your deadlines, you haven’t had much time to have fun and do things you want to do. So when Kook invited you to a party tonight, you had immediately agreed.

Thankfully the car ride was short and when you pulled up to your friend’s place, you felt yourself grow increasingly more excited. It’s about time you get out and do something.

You can hear the music from inside when you get to the door and you knock, hoping someone can hear, but sending Jungkook a text just in case. You wait a moment before the door is swung open, a familiar face greeting you.

Kook stands in front of you with a wide grin on his face, a cup in his hand, and his honey hair casually ruffled. “God, finally you’re here,”

You narrow your eyes but push past him, into his dorm where you can see a number of people dancing around.

The party itself isn’t too big, but to be fair Jungkook had warned you about this. Apparently, Jungkook has had too many ‘disruptive and out of control’ parties and so his RA’s been on his case more often, keeping his eye on him. Namjoon wasn’t too thrilled when he found out that Jungkook’s been having parties behind his back on the days he goes to the library to study, but after a lot of convincing, he agreed to let Jungkook have another party on the condition that it be small enough to keep them out of trouble.

Many of the people you recognize, classmates or just people you’ve seen around, but there were a few you didn’t. For example the girl with the vivid purple hair and matching lipstick, the really hot guys by the keg trying to drink each other under the table, and the one guy in the corner, staying away from them… but actually he looks familiar… Your eyes widen.

“Yoongi?” You ask, your voice rising to be heard over the music and chatter.

His head swerves around and his eyes find yours in an instant. You can see the moment he recognizes you and a small sigh escapes his lips. A laugh leaves yours and you slowly make your way over to him. He meets you in the middle, his hands in his pockets and subtle smirk on his face.

“I didn’t know you’d be here,” You smile at him, already off to a good start.

Yoongi shrugs, hands still stuffed in his jacket. “Why wouldn’t I be? Jungkook called me a “co-host”.”

“Really?” You inquire, slightly surprised. “I mean, I knew he knew you, but I didn’t know you guys were so close.”

He scoffs, a small laugh bubbling from his throat, as if something were truly humorous about what you said. “I’ve known that kid since the second he got to campus, but in my defence, I didn’t really have a choice,” The two of you take a moment to glance over at Jungkook who was whining to his roommate, Namjoon glaring at him entirely unamused. “It’s hard to ignore someone who lives right next to you and plays obnoxious music until two in the morning.”

Your mouth falls open, unabashedly. “What? You live right next to Kook and Joon?”

“Yeah, I thought that’s what I just said.” He teases to which you rolls your eyes, albeit not without a bit of fondness.

“Whatever,” You dismiss, but then your eyes fall back to Jungkook, who’s left Namjoon and it now joking around with the two guys from before.

One of them, the taller of the three, laughed boisterously, his blonde hair falling in his face. The shortest of them all, was also blonde and you watched in intrigue has he doubled over in laughter. Both of them were sinfully good looking and you take note to interrogate Jungkook on why he hadn’t mentioned the two of them before.

“Why are you staring at them?”

You jump, startled. Turning, you see Yoongi smirking at you smugly, his eyebrow arched in curiosity. A little flustered at having been caught, you puff out your chest. “What? I’m not allowed to look?”

This only seems to encourage him further, as suddenly, he calls all three of them over. Your eyes widen and you reach out to punch him in the arm, but all he does is laugh at your weak attempt at payback.

They come over without much thought, Jungkook the only one of them that you’re familiar with. When they get closer, the other two frown in confusion, their eyes glued to you in interest.

“Hey hyung, Y/N; what’s up?” Jungkook asks once within hearing distance.

“Oh nothing, I just thought Y/N would like to meet these friends of ours.” Yoongi responds, uncharacteristically sweet, something the boys all catch onto. They all look completely unconvinced, but the one on the left, the cute one whose eyes form little crescent moons when he smiles, reaches out a hand.

He smiles again, but this time it’s at you and you swear your knees almost give out then and there. “Hi, I’m Jimin.”

For a moment you splutter, but you shake it off quickly and force yourself to take his hand and accept the handshake. “Y/N.”

You two just stare at each other for a moment before a throat is cleared beside him and you turn to see the other guy. His grins, all boxy smiles and pure enthusiasm. “I’m Taehyung, but my friends just call me Tae.”

His handshake is wild, but it’s endearing the way he seems to be dripping with excitement and you find yourself smiling back.

You soon found yourself immersed in conversation with the five guys, Namjoon and Jin eventually coming to join you. You talked about the stupidest things as you all indulged on the beer and vodka provided generously by Jin and Jungkook. However, you should have known something more would happen, it is a party after all.

Not too long after you all nestled yourself into a corner in favor of getting in the way of everyone’s dancing and rounds of beer pong, you hear a shout from the crowd.

“Dare or dare!”

The reactions seemed to be split between a chorus of groans and howls of agreement. Yoongi mumbles something about immature high schoolers, but, in his excitement, Taehyung proceeds to drag the rest of you to the middle to join in the impromptu game.

Admittedly, you find most of the game pretty fun and entertaining. For the most part, the dares were pretty stupid. Namjoon for example gave a fake love confession to one of his professors, Jungkook sent a nude to his ex-girlfriend, and Jin took a fully clothed shower, much to the youngest’s dismay. Jimin did a strip tease per Taehyung’s request while the latter ran throughout the whole dorm in only his underwear, just nearly escaping punishment from the RA. Even you did your own dare, taking four shots and then attempting to cart wheel through the dorm, accidently breaking one of Kook’s controllers. However, in your drunken stupor, it was fun. It was stupid and wild and exactly what you needed. Even Yoongi can’t deny that he’s been having fun. Well, now he might…

“Jungkook, I swear to God if you mess this up, you’re a dead man,” Yoongi threatened for the thousandth time since receiving his dare.

Jungkook scoffs at the older male as if such a thought were truly absurd. “I know what I’m doing, hyung. I’ve had my hair dyed tons of times, I see how it’s done.”

“Whatever,” He grumbles, slouching into his chair as Jungkook continues to apply the last of the blonde dye to his hair. “I’ve seen Dexter, but that doesn’t mean I know how to commit a perfect murder and become a serial killer.”

Jungkook rolls his eyes at his dramatics, along with the rest of their friends, but you just let out a laugh. As you look around, at new friends and old, you decide that you’re happy with how you spent your night. It couldn’t have gone any better…

That is until almost a whole hour later when Yoongi washes out the dye, only to find that instead of a rich blonde, his hair is now a bright minty green. Jungkook looks petrified, his large doe eyes going comically wide. He takes one look at Yoongi and dashes out of his dorm, running all the way out the building and down the street as the man in question follows him, his vendetta already plotted.

Previous || Next Masterlist || Beginning || Coauthor

[creepypasta-fandom-is-trash]

what is your origin story for EJ

Well…it was something like this….

Warm sun glows and glitters down onto the small boy’s head. His little knees tucked up close to his stomach, leaving only enough room for the comically large book resting in his lap. A tiny pair of glasses slip slowly down the child’s nose as his blue orbs race across the page.  Small black frames contrasting wildly against his ivory colored skin and glassy eyes. Little brown curls dance down Jack’s forehead as the wind brushes softly against his frame. The scent of grass and wildflowers engulfing the boy as he frantically consumes the contents of the book under his hands.

“ In summary, the cornea is the clear, transparent front covering which admits light and begins the refractive process. It also keeps foreign particles from entering the eye,” Jack mumbles as he reads, the medical textbook weighing down his miniscule body as he squirms in place. The bark of an old oak tree scratches at the boy’s back through his red t-shirt, but that hardly bothers the freckly kid.

“Jack???” A deep, soft voice calls out from a distance “Jack, where are you??” Upon hearing his father’s voice, the boy curls up tighter in his spot, and tries to hide between the covers of the book. Heavy footsteps approach rapidly from behind him, soft worried huffing following. The sight of his father’s blue jeans out the corner of his eyes causes Jacky to shrink up further.

“I’m not here,” He whispers feebly, trying with all his 7-year-old might to hide from his father.

“Jack, what on earth have I told you about taking my textbooks?” his father crouches down besides him.

“That these are very expensive,” Jack mumbles.

“And?

"And you don’t want to lose me….” A shameful flush crosses the boy’s cheeks. “That’s right Jay,” the father scoops him up effortlessly. Naturally, Jack grumbles and squirms, trying to protest the affection from his father. Because, as all humans know, being loved by your parent is sooooo uncool when you’re in third grade.  

“Dad stop,” the boy growls softly, trying to crawl out of his parent’s arms. A heavy sigh leaves the older man.

“One day you'lml wish you had a dad around,” he hums

“Never!” the midget whines.

“Wanna bet?”

“yeah, five bucks!”

Apparently to Jack, five dollars is prime real estate.

“Alright kid. I’ll take you up on your offer….”

A soft gasp escapes Jack’s soft pale being as he jerks up in bed. Papers fall from his messy covers and scatter onto the floor with a dramatic flutter. Panting, Jack runs his hands through his wild mane of near-black hair, trying to will away the cold sweat running down his back. Despite his thin t-shirt, the poor man feels both ridiculously hot and frighteningly cold at the same time.

A sense of throbbing loneliness crosses over Jack as he turns his gaze over to the dark nightstand to his left. A series of small knick knacks lay scattered about. A half-solved rubik’s cube, some broken pens, a picture of mom and dad…A small alarm clock on the desk reads off five-o-clock a.m. The red glow of the little numbers hardly registers in the mind of the man as he sleepily tries to gather himself together.

“Ugh,” Jack grumbles, slipping out of the bed and searching meekly for his clothes. A huff comes from his bunkmate, the weed-scented teen rolling over in his fitful sleep.  Cringing, the spindly man slips into his clothes and snatches his backpack off the floor.

“Keep it down,” groans his buzzed roommate. his gastly complexion obvious as he grabs his blanket and drowns his himself in it.

“Shut up grassyass,” retorts the scholar as he angrily storms from the tiny dorm. The halls glow dimly with lights plugged into the wall,  just enough lighting to allow those drunk and late-working students to return to their dorms with semi-accuracy. Jack’s time-worn shoes thump against the floor clumsily as  he traverses this strange area. Of course the day wont be of any particular excitement. And Jack is very much aware of this trivial fact. And it is in his mind something else to not care about. His mind is on the schedule.

“Advanced Anatomy, Chemistry 104, Med lab no. 2….” Mumbling is what brings Jack comfort as he walks down the many flight of stairs to his earliest classes. Though mumbling is probably an issue when it comes to paying attention to the hallways.

“fuck,” grunts a random student walking down the halls, his shoulders slumped and head cast downward.

“pardon?” Jack hums, turning back to the stranger to see if he is okay.

“You should have bumped into me,” the freak grunts “It would have been a life saver.” And with that, the stranger rushes off, his face pointed to the end of the hallway as if it were an angel sent from heaven. Confusion fills the poor college student as he watches the freakish man stand at the end of the hall.

“what?…” Jack mumbles, slowly turning and rushing away from the teen.

Despite not seeing the strange student again for the rest of the morning, Jack can’t help but feel watched, The burning gaze of unseen eyes trailing along his shoulders and head as he walks briskly around campus.

The warm spring air felt suffocating against his neck as he meandered among the lazy old spruce trees and mildly exhausted students. Nothing felt better than a blast of cool air inside the main recreation center attached to the cafeteria. Sitting inside, the young man munches disdainfully on a sub sandwich, his back hurting from hours of hunching over papers. Softly, as if it were merely from a dream, a soft song begins to play from Jack’s backpack. It’s an old jingle on the piano, one that his mother used to play when he wouldn’t go to bed at night. Quickly snatching his phone from the bag, he answers.

“Hello?” grumbles the student, “who is this?

”“who is this?” Jests a familiar deep voice “Jeez kid I didn’t think you’d forget me like this.” A soft rush of shame crosses Jack’s body as he wiggles awkwardly in his spot.

“Sorry dad,” he hums “I guess I’ve just been on edge all day…”

“I should expect so,” His father replies with pride “My boy is getting his PhD in neurosurgery next month! At the age of twenty-hecking-four!” A blush covers Jack’s freckly face as he looks away from  his fellow students.

“Dad…” He grumbles “C'mon it’s no that big of a deal” A scoff comes from the speaker.

“Not that big of a deal my ass, your mother and I are counting down the days until we get to be there for your graduation!!” Warmth blossoms in Jack’s chest as he listens to his father blabber on about his accomplishments.  The other students cast him strange looks as they pass by, his awkward form curled up on the floor blushing and listening to his phone. Sadly checking the time, Jack reluctantly clears his throat.

“Dad, I need to go to my next lab,” Jack interrupts, awkwardly packing his things together.

“Okay kiddo,” his father chuckles in return

“We love you, kid.”

“love you too dad.”

Worrying is never a good idea, when it comes to issues it is best to merely assess your options and acquire the tools necessary to fix it. The solution to many problems is just a walk in the park. Or in this case, a walk in the forest. Soft moist earth is crushed easily under Jacks worn red sneakers as the tired boy meanders through the hiking trails by the campus. Old birch and oak trees sway and dance in the light wind. Jack’s favorite thing about being in the woods is the seclusion.

Cool breezes rush over his head and tousle his hair as he meanders down the trail. Finally, after a day of racing around and avoiding the eyes of unseen watchers, it’s nice to relax. With each step Jack finds himself more relaxed, more relieved from his fears.   The sun creeps down behind the distant hills, the crickets calling out to each other as the world around them darkens. Owls hoot and holler from their perches on the treetops, breaking the peaceful silence. Soft bubbling of a nearby creek bringing a small smile to Jack’s face. Turning his head, the exhausted college students note several people in a clearing surrounded by heavy bags and random items.

"Campers?” Jack mumbles “on a Tuesday??” confusion fills the man’s chest as he slowly meanders away from the rapidly darkening clearing. Probably just a bunch of stoners, its not uncommon for kids like that to hide out in the forest to hide the smell of their smoke. Nonetheless, the sapphire-eyed man shuffles further into the forest.

Eventually, the sun does set, and the night takes hold of the forest. And, being a man with poor directional skill, Jack finds himself hopelessly lost. Confusion absolutely consumes the tall sleepy man as he paces confusedly in a small clear patch within the forest.

“Hey man, what are you doing here?” A voice cuts into Jack’s worried meandering. Looking up, Jack’s eyes meet dirty blue ones. A dark-haired guy a few years younger than him with bushy sideburns on his cheeks and a tattered old jacket covering his frame.

 "I’m lost,“ Jack replies, nervously rubbing the back of his head "Could you point me back towards my college? Faraday University?” The strange, tired-looking man points down a random trail.

“That way…” He grumbles “It’s best not to come to these parts right now, kid.”

“I’m pretty sure I’m older than you, bub,” Jack chuckles, shoving his hands into his pockets “But thanks!” the man adjusts his tan jacket and huffs, shaking his head.

“Jeez,” the stranger mumbles “Richard would love you.” Confused, Jack casts the strange man a soft scowl before racing off down the trail.

“weirdo…” Jack grumbles as he stumbles head first into a projectile rock.

Thunk

Pain thumps through Jack’s head as he wriggles on the ground. A soft trickle of blood racing down his forehead as he squirms. The sensation of rough rope around his ankles and wrists squeezes and tugs at his soft pale skin. Slowly, Jack opens his eyes, the blaring light from flashlights surrounding him.

“He is awake” hums one of the hooded people standing to his right “Prepare the tools.” reality comes crashing back down onto Jack as he looks around. The rope bites down into his skin and causes his wrists to bleed, panic fills his chest like ice water and sweat races down his neck. Arms and legs held apart by rope, Jack yanks and struggles violently against his bindings. A choked sob escapes his throat as two cloaked individuals kneel by his head.

“Hush now,” whispers a soft, feminine voice “This is for the good of the world.” Pure excitement shakes in the young woman’s voice as she places her hands on Jack’s forehead, coating her delicate fingers in crimson as she forces him to lay flat on the ground. A second person pries open Jack’s mouth and jaws with their fingers, not minding the harsh bites they received from the pale kidnappee. Forcing a strange metal contraption into Jack’s mouth, the hooded freak forces the young man’s jaws to be held in place by the mechanism. Soft fearful wails escaped Jack’s maw as he tries to struggle. “Help…” He thinks desperately, his throat growing hoarse from yelling. A third person approaches, sitting on his chest and preparing a metal spike in their hands. Pressing the tip of the spike onto Jack’s front teeth, the stranger pulls a mallet from their cloak. Fear-laced tears bubble out of Jack’s eyes as he wails helplessly.

CRACK

A pain-filled scream escapes the poor college student as the spike snaps his front teeth. Blood fills Jack’s mouth as he gurgles and writhes in place. The spike is placed close to his molars.

CRACK

CRACK

CRACK

Horrible screams leave Jack’s mouth, the urge to vomit rising as his tongue is coated in his mutilated teeth shards and blood. Quickly, the metal bit is moved from his jaws and the hooded figures back off. As soon as they do so, Jack heaves and vomits onto the ground beside his head.

“Help me!” He screams “Please! Someone! Anyone!” Slowly, the cult around him begin to dig, burying their hands into the earth and flinging clods of muck everywhere. A large circular moat forms around Jack, his body sore and filthy form. Blood trickles down from Jack’s mouth as he heaves and sobs softly. With some hesitation, Jack closes his eyes to shield himself from the scene. “Mom…Dad…” Jack’s mind wanders in a pain-induced stupor “I’m so sorry…” Hands grab and tug at his shoes and arms, the stranger tugging at his fingers and yanking off his socks.  

“I love you both so much”

A metal piece is shoved under his right thumbnail, prying up his nail and yanking it off.

“I wish I could have made you proud of me”

Pliers meticulously remove his toenails, the sickening cracking and snapping of his skin and nails ringing out like gong strikes.

“I wish I could come home”

Soon, his fingernails are gone, the pain pulsing up his arms and legs as blood gushes wildly from his hands.

"I wish I could be there…”

With all of his nails removed, Jack opens his eyes feebly, noting the hot ring of soon-to-be fire in the trench. But this discovery is hardly  important as Jack’s head is forced to face the sky. Soft chanting emits from the strangers around him, soft rhythmic chanting from a language that Jack has never really heard like this.

“Thank you,” Whispers a soft, delicate voice from his right “You will make a mighty fine vessel for our lord.” faint confusion fills Jack’s body as he stares up into the starless, moonless night sky.

Suddenly, the metal spike returns, pushing in between his eyelid and eye and digging into the socket. A fresh volley of pained screams escape from Jack’s mouth as the eyelid is stretched wider. A scoop-shaped something pushes up underneath his eyeball, forcing the delicate skin to the sides of his eye to rip open and bleed profusely. Pain pulses through his skin and bones as a wild, animal-like wail fills the air. Soon, with another sharp burst of pain, all sight fades away from Jack’s right eye. A soft, disgusting slurping sound can be heard over the ringing in Jack’s ears. With his one working eye, Jack sees the beautiful blue form of his right eye being dropped into a small jar.

The chanting grows ever louder as a final hooded figure stands over Jack’s legs, straddling his thighs and forcing him to be immobile.  With his attention focused on the new hooded cultist, Jack hardly notices the tugging of his left eyelid until the bloody spike is shoved into it. A pained wail is all that Jack can manage as the man standing above him readies what looks to be a large sledgehammer. The scoop comes under his left eye and the familiar sensation of skin tearing by his eyes comes again.  

Just as the scoop tears out Jack’s left eye, the man swings the sledgehammer down into his right hip like a wrecking ball.

C R A C K

A violent scream of pain fills the air as Jack’s tailbone snaps, his body flooding with intense pain. The urge to vomit rises up again, yet Jack can’t gather the strength to move, his body broken by the horrible things that have happened. Footsteps indicate that the cult is stepping back.

“ пожалуйста, ребенок, открой себя нашему хозяину” someone in the group grumbles, stepping closer and kneeling down by Jack’s head. Slowly, the group begins to chant softly.

“ восхвалять повелителя , восхвалять повелителя , восхвалять повелителя ,восхвалять повелителя  ,восхвалять повелителя….”

And with the finality of a mother whispering softly to their baby, the woman kneeling by Jack’s head murmurs into his ear.

“Chernobog.”

Confusion was short-lived with Jack as his eyelids are pried open and scalding hot liquid is poured inside. The smell of singed flesh and hair filling the air along with the foul stench of tar and brimstone as the liquid in his eye sockets pool down and out from between his eyelids.  Pain, anguish, fear,  no longer is Jack able to comprehend the world around him as the shock sets in. And the world goes black…

[hallodraws]

Silkster | A Spider Story (04)

Wordcount: 1,974

Summary: “In September 2018, NYC, after college student Jonas Jaeger encounters the hero Spider-Man, Peter takes him back to his place to hear details.”

Warnings: Language, Very minor mention of injury

Author’s Notes: Part 4 of my story for my MCU OC, Silkster. While I love Infinity Wars, Spider-Man: Homecoming, etc, I love the rich history of the comics as well and wanted to write my own “Universe”. This is just for fun and I love researching all the different variations of the Spider-Man characters to compose my own story. Hopefully, you guys enjoy this so far ♡

『 04』

The car ride was a short one, but it was peaceful. Peter turned on the radio, listening to the newest chill tune sweeping the world by storm. He hated to admit it, but Peter was a big fan of this song, despite its current popularity. He wasn't by any means a hipster or anything, but he definitely had his likes and dislikes, and his interests were definitely more on the unique-side. Regardless, I watched as his head bobbed back and forth to the beat, that goofy smile still on his face. What in the world was he so happy about?

Water began to sprinkle across the windshield. I looked out the window and saw as thick clouds started to fill the sky, an orange hue running along their bottoms as the thousands of lights from New York City beamed up at them. The weather report didn't call for rain tonight, but this view made up for any inconvenience. Soon enough, this little sprinkle turned into a full-on downpour. That was okay, though. Rain in the city always made everything so shiny, and the light bouncing off the wet surfaces made it all look so magical. In about fifteen minutes we were at Peter's apartment. As he pulled into a spot, we looked outside again. It was insane out there. Where the hell did this weather come from? With the car and radio off, we could actually feel the truck shake from the amount of rain bulleting off the roof. Peter looked at the entrance, then back at me - his eyebrow slowly starting to rise. I knew that look. Suddenly we both bursts out laughing. We knew no matter how fast we ran we were going to get absolutely soaked. We could also tell this downpour wasn't going to stop any time soon. Together, we bolted out of the truck and ran full speed to the door, still laughing so hard our chests hurt. It's a shame Peter didn't park closer. Once we got to the door, we stopped, just for a minute to catch our breath. I could feel my hair and clothes clinging tightly to my body. Looking at Peter, he was just as lucky as me. "Ha...haha, Sorry you had to pick me up in this, Pete," I said through broken laughs and gasps. "Are you kidding?" He said, opening the door for me like a gentleman, "Like I was doing anything better." I pat him firmly on the back as we both ran up the stairs to his place, my hand making a loud "thwap!" when making contact with his wet back. We continued our laughing fit the whole way up as we left a dripping trail behind us as we went. "Should we find a wet floor sign?" Peter joked. I shoved him playfully up the stairs. "Get moving! It's fucking cold in here!" God, was I right. I was freezing. The chilly September air outside and the breezy stairway inside made my wet clothes feel like ice. I'd have to remember to take some time to dry off before I went back to the dorms. Hopefully, the storm would stop by then. Finally, we made it to his apartment. Peter turned the key and stepped in, eager to get inside out of this chill. "Go! Hurry up," I continued to poke fun at him, "or I'm gonna have icicles on my--" Peter quickly turned around, placing a finger to my lips. "Shhh," he hushed, "look." he removed his finger and pointed inside the door. I peeked inside, looking above his shoulder into the living room. There was May, fast asleep on the couch - remote in one hand and a bowl of popcorn balancing ever so precariously on her stomach. Peter could barely contain his chuckles as we both crept into the apartment, careful not to let the door squeak behind us. At a turtle's pace, we tiptoed across the room - stopping every now and again when May groaned in her sleep. After what felt like eons of the game "red light green light," we made it to Peter's room. As the door closed behind us, we each let out a deep exhale - apparently holding our breath while we snuck by May. Peter wasted no time and went to the bathroom, coming back in a flash. He was carrying two clean towels in one hand and a damp washcloth in the other. Peter placed the first towel on the bed, patting it with his hand as a cue for me to sit. I did, and right after, he draped the second towel playfully over my head. "Hey! You ass!" I said through hushed laughs, hoping not to wake May in the next room. Peter just answered with a chuckle of his own. I slid the towel off my head. I watched as Peter stripped the soaking wet shirt from his torso and slid off the sopping jeans that clung to his legs. I could feel my face grow a little hot. Peter looked... good. Did he always look like this? Was he working out lately? I watched him dig through his drawer for a new shirt, putting it on quickly. I watched as his face turned to a smile at the feeling of fresh, dry clothes as he walked back over to the bed, sitting beside me. "Dry off, man," He ruffled the towel against my hair, "or you're gonna catch a cold. Your face is already getting red, you don't have a fever, do you?" Thank god he was so clueless. I dried my head and hair to the best of my ability, eventually wearing the towel like a blanket across my shoulders. Peter took my arm and looked at the cut. It was already wet from the rain, but it seemed a bit irritated, so he began to press his warm cloth against the injury. I could tell I winced just a bit. "Oh, don't be a baby." He mocked, "I'll be done in a minute, anyway."

"What do you think of Spider-Man, Peter?" I asked without warning. I was just thinking about it, but I guess my mouth decided it was better to share. "W-What?" Peter looked taken aback. I suppose I could've led into that conversation a bit better. "I'm curious. What do you think of Spider-Man?" "I... well," he proceeded to look at my arm intently, cleaning the scratch again, "I mean he's okay I guess. I've never met the guy, obviously. But he does a lot of good for the city. And he kept you safe tonight and got back your bracelet. What's not to like?" "True. I just wish I was able to get my wallet and cash back too," I sighed into another laugh. Even when I'm getting saved by a hero, I still lose out one way or another. "Yeah, he-- wait, what?" Peter's eyes bugged out of his head for a second, "You didn't get your wallet back?" "No. Just the bracelet," I answered. "Turns out Spider-Man is also forgetful," Peter rolled his eyes and sighed. "It's cool though. There wasn't a lot of cash, and I canceled my credit card on the drive here," I found myself laughing again, "I wonder what he looks like-- ouch! Pete!" he began rubbing a little too hard. "S-Sorry! I wasn't paying attention." He apologized vigorously with that goofy grin back on his face. What a dork. "Nevermind, it doesn't matter. I probably won't ever see him again anyway." I blew on my wet wrist to let the injury dry. "Never say never, Jones. New York's not that big a city." Peter walked to the bathroom for a second, returning with a large bandage. He peeled back the protective covering and placed it firmly on my arm. "Will I survive, doc?" I smiled as I pressed the edges of the band-aid down, securing them in place. "Bout a 50/50 chance," Peter elbowed me. As the room filled with the sound of hushed laughter, a loud crack of thunder broke our attention. I looked out the window again. Rain beat furiously against the glass as if it was desperate to get inside. "Jeez, it's not letting up is it?" I said with a lackadaisical drain to my voice. "Why don't you spend the night, man?" "Wait, really?" I was surprised. I don't know why. Peter was a gentleman. He wouldn't have let me walk back to campus, and I would've felt bad having him drive out there in this weather. "Yeah! There's no class tomorrow, you haven't spent the night in a long time, and Aunt May won't mind either," He didn't even let me decide. He could tell just by the look I gave him what my answer was. He went to his drawer and pulled out another dry shirt, handing it to me, "Here, give me those wet clothes. I'll throw them in the dryer." I hesitated for a second, then proceeded to stand up and begin removing wet articles of clothing. Peter was a good friend of mine, and we had gone swimming at the beach and pool together. But this was different in a way - more exposed. There I stood in my boxers alone as I handed the curled up ball of damp clothes to Peter. Peter didn't seem fazed and went out into the hall as I quickly pulled his dry shirt over my head. "Huh, same size. That's convenient." I remember muttering to myself as I sat back down on the bed. Peter returned shortly as another loud crack of thunder shook the apartment, the lights beginning to flicker this time around. "Wow! Where the hell did that come from?" He said as he hopped into bed, leaning against his headboard. "I know! I've never seen anything like it before." and I hadn't, not in the city, at least. Weather like this was pretty natural back home, but rain like this was really out of the ordinary. I looked at Peter. His eyes were closed as his head rested against the headboard. He looked so peaceful. As fun as this night had been towards the end, it was in fact ending. It was late, and I didn't wanna keep Peter up. "I'm beat! I think I'm gonna get some shut eye," I began to move to the empty spot on the floor, figuring that would be my bed for the night. Whenever I spent the night in the past I'd sleep on his couch, but tonight that was May's domain. "You're gonna sleep on the floor?" Peter's eyes were now open, looking intently into my own. "Well, yeah. May's on the couch, so I just thought--" "Dude, I haven't even cleaned my floor. Just stay up here with me. The bed's plenty big enough." Peter scooted to one side, effectively opening up more bed real estate for myself. "You sure?" Peter didn't answer. He just took one of his pillows and placed it in the spot next to him and pulled up the covers, showing me there was a welcoming spot to rest my head for the night. I looked at his floor. Peter was right, he really didn't clean anytime recently. I smiled and went with my best option - relocating beside him. Peter reached for his lamp and turned off the light. "Hey, Pete?" I said, sliding into a comfortable position. "Yeah?" he laid down facing me, clutching a pillow in his arms. "Thanks." I turned to face him. "For what?" he asked. "Getting me tonight. You know, making sure my night didn't end on a bad note." "I thought Spider-Man did that." He rolled onto his back, looking at the ceiling. "He did. But you did too." I closed my eyes. I could hear Peter chuckle to himself. "Anytime, man."

『 Previous | Part 03 』 『 Next | Part 05 』

[fortress-of-iserlohn]

It'll be great if you scan this dj! Even few pics would be good. Can I ask a few more questions about reuyang? How do you think, could Reuenthal be a bit possessive over Yang? Does he get jealous of someone who is close to Yang? What would he do to a potential love rival?

OH MAN ANON

i’ll defs scan itttt (and pray someone is nice enough to translate some because my jp is RUBBISH)! i’m trying to find my scanner lmao. so i can package it up into a nice HQ bundle of R18 lmao.

also. if you don’t mind me asking, what is your preferred ship? (apart from reuyang of course wink wonk).

butttttttt oh man oh man oh man. reuyang. jealousy. WHERE DO I START?

probably under the cut to spare the rest of ur dashes lmao

i mean. i LOVE LOVE LOVE jealousy and misunderstandings and heapings of angst in my otps because they’re duh. fictional.

but anyway. i digress. consider this another au headcanon lmao - i seriously have too many right now.

of course reuenthal is a jelly bean. bro. i mean. have you seen yang? him with his self-deprecating humour. his laid back personality. his soft smile. he’s got a sort of charisma that draws people in without him even lifting a finger.

but this AU! it’s like. this is one where yang and reuenthal aren’t an official thing, and yang is a little more self aware than normal. and it’s stressing yang out a little bit cos he dislikes uncertainty but he has a feeling his emotions are taking a turn for the serious and he doesn’t know what to do (because right, who can he confide in????)

so. reuenthal is the most problematic of problematic bro-dudes. he’s legit a womaniser who prob can’t keep it in his pants all the way until he goes on the ‘straight and narrow’ (where straight is literally only just a turn of phrase cos that boy is bent af cos of yang lbr) when he and yang become an item.

BUT at the very start, it’s more like a fling more than anything else. an on again, off again physical thing only. reuenthal’s (a giant dickwad) the one who demanded to keep things casual and yang goes along with it, because stress relief amirite but he starts getting serious and doesn’t want to pressure the situation. cos yang is GOOD GUY TM (reuenthal, learn something pls)

now, the 13th fleet are SUPER PROTECTIVE of yang, and they’re not sure what’s going on, except their admiral goes missing every now and again and returns the next day exhausted and more and more unhappy each time.

so the 13th fleet throw themselves into trying to cheer him up. anything he wants, he gets it. he’s never alone, someone’s always with him chatting, sitting with him at lunch/dinner, you know. the works. they even give him alcohol! without him asking for it!!

schonkopf & cazerne work things out a lot quicker than everyone else and ofc, schonkopf HATES reuenthal (this is a reoccurring theme with me i guess - mutual hatred between reu and schon - i mean for someone else, might be the start of a hate to love ship, but not for me!!!! although wait til you hear me spouting A+ nonsense about bittenfeld/oberstein and the very thin line between love and hate LMAO)

anyway, schonkopf makes sure to stick SUPER close to yang and reuenthal pretends he doesn’t care. except, he sees schonkopf just casually touching yang, hand on the shoulder, bumping against his side gently, even once leaning down slightly to look him in the eye and damn their faces are way too close together, how dare he, yang is mine! 

...

...

...

wait a minute.

and then it clicks in reu’s head that oh, this isn’t just a fling, it’s something serious. and he goes has a deep and meaningful with his bro mittermeyer (who is one of the few people who still has their head on straight in this show lbr) and mitter is a supportive best friend (UNLIKE YOU REU) and tells him that if he’s feeling this way, he should git gud and admit to having ~feelings~ like a real boy.

so reuenthal, like any mature, adult human, takes that as ‘go kidnap your not-bf and make him your bf and announce it to the galaxy at large’. so he literally steals yang away from under schonkopf’s + 13th fleet’s nose and then between their serious talk where there’s not a lot of clothes involved, he and yang make it official and then reu makes sure to mark his now bf up very obviously (wink wonk wink wonk) in very easy to be seen places (on his neck, near his collarbone, down his chest and damn, you should see those bruises on his hips ;DDDDD but no one will because reu will shoot you in the face kthnxbai), then promptly returns yang to the 13th fleet, making sure that EVERYONE AND THEIR MOM sees them come back together. he makes ESPECIALLY SURE that schonkopf sees him slide his hand in a very possessive manner down yang’s back before he leaves (cos he liked it and he is defs gonna put a ring on it. eventually. when he or more likely, mittermeyer prompts his very undeveloped logical reasoning in regards to humans thinks of it).

yang is blissfully unaware of the undercurrents and everything is rainbows and butterflies and he goes around humming because now things are official and shit and schonkopf just GRINDS HIS TEETH A LOT because he can’t SAY anything without upsetting yang and his life is PURE MISERY TM.

meanwhile cazerne is raking it in the fpa betting pool because yang’s surrounded himself with people of good character but dubious morals lmaoooooooooo

sorry. not sorry XD XD XD

(let me tell you i’m definitely gonna write a college au at some point where the fpa is a free thinking government subsidised institution of higher education and the empire is a very classy, private college and yang is from the history department (phd represent) and reuenthal is doing something really snobby like business law or smt but he’s also on the college football team and he facebook stalks yang a lot. at the start it was only because there was this one time yang accidentally liked an instagram post of reu’s from like. 4 years ago and he’s been trying to bury himself alive since then, but afterwards he sees that yang is a total cutie and 20000% his type and things escalate from there - yang just thinks that reu and his cronies are out to get him so he hides behind cazerne (MBA) and schonkopf (engineering) and also frederica (bio-chemistry) a lot and reu really just wants to ask him out on a coffee date - what u don’t drink coffee?? ok TEA DATE THEN - but he’s always cockblocked by what seems like EVERYONE ON THE GODDAMNED FPA CAMPUS what even.)

BUT ANYWAY. JUST FOR YOU - here’s the first two pages of the doujinshi - it’s a little omake comic with a twin pillar + yang threesome (???) japan is an amazing place i love it.

(although i think it’s all from reinhardt’s imagination. when he orders reuenthal and mittermeyer to seduce yang to the dark empire side LMAO.

and kircheis just agreeing to whatever reinhardt-sama says XD XD)

i really love the main story even though it’s like. 16 pages or smt. fujisaki yang is just too cute and reu v handsome

[digging-holes-in-the-river]

During my junior year of college, I lived with a roommate named Ivan, and one night I cooked dinner and invited my friend Henry over. (We were all university students.)

Henry arrived in a purple suit jacket, purple suit pants, and a purple button-down shirt. (”You know why I didn’t wear my purple tie?” he asked me. “Because I have restraint.”) He also had one of those watches where you can see the gears turning. He wore all of it well; he looked dignified rather than comical.

I served the macaroni and cheese I’d made (the baked kind, where I’d made the sauce from scratch, not the Kraft kind from a box), and we all sat down to dinner at the dining room table. We also had a couple of drinks.

At one point (because this was a fancy occasion, with Henry in his fancy suit and all of us sitting around my real solid wood table eating my real home-cooked meal), Henry or Ivan proposed that they should buy some cigars and smoke them on the roof of the university library.

You were not supposed to climb on the roof of the library, but students did it all the time anyway. You could climb up the fire escape, and walk in the narrow (two-foot-wide) gutter for about 50 feet, and then you would get to a place where the slope of the roof was gentle enough to climb, and you could sit for a while on the flat part of the roof and read, or hang out with your friends, or whatever.

Needless to say, climbing on the roof was Not Allowed, and my friend Zandra had nearly died attempting it a couple months earlier. While climbing up from the fire escape into the gutter, her sandal had caught on something, and she fell backwards. Fortunately, she landed on the fire escape, and only hurt her back a little; if she had fallen just a few feet in a different direction, she would have plummeted down four or five stories to her death.

Anyway, on this night in April or May, Ivan and Henry got it into their heads that they were going to buy cigars and smoke them on the roof. So Ivan got out his suit jacket, which was too small on him because he’d gotten it when he was much younger, and he put it on over his polo shirt and khaki shorts. And we all walked down to a gas station nearby.

“We’d like two of your finest cigars,” Henry said grandly to the gas station attendant.

“Our finest cigar costs two dollars,” the gas station attendant replied.

“Very well, we’ll have two of those,” Henry said, and then I think he and Ivan unwrapped them and started smoking them as we were walking towards the library.

(I didn’t have a cigar because I’m a girl. I didn’t have a suit either. I was probably just wearing normal clothes.)

When we got to the library, Ivan and Henry both headed eagerly up the fire escape stairs. I followed them, but much more slowly and uncertainly. It was one of those metal-lattice staircases, where you can look down through the stair you’re standing on and see all the flights below. I get vertigo from heights, and climbing this staircase was making me dizzy. I was also drunk.

They climbed up into the gutter, but I refused to go. I was drunk, I was dizzy from vertigo, and I was remembering what happened to Zandra just a couple months earlier.

“You go on ahead,” I told them. “I’ll wait here, it’ll be fine.”

So they climbed into the gutter, and I watched them walk the fifty feet down the roof over to the flattish place. They climbed into the flattish place, walked to a different part of the roof, and disappeared from my sight.

And I was standing there, five stories up in the air, on a fire escape that was totally safe but still completely freaking me out. The heights were making me dizzy, and I was very afraid that I would fall. I was afraid the staircase would give way under me, and I’d tumble down five stories to my death. I was afraid I’d somehow fall through the slits in the railing. I clung tightly to the railing and tried to take deep breaths. I had something like a half an hour to endure, there up on the fire escape, waiting for my friends to return.

So I tried to reason myself into calmness (while also taking deep breaths). I remembered that once, when I was much younger, I had looked at a dollhouse and seen the tiny furniture and people on the dollhouse floor, and had thought to myself how sturdy the floor looked, and how unlikely it was that the people and the furniture would fall through it. And I thought to myself that it’s the same at human scale: I worry about things like the fire escape collapsing, but the fire escape is so sturdy and I weigh so little compared to it.

So I tried to picture myself zoomed out, as if I were as small as a piece of dollhouse furniture. I tried to imagine that I was up in the sky, looking down at the school and the roof from above, seeing the sturdy metal fire escape and my own tiny figure standing on top of it. From that vantage point, five stories didn’t seem so high. From that vantage point, the fire escaped seemed unshakeably sturdy, and myself incredibly light and small. From that vantage point, I was not afraid.

And the view from the fire escape was incredible: I could look out across a large portion of the city, and see the lit-up bridge that spanned the river a mile away. Standing there, at the top of the fire escape, at the top of the world, I had this incredible perspective, watching so much of the city from above.

And I knew, in that moment, that I was small. That I was small and inconsequential, like an ant in an ant hill. That my life was just one short blink in the great span of eternity, and that everything I did mattered very little to the great, implacable workings of the cosmos.

But also, I knew that my life wasn’t meaningless, because from my vantage point on the fire escape, and from my imagined vantage point in the sky, I could see the web of larger structures that I was enmeshed in. I could see the ant hill in which I was an ant; I could see the greater endeavors that my life contributed to, all spread out before me, and lit up and glowing with the wonder of the night.

And I stood there on the fire escape, full of holy awe at the workings of the universe and my own small place in them. I stood there for half an hour, still dizzy and still a bit drunk, but no longer afraid.

And my friends returned safely, and we climbed back down the fire escape, and walked back to my apartment through the campus and the dark.

[thehockeyhaus]

Falling in Love Takes a While

I just realized I never posted this to tumblr and I kinda wanted to lol.

(you can also read it here on AO3)

Summary:  A mostly canon-complacent story on Lardo and Shitty's friendship and how Lardo's realized her feelings for Shitty (hint: it takes a while and there's lots of pining from Shitty)

(1.17)

Lardo padded over to Shitty once Bitty started babbling about campus life to the tadpoles. “Hey, Shits, were you gonna go on the tour too?”

Shitty shrugged. “Nah man, just came along because Bits was mad struggling with all those boxes. I was afraid he’d trip and die on the way here if he carried them on his own.”

“Did you have any plans after this?”

“Nope,” Shitty replied, popping the p with a grin. “Art building?”

Lardo grinned. “You know me so well. Gotta stop by the office first to drop off my clipboard.”

Shitty followed beside her diligently as they made their way out of Faber. “So, what are you working on right now?”

“I’m messing with different kinds of paints all on one canvas. Professor told us to go abstract, ‘be experimental’, so I am.” Lardo shrugged. “The spray paint and water color combo is kind of odd, and I want to throw in splatter paint and oil paint still, but I’m not sure how to do it.”

Shitty nodded, nudging Lardo playfully with his shoulder. “Sounds interesting. If you need help splattering paint, I have mean wrist flicking skills.” He flicked his wrist, waggling his eyebrows as he did.

Lardo laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind, thank you.”

“Have you eaten yet?” Shitty asked a few minutes later as they continued towards Kotter, gesturing towards the cafe with his head.

“Grabbed a bagel before the tour, but I’m getting hungry again,” Lardo admitted.

“Well, why don't I go grab our usual from Annie’s and I’ll meet you at the studio, ‘kay?” Shitty offered.

Lardo thought about it for a second. “You know, that would be ‘swawesome. I’ll be in my usual spot when you get there.”

Shitty beamed. “Alright, see you in a few,” he said before heading off in a different direction.

Lardo picked up the pace just slightly, but still taking time to look around as she continued across campus. She hummed to herself as she stepped inside Kotter and grabbed her supplies before heading to her usual spot.

Of all the buildings at Samwell, Kotter had to have been her favorite. They’d built it with art students in mind and it was interesting because of just how many outside areas it had for students to work in. One of the kilns was technically outside, but it was covered by a roof and another area was filled with various sculptures and paintings that were waiting to be spray painted.

Then there were just a few places that didn’t architecturally make sense, which was why they were Lardo’s favorite. One in particular, a semi large nook facing the Pond, was where she normally went to work on her pieces.

After setting up her easel and canvas, she took a seat on her stool and sighed, looking over what she already had done.

The background was filled with several blotches of color. Deep emeralds and cobalt blues overlapped, creating new colors between them as they filled up the canvas. Then, over that she’d started to play around with spray paint. She’d started at the top with a bright, metallic silver and kept the can close to the canvas so the paint would puddle and drip down.

But now, she was stuck. What was on there currently was dry, so she potentially could start doing oil paints on it, but she still wasn’t completely sure. All she knew was that she had decided against acrylic, because it felt cheap,  and she was still unsure about adding the splatter paint. Maybe she’d do that last.

She squinted at the canvas and tilted her head to the left.

“Lookin’ good so far Lards,” Shitty commented as he walked over with a bag in one hand and a carry tray with their drinks in the other.

“Thanks,” she replied flatly, tilting her head to the right. “I’m just stuck on it.”

“Well,” Shitty said, pulling up a chair, “why don’t we just talk and you paint whatever immediately comes to mind as we do?”

Lardo took her cup and shrugged. “Sure, why not?” She took a sip and set it down before working on setting up her glass board that she liked to use for oils. She pulled out her jar of turpentine and glanced back at Shitty. “You got me the homemade chips, right?”

Shitty snorted. “Of course, who do you take me for?” He opened up the bag and offered up the chip to her mouth. She grabbed it with her teeth and tilted her head back so it fell into her mouth more.

“Thanks.” She said with a mouthful of chip.

“Welcome,” he replied, pulling out a muffin for himself.

“So, you knew that one kid from the tour?” Lardo prompted as she mixed her colors.

“Derek Nurse. Yeah, he went to Andover with me and we played hockey together.” Shitty took a bite. “He’s a good kid.”

“Do you think he’ll end up coming here?”

He shrugged. “Maybe? I wouldn’t be surprised if he did. He seemed to really like it so far.” He glanced over at her. “So how can I help?”

Lardo paused. “Just keep talking. I have an idea and hearing you ramble is part of it.”

Shitty beamed. “Now that I can do.” He said before launching into an animated story about a call he received from his mom last weekend.

🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒

(Between comics 1.20 and 1.21)

The second the final buzzer sounded, Lardo was out of her seat. She jogged down the concrete hallway, wanting to meet the boys as they walked back into the locker rooms. Just as she reached the doorway on the far side of the room, she heard the sound of them trudging in. She was panting slightly as she took in their sullen expressions. Bitty walked in with them, chatting softly with Shitty. He’d sat on the bench during the game to cheer them on, even though he couldn’t skate himself.

The boys were quick to toss of their helmets, no one speaking above a whisper if they spoke at all. Shitty looked up when he was at his cubby, glancing over to the door. When his eyes met hers, she gave a small wave.

Once everyone was changed, Lardo ushered them out of the building. She knew staying at Faber much longer wouldn’t help their moods. They walked out together, heads down and shoulders bumping.

Slowly, everyone started going their own way. Lardo kept by Shitty, following him back to the Haus.

When they stepped inside, Shitty was quick to lose all of his clothing. He left on his blue boxers and headed up to his room to grab his bong and stash. Lardo trailed along beside him silently, grabbing a blanket from off of his bed before she followed him up to the Reading Room.

It wasn’t until after they’d filled up his bong and lit it that either of them spoke.

“Goddammit,” Shitty breathed, running his hand through his hair as he slowly exhaled smoke.

Lardo looked up at Shitty as she took a hit. His bare chest glowed in the full moon’s light. She was always amazed by how warm he tended to run. Even now, in the cool March air, Lardo had quickly wrapped herself up in the blanket.

The night was quiet around them. The team was mourning their loss in their own way, and the campus seemed to be respecting their want for silence. Lardo was honestly surprised that the lights were off at the lacrosse house. Maybe the universe was just giving them a moment for once.

Smoke swirled above them. Lardo handed the bong back to Shitty, scooting slightly closer to him when she did.

“You guys played really well,” she said, glancing at him once.

Shitty leaned back as he inhaled slowly. One of his arms went behind her back to help brace himself. “And Bits… I mean, he got checked for nothing. His concussion.”

Lardo nodded. “That was scary. He’s gonna be okay, though.”

Shitty sighed. “It was on our home turf too… We should’ve been better.”

“Now you sound like Jack’s inspirational poster,” Lardo teased, trying to lighten the mood but Shitty just kept staring across the road.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Lardo asked quietly as she took another hit.

Shitty didn’t move. He continued to stare across the road, so Lardo slid closer to him until their legs were touching.

“What if we don’t win next year?” Finally tumbled out of his mouth. He finally asked. “What if we don’t even make it to the finals? What about after? What am I supposed to even do next year? Should I take the LSATs? Do I want to take the LSATs still? How am I supposed to just leave you guys, leave this? It’s just,” he paused, inhaled sharply through his nose and sighed heavily, “It’s a lot. It feels like I haven’t been here long, but it also feels like forever and I just love you- love you guys so much and I can’t leave.”

Lardo turned to face Shitty as he rambled on. Her arm brushed against his, and her knees pressed up against his leg after she moved to sit cross legged.

“Fuck, Lards, I just don’t wanna leave. I don’t wanna leave the Haus,” He stopped, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. “I don’t wanna leave Samwell. I just…”

She watched him as he seemed to brace himself for something before he moved his arm and turned to face her. “I don’t wanna leave you,” he said quietly before he leaned in, lips brushing her own.

Lardo relaxed, leaning into the kiss.

Suddenly, Shitty tugged her onto his lap and Lardo laughed, but it turned into a moan when Shitty’s mouth travelled down to her neck.

“W-We should take this inside,” Lardo whispered softly, eyes fluttering closed as she leaned into Shitty’s touch. He groaned softly when she climbed off of his lap, moving around him towards the window. She glanced back to check on him, but he was right behind her.

The second they were inside, Shitty scooped her up in his arms and walked them down the hall to his room. Lardo leaned up to kiss his neck as he shut the door behind them.

Suddenly, they were on the bed. Lardo was lying on her back and Shitty was hovering over her. The two of them looked at each other for a moment before they both leaned in.

🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒

Lardo was woken up the next morning by a litany of curses. She opened her eyes blearily as the covers were twisted by a floundering Shitty.

“-fuck, fuck, fuck,” Shitty was saying to himself as he shoved himself to the other side of the bed.

Lardo blinked and stared at Shitty, trying to process why he was freaking out. She propped herself up on her elbow and rubbed her eye with her other hand. “W’a’s goin’ on?” she mumbled sleepily.

Shitty looked like he was gonna be sick, which made Lardo become more alert. She sat up, “Seriously, you’re freaking me out, what’s wrong?”

Shitty ran a hand through his hair, and Lardo noticed it was shaking. “I-I.. um l-last night… we, I mean, I-I didn’t… did I?”

Despite his floundering, Lardo could see where his thoughts were going. “No, Shits, no,” she told him firmly. “I was definitely consenting to what we did…. Were you?”

Shitty’s face burned red. “Y-Yeah, definitely.”

Lardo shrugged, “Then we’re chill. Nbd.”

Shitty’s body slowly relaxed and he let out a small laugh. “Thank fuck. I was so… I don’t know what I would even do with myself if I ever…” He let out a huff, his face heating up again. “What we did last night, I mean, did it,” Shitty paused and took another deep breath. “Did it mean anything to you?”

Lardo wrinkled her nose subtly. “Look, Shits, you’re one of my closest friends. You seriously mean a lot to me, but I’m not really looking for that right now, ya know?” Lardo half shrugged. “I just don’t wanna be tied down- it’s college ya know? I just wanna be me without worrying about any sort of commitment.”

“Of course, I understand, completely,” Shitty agreed quietly.

“This isn’t gonna make anything weird between us, right?” Lardo asked, noticing his hesitation.

Immediately, Shitty perked up. “No! Of course not,” he agreed hastily. “I’d never want anything like this to fuck up our friendship. You mean too much to me brah.” He licked his lips and gave a small smile. “Besides, how would you ever get any art done without me?”

Lardo groaned and flopped back on the bed. “It’s way too early for chirping, dude.”

Shitty laughed. “Wanna go back to bed then?”

“Hell yeah,” Lardo agreed. Shitty stood up and slipped back under the sheets, but not before he put on a pair of boxers. Lardo didn’t comment on it, instead pulling the covers up around herself more and snuggling into the pillow. “Maybe when we wake up again, Bitty will have made pancakes.”

“That would be ‘swawesome.”

🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒

Lardo made her way back to the Haus the morning after EpiKegster2k14, as Ransom and Holster had dubbed it. She was pretty sure she’d left her jacket over there, and she was also pretty hungry and knew Bitty would probably be making some soon for the team.

As she walked up the sidewalk towards the Haus, a loud voice boomed from inside.

“COCKADOODLE MOTHERFUCKING DOO! RISE AND SHINE AND GET OUT OF MY HAUS!”

She couldn’t help but snort at his antics, nursing a cup of coffee as she bound up the steps and inside. She was still in yesterday's clothes, and she knew she’d get chirped for it, but right now she didn’t care. She stepped over a random body in the doorway and eyed the various people blearily waking up from where they had seemingly dropped the night before. She spotted Nursey with what looked like a leaf on his head near the stairs and nodded at him when they made eye contact.

“Lardo!” Shitty shouted through the megaphone, making her, and everyone nearby, cringe at the volume.

“Hey Lards, you’re just in time to help us clean up,” Holster teased as he walked by, picking up cups. She followed him into the kitchen.

“Hey Lardo,” Bitty greeted cheerfully from where he was scrubbing the kitchen counters.

“Mornin’ guys,” she replied.

“Bro, are you wearing last night's clothes?” Ransom asked, peeking out of the living room.

Holster stopped and stared. “Bro you are!”

“Deets!” The two D-men shouted immediately, abandoning their cleaning to slide over to her.

Lardo grinned cheekily. Bitty perked up a bit from the kitchen, moving his cleaning closer so he could listen. Shitty, though, his grin faltered. Lardo didn’t really pay attention to him, though, focusing her gaze on Ransom and Holster.

“Remember Jasmine, from the track team?” Lardo asked them.

“Holy fuck Lardo!” Holster laughed, offering up his fist. Lardo quickly bumped it with hers, smirking back at him.

“Little heads up for you guys, track girls have stamina.” Lardo wiggled her eyebrows and Ransom and Holster hollered.

As Lardo continued on, talking about how amazing her night was, Shitty slipped quietly away so he was out of hearing range.

🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒

(Winter Break - 2014 - Boston, MA)

Lardo glanced up when she heard the diner’s door open again, but the person who walked in wasn’t Shitty. She checked her phone for the hundredth time. She knew Harvard wasn’t a short drive from the diner, but she was still getting anxious. Just as she considering calling, the door opened again and Shitty stepped inside. His hair was still in a bun, but his suit coat was hanging open as he looked around the diner. His eyes met hers and she smiled at him. He quickly walked over, pulling out his ponytail as he slid into the seat across from her in the booth. “Fuck man.” He grabbed the glass in front of him and took a large drink. “Thanks.”

Lardo nodded, taking a sip of her own drink. “So, how’d it go?”

Shitty ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “It wasn’t that bad. I mean, the guy wasn’t as stuffy as I thought he’d be. He actually had some decent thoughts on gender roles, which I’d be hesitant to bring up at all.” He picked up the menu as he continued. “He said for him it took a few months to hear a response from Harvard. I applied to them first so I’m hoping it all went well, and I didn’t need to do the interview, but-” He set the menu down, looking a little worried. “It couldn’t have hurt my odds, right?”

“I don’t think so Shits,” Lardo replied. “And honestly, if Harvard doesn’t chose you, it’s their own loss.”

The waitress stopped in front of their table. “Ya know whatcha wanna order?���

“I’ll have the french dip and the side salad please,” Shitty told her. The waitress nodded and jotted it down before looking at Lardo.

“I would like the chicken and rice soup with the homemade chips.”

The waitress smiled and grabbed their menus before heading off.

“Harvard’s your first choice, right?” Lardo asked, setting her phone down beside her.

Shitty licked his lips. “I mean… yeah, it is. I’ve applied to Yale and Penn too. I heard back from Penn, so I know I have a back up-”

“Wait, you got accepted into Penn?” Lardo blurted out.

Shitty grinned sheepishly. “Whoops, did I forget to tell you? It was shortly after break started that I got the letter.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “It was exciting to know I have a back up. But it's not Harvard, ya know?”

Lardo nodded. “Yeah, cause it's definitely not a big deal that you got accepted into Penn,” She chirped.

“I forgot okay?” Shitty said with a chuckle.

“Uh huh,” Lardo teased. Shitty rolled his eyes and she smiled at him. “So, how’s the Christmas plans going?”

Shitty groaned and slumped down in his seat dramatically. “Terrible,” he whined. “Mom expects me to show up for a least some of the party we’re hosting at our house. I can get out of Dad’s, at least, because he’s outta state, and thank fuck because I didn’t wanna see him anyways.”

Lardo nodded sympathetically. “Well, you’re always welcome to swing by my place if you need a breather. You know my mom loves you.”

“Your mom is so rad. She’s like this small badass and I love it. Why can’t she be my mom?”

The “She can be,” was on the tip of Lardo’s tongue before she stopped and realized how Shitty could take that. “If she was your mom, then you wouldn’t be you.”

Shitty shrugged. “Maybe, or maybe I’d just be ten times cooler.”

Lardo snorted and Shitty flashed her a grin. “So, what are your plans for New Year's?” she asked.

His grin fell and turned into a grimace. “I’m tempted to go back to the Haus, honestly. I don’t have any and I don’t wanna stay at home any longer than I hafta.”

“A good chunk of the art department is gonna have a party on New Years. You could come with.”

Shitty’s expression brightened. He was about to reply when the waitress came back with their food. She divvied it out, and they both thanked her, before starting to eat.

“I’d love to come,” Shitty finally said after taking a bite.

Lardo grinned. “Alright, it’s a date then.”

🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒

Shitty came by to pick her up on the evening New Year’s Eve day. Lardo slid into the car with a small athletic bag and a larger, wrapped rectangle.

Shitty spotted the box immediately. “Bro, you didn’t.”

Lardo grinned cheekily and handed it to him. “Merry Christmas bro.”

“Can I open it now?” He asked excitedly.

“Of course,” Lardo laughed.

Shitty quickly tore through the wrapping paper to reveal the colorful canvas underneath. He let out a soft gasp. “Lards… This is beautiful.” His actions became ginger as he slid the painting the rest of the way out of its wrapping. His eyes were glued to the colors before him.

Lardo found herself flushing a bit. “It’s really not a big deal. I just… got inspired and I was thinking about you and this is what came of it.”

Shitty’s smile was wide when he finally glanced back at her. “We’ll have to stop by the Haus first so I can put this in my room.” He put the car into gear. “Party’s at Kotter, right?”

Lardo nodded. “Yeah. Do you mind if I crash in your room afterwards? I don’t wanna take the bus back so late. Too many drunks.”

“Of course,” Shitty replied instantly. “You can crash at mine any time.”

The car ride back to Samwell was filled with easy chatter and tons of singing. Shitty was never one who was afraid to sing in the car, especially if he loved the song. He sometimes danced too, which always made Lardo smile, and usually she’d dance along.

They reached Samwell around five. Shitty cheered when he found a parking spot near the Haus.

“It’s okay if we just walk from here, right?” Shitty asked as they stepped out of the car.

“No. That's way too far, how will we ever do it?” Lardo replied sarcastically.

Shitty snorted, opening the back door to grab the painting. He cradled it as they headed up the steps and inside.

“You can chill on the couch if you want. I’m just gonna go lay this on my desk,” Shitty explained.

“Sounds cool brah,” Lardo said before plopping down on said couch while Shitty clambered up the stairs.

Lardo sent a quick snap to Bitty of her on the couch, knowing how much he hated it, while she waited. She’d just typed out the message on it when Shitty appeared again.

“Ready?”

Lardo looked up. “Yeah totally.” She hit send on the picture and followed her friend outside and across campus.

“So how many people are gonna be there?” Shitty asked as they started to walk.

Lardo shrugged. “Not a whole lot? But it's not gonna be like just ten people either.” She checked her phone. “Maybe like 25?”

“And there's gonna be food, right?” He checked.

Lardo chuckled. “I told you all this yesterday.”

“I don't know, maybe something changed,” Shitty protested, but he was smiling.

“Art students aren’t that wishy washy.”

Shitty laughed. “Uh huh! Says the girl who takes hours to chose a background color.”

“Ok, maybe we’re sometimes wishy washy, but only for good reasons,” Lardo argued.

When they finally reached the art building, several other students were already there, and others were trickling in. There were several choruses of “Larissa!” and Lardo beamed, waving at and hugging her friends.

It didn’t take long for her to introduce Shitty to everybody. Several people already knew him, and more recognized him from all the times he was there with Lardo.

The party slowly ramped up and it was in full swing about an hour later when the pizza arrived. Shitty was having a great time talking with other people, but he still stuck fairly close to Lardo throughout the night.

The group was scattered around the room. Someone had brought Cards Against Humanity and a large game had started, while others were gathering around the hijacked projector watching Dick Clark’s New Year's Eve show. Bowls of chips and pizza boxes were passed around, the group slowly merging to all watch the projector as Times Square and the Ball was pulled up on screen.

Lardo was currently pressed into Shitty’s side on the couch in the main lounge of the art studio. Shitty’s arm was slung over her shoulder, a mixed drink in his hand. Lardo had taken her last shot about thirty minutes ago and was now munching on a bag of chips.

“So, you gonna kiss anyone at midnight?” Lardo asked Shitty nonchalantly.

Shitty shrugged. “I don’t know brah, I’m not really one to just kiss a random stranger.”

Lardo nodded. “Well why don’t we just kiss each other then?”

Shitty blinked, glancing down at her.  His eyes were a bit wide, but his expression was blank.

“I mean... Sure, why not?” he finally said after a pause.

“Cool,” she glanced at the time. “Looks like we have like five minutes. Maybe I should stop eating doritos so I don't have cheese breath.”

Shitty snorted. “Brah, bring it on. Who cares about the cheese? Doritos are great anyways.”

Lardo beamed. “They're the best.” She reached back into the bag and realized there were only a few left. “Want the last Dorito?”

“Dude, I’d be honored.” Shitty placed a hand over his heart before he took the chip from her hand. He then held out his. “Here, I’ll go throw our trash away.”

“Thanks man,” Lardo said, shifting a bit so he could stand up. She glanced back at the clock, only a little over two minutes to go.

There was only one minute left when Shitty made it back to her. Everyone was getting hyped up now, gathering around the projector.

“Wanna go stand with everyone else and watch the ball drop?” Shitty asked, not sitting down yet.

“I can see it from here,” Lardo said, just as someone stepped into her field of view. “Dang it, okay we can move closer.”

Shitty beamed and helped her up, walking over and trying to find a semi-open spot where they could see.

“Twenty seconds guys!” Someone shouted and the room cheered. Lardo glanced at the screen, where everyone in Times Square was freaking out, and then back at Shitty as everyone started counting down.

“5-”

Shitty shifted closer to Lardo.

“4-”

His hand went up to cup her cheek.

“3-”

Lardo stood on her tip toes-

“2-”

-and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“1-”

Shitty’s lips touched hers.

“HAPPY NEW YEARS!”

Cheers and screams erupted around them, but as Lardo’s eyes fluttered closed, the only thing she heard was Shitty’s quiet gasp. Lardo’s lips moved against his, moving the kiss from chaste to slightly more heated.

Before it could go any further, Shitty pulled back. Lardo was dazed, her mind reeling from the various emotions flashing through her head. She didn’t know why his kiss had left her reeling, when no one else’s had ever done that. With anyone else, it was all lust fueled actions, the same end goal in mind. When he kissed her, it held none of that desperation. They were tender, slow, thoughtful.

“Happy New Year Lards,” Shitty whispered, despite the clamor around them. He took a slight step back from her and Lardo instantly missed the warmth.

“Yeah, Happy New Year,” she repeated.

🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒

Lardo glared at the skates in Shitty’s hands like they were gonna bite her. Beside them was the frozen pond, which looked much more menacing now that she knew she was going to be on it soon. “You know, I really like solid ground for many reasons, the biggest being that it normally isn’t trying to make me fall, because friction and all that. It’s pretty nice. The best actually.”

Shitty looked unimpressed. “You’re the manager of a hockey team… who can’t skate.”

“I don’t see a problem with that-”

“Aaandd too bad,” he cut off, grinning at her. “Come on, I’ve sat through tons of your paint-related tangents before, gone on more shopping trips with you than I can remember to random art stores-”

“I literally watch every game of yours.”

“-I could have a membership at plenty of art museums, I’ve modeled for you. Can’t you try the ice for me?” His grin melted into a softer one, pleading.

Lardo’s cheeks heated up a bit, and not just because of the cold. “You can’t use that stuff against me,” she muttered as she grabbed the skates from him. “And you liked those art museums too.”

Shitty laughed. “You’re right, you’re right.” He knelt in front of her whenever she paused too long trying to figure out how to put the skates on. “Brace yourself,” was all the warning she had before Shitty lifted up her foot and began to unlace her shoes.

“H-Hey!” Lardo laughed. Her hand flailed for a second before it landed on his shoulder, digging into his coat to hold herself steady. Shitty looked up at her and winked as he slipped off her shoe.

“Skate please.” Shitty holds out his hand and Lardo hands him the right skate. “Thank you m’lady.”

“You’re welcome kind sir,” Lardo teased back.

Shitty quieted then as he worked on changing her shoes. He laced them up with a calm, practiced ease. It helped with Lardo’s own anxiety about getting on the ice, mainly because all she could focus on was the red tinge on Shitty’s ears and the way his hand felt bracing her ankle.

“Lards?”

Lardo blinked, focusing on Shitty, who was now looking at her. “Huh?”

“I said you’re good to go,” he repeated.

“Oh, okay,” she replied softly. Her gaze went back to the ice.

“Come on,” Shitty coaxed, stepping beside her and offering his hand. “I won’t let you fall.”

Lardo took a deep breath before taking Shitty’s hand. She made her way slowly over to the ice, her grip on him tightening with each step.

When they got to the edge of the pond, it was Shitty who had to pull her on with him.

Instantly, Lardo’s knees were turned in and bent. It took all her energy just to keep her feet from sliding apart. Shitty grabbed her other hand and slowly skated them backwards, just dragging her along.

“Come on, turn your heels in, just trust the skate to hold you. It will,” Shitty encouraged softly.

“Y-You’re fuckin’ insane!” Lardo yelped. “W-What hair brained idiot invented this? I bet it was some wasted Canadian who was like ‘Oh lemme strap some blades to mah feet and just scoot onto this ice here, eh. Be for a good laugh.’”

Her attempt at a Canadian accent had Shitty doubling over with laughter. Each wheezing breath punctuated by the fog coming out of his mouth. He leaned away a bit and Lardo scrambled forward to keep her grasp on him. “Shitty!”

Shitty’s hands slid up to her elbows, still beaming. “I got you,” he soothed. “Deep breaths Lards.”

Lardo locked eyes with him. She nodded and took in a slow breath before slowly trying to straighten up.

“There ya go. Instead of moving like you would on land, you need to push through with each movement. Just kind of sway left and right,” He coached, his voice still low and gentle.

Lardo did her best to follow Shitty’s instructions as he continued to slowly move them around the ice. Even while skating backwards, he seemed so at ease on the ice and that encouraged her to keep trying despite her aching legs.

“I’m gonna let you go now.”

Lardo’s head snapped up to look at Shitty, who’d somehow moved closer to her over the course of their skating. Green eyes shone with delight when they met hers.

“You can do it brah, I believe in you. You won’t get hurt, I promise.”

“But what if I fall? What if the ice breaks?” Lardo rattled off nervously.

“Do you really think something as tiny as you could break the ice?” Shitty chirped.

“I’d break the ice better than your white ass ever could,” Lardo fired back quickly, letting go without thinking.

The second she did, Shitty pushed himself back a couple of feet. Lardo saw his grin and she knew.

“Goddamnit it Shitty Knight you fucker. You said that on purpose.” Lardo’s feet wobbled, her knees slowly falling inward again.

Shitty cackled. “Me? Never.” He held out a hand for her. “If you break the ice, I promise to rescue you, okay?”

“That's not good enough,” Lardo argued, trying to sound mad but it came out as more of a whine.

“You’re right. I’ll get you a cheesecake too. Now come on, slide your feet outward, left and right just a bit. There ya go.”

Lardo started to shuffle forward. She kept her left foot firmly planted on the ground and only barely picked up the right one to push herself the smallest of increments. Shitty cheered for her with every small stride that she made.

She must’ve shown some sort of improvement in her movements, because as she got closer to Shitty, he started to skate backwards. Soon, he was doing laps around her, laughing.

“Dammit, hold still you fucker,” Lardo barked, but she was smiling. It was obvious how much fun he was having, and despite her constant fear of falling, she was enjoying herself too.

Until she decided to try and speed up a bit.

Shitty was across the pond when Lardo started to lengthen her strides. She was doing okay, and even started laughing for a bit.

“Shits! Hey look, I’m doing i-” Lardo called out, turning to look for him when her left foot decided it didn’t want to go forward anymore.

Lardo let out a yelp as she started to lose her balance. She tried to pull her foot back in, but to no avail. She closed her eyes, prepared to hit the ice, when strong arms suddenly wrapped around her. She floundered and scrambled to grab them, which only served to knock over her would-be-savior as well.

The two of them fell with a solid thud, Lardo landing on top of Shitty, who took the brunt of the fall.

Shitty let out a breathless chuckle from underneath her. “Oww…” he moaned softly.

Lardo turned over on Shitty’s chest to look at him. “Did we break the ice?”

“No, and we didn’t break any bones either,” he replied. He smiled softly, arms still around her. “I told you I wouldn’t let you get hurt.”

Lardo frowned slightly. “Does this mean I don’t get any cheesecake then?”

“Not a whole one at least,” Shitty laughed, slowing pulling the both of them to their feet. “Come on, we can take these skates off and go grab a slice from Jerry’s.”

Lardo beamed, allowing herself to be dragged off the ice. “‘Swawesome.”

🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒

(Night before 2.11)

Lardo might’ve been staring at the wall for minutes, or hours, she wasn’t sure. If it hadn’t been for her phone quacking, it might have been even longer. She blinked sleepily, dragging herself out of her stupor to look at her phone.

Shits: hows it goin

Lardo blearily unlocked her phone and pounded out a reply.

“Dying inside. Human battery levels critically low. I need energy juice asap.”

Her phone notified her of another text almost instantly.

Shits: omw

Lardo let out a small sigh and set her phone back down. Her gaze went back to the pile of assorted junk/extra items that were lying around the Haus. She had two of her pieces done already, but they didn’t quite fill up her assigned spot yet. Her biggest piece, and the one she spent the most time on, was the large painting that took up three canvases. The other piece was a charcoal drawing she’d done at the beginning of the year of a burning government building.

She needed at least one more thing, and that would make her happy, but she didn’t know what to do.

The door opened noisily, snapping her out of her daze once more. Shitty was balancing two boxes of Monster in one arm, and holding a grocery bag in the other.

“Guess who brought pie?” Shitty sung loudly.

Lardo put a hand on her chest. “Dude, have I ever told you that you’re the best?”

He laughed, setting down the bag and boxes on a nearby table. “I don’t know, but feel free to say it more often.”

“Maybe, I don’t want it going to your head,” she chirped, hopping off of her stool to grab a drink. Shitty dug into the bag and pulled out the container of pie, popping it open and handing her a fork.

“Fuck brah, its blackberry isn’t it.” She dug her fork in and shovelled out a large chunk. “That’s my favorite.”

“Bits has been stress baking all night dude. He’s been making everyone’s fav.” He took a bite. “So, whatcha need help with?”

Lardo groaned, dropping her head to the table. “I need one more piece, and I can’t think of shit.”

“Let’s brain storm then. I’m pretty good at thinking of random shit.”

“Anything would be helpful at this point. Even your nonsense,” Lardo chirped, peering up at him.

Shitty gasped. “Not everything I say is nonsense. How dare you.”

Lardo laughed and took another bite of pie before grabbing her container and moving to sit on the ground.

They spent hours tossing ideas back and forth, but none of them stuck. The two of them were lying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling.

“Do you have some sort of central meaning you want to come across?” Shitty finally asked.

“I’m just trying to say ‘fuck the patriarchy’ ya know? Like with the painting, it's all about how abs can look great and have a pink polkadot background,” Lardo waved her hand around, “like who gives a fuck. Just, like, things that frustrate me about society! For example, how people like Bitty think they can’t be out in sports because others will be literal assholes to him-” Lardo bolted upright. “Holy fuck that’s it.”

Shitty perked up. “What’s it?”

Lardo leapt out of her seat and went over to her large pile of assorted things. She quickly found what she was looking for, yanking out a jockstrap and a cup. She looked over at Shitty. “How do you feel about bedazzling this?”

It took a while for Lardo to glue everything together like she wanted it, as well as put on the base coat, but she had her idea in mind which made the entire process easier. Her goal was to craft it in such a way that it looked plain from certain angles, but violently rainbow from others, plus have gemstones and glitter on it.

With a sudden burst of renewed energy that only comes from lack of sleep, Lardo easily instructed Shitty through the process with her. It didn’t take long for them to scrounge up the parts, and with both of them working on, it was finished much sooner than Lardo had anticipated.

But it had to be perfect.

Lardo picked and prodded, making minor adjustments to the piece as she circled around it. She looked at it from every angle.

After an hour of this, Shitty finally stood up, stretching.

“Okay artist, time to go.”

“No. It needs to be the best. I need more time,” Lardo argued.

“It’s already beautiful Lards-”

Lardo whined. “Just a little bit longer.”

Shitty moved to stand in front of her, his hand cupping her chin to make her look at him. “Seriously, it’s 5AM. It looks perfect. You need sleep,” Shitty instructed, his voice firm yet soothing.

“But Shits-” Lardo protested.

“What do you want to do to it still?”

Lardo paused and looked at the piece. She furrowed her eyebrows. “... Nothing.”

Shitty nodded. “Exactly. Now come on,” he bent over and scooped her up in his arms, “bedtime for the art student.”

Normally, Lardo would protest to being handled like this, but she was exhausted, so instead she rested her head against Shitty’s chest. “I need to set it up still…”

“What time is the show?” He asked as he started walking.

“Um… five.”

Shitty raised an eyebrow at her. “And what time do you need to be set up by?”

Lardo sighed. “Three.”

“So you can set up later, and you can sleep in tomorrow, too.” Shitty shifted her in his arms. “Now, do you want to go back to your dorm or-”

“The Haus,” Lardo said quickly. “I-I want to go to the Haus, if that’s okay. It’s just quieter there and I won’t have to deal with my roommates-”

“Of course you can go to the Haus. You can have my bed if you want.”

“Not have it, we can share it.”

Shitty snorted. “As long as you don’t hog the sheets like last time.”

“I don’t hog the sheets,” Lardo protested.

The two continued to softly talk and chirp each other until they reached the Haus. Lardo’s eyes were starting to droop as Shitty ascended the stairs to his room.

Just as he set her down on the bed, Lardo remembered something.

“What’re you gonna wear tomorrow?” she asked groggily.

“Um… What should I wear tomorrow?”

“You’ve a suit right?”

“Yeah.”

Lardo nodded. “Wear that. And tell the other boys to too. Dress nice.”

Shitty chuckled. “I will. Sleep Lards.”

She nodded again, snuggling up under his comforter and easily falling asleep in her best friend’s bed.

🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒

Harvard.

Shits got into Harvard, which was in Boston, which most certainly was not the same town as Samwell.

Everyone was clamoring around Shitty, hugging and congratulating him, but Lardo felt like she couldn’t breathe. Her body was locked into place as Chowder suddenly launched past her and onto the top of the dog pile in the middle of the art gallery.

Lardo spun on her heels and sprinted out the door before she realized she was even moving. Tears welled up in the corner of her vision, and as the wind outside hit her face, they finally poured over.

Lardo continued to run until she reached the spot. She slid into the cubby without a second thought and instantly curled into herself. She tried to listen to the sound of the Pond and the wind instead of the thoughts filling her head.

Harvard. Leaving. Boston. Graduating. Gone. Left. Away. Not a five minute walk away, but a 40 minute drive away. Not here, in their corner. Not helping with art projects. Law school. Leaving. Leaving. Harvard. Graduating. Gone.

It wasn’t the soft crunch of feet against the frozen ground that pulled her out of her daze, but rather a warm coat sliding around her shoulders. Lardo raised her head and was met with familiar green eyes.

“Hey,” Lardo mumbled wetly, rubbing her eyes with the heel of her hand. “Do you come here often?”

Shitty let out a breath, give a small, weak smile. “Come on, I didn’t mean to upstage your own art show. I mean this is supposed to be big, and yet here you are out here because-”

“No, I’m so happy that you go into Harvard,” Lardo cut in, but she had to stop when she got choked up again. “It’s ‘swawesome. A-And it’s not like you planned that email to come in right then.” She laughed a bit.

Shitty’s eyebrows furrowed. “Lards-”

“You’re leaving.” Lardo blurted out. “You’re leaving, like graduating for real, and that means you won’t be here. In the Haus, at games. You won’t go on roadies anymore, and you won’t be at practice. You can’t help me bedazzle a jockstrap at 4am, and just bring me coffee in the middle of the day because you know I’ve been here so long. Who’s gonna pull me out of class and take me to Annie’s and remind me to take breaks sometimes? No one else has even been in the art building before, because I wouldn’t let them, because it was our thing and it can’t be our thing if you’re not here. I just, you mean so much to me and you’re not gonna be here- F-Fuck. I mean, I love you and you’re going to Harvard-”

Shitty had a hand on her shoulder, and had been about to pull her closer when he froze. His eyes were wide and his lips were parted. Lardo blinked, rethinking what she said to try and figure out his shock.

Oh.

“I-I love you,” she repeated softly. “I’m sorry it took this long for me to realize but I really do and I don’t want to lose you-”

Shitty’s expression shifted from shock to adoration. “Larissa Duan, you are never gonna lose me.” His hand twitched on her shoulder and his nose colored red with a blush. “Can I kiss you now?”

Lardo beamed and threw herself forward at him, arms wrapping around the back of his neck. Shitty let out a slight yelp as he fell back, his arms locking around her waist. He huffed out a laugh as her lips met his. Lardo laughed. “You’re always catching me, huh?”

Shitty smiled. “I always will if you’ll let me.”

“You’re such a sap,” Lardo chirped. After exchanging kisses for a moment, Lardo pulled back, shivering. “Fuck, when did it get so cold out?”

Shitty laughed, pulling them back up so they were seated again. He snatched his coat off of the ground and wrapped it back around Lardo’s shoulders. She slipped her arms inside of the sleeves. “Damn, I messed up your bun.” She commented, eyebrows furrowed.

Shitty moved his hand up to pat the fussed hair. He shrugged. “It would’ve come out eventually.” He smiled for a second, but then it faltered. “Um… Does this mean… Are we dating now?”

Lardo nodded, wrapping her arms back around his neck. “I’d really like to be, if you’re down with that.”

“I’m pretty down with that,” Shitty said, leaning in and giving her another kiss. “Also, out of curiosity…”

“When did I realize all of this?” Lardo finished. Shitty nodded and she sighed. “Honestly, it’s kinda weird. It was after New Year’s that I realized kissing anyone else was different than it was with you, and I guess I kinda stopped hooking up with other people without really realizing why. But tonight, when you talked about leaving… It just hit me, I guess.”

Shitty smirked. “So maybe it’s a good thing that I interrupted your art show.”

“Shut up,” Lardo chirped, but she kissed him again anyways.

🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒🏒

(Before and During 3.11 - Epilogue)

Shitty was curled around her like an octopus, which didn’t make it very easy for Lardo to grab her phone off of the night stand and turn off her alarm.

“Shitty-”

He groaned.

“-we have to get up.”

His arms tightened around her and he buried his face further into her neck. “Don’t wanna,” he whined softly, his voice muffled.

Lardo started to trail her nails softly up and down Shitty’s back, which instantly gave him goosebumps. “Fuck Lards,” he moaned softly. She immediately stopped and he looked up.

“Oh good, you’re awake,” she chirped. “But seriously, we have to get brunch at Jerry’s, Bitty’s orders, and I really want a Pineapple Blueberry tea from Annie’s before we go.”

Shitty groaned again and rolled onto his back, finally letting go of her. He turned his head to the left to look at his girlfriend. “That means you want me to sneak out of the Haus and run to Annie’s now and meet you there?”

Lardo beamed. “I was just gonna say we need to leave earlier, but that sounds even better.”

Shitty laughed. “Fuck me. Okay, only because I love you.” He swung his legs out of bed and quickly threw on some clothes, grabbing one of his favorite blazer from out of his bag. He wandered into the bathroom to freshen up, and Lardo curled back under the covers, checking through her messages on her phone.

The bathroom door opened with a soft squeak and Shitty came over to kiss Lardo’s forehead.

“See you in a few,” he said before heading out of the Haus.

After he left, Lardo only stayed in bed for a few seconds more before finally rolling out and getting ready herself.

She was in the middle of adjusting her beanie when she heard Ransom and Holster shouting. She shook her head, smiling to herself as she pocketed her phone and walked out of the room.

“Oh, hey Lards!” Ransom greeted. “I’m guessing Bitty texted you too?”

“Yup, brunch meetup.”

Holster quickly butted in. “Lardo! Ransom doesn’t know-”

“I heard you hollering about it,” she cut in as they headed down the steps.

“GOBSMACKED!”

“Rans, how do you not know about Jbrizzle?” Lardo asked as Holster kept yelling about his disbelief in the background.

Ransom just sighed as they walked out the door, but Lardo wasn’t letting it go. “Have you like, never had brunch before?”

“They serve brunch in the dining halls,” he grumbled.

“That’s trash brunch. This is Jerry’s brunch.”

“How are you a senior at Samwell University?” Holster all but shouted.

Ransom threw his hands up in the air. “I don’t know, okay? Look, maybe Bitty’s-”

“Bitty talks about Jerry’s Brunch all the time,” Holster cut in. “He loves their whoopie pies. That’s like a three star Michelin rating.”

As they waited to cross the road, Lardo pulled out her phone and texted Shitty about the conversation.

Shits: poor Ransom. He doesn’t know what he’s been missing.

Shits: where r u btw?

Lardo glanced up at the street signs and quickly typed in their location.

Shits: alright cya in a sec <3

Lardo grinned to herself and looked back up.

Holster still hadn’t let the topic go. “Even Jack knows about Jerry’s Brunch. And he just didn’t live under a rock at Samwell. Oh no! His rock had like twenty other rocks on top of it!”

Lardo smirked to herself. “Rock Lord,” she agreed.

“Wait- is that Shitty?”

Lardo looked up at Ransom’s words and smiled when she saw her boyfriend walking towards them with two drinks in hand.

“Yo, Shits! What the hell man?” Holster asked as he walked towards them.

“Morning lady and gentlemen,” he greeted. “It’s ‘I’m ready for mimosas’ o’clock.”

The four of them stopped near Jerry’s when Shitty handed her her drink. Lardo grinned and took a sip.

“But… like I thought you went back to Boston last night,” Ransom said, glancing at Holster and then back at them, eyebrows furrowed.

“Aahhh. Well,” He glanced at Lardo and gave a small smile. “You know.”

The two of them turned and continued walking, leaving Ransom and Holster puzzled and confused. Lardo was grinning widely at this point, and when Shitty glanced over at her and winked, she took another sip of her drink and knew.

She’d made the right choice.