#and got her/his ass immediately handed to her/him when the gal pointed out that yeah. that's actually literally doing it.

[featherymainffins]

Playing DAI and truly in love with how you can just say anything. Truly in hatred with how you have no idea what the fuck you're going to say tho.

[iamstevessmile]

HAT RULE

Sebastian Stan

Summary: Cowboy Bucky, Cowboy Steve, Cowboy Sam; fluff; implied smut

——————————————————————————

“Come on Chels, this isn’t a good idea ..”

“Oh please, you’ll blend right in.” I scoff, staring at myself in the body length mirror.

“I am a real city girl, if the leather corset doesn’t say that, the way I talk now will.”

“Listen, you’ll be with me the whole night. If anyone tries something, I won’t hesitate to knock them out.” I can’t help but laugh at that because knowing Chelsea, she was not over exaggerating.

“Oh I know.”

“Come on, Austin is taking us.” Chelsea chimed, gesturing for me to follow her towards her brothers truck. “Also, city girl my ass, d’ya forget where you came from?”

“That was a long time ago, my every day no longer consists of working in the barn or herding the sheep.”

“Yeah, and what does it entail? Big shopping sprees and all that fancy stuff?”

Chelsea’s brother hopped into the truck, turning on the ignition as he tuned into our conversation.

“Now that’s a stereotype and you know that.”

“What’s so bad about it here anyways?”

“I wouldn’t say bad, I suppose it’s nice to be away from the business of the city life.”

“There ya go, look at the bright side of things.“

“If you’re worried you’re gonna run into anyone, I don’t think they’d recognize you.” Austin piped up, finally joining the conversation, rather than simply listening.

“Yeah, and why do you say that?” I asked curiously, leaning forward till I was propped between the truck seats.

“Well Little y/l/n ain’t so little anymore.”

“He’s got a point.” Chelsea backs up her brothers statement, leaving me silent for a second.

It’s been a long time since I left, so they could be right, but then again, I had cut ties with everyone except Chels when I left, so maybe I was sitting in their ‘not so good’ books.

I tried to keep contact, but it never happened, and that was completely on me.

“Well, I’d hope not.”

- - -

“Thanks for the lift Aust, we’ll see you later.”

“Don’t go too wild, don’t wanna have to carry the two of you inside.” He says, looking over at me. “‘Specially you, city girl.”

“No promises.” He chuckles, and I flash him a smile before he reverses and drives away, leaving Chelsea and I alone, in front of the bar.

“Well come on, there’s no point of just standing here.” With that, she grabs my hand, yanking me towards the entrance.

As soon as the doors swung open, I was met with an odd nostalgic feeling.

I immediately felt like I didn’t belong here anymore, sticking out like a sore thumb, but then again, the last time I had been here was just under eight years ago.

Time I didn’t exactly spend in bars either.

“Anything in particular I need to remember?”

“Don’t go taking anyones hat unless you plan on leaving with them t’night.”

“Ah, rule number 1. Gotcha.”

BUCKY’S POINT OF VIEW

“I’m telling you Stevie, she ain’t worth the hassle she’s causin’ you.” I sighed, lifting my beer up to my lips, taking a large swig.

Steve had been going on about the Carter girl for over an hour, she had truly been driving him wild over the last few weeks, not in the good way, yet Steve still seemed to stick around her.

“I’m sure there’s a ton of gals here, just waitin’ to get there hands on ya.” He scoffs at my words, shaking his head as he reaches for his own drink.

“I’m not you Buck, I don’t have anyone fallin’ at my feet when I flash a smile.” With that, Sam burst out laughing, seemingly finding that statement hilarious.

“You two are both a catch, now stop with all that.” Sam speaks up, finally joining in our conversation. “In all honestly, Buck is right.”

“Ha!” I exclaim, laughing softly as I watch Steve roll his eyes.

“Steve, you’re a great guy, and if Carter doesn’t see that, then she don’t deserve you, plain and simple.”

I nod in agreement at Sam’s words, about to speak when my attention was snapped towards the bar, where two girls sat perched on the stools.

“I see Chels has arrived. Brought a new friend along this time.” Sam points out, leaning forward until his forearms were resting on the table, watching the two girls, more specifically Chelsea.

I observed the other girl silently, scanning over the way her corset hugged her torso, her red hair falling down and over her shoulders perfectly.

There wasn’t a doubt in my mind as to who was sitting only a few meters away.

After studying her body for so many months, I could recognize her from a mile away.

“I was gonna say have at it Steve, but I think Buck’s mind is already set.” I hear Steve laugh, paying no mind to the two of them as I stand up, leaving my beer behind as I make my way over to the bar.

“One beer and whatever the lady wants. On me.” I call out to the bar tender, noticing Chelsea was now occupied by some guy I had seen around a few times.

Real pity, she’d be good for Sam.

Someone to whip him into shape.

I slide into the empty seat, watching her swivel around slowly until our eyes met.

She had grown up for sure, but it was definitely her.

“Hi, doll.” I could see the small gulp she took, her eyes full of curiosity, not fraying away from mine. “Been a while, hasn’t it?”

That seemed to clear any of the confusion she had, slowly biting down on her bottom lip as she looked up at me.

“Buck.”

God that voice.

Y/N’S POINT OF VIEW

“I don’t think they’d recognize you.”

Yeah Austin, it hasn’t even been ten minutes and that statement has proven to be awfully incorrect.

“Buck.”

“Never ‘xpected to see ya around here again.” He said, grabbing the bear off the counter before holding it out to me.

“Never was much of a beer girl.” I shake my head politely, subtly dragging my eyes around his face.

How is it possible that he got so much more fucking attractive?

“That’s right, though that coulda changed along with everythin’ else.”

“I suppose.”

“Well.” He whispered, lowering his face down slightly until his arms were flat on the bar, and his hat looming over me, as he gestured with his head to the dance floor. “What’s it gonna take to get you out there?”

Was he not angry with me for leaving still?

“How ‘bout that drink you offered.” I flashed a smile at him, knowing I wouldn’t be able to resist him any which way. “Kinky blow pop.”

James Buchanan Barnes was one hell of a charmer.

“By all means doll, anything you want.” He signaled over the bartender, ordering my drink and giving me the time to let my eyes wander over his body.

The flannel he was wearing was tucked into his jeans, the top five buttons undone, allowing me to see the start of his abs just below the chains that were hanging around his neck.

I lick my lips slowly, turning to grab my drink as it arrived before looking back at James.

With the look in his eyes, I know he had caught me looking, but honestly, I could think of a few things worse than that.

There was not a single chance that he never knew how fucking sexy he was.

“Tell me, what managed to bring you back around?” His voice was low, the rasp evident as he kept close, making no movement to back away.

“Just Graduated.” I shrug, giving the most simple answer, “thought I’d come back and visit.”

“Oh, do we have a qualified designer around now?” I freeze for a moment, not thinking that he would even remember that small detail of what I wanted to study.

“You remembered?” I tilt my head slightly, not dropping any of my confidence.

“Why wouldn’t I?” His eyebrows furrow for a moment, watching me intently as I shake my head.

“I think it’s time we get out there!” I chug back the remainder of my drink, Bucky watching in awe as I slam the glass down and strut over to the dance floor, leaving him standing by the bar, alone.

Once I’ve reached the middle of the floor, I turn back around, seeing him laugh as he shakes his head. I can feel the excitement running through my body.

I’ve missed this.

I’ve missed him.

He raises an eyebrow, leaning back against the bar as he lets his legs spread, dominating the area around him and potentially me as well.

He slowly lifted his beer back to his lips, not moving his eyes away from me.

He wanted a show? I could definitely give him one.

I let my hands move upwards, allowing them to find their way into my hair, letting my hips sway sensually to the rhythm of the music.

I keep my gaze locked on his, watching the way he practically undresses me with his eyes.

I feel hands snake around my waist and I immediately stop my movements, turning around to be met with some man.

“You new around here darlin’?” I shake my head, stepping back slightly, which seemed to be pointless as he replaced that step with one of his own. “Haven’t seen a pretty thing like you around here. Are you here alone?”

“She is not.” I feel the presence behind me, knowing it was him without having to turn around to check.

“Sure looks like she is to me.” The man speaks up, which only causes Bucky to step closer to me, his back almost resting against my chest.

Suddenly, I feel the weight of something on top of my head, lifting my hand up to push it out of my eyesight.

“Still look like that to ya pal?” I finally turn my head to the side, taking in Bucky’s protective stance, his arms crossed against his chest, highlighting his muscles, as well as the death stare across his face. “Thought not. Run along.”

The second I hear the man’s footsteps fade off, I turn completely to Bucky, lifting my gaze until I was met with his.

“Thank you, I could have handled that though.” I smile softly, “though, I did appreciate the show.”

“Thought I recognized that looks in your eyes.” He chuckles deeply at my words, his eyes eyeing my body before moving back up to mine.

He lowers his head to my level, lifting his hand up to my head, about to take the hat when I stop him.

“I think I’ll keep this.”

“D’ya forget the rule, wear the hat..?”

“…ride the cowboy. I remember just fine.” I say, stepping closer to him until my lips brush against his.

“Well seeing that you don't plan on giving that back...” He finally closes the gap between us, our lips meeting perfectly against each other as he pushed on my lower back until I am pressed right against him. I pull back, only slightly, dragging his bottom lip between my teeth gently before whispering.

“I think that’s only fair.”

[sunflowergirl522]

Runaway: Their Journey Begins

Pairing: Tiefling!Bucky x Elf!Reader

Summary: Bucky takes a lot of jobs to make a living and this one was no different. Except for the fact that it’s for an elf prince and elves tend to avoid him in general. He accepts and with Sam and Steve they start their journey to find the elf prince’s runaway bride.

Word Count: 3355

Warnings: Language

Masterlist | Series Masterlist

The tavern is crowded and full of life except for one dark corner where Steve and Bucky sit drinking from their mugs of beer. Sam had immediately joined everyone else instead of following his friends to their lifeless corner upon their arrival. They had all decided to celebrate the mission they just completed with a drink at their usual place.

“How mad do you think Sam is that we had to trade away his lute for the jewel?” Steve chuckles as he asks and takes another sip of his beer.

“I’m sure there’s still steam coming out of his little ears,” Bucky laughs. “Where is he anyway?” As the two of them look out into the crowd of people trying to spot their friend a table crashes to the ground drawing everyone's attention. Sam’s standing where it once was in front of an orc who looks like he’s trying to make sense of what just happened. Steve and Bucky look at each other before rolling their eyes at how drunk and angry Sam is. They know immediately that he had to have been the one to knock over the table and that he’s about to start a fight.

“Watch where you’re walking you big oaf! You almost trampled me!” Sam kicks at the orcs legs as he speaks. The orcs' eyes narrow in on Sam realizing that he had been the reason the table was knocked over and his drink now covering his lap instead of sitting in his mug.

“You spilled my drink on me. Who do you think you are halfling?” The orcs' voice booms through the tavern as he picks up Sam by his collar.

“It’s your turn.” Steve reminds Bucky as he nonchalantly takes another drink from his mug.

“I know, I know.” Bucky downs the rest of his drink before forcing his way through the crowd. “For such a half pint you sure cause a shit load of trouble Sam.” He grumbles to himself before addressing the orc in the room. “Hey buddy! Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?”

“Get out of here helmet head, I have no issues with you.” Bucky snarls at the insult thrown at him and cracks his knuckles.

“Yeah, well now I got an issue with you.” He lands a punch in the orcs stomach causing him to drop Sam in shock, who immediately dashes over into the corner with Steve.

“Okay devil man, you asked for it.” 

The orc swings for Bucky who dodges it while landing another blow to the orcs chest. The crowd in the tavern bursts into chaos and cheers as the fight begins. Bucky manages to dodge another punch just to catch a blow to the face from the orc's other fist. He stumbles back a bit from the force of it and can feel the tear in his lip from his fang. He growls at the smirking orc in front of him. He jumps at him, shoving him over onto a table before climbing on top of him and throwing punch after punch at the orcs face. 

Then the doors swing open and everyone freezes as elven guards file into the tavern. The gold of their armor hints to the fact that they’re sun elves. It was rare to see elves in this area. And it was unheard of to ever see a sun elf anywhere other than their territory or in a war. So seeing all the guards fill in the perimeter of the tavern is enough to stop Bucky mid punch. A hush falls over the crowd as an elf prince walks in. He stops in the doorway and scans the place in disgust before his eyes land on Bucky. He makes his way over to him and stops in front of the table. He cringes at the bloodied orc before speaking.

“I’m in need of your services.” Bucky’s eyes go wide for just a second before the orc underneath him groans, drawing his attention back to him. He lands one final blow to his face before standing up and motioning for the prince to follow him over to Sam and Steve. The prince grimaces at the sight of Sam, so drunk he’s barely conscious, and very hesitantly takes a seat across from them while Bucky leans on the wall behind them crossing his arms.

“What can we do for you?”

“Find someone for me. My bride to be has disappeared under my watch. As of this morning she was missing from her room and she’s not in my kingdom. It’s preferable that you find her before her father realizes that she’s missing. I believe that she was kidnapped though any enemies we have wouldn’t have known that she was visiting.” 

“What does she look like?”

“She’s a moon elf.”

“I assure you, your majesty, that we don’t see a lot of moon elves in our profession. We’re gonna need a description to find the right girl.” Bucky spits out and a moment of silence passes before something clicks in Bucky’s head. “You’ve never even seen her have you?” The annoyance in his voice isn’t hidden and Steve bursts in quickly so Bucky can have a moment to stew in whatever he’s thinking of saying.

“Where was she last?”

“The last any of my guards or her guards saw her was in the room she was using during her visit.”

“And you probably won’t even let us go there.” Sam hiccups break apart his slurred sentence as he picks his head up from the table just for it to fall back down when he finishes speaking.

“Your drunk friend would be correct. My kingdom is no place for creatures like yourselves.”

“So let me get this right.” Bucky pushes off of the wall and leans his hands on the table and brings his head down to the prince's height. “You expect me to find some lost princess with no description, no reason for someone to take her, and not even be able to try to track her from where she was last?”

“I can give you a piece of her clothing for a scent.” The prince nonchalantly removes his gaze from the nails he was boredly examining and makes eye contact while he speaks.

“I’m not a damned hound!” Bucky snarls and slams his hands on the table causing many guards to step forward. Steve quickly stands up effectively shoving Bucky back and stopping him from doing anything stupid.

“We’ll look for her. Do you have any suggestions on where we should start looking?”

“There’s a town called Tavin that I’ve heard she spends time in, it’s not far from the kingdom, I’d start there.” The prince then stands up and motions with a finger for a guard to step forward. He drops a bag of coins onto the table and Steve grabs them before Sam can open his eyes to get a glance of it and try to snag it. “You’ll get the rest of it after she’s returned safely to the outskirts of my kingdom.” The prince throws over his shoulder as he starts to walk out of the tavern.

“What an entitled fucking weed eater! How the fuck does he think we’re gonna find his precious fucking princess?” The noise Bucky’s fists make when they slam into the table cause heads to turn in their direction and also causes Sam to groan out something about trying to sleep.

“Are you the best at what you do?”

“Of course I am.” Bucky scoffs out, annoyed that Steve would even second guess that.

“Then we shouldn’t have any trouble finding her.” Steve smirks at his friend knowing he had won whatever argument they would have over this whole quest. “Now let's sober up Sam and get ready to go.” He tosses Sam over his shoulder with just a small protest from the halfling and starts to make his way out of the tavern. Bucky follows behind him grumbling to himself in Inferno and makes sure to kick the passed out orcs legs on his way out.

***

They had let Sam sleep for an hour in their room at the inn not far from the tavern while they repacked their belongings. Once they woke him up they gave him a meal and some water to get him more alert. It’s the system they use every time Sam gets drunk too soon before leaving for a quest. They had to create it because Sam always insists that he can drink just as much as them and not get drunk even though he does every single time.

“So what exactly are we doing again?” Sam asks from atop Steve’s shoulders. He had climbed up after not even twenty minutes of walking because he was tired. He shoves some bread into his mouth while he looks at Bucky for an answer.

“We have to find some elf broad for this dick of a prince.” Bucky’s fists haven't been unclenched since they left town. He stalks ahead of his friends in his annoyance without realizing it. His annoyance only amuses Steve because he knows that once they get to Tavin and pick up a trail he’s going to be on top of it.

“Bucky’s still upset that the prince didn’t give us a description or anything to work with.” Steve looks up at the halfling on his shoulders as he explains the hostility in their friend's voice.

“I’m annoyed because the guy seems like an ass!” Bucky yells back over his shoulder.

“An elf gal huh? I have the perfect song for this!”

“No!” Bucky doesn’t even need to turn around to know that Sam’s reaching behind him to grab the lute that he made them stop to buy on their way out. 

“Fine but only because it’ll be tough to play on someone's shoulders.”

After a long time of walking the trio comes to a crossroads and according to the map they have, both paths will eventually lead them to Tavin.

“I’ve been to Tavin before, if we go right we’ll get there faster than if we go left.” Bucky looks at Steve and points his thumb over his shoulder at the path to the right of the sign.

“Buck, I’ve gone to Tavin a hundred times. If we go left it’ll take longer, yes, but there’s a small village in between us and Tavin that we could stop at to rest and pick up whatever we’ll need.”

“Steve, if I wanted to stop at a town I would’ve said we should go left. The prince said that we should find her before daddy dearest finds out so we should take the quicker path. And I don’t know about you but I want this over and done with already.”

Their bickering continues for a short while before Sam gets annoyed and looks at the map himself. He takes into consideration what bothe of his friends said and how much he would want to walk before he starts walking one way while bringing his lute around his shoulder.

“Where are you going?” Steve calls out to Sam while Bucky smirks at him knowing that Sam’s just made their decision and went with his path.

“I’m gonna find me an elf lover!” After speaking Sam immediately starts to strum and sing a song about the love between an elf and a halfling. Steve shoots his own smirk at Bucky knowing that he’s gonna have to deal with his singing now. BUcky only groans before they both follow close behind Sam.

“Why did I have to befriend a bard?”

“Because said bard has saved your ass on more than one occasion.” Sam answers the rhetorical question still strumming along.

“Shut it shortstack, you were only able to help because no one can see you coming.”

“Can we just all agree that you’re both idiots and move on with our lives? I’d rather not spend the whole trip listening to the two of you argue the whole time.” Steve can’t speak without chuckling over how ridiculous his friends are.

“Alright.” Sam goes back to his song.

“Fine.”

The trio walks on for hours with Sam playing songs here and there and all of them cracking jokes at one another. They walk until after sundown and well into the night. Thanks to the stash of food Sam always has, they don’t even need to stop to hunt for some food.

“Can we stop walking now? It’s starting to get so dark we can’t see the path.” Sam asks as clouds begin to drape around the moon dimming their light source.

“Maybe for you but that’s why I’m here.”

“He’s right, Bucky. We should set up camp for the night, we could all use some sleep anyway.”

“Alright, c’mon, there’s a clearing off to the side of the path up ahead. We can set up there, I’ll start a fire.” Bucky leads his friends up the trail just a little farther before turning off of it and taking his pack off. He leaves Sam and Steve to set up the tent since the moon starts to peek through the clouds providing just enough light to work and goes off to search for wood for a fire. When he comes back he finds Steve sitting outside of the tent with Sam sleeping soundly inside.

“Do you think we really need a fire? I’m getting ready to head in to sleep too.”

“You’re telling me this now? After you let me go off to find the wood.” He drops all the wood at his feet before moving to sit next to Steve.

“I thought you could use some time to yourself to calm down a bit about this quest.” Bucky just nods at him and leans back on his hands.

“Do you really think we’re gonna find the girl Steve?” He asks after a moment of silence passes by.

“Of course I do Buck. As soon as we get a hint of where she is you’ll be able to find her in no time.”

“But what if she doesn’t want to be found?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve been thinking and the prince said that no one knew she was visiting right? So how would anyone of known to kidnap her from the kingdom? She could have just run away, I mean the prince doesn’t seem like he’s much of a catch, if I was being forced to marry him I would run away too.”

“I don’t know Buck, from what I’ve heard arranged marriages are rare even among elves. I’m sure if they were getting married they knew each other. I’m gonna head to bed, you should too.”

“Yeah, I will in a bit.” Steve nods and heads into the tent while Bucky looks up at the moon. He can’t help but believe that Steve’s wrong. It has to be an arranged marriage, why else would the prince not know what she looks like.He sits there thinking to himself and looking up at the moon for a while before making his way into the tent.

***

“Rise and shine sleepy head! It’s time to get this show on the road!” Sam bursts into the tent strumming wildly on his lute to get Bucky up. The tiefling groans and flicks Sam with his tail before sitting up. “Shit! You’re so fucking grumpy when you wake up.”

“Because it means another day of having to deal with you.”

“Yeah whatever, put a shirt on and come outside so we can pack up the tent already.”

“Morning Buck.” Steve greets from his spot on the ground where he’s looking at the map. “It looks like we’ll make it to Tavin by noon.” Bucky finishes pulling his shirt over his head as he walks over to his friends to take a look in the food pack.

“Morning.” A strand of his hair falls over his forehead and he runs a hand through his hair between his horns. “The pack’s almost empty, we’ll have to get more food when we get to Tavin.”

“Steve got up and caught some rabbits so that’s something.” Sam speaks in between bites of the roll he has in his hands. He nods his head towards the fire that the rabbits are cooking on.

“You’re not allowed to hold the pack anymore Sam.”

“What, why?”

“I know you’re the one eating all the food. You can be in charge of the tent pack from now on. Now come help me take it apart while Steve finishes packing everything else.”

Bucky and Sam get their gear out of the tent before starting to tear it down. Bucky throws his cloak on and packs up his leather armor while he leaves Sam to pack up each piece of the tent. When Sam starts to reach for the food pack Bucky grabs it before swinging it over his shoulder with his own stuff. And once more they start their journey to Tavin.

***

Tavin is a lively town with merchants and musicians littering the streets. The people loitering around seem happy as they laugh and talk amongst each other. Bucky brings his hood over his head as they reach the crowded town, hiding his horns the best he can. He never knows how people will react to seeing a tiefling walking among them so unless he’s normally in a town he’ll do this.

“You think we should try the tavern first?” Steve asks while motioning to the building with a sign reading ‘La Luna’.

“Yeah, if that doesn’t work we can start asking merchants.”

“Well, what are we waiting for, let’s go!” Sam speeds up thinking he’ll get some food and a drink while they’re there. Just outside of the tavern Bucky grabs onto the back of Sam's shirt successfully stopping him as he tries to keep walking.

“We’re not here to drink, got it?” Sam groans.

“Yeah, yeah, just here to get information. You’re no fun, you know that?” Bucky ignores his friend and follows Steve up to the bartender. Sam grumbles to himself but soon gets distracted by a pretty dwarf sitting in a corner of the place, packing up some food.

“Hey there newcomers, can I get you anything?” The barkeep greets Bucky and Steve as they approach the bar.

“No thanks,” Steve says as he leans against the counter, “we’re just wondering if you could help us find someone.”

“Barely a soul comes through here that I don’t know.”

“We’re looking for a moon elf princess, you seen her?”

“We don’t see a lot of royalty in these parts.” Bucky slides a few coins across the bar knowing how this process works. “Yeah, I’ve seen her. She’s a bit of a regular when she’s out adventuring. Pops actually named this place in honor of her.”

“Has she been here recently?”

“Was here just yesterday, met up with a clan of dwarves who’re here all the time. She left with them.”

“You know where we can find those dwarves?” Bucky leaves a few more coins on the counter.

“You got a map?”

Meanwhile Sam tries to shoot his shot with the dwarf maiden he had spotted.

“Hey sweet thing, my friends and I are in town looking for someone, but I think I might just be who you’re looking for.”

“Maybe you are.” She sends Sam a flirty smile. “But that might depend on who you’re looking for.” And boy is Sam weak to attractive women because he’s quick to spill the beans.

“Some elf princess, I’m sure she doesn’t match your beauty though.”

“Where are you friends now?”

“Over there, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind waiting around if I told them I was leaving with a pretty lady.” Sam points over at Steve and Bucky who’re talking to the bartender and the dwarf watches as Bucky slides coins across the counter with wide eyes.

“I actually have to go.” She leaves in a rush and Sam just shrugs.

“Her loss.” He makes his way over to his friends as the bartender points at the map in front of him.

“Sam, we’ve got a lead.”

Bucky Taglist: @puddinsqueen @koressecretidentity @stevieintheimpala @unmagically @peachytea01 @the-chocoholic-writer @perksofbeingatrex @99-cats @rachmmb @quokkatrash @vanillamaa @strawb3rrydr3ss @that-sarcastic-writer @spideyycents @mackycat11 @crystalsoul2 @rosiemotion @dissectiontime @lmf @jacelynenursalim @aiyanalevina @mooncaffeine @fanofalltheficsx @jewelsrocks99 @lharrietg @yoongisdumplingcheeks @clubcesspool @sailormajinmoon @girl-obsessed-with-things @corvusmorte @sophielovesbarnes @collywobbl @majo240820 @alina02 @toothhurtyam 

Marvel Taglist: @its-the-autism-innit-luv @pogueslandia @obsessedwithbuckybarnes @rorysreallyrandom @sxtansqueen @myalupinblack @aya-fay @lieswithoutfairytales @kakakatey @sugarbutterbailey @1-800-ch3rry @amelia-song-pond @leyannrae @ficsnrec @slut-for-bucky-barnes​ @neenieweenie​ @officiallyunofficialperson​

Everything Taglist: @florenceyelena @ninuffi @i-love-superhero @kolakube9 @lexy9716 @hehehehannahthings

[pikapikabishes]

Light of My Life

DESCRIPTION: CHARACTERS ARE NOT MINE, THEY BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTFUL OWNERS. ONLY THING THAT IS MINE IS THE PLOT

Summary: Kirishima and Y/n realize their love for each other after years of yearning

Warnings: slight nudity, some cursing, tooth-rotting fluff

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two years.

Kirishima has been in love with you… for two whole years. Ever since he met you on the first day they had started as first years in UA. When you stood up for your new friends against the angry blonde pomeranian that is Kasuki Bakugo, then for some reason apologized for it. You were just the epitome of beauty, both inside and out, and benevolence, a fiery spark in your eye that indicates the strong will and fight that you have.

And the way you handle yourself in combat during that first training exercise with All Might? Kirishima swears that the existence of Cupid must be real because he was pretty sure it must’ve been incredibly abnormal with how fast he had fallen for you. You fought like some kind of battle goddess. And with your quirk, you might as well be.

You called your quirk “Celestial Light,” meaning you manipulate sun-, moon-, and starlight to your will. He’s seen you use the sunlight as powerful beams, to which you secretly admitted to him later that you got that move from Pokemon, forge weapons out of either light, and can now weave yourself a dazzling pair of wings along with armor as your ultimate move.

And while all these features, plus with just how stunningly beautiful you are; with your soft, shiny (h/c) hair, your (e/c) eyes that seem to make the stars in the sky lose their sparkle, those plump, soft-looking lips that stretch out into that dazzling smile that proudly shows off your pearly whites. What really reeled in his attention was all the little quirks you have.

The way you twirl a lock of your hair when you’re deep in thought; the way you chew on that kissable, plump lower lip of yours and your nose scrunches in the cutest way he’s ever seen, when you’re stuck on a difficult problem or when you don’t understand said problem; the way you always pluck out the tomatoes from your salad; how you always save your dessert for last so that, according to you, the delicious taste lingers on your tongue long after you’ve eaten it, or how you’re quick to offer some of your said dessert when a friend seems upset or sad about something; or the way you lightly sway your hips while you’re cooking to a song that’s either sounding from your phone or ringing in your head, at times humming to the tune playing, and how you tend to hum to what seems to be a pleasant daydream, if the soft smile on your face is anything to go by; as well as how you always, always make hot chocolate late at night when you have problems sleeping and how utterly adorable you look as you fight to stay awake as he fondly watches from around the corner during the times he himself has gown downstairs for something to drink as you sigh so contently when you take that first sip before clumsily making your way back up to your room. Especially when you still continue to argue with Kasuki to this day on how he treats Midoriya even though he’s mellowed a bit, Kirishima can’t help but find you so utterly adorable when your 5’7” is all up in Kasuki’s 6’5” personal space. It’s like watching a cute golden retriever puppy going up against a big bad (pomeranian) wolf.

Man, he could just go on and on. And he can go on and on and on about how hopelessly in love with you he is. Which he was subconsciously doing right now with his group of friends as he watched you happily interact with your best friend Mina and the other girls, as they undoubtedly plan their “girl’s night” tonight. Kirishima gave out another sigh, which earned him a hard smack on the back of his head within the next second.

“Ow!” Kirishima’s hand shot to the spot the angry pomeranian he calls his best friend had smacked him. He turned a questioning look over at the seething blonde next to him, looking at the bulging vein that looks ready to pop on his forehead. “What the hell was that for, Bakubro?!”

“That is the fucking twelveth time you’ve fucking sighed like that in the last 20 minutes, and I swear to fuck if I have to hear another fucking comment on how ‘beautiful’ Lamp is, Imma blow your ass all the way to Timbuktu,” Bakugou angrily spat out.

Of course, the threat of getting his ass handed to him rolled off him like water on a swan’s back. In the back of his mind, Kirishima laughed at how his friend was just all bark as he knew Bakugou wouldn’t actually beat him up that bad… probably.

Kirishima blinked, “Wait, what?”

“Yeah, bro,” Denki butted in, looking slightly annoyed as well. “You’ve been going on about ‘(L/n)’s hair looks great today’, ‘(L/n) looks so cute with her nose scrunched up when she chews her food’, ‘(L/n) looks so good in her uniform today.’ Like bro, you say she looks great in her uniform everyday, which I won’t argue, she do be looking mighty fine in a school uniform,” Denki trailed off as he leaned back in his seat as he stared at the girl in question, looking suspiciously like he’s trying to get a better view of her ass.

At that realization, Kirishima glared at the pervy, knockoff pikachu and kicked his shin hard.

Denki yelped, high-pitched and whiny as he brought up his leg, tendly rubbing the spot that was kicked. “Oooww, dude! What the hell?”

“Don’t look at her like that,” Kirishima growled, eyes glaring daggers.

Denki puts his arms up in surrender, cowarding before his suddenly intimidating friend. “Okay, okay! I’m sorry, I won’t stare at your girl again!”

Blood quickly rushed to the red-head’s cheeks, painting them a rosy color. “Wha- She’s not my girl!”

“You wouldn’t be able to tell with the way you look at her with that lovey-dovey expression on your face and how you follow her around like a lost puppy,” Sero intervened, casually leaned back in his seat with his hands behind his head, the straw from his drink dangling from his lips.

“Yeah what he said,” Denki agreed, still tenderly rubbing his injured leg.

“That’s not-” Kirishima tripped over his words. “We’re just hanging out! I do the same thing with you guys!”

“Yeah. but if ya compare how much time you spend with us vs. (L/n), you’re practically non-existent in our group hangouts,” Sero laughed at his friend’s red face that is one shade off from blending into his hair.

“Guys, com’on. I- I just-” Kirishima was waving his hands, trying to think of something to say.

“Quite making fucking stupid-ass excuses,” Bakugou butted in. “Do you like Lamp or not?” Kirishima nodded hesitantly before glancing back over to your table as if nervous that you would hear this conversation even when you were like 4 tables away in this noisy cafeteria. “Then be a fucking man, or some shit, and fucking tell her already before I pop a goddamn blood vessel from all your fucking lovey dovey shit and whinning!”

Kirishima blinked thinking about his best friend’s words. After a moment, Kirishima gave the pomeranian his usual bright grin that could blind anyone who witness, hence why Denki and Sero simutaniously brought out sunglasses and place them high on their noses, and Bakugou’s squinting. Standing up suddenly, he declared, “You’re absolutely right! I have to man up and tell her how I feel!”

The commotion of Kirishima’s declaration turned around all the heads in the cafeteria, causing the red head’s cheeks to heat up again as he became fully aware of all the pairs of eyes on his 6’4” self. After giving a hasty apology, Kirishima plops back down, leaning on the table and covering his eyes with his big hands. Unknown to him, a pair of disheartened (e/c) orbs glanced at the embarrassed red-head with a sadden longing lingering in them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You’re staring at him again,” Mina, your number one best friend, noted in a singsong voice, popping another french fry in her mouth.

“What? Staring at who?” You questioned, immediately picking at your side salad, suddenly having lost interest in eating.

“Oh com’on. I saw you looking at Kirishima again.” Mina nudged you with her elbow. “Why don’t you just tell him already?”

You looked at her in confusion. “Tell him what?”

“That you’re completely and hopelessly in love with him,” she gave off a teasing lovey-dovey sigh.

Heat rushed into your cheeks. “I-...” You stuttered, going back to jabbing at your salad. “I don’t know what your talking about.”

“Oh, please gurl,” Mina scoffed. “It’s so obvious, it’s kinda painful watching. Why don’t you go talk to him?”

“What do you mean? We talk everyday, we’re best friends just like you and me,” You defended. “Besides,” You absentmindedly twirl a lock of your hair around your finger. “I doubt he’d be into someone like me. I mean, I’m not all that special.”

“Are you kidding? You’re freaking gorgeous, how could he not love you?” Mina asked.

“I just feel like, I don’t know, maybe I’m too plain for him?”

Mina rolled her dark eyes before grabbing your shoulders, and turned you around towards the other girls sitting with them.

“Gals,” she called, turning all five heads. She slung an arm over your shoulder and pointed at you. “Smash or pass?”

They all simultaneously replied, “Smash.”

“See? You are not just a plain, ol’ girl. You’re beautiful, and you’re kind, and fun. Why wouldn’t he like you?” Mina glanced at the Kirishima, watching as Kaminari and Sero poking fun at the gentle giant. She may or may not know Kirishima’s feelings about you, having picked them up a while ago.

Your blushed increased. “I don’t know. He’s just so sweet, and determined, and I just… Sometimes I feel like he’s way out of my league,” you sighed solemnly.

Mina hummed, thinking. “Well that’s too bad then. I think you guys would make such a cute couple.”

“That’s nice of you to say,” you thanked, a bittersweet smile resting on your lips. “But you heard him just now. He already has someone he likes.” You sighed, “Looks like I’m too late.”

Mina decided then and there, she was going to be both of your wingman, determined to get her two friends together by this weekend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Walking down into the common room later after school, with a nice blouse and a pair of skinny jeans with a purse hanging from your shoulder, you come to see the BakuSquad hanging on the couches.

“Alright Mina, I’m ready. Let’s go,” You happily say, waiting for her on the side of the sofa she and Kirishima were lounging on.

Kirishima looked up from his phone, seeing you all dressed up causing a faint blush to rise. “You look good! Where are you going?”

His compliment on your outfit causing heat to rise in your cheeks as well. “Um, Mina and I were going to head to the mall for snacks and clothes.”

“Oooh yeah about that,” Mina started, smiling sheepishly. “I can’t go with you.”

Your face fell a bit. “What? Why?”

“Some personal business came up, But hey! Why doesn’t Kirishima here go with you?” Mina nudged the giant next to her with her elbow.

Kirishima bounced onto his feet in excitement at the thought of you two alone together. “Yeah, let’s go!”

“You don’t have to Kiri, I can go by myself-”

“Nonsense!” Mina interjected. “Kirishima was just telling me he wasn’t doing anything today. Plus you’re going to be needing both an extra pair of hands and eyes if your going to be shopping for clothes.”

You looked ay her in confusion. “I mean, I suppose. But if he doesn’t want-”

“I do!” he shouted, interrupting you into a shocked silence. Clearing his throat, he continued, “Ahem, I mean… I do. I don’t mind tagging along.”

“Alright,” You smiled, your cheeks still feeling warm and butterflies swarming your stomach at being alone with your crush. “If you’re ready, we can go now.”

“Uh,” Kirishima patted his pockets. “Give me a minute to go get my keys and wallet,” he said, before full on sprinting up the staircase towards his room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Here we are,” Kirishima announced, turning off the engine to his beat-up, red pickup truck.

“Thanks for coming along with me Kiri,” you smiled at him.

“It’s no problem, really. I like spending time with you.” His smile was tender and genuine.

“That’s sweet of you. I like spending time with you too,” you said, reaching for the handle of the door.

“Nuh-uh, what do you think you’re doing?” He gently grabbed your forearm, effectively stopping you from opening the door.

You quirked an eyebrow in confusion. “Opening the door to get out??”

“Nope, not while I’m around. A lady shouldn’t have to open a door when a man is with her. I’ve told you this before,” He shakes his head in mock disappointment, not effectively hiding the upturn of the corner of his mouth. “What’s wrong with you?”

He steps out of the truck, quickly rounding the truck and reaching your door to open it. “Seriously Kiri, it’s not that big of a deal,” you said, stepping out of the truck and onto the asphalt, watching as Kirishima locked the truck before walking side by side to the giant building.

“What kind of man would I be if I didn’t open the door for you,” Kirishima asked rhetorically.

You giggled at his catchphrase, or rather catchword. As you two entered the mall, you mindlessly glanced at the stores around you. “So you’re going to buy new clothes?

“Yeah, and some snacks, too, for Girl’s Night tonight.”

“Any reason for buying more clothes?”

“Um…” You started blushing again. “It’s kinda embarrassing.”

“Oh, I get it. You don’t have to share if you don’t have to,” Kirishima reassured, not wanting to make you uncomfortable.

“Thanks,” you smiled gratefully.

You two continue on your way towards the clothing stores, when a shout suddenly sounded throughout the mall and people screamed. You both looked at each other before rushing over. There was a commotion, a young man had a kid hostage in front of the store.

“Give me my son back! Please!” A woman screamed, sounding terrified.

“Mommy!” the boy cried.

“A-Alright, listen up!” the young man stuttered, his whole body trembling as he held up his fingers to the boy’s temple in a gun position. “N-nobody try anything or else this boy is gonna get it!” Everyone stayed still as they nervously listened to his commands. “Everyone here h-hand over whatever money y-you have on you, including you register boy, or else the boy’s not going to be breathing anymore!”

“Robbery, one hostage,” you whispered to Kirishima next to you.

“And his quirk still unknown. We should be cautious about this, otherwise the kid’s gonna get hurt,” Kirishima added.

“Okay so what should we do?”

“How about I sneak up behind him while you get the kid away from him,” Kirishima suggests

“Fine with me,” you agree, going over to a potted plant as to hide your purse. “Let’s go.”

Gathering a small bit of sunlight in your palm, you directed the beam to the robber’s face, not powerful to cause permanent damage to him, but enough to temporarily blind him long enough for you to get the frightened boi away from him.

As soon as the robber yelped in surprise and closing his eyes, you sprinted forward and shoved the blinded robber away from the boy to which he fell against Kirishima who held him in a restraining hold while you jumped back with the little boy in your arms to put a bit more distance just in case. As the robber struggled again Kirishima, who didn’t even budge with all the squirming, you checked over the crying boy for any signs of injury.

Just as you were about to let the boy run over to his mother, the criminal being held by the hulking tank that is Kirishima, pressed his finger gun to Kirishima’s face and a loud bang sounded as he apparently shot at the redhead, a bullet of fire hitting him in the cheek. On instinct, Kirishima activated his quirk to protect himself, but since it was so sudden, he let of of the robber out of surprise. Once he was free, the robber aimed at the boy in front of you and fired.

Without hesitation, you threw yourself over the boy to protect him. Since you handle sunlight, you can take a bit of heat, unfortunately though… your clothes couldn’t. Next thing you knew, your blouse was catching on fire. You tried patting the fire out but obviously it wasn’t working so without thinking, you ripped off your shirt and threw it on the ground, leaving you in just your red, lacy bralette.

A thud sounded from behind you, making you turn around battle-readied, only to see Kirishima with his harden fist hanging in the air and the robber out cold on the ground. “Oh,” you said, “guess you handled that.”

Kirishima gave out a nervous chuckle, a red hue on his cheeks as he looked away. “Uh, yeah…”

A sudden shiver ran down your spine, reminding you of your current state. You let out a shriek, your cheeks now on equal footing with your crush’s red hair. You tried your best to cover yourself, your cheeks getting hotter by the second. Your embarrassment growing as well, as the stupid teenage boys your age started cat whisling at you.

Kirishima couldn’t help his red cheeks when he saw you in your bra, turning his head as to respect your privacy, but as soon as he heard the cat calls, he snapped his head towards the source; a group is rowdy guys his age looking over your general direction.

Wait… were they whistling at you?!

Glancing at you he catches how you were squirming and red in the cheeks, uncomfortable.

Nope. Not happening.

Without much thought, he took off his t-shirt he was wearing, leaving him bare, and went over to hand it to you. “Here, you can use this to cover up,” he said, the heat not entirely have left his cheeks as he trained his eyes solely on your sparkling, (e/c) eyes.

“What about you?” You asked, timidly reaching the shirt.

“No worries. Let’s just cover you up first,” he smiled reassuringly.

Smiling back gratefully, you took the offered clothing and went about putting it on. Meanwhile the group of teens were practically drooling over your figure. That is until Kirishima stepped into their view, arms across his chest with a glare starring daggers and a warning directing at them, his huge hulking frame completely blocking you from their hungry eyes. Being shirtless allowed Kirishima’s hardcore muscles to be displayed in all of their glory. It seems the red head’s goal was working, considering the group all froze up at the sight of his 6’4” muscular build, with not an ounce of fat visible. It took a moment for one of them to unfreeze and quietly urge his companions to move along before the frightening stranger decided to beat them to a pulp.

Satisfied with their scampering away with their tails between their legs, Kirishima turns back around only to be met with your figure practically drowning in his t-shirt. The heat made a complete comeback to his cheeks.You looked so adorable standing there in his clothes.

Before long, the mall’s security made their way over where they took their statements and the unconscious robber and bid the two young heroes their grattitudes before moving along to wait for the police to come and take the criminal away. Once they left, the boy and his mother walked up to you two to give their thanks as well, with the boy excitedly asking for Red Riot’s and (h/n)’s autograph which you both happily gave him, along with a picture being taken. Once the boy was satisfied and proclaiming to never washing his shirt, he and his mother left.

Kirishima turned to you. “You sure you’re okay? You’re not hurt or anything?”

You gave him a reassuring smile as you walked over to the planter in which you had hid your purse. “I’m fine. The fire didn’t burn me or anything, but I might have a bruise from where it hit me. Nothing that I can’t handle.”

“Good, good,” Kirishima nervously rubbed the back of his head.

When you secured your purse over your shoulder, you grabbed his free hand and walked in the direction of the clothing store you usually shopped at. “C’mon. The sooner we get my clothes shopping started, the sooner you can have your shirt back.” Though you didn;t really want to part with his shirt. It was completely engulfing you in his scent, something musky and manly that made you swoon.

“Aw, you don’t like seeing me shirtless?” Kirishima teased.

Hell yes, you thought to yourself. You’d have to be blind or gay to not drool over his washboard abs and bulging biceps, which you were desperately trying not to do. You didn’t want to come off as a pervert but it was hard to ignore the butterflies furiously partying around in your stomach and the intense heat coming off your cheeks.

“Yes,” you whispered, hoping to God that he didn’t hear you. He did, of course, which gave both his ego and the heat in his cheeks a nice boost. Before he could comment on it, you started, “Here we are. This is where I like to buy my clothes.”

Looking up, Kirishima saw the both of you walking towards (insert favorite clothing store).

~~~~~

Mina, having been standing far enough away from you two so as not to be noticed, grinned and squealed and she happily clapped her hands and did a little happy dance. She had followed you two as to figure out how to get you and Kirishima close, but lo and behold a robber with a fire type quirk came along, albeit she hadn’t really planned for this part to happen at all, but when your shirt was set ablaze and you tore it off in a panic, she had the perfect plan.

She had walked up to the group of teens earlier all flirty and bribed them to go over and give you plently of unwanted attention for some extra cash. Though judging by their snarky appearance, she had bet it wouldn’t be too much trouble for them to start drooling all over you.

Mina did feel a bit bad, exposing you like that and making you uncomfortable, but for the sake of the personal, covert mission she assigned herself to get her two friends together, she knew it would be well worth it. Plus you had the gentle, red-headed giant with you to comfort you in your time of distress so she didn’t let it hold her back too much.

Having the group return a bit shaken from the encounter with Kirishima, one of them shakily asked the pinkette, “W-Was that good enough?”

Giving them her signature grin, Mina handed over a few yen bills as agreed upon. “Yup! Thanks for your help guys!”

Muttering a ‘no problem’, the males continued along their way, counting the money they’ve earned, undoubtedly planning on spending it on drinks or food. Mina glanced back at you two as you lead Kirishima to your favorite store, the giant red-head’s posture now screaming protectiveness over your dignity. She was well assured that her plan to give you guys he right nudge was a success, knowing that Kirishima was planning on confessing his love to you today from her little conversation with the other guys of the Bakusquad.

Satisfied with her work, the cheerful pinkette skipped her way to her favorite store as to buy the required snacks for their girl’s night that evening, confident that you wouldn’t be returning until much later that night after your date.

~~~~~

Right away, as soon as you two entered the store, you stop by a rack of clothes, excitedly sifting through the hanging clothes.

“Sooo…” Kirishima started. “Is there a specific reason why you’re getting new clothes? Or are you just getting them for the hell of it?” He asked, mindlessly lifting up a blouse, examining it and then putting it back, and that’s when he looked up. Immediately, he felt a sweat drop sliding down the side of his face at all the hungry, drooling ladies in the store shamelessly staring at his bare torso.

“Um, I guess you can say a bit of both,” you responded, checking out a blouse that seems to have caught your attention. “I accidentally burned some of my blouses when using my quirk.”

“How’d you managed that?” Kirishima found what appears to be a pink sleeping shirt that said ‘Donut Worry Be Happy’ with sprinkles all over and a donut in the middle. “Hey this is cute,” Kirishima said, showing you the shirt. He was silently begging you to get it, he knew you’d be adorable in it and he was desperate to see it in person.

You looked over to see the shirt your best friend was holding up. “Oh my god!” You squealed excitedly, taking the shirt from him. “I love this! I’m so getting this. Great find, Kiri!”

Once you turned around, Kirishima silently fist pumped in victory. “Well, anyway. You know how a magnifying glass can concentrate the sunlight and you can start fires with it? Well my quirk is kinda like that. And because of that, there has been more than one occasion where I accidentally burnt my clothes, as much I hate to admit it.”

“Oh, okay I get it,” Kirishima said.

After finding a couple more outfits, you dragged your very shirtless, very hot best friend to the dressing rooms to get his opinion on the outfits you chose. As you showed off the outfits you chose, to which Kirishima said that each one looked great on you.

You guys were started getting goofier, as time went on, you two acted as if you were in a fashion show, with you strutting around in a new outfit each time striking a new pose every minute, even going as far as fixing your hair in messy styles for each one, be it a quick, braid, bun, or ponytail.

As Kirishima patiently waited for you to step out with the next shirt, you called out. “Oh my god, I think this one is my favorite so far! I think this would great with heels though. Hey Kiri?”

“Yeah?”

“You see those heels I was eyeying earlier before we came to here?”

Looking to his left where the wall was covered with shelves and shelves of shoe boxes plus the ones on display, he sees the pair you were talking about. “The white heels, right?” He asked, already walking over to them.

“Yeah, can you see if they have (insert shoe size)?”

Mumbling the shoe size you gave him as he scanned the boxes, he spots the only size that you requested. “You are in luck, milady. There is only one left.”

“Thank you very much, my good sir,” you giggled reaching your hand out for the shoes without revealing the shirt you were wearing. “I’ll be but a moment,” you impersonated a proper tone hand and shoes disappearing behind the closed curtain again.

While Kirishima waiting idly (and trying his best to ignore the hungry stares still directed at him), he decided to ask for some dating intel in the form of small talk. “So hey, random question. Have you ever thought about dating?” Yeah, so not obvious. Way to go, Kirishima.

You paused your struggle with the second heel strap. “What kind of question is that? Of course I have.”

“Oh,” Kirishima simply said. “So, you have a crush on anyone?”

Staying in your position in front of the full-length mirror, you thought about it. Obviously, you had a big fat crush on the male just on the other side of the curtain, but was this his way of finding out if you liked anyone for himself or just out of curiosity? “Yeah… there is someone I really like, but I doubt he’s noticed me at all.”

“Oh? What’s he like?” Kirishima asked, nervous as all hell that you liked someone else.

“Well, he has spiky hair.. Gorgeous red eyes that shine like rubies… he looks intimidating as hell when you first see him, but actually nice once you get to know him… and he’s really handsome, too,” you blushed, lightly hugging yourself as you pictured Kirishima in your head.

Said male had gone quiet, his heart dropping all the way down into his stomach, the weight feeling like a bowling ball. Wait… Do… Do you have a crush on Bakugou?! “Oh… um… he-he sounds like a lucky guy,” Kirishima responded, trying to keep the tremor and disappointment out of his voice.

Dammit, am I too late? Kirishima cursed his reluctance at approaching you with his feelings.

“W-...What about you? Do you like someone?” You asked, heart hammering in your chest in anticipation to his answer.

“Yes,” he said, causing your heart to stop.

“What’s she like? She’s gotta be amazing for you to like her,” you tried to keep your voice cheery, happy that your best friend had found someone, but a whimper threatened to spill past your lips as tears gathered against your lower lashes, your bottom lip wobbly.

“She’s so amazing. She’s strong, and kind, and sweet, and she’s probably the most beautiful woman I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing,” Kirishima gushed, a dreamy look on his face. “She does (insert hobby 1), and (insert hobby 2), and she’s so good at it. And she can make some really delicious food, though she swears up and down the road that she’s not that great of a cook, but I can’t help but love every single bite of it.”

“That’s… that’s great,” you said, unable to keep out the tear-filled tone out of your voice.

“Wait, are you crying?!” Kirishima panicked.

You sniffled, hugging yourself tighter, “No.”

Kirishima stayed quiet for a moment. And deciding to be a man and take that leap of faith, he continued, “Though, I admit, she is a little dense.”

That caught you off guard. “Huh?”

“I mean, you would think she’d at least notice a little bit how much time I spend with her,” He said, laughing out loud, partly out of nerves. “Or how no matter the hour during the night, if she came to my dorm crying, I would drop everything to make her feel better, and will do the stupidest shit just to see her smile and laugh. Or how she is literally the sunshine of my life, and with her quirk, its just makes it even more true.”

Your eyes widened. Was he talking about someone with a quirk similar to yours? No, it couldn’t be, there was no possible way he was talking about you, it must be some huge coincidence.

“Or how whenever we go stargazing with each other at night, I have never looked up at the sky, not even once, before. No star, or constellations that she makes up could ever compare to the stars in her (e/c) eyes. (Y/N)... you’re just so perfect, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be good enough for you.”

You whipped around so fast, you actually tripped over the clothes that were scattered at your feet, causing you to curse as you fell, hitting you head against the wall of the dressing room with a rather loud thud as you fell right on your bottom.

Hearing the loud, resonating thud, Kirishima panicked and went into hero mode, rushing to pull back the curtain to see if you were harmed or not. Quickly finding you on the floor, tenderly rubbing the back of your head, your expression pinched with slight pain.

“Hey, are you okay?!” Kirishima worried, kneeling down to your level with his arms outstretched as if to catch you should you fall over all of a sudden.

“Yeah, just banged my ass and head is all,” you groaned, still tenderly rubbing the sore spot, sitting up more.

“Here, let me check your head.” Before you could protest that you were perfectly fine, Kirishima gently cradled your head and tenderly pushed your head forward so he could check out the damage that had been done. You instantly shut your mouth, your cheeks blooming into a rosy color at the close proximity, smelling his natural scent coming from his bare skin. “Well, you have a slight bump but that’s about it,” he concluded, letting your head go. “But I don’t know if you’ll end up with a concussion or not.”

You shoke your head, saying in a soft voice, “I doubt it. I’ve hit my head harder on missions.”

Once he was sure enough that you would be alright, it was then that he noticed what you were wearing and he couldn’t help but blush. It was a one sleeved crop top that showed a moderate amount of clevage, the end of it reaching above your cute belly button, and it was such a nice shade of red, almost reminding him of his hair color.

“That’s uh… That’s a really nice blouse,” he complimented, suddenly flustered at how beautiful you looked along with the blouse you were currently wearing looking up at him through your hair which was hanging down, eyes big and doe like.

Completely blanking on the compliment thrown your way, you continued to stare at him in awe as you processed what he had said earlier. “…Did you mean what you said?”

“Oh, uh,” his hand shot up to rub his neck nerviously, chuckling. “Well yeah, of course. It would be pretty unmanly if I lied. And… it would be pretty unmanly for me to not tell you how I feel about you.”

“H-How you feel…?” Kirishima prayed that that sparkle in your (e/c) eyes was hope as you subconsciously leaned closer to him in anticipation.

“I’m just- I’m gonna just come out and say it,” Kirishima said, more to himself though as to encourage himself. Taking a deep breath, reached out and ever so gently held your cheek as though you were fragile and can break at any moment, and looked into those sparkling (e/c) eyes he loved so much. “I really, really like you (Y/n). For a long time now.”

Tears gathered in your eyes as a brilliantly bright smile spread across your beautiful face, rivaling the sun. “Really?”

“Yes really,” Kirishima confirmed, your bright smile bringing forth a bright grin of his own.

“Am I dreaming?” You giggled nervously, hoping to god that he wasn’t pranking you or anything. It all seemed so surreal and like a dream. “You actually like me?”

Kirishima laughed. “I’ll even go as far as say I love you.”

You leaned forward until your forehead bumped with his hard chest, clenching your fists against him. “This isn’t a dream…” you whispered happily. “You actually like me.”

“And I would be just as happy if you will have me as your man,” Kirishima muttered into your hair, bringing his arms around you in a hug.

“Yes!” You didn’t hesitate in accepting his proposal. You squealed in delight as Kirishima squeezed you tight in his arms, rocking the both of you back and forth.

Pulling away, you were blinded by his bright grin. “Let’s go to the movies!”

“What, right now?” You giggled, wiping at your tears.

“Yes! We can do a movie and dinner date! I know the food court isn’t probably the most appealing, but I want to take you on a date right now, especially in that amazing outfit you have on now,” Kirishima rambled, his excitement reminding you of a hyper puppy dog.

“Okay, let’s do it!” You couldn’t help but share his excitement, completely forgetting the fact that you had girl’s night later that evening and the reason you came to the mall was to grab snacks for it.

Right away, Kirishima helped you pick up the clothes that you were going to buy, in the process, finding and putting on his own shirt, insisting that you keep the shirt and wedge heels on for you last minute date. The both of you were practically jumping at the seams with excitement as you went up to the register. Being the gentleman that he is, Kirishima tried insisting that he pay for the clothes and heels for you, but you argued that you were perfectly capable on paying for them on your own, the two of you continued going back and forth as the cashier looked between you two as you argued who was paying as she tried her best not to laugh.

Ultimately you allowed to pay for the shirt you were currently wearing, the sleep shirt he found and the heels, but no more. As you paid the cashier for all the other clothes, you laughed at Kirishima’s grumbling, reaching up to kiss away his pout. After paying, you two had decided to stop by the theaters in the mall to choose and pay for a movie, and this time you let Kirishima pay. As you awaited for the time of the movie, you walked around sharing a pretzel as a snack as you continue doing a bit more shopping, with Kirishima also buying you a stuffed animal because what kind of man would he be if he didn’t buy you a plushie as a memento of your first date?

On your way towards the food court, you could hear Kirishima humming My Only Sunshine with a satisfied expression on his face. “Are you really humming that?” You laughed.

Kirishima grinned down at you, lacing his fingers with yours and swinging your arms. “I can’t help it if you’re the light of my life.”

[bloomyn]

slide into the drivers seat ; 01

in which your boss is one hell of a ride and you’re sitting shotgun. 

table of contents

pairing: chrollo lucilfer x f!reader

disclaimer: i know absolutely nothing about business school, so please disregard all inaccurate numbers

taglist: @kakashishoekage @revalise

. . . 

so apparently a business degree doesn’t get you a job immediately after grad school. 

the 85,000 dollar piece of paper that’s still in an envelope sitting on your dinner table is worthless, wonderful. well, not worthless per se, but it’s definitely not going to be helping you anytime soon, and by that you mean it doesn’t take an 85,000 dollar degree and four years of business school with privileged males (gross!) who think they know everything for you to answer a phone and schedule a meeting. 

but a job at phantom inc., even if it is being a secretary, is a much better bargain that you could’ve ever asked for. that’s what you tell yourself as you ride the elevator up to the 56th floor, “that’s where you’ll want to be!” the front desk secretary had told you, “shizuku will be expecting you!.”

truth be told, you didn’t know much about the position, just that you needed a job and your pride had gotten in the way of reaching out to other colleagues. they’d probably get off on the idea of you asking for help. 

assholes. 

“i had a feeling you’d be here again!”

you’re not even a full step out of the elevator when a woman with gold framed glasses and black bangs comes bouncing down the hall. she’s dressed more casually than expected and she’s got a --vacuum cleaner?-- charm hanging off her hip.

“ah, i’m [name]. they told me to come--”

“you’re in the right place!” she grins, ushering you towards the desk in front of you, “thank gods you’re here, the last girl quit so fast she hadn’t even gotten paid yet.”

“she what---”

the words go unnoticed [ignored], and before you can even shake hands, shizuku’s handing you a binder thicker than the bowl of overnigh oats you’d had in the car, ‘contacts’ it reads in big emblazoned words. 

“it’s probably in your best interest that you memorize at least some of these...or all of them.” she mutters the last part under her breath, and you think you can see her send a quick prayer to the sky. 

“most of the work is pretty self-explanatory.” she adds quickly, “when the boss comes in he can brief you a bit more.”

“so he’s not here now?”

the blush is obvious on her cheeks when she responds, “he had some, --other, things to take care of. i’m sure he’ll be back later.”

right. of course.

shizuku leaves with the same bounce in her step as before and you get to work.

. . . 

you hear him before you see him. well, you hear her before you hear him. it’s like the concept of public decency was wiped from their mind and replaced with absolutely nothing because the first time you look at your boss--

“baby let’s take this to your office.”

-- he’s got half a shirt on and a whole woman clinging onto him.

. . . 

“shirtless?”

the boy with the cropped hair from earlier can’t stop laughing. 

“i’m serious! i think his girlfriend is with him too!”

 the boy in front of you is awfully giddy for it being 9:30am and your boss (and technically his boss too!”) is fucking the brains out of some girl right now. out of, ah, respect for the couple, you’d abandoned your desk, taking as much of the paperwork as you could carry out of there. 

a wonderful start to your first day, truly, the wonderful world of business. 

“d’ya want to hang here then, with me?” the boy says. 

“i don’t even know you.”

“ i can take you to the spare room…” he singsongs, fiddling his hands behind his back , his eyes flick towards the stack of papers sitting in your hands as if to say, “what? you’re gonna say no?” and you’re not exactly  in a place to deny the boy at the front desk. so you give him a sigh and a nod.

“[name].”

“shalnark.”

. . .

six months later

you really don’t get paid enough for this. 

“i’m very sorry sir,” you say into the receiver, “mr. lucilfer is preoccupied at the moment and is not able to take your call, can i schedule a better time for the two of you to meet?”

the man on the other line grumbles, giving you a date and time and “if he doesn’t pick up i will be filing a complaint!” 

he won’t though, he’ll take one step into the office and walk right out. watching people walk into the office is entertainment for you now, first it was pure awkwardness but now… the moans coming from the office in front of you are nothing but background noise to the clack of your keyboard. 

it’s none of your business anyway, you just schedule the meetings. in fact, you’re sure that the only reason your boss gets away with not attending board meetings is because he’s quite literally fucking board members daughters in his office. a disgusting power move if you do say so yourself. well, that and he has the coldest stare you’ve ever seen.

“bye-bye [name]!” the blue haired girl, neon, 22 year old daughter of ‘nostrade’, ‘nostrade’ who has an appointment with chrollo the 23rd of every month from six pm to ten pm to discuss finances, yeah, that nostrade, comes swishing out of the room. “i’ll see you next week ‘kay!”

you wave a soft goodbye, ignoring the fact that her heel strap is broken and there’s a new bruise on her thigh. but like always, none of your business. the only advantage to this whole scenario, for you, at least, is the image of post - sex chrollo lucilfer, slick with sweat and still no shirt !, leaning against the doorframe. (honestly, the reason this company even has a dress code is beyond you.) 

“ [name], did someone call?” 

oh, he looked way too good in those slacks. 

“yes sir, he said he worked with the zoldycks but --”

“illumi knows better, will you delete his contact then?” he finishes quickly, using his dress to wipe the sweat on his brow. 

you nod, sparing yourself one more glance at the curves of his abs, and oh the ones that dip just below, oh. what’s this? his belt is different today, saint laurent? no, salvatore ferragamo, maybe. 

“ [name].”

you blink twice, casually looking away before you meet his eyes again. 

“yes sir?”

you can’t tell if it’s a smirk on his face but the tip of his mouth curves up as he makes his way towards your desk. his walk is sly, his office is only a few steps away from yours but watching him make his way to you feels like an eternity. resting his elbows on your desk, he peeks into your workspace, eyes looking over every pen and pencil on the desk.

“is there something you need, sir?”

it’s embarrassing how close you were to moaning ; god you were practically choking words out at this point. 

but still, the question goes unanswered. 

“i’m expecting a package later,” he finally answers, “ please bring it to me when it arrives.”

you nod, turning away to write a fake note “reminding” yourself to drop off the package, and by the time you turn around, the door to his office is shut and you’re left in silence.

. . . 

shizuku looks up through her glasses, eyebrow raised and lips wrapped loosely around her milkshake straw. 

“girlie i pray for you sometimes.”

rolling your eyes you pick a fry off her plate, “it’s not that bad.” 

you fail to address the fact that you basically get a free show everytime neon shows up so , yes objectively it’s not that bad.

 it’s a little bit evil though. 

“at least you’ve got me ‘n machi here.”

“gal pals.” you say

“gal pals.” she affirms.

 it’s not awkward with shizuku, in fact she might be the only normal person working at this company. she’s your little break from reality. 

“boss is callin’”

you snap to your phone, ringing with CHROLLO L [WORK] on the screen.

“he’s needy.” shizuku taunts, “gotta have his little secretary back at work right.”

“if it’s because he doesn’t want to pick up his package i’m gonna flip.”

sighing gently, she pats your hand. “you’re working towards the paycheck babe.”

. . .

it is the package. 

the poor delivery man is shaking in front of you desk as you walk out of the elevator. 

“i can sign for it!” you chirp, adding a bit of sweetener to your smile ; a something to make the poor man feel better. he extends the pen toward you and you sign, gently placing the package on your desk. 

“have a good day ma’am.”

you nod and wave, not even bothering to look at the package on your desk. 

chrollo can wait for it. 

. . . 

neons moans are too fucking loud. 

the girl‘s moving pathetically, no, clumsily on his cock, her ass is nice he’ll give her that but — fuck you would look so hot in her position. tits bouncing, falling out of the stupid white button down you’re wearing right now. 

he can see you out of his office, (two way glass is a fucking gift)  what are you doing , answering a call? doesn’t even matter. your tits just barely poke out of your shirt and it’s got him so hard. 

is neon still here? 

“baby please—” she mewls, forcing his head into her hands, pressing a harsh kiss on his lips. he doesn’t even bother to look at her, his eyes are on you.

you’re wearing cherry chapstick. he could smell it this morning when he picked up his folders from you. 

“good morning sir.” you’d said, “anything you need this morning?”

the answer was “yes. you.”

but instead he nodded. 

 neon finishes loudly, tugging on his hair and crying into his neck.

he wishes it were you. 

[isitbussinjanelle]

Raya and the princesses (This is a modern AU)

“Alright, follow me you two.”

A storm trooper leads Namaari, and Raya threw the business of ‘Oh My Disney!’. With Raya and Namaari being the newest Disney princesses, they now had to accompany the other prior princesses in their dressing room for online Disney events. For Raya, this experience was out of this world. With the song ‘Let it Go’ playing in the background while Star Wars ships zoom across the sky along with dumbo, she was overwhelmingly excited. She felt like a kid in a Candy store.

For Namaari however, this was something she struggled to find enjoying. Namaari loves peace and quiet when she has it and will often spend her time reading a book or reading a Fang legend to a bunch of Fang children when she doesn’t have sparring sessions or piles and piles of Fang documents and contracts to sign. Namaari followed alongside the storm trooper while keeping her hands very close to her sides to avoid touching one of the happy square-headed people roaming around. Namaari also happened to be claustrophobic, so this wasn’t helping whatsoever. But when Namaari took one glance at Raya beaming with enjoyment and her eyes glowing, she decided that maybe enjoying her time there wouldn’t be terrible.

“OMG NAMI!!” Raya yelped. Nami was one of Raya’s many nicknames for the fang princess.

“What? What is it?” Namaari said frantically.

“It’s THE buzz light year! THE BUZZ LIGHT YEAR NAMI! Can we please go say hi? I wanna give him my best impression of himself,” Raya said with pleading eyes.

With Namaari being Namaari, she obviously couldn’t say no, because its Raya for Christ sake.

“Ofco-,”

“No. You both are already late for preparation for the ‘Which Disney princess are you’ quizlet. Let’s go.” Barked the storm trooper. Damn, who spit in your congee? Raya wondered.

Raya looked back at Namaari with a, can you believe this asshat, Kind of look. Pursed her lips and rose her shoulders in a, it is what it is, kind of look. Namaari and Raya were great at reading each other like this. They did it all the time when they had fights.

After a few more stops with Raya’s stalling, and more of the storm troopers eyerolling (which you couldn’t tell because of his helmet but it was obvious), they eventually made it too the ‘cast members only’ section. There they found Nick wild, Grumpy the dwarf, tinker bell, and hei hei.

“Ahh ha ha, so these must be the new princesses,” Nick walks towards the trio of the storm trooper and the Kumandran princesses. His words trail off as he looks at them both up and down.

“I gotta ask- no poofy dresses? Whats that all about?” Nick asks, direction his attention towards raya, then Namaari.

“Nah, dresses make it way harder to beat Nami at sparring,” Raya responds as she shifts her wight to her right leg and crosses her arms in a cool way.

“Please- like you’ve ever beaten be binturi,” Namaari blushes and mimics rayas arm cross. Nick gags at the mini flirting session.

“well, gotta hand it to ya princess- I think I like you more without the dress. I guess I owe Flash 10 bucks.” Nick says as he sticks a lollipop in his mouth and puts his shades on and walks away.

“Did a fox just try and flirt with me?” Raya laughed. Namaari was a little mad that anyone except her would talk to Raya flirtatiously, but brushed it off.

“You two are running short on time. You, go through that door, and you through that one.” The storm trooper points at two doors that are directly across the hall from each other. Namaari and Raya find this odd, especially because they’re both princesses- shouldn’t they be in the same room?

Namaari goes off through her door while Raya is ushered by the Storm trooper to go through hers.

“What an ass.” Raya mumbled to herself.

The Moment Raya looks up, she is bombarded with the smell of perfume, and sweet sounds of angelic singing. Raya looks around at the beautifully designed room. She stares over at the other women in the room, primping each other’s hair or mingling amongst themselves. She straightens her hat. She saw one princess playing jump rope with two others. But the jump rope was…hair? Raya was confused. Raya begins to “walk” over too where the other princesses are but struggles to actually move her legs because she’s not great with people. Especially because she hasn’t had much interaction with them for 6 years. She starts rehearsing in her head good things to say to someone, like compliments, and asking, “How’s the weather today?”. Small talk. Raya hated the concept.

She eventually builds up the courage to stop standing in her own embarrassment and walk over to the princess area but fails as she lands back first on the floor. She slipped in something.

The princesses immediately notice this because Raya was quite dramatic about her fall when she did. She groaned in agony as a beautiful princess rushed towards her.

“Oh! Are you okay? I am truly sorry. Raja must have peed on the floor again. Bad kitty!” The princess scolds her giant cat- tiger that lays on the long blue couch. He cocks his head in confusion when he heard his name. He ignores her and licks his left paw.

“OMG. Are you the new princess? Guys! She’s the new princess!” Another princess rushes over. This girl has wet curly hair with a black and white pig by her side. All of the other princesses file in over Raya. They all begin to clap whilst a princess begins to sing angelically in celebration.

“FINALLY! I’ve been waiting for another badass warrior chick to show up. Sick sword girl! Where’d you get it” A girl with short straight black hair grabs raya by the arm and walks with her around the room.

“oh- thanks! It belongs to my Ba.” Raya says as the puts one arm behind her head in nervousness.

“Whats a Ba-“ A princess with long read hair and rosy cheeks asks with a head cock. She’s cut off by the next princess.

“Holy crap! How are you’re arms so muscly??” One of the princesses asks as she squishes raya’s biceps, which makes her highly uncomfortable. Raya begins to back away from the large crowd of girls- which was a mistake.

“Um- yeah I guess so…you should see My girlfr-“ Raya is cut off when she trips over something on the ground and lands on something warm and fury- Raja.

Raja growls and purrs at raya, but then begins to lick her because he senses her fear. Raya leaps up.

“Gah! Don’t hurt me orange serlot!” Raya exclaims as the goes into the sideways feat position on the ground.

“Raja, play nice!” Jasmine says. Raya couldn’t tell it was here as she was rolled up for the sake of her life.

“What’s a serlo-“The same princess from earlier who asked what a Ba was asked. Shes interrupted once more once an unexpected guest makes an appearance.

“Ride Like the wind ya big fur-bug!” A girl with curly red hair flys’ around the room on- Tuk Tuk? He was here! Meredith nocks over a bunch of chairs and startles Raja.

“Fur-bug? TUK TUK!” Raya gets up in relief to finally see a familiar face- a face with a big wet nose. Tuk Tuk stops rolling and galops over to Raya, much to Meredith’s disappointment. All of the other princesses share an “aww” as Raya nuzzles Tuk Tuk with her nose.

“Boo! I was having fun ey? He sure is quite a ride tho. Ought to give the lad that.” Meredith said as she shoulders bumped Aurora. Aurora clears her throat and steps away from Meredith slightly.

“Glad to see you bud!” Raya said. All of the other princesses gather around Raya and tuktuk, who are still near the door. She never got to get fully settled in after being bombarded with questions and perfume.

“Now lady’s, I think it’s about time we all gave the new gal a proper introduction.” Tiana says with her hands on her hips, gesturing her statement towards Mulan and Cinderella, who were the main ones who asked Raya questions. They both giggle in agreement.

All of the princesses introduce themselves and show raya their power if they have one, or just tell her about their past and how they became royalty. Raya listens to each of them in awe but gets distracted during a few of the short speeches only to be wondering how Namaari was doing in the other room. She hoped Namaari was okay. They last few minutes mostly consisted of years and uh-huhs from Raya’s side as she listened to all of the princesses’ backstories. After a while, the very last princess told Raya about her backstory.

“And that’s how I saved the world with my good friend Maui, shape shifter, demigod of the wind and- “Moana goes on but gets cut off.

“Okay but for real, for once just say Maui and drop the formalities.” Anna groaned with impatience as she twirled her red strands of hair.

“Hey, I gotta give my man his credit. Put some respect on his name, you know?” Moana says all hyped up. Mulan screams “PERIOD” from across the room as she sharpens her sword. Pocahontas rolls her eyes at the childish ness.

“Period is so old now Mulan- no one says it anymore,” Pocahontas says.

“You right you right… SHEEEEEEESH” Mulan says as she connects two fingers to the crease of her forearm. She bits her lips and widens her leg stance. Moana dies of laughter at this.

“Maui does that all the time and its so fricking annoying,” Moana says. Raya laughs at all of this; she felt like she almost found her place. Raya loved making others laugh and enjoyed doing it in the form of 10-year-old boy humor. She was glad that these girls matched her energy.

“Guy’s, were kinda getting off track- New girl. How did you become a Disney princess? Who’s your prince? Or were you already born into nobility?” Tiana asks as she brushed Rapunzel’s long gold strands.

Raya pursed her lips. She hated speaking in front of large crowds. She was never the best at presenting school projects in her child days and doesn’t enjoy it now either. One of the many reasons why she is in no hurry to become Chief of Heart. Raya suddenly notices all eyes on her. Oh shit, they actually want me to speak? Fuck no-

“Um…” Raya starts. “Well, I guess I was born into nobility. My father is chief of my homeland Heart, a land in Kumandra,” she said nervously as she looked down and played with dead skin on her finger.

“And as for a prince- I don’t have one? I have a girlfriend named Namaari whos’ a princess of Fang, another land in Kumandra…” Raya noticed all of the princesses staring at her in awe and interest. Even belle put down her book once the Heart land princess mention a female love interest.

“Yeah…We kind of went from enemies to lovers. She sorts of stabbed me in the back when we were kids and caused our world to face 6 years of apocalypse,” Raya Gained some confidence s=once she realized her audience was enjoying her story. “But eventually I had to realize that maybe putting my faith in Namaari was the only thing that could save us. Kumandra. When the druun, which was the cause of the apocalypse, was closing in on me, Namaari, a baby named Noi, A buff winter soldier named Tong, and one hell of a cook named Boun, I decided that the only way to get us out of there was to use the one thing sisu wanted us to do; trust each other. I put my faith in Namaari, and she came through. And she has ever since.”

Raya finished. She looked around to see the other princesses gathers around her on their stomachs with their chins on their hands like little preschoolers.

“Woah.” They all said.

“Damn girl! That’s some powerful shit!” Mulan said as the rapped an arm around Raya’s shoulder in approval. Mulan was slightly taller that Raya, about Namaari’s height. Raya smiled sweetly as the other princesses Hollard in agreement.

“So how did you find all of these people? Noi, Tong, all of them?” Jasmine asked. She was sitting on her magic carpet with Raja purring by her side.

“Oh! I kinda scooped them up with me along the way. You see, I had to travel to each of the four kingdoms, Fang, Talon, Spine, and Tail to get these gem pieces that would save the world. I found Boun in Tail- He was my getaway driver-“

“From whom? Were the druun chasing you?” Elsa asked eagerly.

“Namaari. Namaari was chasing after me because…Actually, I had no idea why. Before she was chasing me, I had just gotten a Gem piece from Tail. Namaari showed up out of no where all of a sudden and mention something about the dragon scroll that I stole from Fang, which was useless to her which makes me wonder why she needed it; She was also holding my hair pin which is also kinda odd- “

“I KNOW WHY! SHE LOVED YOU RAYA WERE YOU BLIND? WHY ELSE WOULD SHE KEEP YOUR HAIR PIN THINGY?” Belle jumped up in excitement. She felt like this was some kind of good book.’

“Nah, it wasn’t love. I think Namaari wanted to get RIPPED TONIGHT-“Mulan shouted as the fake flexed her arms.

“RIP THAT PUSSY AYYEE!” Moana moved her arms and hips to copy the Tiktok trend. Aurora pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned at the immaturity. Raya was Hot red and covered her face to hide it- did Namaari actually like her at the time? I guess it would make sense, seeing as how Namaari always called her Dep la, which meant strangely beautiful.

“Ladies! Let her finish!” Tiana snapped. Raya could tell that Tiana was the mom of the group.

“Anywas, after I found Boun in Tail, I picked up baby noi in Talon, where she conned me- she faked cried so she could steal my gem piece,” Raya shook her head in laughter at the memory.

“That baby new what was up.” Pocahontas chimed in.

“I eventually caught her and her gang of Ongis and helped her earn some honest loot by helping me get the gem piece from the chief of Talon.” Raya concluded.

“We took Noi with us and went to spine, where tong captured me and sisu, and the gem pieces. Tuk tuk, Boun, Noi and the Ongis thankfully came to our rescue, but that was exactly when Namaari showed up in spine.” Raya said.

“Yes! More Namaari moments! Did you guys kiss?” Moana asked eagerly.

“Oh, they totally did more than that moana.” Mulan said with her eyebrows quirked and her arms crossed.

“Shut up! We didn’t do anything! She actually beat my ass.” Raya should choose better wording.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” All of the princesses squealed, except for Meredith, who was busy trying to stop tuk tuk from eating cold beignets Tiana had made so they could go on another joyride.

“NO WAY. NO WAY. YALL DID? SHE DID? PERIOD NAMAARI AHHHH YESSSS!!” Mulan was jumping on the couch in happiness. Raya was blushing so hard that she had steam coming out of her ears.

“Uh, g-guys? If “Beat my ass” means what I think it means, then I think Eric might have beaten mine last night…” Ariel said with a blush. Mulan, moana and Pocahontas had their jaws wide open. Cinderella had her hand over her mouth to try and hold back her laugh.

“ARIEL! YOU NAUGHTY GIRL! I DIDN’T KNOW ERIC HAD IT LIKE THAT! WAS IT GOOD THOUGH?” Moana asked loudly, hoping eric would hear from across the hall. Ariel nodded. Ariel was known at the innocent one of the groups, so this was a huge shock to everyone.

“Same Ariel! Naveen gave it to me good last night if you know what I’m saying…” Tiana said as she poked her lips out. Moana and Mulan couldn’t help but squeal. Raya was on the ground dying laughing with Pocahontas at what Tiana said.

For the next few minutes, the girls all went on rants about their sex life, except for the ones with know love interest. They laughed a whole lot that day. Raya felt lightheaded the entire time she was there due to laughing.

Eventually, the girls decided to settle down and all watch the Lion king. Mulan made the popcorn, while Belle gathered the drinks. Raya had never seen the lion king before because this was her first time actually watching a movie with friends. The movie was great, but the loud commentary about the movie made by mostly moana and Mulan was even better, and the other princess agreed to this with laughter. During the Hakuna Matata scene, Mulan played Timone, and Moana was Pumba, while Raya tried her best to copy Simba’s lines for the mini skit.

“WHEN HE WAS A YOUNG WART HOG,” Mulan sang badly.

“WHEN I WAS A YOUNG WART HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGGGG!” Moana sang worse, which made the other princesses laugh.

The other princess enjoyed this. Raya didn’t that much, because she had to eat jello and pretend it was the bug Simba ate in the movie.

“WHAT IS THIS TEXTURE?” Raya shouted with a mouth full of goo. Jasmine died laughing from Raya’s response, along with Aurora.

“EAT IT YOU PUSSY!” Mulan shouted, breaking character.

All of the girls got emotional during the, can you Feel the Love tonight song. The all sang in harmony, except for raya because she didn’t know the song. Raya did however cry during the scene where Simba and Scar fought on pride rock and Simba almost died multiple times.

“NO NOT SIMBA!” Raya shouted at the screen.

“Don’t worry, he lives.” Meredith shouted from across the room, still trying to get tuk tuk up.

Raya Couldn’t help but enjoy the time she had they’re with the princesses. She felt at home. Obviously not like Kumandra, for that will always be her home, but she felt like she found her people. Namaari usually tool Raya’s jokes to seriously, or just pinched her the bridge of her nose and chuckle when Raya mad 10-yearold boy humor. Raya was just finally glad to find some girls who were wild like her.

After the movie ended, the girls clapped and cheered.

“Hey, didn’t when have a Disney princess quizlet to attend?” Elsa asked. Everyone else shrugged and ignored it. They actually didn’t have anything to attend, because as we know, ralph broke the internet, so nobody was able to go online and take the quiz.

“Quick question for you Raya- Is Boun Single, I mean, a man that can cook; that’s what I need” Moana said as she pointed to nothing.

“Preach.” Mulan commented.

“MOANA BOUN IS 10- DID I KNOW MENTION THAT?!” Raya said. All of the other girls busted out laughing.

“…I mean…A six year age difference is that-“

“MOANA OF MOTONUI!” Tiana shouted as she threw a pillow at moana. The other girls couldn’t help but laugh. Raya was going to have a fun time with these girls.

Credit: @gioistrying

[formeandmyfics]

Jugenea Fan Fiction

LET’S JUST SEE WHERE IT GOES

During pre-production of For Me and My Gal, Gene comes to a realization

photo credit: @ohmygarlands​

(I wasn’t gonna post this as I don’t think I’m very good at ‘pre-jugenea’, but a friend convinced me otherwise. It’s not my best, but still a fun read)

1942

"Judy, focus, girl, focus," Busby Berkeley's frustrated yell echoed in the empty rehearsal hall as his little starlet tripped on her footing once again. During a turn, she went the opposite way, tripped over Gene's leg and almost fell until he caught her hand. Judy's hand slipped from Gene's as she regained her balance and she turned away from the men, her hands on her hips. Breathing heavy from their long rehearsal of the choreography for the 'My Gal' sequence, Gene looked down feeling horribly. He had never seen her imbalanced like this before, not just on her feet but her concentration as well. He could tell she was disappointed with herself, though would never admit that to 'Uncle Buzz'. "Judy, you need to get this down asap. This is the most crucial dance to the picture," Buzz said less loudly but with a very stern tone as he turned her to face him. She refused to look up at him and he went on, "Do you hear me? We've gone through this sequence over and over. If you can't get this, we might as well scratch the whole film!" "Hey," Gene said stern himself, "She's trying her best."

"She is not trying her best," Buzz said eyeing her down before turning to Gene, "I've known her much longer than you have, Gene. She's slacking off." Gene saw Judy's eyes tear up and he took a step closer, "You may have worked with her longer, but this girl works her ass off for you people. Give her some room to breathe and back...off." Buzz turned to Gene and pointed his finger at him, "Next time you talk to me like that, I talk to Freed. You're new here, Kelly, and very easily replaced." With that, he turned and started walking away, "Get it right," he said before slamming the heavy door behind him. Gene let out a heavy breath through his nose before he turned back to Judy. Holding his hand out, he wiggled his fingers, motioning for her to continue with him, "Come on." "Just give me a second," she replied as she paced a little bit having a moment to get herself together. He waited, patiently, knowing she was a tough girl and let her have her moment. But, when he suddenly heard a sob escape her, he felt so protective and just wanted to scoop her up. Screw the rehearsal, he thought, and pulled up a chair, "Sit down, Darlin’. Come here." "I'll be alright," her voice sounded very irritable. “No, come here,” he persisted and she did just that. "Want to talk about it?" When she didn't answer, he continued, well aware of the problems she was having in her new marriage from what she had told him, "Dave?" "That's part of it." Gene could feel her holding back and he decided not to push it. One thing about Judy was that if she wanted to, she would. They were both quiet for a long moment, in comfortable silence, only sounds of the birds outside the cracked window was heard. "No one's ever done that for me before, you know." "Done what, honey?" "Stand up to Buzz like that." "Not even Mickey?" Judy smiled and shook her head, "Not even Mickey." "Well, I don't think any man should speak to a lady like that, I don't care who you are. And I don't condone bullying, especially to someone I care about, someone who they just look at as a money maker. I think speaking down to someone is the most disgusting act out there. I was raised to treat the janitor the same way you treat the CEO. Humans are humans, I don't care about stature." "You're definitely not like the other men around here. And I'll tell ya a little secret," she said taking his hand which he took gladly, "Some people around here are intimidated by you because you told off LB in that letter. I mean, that took..." "Balls?" She giggled, "Yes. And the way you spoke to Uncle Buzz just now," she looked at him dumbfounded, "Not even Clark Gable would do that." Gene nudged his shoulders, "I'm an honest man, that's all. I don't play into the Hollywood bullshit, you know this. I'm here to make art, not kiss ass. And I'll stand up to any disrespectful bastard who thinks otherwise." Judy placed her hand on his cheek and looked at him with such genuine adoration, "You're a good man, Gene Kelly." There it was, the two of them staring at each other like they had on the dance floor. Only this time, Gene didn’t feel anxiety take over his body. Her hand felt so warm and soft again his jaw as she looked at him with such respect. God, he could get lost in her eyes. Breaking their stare, Judy lowered her hand and pushed herself off her chair. He immediately felt cold. “Shall we continue?” “We shall.” “I’ll get it this time,” she stated adamantly. “And it’s ok if you don’t, baby. That’s what rehearsal is for.” “Just remind me. When we go into the hop waltz, we go...” “Counter-clockwise.” “Counter-clockwise.” “Just look at me. I’ll let you know with a look if I feel you’re about to make an oops,” they got into stance, “One thing I learned on Broadway, I know how to hide mistakes.” “How do you do that?” “I make the audience think that’s how it was supposed to happen,” he said as he made a twirl motion with his finger, like his character does in the scene, where they start their big dance number. They went through the dance, singing a cappella, and saying their lines, with Gene directing by saying certain things like ‘And turn’ or ‘Under’. She flubbed the hop but for the most part, Judy was spot on. When they did the routine a second time, they went straight through, with no mishaps. They were completely lost in one another, having fun, and just enjoying themselves. When it came time to sing their last lines, his arms around her waist from behind, Gene didn’t want to let her go. Instead of releasing her so they could bounce into their chair and strike a pose, he remained holding her. And she wasn’t moving either. Her hands slid up his arms, tightening her grip on him, before she looked up at him over her shoulder. Suddenly he noticed her breathing more unsteady than it was when she was dancing, and she was looking at his mouth again. Fuck, she wanted him to kiss. Oh, he wanted to... “How was that,” she whispered. “Perfect,” he whispered back and suddenly found his head slowly, but surely, gravitating toward hers. “Gene,” she murmured almost barely. “Rehearsal’s over!” They both jumped apart as the rehearsal door banged open. George Murphy and Ben Blue, who had been rehearsing in the next room, stood there in the doorway. George then whistled, “Buzz just called lunch.” “Yeah, let’s go. I’m hungry,” Ben started before walking away down the hall. Gene watched as Judy scrambled to collect her things, and seemed awfully nervous. “You guys go ahead,” he said as he grabbed his script, “I’m not hungry. I’m gonna work some more.” “Suit yourself,” George said a little arrogantly. Gene looked up just in time to see Judy glance at him one more before George escorted her out the door. When they were no longer in sight, he threw his script across the room in anger.

Gene took a swig of his beer, in complete contentment, as he sat at the bar of Johannes. It was a tropical, outside cocktail lounge, hanging off a cliff in Malibu, with spectacular views. It was nighttime at the moment, and even though you couldn't see much of the Pacific, except the calming waves crashing own below, the views were just as grand. The lit up lights of houses and buildings all along the cliffs and mountains gave it a starry quality. Tonight, there was a Spanish-themed band, and the breeze off the shore felt heavenly in the muggy air. Gene needed this, this and more cold beer. As he motioned to the bartender for another, he felt a hand slap his back. "Hey, Pal," Van said as he slid into the empty chair next to him. "Oh, hey buddy," Gene said gleefully, "Where'd you come from?" "Just arrived with a few friends," he said nodding towards his group. Gene leaned back to look and saw Evie, Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda just walk in. Then Judy appeared beside them. Before he could have much of a reaction, Evie caught his eye and waved at him. Judy looked over curiously, and when their eyes met, her smile disappeared. She looked daunted, so much that he immediately turned back forward in his seat, his hands tightening around his beer. "Come on and join us," Van urged. "You g'head and grab a table. I'll catch up with you in a bit." Van kneaded his eyebrows at his friend's hesitancy, but nodded, "Okay, we'll be over there. Make sure you come on over." As the group walked past him, Evie quickly gave him a kiss on his cheek, but his eyes glued to Judy in hopes that she might give him a friendly smile, or say hi. But to his disappointment, she purposefully ignored his direction as she kept on walking, following Van. Fortunately, Gene’s old friend from Vaudeville, Mike Villa,  popped in, so he was happy to have the distraction.  They finished a beer and got a good chat in for about twenty minutes when Van’s group started becoming a little rowdy. The laughter was infectious. They all sounded like they were having a grand time, and Gene tried to ignore looking over, but Judy’s laugh carried over everyone’s and it made him smile. Slyly, as Gene took a swig of beer, he slowly glanced over his shoulder towards the group, nestled at a table in the corner across the way. They all burst out in another roar of laughter but Gene’s eyes remained on Judy. She looked so god damn lovely as she laughed. It felt like it was slow motion, as she looked over at him, mid laugh. Their eyes caught, and her laughter stopped, but her smile didn’t. It widened. When he smiled back, her eyes looked down as she brushed some hair behind her ear. She was blushing. Gene felt a twinge burst in his stomach again and he turned back towards the bar, letting out a breath. “She’s prettier in person, ain’t she,” Mike commented. “Who?” “That Judy Garland.” “She’s a very beautiful girl.” “How is it working with her? Is she a diva like I’ve heard?” “My God, not at all,” Gene said serious, “She’s such a treat to work with. She’s professional and talented and funny, man, she cracks me up. More than that, she’s kind. She treats everyone like family.” They both looked back over at her, and saw Judy watching them, but she quickly looked away. “She’s real cute, you know what I mean?” Gene saw his friend raise his eyebrows suggestively before taking another swig of beer and he shook his head, “Yeah, man she’s real cute, but you know what? It’s a whole different ballgame. She’s not a girl to pick up, believe me. And she’s married.” “Since when does that stop anything. From what I hear, that band leader husband of hers is away a lot and everyone knows she don’t spend her nights at home. Look at her out now.”   “Listen, no disrespect, but Judy’s become a very good friend of mine. She’s going through a lot. I’m protective of her, so please…” “Gene, buddy, it’s cool. No harm done. Like a sister to you, huh?” “Yeah, like a sister,” he murmured. He lied. “Hello.” Both men were a little startled when they heard that captivating, yet soft, voice suddenly behind them. Mike immediately stood up like the Queen had just walked up to him. Now, he looked like a frightened schoolboy rather than a man that had just made a suggestive remark about her. “Miss Garland, how do you do. I’m Mike Villa.” She shook his hand, “Nice to meet you. And it’s Judy.” “Mike is an old friend of mine from New York,” Gene casually interrupted. “Are you in town visiting?” “Actually I moved here a few years ago. I work over at Fox in the editing department.” “Oh, how lovely,” she turned to Gene and placed her hand on his arm and lowered her voice a bit, “Can I talk to you?” “Ya,” he said curiously and stood up. “Mike, I hope it’s okay if I steal Gene away for a little bit.” “Go right ahead.” Gene felt such relief when she took his hand in hers. He let her guide him across the café towards the back stairs that lead down to the beach. When their feet hit the sand, Judy kicked her shoes off and let go of his hand. He watched as she walked away from him, towards the water. He kicked his loafers next to hers but tread behind her slowly, hands in his pockets. She wanted to talk to him, but she hadn’t said a word yet. “Isn’t the view beautiful,” she asked softly, turning her head over her shoulder to look at him. He had to stop a moment, as the moon reflecting off her hair and face mesmerized him. He couldn’t help but stare and suddenly she looked away, giving a nervous giggle. “You know, when you look at me like that, it doesn’t make things easier for me.” Gene walked up next to her, their ankles in the gentle surf. He had a quick thought of how good the cool sand and water felt on his tired feet before he replied curiously, “Make what easier?” “My feelings for you. Feelings that I don’t quite understand,” she said meekly. They both looked at each other, their eyes searching. Gene broke their contact and ran his hand through his hair terribly nervous, “Judy…” “No, Gene, listen. Ever since we became friends, I always felt this connection with you; like I could be myself, my true self, and be open and honest with you.” “Good. I feel the same.” “Then I think we need to get a few things straightened out,” she said straight-forward and serious, “I’ll go first. David isn’t the only reason I wasn’t doing my best in rehearsals today.” “Uh,” he cut in, “You were trying, you just lost some confidence there for a little bit, but you got it back.” “Do you know why I got like that?” Gene thought and shook his head and she went on, “You.” He took his hands out of his pockets and was about to speak but Judy put her finger up to shush him, “You have given me more confidence than I’ve ever felt before, not just personally but professionally.” “Then what was the problem,” he felt a little insulted.

“The night at Ciro’s. You looked at me in that way again; the way you did in rehearsal, the way you did just now. Then you just left me there…” “I told you I was sorry,” Gene mumbled feeling like an ass again. “…but the thing I didn’t appreciate is that you lied to me. You said you were fine, and we both know that isn’t true. If we have the relationship that I thought we did, then you would be honest with me, too.” Gene sighed and took a few steps away from her not quite finding his voice. She just continued to stand there and went on, “When you left me like that, I felt like you went from respecting me to hating me.” Gene immediately turned around and walked up to her. Judy took a step back at the ferocity of his swift action, but relaxed when he put his hands underneath each side of her scalp. He was looking at her with such desperation. “I could never, and would never, hate you…for anything.” “After we talked in rehearsal, I know that now,” she quivered, “But before that, I wasn’t so sure. When you left like that, and then put a wall up, I felt like I suddenly lost you, lost my confidence.” “That is far from the truth. Why would you think that?” “I thought maybe you hated me because you could see that I was starting to like you more than just a…friend.” Gene released her to anxiously bite on his nail. He glanced up at her before looking back down at the sand and her voice became a little louder, “This isn’t easy for me, Gene. Don’t you realize I just got married last year and now I’m having confusing feelings for another man?”

Gene’s chest started to heave as he took in her confession he realized now he wasn’t only one hiding, she had been, too. Judy’s voice turned to anger, “And you’re just standing there listening.” “And don’t you realize that I’m the one that I hate,” he yelled back. It was Judy’s turn to look at him dumbfounded. As such a self-assertive, and strong man, as Gene Kelly, hearing that he even remotely disliked himself made her skin break out in goosebumps, bad ones.

“I had to get away from you on that dance floor, Judy, because I was frightened,” he turned to look straight out into the sea, focusing on a small light coming from a boat towards Catalina Island, “I just got married not too long ago myself, honey, so we’re in the same boat. I hate myself because I made a promise to myself. I’m a good man, Judy, an honorable man…”

“I know that,” she wept interrupting.

“You hear all about these things that go on over here, and I said to myself, I would not get involved in any scandal or affair or chase after other women or fall in love with someone else. I was frightened because of my feelings for you. How can you fall for someone you haven’t even really been with? One can call it just an infatuation, but if it were about lust, that would be easy. You Judy Garland…you’re so much more than that. I’m standing here telling you how I’m starting to feel about you, but I’m not going to leave my wife, my growing family. I’m also not naïve. I know you can’t change what your heart feels. That’s what’s scary.”

Gene kicked a small seashell off his foots as another small wave crashed over their feet and he suddenly felt like a timid school boy. Before he knew it, Judy walked in front of him and slid her arms around his waist, resting her cheek against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, slowly rubbing her back up and down affectionately.

“How do I make you feel, Gene?”

Gene wasn’t sure he heard her right, and then processed how she might want him to answer, but he just found himself saying, “Like Christmas morning.”

She looked up at him in awe and he went on, “How do I make you feel?”

“Sometimes you make me feel things that I don’t even feel with my husband.”

Gene swept some hair behind her ear and moved his face a little closer to hers, “If we hadn’t been interrupted at rehearsal, would you have kissed me back?”

Judy thought it a stupid thing to ask and she didn’t hesitate with her own absurd question back to him, “You don’t lust after me?”

Gene grabbed her head and crushed her lips to his. He heard her give off a noise, not of startle or surprise, but more of relief. Her lips were so full and cushy, he wanted more. This wasn’t acting, they weren’t on camera, no one else was around, this was them, he reminded himself as he pulled at her lips. Her arms tightened around his neck as she pressed into him. Gene adjusted, sucking at her lower lip now when she opened for him. He didn’t even feel his hand grab a fist full of her hair as he mimicked her move and swept his tongue into her mouth feeling her silky one reach for him. That mouth that presented the most distinctive speaking voice, and most beautiful song, and that taught him how to kiss on screen, was now kissing him back eagerly. When he felt his libido stir, he knew he had to stop this before things escalated quickly.

He ended with a few loving kisses before departing. Resting his forehead against hers, he saw her bite her bottom lip smiling.

“Yes, I lust after you.”

“I would’ve kissed you back.”

“Yes, I felt that,” he teased.

They both giggled, feeling like they had broken the ice sort-of-speak, and they hugged in an understanding manner.

”Gene?”

“Hm,” he breathed into her shoulder.

“What happens now?” Gene thought a moment, “I don’t know. I guess, let’s just see where it goes.”

…And we all know where it went. The rest is Jugenea history.

[ericsonclan]

A Romantic Holiday

Summary: Clementine and the others get ready to celebrate Valentine's Day with their significant others.

Word Count: 1000+

Read on AO3:

Start from the beginning:

“All I’m saying is that a movie and cuddling is a totally valid way to spend Valentine’s Day,” Brody looked back at her friends who all nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, it totally is,” Clementine walked up beside her auburn friend and gave a smile.

“Nothing wrong with that,” Louis jogged forward, immediately intertwining his fingers with Clementine’s. With a gentle sway their joined hands began to move back and forth. Louis’ bright smile faltered when he saw the look on Brody’s face. “Unless you don’t want that to be your Valentine’s Day evening.”

Brody’s eyes grew large for a second before she looked down at her shoes. “It’s stupid. It’s not like Mitch or I have the money to blow on a fancy Valentine’s Day,” Brody gave a sigh. “But I would be lying if I said I didn’t want something more romantic.”

“Then tell him,” Violet’s eyes met Brody’s when she glanced up. “Mitch is a dumbass but he also really likes you so he’d want to make you happy,”

“Violet is right,” Prisha smiled over at Brody. “If you communicate with Mitch then perhaps you can find a romantic date idea that isn’t pricey,”

“Yeah, you guys are right,” Brody gave a shaky sigh then proceeded to take a few deep breaths. “So what are your guys’ plans for Valentine’s Day?”

“A carriage ride through a park. With the snow and each other it will be magical!” Louis pressed a kiss to Clementine’s cheek then spun her around once as a surprise before the two rejoined the group who stopped to wait for them.

“Violet and I are recreating our first ever date and going stargazing with tons of blankets of course,” Prisha wrapped her arms around Violet then looked down at her with a loving smile.

“That all sounds amazing. I just wish I had an idea of what I wan-”

“Well if it isn’t Prisha!” a voice boomed from a short distance in front of them. Brody looked as well as the others, curious who had cut the conversation short. A fairly tall man with a thick, gray, full beard walked forward with a happy smile. Based on his uniform and hat it was clear that he was the sheriff. His jaw was set in such a way that it gave him an aura of sternness but based on the crinkle of joy in his eyes it was clear that he was a good man. “I haven’t seen you in forever.”

“Sheriff Kenny! What a pleasure to see you. What are you doing on campus?” Prisha smiled over at Kenny before a realization struck here. Violet was still within her arms, a sight she wasn’t sure how Kenny would take considering that the only ones who knew of her orientation were the group of friends she had now. Kenny studied Prisha and Violet for a moment. Violet’s grip on Prisha’s arms remained as constant as always as she shot over a pointed look at the sheriff who remained quiet for a few seconds. Violet continued to look at the sheriff with a protectiveness in her eyes until he spoke up.

“I didn’t know you had a girlfriend. Good for you,” Kenny tipped up his hat and gave a casual smile.

“Thank you,” Prisha held Violet closer. Violet noticed that Prisha’s tension had lessened quite a bit before it flared up again. “My relationship with Violet, my father...” Prisha’s voice trailed for a second.

“Don’t worry, I won’t go shooting off my mouth about anything. I’m just glad to see you happy. Damn, you sure have grown. I remember the days you would run around the station and pretend to find clues with a copy of some Sherlock Holmes book tucked under your arm,” Kenny’s recounting made Prisha grow embarrassed as she listened to the sheriff share story after story. Louis, Clementine and Brody seemed to be enjoying hearing all these stories that Prisha was sure would be brought up again and she noticed that Violet was also having fun hearing stories about Prisha from before they met.

“Anyways, I’m talking your ears off and I haven’t even asked for any of your damn names.” Kenny sighed apologetically before his eyes focused on Louis for a second as if he had recognized him somehow. “My name’s Kenneth Callaway but you can just call me Sheriff Kenny.”

“Nice to meet you, sir. My name’s Louis and this lovely gal beside me is my girlfriend, Clementine!” Louis smiled over to Clementine who returned it.

“Guess I’m next, I’m Brody,” Brody had a nervous expression on her face, likely due to a mixture of it being a first meeting and that the person she was introducing herself to was the sheriff.

“Nice to meet you all. I picked up on your name already,” Kenny looked over at Violet who gave a short nod.

“Well then, I shouldn’t be taking up any more of your time,” Kenny tipped his hat then turned to leave until a voice called out to him.

“Dad! I didn’t know you’d be on campus!” A young man with short brown hair strolled forward, his pinky intertwined with a person with hazel eyes.

“Hey there, Duck! I was just here to take a look around campus since so much has been going on here lately. Then I ran into Prisha and-”

“Prisha is here!” Duck’s eyes immediately lit up and slipping his pinky free he ran forward. In an instant Prisha was wrapped into a tight hug. “I was hoping I’d see you around campus ever since I started this semester.”

“Duck, you’re hugging me a bit too tight,” Prisha wheezed out before giving an appreciative smile once Duck had let go.

“So, still being a great detective as always? Are you working towards that degree to become a superhero?” Duck smiled brightly at Prisha.

“Well, I’m just becoming a lawyer, not a hero.” Prisha looked away, slightly worried that her eyes or her friends’ would show some sort of sign that they were in fact superheroes.

“Eh, it's basically the same thing!” Duck placed his hands on his hips before a flicker of realization appeared. “Oh, that’s right! I’ve never introduced you to Oakley before!”

Duck ran back and stood beside the person that had been walking with him. They seemed to be completely lost in the simple joy of letting snowflakes fall on their tongue. A small smile was on their lips as a snowflake right on the tip of it.

“This is Oakley, my paramour!” Duck grinned brightly as his pinky wrapped around Oakley’s once more. Prisha’s eyes grew large at that word while Kenny gave a tired groan.

“Son, you could use another word,” Kenny looked over at Duck who shrugged.

“It works for us,”

“But you’re referring to Oakley as your illicit partner. Do you see the issue with that?” Prisha looked at her friend who brushed it off.

“It would be an issue if someone else used it like that but this is different. Anyways, wanna say hi, Knox?”

Oakley stopped in their task for a second then moved their eyes to look at the group. “Hi,” Without another word they soon returned their attention to the sky. Duck didn’t seem to mind though and instead began to get everyone’s names. Soon it was his turn to share old tales involving Prisha: how they would pretend to be heroes around the station and such until one day she had left for Chicago and the two hadn’t really kept in contact until now.

After a while Kenny cleared his throat. “Well, we should be getting out of your hair,” Kenny patted Duck’s back to make sure he got the message too.

“Alright. See you later, Prisha!” Duck gave one final wave then walked off, happily talking with Oakley who listened as they intertwined their fingers. The group watched them for a minute longer before continuing down the path and picking up the conversation that they were having prior to the Sheriff showing up.

Prisha glanced at her phone for a moment. She had some time to kill before she had to start on assignments. Her thumb instantly wandered over towards the Discord app logo and with a quick tap she opened it. As luck would have it the channel she had last been on had begun to pick up with a brand new conversation after Brody and Ruby had finished up their tea talk.

Sing-us-a-song: Wee woo wee woo

BREAKING NEWS

Violet just told me that im her beast friend

Best

Best friend

OrangeuGlad: Congrats!

Bro: wait

Aasim: You are already best friends

Bro: Aren’t you already best friends?

Yeah

Sing-us-a-song: Its official now

Best friends :3

Knife2meetU: Louis

Stop sharing stuff from our private convos in DMs

Sing-us-a-song: Oop

Sorry bestie <3

Knife2meetU: No heart

Sing-us-a-song: Sorry bestie!

Knife2meetU: And no bestie

You’re this close to losing your best friend rights

Sing-us-a-song: Are you sure? Smirk face

There’s no take backs

Knife2meetU: Wanna bet?

Sing-us-a-song: Vi waig

Wait

We’re Bffs!

Thats forever

Prisha watched the conversation continue with amusement when all of a sudden her attention was drawn away from the chat and towards the door. Therissa walked in with a tired groan. Her feet dragged on the floor before she fell onto the couch.

“If I committed murder, would you represent me and get me off scot-free?” Therissa looked over at her roommate with a tired smile. A few strands of her dark brown curly hair fell over her face, covering her eyes.

“Oh? What got you so heated? You’re usually fairly level-headed,” Prisha placed down her phone and walked towards the kitchen area to start some tea.

“I am, but this professor is a total ass. First he praises my writing in his Creative Writing 103 class saying that it’s great but then when the second semester starts and I take Creative Writing 205 then he basically starts telling me it's shit now. It makes no sense and he keeps acting snarky and pissy with me. So now on Valentine’s Day I have a day full of classes, work and a writing tutor because I need to pass this class,” Therissa groaned and sat up when Prisha walked over with two cups of tea.

“Would you want my help on any homework?” Prisha smiled at her friend who accepted the tea gratefully.

Therissa took a long sip before answering. “No, you’re super busy as is. You’re always studying and when you’re not in class you’re rushing around everywhere. I’m surprised you haven’t been passing out recently.”

“Thanks for the compliment,” Prisha’s expression was hidden behind the cup as she took a sip of tea.

“Wasn’t a compliment. I’m trying to point out that you push yourself too much. It’s a good thing Valentine’s Day is the day after tomorrow. Maybe you can finally relax for a day with your girlfriend. Speaking of which, you better have a nice outfit that you're wearing for the date.”

“I am!” Prisha smiled brightly. “In fact, after this tea I can show you it!”

Therissa returned the smile. “Good, then after Valentine’s Day we can return to plotting murder.”

“Sounds good to me.” Prisha took another sip and soon she got caught up in a conversation with Therissa.

“Shit, fuck, shit on the- fuck!” Violet ran over to the heart-shaped bowl that was over a simmering pot of water. The bowl was starting to slip due to the condensation from the heat and the fact that it had been placed poorly over the pot. Luckily Violet had caught it before most of the contents fell into the water. Violet gave a frustrated groan that turned into a hiss when her fingers brushed against the hot metal of the pot. Jerking her hand back, Violet ended up spilling the rest of the chocolate into the water. “Fuck, no!”

“Violet! Are you alright?” Prisha walked forward, the concern clear in her eyes when she saw Violet clutching her hand.

“I’m fine,” Violet could see that Prisha didn’t believe her. Silently Prisha guided Violet over towards the sink and started to run cold water over her fingers. Violet stared at the water for a moment then up at her girlfriend. “This was a fucking stupid injury,”

“It wasn’t. You were just trying to save the chocolate. It’s a shame that you got hurt in the process though,” Prisha noticed Violet’s face fall. “Don’t worry, I’ll help patch up your fingers and you can give the process of making chocolate one more go.”

“I don’t know. I fucking suck at it,” Violet mumbled, her eyes sad until she felt a kiss being pressed to her cheek.

“I beg to differ.” Prisha smiled lovingly at Violet who returned to look until Clementine’s voice drew both of their attention away from each other.

“Why does it look like there’s a pile of shit in the pot?”

“Oh horsefeathers! Did we lose another batch?” Ruby bustled over and huffed with annoyance as she began to clean up the mess.

“Sorry,” Violet’s quiet voice made Ruby glance over, her eyes softening.

“Aww, Sug, don’t worry about it. Luckily Brody had been as worried as ever and overbought on supplies,” Ruby nodded over to Brody who was working on preparing another batch.

“Seems like my anxiousness paid off this time,” Brody smiled at her friends then looked down at the ingredients that would soon make milk chocolate. “Do you think Mitch and the others will like this?” “Are you kidding? Of course they will! Louis is a sucker for sweets and so is Mitch,” Clementine placed a hand on Brody’s shoulder and gave a smile.

“Aasim loves all things romance and besides two of the people that are getting chocolates are with us and both of them have been all worried about making the perfect chocolate,” Ruby sent a teasing look over to Prisha and Violet.

“Well, ‘perfect’ is a strong word. I just want to make good chocolates for Violet,” Prisha messed with her braid for a moment.

“Yeah, what's wrong with not wanting to fuck up?” Violet crossed her arms and looked over at Ruby.

“I don’t think Ruby said it was bad, just sweet,” Brody gave another smile then took a deep breath. “Now let's kick this chocolates’ ass and surprise the guys!”

Clementine and Ruby cheered at that and soon all the girls were working on chocolate once more. It took a few more tries but soon the chocolate was being poured into the molds. After being placed in the fridge for twenty to thirty minutes the chocolates were done and the girls moved to the next step. Each of them worked to put the chocolates into little homemade heart boxes that Brody and Ruby had spent the night before making.

Violet swore under her breath while she worked on her box; Brody seemed to be in no better a boat. Meanwhile Ruby and Prisha had mastered putting together boxes of chocolates. Both of them were tying picture perfect bows on the boxes to seal them. Prisha hummed a happy tune to herself as she finished the final touches. But as soon as the others noticed that she was singing she quieted down. Lastly Clementine gave it her best effort and got a middle of the road result; she didn’t seem to care though. She knew that Louis would love it. Just as that thought had finished a knock came on her front door. Brushing her hands on her pants, Clementine walked forward. Her eyes grew large when she spotted Louis, Mitch and Aasim at the door. “Louis! What are you doing here?”

Clementine’s exclamation made the other girls poke their heads out of the kitchen to see the boys standing in the doorway. Each of them had a clip-on bow tie and a rose in their hands.

“Hello, my darling,” Louis leaned forward and planted a kiss on Clementine’s cheek. “We are here for our early Valentine’s Day surprise!” Louis grinned back at Mitch and Aasim. Mitch felt like his nerves were all over the place as he pulled on his shirt collar. Meanwhile Aasim seemed to be practicing something in his mind, his eyes focused elsewhere. Louis quickly snapped his friends out of their mindset and led the way inside. “We are here to serenade our lovely girlfriends with a barbershop quartet!”

“But isn’t a quartet made of four singers?” Brody walked forward, leading the way for the girls who all filed out to see what song the boys were about to sing.

“Right you are, Bro! Prisha, mind switching sides and completing our quartet?” Louis smiled over to his music confidant.

“I’d love nothing more,” Prisha smiled confidently as she walked forward and accepted a clip-on bowtie and rose.

Louis quickly gathered the three others and played a note for them all to be the same key. Soon the four of them began to sing Just in Time by Frank Sinatra. It was an older song that Violet was sure Prisha had pushed to be the choice for today.

“Just in time, I found you just in time

Before you came, my time was runnin' low

I was lost, the losing dice were tossed

My bridges all were crossed, nowhere to go,”

The four of them sang, each of them using their natural singing octave. Prisha and Louis were by far the best singers while Aasim wasn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination. That left Mitch in last place who clearly couldn’t sing as well as the others but that didn’t stop him from powering through and singing loudly.

“Now you're here and now I know just where I'm goin'

No more doubt or fear, I found my way

For love came just in time

You found me just in time

And changed my lonely life that lovely day,”

The four walked forward towards Violet, Ruby, Brody and Clementine. Each of them looked at their girlfriends with loving smiles. Even though the song wasn’t sung the strongest, the girls could tell that Prisha and the boys were pouring their hearts into the performance despite it being obvious for some this whole thing was overwhelming.

“Now you are here and now I know just where I'm goin'

No more doubt or fear, 'cause I've found my way

For love came just in time

You found me just in time

And changed my lonely life that lovely

Lonely life that lovely

Lonely life that lovely day,”

As the four hit the final note they held out their roses to their respective girlfriends. Louis gave a playful wink Clementine’s way as she accepted the rose before all of his confidence melted away into dorky happiness when Clementine stole a quick kiss. Ruby accepted the rose, her rosy cheeks growing rosier as she got on her tiptoes and showered Aasim with quick, soft kisses. Meanwhile both Brody and Mitch were blushing messes as Brody took the rose and gave Mitch a compliment that made him even more flustered. Both of them tried to find the right words as they held each other’s hands. Soon they each decided it was better to just let their actions speak louder than their words and shared a strong kiss. Lastly, Violet took the rose and knew that her face was as red as the flower.

“I’m glad you enjoyed the quartet,” Prisha smiled at Violet who gave a short nod. The two were silent for a moment before Violet snuck a kiss. The romantic action made Prisha freeze in place for a moment.

“Oh!” Ruby’s voice made everyone look over at her. “We should give the chocolates!”

“Chocolates?” Louis’ eyes danced with excitement at those words and it only grew as Clementine disappeared and reappeared with a box of chocolates.

Soon all of the chocolates had been exchanged to which all of its recipients were extremely happy. Mitch wrapped his arms around Brody from behind and pressed a kiss to her cheek before he grew almost as overwhelmed as Brody by the action. Aasim was happily talking about how much he appreciated Ruby and all the thought she had put in this early Valentine’s Day surprise. Ruby  blushed and quickly told him that he had been just as thoughtful if not more. Violet watched nervously as Prisha took a bite of the chocolate and was relieved when Prisha’s eyes sparkled with happiness. Clementine watched her friends for a moment then looked back over at Louis who was gushing about how lucky he was to have a girlfriend like Clementine, especially on Valentine’s Day. Clementine smiled softly and held onto Louis’ hands.

These Valentine celebrations were already going great and it wasn’t even the holiday yet. All of them had knocked it out of the park so far and after hearing the plans for the others Valentine Day dates Clementine was sure tomorrow would be a fantastic day for all of them.

Clementine’s eyes wandered over the map of Ericson University one last time. She had to be sure that there were no rifts opening up. If one appeared while she was busy getting lost in the joy of a date… It couldn’t happen. Luckily when she checked it for the sixteenth time it was the same as it always was. Blank and void of any shimmering blue or red dots. Clementine gave a shaky sigh of relief and tucked it away in her winter coat. Lee and Carley had already headed out, both of them looking giddy at the thought of starting their Valentine’s Day date. Soon after they had left, a babysitter showed up for AJ who was waiting to work on his second Valentine’s card that he wanted to give to Telulah as soon as he could. His foot tapped impatiently as he waited for Louis so that he could say hi before him and Clementine headed out. A few minutes passed of awkward silence and of the babysitter wanting to get AJ to focus on games instead of staring at the door when a knock appeared. Jogging forward, Clementine opened the door and found her boyfriend smiling brightly at her, in his hands a dozen roses.

“Happy Valentine's Day, my darling!” Louis leaned forward and captured Clementine’s lips in a soft kiss.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” Clementine reached out and took one of Louis’ hands in hers.

“Are you ready for a magical carriage ride?” Louis smiled at Clementine who gave a short nod.

“Yep,” Clementine glanced back at AJ. “Okay, we’re going to be heading out now,”

“Wait!” AJ scampered forward and skidded to a halt in front of the pair. “You better keep her safe!”

“Will do, little dude!” Louis gave a huge thumbs up at AJ who beamed.

“Oh! And get her back by curf- curvs-”

“Curfew,” Clementine helped her little brother who nodded firmly.

“Yeah! Curfew!”

“Of course! I will make sure Clem is back and safe by curfew. You have a gentleman’s promise,” Louis noticed the happy smile on AJ’s lips at his words.

“Good!” AJ placed his hands on his hips for a second then rushed forward and tackled Clementine with a hug before running back to get started on the fun.

Clementine and Louis shared a smile and quietly laughed as they walked out the door. Clementine looked over at Louis. He was wearing a long brown coat as well as a green scarf that seemed to only add to his adorable winter vibes.“You’re looking cute today,”

Clementine’s compliment made Louis look over with a dorky smile. “Why, thank you! I picked it out myself. Well, that's not entirely true. Marlon helped me pick out this scarf,”

“Well then both of you did a good job picking out your outfit,” Clementine smiled when she saw how happy those words made Louis.

“Awww thanks, but I don’t look half as cute as you,” Louis swung their joined hands then nodded over towards Clementine's outfit. It was a dark blue sweater covered by a black winter jacket that all complemented her fuzzy blue winter hat.

Clementine blushed lightly at the compliment. “Thanks,” She quickly leaned over and pressed a kiss to Louis’ cheek. The two walked happily towards the location of the horse-drawn carriage, sharing as many kiss as they could surprise the other with until they reached the spot.

“M’lady,” Louis held out his hand with a warm smile. Clementine returned the smile and took his hand as he guided her up the steps of the carriage. Soon he was right beside her, immediately handing over the dozen roses. “Are you ready for a romantic carriage ride?” “I was born ready,” Clementine gave a playful smile that made Louis’ nose crinkle with amusement. Sharing one more kiss, Louis gave the signal and the carriage driver flicked the reins, causing the horses to snort before moving forward in a slow trot. Clementine scooted closer and wrapped her arm around Louis’ waist. Louis’ face grew warm and he gently kissed Clementine’s forehead then pulled her closer. Nuzzling his face against the top of her head, he slowly leaned his head against hers and the two took in the beauty of the snow-covered world around them. Both of them commented here and there about how lovely the park was as the carriage moved forward. After a few moments Louis began to hum a tune that Clementine couldn’t place for a moment. It took her a few seconds to pick up what he was singing.

“Are you humming Jingle Bells? After Christmas?” Clementine looked up at her boyfriend with a smile.

“Yes, I am, and there is nothing wrong with that,” Louis grinned down at Clementine and stole a kiss before continuing to hum. Soon his warm tune was joined  by a softer voice. Louis glanced down to see that Clementine was joining him in humming. The two began to hum some more then quickly proceeded to sing the song out loud along with any other song that their hearts desired. Both of them looked at each other with joyful, soft smiles. This really was a magical carriage ride.

Ruby stood in front of the mirror and turned this way and that, causing her red dress to sway. Her brows furrowed for a moment before she looked back at Brody who was busy pacing.

“Brody, do you think my dress looks alright?”

Ruby’s voice snapped Brody out of her thoughts and she glanced up. “What? Are you kidding? Aasim is going to lose his mind when he sees you!” Brody stopped her pacing and gave a warm smile to her best friend.

“Yeah, you’re right. I think I’m getting into my own head.” Ruby looked back at the mirror. “Just like you are about your date with Mitch,”

Those words made Brody’s eyes grow large before falling. “It’s stupid. I was so busy the last few days that I didn’t even talk to Mitch about changing our Valentine’s Day plans. It's too late to change them now and besides, he sang for me yesterday which was a really nice surprise.”

“Brody, I don’t think you need to worry your head about this. I’m sure you’ll have a grand time with Mitch,” Ruby looked back at Brody through the mirror, a playful knowingness in her eyes. The sight of that confused Brody and she wanted to ask about it when suddenly a knock on the dorm room door appeared.

“Oh, that must be him!” Ruby bustled over and opened the door, revealing Aasim who was decked out in a suit with a red tie. Tucked in his left hand there looked to be a piece of love poetry based on the seal and the red bow around it.

“Hello, my dove,” Aasim leaned down and gently kissed Ruby. Ruby instantly cupped his face and deepened the kiss before giving two more quick ones.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Pookie,” Ruby took Aasim’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Are you ready to go to the tea shop?”

“I sure am! I heard the tea there is divine!” Ruby smiled up at her boyfriend then glanced back at Brody. “I’m heading out. I’ll see you later.”

“Okay,” Brody gave a quick wave and after Aasim helped Ruby get on her coat the two disappeared down the hall.

The pair walked in serene silence for a bit, enjoying the winter wonderland that their campus had turned into. They shared small kisses here and there as they walked, placing them on each other’s wrists and hands. Ruby’s rosy red cheeks turned even brighter in the cold of winter which made Aasim’s heart pitter patter happily.

Soon the two had arrived at Sarita’s Tea Shop where the owner welcomed them with a friendly smile. A large man stood beside the owner who they learned went by the name Tripp. He gave a quick kiss to Sarita before guiding Aasim and Ruby to their table. After placing their orders, Aasim and Ruby immediately held each other’s hands.

Aasim looked at Ruby with such tender love as he placed kiss after kiss on her hands. “I can’t tell you how happy I am that I found you. In fact, I tried my best to put into words my feelings for you,” Aasim slipped one of his hands free and held out the love poetry.

“Why, Aasim,” Ruby gently took the gift and slowly began to read it. Her eyes wandered from left to right, reading the words her boyfriend had so lovingly put on paper. With each sentence her heart grew warmer and warmer until she had finished reading. Silently she placed down the paper and leaned forward across the table, kissing Aasim softly. Aasim’s eyes widened for a moment then closed as he deepened the kiss. After a moment the two pulled apart and shared a soft look.

“I’m happy I found you too,”

The two smiled at each other, holding each other’s hands until the tea was brought forward along with the pastries. Tripp silently poured the hot water over a rose blossom in a clear teapot. Slowly the rose bursted open, blossoming and flavoring the tea. Ruby and Aasim stared in awe then shared another smile. This was turning into a truly unforgettable Valentine’s Day.

Brody sat on her bed and stared at the ceiling. Ruby had left a while ago and based on the haphazard text she got from Mitch he was nearly here. It wouldn’t be bad cuddling and watching a movie together. Feeling Mitch’s arms around her, stolen kisses.. Brody covered her face with a  pillow as she felt herself grow overwhelmed. Just as she was about to go on another spiral of thoughts, a knock showed up on the door.

Peeking out from behind the pillow Brody got up, quickly readjusting her t-shirt before walking over to answer the door. When she opened the door her eyes grew wide with surprise. There, standing in the doorway, was Mitch in an honest to goodness tux. The dark blue tie was sloppily placed and the suit was a bit too big on him.

Mitch pulled at the collar for a second before he noticed Brody. “Brodes! Happy Valentine’s Day!” Mitch’s voice boomed a bit too loudly as he thrusted out his arm which held a metal trident. Brody blinked in awe of the trident then took it. Slowly her eyes began to examine it. “I thought that a stronger weapon is never a bad thing so I made you one,” Mitch’s eyes were focused on the floor. “It’ll protect you way better than that prop one you had,”

“I love it,” Brody smiled up at Mitch who looked at her with shock then proceeded to pump his fist.

“Yes! Fuckin’ A! I actually didn’t fuck up on Valentine’s Day! Because look!” Mitch leaned over and picked up a soft yellow dress then held it out for Brody. “Ruby helped me pick it out because I’m shit at this sorta thing but you gotta dress up for our plans.”

“Plans?” Brody accepted the dress and held it close to her chest with a soft smile.

“Yeah, it took me fucking forever but I saved up enough money to take you to one of those fancy restaurants, one of those places where you have to dress fancy and shit,”

Mitch’s words made Brody’s mouth open slightly in surprise. She definitely wasn’t expecting this. Silently she placed down the items then got on her tiptoes and pulled Mitch into a kiss. Mitch instantly wrapped his arms around her waist and deepened the kiss. Once they pulled apart the two stared into each other’s eyes.

“I’m gonna go get changed,”

“Okay, I’ll wait out in the hall,” Mitch whispered. Both of their faces were super red as they squeezed each other’s hands and let them slip free. Mitch waited out in the hall, kicking his foot impatiently as he leaned against the wall. After a few minutes Brody emerged from the room in the short, soft yellow dress. Mitch’s mouth hung open for a second.

“Well, do I look okay?” Brody did a small spin.

“You look fucking amazing!” Mitch walked forward and stole another kiss from Brody. Brody hummed at the touch of the kiss then pulled back, her face a bright red.

“Thanks, you look pretty amazing yourself,” Brody’s hands wandered forward and held onto Mitch’s tux for a second.

Mitch had a confident smile on his face. “I borrowed this tux from my dad and he helped me pick out this tie,” Mitch’s confidence radiated off of him as he displayed his outfit before it faltered when he noticed his tie’s placement looked like shit. Silently Brody helped fix his tie then intertwined her fingers with his. The two shared a quick smile then after locking the door headed out towards the restaurant.

Both of them felt extremely out of place at this fancy restaurant. It was way out of their normal price range.

“Why the fuck do they have two forks?” Mitch looked at the table placement with confusion as he and Brody waited for their steak dinners.

“I don’t know. Maybe it's in case you drop one?” Brody shrugged, unsure of her own answer. Mitch stared at the forks for a moment longer before a mischievous grin appeared on his face. “Mitch, what are you thinking?”

Mitch was silent as he looked up at Brody before his elbow knocked off a fork. After a moment a waiter came forward and replaced his fork. Brody sighed which only made Mitch’s smile grow.

“Come on, Brodes, y’know you love me,” Mitch’s smug smile faded in an instant when he realized what he had just said. The two shared a look, both extremely red once more before looking away.

Brody was silent for a minute then answered. “Yeah, I do.”

Her answer made Mitch drop his glass of water directly on his crotch. “Fuck!”

“Mitch! Are you okay?” Brody pushed back her chair to check on her boyfriend.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. It just looks like I pissed my pants,” Mitch was silent for a moment, wondering if he should go for it. “I love you too,”

His answer shocked Brody who in her surprise knocked over a plate which slammed onto Mitch’s toe. This date was absolute chaos but both of them seemed focused on the positives of the moment, chaos and all.

Violet hopped up onto the back of her old, beat up, blue pickup truck, parked in the same spot that Violet had taken Prisha all those months ago on their first date together. Her hands worked to place the last few pillows in place before double checking that all the fake candles were on. After frantically checking once more Violet got off the truck and walked towards the door. Opening it, she saw that Prisha still had her eyes closed.

“Okay, it's ready. Here, take my hand,” Violet instructed and Prisha immediately held out her hand which Violet grasped. Silently she led the way towards the back of the pickup truck. After getting Prisha in the right spot, Violet took a few steps back beside the truck.”Okay, open your eyes.”

Prisha’s eyes slowly fluttered open before growing large in awe. The back of the pickup truck was covered in blankets and pillows. Along the edges of the truck were fake candles as well as two vases filled with violets, baby’s breath and forget me nots.

“I did my best to make it like our first date but, y’know, better,” Violet awkwardly scratched the back of her neck then hid her hands away in her front hoodie pocket.

“It's absolutely beautiful! Violet,” Prisha’s voice hitched in her throat and she ran forward, cupping Violet’s face and capturing her lips in a passionate kiss. Violet’s eyes grew large at the romantic gesture for a moment then she deepened the kiss. Prisha pulled back and looked lovingly into Violet’s eyes. “I love it.” “I’m glad,” Violet smiled at her girlfriend then intertwined her fingers with Prisha’s. “So, ready to stargaze?”

“Of course!” Prisha returned the smile, kissing Violet’s nose quickly before getting up on the back of the pickup truck with her. The two worked together to get under the blankets and snuggled close. Both of them soon became lost in the beauty of the sky when all of a sudden Prisha reached out and held onto Violet’s hand once more. Violet gave a soft laugh at that which confused Prisha as she looked over at her girlfriend. “What?”

“Nothing. It's just on our first date neither of us was even sure if it was one and we both kept accidentally dodging each other’s hands,” Violet’s eyes traveled over to Prisha’s. “I’m really glad that you held my hand that night,”

“I am too. I can't even express how much you’ve grown to mean to me, Violet. How deeply I care about you, how much I love you,” Prisha turned her body so that she was closer to Violet. Her eyes soon became lost in Violet’s.

“Me neither. To think I’d find someone like you,” Violet whispered and moved closer. “I’m really fucking lucky. So, thanks for choosing me,”

Prisha’s smile grew and she gave Violet a soft kiss. “I wouldn’t choose anyone else. I love you,”

“I love you too,” Violet snuggled up closer to Prisha and soon the two repositioned themselves. Violet’s head gently rested on Prisha’s shoulder as Prisha’s arms wrapped around Violet. The couple’s gaze slowly returned up to the starry sky. Violet snuck a quick glance at Prisha then looked up at the sky once more. Being here with her and the stars that shone brightly in the sky, in that moment Violet needed nothing more.

[storydays]

Season 1, ep2, p3

The lights went off, the crowd cheered in anticipation. You inhaled and exhaled softly, before opening your (e/c) eyes that were focused and ready. The announcer came out into the middle of the arena. "Introducing the Fire Ferrets!" You waved as fans screamed. "Ahh! I love you, Bolin! Mako, you're so awesome! Marry me, (Y/N)!" You laughed softly, as the main announcer took over. "The rookie Ferrets came out of nowhere, and have made it further than anyone had expected this season. But tonight, they face the toughest test yet, folks." 

You smirk at your opponent, noting he was a fire bender. Time slowed down as you shoot your hand up, allowing the water to be pushed back, but he retaliated by sending fire towards your face. You ducked, and rolled under Mako's leg, and ran around Bolin's figure. "Oh, the two teams waste no time trying to blast each other out of Zone One." Mako jumped over your back, as you sent a water blast towards the firebender, knocking him back into Zone 2. 

"Migo is the first to have wet socks, curtsy of (Your fake name)! The Tigerdillos try to repay the favor but (Y/F/N) is too quick! Meanwhile, Mako showcases his trademark "Cool Under Fire" style." Bolin groaned as the opposing waterbender him back, but you knocked the earthbender off the edge in return. "Oh, and Tico is out and down for the count, quickly followed by Migo!" The opposing waterbender looked nervous, as the three of you smirked before Bolin sent a double whammy and knocked him out. "Ohh, and the Fire Ferrets win round 1 with no trouble at all!"

Round 2 was over before you knew it, and now were panting heavily, the Tigerdillos weren't happy and were fighting with anger clouding their vision, and pride. Mako took the lead and knocked down the other firebender into the drink. You did a back flip, having the water flick the opposing waterbender in the stomach, before Bolin knocked him back into the firerbender, and Mako used his finishing move with a fire blast that made both teens lose their balance and fall into the water below.

"It's a knock out! Such teamwork!" The Ferrets fans cheered loudly as the announcer told them that the Ferrets were going to the championships. The three of you walked to back to the platform that took you back to your side of the arena. Nagisa was cheering your "name" happily, while Kazan was jumping up and down, grinning excitedly. You laughed softly, as the two children ran around you, as you took your helmet off, and took a drink of water. Bolin came around the corner. 

"So what'd you think, Korra? Bolin's got some moves, huh?" He said, cockily. You chuckled, stepping behind a curtain to change into your Water Tribe clothes, leaving your hair in it's high ponytail. Noticing your arrows on your hands peeking out again, your tightened your gloves around your hands, so no slip ups happened. "What did I think? What did I think? That was amazing!" Korra cried, as Nagisa happily agreed. 

"You did a good job, (Your fake name). That was some good footwork." Mako gave you a half smile, and walked to his locker. Turning to the firebender, Korra tried to talk to him again. "You guys were incredible out there. Especially you, Mr Foot Work." Korra complemented. "Oh, you're still here?" Mako snapped. "Oh, you're still a jerk?" She grumbled. Rolling your eyes at their behavior, you put your radio in your ear, and waited for the person on the end to pick up. 

"Hello?" An irritated voice asked from the other side. "Hey, I-I need a favor." You sighed, sadly.

--Meanwhile--

"It's like there's a whole new way of bending here! Think you can teach me a couple moves?" She asked Bolin, as Nagisa jumped on Korra's back, and Kazan held Mako's hand. Surprised, the amber eyed male looked down at the younger, before shrugging and continued listening to the chattering benders in front of him. He sent a worried side glance towards you, you were hunched over, and were talking into a radio, looking concerned and sad, almost ancient. "Absolutely." Bolin said happily. 

 "Right now? Come on, Bolin." Mako sighed, a frown and irritation pulling at his face. "Just ignore him. Yeah, I could show you the basics. I'm just not sure how my earthbending would translate to your waterbending, but we'll figure it out." You got off the phone with an agitated look on your normally relaxed face, and gently took Nagisa off of Korra's back, and held her as you tuned into the conversation. "Won't be a problem. I'm actually an earthbender." Korra said, cockily. "I'm sorry, no, no, I didn't mean to assume. 'Cause I--You know, I was just figuring--with your Water Tribe getup that you are a Water Tribe gal." Bolin mumbled over his words, like the awkward dork he is. 

"Nope, you're right. I am a waterbender....and a firebender." She stated, as Mako froze and you sighed. Bolin was stuck trying to figure it out out. "Mm. Mm-hmm. I'm very confused right now." "You're the Avatar, and I'm an idiot." Mako hung his head, as Korra agreed. "Both are true." Korra replied, jumping when you gently dragged the two little ones with you. "(Your fake name), where are you going?" Korra asked, tentatively. "Nothing. What could I possibly know?" You snapped, slamming the door, and leading the children with you. "(Fake name)? Where are we going?" Nagisa asked, as you lead them down the stairs. 

Turning to the small children, you smile, knowing you owed them an explanation. "My name isn't (Fake name), I've just been using that name because I wanted to be a normal guy for a while. You're kids,  but you are smarter than you think. My real name is (Y//N), and I am sorry for what happened to your parents. I know you've been left alone and probably feel like no one cares about you, but that ends now. I'm going to tell you a huge secret, because as of today, you two are going to be taken care of." You sent a blinding smile at the children who looked back at you with hope in their eyes. 

--The next morning--

Korra growled, as she sleepily tried the gates again. Korra ran through the gates with aggression as Tenzin cried out, "Patience,Korra!" Korra growled as she starting burning up the exercise. You dropped your apple that you were sharing with Nevermore, in shock. Korra panted heavily as she realized what she did. "That was a 2,000 year old historical treasure." Tenzin started as you snapped,"What is wrong with you?" "There's nothing wrong with me! I've been practicing, just like you both taught me! But it isn't sinking in, okay? It hasn't clicked like you said you would.: She ranted. 

"Korra, this isn't something you can't force.If you would only listen to me and (Y/N)--" Tenzin started. "I have been! But you know what I think? Maybe the problem isn't me. Maybe the reason I haven't learn airbending yet, is because you're a terrible teacher!" Korra accused before stomping off. "Yeah, Daddy, you're a terrible teacher." Meelo giggled innocently.Sensing their father's hurt, the girls hugged Tenzin's waist. You pat your uncle's shoulder. 

"She didn't mean it, Uncle. You're a great teacher, but some of your methods are old school, and while some may respond to this style of teaching, some may not. Don't forget that her dominant element is water," You began leading him over to a pond, got into a waterbending position and began dancing with the waves, you following their movements. 

"Others may need more of a hard push that can end in gentle reassurance. Like Mother used to say, A flower cannot bloom without sunshine and rain. When I asked her about it, she said that it meant, with out balance, nothing will get done." You said, gently dropping the water of your mother's memorial Magnolia tree, sending a warm gentle breeze and listening to your cousins' awed gasps. Turning to your Uncle, you told him, "Follow her tonight and you'll see." You said with a mischievous glint in your eye.

--That night--

You left your hair down and put a beanie on, before heading underground into an abandoned tunnel, taking the way you normally do to get to the city undetected. But something was different in the air tonight. You closed your eyes, inhaled and exhaled softly, before whirling around, eyes ablaze with annoyance. 

"You know, it's not like I can't feel when someone's following me." You snap putting your hands on your hips, sensing a sheepish aura from the person, hiding behind the corner. The figure stepped out and you immediately tensed up in a fighting position.  "Well, something big must be going down if the big boss himself came to see little ol' me." You snark sarcastically as Amon stepped out from the shadows. 

"Ah, (Y/f/n), quick with the mouth as always I see." You could sense he was grinning under his mask, so you rolled your eyes. "Kiss my--" "Hey, now, use nice language." He chuckled, standing a few feet away from you. "You didn't know where I was going with that.....Ass!" You replied sassily. Amon remained silent, leaving the air with a thick tension, until you cleared your throat. "Okay, maybe you did." You replied weakly, before you gasped, feeling your left arm being pinned to your back, and right arm couldn't move at all. 

"You always were a little smart mouth. But tonight will be the first step to baiting the Avatar to fall into my plans....just like I did to your mother." He said, lowly. You growled, flicking ice shards into the man's arm, just as he used several chi-blocking pressure points. You cry out, as you felt pain crawling up to your forearm and down to your wrist. Falling to the ground, withering, you fell to the ground on your injured arm, and looked up at the masked man with foggy eyes. 

"What are you going to take my powers away? Go ahead, I'm not afraid of a loser, like you." You spat, feeling fear run through you as an electric rod was pressed into your ribs. While you yelped from the shock, Amon laughed. "No, I am not going to take away your bending. You've suffered enough and I have sent a message, thanks to you, ((Y/F/N). Until we meet again." Hitting the highest switch, you scream and black out, hoping someone will find you soon. 

--Meanwhile (3rd Person's POV)--

 Korra entered the Ferret's dressing room to see Mako and Bolin looking rather sullen. But you were nowhere to be found. "I didn't miss your match, did I?You guys look like you lost it already.  And where is (Y/F/N)?" She asked. "We don't know! He's usually here early! Earlier than us, and we live here! We may have already lost the match." Bolin said, sadly. "It's not like him." Mako mumbled as the referee popped his head in.  "You've got two minutes ready to play or your disqualified." 

Mako huffed. "Well, there goes our shot at the championship and the winnings." Curious, Korra couldn't help but ask, "What about one of the other players? Can't you ask one of them to fill in?" "No, the rules say you can only compete on one team." Bolin replied. "Well, then, what about me? I'm a top-notch waterbender if I do say so, myself." She said cockily. "But, you're the Avatar. Isn't that cheating?" The green eyed teen asked. 

"It's not cheating if I only use waterbending." Korra said confidently. "No way, I'd rather forfeit than look like a fool out there." Mako complained. "Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence." Korra rolled her eyes as the referee popped his head into the room. "Time's up! Are you in or out?" "We're in!" "Yes!" "Hey, I didn't agree to this!" Mako whined. "You can thank me later!" called Korra, as she put on your uniform. "This girl is crazy." The firebender muttered, as he put his helmet on. 

"Looks like the ferrets have ferret'd out a last minute waterbender replacement!" Immediately (Y/N) fans began booing and demanding to know where you were. "Let's see if she's another diamond in the rough, like the brothers from the School of Hard Knocks." The announcer called, giving the green light to prepare to play. "Don't do anything too aggressive or too fancy. In face, don't do anything." Mako grumbled. "Just tried not to get knocked off the ring." "You got it, Captain." Korra replied, sarcastically. 

"Players, are you ready?" The referee blew his whistle, and Korra sent the opposing waterbender off the rink with a powerful blast.  Korra cheered as Mako facepalmed and Bolin winced in sympathy. "Fire Ferrets waterbender, penalty. Move back one zone." Called the ref. "What? Why?" Demanded Korra. "You're only allowed to knock players off the back of the ring, not the sides." Mako explained as Korra  winced. 

"And we're back in action after that hiccup. But I'm not so sure this replacement player knows what she's doing." As soon as the words left the announcer's mouth, the ref called another foul for Korra. "Foul! Over the line, move back to Zone Three." "Korra grunted and muttered under her breath. The bell rung loudly as the Platypus Bears took Round One. The Bears know a green player when they see one. They're focusing on the brunt of their attacks on this poor girl." 

Korra couldn't take it anymore, and used fire and earth to block the incoming attacks. "Wait a minute! Did that waterbender just earthbend?" He ask as the room froze. The referee blew the whistle and called out, "Foul, I think. Did I see that right?" Korra laughed sheepishly as Mako growled under his breath. "Hold on folks, we're just waiting for the ref's official call, but I think the replacement waterbender could be--no way! She's the Avatar, folks! Playing in a pro-bending match! Can you believe that?"

"The Avatar will be permitted to continue, so long as she uses waterbending only." The Platypus bears grumble before attacking the Avatar with even more aggressively. "This girl may be the Avatar, but she's no pro-bender,and the Platypus-Bears are exploiting that weakness. Their giving her their best and her best just isn't good enough to stop it. And she's in the sink!" 

Korra grumbled as she pulled herself out of the water before looking up to see a very angry Airbender starring down at him. "Oh, hey, Tenzin. I thought you didn't like coming to these matches." She chuckled awkwardly. "Once again, you have flagrantly disobeyed my orders. You were to stay on the island. Let's go." Tenzin said, sternly. "No, I'm kind of in the middle of something." "I have tried my very best to get through to you by being gentle and patient, but clearly the only thing you respond to is force! So I am ordering you to come back to the temple right now." Tenzin yelled. "Why? So I can sit around and meditate about how bad I am at airbending?You know, I am beginning to think there's a reason I haven't been able to learn it. Maybe I don't even need it!"

"What? That is a ludicrous suggestion. The Avatar needs to learn airbending. It is not optional." Tenzin was at his limit. "No, this is what I need to learn. Modern styles of fighting." Korra protested. "Being the Avatar isn't all about fighting, Korra. When will you learn that?" Tenzin placed his hands on his hips as Korra began walking away. "I have a match to go finish." 

The next three minutes were some of the most annoying moments of Korra's life but your voice echoed in her head, reminding her to breathe, and suddenly she was a graceful swan, dodging fire and earth disks before moving forward with her attacks. "Well, how about that." Tenzin said, softly. The next thing the Platypus-Bears knew, they were all in the sink, and the Ferrets were finally in the championships. 

The Ferrets made their way into the room, the brothers allowing Korra to get changed first. Tenzin came into the room with a soft grin on his face. "It seems my nephew was right about this being a better teaching for you. You did good Korra. You moved just like an airbender." Korra grinned, knowing both sides were calmed down and have no hard feelings toward the others. 

"Speaking of my nephew, where is he?" Tenzin asked as they walked out the gym, as he promised the Ferrets a celebratory dinner, "He was the one who mentioned I should come down here tonight." Before anyone could reply, Lin Beifong landed in front of them with a worried expression on her usually stoic face. "Lin, what is the matter?" The older Airbending master hurried to his old friend's side, the teens looking at the Chief in concern. 

"It's (Y/N), he's in the hospital."

[stevesnailbat]

never would have known | steve harrington x henderson!reader

REQUESTS USED:

Can I please have a Henderson reader x Steve Harrington where she has been friends with Steve since season 2 and he realizes he's in love with her, confesses his feelings and they get kind of intense/smutty? If you could do that, that would be awesome!!

i has this idea what if Dustin older sister was a rock and roll edgy kind of gal also a baddie. The point is Steve has seen her around in high school because she was a big deal when it comes to fighting and after high school he gets the crushies for her I hope you like that request !❤️

warnings: a little angsty I guess?, kinda steamy at the end

word count: 2.2K

a/n: this took forever so i’m sorry for the first requester mentioned since you requested a while ago, but it’s here! enjoy!

When Steve was falling in love with Dustin’s sister, it took him a while to realize it. It wasn’t an instantaneous, love at first sight type of thing that some people get. But more of something that happened so slowly at first, then it was something that happened to hit him with full force towards the end.

She had been pining after him for so long and was so close to giving up. He had only seen her as one of the kids or as another “nerd” that was associated with the party, she thought she was nothing more than a good, younger friend to him. Her hope had diminished when he got a job at Scoops Ahoy! because of his constant flirtation with any girl that would come in, which was egged on by Robin immensely. Every once in a while, she’d want to give up on him loving her. But then, he’d come in with a sweet comment or caring touch that would make her break again. To her, it seemed like a vicious cycle that would never stop.

To him, it seemed like she didn’t want him, so he kept his distance. Y/N was someone who would speak her mind typically, she wouldn’t let her feelings go unsaid for the most part. In school, he always saw her sticking up for herself or being the bold one to call other girls out. It was intimidating to Steve, but he knew that she would always speak her mind. It was different with him, though. She was scared of the feelings she felt for him, so her bold personality seemed to diminish into something smaller, sometime more timid when with him.

It was a rainy Friday afternoon in June when Steve finally came to his senses. He had picked up Dustin and Y/N from their house and they were on their way towards Indianapolis. Dustin had claimed that there was a comic store downtown and it was the only one in the state that carried a limited edition comic book he had been saving up for. Steve was hesitant at first, but was guilted into it by a very convincing and dramatic Dustin.

Y/N was in the passenger seat with her feet on the dashboard, watching raindrops as they rolled down the window. She seemed to be in her own little world when Steve looked over at her, humming along to the music from the radio.

“Can we stop and get food before we get there?” she asked abruptly.

“No.” Steve replied, glancing over at her to see her shocked expression. “It’s already an hour and a half drive one way, I don’t want this to take longer than it has to.”

“Oh c’mon! It’s just gonna take a second, we can go through a drive-thru or something!” she retorted, looking to Dustin for backup but only getting a shrug in return.

“You should’ve eaten or something before!” he suggested, rolling his eyes at her response. “I don’t want this to be a long ass trip for no reason, Henderson.”

With that, she fell silent. She hated when he called her that, it made her feel like she was nothing more than one of the kids to him. To her, it seemed like he was trying to rub the fact that he didn’t feel the same about her in her face. Dustin and Steve could sense her change in mood as she shifted towards the window, it was obvious there was something more than not getting food on her mind in that moment.

Steve was tempted to make another snide remark about it, but the upset look on her face was already making him feel bad enough. He made eye contact with Dustin through the rear-view mirror, seeing the perplexed and somewhat sympathetic look on his face through the reflection. It was weird for Dustin to see his typically outgoing sister clam up so much, but he knew what was happening; he just wanted to wait for Steve to catch on by himself.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Steve decided to cave. Once they were close to the shop, he pulled into a McDonald’s and went towards the drive-thru. The look on Y/N’s face didn’t falter, though, as they pulled through. Steve didn’t bother to ask her what she wanted, he knew exactly what she wanted from the many times the three of them had been through a McDonald’s drive-thru together. Dustin chimed in at one point to add another sandwich to his order, but Y/N stayed silent still.

She slowly ate the ice cream he handed her after mumbling a small ‘thank you’ to him, trying to seem as disinterested as he seemed to be. In reality, he was desperately trying to stay calm even though he wanted to tell her how he really felt.

Dustin rushed into the comic store once Steve stopped, promising he’d be out in ten minutes even though Steve and Y/N knew better than that. The two of them were left alone, only the sound of the radio and the crinkling fast food bag filling the silence. Steve looked over at her momentarily, seeing that she still wore the same sad expression on her face.

“What are you doing this weekend?” Steve asked shyly, trying to fill the desperate silence.

“Nothing exciting, probably staying home with D.” she remarked, a small, bittersweet smile playing on her lip for half a second. “What are your plans?”

“My plans?” he asked, the thought of him going on a date the next day with another girl had slipped his mind before he asked his own question. “Oh, nothing exciting.”

“That’s a lie.” she said bluntly, rolling her eyes at his apparent nervousness. “What are you actually doing this weekend?”

“I—I’m going on a date tonight.” he said, staring at the steering wheel as he spoke. “With Veronica Mitchell.”

“Oh.” she said, trying to hide her hurt behind a tone of carelessness. “She’s fun. I’m sure you’ll have a great night, Harrington.”

Steve felt the words she said begin to sound malicious towards the end of her sentence, her true feeling of annoyance apparent in her voice. He gave her a remorseful smile as she turned her focus back to the fry container in her lap, picking at the ones that were left. Dustin came back soon after, rambling about the new comic book as soon as he got into the car again. His excitement filled the previously silent car on the ride home, but both Y/N and Steve were distracted with thoughts of each other.

That night was no different than any other for Y/N. She was doing exactly what she had told Steve. Sure, it felt a little lame to be sitting on her little brother’s bedroom floor writing down songs for a mixtape for herself, but it was always enjoyable.

“How about Rock You Like a Hurricane? You like that one, don’t you?” Dustin suggested, shrugging his shoulders.

“Yeah, but I put that on the last one I made! I can’t keep doing the—“ she started, but was cut off by the phone ringing in the living room.

Dustin ran to the phone before she could even get up from the floor, as if he was waiting for a phone call. She got up from her spot on the floor and walked towards the living room, hearing her brother talk excitedly. There was no doubt that he was talking to one of the boys from the party and that they were probably inviting him to do something nerdy. She just hoped she didn’t have to be the one to take him. He hung up quickly after getting on the line, a grin on his face as he walked away and back towards his bedroom.

“Where are you going in such a hurry?” she asked, an amused smirk on her face.

“Mike’s! Important shit happening over there, I gotta go now. I’ll ride my bike.” he said, throwing a few things around his room as he packed a backpack.

“Fine, I guess I’ll just be here all alone then.” she joked, making Dustin roll his eyes at her guilt trip.

“Whatever, have fun! On the bright side, you can listen to your rock shit as loud as your little heart desires, since Mom’s out for the night.” Dustin remarked, making her roll her eyes at his response this time as he quickly made his way to the door.

It was a matter of seconds before Y/N was alone in the house, letting out an annoyed sigh at the thought. She was afraid to be alone that night, mainly because she was afraid to be alone with her thoughts and feelings about Steve. So, she did just as Dustin had said, putting her music on as loud as she wanted to drone her thoughts out.

She only heard the knock on the door when the mixtape was between songs, making her stop in her tracks. She wasn’t expecting anyone, so it put her a little on edge. But, she went toward the door anyways because the knocking was incessant. Who she saw in the peephole was not who she expected to see, but it was the person who made her heart flutter the moment she saw. She opened the door hesitantly, hoping he wasn’t there for Dustin.

“Y/N, hey!” he said immediately, running his fingers through his hair nervously. “I—uh—“

“Aren’t you supposed to be on a date, Harrington?” she replied bluntly, raising her eyebrows at him.

“Yeah—Yeah, about that.” he chuckled, rolling his eyes at himself. “I decided not to go.”

“And why’s that?” she implored as she crossed her arms, not letting him into the house just yet.

“Because it felt so wrong, I—I don’t like Veronica Mitchell. I don’t really know why I even asked her out—I’m stupid for doing it and—“

“What’s the point of this? Did you come here to tell me that your standards are too high or do you have something else you needed?”

“Well, I mean. I guess I’m not here to say that specifically. But yeah, my standards are too high.” he responded, earning no response from her as she stood there with a confused look on her face. “Fuck it. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’ve been oblivious to the fact that I’ve liked you this whole time and that I’ve just been distracting myself from my feelings up until now.”

“Shut up, Steve.” she scoffed, waiting for him to crack a smile and tell her it was some twisted joke. “You can’t be serious.”

“But I am! I really realized that I liked you when we were in the car talking about my date today, I realized that I was so oblivious to myself up until now. If I wouldn’t have seen you so get so—so holed up about me talking about the date with Veronica, I would’ve never known how I really felt.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” she replied, feeling impatient as he rambled on.

“I’m talking about you! I like you! I’ve been too afraid to tell you this whole time.” he exclaimed, a hint of desperation in his voice.

“I don’t believe you.” she said bluntly, rolling her eyes.

“Oh you don’t?” he laughed.

“No! I don’t know how wouldn’t have noticed how I’ve been pining after you for so damn long if you’ve also liked me.” she replied matter-of-factly. “There’s no fucking way! I—I clam up around you, I’m a different person! I’m normally the most confident person when it comes to how I feel and I’m not afraid to fight for what’s right, but with you—with you, it feels different. I become the shyest girl ever when I’m around you.”

“You really don’t believe me?”

“No, Steve. I think this is some sick joke you decided to play on me.”

“Really?” he asked with more sincerity in his voice than before, the look on his face showing his remorse for the way he’d treated her before.

“Yes.” she said, feeling like the conversation was going nowhere. “So unless you’re here to do something about it, I’m gonna go back—“

Before she could finish her thought, Steve’s hand grazed her cheek. There was no aggression or lust in his touch, it was pure and gentle. She felt her breath hitch as she cut herself off, looking up into his eyes. She couldn’t help but get lost in them as she noticed a glint of adoration in them. Without thinking her actions through, she grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. She shut the door behind him and leaned against it, grabbing the back of his neck to pull him into a gentle kiss.

It was a short and sweet kiss, but the ones that followed were not so short. Their bodies flooded with desire as their lips collided, both realizing what they had been missing because of their stubbornness. The heat of the moment built up quickly, as neither of them wanted to move away from the kiss.

“Steve—Steve.” she said quickly after pulling away for a moment.

“What? Did I do something?” Steve asked, eyes going wide as he moved his hands from where they sat on her waist.

“No, no you didn’t do anything wrong.” she laughed, cupping his cheek as he sighed in relief. “Do you want to continue this in my room?”

“I—uh—yeah! I mean, if you want to.” he replied, smiling down at her nervously.

“Just come on.” she giggled, leading him towards her room for what she knew would be a long night.

[dnvrsmedia]

You Feel Safe?

Carol Danvers x reader

summary: You and Carol are sent on a mission together for the first time.

warnings: none! good ole fluff! mutual pinning & my fav troupe the “only one bed” :)

AN: IM BACK! I am SO sorry i’ve been gone for like 2 weeks, but I had the WORST writers block omg! Hopefully this gets me back in the time of everything & I hope y’all enjoy! as always requests are open!

part 2

You were called to be on a mission yesterday. If it were any other day you wouldn’t have minded so much, but it was supposed to be your first weekend off in almost a month. You could almost taste the short lived freedom as you stepped into your room that friday evening, but of course, the world had other plans for you. The literal moment you set your bags down,friday informs you that steve needs you in the debrief room.

Obviously pissed off that you were robbed of your planned relaxing weekend, you trot to the debrief room with heavy steps and a frown. You’re known as the cheerful one around the compound. You’re always worried about others safety and health. So, when you passed Nat on the way to meet Steve without saying hello, she immediately knew something was off. Not wanting to interrupt you, she shrugs it off and makes sure to make a mental note to ask you what’s wrong later on.

You finally reach the debrief room and see a familiar tall blonde talking to Steve. You’ve only met Carol about two times, but you wouldn’t really call that a formal meeting. The two of you were too busy trying to save the world from thanos to really indulge in a conversation. But that doesn’t matter right now.

“Stevie, you know I love you, but why the ever loving fuck are you calling me on my weekend off. You know I haven’t gotten one in a while!” You exclaim as you go in to hug him. Steve has also been away on a mission for a while, so you haven’t seen your older brother figure in a while.

He gives out a hardy chuckle and gives you a tight squeeze before letting go. “I know y/n and I feel horrible doing so, but you’re the only gal for the job. Plus, you haven’t properly met Captain Danvers over here yet!” He points to Carol as she sticks out her hand to shake.

“Please, call me Carol.” She winks. You shake her hand as your face burns bright red. God y/n keep it together! You can’t help but to stare at her beautiful being. Everything about her is absolutely gorgeous and you can’t seem to get enough. Your eyes trail down to her strong biceps. All all you can think about is how much you wouldn’t mind if she put you in a choke hold i mean-

Steve clears his throat and asks you if you heard a word he just said. Now you start to blush profusely. She had to notice you staring, because she’s sporting a wicked smirk on her face.

“S-sorry I got a little uh...distracted.” You clear your throat. You notice Steve rolling his eyes and continues to debrief the mission. The both of you were to go undercover as girlfriends to a ball. This wasn’t any ordinary ball though. At the ball, there is an underground auction on alien tech. The reason you were picked and not Nat is because you can turn invisible. Once invisible, you were to sneak into the auction and take back that very valuable piece of tech. Carol is tagging along because of her extensive knowledge on alien tech. This mission was clearly meant for the two of you.

Soon after, you were dismissed to your quarters and packing for the three day long mission in Tuscany, Italy. Luckily for you since you don’t own many dresses, Nat popped by to let you borrow a few. She originally came by to see why you were so upset, but as soon as she saw you packing your bags she already knew.

“So, are you excited to play girlfriend with miss twinkle hands? Last time you two met you could barely take your eyes off oh her.” She slyly smirks as she folds your shirt. You immediately scoff as your face starts to heat up.

“I was just making sure she didn’t die! I do that every time with everyone when we’re saving the world!” You squeak. Nat could definitely tell that you were lying. I mean come on, she’s a highly skilled spy. She just mutters a ‘yeah sure’ and rolls her eyes. You shoo her away so you could ‘get your beauty sleep’ before you leave for the mission. Moments after you finally get settled in bed, you hear a knock at your door. Too tired to get up, you ask friday to let whoever is at the door in. Soon later, you’re eye to eye with Carol herself.

“Oh were you about to sleep? I’m sorry I can go if you want.” She shyly smiles and starts to walk away. You’ve never seen Carol like this before, and you wish you could see more of her.

“No,” you sit up and pat the space next to you on the bed. “It’s okay I promise. Come sit.” You gently smile. Soon after your smile is taken over by a big yawn. You hear Carol chuckle and sit next to you.

“You sure you aren’t gonna fall alseep on me, y/n?” She teased.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” You lazily smiled. “Now, why did you want to see me?” you questioned.

“I just uh wanted to get to know you better. I mean if you’re gonna be my girlfriend, then I should actually know you, right?” she answered. You blushed majorly at her calling you her girlfriend. Yes, you know it’s only for the mission, but you can’t help but feel giddy.

“Well, what do you want to know? I’m an open book.” you replied while looking into her eyes. You could get lost in her perfect chestnut eyes. You can tell that she is a strong and loving person, but she also has been hurt. You wish you could take her pain away, but sadly that’s not how it always works.

From then on, the two of you spent your last hours before the flight to Tuscany talking about anything and everything. You told her things you don’t even think you’ve told Nat or Steve yet. Just something about Carol makes you want to pour your deepest darkest feelings and thoughts out. She’s just so welcoming and warm. You do end up falling asleep due to the day of hard work you endured. Carol soon notices and covers you in your blanket before leaving. The two of you have about four hours before the flight and she still hadn’t packed. She leaves your room with the widest smile on her face.

You wake up two hours later to your alarm. You always set your alarms according to, so you don’t get behind schedule. Before missions, you like to get a light workout and combat in. You groggily get up from your bed and change into your workout clothes.

You get down to the gym and immediately notice Carol at the punching bag. She was wearing a black sports bra with matching athletic leggings and hair was in a pony tail. You are completely in awe. Of course you’ve seen her fight before, but that was in a life or death matter. You didn’t have time to gawk at the way her back muscles contracted every time she moves. Or hear the little grunts she huffs out as her fist collides with the punching bag.

She must’ve felt someone staring at her, because she turns around in the middle of punching the bag and smirks. Your face seems to permanently be red because of her, but you couldn’t really complain could you?

You shake your head and get straight into your workout routine. You turn on your favorite playlist and get straight to work. You get in light stretching before you do your 2 miles on the treadmill. You hit the weights right after. Throughout your whole workout, the both of you share stole glances. You catch her looking at your ass through the mirror as you back squat and chuckle. You’re just about to bench press as she walks up to your station.

“Here, lemme spot you. I don’t need the bar falling on your pretty face.” She smirks and steps behind the you.

“How nice of you, Captain. You know, I’m a lot stronger than I look. Trust me, I’m a big girl.” Now it’s your time to watch as her face gets red.

“Oh trust me I know. You can never be too cautious.” She winks and you playfully roll your eyes.

About an hour after, you finally finish your work out. You thank Carol once again and go on your way to your room to take a quick shower before meeting her at the quinjet. You say bye to your fellow avengers (well who’s not on a mission), and go on your marry way to Tuscany. The both of you arrive in Tuscany at 8pm. You were visibly tired, so you couldn’t wait to eat something and curl up in your own bed.

Carol helps you with you bag, although you said you can cary it, and takes the both of you to the room. The view from the room is astounding. Your eyes pan all over the room, then you see it. To your surprise, there is only one bed and a very uncomfortable looking couch. You can tell Carol notices as well as she starts to put her things by the couch.

“You can take the bed, trust me I don’t mind.” She smiles her adorable smile.

“Are you kidding me? We’re both adults here, Captain. We can share the bed and I’m not letting you say no! That couch looks so uncomfortable!” You rant as you move your things over to the bed. “Now, what do you want for dinner?” You turn your head to see he smiling at you.

The pair of you decided on some authentic Italian food for take out. So here you are, currently eating fancy Italian food with a beautiful girl in romantic Italy. Seriously what could get better than this. You guys talk for hours until it’s time to go to bed.

You’re the first one to freshen up in the bathroom before bed. You step out in only your towel, and Carols face heats up so quick.

“I-I’ll just go uh go in there uh I uh- yeah.” She mutters out as she grabs her things and rushes herself into the bathroom. You laugh to yourself then get dressed. You snuggle up in the bed with one of your books and start reading. You finish a chapter when you hear Carol get out the bathroom. You’ve never seen her look so casual before. You can’t help but smile at her Captain america pj pants.

“Steve gave em to me as a gag gift for my birthday last year.” she chuckled and gets into bed with you.

You put your book down and turn on the TV to entertain the two of you. The TV was nearly there for background noise, since you weren’t paying attention at all. You say there thinking about how happy you’ve felt around Carol for the past two days, and hoped she felt the same. A loud lawn broke your trace. You realized it’s getting late, so you turned off the TV and got comfy in the bed.

“Sleep well, Y/n.” You hear Carol say as you’re about to drift into sleep.

“Goodnight, Carol.” You day softly as you nod off into the dream state.

beep! beep! beep!

Your overly loud, yet useful, alarm wakes you up. You go to reach to turn it off but you can’t reach it. You look down and see a sleeping Carol lying on top of you. Her arm is wrapped around your waist as hair is strewn across her face. You smile down at her and admire how soft she looks. You take your free hand and move her fly aways from her face. She stirs awake and looks into your eyes. She throws herself back and starts to apologize profusely.

“Hey, hey, look it’s okay I uh actually enjoyed it. If we’re being honest I haven’t slept that well in a long time.” You blush as you look down at your hands. Carol soon takes your hands and gently caresses them with her own.

“I haven’t slept that well in a while either actually. I normally get nightmares, but with you...” She whispers.

“You feel safe?” You ask as she nods her head with a smile. “That’s exactly how I feel too.” You beam.

Carol scoots closer to you and places her palm on your cheek. You heart begins to race as she slowly inches forward to kiss you. Just as your lips are about to touch, your alarm blares once more and the two of you bump heads.

“I should probably turn that off.” You groan.

“Yeah,” She chuckles “You should.”

[xmxisxforxmaybe]

Hi! Would you mind doing something with Elliot, smutty moment while the reader is trying to work from home from his apartment borrows his sweatshirt but things just get carried away? Thank you in advance!!

Elliot’s eyes flicked to the clock on his computer screen for the hundredth time.

When you had shown up last night, close to tears because the power was going to be out all morning in your neighborhood and you had a career defining Skype meeting at exactly 8:15 am, Elliot listened carefully before pulling the most normal response he could from his repertoire.

“Uh, you can spend the night and just work from my place. If you want.”

Your exclamation was difficult to interpret until you looked into Elliot’s eyes and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you! I was hoping you would say that. Well, that or that you would hack the city’s electric grid just for me!” you teased, not at all paying attention to the way Elliot balked at your response.

“That’s illegal,” he replied in his typical monotone.

You giggled and lightly smacked his upper arm.

“I’m teasing! You’re good with your computers, but I don’t think anyone is that good,” you said, your face still full of laughter. “Otherwise, you would have hacked the lottery already and at least moved uptown.”

Elliot smiled nervously, which wasn’t all that different from the way he usually smiled.

“You know I don’t care about money.”

“I do—otherwise I wouldn’t be here, panicking about missing this meeting tomorrow. If it goes well, I’ll shoot to the top of the list for a promotion.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“You’re already doing more than enough. I appreciate this. Just leave some room in your calendar for a celebratory dinner. I’ll let ya get gussied up, darlin’ and I’ll take ya somewheres fancy,” you said in a silly accent, making Elliot smile his sweet, three-point grin.

When it was time for bed, he insisted on taking the couch. You equally insisted there was room for two in his bed until you saw the look of horror on his face, then backed off.

“You’re a great friend, El,” you called softly through the dark apartment before you snuggled deep into his bedding, enjoying being all wrapped up in his scent.

Elliot fell asleep with a soft smile on his face, no more than a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth.

* * * * *

When you woke up to an Elliot with a towel wrapped around his waist and water droplets sliding from his wet hair down the muscles of his back, digging through his closet, you bit your lip to stifle a gasp. It was clear he thought you were asleep and as he padded back into the bathroom to get dressed, you had to fight to ignore the tingling sensation between your thighs.

Elliot was attractive, and it was impossible not to wonder if there would ever be more to your relationship. With guys less complicated than him, there would have already been something more. But Elliot had only ever made it clear he was interested in your friendship. Never had he indicated there was anything more he wanted.

Ignoring the desire to slide your fingers discreetly between your legs, knowing it would be very, very wrong to get yourself off in your friend’s bed after he was kind enough to sacrifice his privacy for you, you looked at your phone and shot up, not realizing you had already hit the snooze button . . . twice.

You were so busy getting yourself presentable from the waist up in record time that you barely heard Elliot say goodbye as he left for work. Your eyes flicked in the direction of his voice and you gave him a nanosecond of a wave goodbye.

Elliot shook his head as he shut the door, then smiled as he locked you in.

All day, he thought about you sitting in his bed, the contents of your makeup bag everywhere, your hair pulled into a presentable ballerina bun, your bare legs that looked so soft and shiny in the dim light of his apartment poking out as you braced yourself on the floor, and he wondered what it would be like to touch you, to feel his fingertips ghost over your shin before sliding up—

“Night, Elliot,” Angela called before Ollie ushered her out of the door.

Elliot blinked and looked at the clock again.

5:04 pm.

He gathered up his things and scrambled out the door to catch the train home, deep in thought.  

Meanwhile, your meeting had gone perfectly, and you had gotten a lot of work done. The only hitch in your whole day was the fact that it was freezing in Elliot’s apartment. You fiddled with the thermostat and kicked at the radiator like you had seem him do, but nothing happened.

Eyeing his favorite piece of clothing warily, you figured that as long as you didn’t get it dirty or manage to tear a hole in it, he wouldn’t mind. You laughed a little as you nestled into it, realizing it was snug across the chest.

You thought back to Elliot’s towel-clad body and realized his lean muscles were deceiving; he really was a skinny thing.

Snuggled back under the covers, you had switched to working on your laptop and were just about to go through your last round of emails for the day when the keys sounded in Elliot’s door.

His eyes found you instantly, and you couldn’t tell if it was relief or disappointment that crossed his features.

That was until he took a few steps into the apartment and his brow furrowed.

“Is . . . is that my hoodie?”

“I hope you don’t mind. It’s absolutely freezing in here.”

Instead of moving toward the radiator, Elliot stepped closer to the bed where you were situated, giving no inclination that he had even heard you.

His eyes seemed to be memorizing you as they scanned over every inch of your existence until you cleared your throat and sat up, reaching for the zipper at the base of your throat.

“I’ll just, uh, put this back—”

“No,” Elliot growled in a tone you had never heard before and one that made you go completely still.

He blinked and stepped back, realizing he had done something wrong.

“Leave it on . . . I mean.”

Slowly, your hands fell away from the zipper. You shut your laptop without looking away from his intense gaze and moved it to a spot on the floor beside his mattress.

“Is there . . . anything . . . else you’d like me to do?” you said slowly, figuring now was as good of a time as any to test the new way Elliot was looking at you.

He licked his lips, and shrugged out of his backpack, letting it fall to the floor with a clunk.

“Stand up.”

You took a breath and pushed the blankets from your hips, giving you enough room to step out of the bed. You hadn’t changed out of your sleep shorts, not really seeing a reason to since your meeting was only from the waist up.

Elliot’s eyes ran slowly over your body, once. Twice.

You felt self-conscious and reached up to smooth your hair, then for lack of anything else to do with them, you slid your hands into the pockets of his hoodie, your right hand connecting with his lighter.

You watched as Elliot swallowed before taking a few more steps toward you, his eyes never leaving your face.

“Take . . . will you, I mean,” he said shaking his head and starting again. “Will you take off your shorts?”

Ohhh, your mind and body thought at the same time.  

“Uh huh,” you answered, pulling your hands from his hoodie pockets and working to untie the drawstring on your shorts before hooking your thumbs in at the hips and pulling them down. It hadn’t occurred to you to care what kind of underwear you were wearing, so now all you could do was pray they were cute.

Elliot’s hoodie stopped right below your hips and the slightest movement would let him know what they looked like, so you stayed still, waiting to see what he would do next.

He cocked his head to the side, slightly, as his eyes swept over your bare legs. When he looked up at you, he smirked.

“Looks good on you.”

Christ.

You crossed the room and grabbed him by the Allsafe badge he hadn’t even taken off yet and pulled him in for a kiss. He chuckled against your lips, probably from nerves, but that didn’t stop you and eventually he got the point, bringing his hands up to pull your hips against his.

You licked at his lower lip, and he parted his mouth in a sigh, letting you stick your tongue in before he started kissing you back. He was so warm, and everything about him felt so good.

When you felt his hands clutch at your ass, you made a noise of appreciation before closing the kiss to look him in the eye. It took him a moment to open his lids, and when he did, you admired the way the undiscernible color of his irises darkened.

“Does this mean you wanna be more than friends? I’m not really a one-off kinda gal.”

Elliot’s lips twitched up in a quick, shy smile.

“I’m not very good at this kind of thing.”

“My panties are soaked, El. From a fucking kiss. I think you’re pretty good at it.”

Elliot laughed and pressed his forehead to yours.

“No . . . I can do that part pretty okay. I mean the more than friends part.”

“Like a relationship?”

“Yeah. That’s not, uh, my forte.”

“No, shit,” you said laughing and moving back to look at him.

His eyes were the happiest you had ever seen them, so you pressed on.

“We can take this very, very slow.”

Elliot nodded, then his brows contracted.

“Uh, how slow . . . because . . .” he said, as he adjusted himself under his dress pants.

You narrowed your eyes and thought for a moment.

“What brought on this . . . shift?” you asked, reaching out to lightly run your fingers over his bulge.

Elliot swallowed, then explained, “Seeing you in my bed this morning. You’re pretty when you’re chaotic,” he said with a slight smile, and you laughed.

“Is that all?”

“I couldn’t stop . . . couldn’t stop thinking about your legs in those little shorts. I kept thinking about what it would feel like to touch them. They look so soft.”

“Let’s start with that, then,” you said, pulling him toward the bed. “Sit.”

He sat with a little bounce, then looked expectantly up at you.

Moving so that you were standing between his legs, you looked down and softly said, “Touch me.”

Elliot’s lips parted as his eyes immediately turned to your bare legs.

He reached both hands out and placed them on top of your thighs before moving them slightly up, then circling them around to the back. His fingertips were just below the cheeks of your ass, but he slid his hands back down—past your knees and down your calves before he shifted to the front and ran his hands all the way up to where he had begun.

You reached out to steady yourself on his shoulders, shocked that such a simple touch was leaving you literally weak in the knees.

“Is, uh . . . this okay,” Elliot asked, his fingertips flexing up and down on your thighs as he paused to check your facial expression.

“I think I need to lie down,” you said with a smile.

He smiled back, and for the first time today, you felt warm, despite the loss of your shorts and his blankets.

Maneuvering onto the bed, you laid back against his pillows, bent your knees for a little leverage, and parted your legs, inviting him to get close enough to keep touching you.

Elliot kicked off his shoes and climbed onto his knees, sitting back on his haunches as he wiggled into a position between your feet.

This time, he started there, stroking the tops of your feet before sliding up and down your legs, gently kneading your calf muscles and your thigh muscles when he felt inclined to change up the pressure of his touch.

“Elliot,” you breathed, your eyes closed and your body’s heat continuing to climb.

Elliot removed his hands from your legs and shifted his position so he could lay on top of you. He kissed you this time, his lips moving slowly, occasionally pressing harder or softer, in a perfect echo of the way he had been touching your legs. When his tongue dipped into your mouth, you bucked up into his hips, your center connecting with his hard cock.

He groaned, and it was the hottest sound you had ever heard.

“Can—” you panted from under his kiss. “Can I touch you?”

Elliot moved your hand directly to his dick and pressed hard, and normally, you would have laughed at his eagerness, but you were a mess beneath him.

Making quick work of his trouser fastenings, you pushed open his pants and slid your hand into his boxer-briefs and grasped his hard cock.

He groaned again, making you shiver with need.

“Can you touch me, too?” you all but begged.

Elliot immediately reached between your legs and pushed your panties to the side, fumbling through your wetness, clearly not expecting that you really meant it when you said you were soaked from that first kiss.

He did chuckle against your mouth this time, and you joined him.

“Toldja,” you said with a smirk as you started jerking him off.

Elliot’s hips were pushing into your hand, and yours were pushing into his. He slid around your pussy for a few seconds before making a beeline for your clit, your need to get off too evident to entertain any exploration tonight.

Elliot’s fingers were skilled, and he quickly brought you to an orgasm by rubbing sharp, consistent circles over your aching clit with his thumb. Your pumps of his cock faltered as you let yourself go, but then you quickly doubled your efforts, wanting nothing more than to watch his face while he came.

“Y/N,” Elliot hissed, as he bucked into your hand, his cum spilling over your palm and coating it quickly as you continued to stroke him through his orgasm.

His elbows shook and he rolled off of you, onto his back. He was breathing heavy and his cheeks were tinged pink, his lips still glossy and swollen from all of your kissing.

“Wow,” he breathed out.

“I agree.”

Elliot looked over at you and smiled, a genuine smile that lit up his eyes.

“I’m glad your power went out. And glad my heat broke today, too”

You turned your head up to the ceiling and laughed, tugging the zipper down on Elliot’s hoodie to let your too-hot body cool down.

“What a series of fortunate events,” you said, leaning over to press a kiss to his forehead.

[princessbatears]

Yellow Glow

#Pedros12DaysofChristmas Secret Santa fic exchange for @catfishingmorales​

Lex, my beautiful friend, you are such a treasure! I love seeing you on my dash every day and talking to you often. I hope you enjoy this story about you and werewolf Frankie! -Your secret Santa, Natalie 🥰🎅

Pairing: Werewolf Frankie Morales x Lex ( @catfishingmorales ) Summary: When Frankie comes over to help you put up your huge Christmas tree before the upcoming full moon, you’re not sure why his eyes keep changing color when they look at you Warnings: mild language Words: 1.3k Tags: Were!Frankie, personal werewolf lore, some pining, Lex’s amazing Christmas tree, pizza party A/N: This is a Lex AU of my were!Frankie series

So, so much thanks to my beta @hdlynn​ who helped me make sure this gift is the best it can be 😘

It’s dark when you get off work even though it’s only a little after 5:00. December makes the days feel almost unbearably short. It’s almost the winter solstice, though, and that means the daylight hours will begin to lengthen again.

When you reach your car, you pull out your phone. You’ve got a text from Frankie. Just seeing his name on your lock screen makes your heart quicken.

You open the text. It says: ‘Hey, I got time to help you put your fancy Christmas tree together tonight if you want’

Immediately, you type back, ‘Sure!’ But no, that sounds a little too eager, so you delete and try again, ‘That works for me. You sure you don’t mind?’

You watch the screen. There are the ellipsis of his response, then, ‘No problem. I won’t be able to come over this weekend and don’t want you to have to wait’

‘Pizza?’ you offer, knowing that food goes a long way with most people, but especially Frankie.

‘Always!’

Grinning, you start the drive back to your apartment. As soon as you arrive, you order an XL pizza and quickly give your appearance a quick refresh. You know you’re just friends, but you still want to look your best.

You fix your eyeshadow and eyeliner and add a bit more blush, bringing out the warmth to your brown skin. You also put on a soft blue sweater that hugs your curves in a way that makes you feel sexy and just a little more confident.

When there is a knock on your door, you grab your wallet and hurry to the door to give the driver a tip (you don’t trust corporations to actually give them when they’re paid online). To your surprise, it’s Frankie holding the pizza box with a big grin.

“The delivery gal got here just as I did,” he explains.

“I need to tip her, though!”

“Already taken care of,” he winks as he walks inside past you. You quickly close the door against the chilly air, the scent of pizza wafting through your place.

Frankie sets the box on the kitchen counter before turning to you. His eyes glow a soft yellow. You’ve only seen it a couple times before, but you know it’s because the full moon is coming this weekend. Which is probably why he couldn’t help you with the tree, come to think of it.

When he doesn’t stop staring at you with those eyes, you feel your face getting hot and quickly go to the fridge for drinks. “I got soda and wine,” you offer.

“Soda. My inhibitions aren’t at their strongest right now, don’t like to mix alcohol with that.”

How badly you want to tell him that your inhibitions are super close to going out the window, too. You really, really want to take off his ball cap so you can run your fingers through his fluffy hair. Then, remove his flannel shirt and touch his broad, bare chest.

“You okay, Lex?” he asks, cocking his head. His eyes have returned to their dark brown.

Face heating again, you grab a couple of sodas and offer him one. “Yeah, fine,” you mumble. “Spacing out.”

He chuckles sympathetically. “That’s a real struggle for me right now. I was at work today and got totally overwhelmed by the smell of everyone’s emotions.”

“I can only imagine.” You’re not quite sure what to say. Frankie’s been a werewolf for a couple of years, but you only found out three months ago when he finally trusted you with his secret.

Since then, he’s allowed you to be around him the week before the full moon, the week that his eyes shift to amber, the week he sometimes speaks or acts very strangely, the week he feels vulnerable as his soul prepares to merge with the Wolf’s for one night of every month.

He’s staring at you again with those yellow eyes. What’s he feeling? You want to ask, but don’t quite have the courage. What if it’s something bad?

“You look nice,” he says softly.

That was not what you expected. You spit out the first thing you think of, “The sweater… it’s old.” Smooth. Why couldn’t you just say ‘thanks’?

Frankie pulls the tab back on his can of soda and then grabs a slice of pizza. “My favorite!” he beams, like nothing had just happened.

You also grab a slice and watch happily as he inhales three pieces in minutes. It might be a little thing, but making sure he’s fed, knowing that he enjoys the food you provided, it makes you feel good.

He finishes eating before you, so he stands there, watching you. Nervously, you push your glasses farther up your nose. “I’ve got some cookies if you want.”

Frankie shrugs. “Maybe later.” He’s smiling, his eyes amber yet again.

Finally, you can’t take it. “Are you… is there…” No, no! You can’t ask why his eyes look like that, it’ll make him self-conscious.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Come on, tell me,” he purrs, voice even deeper than usual.

Hoping you don’t sound like a total jerk, you say, “I’ve never seen your eyes turn yellow quite so much. Are you okay?”

Much to your horror, he blushes, looking at the floor. “I’m sorry, I don’t realize it’s happening. It’s why I tend to stay away from people when it’s almost the full moon.”

Dammit, you should have lied about what you were going to say!

“You’re not doing anything wrong,” you backtrack quickly, touching his arm. “But you said it happens when you’re feeling a lot of emotions and I was afraid something was wrong.”

Frankie shuffles his feet, finally looking back at you. His expression is shy. “I’ve been… for a long time…” He stops, fists clenched as he battles with himself.

Your hand squeezes him lightly, reassuringly. He’d already told you he was a werewolf. What could be harder than that? “You can tell me anything, you know that, Frankie.”

Taking a deep breath, he finally smiles. “You’re the funniest, kindest, prettiest, most amazing woman I know. I really, really like you. So much more than you can possibly know. The Wolf does, too.”

Your brain stalls as you realize he’s confessing to feeling the same thing you feel for him.

“That’s why I keep going yellow.” He points at his eyes. “The Wolf’s looking at you. Respectfully,” he adds quickly. “Very respectfully. But we both think you’re the absolute best. I really wanna kiss you right now, but I just ate pizza, so you might not like that.”

“I just had pizza, too,” you breathe before you can stop yourself.

His smile broadens as he steps closer. “You want me to kiss you?”

“I do.”

His solid arms wrap around you in a way that feels completely different from the usual hugs you share. His hands run over your back as he holds you close to him. There’s a pause just before his lips touch yours, giving you the chance to back out. That’s the last thing you want to do.

The ability to think has vanished and all you know are his warm, soft lips, the way he presses against you, how you’re pulling off his cap and actually running your fingers through his hair. It’s even better than you’d imagined.

It doesn’t last as long as you want, but Frankie’s a gentleman and is never going to push any boundaries. When he pulls back, he’s grinning. “I’ve wanted to do that for so long.”

“Me, too.” You’re breathless, smiling as widely as he is.

“Can I take you on a date next week, after I recover from the full moon?”

You nod excitedly. “Yeah.” A part of you is already panicking about what you’re going to wear, but you force that thought out of your head. Focus on here, on now.

“I can’t wait.” He gives you another little peck on the tip of your nose. “Now, I think I promised to help you set up some fancy huge-ass Christmas tree.”

You laugh, having completely forgotten that’s why he came in the first place. “The box is in my room.”

[korra-the-red-lion]

Unnatural Affairs. Chapter 3: Rookie Hazing?

(Lyn)

My breathing fell into my familiar breathing pattern as I jogged through the town. The early morning sun was peeking through the clouds, trying to be seen. My music was blasting through my earbuds as I turned to go through the walking trail this morning.

Today was the first day of actual classes and practices. Me and a few of the others already have been to the pool a bunch this week, but this is when shit got real. After the disappointing loss to Turner University at last year’s AUS, Coach Jacob and team really wanted to get the title this year. It was one thing to lose, it was another thing all together to lose by 1 fucking point. Ugh, even just thinking about it pissed me off. Turner is a good school, don’t get me wrong. But man, we worked our assess off last year.

I passed by an older couple going out for their usual morning walk. I waved to them as I always do, earning a smile in return. I liked the coziness of this small town. Being able to see the same people every morning doing their routine as I did was relaxing and brought a sense of calm to my otherwise chaotic life.

I sprinted the final couple of kilometers home, slowing down as I approached the track around the football field. Loryn, Maddie, and Andrew where already there, chatting as they stretched for their early morning workout.

Loryn smiled when she saw me coming and tossed me my water bottle. I pulled out my music and took a huge swig from it. “Thanks, I really needed that,” I said. I lifted the end of my shirt and wiped the sweat and water off my face.

“No problem-o,” she responded. “How was your run?”

“Same as usual,” I said as I take another drink.

Andrew walked over and gave me a huge hug. “Ready for the season, Lyn?”

I nodded into his shoulder, holding onto his shirt. Andrew was the captain of the Men’s team, and he was like an older brother to me. This was his last year on the team, and I really wanted to win the championship for him and the other 4th years. They put so much into this program, and just one win would be an awesome reward for them.

“Please don’t cry, or I might start too,” he mumbled.

“Not crying,” I pulled away, grinning at him. “I’m just thinking of how lame the team’s gonna be once you finally retire from it. Are they gonna make Will the captain next year, because like, yeesh.”

This earned a laugh from Andrew. “Well, I frigging hope not. Y’all better vote for Oliver, or Thom. If Will gets the captain position next year, you’re all doomed.”

“Fuck me with a rusty screw if Will gets it,” said Maddie bitterly. “The only thing bigger than his ego is his Hummer. I swear, I will never get over his parents airlifting that thing across the fucking country.”

It’s not like we hated Will or anything, he just was a huge pain in the ass. Both his parents are doctors, and he makes a point of letting you know how much money he has. During his first year here, apparently, his parents had his Hummer helicoptered across the country so he could have it here. Not sure why he didn’t drive the damned thing instead, but the rich do very extreme and extravagant things to prove their wealth. Maddie is a 3rd year like Will, so she’s been putting up with his Will-ness longer than Loryn or I.

We did our usual morning workout routine, just to get used to the rhythm again. Medicine ball tosses to each other with an added squat. After that, 2 sets of 20 jackknifes, 2 sets of 25 crunches, and 2 sets of 1 minute plank. We did our wheelbarrow run across the football field, giggling like fools as we did. Andrew and Maddie beat me and Loryn by a fingertip. Loryn jokingly apologized for being too short, a running joke on the team.

After that, we headed to food hall. Loryn liked to make fun of me for calling it that, since it was technically called meal hall, but that’s where I get all my food, not just meals. Hence, food hall. Still, she immediately started teasing me as we got near it.

The hall was abuzz with all the new frosh and returning students talking about their classes. It was nice to see this place so lively after being essentially dead for the week. I could already hear people talking about going to First Class Bash, the big first party of the year. I never really went to those often, parties that is, since the team had a drinking ban in place as soon as the season started. Maybe if some of the guys on the team wanted to go I would, but I was just as happy to stay in with the goofballs and have our own get together.

Oh shit, speaking of. The rookie party was this weekend, actually. It almost slipped my mind. Today was their official first day. It may sound weird, but Coach Jacob liked having them come for their own practice to get used to each other and the facilities first. That way, if they don’t feel like sticking around, there’s none of that awkward shame of seeing your ex-teammates on campus. Not that anyone actually gave a shit.

I sat down next to Matt and Kerry, two members of the team. They were nearly identical twins, but with different body builds since they swam different strokes. Matt was bulkier in his shoulders and trunk cuz he swam butterfly like I did, while Kerry was leaner but a bit bowlegged from swimming breaststroke for so many years. Kerry was letting her hair grow out after shaving it last year, and it was tied up in this stupidly adorable tiny ponytail, while Matt had shaved his hair into practical buzzcut. Kerry leaned over once I was settled and pointed.

“Did you see?”

“Did I see what?” I asked as I shoved the whole fried egg into my mouth.

“Derek is sitting with Poppy.”

I rolled my eyes. Derek Freeman was one of my exes from last year. Lyn from first year got a little crazy when it came to dating, and I ended up going through 6 different people before finally calling it quits. Derek was one of them, but he was by far the worse. He got super possessive and couldn’t understand why I dumped his creepy ass. He always knew my schedule and followed me everywhere. He would wait for me outside the pool and walk back to my res with me, which would have been super sweet if he didn’t ask to come inside every single time. Even after we broke up, he still followed me places. Eventually he got the message once I started dating Willa Hoffman, but man was he annoying.

Then there was Poppy. There was nothing wrong with her, per se. We just were partners on a project last year and she nearly cost me getting an A+ in Intro to Sociology, much to my annoyance. I cared a lot, maybe a little bit too much, about my grades. So, yeah, there’s nothing that really pisses me off more when you get stuck with a shit partner for a project.

“Honestly, Ker, I don’t care,” I said. “Hell, they deserve each other IMO.”

Kerry shrugged as she got back into her seat properly, finally letting Matt get back to eating. We ate in comfortable silence before Matt spoke up.

“Gunner is on probation.”

I dropped my fork in confusion. Even Kerry looked confused. “What do you mean, Matt?” I asked, leaning against the table as I did, locking eyes with him.

He sighed and ran a hand over his head. “Okay, don’t tell anyone because I’m not supposed to know, but Gunner was caught doing drugs this summer. Like, coke. Anyway, Jacob heard about it and helped him through rehab and stuff, but the dean put him on probation until his grades and attitude prove that he actually got clean.”

“Shiiiiiiit,” I pushed my tray away. Leo Gunner was the best sprinter on the team, leading the Men’s team to having great scores in the relay last year. If he wasn’t allowed to swim this season, we might be in serious trouble. There was no one as fast as him. The next best would be Parker, and even then, he wasn’t near Gunner’s level.

“Oh, that’s awful,” said Kerry, putting her hand over her mouth.

Matt nodded. “Yeah, it’s shit for sure. I talked to him this morning and apparently, he’s allowed to practice, but he might not be allowed to sign up for the meets. I think Jacob might bring it up to Andrew and Emma today, but he might not let the rest of the team know just yet.”

The information sat heavy in my stomach. I walked all the way to my class with my mind racing, wondering if there was any way we could fight this decision. All conclusions came to a resounding no. The university was pretty strict about athletes using illegal substances. They only thing that probably saved his ass was that it happened this summer.

I took my usual spot near the front, waiting for the rest of the students to fill in. This was a second-year history course, and I really wanted to be psyched for it, considering history was my favourite subject, but it was hard when I was worrying about things out of my control.

“Mind if I sit?”

I looked over and nearly groaned when I saw it was Will. I nodded, but he was already taking the seat anyway. I hated sitting next to Will, he just sat on Instagram the whole time, or TikTok. Fuck my life right now.

He reached over and tugged on my ear. “Why the long face, Lyn?”

I batted his hand away. He knew I was self-conscious of how big my ears were, and he liked to pick at that at any opportunity. “No long face here, Will.” I forced a grin onto my face before turning my attention back to my desk.

“Whatever you say.”

Ugh, def getting a new seat on Thursday. I can’t deal sitting next to him and dealing with his antics at practice too. There was only so much abuse one gal could take for the day.

XXX

Thank God it was Friday!

I managed my schedule perfectly, so I had no classes on Friday. It made the other days more miserable for sure, but having a three-day weekend every week? Exactly what I needed to stay on top of things this year. Just practice in the afternoon, and I was free to enjoy myself. The rookie party was tomorrow, and they were a good batch. Loryn’s younger sister Robin joined the team this year, which was super exciting for her.

I got to enjoy breakfast without having to rush it, plus no homework was assigned this week. Today was a nice one, and I was looking forward to just being able to chill and enjoy it. As I left, I happened to notice that Ally was leaving the food hall. Grinning, I raced over to where she was.

“Hey, Ally!” I fell into step beside her.

“Lyn!” Ally looked up at me, a smile breaking out. She had her hair in this half up pinned style, it looked really good on her. Also, she was wearing different glasses today. She usually wore some rectangle ones, but these ones were like a half moon shape.

“How’s your first week, frosh?” I asked.

“Well, after the disaster that was the bookstore incident…” she looked down, thinking about something before shaking her head. “It’s been lovely. I think once I get into a nice routine, I won’t feel as anxious.”

I was curious about the whole bookstore thing, but I respected that she clearly wasn’t ready to talk about it openly with me. Fair enough, we only just met last week, and I barely have seen her since.

“Hey, well, I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself so far! Is it cool if I walk with you until your next class? I’m free.”

“Oh,” she smiled shyly at me, “that would be really nice, actually.”

I smiled back. We chatted about her classes all the way to Bennet, where her class was. I leaned against the wall as she finished explaining something about her drama class. That was a class I took in first year, but it sounds like she has Professor Kinkly, whereas I had Professor Statton. Kinkly was more by the book, Statton was know as the campus kook. I had a feeling Ally was gonna like Kinkly more.

“I guess I should head in, huh?”

“I guess you should. But hey,” I said, “we should totally hang this weekend, you know? Whatcha doing tomorrow?”

Ally looked contemplative before shaking her head. “Nothing, I think.”

“Perfect! Let’s grab a bite to eat, and you can finish telling me all about your week.”

“O-okay, sounds great!”

Ally wished me a goodbye and dashed inside, as to not be late for class. I watched her go before snorting under my breath. I liked her, she was smart and funny. It would be nice to have someone as a friend outside the team. Guess it was just my lucky day when she approached that table I forced Loryn to help me set up.  

Feeling great, I practically skipped all the way back to my res.

XXX

The smell of chlorine was something that was never going to get old. It calmed me when nothing else could. I know that sounds a little dramatic, but the pool is my second home. Didn’t matter how I felt at home or school or whatever, I could come to a pool and swim those thoughts and troubles away.

We finished with our pre-practice routines, and I jumped into the pool, shivering a little as the cold water enveloped my body. Right away everything felt amazing. Reach, pull, reach, pull. The easy lazy rhythm of the warmup let my thoughts drift away. It was nearing the end of the warmup when I caught Andrew’s eye underwater during my turn, and we ended up racing our last 25 meters. He beat me and we high fived as I hung onto the lane rope.

Coach Jacob laughed as the others finished their warmups. He was a retired swimmer himself and did things to keep himself in shape. He had one of those kind faces that really made you feel welcomed. Sure, he could be a hard ass, but he just really wanted win, like we all did.

He read practice off the board for us, and we did as was instructed. In in a blink of an eye, practice was over, and we were all hauling our asses out of the pool. Practice wasn’t too hard today, but since it’s been a while since any of us had structure like that, we all felt the ache of the week catching up with us finally.

“Okay, gather ‘round!” Coach Jacob called out. We all headed towards the bench and took seats. Loryn sat next to me and we cuddled, trying to not freeze as we listened to what he had to say.

“So, this is the last year for some of us,” he indicated the 4th years with a nod, “and a new beginning for others,” a nod to the 1st years. “However, the goal is the same. We wanna be number one at AUS’s this year. We wanna send people to CIS’s this year. We wanna kick Turner’s stupid butt all over the pool deck. We start morning practice next week, 5:30 sharp, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Gym time is 6:00 on Tuesday and Thursday. We have our usual afternoon practice at 4:30 every day. If you can’t make practice, the reason better be fucking good. Rookies, never be afraid to ask questions. These guys are your family while you’re here, and like family, sometimes we don’t always get along. But try your best to stay pleasant with the others. Lastly, welcome to the Mount Seamus Wolves!” he finished with a huge grin. We clapped and headed into the locker rooms, where a hot shower was calling my name.

“Man, I am looking forward to the weekend!” Loryn said with a huge stretch as we grabbed our shampoo and conditioner.

“Me too,” I said with a grin. “I already made plans.”

“Oh my God, shut up! Who with?”

“That cute frosh from last week.”

Loryn scrunched up her face in thought. “Gabriel or the brunette you showed around?”

I laughed, hitting her playfully with my towel. “Dude, you’re the only one who thinks Gabe is cute, you know?”

“Not true! I know Jackie does too!”

“Damn right I do!” Jackie said, walking by us with a laugh.

We all laughed as we turned the water on. It felt great to take a hot shower after practice. We were gossiping about people on campus when I noticed something strange.

“Emma, are you okay?”

Emma, the captain for the Women’s team, looked over. “Huh, why you ask?”

I blinked. “Because you’re covered in…blood?”

She looked up and shrieked. Sure enough, something red and gooey was coming from the shower head. Actually, it was coming from all the showers! We all screamed and ran out, not even bothering to turn them off.

“What the actual fuck?” Emma was shaking with either anger or fear, wasn’t sure which it was. “Did someone think it would be funny to prank the rookies or something?” She whipped around to glare at all of us.

When no one fessed up, she growled in annoyance. “Okay, maybe one of the guys thought it would funny? Whoever did this, it’s seriously fucked up. Getting sprayed with fake blood is not how I wanted to end my Friday night!”

“Uh, not to be that person, Emma,” I said hesitantly, “but if it was fake blood…wouldn’t it have stopped by now?” I pointed over to the running showers, where a steady stream of red was still coming out.

Emma’s face paled. She looked at her hands, where the blood was and sniffed it. “Oh my God…it smells like copper.”

That’s when Jackie threw up all over the floor and Kerry burst into tears.

XXX

I was in my room, curled up under all the blankets I could possibly be curled under. We texted the boys after, to see if something similar happened to them. When Andrew and Matt both responded no, we got even more freaked out. We ended up calling campus security for them to see if there was something they could do about it. They said they would look into and escorted us back to our residences. I took such a scalding hot shower that I was still pink from it, but I still didn’t feel clean.

The group chat was blowing up with questions. The poor rookies were understandably upset. They thought someone was trying to haze them, but that wasn’t the case at all. Hazing wasn’t something we did anymore. They didn’t do it in my first year, and Emma said that her class was the last one that got hazed.

I didn’t have the energy to be dealing with this, so I muted the chat for the time being. Nura was sitting on her bed, her eyes on her computer screen but I could see her looking at me from time to time. I mean, I would be too. If Nura came back and told me that she just ended up taking a blood shower, I would be fucking concerned too.

I rolled over and tugged at my ear. It was habit of mine when I was anxious about something, and I was definitely anxious about this. If it turned out to be a stupid prank from one of the other teams, that would be one thing. But if it wasn’t…then what did it mean?

I had this crazy thought, pulling my phone up to my face. I wanted to see if it happened any time else. I did a quick Google search, and found out that this wasn’t the first time that something like this happened at this school. It was in 1968, and in 1995, and again in 2007. Okay, that was interesting.

Okay, so unless someone was dumping bodies into a water reservoir that only affected the women’s locker room, something freaky was going on. I’m not that big into that spiritual mumbo jumbo, but I’m not going to deny that this was more than a coincidence. However, it was history, something I specialized in. If I could trace back and see if there were any more connections, maybe I can establish a pattern.

That was a problem for Lyn of tomorrow, however. I was thoroughly exhausted after tonight’s events. I bookmarked the page on my phone, just so I wouldn’t forget. I was going to need my laptop for this.

I just hoped I could find something that can explain what the hell happened.

[ex-vengeancedemon]

Averting Disasters and Other Ways to Avoid Your Problems

Chapter 4

Characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Mentions of things that occurred in Angel: The Series season 5.

Main Pairing: Buffy x Spike

Characters: Buffy, Spike, Giles, Willow, Xander, Andrew, Faith, Dawn

Summary: Set in 2008, five years after Spike’s resurrection at Wolfram & Hart. Buffy is living in Cleveland guarding the hellmouth. Spike has left Angel and company and is hiding out in Chicago. The Scoobies are scattered. When something starts going wrong with the slayers around the world, it’s time to get the gang back together.

Masterlist & Chapter 1

"Well it's not like I'm thrilled to see you either!" Spike retorted. "Always buggerin' up the works! What are you gonna do? Whine the slayer's sane?"

"How? What? How?" Xander stammered, blinking rapidly.

Xander seemingly hadn't changed much in the past 5 years. He was still as incompetent and irritating as ever. Although - Spike would admit - both he and Willow did look a bit older. Some might even say a bit haggard, like they hadn't slept right in a year or two. One thing was certain, the ponce's wardrobe hadn't improved a lick. Even Andrew had him beat there. Sad really.

"I'm sure there'll be plenty of time for interrogate the Spike later," Spike replied, waving a hand at him. "Maybe when we're not, say, dealing with a wave of off their nut slayers?"

"You were dead," Xander continued, pointing a finger at him.

"Yeah. And now I'm not. Of all people, you lot really shouldn't be so surprised. It's bloody impossible to stay dead around here."

The shock factor had yet to wear off. A more generous part of Spike's mind knew he couldn't really blame him. The only other person to come back from the grave was, well, Buffy. And people had wanted her back.

"Xander, later," Willow told him. "We need all the help we can get. Especially since we can't ask any of the slayers. It's just us on this one."

"And the librarian," Spike drawled.

"Where is Giles?" Xander asked, finally composing himself a bit.

"On his way." Willow stood up and dropped a book in his hands. Xander coughed as a plume of dust puffed up in his face. "Well?" Willow pressed. "What are you waiting for? Research won't do itself."

Xander took a seat at the table next to Andrew, noticeably at the furthest point away from Spike. Unsurprising really. Git had always had a chip on his shoulder. But, if they had to make due with non-slayers, he supposed Xander might not be... the worst. Although his arrival did beg the question of the one missing party.

"So where's everyone's favorite little ex-demon, eh?" Spike asked. "Anya retire from the Scoobies? She always was the smart one."

The table froze, the rustling of pages coming to an abrupt halt. No one made as if to answer and a grim silence descended over the room. Spike no longer needed their answer. It was clear from their faces. Anya was dead. Gone. Six feet under or what all.

Spike's sardonic demeanor vanished.

"How'd it happen?" he asked quietly.

Andrew sniffled a bit, wiping at his eyes. "She um... she saved me. She died during the attack. You know, at Sunnydale. Same as you."

Xander and Willow remained dry-eyed. Willow's eyes were downcast and she carefully avoided looking at anyone or anything in particular. Xander's face was hard, an uncommon sobriety plaguing his normally lighthearted countenance.

Xander scoffed and shook his head, the frown lines deepening on his face. "In what world is it fair that you come back, and she doesn't?"

"Only the twisted kind," Spike mumbled under his breath. He didn't think Xander heard.

"Xander, that's not really fair," Willow replied softly.

"Yeah. It damn well isn't," Xander snapped back.

A tense pause persisted before Andrew's shudder broke the silence. He had his head in his hands and looked like he was still grieving her all these years later. Guilt will do that to a person.

"I'm sorry," Spike said louder. "She was... well she was one of the good ones."

"She was," Willow seconded with a terse nod.

The room fell back into that uncomfortable silence that had started when Spike mentioned Anya's name. A moment of silence for you, our dearly departed. Buried beneath the rubble of Sunnydale. Gal deserved better. Who the bloody hell didn't?

While the rest of the gang continued with the barrels of books and the magic of boredom, Spike perused the magic shop's other wares. He had no idea what half of the junk did, and he was a bit wary to find out. With his luck, he'd go poking around and wind up a toad. 

He picked up a small golden mirror and almost dropped it when he noticed his reflection staring back at him. Only it wasn't him. It was the face of a decaying corpse, rotted through almost to the bone with sickening tufts of hair jutting out at random from his skull. The reflection had no nose or eyes, just gaping holes into the abyss with tendrils of black smoke slowly curling out. He hurriedly put the mirror back face down. Windows to the soul my ass. No more magic mirrors for this vampire.

Spike shook off the disturbing image and made his way over to the cash register in search of a quick distraction. Sitting neatly next to the register was a leather-bound book labeled "Bills of Sale". Had to be a ledger of sorts. Spike flipped through it and spotted Willow's name pop up more than a few times. She'd been quite the little Wicca since he'd been away. Giles' name cropped up a couple times as well. 'Course it did. And then his finger stopped on Buffy. It seemed she had ordered a few things from the mystical multi-dimensional magic shop from hell. 

It listed her address. Right there in Cleveland. It couldn't even be that far. Maybe ten kilometers.  

Spike glanced up at the gang. They seemed engrossed with their books and chatted sporadically amongst themselves. Part catch-up, part theory, part shared anxiety.

Andrew got up to pull another book from the shelf and Spike slipped out from behind the counter. He made as if to casually pass by the table - as he had done multiple times before already - just as Andrew turned back from the shelf. Spike rammed into Andrew's shoulder, causing him to drop his book.

"Watch it Watcher!" Spike snapped. "You'd think a Watcher would be better at watching where the hell they're going."

Spike continued to mutter under his breath as he walked away from Andrew's somewhat confused apologies. Spike smiled as he gripped the keys in his pocket. A lifetime of delinquency came in handy every now and again. Who was he kidding? It came in handy all the damn time.

***

Spike parked Andrew's car on the curb just outside of Buffy's house. At least, it was the house the address at the magic shop had listed. Dusk was just falling and Spike was sure the Scoobies had noticed his absence by now. He had only circled the block six times. Just to be sure. Hard to tell sometimes with... addresses. With specific house numbers. Maybe that six should really be a nine. Who knows? Could happen.

The house was small. Spike supposed it didn't need to be big if it was just Buffy living there. Seemed odd. Buffy living alone. In a city with none of her old mates. A lot had changed since he died. He wondered if anything had stayed the same.

Lawn looked like it could use a mow. It was a bit unkempt and probably angered some suburban Homeowners Council or what all. But the rest of the house looked nice. All cookie-cutter with that early 90s retro-chic vibe. Bloody hell. Now he was just stalling, examining the bloody architecture.

Spike took a breath and opened the door of the car. The neighborhood wasn't busy and the streetlights had just come on. He made his way up the concrete walk to the front door. Moment of truth. 

He rapped on the door and waited for what felt like an eternity. Maybe she wasn't home. Then he heard a shuffling from behind the door. Finally, the door opened, and there she stood. Radiant.

"Buffy," Spike said, barely managing to get the name out.

Seeing her again, alive and standing in front of him, was so much better than revisiting the memories. It struck him that her face had started to fade from his memory the way a worn picture does when you carry it around in a wallet for years. And a picture is nothing compared to the real thing. A shadow of a person. Less than a flat, lifeless imitation.

She gave him a puzzled look, her brows furrowing together in a familiar way. "Spike. What the hell is going on?"

He finally noticed the blood that soaked the front of her shirt and the disarray of her hair. Mud coated her bare feet and a deep gash ran up her calf. Spike could smell the blood. It seemed old. Something was very wrong here.

"Come in," Buffy said, stepping aside to let him pass.

Spike hesitantly stepped across threshold. She pulled him the rest of the way inside and slammed the door shut behind him, immediately jumping over to the window and peaking out behind the curtains at the street as if she thought he might have been tailed. It wasn't exactly the reception he had been expecting.

"Spike, what's going on?" Buffy asked, whirling on him. "Where am I? How'd I get here?"

Spike glanced around, looking for any clues as to what might be causing this bout of frenzied panic. To no avail. The inside of the house looked just fine. Not very lived in. Bare bones. No overturned furniture, no broken glass. Some muddy footprints. But overall, fine.

"You're in Cleveland," Spike said slowly. "Remember?"

Buffy shook her head, becoming more agitated. "Why? Does this have something to do with The First? We need to get back to Sunnydale, now."

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #648: Going Out (Super Smash Bros Ultimate)

11:33 a.m. at the Smash Mansion......

Dark Pit: (Makes his Way to the Door and Opens it) I'm heading out!

Pit: Wait. You are? We're about to play Mario Party in a few minutes.

Ren: Yeah. You love those.....that and causing Ryuji misery along the way.

Ryuji: (Glares at his Bro) Dude!

Ren: (Shrugged) Hey. It's the truth.

Ryuji: Yeah. But.....still!

Dark Pit: Trust me, as much as I would love to mess with Skull Boy and countless his losing streak....

Ryuji: (Rolled his Eyes in Annoyance) Glad to see you're still liking my suffering in the brand new year, DP......

Dark Pit: You bet your ass I do. But alas, I have to go somewhere. It won't take too long though.

Makoto: Alright. But be sure not go out for too long, okay? We have a long day ahead of us.

Dark Pit: Roger that, sis. (Walks Out the Door) Later.

'Door Closes'

Pit: Huh. I wonder where Pitto is going to in this early time.....

Futuba: (Shrugged) Probably going out for a walk or something.

Pit: Maybe......

11:54 a.m. Outside of the Big Bang Burger Building......

Dark Pit: (Standing Beside the Building While Checking the Time on his Phone) Where the hell are they? We agreed meet here around 11 and everything.....('Sigh') I guess maybe they really are busy after al-

????: PITTO-KINS!!!~

Before Dark Pit could react to anything, he immediately gets hug tackled by a energetic girl with a peach colored ponytail.

????: (Smiles Brightly While Hugging Dark Pit) It's sooooo great to see you again!~ Happy New Year's!~

Dark Pit: (Blushes While Sighing and Gently Pats on the Girl's Head) It's....good to see you too, Kyoko....

?????: D'awww~ Did our angel boi actually waited for us?~

Dark Pit: (Sees a Another Girl With Black Hair Making her Way to Him and Kyoko While Smirking) ('Tch') The hell do you think, Misako? You did told us to meet up here. And yet you're twenty minutes late.

Misako: Yeah, sorry about that. We were finishing our make-up. And by "we", I mean little miss pretty girl over there.

Kyoko: (Pouts at Misako) Hey! There is nothing wrong with getting yourself ready for a date. Speaking of which....(Turns to Dark Pit) How do I look, Pitto-Kins? Do I look okay?

Dark Pit: You look great, Kyoko. Don't worry about it.

Kyoko: (Blushes While Smiling Brightly) Awww~ Thank you!~ You really are a sweetheart~ (Gives Dark Pit a Kiss on the Cheek)

Misako: (Starts Smirking at her Boyfriend Again) Well, he did waited twenty minutes for us to get here. (Playfully Pulls on Dark Pit's Other Cheek) Goes to show that this Dark Angel here has a big heart after all~

Dark Pit: (Blushes Even More While Groaning ('Ugh') Whatever! Can we just go in and eat already?!

Misako: Lead the way, babe~

Inside the Big Bang Burger Building.....

Pit: (Sitting on his Side of the Table) So.... how's school going for you girls? Get into anymore fights lately?

Misako: (Raised an Eyebrow While Sitting on the Other Side of the Table with Kyoko) Bold of you ask of us that on our date, angel boi.

Dark Pit: Hey, you're the ones who got yourselves into them on a daily basis.

Kyoko: That is true.

Misako: (Glares at Kyoko) Seriously?

Kyoko: (Pouts at her Best Friend) Oh don't be like that, Misako! Name one time we HAVEN'T gotten ourselves in a fight.

Misako: I.....(Was About to Come Up With an Answer, But Ultimately Gives in When She Couldn't Think of Anything) ('Sighs in Defeat') Fair point. (Turns Back to Dark Pit) But even still, you don't need worry about something like that, DAD. We can take care of ourselves just fine in any fist fights, thank you very much.

Dark Pit: I know. You two kick a lot more asses than I can count. It's kinda impressive if you ask me.

Misako: (Smirks at Dark Pit Once) Admiring us already, babe?~ That's a shock~

Dark Pit: (Glares at Misako in a Bit of an Annoyed Manner) You just love to mess with me, don't you?

Misako: (Shrugged) Hey. It's not my fault you're too easy to tease~

Dark Pit: (Rolled his Eyes) Anyways, I was thinking.....You guys are interested in participate the Smash Tournament with me someday? I can try and talk Mario into letting you two join.

Misako: (Seems Unsure) Ehh.... I think we're gonna take a hard pass on that one.

Kyoko: (Frowns a Little) Yeah.....Most of the fighters there are wayyyy tougher than the any guys and gals we've faced so far. We wouldn't even stand a chance.

Dark Pit: I dunno. I think you girls might have a chance if winning a fight or two. You both are pretty strong after all.

Misako: You think so?

Dark Pit: Yeah. I mean, you were able to send a Yakuza's daughter flying from a literal building before. If you can do that, then I don't see you having any problems facing against anyone in Smash. Not even aganist me.

Misako: (Smiles a Little) You really have that much faith in us, huh?

Dark Pit: Of course I do. You two are my girlfriends. It's only natural for me to give you all the support that you need. (Starts Blushing a Little) Cause I love you guys like that, you know....

Kyoko: (Heart Begins to Melt in Happiness) Pitto-Kins.

Dark Pit: Yeah.

Kyoko: Can I hug you? Like, right now please?~

Dark Pit: Can't we just wait until we-

Kyoko: (Immediately Gives Dark Pit the Sad Puppy Dog Eggs While Wobbling her Lips Up and Down)

Dark Pit: ('Sighs in Defeat') Fiiiiine. Come here.

Kyoko: Eeee!~ (Excitedly Got Up From her side of the Table, Sit Next to her Boyfriend and Hugs Him Lovingly) Thank you for being a supportive boyfriend for us~ We really appreciate it a lot~ (Gives Dark Pit a Another Kiss on the Cheek) ('Mwaaah')

Dark Pit: (Blush Turns Bright Red) H-H-Hey! What with the kiss!?

Kyoko: (Giggles Softly) Sorry~ Your cheeks are practically kissable at this point. Plus, you never said that I can only hug, sooooooo.......

Dark Pit: ('Sigh') Shit. You're right.

Kyoko: Yep! Misako, you wanna join us?

Misako: (Shrugged) Eh. What the hell? (Got up from her Seat and Make her Way to her Girlfriend and Boyfriend) It has been a while since I made our dark angel boi's heart skip a beat.

Dark Pit: Do you have to kiss me right now?

Misako: (Place Two of her Hands on Dark Pit's Cheeks and Give him a Seductive Smirk) Yep. Now plucker up those lips~ (Gives Dark Pit a Kiss on the Lips) ('Mmwaaah')

Few Minutes Later in the Streets of Smash Town.....

Kyoko: (Sighs Relaxingly While Walking Next to her Girlfriend and Boyfriend) That was a good lunch date~

Dark Pit: Yeah. Not gonna lie, I actually had a great time today.

Misako: Same. (Smirks at Dark Pit) I especially had fun messing with you earlier~

Dark Pit: (Looks Away From Misako While Crossing his Arms) ('Tch') A kiss is a kiss. It wasn't that big of a deal....

Misako: Oh really? Then why were you lighting up like a Christmas tree when we walked out together?~

Dark Pit: (Starts Blushing Yet Again) N-No reason.....

Misako: (Chuckles Lightly) You're adorable, you know that?~

Dark Pit: Kyoko is the adorable one in this relationship. Not me!

Misako: Yeah. Keep telling yourself that, cutie.

Dark Pit: (Glares at Misako) What was that?

Kyoko: Now, now, children, there's no need for any of us to fight. We can a be cute together~

Misako: Yeah. No.

Dark Pit: Not happening, Kyoko.

Kyoko: (Turns Away from The Duo in a Pouty like Fashion) ('Hmph') Cowards.

Dark Pit: ('Sigh') As much as I would love see your cute, pouty face some more, I gotta get back to the mansion before my dork of a brother and the rest of the gang gets worried. Hope you understand.

Misako: Eh. Don't worry about it. (Smiles Softly) Being able to spent time with you at all today is good enough for me.

Kyoko: (Smiles Brightly) Me too!~ Thank you so much for letting us take you to lunch.

Dark Pit: I should be thanking you for having me. (Gives Both Misako and Kyoko Each a Kiss on Their Cheeks) Be safe out there. And try staying out of trouble for once, alright?

Misako: (Playfully Rolled her Eyes) Okay, dad, we'll try. You better text us back once you get home.

Dark Pit: Relax. I will.

Misako: I'll hold you to it. (Gives Dark Pit a Kiss on one Cheek)

Kyoko: (Gives Dark Pit a Kiss on the Other Cheek) We love you~

Dark Pit: Love you guys, too. Take care. Alright?

Misako: (Smiles Softly) Will do, chief. (Walks Away) Later.

Kyoko: (Walks Away with Misako While Happily Waving Goodbye to their Boyfriend) Have a nice rest of the day, Pitto-Kins!~

Dark Pit: (Waves Back at his Girlfriends Before Slowly Smiling Softly Once He Sees Them Walking Away in a Far Distance) (Huh. Funny. Who would've thought having two girlfriends would be pretty nice?)

@keyenuta

@princekirijo

@26shann

@albion-93

@ma-lemons

@ink-correctsmashbrosbloo

@italian-love-cake

@caleb13frede