#and how she was like oh it's fine it sucks and hurts anyway. let me tell you about how funny dicks are though omggg

[crimeronan]

i'm super tired right now so as i mainlined all the tags on that childhood horror poll at once i found myself going "damn. everyone's got every horror subgenre and plotline in the world going on. it's crazy how i'm surrounded by so many traumatized friends when my own childhood was so completely normal"

and then i was like

hey. ktikat.

What.

[long-live-astronerd-ghost-king]

DPXDC: I wanna be like most girls ghosts.

or Danny: What should I do to make my mom happy?

or ~Danny deserves a little teenage rebellion as a treat~

Maddie: I just want this damned Phantom to stop pretending to be a hero! All ghosts are pure evil, who is he trying to deceive? Danny: Oh, really? And Danny took it personally.

It’s not Danny’s fault that he’s a good kid and wants to make his parents happy. But why would he have to be a monster to make them happy? Why must they hate him to be happy?

Danny’s obsession was going crazy.

Well, when your own parents call you a monster in the face, it hurts. Why do they always believe that only their opinion is the absolute truth? They have no idea how much worse things would be if at least some of the ghosts really behaved the way Maddie and Jack think they’re supposed to. If he really is evil by nature, is there any point in fighting his own fate? They want to see him as a villain, he will become one. He will. He just needs a little help and practice. And not bring it to the level when Clockwork has to clean up his mess. Poor guy is without a vacation for how long? Couple of millennia?

Johnny 13: Sup. Danny: F*ck off, Johnny, I’m not in the mood. Busy thinking about world domination. Get out of here or I’ll call Kitty. Johnny 13: What’s wrong? You’re usually so grouchy only towards the end of the week. Danny: Nothing. Just parents. Again. They are wonderful but I can’t help but feel sometimes that they, em… Johnny 13: Suck? Danny: Right…Damn. I’m a terrible son. Maybe something is wrong with me. Johnny 13: What? No, no, dude. You’re just growing up. And you’re a little late, usually teenagers go through that stage before they graduate. Well, you’ve probably been busy with other issues, so just missed it. Danny: I wonder whose fault it is. Aren’t there ghosts who enjoyed to ruin my life in the middle of school day?

Johnny 13: Oh, bother. Anyway, you’re entering a beautiful time of emancipation, where you’re going to shape your own view of life and, along the way, to get drunk on cheap alcohol at parties, maybe to go to jail and to become the greatest disappointment to your family..And then you will be ashamed to remember it for about the next ten years. Danny: Well, it looks like I’ve already done two out of three additional things. Great success. Johnny 13: When did you get drunk? Danny: I didn’t. Johnny 13: Oh. Want to fix that? Danny: What? No. What an idiot wants to add a headache to his problems? Johnny 13: Well, your loss, then I’ll go terrorize the bars of Gotham alone and no one can stop me. Let’s see what your boyfriend will say about it. ~~~~~ Danny: Bartender, another shot of Dead Man’s Fingers, please. Red Hood: Babe, haven’t you had enough? Danny: Have you ever felt that no matter how hard you try, no matter how many sacrifices you make, in their eyes you’ll always be nothing more than a monster? Nothing more than a mistake? Oh, Death doesn’t give people like me a break. Red Hood: …I’ll have what he’s having. *gives the bartender a sign to switch the rum shots to a batburger milkshake for them, and starts talking to Danny so that he doesn’t understand Hood's scams*

~~~~~

Johnny 13: Other people’s kids are growing up so fast. It seems like yesterday he didn’t know how to shoot ectoblast, and now.. Kitty: Stop trying to make me feel bad, we’re leaving. Johnny 13: But the boy needs our support, honey boo!

~~~~~

Danny: I'm fine. Really, I am. This isn’t the first time mom’s called me a monster. She often called me that when she was upset with my behavior in my childhood. Huh, it's even funny. Jason: There’s nothing funny about that. Danny: No, you don’t understand. Looking back, I was really a very active child and didn’t know when to stop. Not surprisingly that I often annoyed my parents. They’re very busy people, and Jazz couldn’t always keep an eye on me. And I was often afraid to go to sleep alone because there were shadows in the darkness of my room. Well, I used to think they were. But I pretended everything was okay to not distract parents from work. Jason: Hey, it’s not your fault. You were a child. Obviously, kiddo requires a lot of attention, they must have understood that. You are the second child in the family, right? Danny: Well, Jazz was different. I don’t know. Anyway, I thought if the monsters behind the curtain and under the bed were just like me, well, according to my mom, you know, then they wouldn’t want to hurt me. And since they look after me, they are friends. So I kinda greeted all the suspicious noises and howls. Huh, I was a strange kid. Jason: If you smile at someone in the dark alley right now that someone is more likely to wet themselves or faint. Danny: Rude! I’m not that scary. Admit that I’m adorable. Do it right now. Jason: Stunning, darling. But still carry a gun and a knife, please. My childhood taught me that what's hiding in the dark is worth beating up. Danny: Come on, what should I be afraid of? Death? Anyway, I want to try this shit. Like, the inevitable one. Being a bad boy, you know? Hood *raises eyebrows*. Danny: Oh damn it man, I'm talking about ghostliness. I want to try to be like most of dead ones. I want to unleash my side of the trickster and the villain. But only a little bit. I have to be supervised so that things don't go too far. Would you help me, honey?

~~~~~2 hours later~~~~

~~~~~

Goons used to expect a lot of weirdness from working with the boss.

Sometimes Bruce Wayne would go into their base and yell at the Red Hood like he's one of his kids. Of course Wayne's well-known as 'Gotta adopt them all' but the guy must really suffer from insomnia to count the Red Hood into his brood of chicks several times. Sometimes the boss would fight Robin or Nightwing over differences in morals…or for biscuits. It varied from moment to moment. Sometimes the boss caught the local street children, fed them and taught them to steal correctly. And most of the foundlings stayed with them under their protection.

To make a long story short, Red Hood is not the typical crime lord that some of them had to deal with before. Which is a blessing. Thanks Lord for the health insurance. But still the crime lord. Which means he's still scary, and sometimes deadly.

Anyway, when the boss brought in a guy who looked more civilian than any civilian in the whole Gotham and said he was going to be their intern, they thought it was a joke at first. Despite the fact that Hood was not in the habit of joking while working.

The teenager was too well-mannered and sweet to come from Crime Alley. Phil thought the guy was gonna run when he saw the first murder, Jessica didn’t think the domestic boy wouldn’t chicken out at the sight of a fight. But arguing with a boss’s orders in their profession is like asking for a bullet in the head, so these conversations were taking place outside of their boss's sight. God, how can they teach him anything? What do you take from a boy who’s only good to do the coffee run? Fenton will fall if they’ll give him something heavier than 10 pounds. And then boss will yell at them because he treats the new guy like a princess on a pea. Well, at least that’s what they thought until the boss decided to give the new guy his own assignments:

~~~~~

Red Hood: So, what have you learned during your internship, my young Padawan? Danny: Well, it looks like I’m gonna suck at being a criminal mastermind. I think I may have to find myself some other profession. Red Hood: Come on, you just need a little more practice. Danny: Thank you but I don’t think that’s fit my obsession that good. Don't misunderstand me, I wanna be like most ghosts. But I was wrong to go to hit that goal only base on human stereotypes about my nature. Red Hood: What a pity. The newbies just learned not to flinch when you walk in. But, to be honest, I'm not gonna miss the adrenaline-boosting roller coaster of you at work. Danny: Oh, and I guess to hold on to the concept of humanity was really stupid too. I clearly no longer fit in and I’m finally ready to accept that. So, hopefully, if you get into trouble, you can rely on my ghostliness and call for help. I am the spirit of many talents and of my word. I can haunt your enemies or walk through the walls of Arkham Asylum. Whatever you need, I’ll be here. Red Hood: I’ll bear that in mind.

[neowinestainedress]

hello! im not sure if your request is still open, but do you mind to write a drabble of jaemin slowly corrupting an innocent gf? it starts with casual back massage at first and she says that her breasts are sore before her menstrual period. as a good bf, of course he "helps" her and things escalating from there into heavy fuck and overstimulation

w!: corruption kink, dubcon + light manipulation (DON’T read if it makes you uncomfortable), nipple/boobs play, fingering, oral (f receiving), unprotected s*x, first time, overstimulation

a/n: jaemin and corruption kink is a concept i love but i don’t think i delivered it the best with this one. i hate drabbles okay? i have to keep things short and i suck at it, but i also wasn’t in the mood to write too much so i hope this is good anyway (if you want something else similar to this there’s drippin’, it’s not only with jaemin but it gets the corruption kink better, and nana is unhinged in that fic so...)

“That’s because your period is close, baby,” Jaemin coos while his hands keep rubbing on your bare back, he’s sitting on top of you, trying not to weigh much. 

“How do you know?” You pout, cheek pressed against the sofa as you try to look back at him. 

“I just know, babe,” he snickers, hands creeping lower on your back, brushing against your ass, making your body heat up. 

“But they still hurt so much, they’re so sore,” you cry out, trying to fight the embarrassment of having him so close while you’re half naked. It’s not the first time Jaemin massages your back since you often suffer back pain, but, usually, you would let him rub your skin with your shirt on, this time, he insisted you would take it off, so he could use cream and warm your muscles more. 

“I can help you with that.” 

You freeze for a moment, mouth parting in surprise. “Really? You can? How? The pills never do anything for me.” 

“Honey,” he chuckles, “not with pills. With these,” he says, shaking his hands in the air. 

“Oh,” you breathe out, nervously pressing your lips in a thin line while you try to avoid his piercing gaze, gulping nervously as you think of the implications. “It will pass.” 

“Babe, come on, it’s me,” he says, leaning on top of you, caging you under him, “at least turn around, it will only hurt more if you stay like this.” 

“But — but you will see them,” you utter shyly. 

“So? You’re my girlfriend.” 

You think about it for a while, torturing your lower lip between your teeth, but when the pain gets too much, you give up. “Fine.” 

“Don’t cover them.” Jaemin reaches your hands that are cupping your breast and pin them on top of your head. Your eyes go wild, and something you’ve never seen before sparks in your boyfriend’s eyes. “They’re so pretty, baby. It’s a shame it took you so long to show them to me.” 

You don’t reply, feeling so small and with no idea of what to do, so you trust him, letting him do what he knows — surely better than you. 

“They’re so soft, princess,” he hums while his hands gently fondle them, making your body go stiff at the first touch. “Hey, relax, it will feel good,” he whispers, flashing you a toothy smile that makes you forget for a second what’s going on. 

“Why — why are my nipples hard?” You dare to question when you feel them erect, and then shyly look down to see them perk up. 

“Because you feel good.” 

“But I feel like they’re still sore and I feel like even my nipples hurt now.”

“Poor baby, you’re all sore today, aren’t you? You’re lucky you have me to make you feel better,” he pouts, kissing you. 

You’re about to reply but the words leave your mouth — and brain — when your boyfriend’s lips wrap around one of your sensitive buds. Your lips move to call out his name but when he starts sucking on it, you go speechless again. 

“Don’t look at me like that,” he mumbles when he moves to the other, hands still massaging your sore boobs, “I’m doing this for you, babe.” 

You hum, head rolling back in a natural reaction when his thumb brushes over the sensitive nipple he doesn’t have in his mouth. “I feel weird.” 

“You feel good,” Jaemin reassures you, “see? It’s working already.” 

Your eyes snap open when you feel his fingers press between your legs as the other hand keeps taking care of your boobs. 

“Does it hurt here, too, babe?” 

“It doesn’t hurt, it feels — I don’t know how to explain, okay, maybe it hurts a little.” 

“Poor you, falling apart today?” He jokes lightly, leaving a soft kiss in the hollow of your chest. “I really have to make you feel better, I guess.” 

You’re focused on the new feeling of his fingers rubbing between your sensitive spot when you feel something against your leg that distracts you. “What’s pressing on my leg?” 

“Do you want to see?” 

“Uhm.” 

“Oh, that, I —” you chuckle embarrassed when he gets rid of his pants and underwear, “I don’t think I’m supposed to be seeing that.” 

“Why not? I’m your boyfriend,” he says, tilting his head to the side, “would it be equal if you showed me yours, too?” 

“No, I don’t think we — we should be doing this,” you try to complain but it’s all in vain when his hands tug down your shorts and your panties, exposing you. 

“Why? It’s natural, princess. It will feel good.” 

“But it’s intimate,” you whisper, “and weird.” 

He raises his brow. “Have you ever done it?” 

You shake your head. “No, I mean, no, no I haven’t.” 

“Then trust me. I made you feel better even before, didn’t I?” 

“Yeah, fi-fine.” 

When you give him the go, his fingers and lips are on you, touching you and kissing your skin until he reaches your core. Your first reaction is to close your legs, but Jaemin keeps them wide open and pushes his head between them with no hesitation. 

You feel weird, it is too intimate, too dirty, but all your fears and doubts disappear when his mouth wraps around your pussy. You hold in a scream and look down in curiosity, drifting your gaze as soon as you meet his piercing eyes staring straight into you. 

“Nana,” you cry out when his fingertips rub against your opening, smearing the spit and your wetness around. 

“I have to get you ready for the big thing, babe. Don’t want you to hurt,” he says, pushing a finger inside your tight pussy, eliciting a broken moan from you. “Shh, it’s alright, relax, remember I’m here to take care of you, alright?” 

So you focus on the sensation, feeling something build up inside of you when he adds another finger and starts moving them, curling them inside, occasionally making you squirm more, while his mouth keeps working on you. 

“Weird,” you mumble when you feel like that strange sensation is about to blow up, but Jaemin doesn’t tell you much other than ‘let go to the feeling,’ so you listen another time, and before you realize, you come. It’s strong and something you never felt before, even weird, but you like it. “Wait, why are you — why are you not stopping?” 

“I told you, I need you to be ready.”  

“For wha—” your words die down when his other hand reaches for your chest, folding your boobs as he keeps going with his fingers and mouth, bringing you to the edge another time, faster than you expect. 

“Does it hurt?” You ask when he starts stroking his hard dick and you can’t help but stare even if it feels dirty. 

“So much, babe. I need you to take care of it for me.” 

“I can help you? Do you want me to massage it?” 

Jaemin chuckles, shaking his head. “Nah, I have a better idea. Open your legs, honey.” 

“How will this — oh,” you gasp when you feel the thick tip of his cock against your hole. “Will it hurt?” 

“No, that’s why I made you come twice, and I’m going slow. I will never hurt you.” And he stays true to that, letting you get used to his size when he bottoms in, throwing his head back after watching your face twitch at the feeling. Only when he’s sure you’re okay, he starts moving, slow thrusts as he holds himself back, getting lost in the whimpers and moans you try so hard to muffle. 

But that tender feeling lasts about after the first orgasm — the third for you. After that, you feel something pushing you forward, and you don’t know if it’s worst your eagerness to feel more or his pent-up greed for all those months he didn’t have you. 

The second fuck it’s rough, messy, and needy, with your hands desperately looking for the other, and your innocent façade falling apart. It feels unnatural to hear you beg for more, to let out dirty words and curses, but Jaemin loves it so much that you’re falling apart in his hold. 

Jaemin is still sweet somehow, reassuring you and praising you, whispering to your ears that you’re being such a good girl for taking him so well.

“Don’t stop,” you cry out when you both come another time, spurts of white filling you to the brim again. “Please.” 

“So greedy. What happened to my pure angel? It’s not nice to hide part of you from your boyfriend,” he mocks but keeps fucking into you. 

You don’t reply, too ashamed to even look into his eyes, but he harshly cups your chin and forces you to keep eye contact. 

“Don’t act shy, there’s nothing wrong with it,” he smirks, kissing your pouty lips, “we all have dirty secrets.” 

You’d argue yours is not a secret, but simply something you’ve never experienced before, but you have no strength left. 

“Too much,” you whimper. 

“Oh, no, princess, now you take what you asked for.” 

Jaemin doesn’t stop, not even letting you breathe for a second, big dick fucking you deep and fast, making your body tremble and your head feel light, while his fingers move skilfully on your aching, throbbing clit, sending you over the edge more times than you can take. 

And by the time he is done with you, you lost count of how many times you came, too tired to do anything else but stay in his arms and enjoy his soft kisses on your skin. 

“Did so well, babe. Are you feeling better?” 

You nod weakly, hiding in the crook of his neck, feeling conscious again. “Yeah.” 

“See, I told you I would take care of you. You always have to trust me.”

© neowinestaindress; all rights reserved. do NOT repost, modify, or translate any work from this blog on any other platform and claim it as yours. you can find my works on ao3 (neowinestaindress) and wattpad (winestaintedress_; currently inactive).

[lostgirlmuseum]

Pulse 💗

Summary: Bucky can hear your heartbeat through the wall, and he can tell everything isn’t alright.

Pairing: Bucky x gn!Reader

Words: 600 (exactly 600, holy moly)

Warnings: None really, just mentions of anxiety and adhd. Wrote this within an hour, sorry if its bad

A/N: Self indulgent fic alert! This goes out to all my peeps who struggle with ADHD/anxiety. It sucks, but hang in there!

Divider credit: @saradika

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“Come in,” you called, not looking up from the papers on your desk.

A brief second passed, and the door creaked open. A cautious Bucky peeked his head in.

“Hey, are you okay?” He asked.

You suddenly became aware of your leg bouncing 70 miles an hour, and forced yourself to stop. 

“Yes, why?” You replied, ignoring the urge to get up and walk around.

“Well, I—” he hesitated, and brought his hand to rub the back of his neck, “I was passing by and I heard your heartbeat going really fast—super hearing and all that,” he awkwardly chuckled.

“120,” you stated, glancing at your watch.

“What?”

“My heart rate is 120 right now.”

“That’s pretty high for just sitting,” he responded, having a hard time hiding his concern.

“Well, y’know, anxiety,” you breathily laughed, but it wasn’t that funny.

“What are you anxious about? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Nothing.” You sighed, lowering your pen and facing him. At this point he was now in your room, perched in front of your door.

“Doesn’t seem like nothing.”

“Seriously, I’m kinda freaking out over nothing right now.”

“C’mon, you’re always telling me I’m valid for having concerns, you are too.”

“No, I mean there is literally no singular thing I’m anxious about right now—it’s just physical anxiety, the general feeling that I’m going crazy, or dying, I don’t know, both I guess. That sounds so dramatic. I really am fine. I mean, I’m not fine, but I am, yeah?” You rambled on and on, and cursed yourself when you noticed your leg had started bouncing again.

“I don’t think you’re okay, do you want me to bring you to Dr. Cho?”

“That’s sweet of you, but I don’t think there’s much she can do. The worst of this should pass in thirty minutes anyway, it’s just my meds.”

“Oh.” 

You could tell Bucky wanted to ask more, but wasn’t sure if it was polite.

“I have ADD. ADHD, whatever you want to call it. So I take medicine so I can focus on certain tasks, like these reports. And it does help me focus, but it’s also a stimulant, so it also gives me a lot of anxiety, which is totally awesome!” You scoffed.

“Why do you keep stopping your leg from bouncing?”

“I don’t know, I don’t want to annoy you.”

“If bouncing your leg makes you feel better, it doesn’t bother me.”

“I feel like I’m embarrassing myself,” you whined. 

Beep.

You looked at your watch.

“Oh, look at that, 126!”

“Do you—would…would a hug be something that would help you? Calm you down?” He offered, casually putting his arms out for emphasis.

“Sure, Bucky,” you smiled, and stood up to meet him halfway. You knew it wouldn’t fix it, but it certainly couldn’t hurt.

Bucky wrapped you in a big embrace, and you were shocked by how warm and teddy-like it was. You gave a small sigh, and rested your face in his neck, knowing you weren’t going to be the first to let go.

He held onto you for longer than you expected, just calmly swaying together in your room. 

To your dismay, he eventually let go of you. You were about to thank him and return to your work, but he gently grabbed your wrist and brought your watch to his sight. 

“107. Good, but I think we can do better than that,” he sweetly smiled, and wrapped you back up into his arms. 

“It might take a while.” You mumbled into his shirt.

“As long as it takes.” He cooed.

A/N: Should be either A) studying for a history exam I have tmw, or B) writing my stupid essay that the rough draft is due tmw, but I wrote this instead bc I’m procrastinating  HELP ME

[little-annie]

NSFW STEDDIE & STOBIN TEXT CHAIN

Steve normal text. Robin’s Bold. Eddie's Italicized Bold

---

___Bird Brain___

Rob

Bobby

Bobin

What? Im literally right next to you

And were at work Dingus get off of your phone.

No.

I'm. Uh.

?

You know the shop across the street???

?

The mecanic

Mecanic

Fuck

Mechanic

Okay.

They have a new guy

Okay.

And?

Gay.

Literally, what?

I think I'm gay.

Steve

Cuz like he's just so pretty

Steven

And that Haut

Stephanie

Hair

Hey whore

Wut

Bathroom talk. Now.

Were working.

You and I both know no one rents movies on a Tuesday at 10am

Bathroom.

Now.

To the porcelain thrown

You know sometimes I forget youre an idiot 20 something

then you go and say shit like that

…

Bitch.

Whore.

---

How do I tell if a mans gay or whatever its is that I am,

,

Fuck

?

Bi schedule

Bi sexual

Ducking auto correct

Babe. I hate to break it to you but your auto correct is as dyslexic as you are. You basically train it

I-

Huh.

Well ghen.

Anywho.

Gay.

Whats he wear? Any piercings? Tattoos? Whats his hair like?

Oh! This is important. DOES. HE. HAVE. A. HANKY. IN. A. BACK. POCKET???

black overalls and a black shirt. Lots. I think. His ears literally look shiny from across the street. Lots of tattoos too.

And yes??? What's that have to do with anything? My papa had a hanky and I'm pretty she he wasn't gay

He probably was. Being Bisexual is genetic.

Actually?

No Dingus.

But like the man was in the navy? Right?

Ya

Gay.

Stfu

ANYWAY

HANKY.

YES.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

FUCK YEAH.

WHATS IT LOOK LIKE AND WHAT POCKET?

???

it's black

Oh hes kinky

What side pocket

It switches.

I bet it does

Gay.

That is a gay man Steven.

Go get your dick sucked or your booty bumped or whatever it is the kids are doing these days.

Eating ass

EXCUSE

yeah. It's a thing.

:0

Robin you literally munch so much carpet. whats the difference if its the rug at the back door.

Never.

Ever.

Say.

That.

Again.

Bubble bath privileges revoked.

You whore.

---

The bath is sad with no bubbles Bob.

Make your own.

…

Okay. Ew. Stop. Stink ass. I can hear you. And the neighbors probably can too.

Are you sorry?

Not really.

Well pretend to be.

Kay.

IM SO SORRY

…

:’(

better

Your bubble bath is under the sink

:D

---

Eddie

Wut.

Thats your new lovers name.

WUT

ROBIN.

WHAT DID YOU DO.

---

*1 new message* Hi -the weirdo with long hair who works across the street (Eddie)

---

I hate you

BTW babe you have a date on Tuesday

ROBIN IT IS TUESDAY

oh ya.

Well you have a date today gay boy

…

I need to leave

The fuck you do

Yeah. I fucking do.

I need to shower

And shave

And

I dont know

What do you do before a gay date

Prep?

For what?

Oh honey

---

Should this hurt?

8⁰

Don't tell me

Are u?

Yes.

Shut up.

…

Does it hurt

Like.

Kinda?

Lube. Oh my god. LUBE. Steve I swear to Dolly, if youre prepping your fucking asshole right now, IN THE FUCKING WORK BATHROOM

I

WILL

END

YOU

:*

Youre a whore. Oh my god.

STEVEN I CAN HEAR YOU.

STOP.

This is nice.

Why havent I done this before.

Where's the protest

Prostate

Rob?

Brain me. Educate me please.

…

Nvm

Oh fuck

Found it

Definitely found it

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME

like good for you babe. I love you and support you but OH MY GOD YOU WHORE GET YOUR FINGERS OUT OF YOUR ASS WERE AT WORK.

…

You really think Id do that

Obviously

Im fucking with you

Im just googling shit and well taking a shit.

Fuck you

Love you

---

*2 New messages.* um. So. Im Eddie. Your coworker. Robin? Gave me your number and said we're going out tonight???

---

Dingus have you answered your husband yet

FUCK. NO. WHAT DO I SAY.

well you could send him a picture of your ass

Or your tits

Or your weeeen

Or all of the above

Like a package deal

Hehe. Package.

Robin.

Ugh. Wut.

Be serious.

Fiiiiine. Introduce yourself. Tell him youre excited for tonight. Make a plan for your date. (Other than the reservation I booked you at Enzos) and then tell him you thi know hes pretty and you want to have his babys.

He is pretty.

And like. Id definitely let him try to get me pregnant

ANSWER HIM.

FINE.

---

___Future Husband___

um. Hi. First of all I'm so sorry for my friend. She likes to get her nose into my business. Second.

…

Ithinkyourereallyprettyandimexcitedfortonight.

At the risk of being too forward. I like literally saw you my first day at the shop and have wanted to talk to you since. Cuz. Yeah. Pretty doesnt even begin to explain what you are. Like. Bro. Have my babies.

FUCK

I CANT BELIEVE I SAID THAT

disregard the baby thing

I dont know about getting pregnant. But Im up for practice.

Like.

If you are???

8⁰

… like

Now?

My breaks in 20

Fuck

Really?

Meet me at the van across the street

:*

---

___Bird Brain___

STEVE

STEVEN

YOU WHORE

ARE YOU GETTING YOUR BACKDOOR RUG MUNCHED ???

OMG

YOU ARE

THE VAN ACROSS THE STREET IS SHAKING

AND ID BET YOUR LEFT NUT THAT YOURE IN IT

…

GET IT I GUESS BABE

DONT GET PREGNANT

OR DO

YOU DO YOU BOO

…

youre on your own for the rest of the day Birdie

And where the fuck do you think youre going

Eddies

…

Boo you whore

But like. Get it babe.

But I also hate you.

I dont want to work in this shithole alone

Steven

Answer me

Hi Robin

This is Eddie

On Steves phone

Steve's a little… preoccupied

OH MY GOD

WHAT HAVE I DONE

YOU TWO ARE GOING TO BE DISGUSTING

BUT BRO. ILL END YOU IF YOU BREAK HIS HEART

STRAIGHT UP DIG YOU A GRAVE IN THE DITCH AND BURN OFF YOUR FINGERPRINTS AND BREAK YOUR TEETH SO NO ONE CAN IDENTIFY YOUR BODY.

COLD CASE BRO

what would you do about my tattoos

Fuck you

Sorry. Positions taken.

Id burn your whole body. No skin = no tattoos

I like the way you think

But in all seriousness

Mmmm imma gonna marry this boy

Hopefully before the end of the week

Fuck yeah

I call best man

[jujutsukgojo]

The Baby Project Chapter 4

Izuku Midoriya x reader

Chapter One, chapter two, chapter three

Summary: The Sports Festival is here! Unfortunately, so is the principal. tw: angst, violence, fluff, neglect(?), stress, hate, anxiety(?)

 “Alright, alright, number six, seven, and-oh now this isn’t cute at all. Six, seven, eight, nine, ten? So lame.” The table laughs and urges you to. “It’s a good one!” 

“It’s stupid. Here.” You begin to lay out the dishes in front of them. The back of Noa’s head lays on your chest. You’re careful not to hurt him.

 “You’re doing great, love. It’s okay!” 

  You thank them and when you have successfully managed to lay them out without bothering the baby, they clap gently. “Thank you, thank you.” You wave the circular tray and head back to the counter. 

  “Honey love, I was thinking,” Ken appears through the window. The spatula that was in his hand is placed beside him. “How about you stay behind the counter? Let Yona take on the waiting.” 

  “Ken…” He puts the towel down that was on his broad shoulder. His messy black hair is put in a half bun today. He still needs a haircut though. 

“I’m serious. It’d be better to do that than jeopardize him and more importantly, yourself. You could get hurt.” You don’t see how, but the father in Ken apparently can.

  “My tips, Ken.” He sighs. “I’ll work on that, okay? Stay behind the counter. You look cute like that.”

“Pfft!” You laugh and unsurprisingly, so does Noa. He’s been doing that a lot lately. Ken smiles at you and Noa. “Yo, Yona! Switch with her!” Ken yells.

  “Boo!” 

“Shut up, Aoi!” Aoi Sato huffs at Ken and crosses his arms in protest. Yona comes close to the two of you. “Fine, fine, she can take it. Her and Noa’ll be good for business anyway. A pretty girl and a cute baby at the counter may draw people in.”

You snort and the bell above the door rings. “Welc-oh my God.” He comes in and stands there wide eyed. In his hand is an All Might wallet and his body has various mechanical devices. On both of his wrists, around his hips to look like a belt. His shoes are clunky and the red fabric peaks through in some spots. Other than that, it looks like a steel toed heavyweight shoe. 

 Your mouth drops and your heart stops.

Fucking Deku.

  And Noa, the little brat, giggles and reaches for him while saying his first word: papa.

-

The two of you sit down with Noa in a wooden highchair. The tension is palpable as the two of you stare at each other. Even though this doesn’t involve him, you feel guilty. Like you lied to him personally even though he doesn’t really know you. Yes, he has helped with Noa and has even gained claim to Noa’s milestone of his first word. However, you don’t know each other. 

  “You gonna snitch?” Your eyes focus on him. He shifts in his seat and tilts his head to get a good look at you. “This is against the rules. Can I know why you’re doing this?” 

  “I’m broke.” His green eyes soften. “I get that. I have a friend whose finances aren’t the best so I can understand to that degree.”

  Good.

“But this is against the rules. Do you think you’re going to get away with it?” you take a deep breath. “I will if you keep your mouth shut. This isn’t for fun. This is important to me.”

  “I’m just saying. Lying is wrong, it’s better in the long run to be honest. Maybe U.A. will understand. It’s better to let them know now than it is to let it spring up on them.”

“This is from the man who can do anything. Didn't you lie to literally everyone?” If he wants to go the holier-than-thou route, you can take it there by dragging him by his ear.

He sucks his teeth and looks down at the table. “I'm speaking from experience. Lying damages everything in the long run. That's why I’m encouraging honesty.”

There’s a sudden wash of guilt when you look at his eyes that quickly try to cover up what seems like hurt. However, your pride has always been an issue. 

“No.” You say quickly. He licks his lips and gives a cheerless smile. You don't like it. You are not liking how you're snapping at someone who has only been kind to you. “Well, I won't tell.”

Good.

He taps on the table. “Food any good here?” You shake your head no. “Awful, terrible.”

He looks at you warmly. “I'm sure I'll love it. Maybe we can finish that meal we never got to?”

Fucking Deku felt bad about it and came back to pay. The damn goodie goodie. Noa wipes the table. Izuku points to him. “Ah, no wonder where he got it from.” 

You scoff and try to fight the smile on your face as the two of you watch Noa. “Yeah, he helps me wait on tables and stuff.”

“Well, at least he’s not in the kitchen.” You suck in your lips. “Right, (Y/n)?”

Izuku leans in. “Right?”

“He’s fine!” You point to a distracted Noa. Izuku’s face is fit for a comic book. He grips the edge of the table. “Why would you do that?!”

You smack the table. “Stop screaming at me!” Noa starts to cry and calls for papa again. The two of you freeze. “Is that what he said? He said-”

“He said mama first!” Noa said dada when Izuku walked in, but Izuku must not have heard him. You have been working with this little punk all this time just for him to say papa? You’re shooting daggers at your robo-son. The audacity, the gall, the disrespect. Disgusting! 

Yona pokes her head out. “Lie. Yes, our favorite broccoli boy, you’re daddy.” 

Izuku stands and picks Noa up. “Yay, big boy! Say it again!” Noa gives him a kiss. Not a bite like he does you. He repeats his first word. Repulsive!

Izuku rubs his face against Noa’s. Yona, the new retirement home victim, records it then gets close to your face. “Aw, one day the baby boy will say mommy. He just happens to not like you.”

“I have an entire drawer filled with brochures. For you.” You have been collecting nursing home brochures to scare her with and even give them to her kids. 

“I am nowhere near retirement age!” Her wings slightly flutter then pin themselves on her back.

“Then why are you scared?” She goes to hit you with the towel.

“Girls, girls, now is not the time to do that. It’s time for a refill, seriously, get off your asses.” Yona shushes one of the customers, Aoi, who waves a cup around.

You go back to studying Izuku and Noa. Both look your way. Noa with a cheesy grin and Izuku with a curious look that settles into one of knowing. “You wouldn’t happen to be jealous, would you?”

“No.” 

  He does a sharp intake of air and slowly makes his way to you. “Ah, because he really does like me, no?” He slowly makes his way to you. “Noa, say, mama.” Noa doesn’t speak. 

“Nope, doesn’t bother me.”

You tap your foot, trying to ignore the inching Izuku who looks disgustingly mischievous. Noa rests on his hip naturally. Izuku leans down with a smirk. “Y’know, I could help you. I’ll teach you on how to speak in ‘Noa language .’” 

  Your bottom lip sticks out, your leg bouncing. “I speak Noa language just fine, thank you.”

“Say mama!” Noa shakes his head no. You smack the table again. “I don’t deserve this disrespect!” Izuku laughs and places his hand on the back of your neck gently and says, “It’ll happen eventually, my dearest. Or maybe he really doesn’t like you.”

What he called you goes over your head.

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

A week later, it’s time for the Sports Festival. It’s been so awkward and warm between you and Izuku since he found out. For some reason, there is a lightness to it all. It’s that dark cloud hanging over your head that won’t leave that’s making you fail to trust the situation. This cloud has formed over the course of your life. You can't just get rid of it because of one nice person.

 Anyway, you promised you’d be there cheering. You sit next to your friends on the stands. Everyone is up and bouncing despite the hard days of studying. Lately, tests and homework have been a challenge since Noa turned one. He’s been even more curious and adventurous. Whenever you try to calm him so you can work, he gets even louder and becomes disruptive. You don’t know how many times you’ve apologized.

Right now, you’re focused on the Sports Festival. It’s the first since Shigaraki. It is one of the things he didn’t ruin. It’s all going good, going smooth. Your mood is upbeat until you spot Kaibara with a smile. He waves at the spectators, spots you then looks away. 

Concerning Kaibara, you’ve given up on him. You were lenient to a fault because of him being your partner, but he has shown you that he doesn’t deserve anything. The only thing you include him in is the progress report. You can pat yourself on the back and say that you tried. That you were the one that didn’t fail, it was him.

Halfway into the Sports Festival, Noa squeals in excitement as Izuku is on the screen. He’s allowed to wear only parts of his suit for this. Was there concern about it? During Izuku’s first year, support items were allowed and his suit is a support item too. Then again, it gives him back the power of a god. People may view it as cheating. That alone is reasonable, but it is also a spit in the face for the students. It is as if the people are calling them weak. It has the same quirks he has in the first run, so what’s the difference? Perhaps it is fear more than anything.

Izuku hasn’t explained it but doesn’t he still have some of the quirk left? Maybe that’s a reason too. He has shown superior speed and strength than his peers who don’t have a quirk to aid them in those areas. Would it be fair if he had that and still used a suit? It goes above your head.

After every trial, Izuku finds you and Noa in the stands. He waves at you with a flush to his cheeks every time he does so. At first, your stupid brain made you think it’s because of you and not because of the physical exertion. Thankfully, common sense won out.

  He’s doing really well with the scraps of his suit. Carefully planning while he goes around or through his friends’ quirks. Izuku’s speed and strength is still incredible. Not as fast as Iida but definitely second place. 

 Overall, the hero course is truly something. These two classes alone show promise and there are so many schools that probably hold just as much talent. If another Tomura were to happen, the world will have a better time with it than the first go around.

Noa wiggles on your lap when Izuku stands in the arena. Noa leans forward and tries to reach Izuku. You notice that the green haired boy hasn’t looked up at the two of you this time. 

  “And back from the dead, Izuku Midoriya! Who will win? Who, who, wh-” Present Mic bounces in his seat. 

“Shut up.” Aizawa cuts him off and tells Snipe to start the match since Mic is getting on his nerves again. 

  The crowd cheers and shouts their names. The babies all have those clunky headphones on to cancel out the noise. Noa has decided that he hates his and keeps trying to take them off. And just when your eyes are off of him so you can stop Noa, Izuku wins this round. You look back up and see class B’s Kendo, flat on the ground. “Damn it.”

  Up next is Todoroki and Tetsutetsu. Naturally, you know who to cheer for. You stand up but Riko pulls you down quickly.

 “Let’s do it, Tetsu! You got this!” 

“You are so obvious, I swear.” Riko rolls her eyes then stands. With loud claps to go with it, she shouts, “Win, Tetsu!” 

“I’m obvious but you join in?” Noa frowns and points at her. “I know, Auntie Riko is a mess.”

She gestures to herself. “It’s better when I do it.” 

  It’s an interesting fight. Apparently, they went against each other in their first year. He had trained his body to withstand extreme temperatures and was able to deliver amazing blows. It ended in a draw but without Tetsu, class B would have lost. 

  “Whoop his ass, Tetsu!” You and another person shout. You look over and see a girl passionately screaming against Todoroki. In her hands is an infant with her features but familiar dual-colored eyes.

Tetsu punches Todoroki in the face, sending him back. Todoroki catches himself from falling over. “Deadbeat motherfucker!”

 Tetsutestu lands another punch. Todoroki shoots out his flames directly at the steel boy. Despite the terrible heat, Real Steel takes it all on.

"Endeavor lover!" Jule screams with his baby on his hip mimicking his hand waves. You’re jumping up and down, completely entertained by the fight. With every hit Tetsu gets in, the general studies shout, “Yes!”

Tetsu dodges one of Todoroki’s hits and lands a kick of his own. What was that Mirko said? Those with long range quirks are usually weak in combat? She definitely hit it on the head. Todoroki is great, but Tetsu is fierce. Each hit is clearly doing some damage. Every punch seems to knock the wind out of Todoroki. If this were anyone else, they'd be flat on their asses.

“You got this, Real Steel!” He’s relentless. Even though he’s stark red from the terrible heat, he doesn’t stop. You know nothing about the heroes' training or fighting, but it looks like his movements are getting more fluid, looser in a good way.  

In a strange turn of events, right after Todoroki shoots out a powerful blast, he freezes the stadium, barely missing the onlookers. It immediately stops the cheering for Tetsutestu. You scream as you fall back to your seat. The ice is dangerously close to the audience. Noa shivers and sniffles from the frost. Immediately, you rub him to get some heat. 

  “Um, Tetsutestu is out! Todoroki wins!”

“Boo!” 

-

 Next is, you can’t believe your eyes, Kaibara versus Yaoyorozu. Both stand proudly on the opposite sides. They are ignoring the crowd and focusing on the task.

“Y'all both suck ass!” 

“Boo!” 

  “Deadbeat motherfuckers!” Again, you don’t know who that came from. What you do know is that everyone in general studies are against those who have shown their true colors. 

  “It’s a death match! Yes!” You scream. Snipe shakes his head and points to you. The camera goes to you. You tense up at the camera and lower yourself. 

“Anyway, as you can see, these two are not popular. The majority of the heroes don’t have many fans Eraser…”

“Popularity isn’t necessary. Heroics should have nothing to do with a popularity contest.” Aizawa says sternly. You roll your eyes. With hollowing your hands, you shout, “Boo! You two in the booth suck!”

Riko touches your shoulder. “Sh, let the violence relax you.”

“Begin!” 

  You see Benio intently watching. He shields Kobeni from the fight. Right then, Kaibara runs to Yaoyorozu who immediately blocks his attack. It’s the same mistake she made in the first year. She got nervous during the one on one and got pushed out. Now, she seems to be doing the same thing. Clearly, she’s more of a support hero than a fighter.

  Kaibara drills right through her shield. Surprisingly, she had a gift for him in the shape of a gun with non lethal bullets. Your eyes are glued to the fight. There’s no way he’ll be able to dodge them, right? 

  Suddenly, as she fires them with excellent precision, he manages to drill his body to protect himself, spinning round and round until the bullets fly away. Whatever the hero course is teaching these students, it is absolutely working because both of them slide and run from the other, one trying to close the distance, the other tries to create it.

  Yaoyorozu comes through with a baton that sparks electricity. She charges at him and duels. With every drilling twirl of his, goes through her electric baton, only to be met with another. Finally, Kaibara stops holding back, apparently. 

  He’s a monster. She’s creating shields and tries to come up with weapons, but in terms of martial arts, he is a savage that Yaoyorozu can’t keep up with. It takes one hit to the face, and she’s thrown back and outside the lines.

 That…was exciting. She wasn’t scared or nervous like she was in her first year. Now, she faced her opponent head on. Yaoyorozu seems to need more training in fighting, though. Other than that, Benio's baby mama was amazing.

You peer at Benio who fights a smile then takes a deep breath. He kisses Kobeni’s head and leans back. Is he trying not to be happy?

  There are more fights that earn several boos. One had a purple haired boy, Shinsou, that was surprisingly really good. It was quick for him. He went against the antagonistic blond boy, Monoma, and won. You’d think that since Monoma knows about Shinsou's quirk, he'd shut up but no. It’s too much for him. You shake your head and watch as other matches go down. Finally, there is one that catches your attention by far.

“We have Izuku Midoriya, with only parts of his suit, and Sen Kaibara!”

  Noa calls out ‘papa’. Izuku looks up and sees Noa shaking his hand at him. “You can do it!” You shout. Kaibara turns around and sees the two of you. The camera zooms up on Izuku who is still excitedly waving, making Noa do the same. Lost in the moment of you cheering, you blow a kiss to him. It goes right over your head. Doing it came naturally.

You don’t look at Kaibara until you for sure feel his eyes on you. You make eye contact and instantly regret it. The more he stares, the more anxious you feel. His expression goes from indifference, annoyance, confusion, and finally to anger. All of these in the span of a few seconds. 

   You stop cheering and tense up. Noa continues to call Izuku papa, not realizing that the man in front of Izuku is his real father. He is totally unaffected by the look in Kaibara’s eyes. Kaibara moves his jaw and flares his nostrils. He turns around and faces Izuku who does not look happy. Izuku has totally changed his demeanor. You kiss Noa’s face and lower his standing form. 

  “Are you okay?” Riko asks. You turn to her. “Yeah, yeah, I’m just a little tired.”

What do you say to her? What was that anyway and why did you feel it? He wasn’t near you. “You sure?”

  You shake your head at Riko. “I must be feeling off.” It’s the truth. You weren't scared or anything, just unnerved. No way would you ever tell anyone this, though.

  Riko hums. Right as she does, Snipe yells, “Begin!”

In an instant, Izuku is on Kaibara without giving the latter a second to drill or block. Kaibara’s face is taking hit after hit. Next, Izuku lowers Kaibara so he can kick him in the chest. Kaibara takes this and flips Izuku over.

“Sweep the leg!” You yell. Following you, Izuku sweeps his leg to hit Kaibara’s knee, leaving a crunch noise behind. You cover Noa’s eyes so he doesn’t see that. Kaibara miraculously fights without thinking about it. How long has that taken him? How much training did he have to do in order to swirl his leg back to its original place with his quirk to keep it still?

  Kaibara isn’t done and Izuku’s just getting started. The fight is fast and messy, yet each hit is deliberate and trained. Both are bleeding, from Izuku’s nose to Kaibara’s mouth and cheek. He has a gash that Recovery Girl will need to handle. Kaibara is displaying master artistry in martial arts. Even without using his quirk, he’d be deadly to villains. 

  Izuku hasn’t used his suit once, though.

Finally, somehow, Izuku gives a powerful kick upward, sending his opponent up. With complete savagery, you see Izuku fling Kaibara around in the air to drop him. They both land with a shake of the ground. Kaibara barely manages to stand while Izuku does it perfectly with power. 

With mighty punches and kicks, Kaibara isn’t able to even defend. Izuku hasn’t even used his suit yet. Izuku right hooks Kaibara and is met with cheers with every swing. The crowd shouts his name and his alias, Deku. The energy from the fight is so intense, you can almost see it flow into the air for the audience to absorb it. 

“Get it, Deku!” Ema pumps her fist in the air.

“Deadbeat motherfucker!” 

You stand and shout, “Grab the bag, rob his wallet, hit the bank, and beat his ass! Yes!” 

  Riko pats your thigh. “Where did you get that?!”

Izuku grabs Kaibara’s hand. Kaibara uses his quirk in retaliation, making Izuku's skin raw by the rapid spinning. Yet, there’s a smile on Izuku's face. With one squeeze, Izuku completely crushes Kaibara's hand. Immediately, blood gushes out. You are on the edge of your seat when Izuku is flung back in a circle. Kaibara is something else. He hasn’t slowed down and manages to keep his weight off his broken knee.

  “He isn’t using it…” You whisper as the fight goes on. Izuku has a suit that could be used against Kaibara’s quirk. Looking at the fight and knowing what Izuku is used to doing, it’s like he’s playing with his food. 

“It’s a fist fight for him. The parts of the suit are still incredibly strong and fit to use against those with an offensive quirk,” Riko leans in, “This isn’t a competition for him. It’s an all out brawl.”

  Finally, Izuku moves his arms. Immediately, everyone recognizes Gear Shift. Kaibara, for the first time, takes a step back. That is all Izuku needs to land three hits. One punch to the nose, one to the gut, and a kick to send him back. The epic sounds are thunderous seconds after Kaibara is sent flying through the stadium’s wall. The impact affects the entire arena. The vibration is right under your feet and the blast of wind pushes you back into your seat. All of this happened and Kaibara didn't land near you.

 Your jaw drops. You’ve never seen Izuku in action. And this is what Shigaraki was dealing with? And Izuku only used the suit for one thing. He has a bruise on his jaw and his hand is bleeding. He’s lowered in a hunched position, ready to strike if Kaibara comes back. 

The arena is silent. 

Everyone knows that Izuku’s suit is fit for him only. What he has on are his usual arm compressions and shin guards. Each of these give him the ability to use some of his suit’s quirks. And yet, he didn’t need it. In fact, he could have done without the Gear Shift. Riko was right. This was a straight up brawl. If you aren’t mistaken, it looked personal.

  “The winner is Izuku Midoriya!”

He straightens up and looks at you, already knowing where you are. You smile warmly, standing again to cheer for the man who can do anything. Noa, of course, has to be the loudest and call for his papa. You stand back up and blow him a kiss. Izuku's eyes shine.

The Sports Festival is an intense event. People you didn’t expect to get far got the farthest, for instance, Jirou absolutely dominated her opponents until she came across Kaminari, whose electricity had knocked her down. At least she tore him up before she got out. Uraraka’s awakening helped tremendously. Honestly, she’s scary as hell. It was amazing to see her and Bakugou go against each other again. It was incredibly close. Bakugou had barely made it. Present Mic of course, the president of her fan club, wasn’t thrilled and made it known. He even wanted a rematch. 

  Then it came down to Todoroki, Bakugou, and Izuku. This is the fights that people have been waiting to see. Both Bakugou and Todoroki have shown how brutal they are compared to their first year. And no one thought that Izuku would be able to make it this far with or without his suit, yet here he is proving them wrong left and right. His technique, intelligence and natural physical prowess are immaculate. And with his suit, he still bears a striking resemblance to the boy with everything.

Unfortunately, Noa decided to be a boob and knock his headphones off right when Bakugou’s quirk exploded at Todoroki. The sound irritated him so badly, you had to leave and go into the hallway. In true Noa fashion, he stopped and fell asleep with his usual ding, then would wake up with a bird’s hum, then go right back down. Right when the Sports Festival was over. You had missed it.

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

You enter Recovery Girl’s office to find Izuku on the bed. He perks up when he sees you and Noa, who is no longer sleeping.

  “How’re you doing?”

“Pretty good! I thought I wasn't going to get far without the suit.” He smiles widely and sits up, still tucked under the covers. You wonder if he's actually okay. Izuku, for the short time you've known him, hides himself away.

You feel so guilty. “I wanted to see-”

“I understand. It’s probably better that way. Kacchan’s quirk is loud so I don’t know if Noa could handle that.”

  You sigh and sit on the foot of his bed. “He couldn’t. Right when Kacchan used his quirk, Noa freaked.”

“Kacchan?”  He raises his eyebrows in shock.

“That’s his name, right?” Noa rocks himself back and forth in excitement. “It’s my name for him-”

“Are you jealous?” You ask in the same tone he did back at the restaurant. He scoffs. “No. I’m worried for you, that’s all. He might get mad.”

  “I do as I please.” He chuckles and leans back. “He’s definitely going to be mad.”

You shrug. “Whatever,” You play with Noa’s face. “Did you win?”

After a moment, Izuku sucks on his teeth and looks at you through his lashes. “We can watch it together some time instead of me telling you. If you want too!”

“I guess? Yeah, keep the suspense up so I’ll be on my toes around you?”

“No!”

“I don’t know Izuku, you’re a brutal fighter.” You smirk and sit on the foot of the bed. “I didn’t think they’d let you use the suit to be honest.” You set Noa down who then crawls to his favorite. Hmph.

You scratch your cheek. Your eyes dart away from his, not really wanting to say what’s to come. It’s surely vain. Quietly, you ask, “Did you know you’d face him?”

“No.”

You haven't looked at him yet. “Um, thanks for punching him in the face then. I know it’s a competition so it can’t be ah, that-”

“For what?” He kisses Noa on the head. You take a deep breath. “I know it wasn’t for me. It’s just nice to see him get hit.”

  Izuku gives a closed mouth smile. Even without teeth it’s genuine. “It was both. Yeah, it’s a competition but he deserved it.” He sits up. “I saw how scared you got. (Y/n),” 

  You’re facing the window, only seeing him from the corner of your eye. “I won't let you be scared. I was happy to beat him for you.”

  You turn your face fully to him. “I wasn’t scared.”

“I know.” He says, after a few seconds of staring at you. Even though he agrees, you aren’t dumb enough to believe he meant it. You weren’t scared. Unnerved, yes. But not scared. Sen Kaibara won’t hurt you again. Not when his reputation is still slightly on the rocks. It was the hostility when he looked at you that was unnerving.

You mess with the soft, white cotton blanket. It is warm and comforting. Something to hold you down in this conversation with a boy who is making your heart flutter despite him being annoying. To change the topic, you decide to tease him. “Noa was mimicking you. I don’t know if I like that. You may not be a good influence, Deku.”

You barely know him, but he is someone you’ve come to start welcoming inside your built walls. Even though you hate heroes, this one may be the only one in your grace.

  “I think Noa likes me just fine. He’s turning out okay, too.” He shrugs. You squint your eyes and hum. “Mm, it’s me you have to worry about Deku.”

He’s a little flushed. “Well, I’ll just have to win you over, won’t I?”

   There’s no way that meant anything, so stop.

 You sigh and watch Noa stand up and mess with Izuku’s face. “Y’know, you could teach him some of your moves. For self defense and all.”

“Eh?! That’s too dangerous!” He holds Noa close to him. Izuku bounces the boy a little and asks, “You don’t want to do that, Noa.”

You lean in, ready to antagonize Izuku who is desperately telling Noa to never do it. “Yes you do, buddy! You want to be just like daddy, huh?” Noa squeals and says yes. Izuku gasps. “Where’s my phone? We gotta get this!”

 You take out yours and hit record. “Noa, say hi daddy!”

“Hi, daddy.” For the first time, he’s able to pronounce daddy, rather than papa. “Noa, say mama!”

Silence.

“Call me mommy!” He remains silent and just stares at the camera then to you. “Oh my God.”

Izuku bursts out laughing. Noa goes along with him, the little asshole. You sigh and are about to put the camera away until he looks directly at you and says, “Love ya.”

Your breath stops. These robots are said not to have souls and yet he said that with a brightness in his eyes. He said it smoothly like music. You hope Izuku doesn’t notice how you are frozen and warm. You pray that this feeling of fondness and care for Noa goes away. That somehow, you'll be sensible enough to not love him. You won't, no matter how much Noa says he loves you. And how much it sounds like he means it.

“Good job, Noa! Say it for me, please? Say I love you.” Izuku urges. Noa doesn’t do it. It’s your turn to laugh at Izuku’s expense. He tries and tries to get Noa to say it, to the point of tears.

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

You scratch your head at your notes. Recently, Snipe decided that his students weren’t able to do major tests like before. No one could get a hold of studying at the same time, even Ema. So, he decided to give more time to prepare and a study guide everyone went through in class.

  However, Noa, in all his wisdom, decided that having a fit that involved throwing himself around was necessary. Snipe was annoyed so rather than listen to him bitch and complain, you excused yourself to the bathroom to calm him. 

  When you went back, class was over. 

Your heart dropped. None of your friends had the energy or hands to do two papers. Snipe stopped you from leaving and gave you a set of them. They were all over the place and sloppy. They were the teacher’s notes. He didn’t say anything other than how cute Noa is in the videos. Without another word, you knew what that meant. So, you left the classroom and went about your day with a smile. Now, here you sit with Noa in front of you playing with Riko’s gifted toys and snacking on banana puffs. He feels the need to show you everything he has in his hand and if you don’t look, he growls. He’s cute but distracting. 

Suddenly, a familiar voice calls out, “(Y/n), Noa! I’m here!” Izuku jogs to you with a heavy looking backpack and another bag. At first glance you see more snacks and books. 

  “I thought he’d like these. It’s the same I grew up with.” He puts the cereal on the table. “I remember those. Not too many, Izuku. That’s a lot of sugar.”

  He nods. “Not all of these are for him.” He pops several in his mouth. After swallowing, he asks, “What’re you doing?”

“Remember that test? He gave us a study guide and I’m trying to look at.”

Izuku perks up. “I’ll help! Noa and I both. Ain’t that right bub? We’re gonna help mama?” Noa responds with the awful word, papa.

  “Um, can you watch Noa while I study instead? I won’t be long, I promise.”

“That’s a good idea. It’s been a long time since Noa and I bonded.” He ruffles Noa's hair. You blink once then twice. “You just saw him two hours ago.”

“Yeah, I saw him. We didn’t hang out, (Y/n)!” 

You rub your eyes. “Alright, then. I’ll be in my room. Call if you need me, okay?” He shoos you away and eats the cereal with Noa, who is equally obsessed with it.

-

You look around for your boy who was just playing with the colorful blocks that he's obsessed with. Worry starts to creep inside you. You left Izuku and Noa in front of the coffee table in the commons. Now an hour later, the boys are gone. The only thing there on the table is Noa's colorful plate of what looks like sweet potatoes and Izuku's cereal right next to it. 

“Have you seen Noa?” Jule shakes his head no.

“Have you seen Noa?” Sakura says no and adds like the little bitch she is, “Lost him already?”

On her hip is Mira, an exact replica of Kacchan but with her mother’s hair color. It isn't as spiked as his either. She is a cute little thing but is so bratty. Even now her arms are crossed and glaring. It is a little scary how much she acts like him for an eight-month-old.

  “Have Mira for the first time ever? Actually being useful? Big happenings for both of us.” Sakura gasps and in Mira fashion, the baby laughs at her mother.

  Have you seen Noa? Is repeatedly asked in your dorm and every time it is answered with the same word: no. It's practically an echo by now.

 “Noa! Noa?” You run through the halls. You call Izuku with no answer. Finally, you run across a large room which was decided by your class to be the movie room. You hear noises in it. Slowly opening it, you gently call out Noa’s name. A weight is lifted off of your chest when you see Izuku laying down on the orange sofa with Noa on his chest. A gory zombie movie plays on the screen which goes ignored with snores.

  You walk up to the boys and see that they’re totally fine. It seems that both of them played hard. You poke Izuku several times. He wakes up with a jump, nearly knocking off Noa. “Hey!” You quickly grab the baby before he falls.

“Oh no! No, no, no, is he okay?” You hold Noa protectively while Izuku jumps up and puts his hands out. “He’s fine.”

“I-I’m sorry. I have trouble waking up like that.” Ah, that’s right. The wars. You stop tensing up and slowly release. You totally forgot about them and the effects it might’ve had on him.

“Um, Izuku,” You pat Noa’s back. “I really appreciate you and all but, please don’t take off with him like that. It scared the hell out of me.”

He looks confused for a second then gasps. “Shit-excuse me-I’m sorry for that. I didn’t think about it.”

 You smile as the future hero looks panicky. The movie continues to play and gets progressively scarier. “I, ah, want to go outside. You coming with?” Izuku looks around then at the ground. “You sure?”

“Positive. Anything to get away from this movie.” He looks taken back then defends it. “It’s a classic!”

“It’s nasty!” You leave the room and head to yours to get Noa’s bag. Izuku follows you closely. “Zombie movies are imperative to cinema. They’re great monster movies.”

  You struggle to get your key from your pocket. As he defends the movie, he takes it from you and opens the door for you. “Whatever. It’s an excuse to watch gory porn.”

“What?!” You can’t help but laugh at his face. He’s growing increasingly offended. “I said what I said. How can anyone watch a movie where people are being eaten if someone isn’t into that kind of stuff?”

“Well, you like slasher films!” 

“Barely. Another thing, people are interesting. Why do they kill? Why is the dumb blonde in the woods? Why are they going up the stairs? Not dead humans who eat brains.” He takes Noa’s bag and when you leave your room, he locks it for you. “That is an old stereotype. Zombies eat people, not just brains. And slasher films are not psychological thrillers. They’re just as gory as zombie movies.”

“Agree to disagree. Even though I’m right.” He scoffs and opens the door to the dorms. The sun is bright, and the breeze is perfect. He lets you walk out first. “Whatever! It is not gory porn.”

“I knew you were freaky. What is that saying? Save a horse, ride a zombie.”

“What? Now who’s the freak-” His voice starts to raise to protect his nasty movies. You don't bother to hide your smile. “You watch bloody porn. I don't think you have the right to insult me.”

“I do not watch bloody porn!” A teacher stops and stares. The great hero Deku’s breathing stops. His eyes are blank and unfocused. You don't even try to hold in your laugh. With a proper voice, the hero in purple tights says, “Do what you want on your own time, Deku. But please don't say it out loud.”

The hero walks away. Izuku has yet to get life back in his eyes. Meanwhile, you have the ugliest laugh at his devastation.

-

The three of you sit on the grass. In Noa’s bag were some toys and his banana puffs. You laid everything out for him to get his hands on. He sits in front of you two and after he picks each of them up, he shows you what it is. Izuku acts incredibly interested. You lie on your back against Izuku’s jacket and rest in the sun. He insisted on you and Noa sitting on it.

  “Deku!” The loud and raspy voice annoys the hell out of you. The source stomps along the pavement, heading towards you and Noa, the unsuspecting victims of his voice. Izuku smiles widely and holds Noa up. “Kacchan, he said his first word!”

The spikey haired blonde holds his twin on his hip. Sakura must've tossed Mira to him again. Mira sports the same expression as her dad when she sees Noa, who is totally oblivious. 

“Mine’s already done that!” For some reason, perhaps out of sheer possession of evil, he makes this gremlin face. Mira smiles at her dad, clearly amused by it. 

“Noa said papa! Isn't he cute?”

“Ain't this drill boy’s kid? And that's his first word?” Kacchan stares down at you. His red eyes aren't judgmental, but genuinely curious. Mira’s identical red eyes however, are totally rude. 

“He calls me papa!” Izuku says proudly. Then, with the same smugness as before, he adds, “What was Mira’s first word?”

Kacchan glares at Izuku. Through his gritted teeth he says, “Bitch.”

At first you think he’s insulting Izuku until it sinks in. Mira’s first word is actually bitch. You cover your mouth in an attempt to stop the laughter. Finally, you fall back. “Oh my God!” 

Izuku, as you suspected, knew what her first word was. You were upset that Noa has yet to say mama, though after hearing this, you’re happy with what you got. Better that than being called a ‘bitch’.

“Fucking Deku!” 

Izuku sets Noa down. “I’ll be right back.”

Some of class A stand at the side next to the tall and healthy trees. A few of them have their dolls, including Kaminari and Todoroki. You rubbed your eyes when you saw them. Your hands turn to fists on the grass as you look at those two in particular. Apparently, Todoroki has been pathetic in this project. And it’s his fault!

Before you can get up to give him a piece of your mind, Noa stands up, gives you a sloppy kiss, and says, “papa.”

Noa, for the first time, starts to walk. “Izuku!” 

He turns around and quickly gets his camera. “That’s my boy! Look at him go-here record this!” He hands it to Todoroki and gets on the ground with his arms open. Noa makes a wobbly run for it. You cross your arms. You’re happy Noa’s doing this, but this is some bullshit. 

Ema comes up to you without Hana. She points her thumb behind her. “Uh, Nezu and co. want to see you.”

“Alright, after-”

“No, they mean now. Either I went to get you or a teacher.” You freeze then look at Izuku who doesn’t see this. Did he snitch on you? 

  You get up and call out, “I have to go somewhere.” You don’t look at him again when Ema walks with you to the principal’s office. Your heart is practically coming out of your chest. Wait, who’s to say it’s because of your secret? It could be one of your many outbursts that's finally gotten you in trouble! It could be something different. 

  Your heart starts to calm down. Thankfully, your knees stop shaking so much. This anxiety could be leading you to something completely false. Izuku knows and said he wouldn’t tell, Kaibara has known for a while and hasn’t said anything either and there were tons of times he could have. So, you’re in the clear. Snipe is probably just mad again. 

  You open the door and a teacher, what’s her face, thanks Ema and excuses her. All of the general studies teachers are here. Nezu sits at his desk. The movement at your side makes you look over and lo and behold, Kaibara.

 Nezu, in a lighthearted voice says, “We have been told that you are working, (L/n).” 

Son of a bitch. You stare at Nezu, not breathing. “Don’t deny it, we’ve seen proof. We just want to go over the rules with you.”

“What evide-”

The door opens and Izuku comes in. “Principal Nezu?” 

“We’ll keep this short with you Midoriya. Did you know that (L/n) is working at a restaurant?” Since when is he involved? And where's Noa?

  Izuku opens his mouth. “Before you lie, know that this is just confirmation that she was seen there.”

Izuku says nothing. His teacher sighs and Nezu excuses him. Izuku doesn’t leave and instead stands between you and Kaibara. “Midor-”

“With all due respect, but this requires more than the insight of the teachers and a bitter partner.”

  “Bitter?” Kaibara scoffs. “She stole-”

“It’s not stealing if you participated in the project.” Eraserhead flicks his eyes over to Kaibara. Dracula speaks, “Kaibara, there’s nothing wrong with her asking you to participate financially. What’s wrong is that you kept this from us.”

“How is it his business? Or any of yours?” Your heart rate is racing right now. At the beginning, you were afraid Kaibara would say something. After your talk in the yard, you don't remember if he mentioned it. Part of you, a naive and senseless part, thought he forgot, that maybe he let it slip from his mind.

Of course, he was just waiting to strike. Why? After all of these months he chooses now. Noa is a year old, talking and walking, and you’re doing all of the work! You haven’t asked him for a thing since then. The only request you have for him is to participate in the report and like Benio and Yaoyorzoru, he’s copying your homework. Plus, it’s only once a month!

  So, what happened? Why?

Izuku stays by your side even when he is repeatedly dismissed. “(L/n), this job you have, no matter how mundane, has to end.”

Your throat is tight. “This isn’t fair.”

“It doesn’t seem like it, but your scholarship requires your full attention, and your grades are already slippi-”

“Because of this stupid project! You heroes are the laziest sack of shits I’ve ever met.”

Snipe stands up and hisses out your name. “No, no! My stipend is less than others because I’m a scholarship kid. And he-” You point to Kaibara. “Hasn’t done anything! I have to force him to meet up once a month to do the progress report. That’s it! He hasn’t even held Noa!”

“That’s not tr-”

You cut Kaibara off. “Did you know Noa said his first word? He walks? That he likes banana puffs and mashed potatoes? How about rice and Izuku’s katsudon? How about the fact he thinks Izuku Midoriya is his daddy! Because you aren’t there!”

  Everyone remains silent. “Yes, I work. I have bills to pay and Noa to provide for. That stipend is just a few bucks that barely covers anything. And Kaibara literally gave me twenty dollars that one time. I paid for the rest and went without.”

“We know-” You interrupt Nezu. “You don’t know. Yes, I work. My job prevents me going from without and now that Noa is added on, I need it more than ever. The project is hurting us except for the future pros. Who not only get paid by you but also by people’s taxes. And I’m in trouble for what? Actually doing something? Managing a job, school, Noa, and that thing right there?” Kaibara scoffs when you point at him. “Where’s Tomura when you need him, oh my God.”

Izuku touches your arm. You move it away. “Nah, this is why the people don’t and never will, trust your asses. I trust Sir Dusty over you people any day of the week.”

Nezu stands on the table with his hands behind his back. Kaibara clears his throat. “With that being said and the slander against me and her clear support of the League, I think it should be noted that she hangs out with villains regularly.”

  You turn your head to him so fast. “Kenji Hara is a villain who was a known serial killer a few years back. I'm worried for Noa and even her safety. That’s why I brought this whole thing up.”

“Thank you for bringing it to our attention even though you should’ve said she was violating the rules of the scholarship sooner. If you truly were concerned for her safety, we should've been notified immediately.” Dracula gestures to you.

  Your eyes are bulging. He did not just bring Ken into this. “Lord forbid the man had a hobby!"

"Murder is not okay!"

"I never said it was. And he paid his debt!" Kaibara opens his stupid mouth. "He ripped people's bones-"

"He now gets them ethically."

Eraserhead inhales deeply. “Fraternizing with villains isn’t a proper thing to do, (L/n). Especially one of such violence.” 

“But killing them is? Need I remind you of the countless human beings you have killed?”

Izuku tenses next to you. Snipe rubs his face under his mask. You take the stage since no one says anything. “I said what I said. This whole thing isn’t fair and for you to judge me for rubbing elbows with someone who made his own choices in life is bullshit. How much sense does that make? He’s killed people and so have you! What’s the difference?”

Eraserhead sighs for the millionth time. He's wearing a facade of indifference, but you can tell you're chiseling it away. “There is a difference. Heroes don’t agree with-”

“Damn, at least Ken takes care of his kids. Can you say the same for yourselves? Not even just the kids. What about us?”

 Nezu answers you in his usual annoyingly chipper voice. “I know this is hard. The baby project has its reasons. Although you should be kicked out for violating the rules of your scholarship that was specifically clear and endangering yourself and others by associating with bad influences," You swear your heart stopped. "I won't punish you for it. You made your point, and we'll give you another chance. Don't slip up like this again. You're very bright, (L/n). It'd be a waste to lose you." Nezu always has such a jolly face.

You want to stab everyone’s eyes out. “Thank you for proving me and the League right. You and the fakes you teach have yet to beat the allegations.”

All of them flinch as your words begin to settle. Those words are held with such conviction and anger that could only be called righteous with the promise of wrath.

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

You walk out with your head held high. Izuku stayed behind for some reason and Kaibara has left to the other side of the hallway, not looking back at you. Your breathing is shallow, and your head is spinning. Even still, you march on. You have to find Noa and go to your room. You’ve had enough for today.

 Izuku comes up and touches your arm. “Where’s Noa?” 

“I’ll get him, I’ll be right back.” Once he leaves, you say to yourself, “I need to call Yona.” 

You go to the random chair in the hall. It sits next to the large window and gives a terrible view of the building. No one knows why the window is there or the chair. It’s usually used for when people need to tie their shoes or for phone calls.

  “Hey, Yona? Um, they found out.” She’s dead quiet. “What does that mean?”

“I quit, ma’am.” You’ve been around Yona and Ken since the wars. You were one of the ones that weren’t able to get into a shelter. Ken found you and Yona who stayed close to her restaurant. Heroes have done nothing but disappoint you time and time again.

  “This is a short notice, bug.” You want to be lighthearted and laugh; find joy in her teasing. “Ma’am, it’s been wonderful and an honor to work for you and Ken.” Your voice starts to shake, warning her that you’re about to cry. You hear her ladybug wings flap in the background. They do that when she's nervous.

Izuku comes up and squats to your level. “I have to go.”

“Not go. We’ll see each other soon, little bug.” Her wings are flapping more. You hang up and put your phone in your pocket. You blink a couple of times and look up into his green eyes. He's holding Noa. He stretches out his hand that you don’t take.

You get up and walk back into your room. “Thanks for helping me back there. It won’t happen again.” You take Noa from him and go to set him in his crib that he’s about to outgrow. You have to look into getting another one. Maybe just get a big kid's bed and hope for the best? Perhaps he can just sleep with you now. These are decisions for later.

  Izuku stops you from closing the door. “Wait-”

“I need to do anything that doesn’t involve what happened today, thanks.” He pushes it open anyway. “It’s not good to hold things like this in, (Y/n). Let me help.”

 “And I’m sure you’ve dealt with everything right?” In response, he wraps his arms around you. “I hate this, Izuku. Stop hugging me, I don’t need it.”

You understand he wants to comfort you. Why? What does he get out of it? It’s probably to play the hero. The hero that put you through that mess and he’s best friends with the hero that’s putting you through your current predicament. You can’t really blame him for something All Might brought or that Todoroki started. But God, you’re so mad.

 “Get away from me.” You push him away; his body is like a brick wall, and he doesn’t stumble. He doesn’t look hurt at all. Why is this? Why do you want him to feel pain? He corrected his mistake back then and took Tomura's fine ass out. Izuku’s quirkless now but God, isn’t this a martyr complex he has? Hero complex? Or just straight up annoying?

That's what this is, isn't it? He views you as a project and something to save. You hate them, all of them. “Leave me and Noa alone.” You finally yank him away. He stumbles to the doorway. It’s only right. The heroes have left you alone with this project. Your doll “son” is going to drive you mad. And you can’t afford to fail, or you’ll lose your scholarship and everything you have ever worked for. And for some reason, this all hurts your heart. Pushing him away hurts too, God, do you hate him. All of them. 

  You slam your dorm door in his face. You try to keep it quiet. You try to stiffen up your bottom lip and smile instead before you turn around to face Noa. It will be too familiar if you don’t. You’re trying, you’re trying! So, why are you failing? There must be something you’re doing wrong. Your hands are against the door and the tears fall. These damn tears are happening a lot lately and you hate it. You hate them as much as you do everyone else.

Stop it, stop it!

You’re just so angry, disappointed and disgusted. Sen, why? If this is about the stupid Sports Festival, you had nothing to do with it. Did you cheer him on? Hell no. But you were impressed despite everything. If Izuku’s fight triggered this then oh my God. You had nothing to do with that.

  Noa gurgles and you turn around with puffy eyes and a forced smile. You rub your face and smack your cheeks. “Hey, Noa.”

  He sits up in his crib. His eyes that look full of life and wonder peer up at you, studying. Noa stands up and reaches for you. “Nah, I don’t think that’s a good idea. You’re getting too used to being held.”

  For literally one second he accepts this then takes it all back with a scream. Despite the noise, you’re firm. “You need to learn to be by yourself, y’know.”

  His round eyes look up at you. You wonder what he’d say other than papa. Then again, when they start to talk, they become even more annoying. You just stand in front of him, watching his reaction. He’s technically fine and definitely not real.

 There is a knock on the door again that goes unanswered. Then again and again. Someone’s probably complaining about the noise again or how Noa’s started a chain reaction and now they’re pissed. It’s always the same, it’s always angry here. And you are fully aware you’re the main contributor.

Another knock and another. Noa cries for papa even though Kaibara got off the hook again. You lost, again. War of words has always been considered your forte, so suffering a loss for the nth time because of heroes breaks your heart. You can’t win here.

 Noa is still crying for some reason. How can you comfort him before comforting yourself? 

“(Y/n)!” Izuku’s arms sweep Noa up. The doll rubs his face along his shoulder. “I���m here, I’m here.”

How many times have heroes said that and lied? Every time. They’ve never shown a lick of care. Here one is pretending to care about anyone but himself. A boy with everything at his fingertips and has used it to make you miserable. Him and that peppermint thing in his class. If you were to ever see that asshole, you’re punching him in the face. 

“Are you ok-” Izuku sees you side eye Noa with a blank expression. Izuku places Noa back in his crib. Your eyes go to Izuku. “Get out.”

  “I know you’re upset; I am on your side. Please, don’t take it out on Noa.”

“He’s not real, Midoriya,” With a smirk on your face and malicious intent, you face him. “So don’t worry your green boy scout head. You can’t disappoint him. Unfortunately, you also can’t gain praise. He's just another thing you heroes use to punish us with.”

  Izuku glares and walks towards you. “Because of your kind…” You take a deep breath. “I’m stuck here, and I have to deal with this shit. No job, a child, and a venomous boy who bit me for no reason.”

  You poke his chest. “What are the worst parts? I get pitied by the boy that did all of this and the thing he’s friends with is still here, sleeping happily. Living and relaxing while the rest of us go through the wringer.” Izuku grabs your offending hand that repeatedly pushes on him. “And that thing in the crib isn’t even real, yet I suffer for it. You heroes should’ve crumbled years ago.” You hear Noa sniffle.

Rather than fight back like you craved for, as you expected, he pulls you in and wraps his arms around you. “You think you don’t want it, that you don’t want my help. But dearest, take it anyway. You will take it."

  Why does he keep hugging you? Everything is happening at once. There’s no way you can support Noa with what you get. The only thing left is to give him to Kaibara since he can support him. That means you will be basing your grade, your scholarship, into the hands of someone who hates you. Someone who is spiteful. And the one who is holding you is someone who doesn’t even know you, who pities you, the scholarship kid.

“Let me go.” You growl. He shakes his head no. You growl, struggling to get out of his hold. “I don’t need your pity.”

“I’m not giving it. That’s for people who could have done better and chose not to. You don’t deserve it.” His voice is low in your ear. It feels like vibrations. “You’re too young to be a mother, this is just an assignment, and yet you have a mother’s tears, and I hate it. So, I’ve decided not to pity you. I will help you because I care and understand. I know someone who had the same tears, and I hated it then, too. Do you understand? I will help you whether you like it or not because I care.”

  Your breath is shaky. He cradles your body with one arm and his other hand goes to your head, bringing it to him and placing a kiss on it that neither of you will talk about. You pause, no longer crying.

“You want to help, Deku?” 

He tenses for a second. “Yes?” He separates himself from you to look at your small smile. “Can you watch Noa for a second? I just need some air. I’ll be back soon, promise.”

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

You charge through the library on a mission. For years, the people have had to play by the heroes' rules and millions of people get left behind. Look at League, who just needed help and when they opened their mouth, it was smacked. Then heroes stomped on them to their death.

  You put several old and weathered books in Noa’s stroller that you’re using as a cart. “Bad influence? Ken’s a bad influence? What the hell are you a saint?”

Books fall into the stroller. The librarian comes around and tells you to calm down. You cry out, “You are the bad influence! How many people have to suffer for you to realize that!”

  You come across a tall shelf and raise your hand to the person on the ladder. “That one! All of them! Give me the U.A. rule books!” U.A prides itself on innovation and progression. The technology used is state of the art and fits any and all heroes and support. However, they are still traditional and play by the old rules as much as society does.

“To protect a sexual deviant and another who puts his hands on his partner, hell no. A villain is a villain, right? What the fuck does that make you!” 

You continue gathering as many books as you can. You struggle to push the stroller to an empty table. “Why’d you call us?” Benio comes in with Kobeni, of course. Because no way is Yaoyorozu helping him. 

As you slam books on the table, you ask, “Do you trust me?” 

“What?” The rest of your class come in. All of them in various conditions. All of Jule’s eyes have bags under them and Sakura’s usually perfect hair is mussed. 

“I’m not going down like this. I lost to these assholes twice, maybe even more, because I wasn’t prepared. This is their turf. You can’t go to someone’s home field without being prepared.” You set books down on the table. “So, do you trust me?”

 Benio is the first to realize what you're doing, what you're going to do. “I trust you.”

“I’m not a fucking punk. And none of you are either. I need you to trust me and the move I’ll make for us. I just need your help.”

  “With what?” Ema comes forward without Hana. 

“I am going to go head to head with them and show them that they are wrong for this. The project, their expectations, the inequality, all of it. But I need proof to do it because our conditions aren’t enough.”

  “What do you need?” Benio lifts one brow. “I need eyes, I need study partners who will read with me, I need support. Jule,” You point to the four eyed boy. “I need your camera to document this and the confrontation. The people are going to see every bit of this.”

  “Won’t we get in trouble?” 

“For what? Posting on social media? As long as you don’t tag the school, we’ll be fine. It’ll spread on its own. Jule, I need you to be in charge of recording and Sakura,” She looks at you with a hint of sadness in her eyes.

“Bakugou does everything with Mira. But this has to be getting in your way and bothering you. You gave up arguing because you knew we couldn’t oppose it at the time. Sakura, you have to be angry too, right?” She nods. “Then I need you to help Jule with posting it. You and Jule will handle the media. Hansuke, when it’s time, you’ll invite the school to the assembly so everyone can see it.”

  Hansuke, normally a social butterfly, is naturally charismatic. It’s so crazy that he could charm anyone. He’s the perfect guy to convince people. Without another second of delay, Hansuke smiles and nods. He waves his manicured hand. “Anything for you, pretty.”

 “What about me?” Riko’s voice is quiet. She rubs her arm and stares down at her feet. “Do you trust me too, Riko?”

As far as you know, she is going to counseling with the dog hero and has made some progress. However, there are times when she retreats. Now looks like one of those moments. Sometime later you need to see if she’s doing okay. You want to give her space but not so much she gets lost. You don’t know what he did to her, all you can see are the results of it. 

She bites her lip. “I have nothing to do with this project.” 

“No, but because of this and their negligence, Mineta harassed you. They only got rid of him when it came to your expense. There has to be rules against what they did and if there isn’t, let the people decide.”

  Her eyes peer up at you. They’re glossy and scared. “I trust you.”

“Understand, this will take months for justice. We’re taking this to the top, not the principal, not the teachers. No, we’re taking it up with their boss.”

  Jule asks, “Hawks? The commissioner, Hawks?”

“Yep. Going to Nezu does fucking nothing. But Hawks? We need ammo, we need all types of shit. Most of all, I need you to trust me to go in front of this man, the most powerful man in this country with everything I got. It will take months. This isn’t something to just throw at the big guy. No,”

You lean in with the most serious expression. “Even if the project ends before I can begin, I am going to burn this school to the ground.”

“Let’s do this.” Benio smiles and sets Kobeni down on the chair and picks up one of the hero law books.

a/n: the library scene is like Bernadine's from Waiting to Exhale. It fit the moment.

tags:

@js-favnanadoongi , @imas1mpp, @bigchungusdrinksspritecranberry, @luvrluvrr

@moodyhuesworld

[dakotalun]

You Belong With Me | Eddie Munson

pairing: Modern!Eddie Munson X Fem Reader

summary: Part 2--Eddie gets a special visit...but it hurts more than it helps.

warnings: drug use, language, mentions of cheating, sad Eddie

word count: 4.2k

a/n: I've estimated about 7 or so parts to this series and I will be working on them for the next couple of weeks.

*******NOT MY GIF, CREDIT TO OWNERS*******

“Yeah I’m coming!” Eddie says from his room, getting up from his bed and pressing the butt of his blunt into the ashtray on the nightstand. He had been laying in bed, listening to Ozzy, smoking and drinking a beer after he got back from the basketball game a little while ago.

He was pissed at you for yelling at him earlier and bailing on him when it was so out of character for you to do so. But it was nice just sitting under the bleachers alone, oogling the love of his life. Another knock comes as he exits his room, “I said I’m coming-” He swings the front door open and it reveals a sad and red eyed Chrissy.

“Shit Chrissy, are- are you okay?” Eddie steps aside and allows her to enter the trailer.

“Hey Eddie. Sorry to just come over unannounced and all,” Her voice is strained but steady, as if she’s used to speaking after crying.

“No no it’s fine. What’s going on?” He walks over to the couch and sits down, Chrissy following after.

“Jason and I got into a big fight after the game tonight,” Eddie’s ears burn at the thought of Jason being a dick to such a sweet girl then return to normal after thinking about the fight he just had with you, “And I couldn’t be around him anymore so I went for a walk. I thought about things on the way then noticed that I was almost to here and decided to stop by.”

Eddie’s surprised at the words coming from her. She thought of him and decided to stop by, could this be his lucky day?

“Aw I’m sorry that sucks. What can I do to help? Do you need me to go beat him up? Cause I will, I’ll do it right now.” His tone is upbeat and happy but he means every word.

A smile creeps onto Chrissy’s face showing her perfect teeth, “No, no. Nothing like that. I was just wondering if you could, um,” She hesitates, nervous to ask the question.

Eddie puts a reassuring hand on her knee, this being the second time in 2 weeks that they’ve touched. “I’ll do anything, just say the word.” His doe eyes wide and full of truth.

“Can I get some weed or pills or something? I’ve not been in the best headspace lately and I just need something to take the edge off.”

Those were not the words he thought she would say, not in a million years. His face grows warm, nervous about selling to Hawkin’s most famous IT girl. He needs the money but he feels bad for taking it from her, she doesn’t look like she’s taken anything stronger than a baby aspirin in her life, and now she wants weed or pills.

“Are- are you sure? Have you ever smoked before?” She shakes her head, “I know I said anything but I don’t know if I can,”

“Oh,” Her head falls down, clearly disappointed at his words, “That’s okay. It was stupid for me to come here anyway. I’ll get out of your hair, let you get back to whatever you were doing.” She stands up, hands running over her short skirt, both out of nervousness and to cover her ass.

Eddie shoots up quickly not wanting her to leave, “Wait! I mean if you really want some weed then I’ll give you some but on one condition.”

Her baby blue irises meeting his dark brown ones, liek two oceans colliding, “What condition?”

“You gotta smoke it with me. Can’t have you choking to death after taking one puff incorrectly, so? We gotta deal?” He holds his hand out for her to shake, needing another form of touch with her.

“Deal.” Her tiny hand is engulfed in his, the warmth of her skin seeping into his palm.

Eddie tells Chrissy to stay in the living room while he goes and gets a joint and lighter from his room. Returning only a few seconds later he plops down on the couch, exhaling a loud sigh.

“So I’ll start it off for you then I’ll show you how to take a hit correctly,” Chrissy nods at his words.

Eddie puts the blunt into his mouth, cupping his free hand around it to shield the imaginary wind as he lights it, taking a few short puffs just to get it started for her. Once he’s satisfied with his work he pulls it from his lips and hands it to her.

Chrissy looks at it weirdly, not even knowing how to hold it. Eddie notices this and opts to just guide the butt just past her lips, her strawberry lipgloss covering the paper. She looks at him every step of the way, not wanting to do it wrong.

“Alright now all you’re gonna do is breathe in slowly,” She follows his words, taking a slow, deep breathe in, “Good. Good, now,” He pulls his fingers and the blunt away from her lips, “Hold it in for a second until you start to feel that burn in your chest, then exhale.”

She holds for a short second before falling into a coughing fit. Eddie goes to rub her back, soothing the burn he knows all too well from his past. She takes a little to regain her barings again before sitting back up and leaning into the worn out couch.

“Okay that is not as easy as you make it look,” Her voice is hoarse, which Eddie only finds attractive.

“Don’t worry sweetheart, the more you do it the less it hurts,” He takes a long hit, letting the smoke fill his lungs for far too long.

“Okay then, guess I’ll have to try again then,” Eddie just nods and takes another hit before handing it back to her. She follows his steps the same way, only this time she isn’t coughing up a lung.

“Nice job. You’re a natural.” Eddie smiles and the two of them sit there just enjoying the peace and sharing a smoke.

Once it’s down to its last little bit, Eddie puts it out and leans deep into the couch, spreading his legs wide in the process. He lays his arms over the back and looks up at the ceiling. He’s always loved doing this after a good smoke, just sitting there, staring at the ceiling and allowing his mind to wander and eventually go blank.

Chrissy is sitting beside him still, more relaxed than before which brings a smile to Eddie’s lips. The room has been quiet for a while and Chrissy has a question that she’s been meaning to ask.

“So, why do you do it?” SHe says after clearing her throat a little.

“Do what?” He doesn’t look at her, still focused on the ceiling above.

“Why do you act the way you do? Why play that game and listen to that music? You do realize it’s not normal right?” This catches his attention, he brings his head up to look at her, her eyes drifting from his face to her lap where she fiddles with her hands.

“Why are you with Jason when you know he’s sleeping with half the girls at the school?” Eddie’s feeling feisty now, not pleased with the sudden line of questioning.

“I asked you first.” Chrissy retorts back.

“I don’t know what you mean. I act the way I do because that’s who I am, and I play D&D because I find it fun and thrilling. Being normal ’s just not for me, trust me on this one sweetheart.”

“But it could be. If you tried, then you wouldn’t have everyone staring at you and calling you a freak.”

“Yeah but you forget one thing,” Eddie’s sitting up right now, hands on his knees as he gets closer to her. Her eyes are looking at him again, scanning his face quickly, almost worry in her eyes.

“What’s that?” Chrissy’s voice is small and weak, Eddie’s presence now intimidating as he gets right up in her face, a mere inch apart.

“I don’t give a damn what people think.” Chrissy is staring into his eyes now, completely locked in and focused. 

“Your turn, why Jason?” Eddie really is curious as to why she’s with him, and he know’s it can’t only be for the social status, “And don’t say because he’s captain of the laundry basket game.”

“It’s called basketball and I wasn’t going to say that. I like him because he’s sweet and kind and always does the best for others.”

Eddie can’t believe the words she just used to describe him, “Jason? Like Jason Carver, the one who bullies me relentlessly and judges people if they breathe the wrong way? That Jason?”

“Yes Eddie, that Jason.” 

“But how?”

“I know he’s not the best to be around during school but that’s just because his dad is a jackass who won’t get off his back about basketball and his grades. He’s stressed all the time and just needs a break. And when he’s with me he’s thi sweet guy who doesn’t care what others think, just wanting to be the best he possibly can be.”

Eddie looks at her, mouth wide like a fish that’s trying to get air after being pulled from the water. Never in his 20 years of life did he think that he would hear someone say those things about Jason, especially in his trailer! It felt like an out of body experience.

“Can I ask you another question?” Chrissy is looking at him, ignoring the stunned expression.

“Uh sure. But this is the last one.”

“What’s up with you and y/n?” “Nothing, why?” The hair on the back of Eddie’s neck stand up at the mention of you.

“I didn’t se her with you today at the game and I was just curious. I mean you two are always together, even Jason and I don’t spend that much time together. Guess you guys just have a good relationship.”

“Woah woah woah. Y/n and I aren’t in a relationship. She’s just a friend.”

Chrissy gives him a quizzical look, not fully believing him, “Uh huh, so you guys just carpool together and walk to classes together and eat lunch together because you’re friends?”

“Yes. We do,” Eddie sits up straighter now, feeling like he has to assert dominance in this situation.

“Okay then. I was just wondering,” Chrissy is looking directly in his eyes now, analyzing the vast space of his irises.

His eyes are cool and calm, whilst hers are wide and a little curious. Eddie’s gaze dips from hers to her lips then back up again. Her lipgloss is pretty much gone, most of it on the end of the discarded blunt. They are soft and pink, not at all chapped and worn like his.

Eddie’s feeling bold and a little angry right now. Bold from the weed and angry at you for not believing that he could have Chrissy if he wanted to, so his next moves weren’t quite thought out. So before either of them knows it his lips are on hers. Chrissy gasps into the kiss, it quickly being muffled by his mouth. She knows she should pull away, she knows she shouldn’t be kissing anyone other than Jason, especially Eddie “The Freak” Munson, but his lips taste different and the way he holds himself is in high contrast from Jason.

So she leans in a little, giving back to what Eddie is giving her. They kiss for what feels like forever to Eddie but in actuality it was only a few seconds before she pulls away.

“I-” Chrissy tries to speak but the words fall silent on her tongue before she can even get them out.

“Shit, I’ve been wanting to do that for so fucking long. It’s even better than I imagined,” Eddie has his world famous grin on, happy to have finally made a move on his dream girl. He starts to lean back in for another kiss when one of Chrissy’s small hands touch his chest, pushing him back.

“What? What’s wrong?” Eddie’s concerned now.

“It’s, um, it’s Jason. I can’t do this to him.”

“But the guy is a jerk, you can do better than him,” Eddie puts his hand over the one onhis chest, “I can treat you better than he can.”

Her eyes are still downcast, not even daring a quick glace up to his. She slips her hand out from under his, letting it fall into her lap again. “Eddie I’m sorry. Really I am, but I can’t. I love him, and he loves me.”

The words are like acid to Eddie’s ears, his face burning at the sound. His body goes numb as he falls back into the couch. Chrissy is talking but he can’t understand her, being rejected is already too much to bear.

“You should go.” His voice is cold, harsh; he barely recognizes it himself.

“Yeah, um okay.” She gets up, gethers her things then rushes out the door. The sound loudly reverberating off the walls of the tin can Eddie calls a home.

He sits there. For a good 10 minutes he just sits there, thinking. Thinking about how he just kissed his dream girl, about how her lips felt on his, how good her lipgloss tasted on his tongue, how much he wishes it could’ve lasted longer, how he hates himself to doing it in the first place.

Eddie’s been dreaming of that moment since he was in 7th grade. He hoped she would be his first, in everything; first girlfriend, first kiss, first to have sex with him-he hoped for it all. Now he’s left sitting here, rejected and cold and alone.

What makes him feel worse is that he can’t even go talk to the one person he knows would make him feel better because she’s mad at him for something she was ultimately right about. He just wishes he could take this entire day back and start over.

---

All night you had been laying in bed and wracking your brain for all the possible ways to make it up to Eddie. Going through all these years of friendship the two of you share, thinking of all the things Eddie loves; weed, horror movies, milkshakes from Jay’s Diner, and the cookies you make.

You get up from your bed, the bright light of the rising sun peaking through your curtains. You could only sleep for a few hours that night, too afraid that you had ruined your best friendship. Throwing the blankets off yourself you get ready for the day, choosing comfort more than style.

An hour later you are standing in front of Eddie’s trailer, cookies and milkshakes in hand as you carry a bag of all his favorite horror movies you had just gotten from Family Video. You clock that Wayne’s truck is still outside even though he is normally on his way to work by now, but you don’t pay much attention to it as you knock on the door.

You wait for a few seconds and then are faced with the older man with salt and pepper hair.

“Hi Wayne.” You greet with a smile on your face.

“Hey honey, you here for Ed?” He moves aside to let you in.

“Yeah we uh got into a little fight last night and I wanted to check in on him. Brought milkshakes and cookies.” You hold up the items in your hand. Wayne smiles at your gesture, one Eddie would be sure to love as well.

“He’s been real upset today. Hasn’t said a word to me since I got back from work this morning, rarely comin’ outta that room a his.”

You’re confused for a minute at his words. Eddie seemed mad at you sure but to go as far as to lock himself in his room all day, that was dramatic, even gor him. The look on your face must’ve clued Wayne in on the fact that you had no clue what he was talking about.

“If ya don’t mind, may I ask what you fought about?” HE rubs the back of his neck, a thing Eddie does when he too is nervous, “Possibly get an idea as to why he’s like this.”

“Well he wanted to go to the basketball game last night but I wasn’t feeling up for it. I had tried a few times to tell him I didn’t wanna go but he’s a stubborn one,” Wayne nods his head and smiles a little, “I let my anger get to me and accidentally yelled at him, saying things I did and didn’t mean. But I didn’t think he would be that mad about it, not enough to lock himself inside for hours.”

The two of you standing there in silence, contem,plating all the other reasons for Eddie’s behavior today. The older man looks at his watch then sighs, knwoing it’s time to go to work but not wanting to leave his nephew.

“Go ahead. I’ll see if I can get to him, I’ll call you about what happened later.” Wayne gives you a reassuring smile and a squeeze on the arm before heading out the door and to his late night job.

You take a deep breath in and out, calming your nerves. You set the milkshakes into the freezer, not wanting them to melt as the two of you talked before heading down the short hallway to the metalhead’s room.

It’s rare to see Eddie’s door closed, always an open book in his own house. You knock on his door 3 times, a special order to them, signaling that it was you who was outside of it. Eddie was the one who suggested the two of you got a secret knock, being that both of your parental figures tended to just walk in unannounced and without warning.

The knock was short and sweet, something easy to remember. Eddie was the one who used it most, knocking on your window late at night to steal you away for a night drive or a smoke sesh. 

There is no response from Eddie, so you try the knock again, hoping he just didn’t hear you the thifrst time. Nothing, no response.

“Ed? You okay in there? Wayne said you haven’t left there all day.” You try and keep your voice neutral, not showing the hurt from deep inside that this might be your fault, “Look if this is about out fight last night I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I wasn’t in the right head space and I really shouldn’t’ve talked to you that way.” Still nothing, not even the shifting of sheets could be heard.

“I brought some movies and cookies. Oh and that milkshake you love so much from Jay’s.” You start to get worried now, Eddie has never been this quiet in his life, “Eddie please talk to me. I really didn’t mean to say those things about you and I take back every word. If you really, truly love Chrissy then I will support you. I just don’t want you to get hurt is all, I love you and hate seeing you like this.”

At the mention of Chrissy, Eddie’s heart constricted thinking about what happened last night. And for the first time all day, he speaks.

“It’s not your fault,” The words are soft, the sound in his voice coming out strained.

“Are you sure? I know I was harsh and I take full responsibility for your emotions and my actions. Can I come in? I kinda feel like I need to say this to your face.” You pause a moment, waiting for something, anything. Then you hear the small *click* of his door being unlocked. You open it and gasp at the sight in front of you.

Eddie is laying on his bed, blankets wrapped tightly around him as tissues surround and litter the the places around him. He was crying.

“Shit.” You say under your breath. There is soft music playing in the back ground, you recognize the song to be K. by Cigarettes After Sex. You know the song is on his sad playlist, one he rarely listened to that you knew of. So for him to be listening to it right now is startling.

“Eds?” You walk into the rom fully now, setting the cookies and movies down on the floor by the door. You take a few steps towards his bed, his back is turned to you.

“Eddie, what’s wrong?” You’re now at the edge of his bed, wanting more than anything for him to turn around and look at you. He just lays there, his breathing moving his chest up and down slowly.

“I fucked up.”

“Huh?” You weren’t even sure he said anything that’s how quietly he said it.

“I fucked up, badly.” He turns around now, showing you the aftermath of his endless crying all night. His eyes are puffy and red, tear lines stain his face as a little bit of snot if still lingering on his nose.

You’ve never, ever seen Eddie cry out of sadness before, happiness, excitement, pleasure, sure but not sadness and it worried you to your core to know who or what did this to him. You take a seat on his bed, placing a hand on his thigh, the layers of blankets stopping any sort of heat of his to tough yours.

“What happened? Why do you think you fucked up?”

“Chrissy came by last night…” That’s when your ears perked up, so this was her fault huh? “She wanted drugs but I wasn’t sure she should do them alone since I figured she’s never done them before. Being miss popular “good girl” and all.”

Eddie sits up now, clearing his throat as you just sit there, leting him talk. “I offered to sit with her and teacher her how to smoke properly as to not hurt herself, you know?” You only nod, “Well we were sitting there a few minutes just passing it back and forth, talking occasionally until she asked me a question.”

“Which was?”

“Why do you act the way you do? It seemed harmless at the time, just something that one would ask the town freak,” Your heart pangs at the name he calls himself, “I retorted with a question of my own, following in her line of questioning. Everything was good, then she looked at me. Like really looked at me and I couldn’t hold back anymore, after what you said and the way she just seemed so damn pretty even after coming here with tears staining her face. I kissed her.”

Your eyes went wide. He kissed her. Eddie kissed Chrissy. Eddie Munson and Chrissy Cunningham kissed. The “town freak” and the “cheery good girl” of Hawkins kissed. No matter what way you put it nothing changed. The boy you love, are in love with kissed someone else, someone who had a boyfriend who despised Eddie.

You’re silent, not even breathing as Eddie stares at you, “We only kissed for a few seconds but it was great, her lips were soft and sweet. I wanted to stay like that forever, I could’ve if she didn’t pull away. She told me it was wrong and she couldn’t do it, Jason being the one she loved, even though I know for a fact that he’s fucking other girls around the school.”

The words and thoughts of Eddie kissing Chrissy still heaven’t left your brain, you needed to get them out. “So that’s why you’ve been in here all day. Cause Chrissy rejected you? Not our fight?” You needed a clear answer.

“Yeah. I mean part of it was because we fought, but only a small part, most being because of the kiss.” His eyes are on his lap, where he messes with the chunky rings adorning them. You place your hand over his, stopping th nervous tick.

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay. You’ll find someone else who doesn’t have a dickwad for a boyfriend and who loves you just as much as you do them and you’ll be happy. I promise,” Clearly you were talking about yourself but he didn’t need to know that. He gives you a smile and pulls you in for a hug, squeezing tightly.

“Thanks sweetheart. You always know what to say to cheer me up.”

“I’ll always be there for you Ed, you know that.” The two of you break apart, you missing the warmth of his body against yours all too much.

“Did I hear something about horror movies and milkshakes?” You laugh at his change in conversation.

“Yes you did. I went to Jay’s earlier to get your favorite, which I still don’t get ow you can drink a birthday cake milkshake but I still bought it.” You stand from his bed, extending your hand out to im, “Let’s get you out of here, watch some movies and eat a shit ton of unhealthy foods.”

Eddie takes your hand without even taking a second thought, letting you lull him to his couch in the other room. The two of you sit there for the rest of the night, watching movies, eating cookies and drinking milkshakes. Everything was back to normal, almost.

Your heart still beat for Eddie but you knew now that you couldn’t do anything to pursue it, knowing it would only confuse and hurt him more. So for now you would stay an arm's length away, letting him pull you in whatever direction he wanted, a smile plastered to your face the entire way.

Eddie Taglist: @ali-r3n @dixontardis @witchwolflea @micheledawn1975 @daydreaming-mood @idfwfeelings @adaydreamaway08 @preciousbumplingbee @rustboxstarr @plk-18 @teary-eyed-egg @needylilgal022 @exploding-bonbon @gagasbee @eddiemunsonsguitarpicc @aol19 @thatwitchyoucouldntburn-blog

You Belong With Me Taglist: @emma77645 @ch4rlie-blogs @lucyteennope @sidthedollface2 @f-me-reid @elvendria @amira0303 @comic-harley @futuristicbirdtraveler @eddiemunson95 @gemnetjournal @sakaur-i @bakugouswh0r3 @sunshineandwitchery @theonceandfuturewinchester @bibieddiesgf @harmfulb1tch @marsflys @amillionfandoms-onlyoneme @daydreaming-mood @rach5ive @tlclick73 @r-a-d-i-0-n-0-w-h-e-r-e @plk-18 @dreamerjj @ceda1063 @eddiemunsonsguitarpic @suzy2872628 @idfwfeelings @fanfangying1304 @buckybarnescouldchokeme @4bigail @r-a-d-i-0-n-0-w-h-e-r-e @siouxiesiouxtryhard @urinternetmom @fuckmylifedudee @aol19

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Don't Speak 25

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as dubcon/noncon, obsession, stalking, manipulation, reclusive behaviour, disordered eating, dissociation, allusions to abuse, and other possible triggers. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: Reader is a reclusive loner who ventures down to the library on a simple mission. Her task is complicated by the man she meets there. (f!short!reader)

Character: librarian!Andy Barber

Note: My baby bird, dove!

As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me <3

Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!)

Love you all. Take care. 💖

You sit staring at the television, tucked into the corner of the couch as Andy sits on the other end. He has his feet up, still nursing his back, as he watches the game. You try to keep up with the outs and runs and all that but you don’t really get all that. You can’t focus anyway, all you can think about is how rotten you are.

You wanted to go to your room but he didn’t let you. He said you shouldn’t hide away from your mistakes. That he’s not mad and if you’re going to move forward, you can’t just sleep off your guilt. You don’t argue. He’s right.

“Honey,” Andy groans, “pills are wearing off.”

He touches his lower back as you wince and glance over at him. You pout as the bruise under his eye stares back at you starkly. You’re horrible. You can’t believe you did that to him. You cup your elbow before quickly ripping your hand away.

“You want more?” You ask.

“No, I can’t,” he mopes, “can only have so many a day–”

He goes to lean forward and hisses, clutching his hip as he pulls his legs off the ottoman. He curls his shoulders and whimpers as you hop up to your feet. You go towards him but don’t reach out to him.

“What can I do?” You offer.

“The cream,” he pushes himself back with some effort, “sweetie,” he gasps, “oh, god– help me up.”

“No, you should stay–”

“I can’t stay on the couch,” he grits as he latches onto your arm, jarring you. You squeak but don’t pull back. He’s too strong and you’re too afraid. “Help me to bed. It’ll help.”

“Um, okay,” you help him up as best as you can. “I’m sorry–”

“It’s fine,” he snarls through his teeth, “I just need to lay down.”

“Alright, uh, oh, wait,” you stop and angle away from him to snatch up the tube of cream, “got it.”

He puts his hand on your shoulder, gripping firmly, “good girl.”

You suck in your lower lip and nod. You just want him to feel better. Or maybe you just want to feel better. You get rid of the sour bile eating away at your stomach. The hot guilt that burns a hole inside of you.

He limps, one hand on his back, as he hunches awkwardly, and you take each stunted step with him. At the stairs, you take each one at a time, as he clings to the railing with other hand. He lets out a series of rasps grumbles as you ascend.

Earlier, he seemed to be getting better. When you sat down and talked, you don’t remember him slouching or flinching. Maybe the pills helped. You heard those things can sometimes make people feel better so they hurt themselves worse in the end by doing too much.

You turn down the hallway with him, nearly tripping as you look ahead to his bedroom door. You’ve never been in there. You have no place there. You feel like enough of an intruder. He needs your help and you need to stop being selfish.

You shuffle down to the door and push it open ahead the both of you. You get him past the threshold as he staggers. The room smells of him. The hint of his cologne and a strand of sweat cloying from the bed. 

You put your arm around his back as he yelps and you manage to get him to the bed. He drops down so harshly, he takes you with him. You land beside him, your arm trapped beneath him as you grip the cream in your other. He grumbles into a soft laugh.

“Sorry, dove,” he gives a strained smile, “I… I’m going to end up throwing your back out too at this rate.”

“Um, it’s…” you yank on your arm, several times before you manage to get free. You sit up on the edge of the bed and look back at him, “it’s okay. Er…”

He wriggles and reaches for you again. You do your best to help as he gets himself straight and you pile his pillows at the head of the bed. You step back and reclaim the tube of cream. He bends and arm up and tugs at the back of his shirt, whining and letting his hand fall to his lap.

“Dove…”

You get up onto the mattress and set the tube beside your leg. You gently roll his shirt up and get it over his head. He curls his neck as he struggles to get his arms higher than his shoulders. You leave the shirt to droop down his arms as he raises his head.

“Oh, uh,” you once more grab the lotion.

“Same place as before, dove,” he says.

“Alright,” you uncap the cream.

He moves slowly and lowers himself onto one side, his back facing you. You squeeze out a dollop and stare at it as the smell tickles your nose. You exhale and turn your palm, pressing it to his back before you can force yourself to watch. 

There’s something strange about touching him. You don’t touch others and they don’t touch you. You must just not be used to it. You rub the cream in, tracing the line of his shoulder blade up to his neck. He lets out a long moan and balls his hand around the corner of the pillow. The noises he makes are just as odd to you.

“That’s so nice,” he purrs, “thank you, dove.”

“Mhmm,” you put the lid on and back off the bed. You put the cream on the nightstand as you get to your feet, “I’m gonna wash my hand.”

“Sure, sure,” he murmurs, “will you come back? I don’t want to be alone.”

You round the bed and stop at the foot. You peek back at him. You want to say no. You want to go and sleep. It’s been a terribly long day. A terrible day in all ways. But he needs you and you’re being selfish.

“I’ll come back,” you promise.

“Thank you,” he sounds close to tears, “you could… bring your tablet and watch something.”

You consider him. You’ve never seen him look anything close to small but as he lays on his side, shoulders slumped, he doesn’t seem so scary. You sniff and keep your hand away from your shirt as you fall back into step.

“Sure.”

“And… and you could wear some of your new pajamas?” He suggests.

You stop in the doorway and don’t look back, “yes.”

You leave him and stop in the bathroom to wash off your hand. It’s starting to feel weird from the cream. You shut off the faucet and look over as the speaker keeps flashing. You frown. You forgot to tell him.

You cross the hall to your bedroom and dig out your tablet. You’ve been so distracted, you haven’t done much drawing. The days feel like a muddled mess behind you and you expect those ahead of you don’t seem much better.

You rest the tablet on the bed and go to the dresser, still crooked and displaced. You change into the pair of pajamas Andy chose. The ones with the little teddy bears. You like the pattern but not the cut. The top is long-sleeved but cut high around the stomach and the shorts are less preferable than pants. Maybe you can just hide under the blanket.

You bring your tablet with you and stop just before you get to his door. That sinking in your stomach plummets. You have a very bad feeling. A feeling that you never wanted to have again.

You enter as he lays in the dim room. The lamp is turned low and the corns webbed in shadow. You near the side of the bed and Andy pats the space beside him. You don’t let him see your reluctance as you climb up next to him.

“Thank you,” he croaks, “it’s not so bad, is it, dove? Working together… being better.”

“Yes,” you murmur as you unlock your tablet. “I… I’m trying.”

“I know, baby, I know,” he hums.

He rests his hand on your thigh, making your jump. You try to ignore it as you scroll on Youtube. You drag your finger over the screen as he slips onto the bare skin along the hem of the shorts. You blink, frozen as he kneads your flesh.

“I don’t… I don’t have Netflix,” you utter, “or anything…”

“That’s okay,” he wiggles closer, a few strenuous grunts in the process. He lifts his head and leans over, kissing just along your shoulder, “I just like having you close.”

“Please, don’t hurt yourself,” you plead as you keep from shrugging him away, “you have to relax.”

“Oh, dove, I know you care about me,” he lets himself back down, “I can feel how much you do.”

“Mhmm,” you tap on a video, a top ten list. They’re pretty lame but you don’t want to think too much. You prop up the tablet on your lap and ease back against the single pillow behind you.

Andy’s hand lingers. He lets it trail down to your knee and back up. He plays with the bottom of the shorts.

“These look so good on you,” his finger tickles you until goosebumps rise.

“Thanks,” your eyes stick to the small screen in front of you. Your ears are ringing and hot.

“Everything looks good on you,” he breathes.

“Um, Andy,” you eke out, “I… the speaker in the bathroom is broken.”

He’s quiet as his fingers continue to swirl over your skin, “speaker?” He says at last.

“Yeah, the speaker. It keeps flashing.”

“Huh, uh– ohhhh, yeah, the speaker,” he chuckles, “I keep forgetting to charge it. I’ll have to do that later. It will stop flashing soon enough.”

“Oh, alright,” you fold your hands over your stomach, “just thought I’d let you know.”

“And I appreciate it,” his fingers poke under your shorts, “you see how good you can be to me when you try?”

“Yes,” your voice crackles as he nestles closer, drawing his hand back only to sling his arm across your lap.

“I’m gonna rest my eyes,” he hugs your thighs, “is that okay, sweetie?”

“Sure,” you agree. If he’s asleep, he can’t be mad or touchy or anything else. If he sleeps, he won’t be in pain.

🕊️

Once more, your body takes over. You don’t remember the video changing or the tablet going black. Yet you wake on your side, head on the pillow, and your tablet screen down on the mattress in front of your legs.

Behind you is a blaze of heat. It’s just like before. Andy’s flush to you, his arm swept around you, his breath puffing around your head. But this time, you make yourself stay still. You squeeze your eyes shut and fight against the tide rising inside of you.

It’s okay. You’re okay. You’re safe. You blow out a breath and force your eyes open. You focus on the wall and try to remember those tricks Amber showed you. Just count to ten and breathe.

You do it. All on your. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. You feel your heart calming, not all the way, but some. Enough to keep from flailing.

You lay awake, resigned to the trap of Andy’s arm. It isn’t so bad. It’s warm, at least. 

He exhales ahead you, the soft gristle of his snore rising and falling in a rhythm. His hand is tucked under you, his body right against yours. You shift, wanting to fidget but afraid to wake him up. Your heartbeat begins to pick up again.

He moves but doesn’t wake. He holds you even closer and you feel something against you. Something hard. You frown, uncertain what it could be. You’re pretty sure you put the tube on the night table and it feels bigger than that.

You try to shimmy away but you can’t get far against his arm. You should just go back to sleep. The night will end sooner if you do.

You close your eyes but the noise in your head won’t stop. You’re not going to be able to fall asleep with all these thoughts. Not with him so close. Not being so aware of that fact.

Then you realise. You know what it is, pressing against you. That’s a part of him. Your cheeks are alight with embarrassment. For him, for you. Oh god. If you woke him up and he knew. You don’t want him to know.

You make yourself still, bound by the dread of him waking up. Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep. You can’t, you just can’t. Not with his arm around you, not with his hot breath searing down your neck, not with his thing against you!

How can you ever sleep knowing you can’t be what he wants you to be? Or needs you to be? It’s all just too much for you. It’s so scary.

You want to love him like he says you do but you’re just lost. You must be broken. Andy loves you, he's taken care of you, he's been patient with you. And you are just as messed up as you've always been.

You hope Andy is right. You hope Dr. Kemp can help.

You squeeze your eyes tight. Just count to ten. You can make it to the morning.

[hellfire--cult]

Baring Teeth {Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader} - Ch. 13

Edit of Eddie: pitifulbaby

Chapters: Masterlist (Go here to see list of chapters, plotline and general warnings.)

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

Tropes: Enemies to Lovers, Non-Traditional Omegaverse, Slow burn, Modern!AU, Mechanic!Eddie

⚠️This chapter contains: Angst, billy x reader, nervousness, allusions to homophobia, hurt

wc: 6.4k

A/N: Sorry for taking so long. I took a little break because november was a pretty messy month for me. I had complete writer's block, and I am slowly coming back to writing.

Anyways, Enjoy! ❤️ And don't forget to always support me by hitting the reblog button or leave a comment!

Taglist is closed

<- Prev. chapter - Next chapter ->

CHAPTER 13

“Am I interrupting?”

Your eyes snapped open as you turned to look at Robin who walked right into your office with a smirk to her face. You rolled your eyes, turning back to look at your phone with a shake of your head, the male on the other side laughing.

“You know what Buckley, you are.” Eddie said and you saw his smile spreading as he also earned another roll of your eyes. 

“Eddie is just showing me what else needs replacing in my car.”

“Cause you took it to Rick’s all this time, and everything in it is garbage–”

“Don’t insult my car Munson.” You glared at the phone this time and he raised one hand up in defense.

It’s been two weeks since you talked with Eddie… And since then, you two have grown close… Very close. How you didn’t talk to Eddie before? You had no idea. When you all get together at the bar or at someone’s house, you two always end up in your own world. You assumed that you were both trying to catch up on eachother, learning about one another still, and you were surprised each day by how easy and normal it was to talk to him.

“To me, it sounds like you are replacing me.” Robin pouted as she walked over to you to come into frame and glare at Eddie through the camera and the man only smirked at her with a playful glint in his eyes.

“Aw, you’re scared I’m going to steal your best friend status Buckley?”

“That’s never happening.” You said in a deadpan expression which made Eddie pull an offended frown on his eyebrows.

“Seriously? I give you friendly discounts at my shop!” He yelled at you and you couldn’t help but snort at how he tried to sound hurt from it, but it only came out as a comical act.

“You can’t buy my friendship Munson, and even if you handed me a billion dollars, Robin will always be first.” At your words, Robin blew a raspberry towards the phone, throwing a fart sound at Eddie. Robin’s arms wrapped around your waist and she rested her head on your shoulder while looking at Eddie, a grin to her face.

“You wish this was you, huh.” For some reason, those words Robin let out of her mouth gave you a feeling of embarrassment? They just simply made your belly twist in a way that wasn’t comfortable but it wasn’t unpleasant. 

Eddie on the other side shook his head, yet he felt his jaw clenching slightly, which he dismissed immediately. 

“Sure. Anyways, I gotta go, the new brake discs are coming in next week. We really need to put those in at least before you cause an accident.” You rolled your eyes at him and before you could say anything against that, “No comebacks. I am surprised you didn’t die yet.”

“I drive safely.” You retorted, almost offended, but Robin was amused and let out a snort out of her mouth. Your head snapped to look at her with a death glare and she backed away from you with her hands up in the air in defense.

“I’ll believe it when I see it. Talk to you later.”

“Sure– Oh, about the payment–”

“Next month is okay.” You sighed at his words and you shook your head at him.

“I can do a check.” It was his turn to snort.

“No, it’s fine, seriously Peach.” Eddie sucked in his right cheek as he looked at you and his brows twitched slightly when you sent a smile his way. It was still new, this friendship you two have, and it seems he is still a little weirded out that you smile at him so easily. Not that he is any different. 

“Alright, if you insist, I will take advantage of your kindness.” You heard a commotion behind him as he squatted slightly as if ducking and he just yelled at someone before turning back at you.

“I gotta go before these fuckers do something– FUCKING CHRIST, GARETH–!” And then the call ended. You were left laughing at the whole ordeal, putting the phone down to go back to your laptop, only to feel a presence behind you and you remembered your best friend came into the room a few minutes ago. You turned your chair to look at her, and Robin had her arms crossed over her chest as she looked at you.

“Well, I see you’re slowly changing me.” Robin has always been known for over exaggerating things, and this was one of them. You rolled your eyes and turned again to type on your computer.

“I am not Robs.” You defended yourself but it was true you and Eddie had become very close, but it wasn’t as nearly as how you and Robin are. 

“You talk to him everyday, be it because of a TikTok or a Reel, or just simply messaging.” Robin walked towards you and leaned her butt against the edge to rest there as she looked down at you. 

“We just… We clicked. Putting the past behind us.”

“Which still sounds fucking crazy to me. To everyone really– I mean, you two really hated each other.” And you didn’t need a reminder of that. 

“It was very pitiful. We were hurting each other when we could have helped one another. I hurt him and he hurt me, and all for nothing.” Robin nodded at you, and she agreed with you on that. You had told her about what you and Eddie talked about, and you even bared to her how guilty you felt about so many things you said to him. 

Robin explained that everyone’s stories are private, so you didn’t really blame her for not telling you stuff about Eddie’s life, just like she didn’t tell Eddie anything about you.

“I know… I am glad though. You two seem to be enjoying one another’s company so… that’s good.” Robin said sincerely and you smiled up at her. “And what about Billy? How do you think everything will go once they meet?”

“Well, I think they will hit it off instantly.” In all honesty, you didn’t know if that was true. Eddie and Billy had different yet alike personalities in some sense. Aloof, cheeky, yet attentive if needed. It would be the first time you were going to introduce Eddie to him, and Billy only knows Eddie as the friend who sends you memes all the time.

He doesn’t even know his name is Eddie. You will introduce them tomorrow night.

And you were hoping everything turns out okay.

Things with Billy have been…

Normal.

Ever since meeting your friends, your boyfriend has been a little bit weirder than usual. You wanted to have an all together with his friends and yours, so that the two groups would collide and meet, but all you received from your boyfriend was a talk on how his friends are known figures, and they cannot be seen going out at all.

That felt weird in some sense because you distinctly remember them saying something about going out to a club whenever they get a chance to do so. They didn’t look like the type of people that would avoid the public eye, but rather, seek it. Always seeking it.

Today, you and your boyfriend would go to Robin and Steve’s home, get some drinks, spend time with your friends, but sometimes now you just want to be alone with them. Your boyfriend, even if at the beginning was not very friendly with your group, he now seems to want to be included at every gathering.

You didn’t want to be a bitch about it, cause maybe he does like talking to Argyle a lot. But, they can just message each other to get together by themselves, right? No need for Billy to always be on an outing with you, yet, he sticks with you like a leech. 

You wonder how tonight everything will go with Eddie. Hopefully, he is the one that makes your boyfriend finally have some fun inside the group. You’re pretty sure they will get along nicely… hopefully.

You were in the bathroom, throwing the curtain to the side in order to open it as steam floods the entire tiled room. You step out of the tub after turning off the scorching water, just how you like it. Hot showers always help with your nerves, they never miss it. You sigh in contentment only to be struck with the fact that you didn’t bring a towel inside. 

You groaned as your body started shivering slightly as the air hit your wet skin. You didn’t want to yell so much in respect for your neighbors, so you leaned and opened the door, opening your mouth to call out to your boyfriend, only to stop when you heard his muffled voice behind the bedroom door. 

“I told you I don’t want to do it!”

Silence.

“I don’t want to be part of something I don’t see right.”

Silence again. What is he talking about?

“I know it’s for publicity, I know, and I don’t care what the voting polls in social media say, I won’t stand for something I don’t believe is right.”

Polls? Social media?

“Okay, okay, fine. Fine. I will say I stand by it.”

You were blinking, trying to understand what your boyfriend was talking about just now. A publicity stunt? Agree to what? A belief of his? You heard footsteps and immediately closed the door of the bathroom as quietly as possible and you felt your heart beating loudly in your chest. You jumped in your place when he knocked on the door.

“Baby? You okay in there?” Fuck, he can’t know you were eavesdropping.

“Y-Yeah! I was calling you to get me a towel but you weren’t listening to me Billy! I am freezing over here!” You tried to put on that whiny voice he loves when you get a little bit angry at him. You heard him chuckle but wince at your tone.

“Shit honey, I’m sorry. I’ll get it for you!” You heard his steps walk away from the bathroom and you let out the air you were holding in.

Something’s not right.

Something is definitely not right.

You don’t know what it is, but there is just this feeling in your gut that something will happen, that something is not what it seems, that there is this idea in your head you are afraid that is true but you don’t want to believe it. Not from him. Not when you started to feel more and more for him each day.

Only to be starting to wash away the more and more you learn from him.

“Billy!” You yelled again and the door opened completely, revealing a smirking Billy Hargrove on the other side while holding a white towel in hand. 

“You want it?” He aimed to hand it to you, but as soon as you were going to catch it, he snatched it away with his teeth showing. “Come get it.”

And that’s how you end up chasing your stupid boyfriend through the whole apartment, completely naked while he runs around, laughing in delight, towel in hand. 

You didn’t want to believe it.

So when you finally get to dry yourself off, and get some clothes on for tonight is when your nerves start settling in, harder than before. Something in your gut was turning, uncomfortably, nervously, knowing that something was not right, that something was going to happen, that something had been happening all this time that you decided to simply look away from.

You looked at him, at your splendid boyfriend and you still don’t know how he chose someone like you. How he decided it was you the one he was going to risk his fame for. He was choosing a red button-up shirt today, his hair in a small ponytail in the back. You don’t know how you two came to be.

And yet, you still haven’t told him your story. You haven’t told him a few parts of yourself you didn’t feel ready to tell him, but will that time ever come? Why is it so hard to open up to him?

“You ready to go?” Billy asked you as he walked towards you after checking himself in the mirror one last time. You smiled up at him and gave him a nod.

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

“You finally made it, Jesus.” Robin greeted you as she opened the door for you, and you rolled your eyes at your friend’s comment. You were late, yes… but it was because Billy took his sweet time always getting ready. You scolded him a few times for it, but he always tells you he has to keep his skincare routine intact. 

“What a greeting.” You heard Billy mutter under his voice as you two walked into the house, music already invading your ears and the chattering of your friends, making your nerves go away a little, only for confusion and disappointment to fill your gut. You turned your head as Robin came back from closing the door behind you both.

“Where’s Eddie?” You asked, and your boyfriend’s head snapped to you and then back at Robin.

“I think he is running late! What, already missing your NEW best friend?” Robin answered with a huff, and you could only giggle at her jealousy, not noticing the storm that was brewing inside your boyfriend’s chest. 

“Quit that Robs.”

“Who’s Eddie?” 

Robin looked at your boyfriend for a second with a confused frown on her face and then back at you. For some reason, there was a turn in your stomach because you realized you never told Billy about Eddie. He just knew there was a friend missing from the group he still hadn’t met yet.

“Um, the last friend you don’t know.” You looked at him and his blue orbs were not very helpful. You couldn’t quite read his eyes as they looked at you, but a twitch in the eyebrow told you he was thinking. 

“Why did she call him your best friend?” And Robin was looking panicked between you and your boyfriend, and you simply smiled at Billy, shaking your head.

“It’s Robin being dramatic.”

“Why did she call him that? I mean–” And you could see the moment Billy’s head clicked, an eyebrow raised up. “Is he the one you’ve been talking to for the past few weeks?”

“Okay, you say we talked, we mostly sent memes to one another.” You tried to defend yourself, but against what? You didn’t do anything wrong. So why do you feel the need to explain yourself?

“Right.” You could see the change in mood in Billy’s body language. This night was already turning in a way that you didn’t expect, or you wanted to avoid. Robin shot you a look with a worried frown and you turned to go into the living room where everyone else was. 

“Billy! My man!” You could hear Argyle yell and god fucking bless Argyle. You saw how he rushed towards you both as Robin walked towards Nancy and whispered into her ear. You knew she was going to tell Nancy about what just happened at the front door with Billy. There is an uneasiness in your throat as Argyle hands you a beer and Billy another. 

“Hi, Argyle.” Billy spoke and you took a sip out of your beer as you felt Billy’s arm wrap around your waist, pulling you close. You raised an eyebrow at that, looking at him. Why did he trap you with him? You wanted to go say hi to Steve and Jonathan, but you guessed you could do that in a few minutes.

“I have so much to tell you Billy man, I tried that shampoo and conditioner you recommended and it left my hair perfectly smooth, but curly man!” You couldn’t help but giggle at Argyle’s commentary and Billy followed through, shaking his head at your friend.

“I told you to get that brand but for straight hair. Not curly.” You looked at Argyle’s hair and sure enough, there were some waves at the end of his long hair. Billy smiled but there was a hint of something hidden behind it as he talked to Argyle once more, “Who is this Eddie guy?”

“Ah, my brochacho, we met way back in California, and then I followed him here.” Argyle replied with a genuine smile and Billy for some reason let out a sigh of relief, making you frown in confusion. 

“Oh, that’s nice. You two are close then.” 

“Yeah, very!” You felt the tightness on your waist loosen up, and Billy shot a smile your way, kissing the top of your head. You blinked in confusion and you stepped away to finally go greet Steve and Jonathan who were looking at you with worried faces.

“What was that all about?” Steve asked and you shook your head, taking a long sip out of your beer. There was a pit in your stomach, a nervousness you couldn’t quite describe, a sense of deja vu of some sort.

“I have no clue, but…” You didn’t want to worry your friends with these things going on inside your head. They would question your boyfriend and you don’t want that but at the same time, you want to tell someone about these feelings you’ve been having lately, or the realization of these feelings. 

It’s not like you didn’t notice the drastic changes in Billy over the past months, and it all started when he met your friends, but it got better… Yet, you couldn’t help but notice certain aspects and your feelings started swaying from side to side. A sense of dread, of being afraid to know the truth.

“But?” Jonathan asked and you opened your mouth to then close it once again when the doorbell rang, making your head turn to the direction of the door. You were feeling your heart in your throat, and excitement grew in your stomach.

Nancy was the one who walked to get the door this time, and you looked over at Argyle and Billy talking excitedly. You saw how Argyle was gesturing as he talked, and you saw how your boyfriend laughed at his commentary. Maybe he and Eddie will get along. You were worrying about nothing.

And then Nancy stepped aside to let Eddie walk in. 

You felt some heat coming up on your cheeks, across your body, but you shook it off as the beer kicking in your system. Your eyes scanned his outfit now. Dark jeans, ripped in some parts, a tight Slayer T-Shirt with a jean vest on top. His hair was in a low bun like always, and the stubble was neatly done. 

You wondered what cologne he was using today.

Your mind was snapped back in reality when Eddie approached you, putting the six-pack on the table. He had a warm smile on his face as he flicked your forehead with his middle finger. You winced at the sudden pain, rubbing your skin while glaring up at him.

“What was that for!?” You whined at him and he raised an eyebrow at you.

“For making me watch the stupidest movie ever.”

“Did you just call ‘When Harry Met Sally’ stupid!?” You couldn’t help but be slightly upset by that. It was one of your favorites, and you also liked watching Eddie’s movie suggestion, ‘Armageddon’.

“I am not a fan of those kinds of movies sweetheart.” He was looking at you as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, but there was a sly smile in his lips, tugging up, making you smile at him.

“You’re a lying piece of shit. You liked the movie.” He chuckled and shook his head at you, but you knew he liked it. He was just messing with you to get a rise out of you.

“I’m not lying.”

“Yes you are! You loved that cheesy crap, admit it.” You poked his side, which made him chuckle, moving away from you.

“This is still too weird.” You heard Jonathan talk and you lifted your head to ask what he meant only for your waist to suddenly be grabbed, fingers digging into the skin making you wince just slightly. You turned your head to see Billy looking at Eddie with a grin on his face.

“I don’t think we’ve met.” The voice your boyfriend let out was not friendly. It was strained as if it pained him talking right now. Eddie glanced at you for just a second, and you cleared your throat as your nerves tried to get the best of you.

“Right, Billy, this is Eddie.” Eddie gave your boyfriend a forced smile, and you could feel the tension in the air as the light blue eyes clashed with the brown ones. 

“Yeah. You’re Argyle’s boyfriend, right?”

Oh. Oh god. It’s happening again. Eddie’s eyebrow twitched and gave you a questioning look and he could see the confused frown on your face. He looked at his friend and sighed, knowing that Argyle probably made it sound that way. Just like he did last year with you and you mistook it all as well.

“Fucking christ– No. He is just my friend.”

“Oh?” Billy’s eye twitched as he kept looking at Eddie, and you could feel him tugging you closer to him as he kept looking at the dark-haired man. “Then you aren’t dating?”

“No. I am straight.”

And for some reason, you felt the whole air shift. Eddie’s face suddenly fell into a confused frown, and then into an annoyed one instantly, as Billy’s gaze hardened. 

“Right. He is the friend you’ve been messaging all the time?”

Billy’s eyes now landed on you and you looked at him to only have a sinking feeling in your stomach. You felt your throat closing up at his gaze, and you knew. You simply knew what was going on in his mind. Eddie was looking back and forth in between you and Billy, and he could see how your boyfriend’s jaw clenched.

“I– um–” 

“Billy! You promised to help me with the drinks!” You heard Argyle yell from the kitchen and Billy groaned as he closed his eyes in annoyance. You felt a slight grip on your waist again and then he let go of you, almost unwillingly, giving Eddie one last look before he left. You were staring at his retreating back as he headed to the kitchen, with a confused frown on your face.

“He’s… charming.” Eddie said with not an ounce of likeness in his tone, almost in disgust. He had a bad feeling in his stomach, but he wasn’t going to tell you that. He didn’t want to alarm you in any way, but you looked already confused and nervous. He didn’t want to add more wood to the fire.

“I– I need a smoke.” You stated and immediately rushed out to the backyard, fumbling with the pack of cigarettes in the pocket of your purse. What was going on? Why did Billy’s demeanor change so suddenly? You never told him it was Eddie the one you were messaging, but did it really matter?

You put the cigarette in your mouth, and now you were fumbling to get the lighter out, but you couldn’t find it. Billy doesn’t like it when you smoke, but he smokes as well. You don’t understand that train of thought, but you don't care right now. A flame appeared in front of you from a red lighter and you knew who it was without even looking at him. You leaned forward and lit the cigarette, taking a long puff.

“You look nervous.” Eddie lit his own stick, mimicking the long puff like you did, and you both let out the smoke out of your lungs.

“I just… don’t understand why he is being… this possessive?”

“Well, he might be overwhelmed by how much more of a man I am.” He joked and you snorted, shaking your head at him. He gave you a small grin and took another puff of his cigarette. “You also look pretty today, people tend to become protective when their partner shines.”

You were taken aback by his response. Did you hear him right?

“Oh Munson thinks I am pretty.” You joked, taking another swig of your stick, turning to look at him, but he wasn’t laughing as he looked to the distance.

“No denying there.”

Thump.

He was just being friendly. Steve complimented you before, Nancy did too, so it should be fine. He was just being a nice friend, telling you that you look nice tonight, that is all. So why do you feel your hands sweating?

“Uh–”

“Are you not going to say I look pretty too? C’mon, I even put a red shirt on today, not a black one.” He chuckled to lose the tension but inside, Eddie was a little nervous. The compliment slipped out of his tongue with ease, too much ease. You giggled, the tension going away, and shook your head at him.

“The red and the black go hand in hand with you, it’s not new.” 

“What do you want me to wear? A pink shirt? A baby blue crop top?” You exploded with laughter at the image that came to your head, making him face you with a smile to his face.

“With the care bears at the front!” At that, he too let out a laugh. It was easy being with Eddie, carefree, natural even. You were still amazed by that fact, and cannot even remember how you two disliked each other before. 

You both smoked your cigarettes, sharing jokes with one another, laughing, making the nervousness in your belly leave to a faraway place.

“It’s crazy to think I almost beat the shit out of you out here and now we are laughing together.” You put the cigarette out in the small ashtray that was on the garden table and Eddie followed suit with a chuckle.

“You? Beating the shit out of me? Are you sure about that Peach?” He stood in front of you, crossing his arms over his chest as he inspected you with a squint of his eyes. You copied his stance, and his eyes diverted for a second to your cleavage and went back up to your eyes.

“You think I can’t?” He barked out a laugh at that.

“Sweetheart, if I wanted to, I could pin you to the floor using only one hand.”

And oh, that didn’t cause the reaction you thought it would. It was friendly, it was him telling you he is stronger than you… Yet your stomach did a flip at the thought. He could definitely pin you down, and you know that because of his height and the arms that are big and filled with tattoos. 

He looked at you when you didn’t answer him back, and he noticed the look your face had as if processing a thought, and he felt a shockwave run down his spine. His thoughts were cut off when he sensed a pair of eyes looking his way, and he raised his head up to see Billy glaring at him as he leaned over the doorframe of the sliding doors with his arms crossed over his chest.

You blinked and quickly turned around to see your boyfriend with a stern look on his face. Now you realize how fast your heart was beating into your chest, and now you felt the nervousness creep up on you again as you stared at Billy’s piercing gaze.

“Billy–”

“Can I talk to you for a second? Privately?”

You slowly nodded at that, giving Eddie one look telling him sorry you’re leaving, and turned to go with Billy. He didn’t grab you or hold your hand, simply turned away, guiding you toward the kitchen. You could sense your friend’s eyes following you as you walked into the kitchen, Billy closing the door behind you.

“Um… is everything okay?” 

“You think everything is fucking okay?”

You were stunned at his aggressiveness, never had heard him this way before. You didn’t know what could have possibly happened tonight, but you might have just a slight idea of what and why.

“What is wrong with you?”

“You fucked him, didn’t you?”

And your mouth fell agape at that. Did you hear him right?

“Sorry, what did you say?”

“For fuck sake, you fucked him, didn’t you?”

So you did hear right. Was he talking about Eddie? Why would he come up with that conclusion? What made him believe such a thing between you two?

“I was hoping I heard wrong William, what the fuck are you talking about?” Billy only scoffed with a fake smile on his lips as he leaned against the counter.

“Don’t you dare lie to me! I know you fucked him. That is not just a friend, calling you 'sweetheart'? Giggling together like middle schoolers?”

Was he serious right now? You were feeling your heart breaking, thrumming in your chest in an aggressive manner, and you wanted to run away, you did, but you had to face him. You had to talk to him, once and for all.

“He is my friend! I act that way with Steve, Jonathan!”

“Yeah, well, they’re gay! I don’t care about them!” You could hear the anger in his voice, the way the vein in his forehead was popping out. Your throat was trying to close as a lump was beginning to form, but you weren’t going to back down from this.

“What about Argyle!? He is straight and my friend!” You yelled back at him and he ran a hand through his hair as his nostrils started flaring up from anger.

“I don’t buy for a second he is straight. He is all over me, all the time.”

And the reality of it all hits you like a brick to the face. You remained quiet for a second, feeling your past months with him slip away from your fingers. The image you had of him had been tainted for a while, but this completely smeared the picture.

“And is there a problem if he is?”

And that made Billy look at you, defying you to keep going, almost warning you to shut up, but no… not with this. You liked Billy. You really did.

“What are you saying–”

“You do know that I’m bisexual, right?”

And silence fell in the kitchen. And you saw it. You saw how his eyes turned from anger to complete confusion, to then frown as he looked at you. It was your turn now to scoff, tears filling your eyes as you started pacing around the kitchen, trying to gather your thoughts.

“You…” He couldn’t even speak, and you didn’t want him to. He shouldn’t speak now.

“I thought I was fucking wrong, I seriously didn’t want to believe it. I didn’t want to believe that my boyfriend… that my boyfriend is–” You cannot even say the word. You can’t. You choked on your own sob as you covered your mouth with your hand. Billy’s face softened and he walked towards you, trying to put a hand on your shoulder.

“Baby–”

“Don’t fucking touch me!” You swung his hand away with the back of yours and you stepped away, your face displaying the rage that your heart wanted to let out. “Let me ask you a fucking question, Billy. Are you for or against same-sex couples adopting?” 

And he realized it. You saw how his face turned into an angry one again, his eyes squinting at you as he remembered earlier today.

“You eavesdropped.” 

“You bet the fuck I did. And you, Billy Hargrove, are a homophobic asshole.” 

Silence. 

It was like a knife. Those words coming out of your mouth were stabbing you more than they stabbed him. You should have realized it when some of the dark jokes he and his friends did involved… you can’t even think about it. How could he? Why?

“Just because I do not share the same ideals, doesn’t make me homophobic. If I were, I wouldn’t be able to even talk to your friends for fuck sake!” He defended himself but what was the point? There wasn’t any, your heart couldn’t take it anymore, it really couldn’t. You could feel the tears sliding down your cheeks, shaking your head at him, taking a step back from him.

“I want you to leave.” Your words came out like venom, and he frowned at you, shaking his head.

“If I leave, you are coming with me, we need to talk this out–”

“There is nothing to talk about! Fucking leave!” Your voice was loud, his voice was loud, and everything was static around you, your vision clouding as he came close to you once more, trying to get hold of your hands.

“Baby, baby, come on, don’t be like that… We’ll go home and we’ll talk about this–” His voice sounded desperate now, and your tears were still running down your cheeks, your mind shutting him out completely as you shook your head again, desperate for him to leave. You didn’t want him near you. You were disgusted, completely disgusted.

“N-No!” Billy’s face crumbled into a stern look once more and he quickly got hold of your bicep in a tight grip, snapping you back into reality as he glared down at you.

“I am not leaving you alone here, with him. So if I leave, you are coming with me.” You tried to yank your arm away from his grip but he kept his hand tight on your arm, and you were feeling his digits digging more and more onto your skin, making your fear grow at each second.

“Let go of me Billy!” You tried again only to be pulled against him and you felt as if your heart were in your throat, his touch completely burning you, wanting it away from you. He wasn’t physical, never, and this is the first time he ever touched you in this way. 

“Please sweets, listen to me!” He was desperate for you, trying to get you to talk to him but you shook your head again and as he tried to move you once more, he felt the back of his shirt be yanked harshly, making him let go of your arm as he stumbled backward.

“What the actual fuck do you think you are doing?” 

Your eyes widened as you saw a broad back stepping before you, and the smell of wooden cologne immediately invaded your nostrils. You rubbed onto your arm as you straightened up to take a step to the side to see Billy looking at Eddie with a glare in his eyes.

“This doesn’t concern you. It involves me, and my girlfriend.” 

“From what I heard it seems she doesn’t hold that title anymore.” Eddie was almost snarling at Billy, completely blocking him from you in a defensive stance. Billy’s eyes caught yours, shaking his head.

“You– You’re still my girl, right?”

You felt the lump in your throat again, memories of the good times you spent with him flashing in front of your eyes. Memories that made you want to go around Eddie to get to him and hug him and kiss him. But then you saw your friends, looking at the scene at the doorway. Your friends. The ones who wouldn’t hurt you, and if they did, never intentionally.

And even if your heart breaks, even if your body trembles with need of him, with the need of his lips, with the need of his eyes on you…

You slowly shook your head at him.

“Bye Billy.” 

The room fell silent, and you could see Billy’s eyes filled with tears as he looked at you. What the both of you had was genuine, and it was growing to something even more beautiful, but this is not something you can accept from him. Ever. No matter if he tells you he can change because an ideal never changes that easily.

But his saddened frown turned into a sour one, rage filling his features as his gaze turned to Eddie and then back at you.

“You didn’t answer my first question, but I guess it was true then? You remain friends with guys you fuck darling?”

Your heart shattered at his coldness, at him insulting you this way, almost as if he were calling you ‘slut’ in a very indirect way. A tear rolled down your cheek as you looked at him with shock filled eyes. 

And it all happened too quickly. Suddenly Billy was face to face with Eddie, as the dark haired man gripped the front of his shirt while he glared down at your now ex-boyfriend. Ex. Another ex.

“Get the fuck out or I will ruin your only source of income pretty boy.” Eddie growled at Billy and pushed him away roughly, making Billy tumble slightly, almost hitting the counter behind him. 

His eyes searched for yours one last time, and you could see the hurt in them, reflecting your own. You didn’t doubt his caring for you, not even a second. It was genuine, all of it, but you cannot forgive him for what he did, and does for publicity. You looked away from him and you heard him sigh, followed by steps that were going towards the doorway where all your friends moved away from so he could go through.

“I’ll get my manager to pick my things up from your house. He’ll return yours.”

More steps. More. The front door opening. And then, a slam.

And you broke down.

You were hurt, disgusted, in pain, feeling helpless because of this situation that couldn’t be fixed now. Never. No matter if you have feelings for him, if you will miss the days and nights spent with him. Tears ran down your cheeks as you sobbed into your hands, two arms wrapping around you as a lavender scent filled your nostrils.

Robin was cooing at you, rubbing your head, holding you like a baby to her chest. Your hands gripped her shirt as you cried onto it. Yes… Even if you are hurting you would never choose someone that hates your friends for their orientation. 

You wouldn’t choose them over Robin who is holding you tenderly and has held you this way many times before. You will hurt. You will cry. You will need time alone and space to gather and piece yourself back together again.

But they will all help you through it. Even Eddie who is behind Robin with a frown in his face, Steve next to him with the same look but his hand was on Eddie’s shoulder, pressing on it. 

It will be okay.

End of Chapter 13

<- Prev. chapter - Next chapter ->

A/N: Reblogs always help more than likes. Please support artists that way!

Taglist is closed! I will start deleting people that do not interact with my posts.

Taglist: @katethetank @seatnights @oliskitten @bebe07011 @seventhlevelofhell @babez-a-licious @arsenicred @bl4ckt00thgr1n @harrysgothicbitch @emma77645 @fictionalcomforts @hellv1ra @sarcastically-defensive17 @lodeddiperrodrick @corrodedcoffincumslut @peea90 @sidthedollface22 @elegantkoalapuppy-blog @ghost-proofbaby @take-everything-you-can @nope-thanks

[starsomens]

We LOVE dad Noah here!

How about ummm, oh! A quick lil bubble of Noah going with reader and Eden to get her ears pierced? I know my parents took me as a baby maybe like 8-9 months? Ik some people have feelings about it but I personally am happy there did!

Anyway thank you start love you❤️❤️

A/N: omg so cute!! I know my mom had my ears pierced when I was around 6 to 7 months or so. Maybe a little bit younger, but my dad was definitely very upset I was crying when it happened.😭😭

Noah was holding Eden in his lap and bouncing his knee. The month old, simply just enjoying being held by her father. Noah was internally freaking out about her ears being pierced. Of course you’re both OK with her. Having earrings and logically speaking doing it now will be better for her since she won’t remember the pain. Either way it was a quick pinch and should be over in just 10 minutes.

However, on the way over to the establishment started to freak out a little bit. Knowing that the piercing would make her cry. So no he was giving options about waiting until next week or trying to find a place that numb her ear and pierce it instead.

But you were reassuring him that she would be fine and she wouldn’t even remember it after five minutes. So now you had a pouty husband to try and comfort while he was waiting in the chair as the employee was readying the needle and earrings. Of course Noah being who he was for his princess got her only the nicest and highest quality earing and piercer. Making sure to look into reviews on how they are with kids.

"Alright are we ready?" the young girl asked. Her bright smile such a contrast to her piercings and tattoos. She was just lovely to speak with as she explained the process "Alright dad, we're going to try and pierce her ears nice and quick. So I'll need to you to hold her head and make sure she doesn't move,"

Noah take the deep breath while he faces his large hand on Eden small head. Her face still not knowing what is to come and knows how was jumping out of his chest. The piercer mark a single dot on each of her loans sure that they both look even before she grabbed the needle gun. Aligning the tip of the needle on her earlobe, she says,

“ oh right, we’re gonna try to make this really fast really quick so once I’m done with this year, I’m moving right to the second one,” she reiterates she had said before “ ready? 1…..2…..3,”

And in the blink of an eye, the gun clicks as appears through her ear. It takes a second for Eden to react actually, trying to understand what had just happened as her lips starts to pout. Her little nose sniffling as a wine, and a cry starts to escape her lips. Noah’s heart broke hearing her starts to cry.

On top of that he was the one holding her head in place so that she wouldn’t move and all he wanted to do was to comfort her. And at the same time he’s never felt more rage towards someone who essentially he was paying to do this

The piercer quickly moves to the other side and pierces her ear quickly. “ Okay she’s all done, no more. I’m sorry princess” she gives an apologetic look to Noah and Eden we all know it does is turn Eden into him and comfort her. He had his signature mug shot face very upset. His baby was uncomfortable and hurting.

No one stand up from the sea, and he walks around the room, bouncing her to try and calm her down. His large hand no longer holding your head in place, but caressing the soft hair on her head as his lips kiss her forehead.

“I’m so sorry baby. I know Mommy so mean for letting the lady do that” he whispers to her and all you could do was go at him as he blamed you partially for it. Luckily you both know was Eden’s main source of calm and comfort. Now you moved to the front desk to pay for the service, eden has calmed down and her crush were reduced to small sniffles as she sucked on her finger to also calm her down.

While your card was being charged, you take a look at her earring and you were very happy with the service. She did great in Eden seem to be dealing with him much better than you had anticipated. On the other hand was still very upset.

“Babe why are you still pouting? She’s just fine”

“ Because look at her face, her nose is all red and look at her cheeks. Her eyes are red and watery still” no it was very emotional when it came to his precious little princess. He couldn’t blame him since he felt the same way. But you knew that the pain for this was temporary and she wouldn’t remember it at all by the next day. Just like when you had taken her to the doctor to get her shot after she was born.

While you walk to the car hand-in-hand, no scene to forgive you a bit more as Eden returns to her normal self. As he put her into the car seat, he takes a look at her earrings and tilts his head a bit.

“Look at my princess. Did daddy get you was pretty earrings?” he uses his baby voice with her. “Looking so beautiful, just like Mama”

He then turned to you planted a kiss on your nose. As he closes the door, he opens the passenger door for you to get into

“Oh? I thought it was my fault for letting the mean, lady pierce her ears,” you pouted at him as he crossed your arms, reiterating his own words back to him

“ maybe it wasn’t completely your fault you were right she did calm down after a while. And I guess…. You’re right she won’t remember it later on in life.”

You take a hold of his jaw gently and shake his head slightly “AWWHH look at my man admitting that he’s wrong,”

“Wrong? No, I did not say I was wrong. I still think that piercer was a bitch for making her cry,”

“Noah that’s her job, Eden was going to cry either way!” You giggle as you climb into the car

“Yeah yeah, I won’t leave a bad review” he chuckled closing the door

“Noah don’t you dare!” your muffled voice, comes from inside the car as he rounds the front and gets into the driver seat. He completely ignores what you say turns to Eden and put his hand into her car seat and tickles her little belly

“Now who wants ice cream?!” Wanting to reward her for being such a brave girl

“ oh yeah, that’s right just change the subject,” crossing your arms

“ keep that attitude up and I’ll make sure to use my ice cream for something else” he smirks at you as he turns on the car and scans your body from top to bottom

“…..fine I want my usual order and you better know it or you won’t be using your ice cream for anything” she knew what you were talking about you hear Eden giggle in the back of the car

「✨Taglist✨」 @lilhobgobbler @vir-tual @tdopomymind @concretenoah @misspygmypie @lust-for-sacher @thescarlettvvitch @cind6547 @itsmrsfuentes @lma1986 @darling-millicent-aubrey @daylightlvrs @artificialbreezy @alittleblackmagic @cookiesupplier @sprokat @rafeyybabey

[carelisswriting]

Dealing With Dreams

Hey! Here's my second fic for ecto implosion, my partner for this is @ventisettestars ! It was great working with her, and her art is amazing!!! She also beta read this :)

Hope y'all like this fic!

***

“So there’s Andromeda, and Pegasus, and…”

Tucker leaned over, wrapping his arms around Danny as he listed all of the constellations they could see. He hooked his chin over Danny’s shoulder, looking up at the sky that his boyfriend was enamored with.

Danny’s breath misted in the air as he talked, a result of how cold it was out in the forest at night, and not due to a ghost. If there was a ghost out here, it definitely would’ve already started harassing them.

Tucker focused back on Danny as he let out an excited gasp.

“Tuck, Tuck look! It’s the ISS!” He said, pointing up at a small bright spot traveling across the sky.

Tucker smiled, squeezing Danny tighter for a moment “It’s super cool, Danny.”

Danny didn’t reply, too focused on watching the space station travel across the sky.

He didn’t mind. It wasn’t often that they got a day like this, one where there weren’t any ghost attacks or anything else that would stop Danny from having a nice evening.

Tucker was still bitter about the date attempt from last month.  They’d almost made it into the movie theater before the Box Ghost had shown up to steal all the popcorn buckets, which were unfortunately square. It had been the most personally annoying attack he’d had to deal with, which was saying something considering his PDA had gotten destroyed in a few attacks. He always rebuilt her, though.

Anyway, the point is, Tucker was glad that Danny got to have a day where he didn’t have to worry about anything. Well, anything more than usual.

He shifted, pressing closer to his boyfriend.

It sucked so bad that Danny had to be all alone in fights. Tucker and Sam did all the support they could, but. It wasn’t enough. Danny didn’t have anyone to watch his back, just people to clean him up after the fight.

Danny had only gotten bruises and small cuts so far. Tucker worried every time a ghost showed up that this would be the time something worse happened, that something he couldn’t fix happened. A ghost would get the better of Danny, and he would be too broken, too hurt, for Tucker to help him. A broken bone, a wound overflowing with blood, a hit he didn’t get back up from.

If only Tucker could fight with him-

“You okay? Usually you’ve used at least one really bad pick-up line by now.” Danny asked, startling Tucker out of his thoughts.

He lifted his head up, grinning as his depressing train of thought was pushed to the back of his mind.

“Oh yeah? So you admit you like the Foley Charm?” Tucker said flirtatiously.

Danny rolled his eyes, a fond smile on his face “Not what I said, but at least you’re trying. Seriously though, you good?”

“I’m fine, Danny. In fact, let me prove it by giving you exactly what you want, one of my amazing pick-up lines!” He said, wiggling his eyebrows even though he knew Danny probably couldn’t see it.

“No, that’s not what I said, and your pick-up lines are not amazing-“ Danny protested, giggles filtering into his voice.

Tucker grinned wider, before clearing his throat dramatically.

“Did it hurt when you fell from heaven? Cause from where I’m standing, you’re the only angel I’ve ever believed in.”

Danny groaned, a blush visible on his cheeks.

“That’s not even the right line-!”

“Had to put a little bit of that Tucker ‘Too Fine’ Foley spin on it, which made it at least twenty percent better!” Tucker said, before breaking out into laughter.

It really was one of his better lines, but it still wasn’t that good and he knew it.

Danny shook his head, before joining in on the laughter.

It took them a few moments to calm down, Danny taking a deep breath to regain his composure. Tucker couldn’t help but let out one last laugh at that, considering Danny choked on air as he did.

Danny smacked Tucker’s arm “Don’t laugh at me, I could’ve died all the way!”

Tucker smiled, leaning a bit more of his weight against Danny.

“You don’t strictly need to breathe, Danny. Choking isn’t gonna kill you for real.”

“Still! It’s the principle of the thing, boyfriends shouldn’t laugh at their boyfriend choking!” Danny asserted, his voice slightly higher pitched like it always was when he was teasing Tucker.

“Okay, I won’t laugh at you next time you choke on air.”

“Thank you- wait why are you assuming there’s gonna be a next time? I’m not gonna do it again-“

Tucker laughed again, cutting him off, “Danny, I love you, but I’ve seen you inhale too fast and choke on air at least once a month since you were five. It’s gonna happen again.”

Danny pouted, “Yeah, I know. And have you seriously been tracking that? Who am I kidding, of course you have.”

Tucker managed to avoid laughing again, though the effort required was frankly insane. The situation wasn’t even all that funny, he was just so happy to be here with Danny.

This may actually claim the spot of his favorite date they’ve been on, even topping their first date. He usually counted that as his favorite because it had been the first time he’d gotten to kiss Danny.

Stargazing and seeing his boyfriend so happy and relaxed? It might just be one of the best  sights Tucker had ever seen.

A flash of light caught his eye, and he looked up, Danny doing the same. A streak of light blazed across the night sky, while galaxies and stars shimmered behind it.

“A shooting star! We should make a wi- uh, we should ask it for something!” Danny said, his voice full of joy.

Tucker chuckled at the almost-slip, before saying “I’m gonna ask it for more nights like this.”

Danny smiled.

“Yeah, me too.”

Tucker watched as the star traced a path across the sky, held his boyfriend, and knew that this was as close to a perfect night as he was ever going to get.

The only thing that could make it better would be if there wasn’t a lingering worry at the back of his mind that this could be the last time Danny was this relaxed. If there was some way that Tucker could fight alongside him.

But the only way he knew how to do that was painful, and it would destroy Danny if Tucker tried.

He’d just have to settle for nights like this, almost-perfect.

***

Nocturn watched the halfa and his human from the shadows as they sat on the forest floor, gazing up at the sky.

He could understand the halfa’s, Danny’s, fascination with it. It was a lovely view, similar to the dreams he himself called home.

The two boys in front of him had some very interesting dreams, dreams that appealed to Nocturn.

As well as some very interesting nightmares.

The human, Tucker, had nightmares that Danny would not come back from a fight, that he would not be able to protect him.

He worried that Danny was lonely, as the only halfa they knew. He dreamed of alleviating that loneliness.

And Danny was lonely, his dreams reflecting a desire for others like him.

But he could not wish that pain upon anyone, the idea of Tucker being the one in the portal featuring prominently in his nightmares, as well as Tucker getting injured due to a lack of ghostly abilities.

An intriguing dilemma, and one that caused Danny a great deal of stress.

One that Nocturn knew how to resolve, as well.

It was not all that hard to create liminality in a liminal world, after all.

***

Tucker blinked, rubbing at his eyes when blinking didn't work.

He…wasn’t awake, he didn’t think. But he didn’t feel like he was asleep, either. Maybe he was lucid dreaming? Sam had talked about that a while back. He’d never had it happen before, but it wasn’t too weird, right?

The landscape around him was strange, stars and swirling colors of galaxies seeming both close enough to touch and far enough away that he could barely see them. Static sparked in the corners of his vision, and it almost looked like the sky was glitching. Also, he wasn’t actually standing on anything.

Which, was a really weird feeling. There was something solid under his feet, he wasn’t floating. But when he looked down, there was just a deep purple void beneath him.

He took a step, feeling his foot leave the solidness, before stepping back down on it. He still couldn’t see it though, and it also- moved?- in the moments between him picking up his foot and setting it down. He’d shifted a bit to the right, the stars moving for a moment.

It was enough to make him feel dizzy, but weirdly, he didn’t.

This place was wack, Tucker did not like it here.

The stars and galaxies were pretty and all, but they were more Danny’s thing than his. He loved to listen to his boyfriend talk about them, though. 

Tucker looked down and grimaced. He was not a fan of not being able to see the ground. This entire place was strange as heck.

He glanced around again, seeing abstract shapes wobbling in the distance, shifting in color and size as he watched. Again, really weird.

Okay, if he was lucid dreaming, he should be able to like, move stuff right? Or make stuff? He was wearing his signature sweater and beanie, but he didn’t have his PDA, so.

He concentrated for a moment, but his beloved PDA did not appear in his hand.

Not lucid dreaming then. Or he was just bad at it. But Tucker was pretty sure it was the first one.

So, if he wasn’t lucid dreaming, what was this?

He turned, blinking again. That…had not been there before.

There was some sort of green glow off in the distance, or maybe only a few dozen feet away, it really was hard to tell, but there was definitely something there.

The fact that it was green pointed to this being a ghost, which would be weird. Most of them just went straight to attacking Danny, and Tucker couldn't think of a reason why one of them would go after him, or bring him to wherever this was, instead of just, y’know, fighting him.

Still, there wasn’t exactly anything else in this place, besides whatever those shapes were. Also, if it was a ghost, and it had brought him here, it probably knew how to get him out.

He was going to be very annoyed if it did not know how to get him out.

Tucker started to walk towards the glow, before-

Something slammed into his side, knocking him over.

He bounced slightly against whatever was making up the ground, letting out a sharp exhale as the wind was knocked out of him.

“Crap, sorry, I didn’t realize how hard I was gonna hit you, you okay?”

Tucker opened his eyes, looking up at Danny’s face.

“Dude, that hurt.”

Danny winced “I know, sorry. I was just really relieved to see you and I didn’t think about the fact that you were walking and definitely did not have time to brace yourself.”

Tucker sat up, Danny kneeling next to him.

“I’m okay, but- Hey wait. How are you here, isn’t this supposed to be my dream, or something like that? Are you just like, a figment of my imagination? Cause it’s kind of pathetic that my brain decided to have my boyfriend bowl me over-“

Danny cut him off with a frantic wave of his hands “Nope, I’m real! Definitely not your imagination, though I’m pretty sure this is my dream? Or our dream I guess, since we’re both here.”

“Our dream? How would that even work?” Tucker said, before he realized something. “Is this a new power? Cause if this is a new power that’s cool as heck-“

Danny shook his head, cutting off Tucker’s sentence “Not a new power, I don’t think. I’m pretty sure I’m not in control.”

“That doesn’t sound good.” Tucker pointed out.

“Yeah. I know.”

They sat there for a moment, before Tucker pushed himself to his feet. He looked over, seeing that the green glow was still there.

“Hey, before you showed up, I was heading towards that.” He said, pointing towards the glow.

Danny glanced over, the corners of his mouth turned down.

“This is some new ghost trying to mess with me, isn’t it?”

Tucker shrugged.

Danny sighed as he stood up.

“Let’s go see what they want. And kick their ass for interrupting our sleep.”

He grabbed Tucker’s hand, before pulling him towards the green glow. He went along with his boyfriend easily, of course. He knew Danny would make sure neither of them got hurt.

Well, hopefully Danny would make sure to keep himself safe, and not just Tucker. Tucker worried, sometimes, that Danny didn’t value himself enough. That he considered his pain not to matter.

Tucker hoped he was wrong about it.

It took a few minutes for the two of them to get close enough to the glow to see what it was.

It was a ghost, like Tucker had guessed. Their body was covered in some sort of starry fabric, covering every inch except for their head. The horns curled on top of their head added to their intimidating look, while the tranquil expression seemed to be at odds with the rest of their features.

All in all, definitely a ‘weird’ ghost, as far as Tucker was concerned. Most of the ghosts that had come to bother Danny or fight him had at least a mildly human appearance, instead of bordering it like this new one did.

Danny drew himself up, before calling out, “Hey! What’re you doing?”

Tucker resisted the urge to pull Danny behind him. Or to hide behind Danny. Neither would be particularly helpful.

The ghost focused on them, their face curling into a smile.

“I am simply waiting, Danny.” The ghost said, their voice melodic and deep.  

“For what?”

“Why, for the two of you to arrive, of course.”

Before Danny or Tucker could react, the world shifted, and suddenly they were directly in front of the ghost. They hadn’t moved, exactly, the world around them had.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Nocturn, and I believe that I can be of help to you.”

Tucker looked at him warily, cautious and unwilling to let this ghost out of his sight. Could not say he was a fan of a random ghost offering to ‘help’ them. That sounded a lot like what Spectra said, before she started trying to drain people’s emotions.

Danny stiffened at his side, squeezing Tucker’s hand, and he knew that his boyfriend was thinking the same thing.

“Yeah, no. The last ghost that said that tried to kill me.” Danny said, a scowl visible on his face in Tucker’s peripheral vision.

He wasn’t taking his eyes off Nocturn until they were out of here.

Nocturn made a sound, one that could almost be called a laugh if it wasn’t for the slightly off way that it caught and stuttered on the way out.

“My goal is not to kill you, Danny. The opposite, in fact.”

Tucker scowled. There weren’t exactly a lot of things ghosts wanted from Danny that didn’t end in a fight. If Nocturn wanted Danny to do something stupid or dangerous, he was going to have to go through Tucker.

“Yeah? What do you want him to do, then?” He asked, anger in his voice. He wasn’t going to let this ghost try to manipulate Danny.

Nocturn laughed, a real one this time. It was vaguely unsettling.

“The more relevant question, ‘What does he want me to do?’”

Tucker blinked at the cryptic answer, his expression dropping into confusion for a moment. Danny had gone still next to him, studying Nocturn.

“Are you saying that your ‘help’ wouldn’t need anything from me?” Danny asked, suspicion in his voice.

Nocturn tilted his head “Of course not.. My help would be in service of something you yourself wish for,,”

Tucker and Danny both tensed. When nothing happened, they both let out a breath of relief. Desiree had not been a fun fight to deal with.

Nocturn continued, ignoring or oblivious to their momentary tension.

“After all, your very dreams give away what you desire.”

Danny flinched, shifting Tucker's focus to him in alarm.

“Danny, are you-“

“Just because I dream about it doesn’t mean it should happen.” He said, cutting Tucker off with a hard voice, a glare directed at Nocturn.

Nocturn shook his head, a smile on his face “I do not mean your nightmares, Danny. I refer to the others, the pleasant ones.”

Tucker watched as his boyfriend blinked, before looking at Nocturn with an expression altogether opposite what it had been a moment before.

He looked…hopeful.

“There are others?” He asked, something fragile about his voice.

It hit Tucker, then, that this was about how lonely Danny was. He’d noticed it, of course he had, but there was nothing they could do about it, short of trying to recreate the portal accident. And believe him, neither of them wanted that.

But if Nocturn knew about other halfas, maybe. Maybe they could get him to bring them here, or to tell Danny where they were.

“I did not say that.” Nocturn said, making Tucker want to punch him.

Danny’s face fell, and Tucker’s desire to punch the tall ghost increased by at least double. He squeezed Danny’s hand, trying to offer some comfort.

Danny took a breath, seemingly gaining some confidence “Why even say that, then? Why even offer to- to make my dreams come true?”

Nocturn didn’t answer Danny’s question. Instead, he looked to Tucker.

“And what of your dreams? So perfect, so well-suited.”

Tucker felt his skin crawl at the way the ghost was looking at him. Like a pawn, like a specimen.

This was definitely one of those ghosts who considered humans below their notice. He wasn’t even sure why the guy was talking to him in the first place.

“Yeah, I’m just gonna go ahead and pass up anything you’d give me, thanks.” He said, a bit of bitterness in his voice.

Plenty of his dreams were just to have power. Power which he probably should not have.

There were also the ones that centered around Danny, and caring for him, but Tucker doubted Nocturn was talking about those.

Nocturn tilted his head, the exact same way he had a few minutes earlier.

“Even if the dream align with Danny’s own?”

Something like fear, with surprise mixed in, bolted through Tucker’s mind.

What-

That wasn’t possible. That Danny could have the same dreams as him, or that-

Or that Nocturn could make any of those dreams come true.

Danny squeezed Tucker’s hand, and he looked over to see his boyfriend with a slight smile on his face.

Tucker took a deep breath. It was fine, they’d dealt with ghosts like this before. Well, not like this, exactly, but they’d dealt with ghosts before. It would be okay.

Nocturn looked at them with an expression Tucker couldn’t even hope to understand, before continuing “You both dream of Tucker becoming a halfa.”

Tucker’s mouth dropped open, and he looked over to see the same expression of surprise on Danny’s face. They- that wasn’t-

Tucker closed his mouth, swallowing. He looked back to Nocturn.

“That isn’t possible, even if- even if we both- yeah. It’s not happening.”

He glanced over at Danny, worried about his reaction. But all there was on Danny’s face was a sort of resigned acceptance, and agreement.

Somehow, that made Tucker feel worse. He’d only stated a fact, but it wasn’t a fact that either of them liked.

“If you will remember, I have already stated that it is possible. And I will help you achieve it.” Nocturn said, looking at them with an almost bored expression. Almost. His eyes were too focused on Danny for it to be real.

Danny squeezed Tucker’s hand again, before letting go. He stepped in front of Tucker, putting himself between Nocturn and him.

“I’m not going to let you hurt him.” Danny said, his voice flat yet full of anger.

Tucker startled. He was so focused on the impossibility of him becoming a halfa, even if he wanted to, that he hadn’t considered the part where it could be taken as a threat against his life.

Nocturn laughed.

“I will not  hurt either of you, Danny. The process would not leave lasting harm on him.”

“That doesn’t exactly sound great, dude.” Tucker chimed in, pushing past Danny so they were once again standing shoulder to shoulder.

He grabbed Danny’s hand again, ignoring the slightly annoyed look his boyfriend gave him.

He’d just have to deal, Tucker wasn’t leaving him to chat with the insane ghost by himself.

Nocturn shrugged, the causal motion extremely weird to see on the ghost. He didn’t have shoulders, exactly, so it was more like his entire torso tilted up for a moment, before settling back down.

“It is not harm that would last longer than a day. It would not affect you in death, or half-death.”

“But it would hurt him?” Danny asked, his voice conveying just how much that was not allowed.

Nocturn looked at him for a moment “It would not hurt, Danny. Merely harm. Becoming a halfa is not an easy process.”

He looked a moment longer, before softening slightly, his eyes gaining a spark of empathy that had been absent so far.

“It would not be like your own transformation.”

Danny inhaled sharply, causing Tucker to squeeze his hand.

“And this would work?” Tucker asked, pushing down the hope that wanted to spill out in his voice.

He couldn’t believe they were considering this. When had they started considering this?

Nocturn nodded “Yes, it would. This realm,” He swept a hand around himself, gesturing to the landscape around them, “is one where the normal rules do not apply. It is a realm governed by myself and the logic of dreams.”

“So this is a dream.” Tucker said.

“Yes, of a sort. Though it is not a ‘normal’ dream, as you would say. Nor are you dreaming.” Nocturn explained.

Tucker looked at him for a moment “That doesn’t even make sense.”

“Yeah, how can we be here if we aren’t dreaming?” Danny added, finally recovered from the mention of the portal accident.

Nocturn waved a hand in front of himself. “This realm is a dream, my dream. I have just pulled the two of you into it for the purposes of this deal.”

At the mention of the deal, Tucker realized something.

“Wait. What do you want in return? You never said.” He asked, narrowing his eyes.

Even if this ghost could actually turn him into a halfa, Tucker wasn’t stupid enough to fall for another trick like Desiree’s, where everything you gained was twisted around into a bad thing.

If Nocturn asked for something unreasonable, he’d refuse.

Even if there was a pang in his heart at the idea of doing so, of leaving Danny alone.

Nocturn smiled. “It’s simple. All I ask is for Danny to become my apprentice.”

Tucker blinked, before looking over at Danny. He looked just as confused as Tucker felt.

“So, you don’t want me to like, destroy something or kill someone? Or let you do it?” Danny asked, confusion clear in his voice.

“Of course not, Danny. All I ask is for you to learn, and help me in small tasks associated with my duties. Nothing so violent.”

Danny turned to Tucker, looking at him intensely for a moment, before turning to Nocturn.

“Can we- have a minute? To talk about it.”

Nocturn inclined his head, before disappearing.

Tucker immediately turned to Danny.

“You can’t seriously be considering this. There’s no way the apprentice thing isn’t a trap-“

“I know, but- Tuck, if he’s telling the truth-“ Danny looked at him pleadingly, before continuing “If he’s telling the truth, you could be a halfa.”

Tucker sighed. “Yeah. I could.”

They looked at each for a moment, their hands clutching each other.

“You could always kick his ass, if he’s lying.” Tucker said, slight hesitance in his voice.

Danny grinned. “Yeah, and I don’t think he’d try to get me to officially ‘become his apprentice’ or whatever until his end of the deal was complete. I wouldn’t do it before then.”

Tucker smiled back. “Yeah, so if he turns out to be full of it, you won’t owe him anything. And- and we could try.”

“We could try.” Danny repeated, looking down at their joined hands with something like wonder.

Tucker took a deep breath. “I could be a halfa. I’m going to be a halfa.”

There was a chance Nocturn was lying, but he seemed pretty confident he could do it. Tucker couldn’t help but think that it was going to work.

Danny looked back at him, “You are.”

He leaned in, kissing Tucker, who smiled into the short kiss.

Danny pulled back, an expression full of love on his face.

“Let’s do this.” Tucker said.

Danny nodded, grinning, before turning slightly away from Tucker, though not letting go of his hand.

“I can probably just yell for him, right? He said this was his realm or whatever.” Danny asked.

Tucker shrugged “Probably? That or he’ll show up eventually, it’s not like he’s gonna leave us running around in here.”

Danny nodded, before yelling, “Nocturn! We’re done talking!”

There was a shift in the air, and then Nocturn was standing in front of them.

“So? What is your decision?” Nocturn asked, his red eyes slightly narrowed.

“We’re doing it.” Tucker said.

“I’ll become your apprentice, after Tucker’s a halfa.” Danny added.

Nocturn smiled, before holding out a hand. Green flames filled it, those same green flames racing down to the ground and circling Danny and Tucker.

“Would you like to make a Deal?” Nocturn asked, power heavy in his voice.

Tucker squeezed Danny’s hand, feeling a squeeze back, then reaching his free hand to Nocturn’s, Danny doing the same.

The two of them grasped it at the same moment, and the green flames swirled onto their arms. They were cold, almost freezing, as they settled into Tucker’s skin.

He looked at his arm, the green tinge left there by the flames fading as he watched.

Tucker let go, Danny doing the same.

“So, what happens now-?” Tucker asked, before being interrupted by a portal opening under his feet.

His hand was torn away from Danny’s as he fell.

“Tucker-!”

The last thing he saw was Danny’s panicked face, before the portal closed above him.

***

Tucker landed on the ground with a thud, and groaned. A little warning would’ve been nice. Especially for Danny, he hoped his boyfriend wasn’t killing Nocturn right now-

He blinked, seeing trees above him.

He was in a forest, trees stretching up towards a night sky, one unnaturally bright with stars. There was also solid ground, that he could see, covered in softly glowing leaves.

Huh. When Nocturn had said becoming a halfa was gonna ‘harm’ him, he had been expecting the portal to drop into a vat of fire or something.

Or, like, the void of space. One of those.

Either seemed like they fit with Nocturn’s whole deal.

Tucker stood up, looking around at the small clearing he was in again. There was a path leading deeper, or at least he assumed it was deeper, into the forest. The path was wavering slightly as he looked at it, almost like pavement when it was hot out.

He grimaced. Then again, a shifting, dream-like forest also fit with Nocturn’s whole deal.

Hopefully it wouldn’t be too hard to navigate.

Hopefully.

He sighed, before starting down the path.

At least there didn’t seem to be anything else here, other than the plants.

Tucker wasn’t sure what he’d do if there were any ghosts here, considering he didn’t have any of his tech, and wasn’t a halfa. Yet.

This still seemed too good to be true, a dream. But that was exactly what it was.

And it was still real, still happening.

He was going to be a halfa.

Danny wasn’t going to be alone.

Tucker couldn’t help but smile to himself, before flinching as he walked directly into a branch.

A branch that had not been there a moment earlier.

He took a step back, watching as the branch swung back up into the canopy, the bright glow of the leaves disappearing into the shadows.

“Okay, not normal plants then.” He muttered aloud. He’d known that, obviously, but he hadn’t realized they were going to try to mess with him.

And he was pretty sure the branch had just been messing with him, considering all it’d done was smack him in the face.

Tucker groaned as he started to walk again.

Great, mildly sentient ghost plants that wanted to prank him. Just what he needed.

At least it wasn’t actual ghosts.

And at least the ‘trial’ so far had just been walking.

Tucker blinked, before frowning.

Wait, actually, how long had he been walking for? It can’t have been more than a few minutes-

He glanced behind himself, seeing nothing but forest. The path he had been following had been disappearing behind him, apparently.

He turned, but-

The path in front of him was gone too. There were only trees, the ground covered in glowing leaves that had fallen from the canopy above.

Tucker squinted, seeing what looked like another clearing. He could see a bit of uncovered ground, at least.

He started to pick his way through the fallen leaves, stepping carefully. He was determined not to trip on something hidden under the leaves and fall flat on his face. That would be really embarrassing, even if no one was here to see him.

Thankfully, he managed to avoid any tree roots or hidden vines as he walked to the clearing, stepping into it.

It wasn’t exactly a clearing, more an area where the leaves had been cleared away by something.

If Tucker had to guess, that something was the small bushes that encircled the area. They were softly pulsing as he watched, the purple leaves shaped like cones that expanded and deflated.

The plants also had small berries on them, star-shaped and bright, ectoplasmic green.

Tucker stepped cautiously into the center of the ring of bushes, but nothing happened. Guess they either didn’t care, or could only mess with leaves. He wasn’t actually sure how they would’ve moved the leaves, figuring out plants was really more Sam’s thing.

He glanced at the berries again. His stomach growled. He was starting to get hungry, for whatever reason. Wasn’t this supposed to be a dream?

Tucker’s eyebrows drew together. Well, actually, Nocturn hadn’t said whether where he was sending Tucker was a dream, had he?

So, this could just be a weird bit of the Ghost Zone. Or something different that Nocturn had created.

Whatever, either way Tucker was getting hungry. And in the absence of a Nasty Burger, or any kind of meat, he wasn’t picky, the only thing he could eat was the strange berries.

In any other situation, he wouldn’t do it. Eating food contaminated with ectoplasm was a very bad idea, if you weren’t Danny. But that was exactly the point. The whole reason he was wandering this forest was to become a halfa, to become like Danny. It really couldn’t hurt him to eat them at this point, right?

Tucker reached out, plucking a few berries off the bush. They didn’t glow, exactly, instead being such a bright shade of green that it seemed like they should.

Tucker looked at them for a moment, before shrugging and eating the entire handful at once.

Which was probably a bad idea, actually.

Considering the cold burning that was running down his throat now, tingling and scratching at his flesh.

The berries didn’t even taste good, metal and something sharp on his tongue.

Tucker coughed, trying to- do something, about the pain in his throat. It did not work.

It wasn’t unbearable, or anything, just uncomfortable.

He coughed again, a reflex this time. It almost felt like there was something stuck in his throat, even though he was pretty sure there wasn’t.

At least he wasn’t hungry anymore. Though, that was weird too. He’d only eaten a handful of berries.

Tucker sighed, before turning to walk away from the bushes. Whatever, it was weird ghost food anyway. Why should he expect it to be normal?

He did regret eating it, though. At least a little bit. The burning in his throat did not appear to be going away.

The forest around him was still thick, with no hint of an end. Tucker still couldn’t tell how long he’d been walking for. The sky didn’t change at all in the past few- minutes? Hours? However long it had been. It probably wasn’t going to change, and he didn’t have a watch either, so he had no clue how to figure out the time.

He’d never been the best at time, honestly. There had been more than one time that he had gotten completely wrapped up in a project or game and lost all sense of time until his parents came to drag him out of his room for dinner. There was also the sheer number of times he’d been late for things before he’d started setting alarms on his PDA to make sure he made it on time-

Tucker shivered suddenly. It wasn’t cold, the forest had been the same temperature this entire time, a bit warm.

He felt like something was watching him. He hadn’t seen anything, but the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up, and he could almost-

A small puff of steam left his mouth, and Tucker froze. What the-

That- That was just like what happened with Danny’s ghost sense.

It was working. It was actually working.

Tucker couldn’t help but laugh aloud, a smile overtaking his face. It was working, he had a ghost sense-

Wait.

That meant that the thing watching him was a ghost-

And he didn’t have any other ghost powers yet.

Tucker looked around, seeing nothing, but-

Better to be safe.

He broke into a run, hoping that the forest would prove just as confusing for whatever ghost as it had for him.

Assuming it wasn’t Nocturn.

Oh.

Tucker stopped running, suddenly feeling very stupid. He wasn’t in the Ghost Zone, not really. Which meant it was almost definitely Nocturn keeping an eye on him.

Tucker sighed, before starting to walk again.

***

This place was horrible and Tucker hated it.

He was sure that it was looping back around on him at this point. He’d seen the berry bushes at least eight more times.

He didn’t exactly want more pain piled on top of his burning throat, so he hadn’t eaten any more berries.

Despite the fact that he was definitely hungry again. And the part where they were probably the reason he had a ghost sense.

He still had no clue how long he’d been here.

It could’ve been ten minutes, or three days. There was no way of telling, not when all that ever seemed to happen was him getting hungry, and the forest looping around.

Tucker sighed as he walked past the berry bushes again. Still exactly the same-

He yelped as a vine grabbed his ankles, pulling him off his feet. Okay, not the same-!

Tucker flailed, trying to get the vine to drop him. When that didn’t work, he resorted to attempting to pull himself up enough to tear them off.

The reason this was a last resort was due to his very bad core strength, since he didn’t actually want to do sit-ups in gym and avoided it like the plague.

He grabbed at the vine, just barely managing to get a hold of the tendril furthest up his leg before gravity brought his torso back down. Luckily, the vine came with him, and he dropped to the ground with a thud.

Tucker groaned. That had hurt. That had hurt a lot. He’d managed to hit his head, as well as get the wind knocked out of him.

Just add it to the pain in his throat, whatever. At least he wasn’t still being held captive by the vine.

He sat up, flinching as he did so. His back was not happy with him. A sharp, stinging pain in his legs caught his attention next. There were long cuts down his legs, in swirling patterns like the vine had burnt them into him. Ectoplasm was oozing around, and into, the cuts.

Tucker frowned. On one hand, that was probably bad. On the other hand, it was also probably good.

He had to assume this was part of whatever plan Nocturn had, so it would turn out fine. Right?

He stood up, wincing as he put weight on his legs. The cuts bled more, and he mourned the loss of these pants. He liked them a lot before they got cut up and covered in blood.

Wait, if this was a dream, or something, maybe his actual pants were fine?

Tucker shook his head, before starting to walk again. Yeah, the chances these weren’t actually destroyed was low. He sorta doubted Nocturn had gone through the effort of copying their clothes, and had actually just put the real ones on them somehow. Which, weird, but ultimately Tucker didn’t care, considering it barely even ranked in terms of ghost weirdness they’d had to deal with since the portal opened.

He passed by the berry bushes again and frowned.

That was quicker than it had been looping before.

It was speeding up.

And his legs were really starting to hurt now-

Tucker froze as he looked down at his legs.

There was a green color spreading out from the cuts on his legs. Not the color of ectoplasm, it wasn’t the ectoplasm mixing with his blood-

He reached down, trying frantically to wipe it off. It did not come off.

The green was- in his skin, it was his skin.

His skin was turning green.

What the actual-

Tucker took a breath, before blowing it out all at once.

This had better be more weirdness from this place and not something permanent, because it was not going to be a fun time trying to hide this from his parents.

Also, he would seriously hate it if his legs were permanently green-

He looked down at his legs again, and realized something.

The green spreading from the cuts was the exact same shade as his now-ruined pants. This was definitely weird ghost stuff.

Tucker blinked, his eyebrows drawing together. Huh.

Now that he thought about it, and this was happening, he was going to be wearing this outfit for, well, functionally forever, yeah? Danny was stuck in the jumpsuit he’d been wearing when he- when the accident happened.

It was a good thing Tucker liked this outfit, then. He remembered how annoyed Danny had been in the beginning, that he didn’t get to choose.

It also meant that the pants weren’t actually ruined, so that was super cool.

Tucker shook his head, before walking forward again. His legs still hurt, but honestly? He just wanted to get this over with, at this point.

A puff of steam left his mouth again, and Tucker sighed.

Was Nocturn seriously just going to watch him this whole time? That had to be what was going on, why else would his new ghost sense keep going off?

Whatever, he didn’t actually care.

He just wanted to finish this ‘trial’, so he could be a halfa, and get back to Danny.

He just had to keep moving forward.

It had been either a few hours, or a few days.

But he just had to keep moving.

***

Tucker had already thought about it a lot over the past few- however long it’s been, but seriously. This place sucked.

His legs were pretty much completely green now, and he was starting to wonder if they were going to turn into a ghost tail at some point, it would make sense-

The other thing was that his throat had stopped hurting, finally.

He was seriously starting to regret not making Nocturn tell them what the trial would be.

Tucker sighed. Even if they had insisted, he kinda doubted Nocturn would’ve caved.

He just hoped that it hadn’t actually been a few days. He was pretty sure wherever this was had weird time, so he wasn’t worried about his parents or anything-

But Danny was also here, or somewhere close to it. And he was waiting on Tucker.

He really hoped he hadn’t freaked out his boyfriend too much.

Though, if he had, it was definitely Nocturn’s fault, considering he’d opened the portal without even saying anything, and also hadn’t told them about how long this would take.

Tucker didn’t even know for sure how long it would take, or was taking, but he would bet Nocturn did.

Unless Tucker was doing something wrong-

Tucker grimaced, before shaking his head.

He really hoped he wasn’t doing anything wrong. It would absolutely kill him if he was.

He chuckled at the pun he’d just accidentally made. That was the point of this-

He blinked. That…had not been there a moment earlier.

In front of him was a small tree, one that only came up to about his waist. It was bending to the side, the weight of the large piece of fruit hanging off its branches too much for such a tiny thing to support.

The fruit itself was strange. It was glowing, and the colors on it swirled together as Tucker watched, yellow bleeding into orange into yellow. It was about the size of a pomegranate, though Tucker doubted the inside was the same, judging by the fact that the texture looked to be more like an apple than anything.

He glanced around, seeing that the berry bushes had disappeared from sight for the first time in a while. The forest had started looping fast enough that as soon as they disappeared from behind him, they were in front of him.

His ghost sense went off again, and Tucker shook his head. Yeah, yeah, he’d hurry up.

He had to assume that’s why Nocturn kept showing up, to check on how long it was going to take.

Tucker looked back to the fruit.

He was still hungry.

And something about this felt final, like he'd be done after this.

And he really wanted to be done.

He wanted to be a halfa, and to see his boyfriend. He wanted Danny to know, for sure, that he wasn’t the only one, that he'd have help from now on, that he wasn’t alone.

Tucker reached out, plucking the fruit off of the tree. It sprung up, the weight of the fruit gone.

He ran his fingers over the skin of the fruit. He’d been right, it felt like an apple.

Which meant he was probably supposed to eat it like one.

Tucker shrugged slightly, before biting into the fruit.

Oh, that was a weird taste.

It was good, though?

Mostly.

He continued eating the fruit.

It didn’t actually taste much like fruit, actually, of any kind, except for if he was counting the overpowering sweetness that had come out of the first bite. What really made it weird was the tangy, metal, spicy aftertaste that became the main flavor the more he ate. Which, based on how Danny described it, Tucker would have to guess was ectoplasm.

It probably said something about how much Tucker had already been changed by his time in the forest that he actually thought it tasted good. The berries had tasted the same, kinda, and he hadn’t liked those-

Tucker doubled over as pain exploded in his chest. It felt like his ribcage was collapsing.

He groaned as his chest tightened, before loosening by degrees as-

As something settled in his chest.

That-

Tucker straightened up, the pain leaving as fast as it came.

He could feel something in his chest, pulsing. A ghost core?

He was pretty sure that was not how that was supposed to work.

But hey, he’d done it.

He looked around, seeing that nothing had changed.

He sighed.

Guess he had to keep walking.

Yay.

Tucker took a step forward, before-

He pitched forward, the ground disappearing under his feet.

He tumbled down into the sky, purple void and silver stars glittering around him as he fell.

Below him, there was nothing, just more empty space and galaxies in the distance. It was an eternity of nothingness.

He really hoped this hadn’t been a trick by Nocturn. He was pretty sure it wasn’t, but still.

Tucker closed his eyes, the constant spinning making him dizzy.

He could feel the- core, apparently, in his chest humming as he did, something spreading out from it, a heat and light flashing in front of his face, visible even through his closed eyelids.

Tucker felt it as he passed out, still falling through the void of space.

***

“Tucker? Tuck, c’mon-“

Tucker blinked open his eyes, seeing Danny’s face hovering above him. Literally, considering his boyfriend was in ghost form and was floating.

Danny grinned “Tuck, it worked-!”

Tucker frowned, what had-

White hair fell into the corner of his eyes, and Tucker froze.

Before grinning just as wide as Danny had been.

He sat up, feeling cold rock beneath him, and reached out to pull Danny into a hug.

“It worked, I’m a halfa!”

Danny laughed, hugging Tucker back just as hard “You are, you are-“

They stayed like that for a moment, before Tucker pulled back slightly. He glanced around, seeing that they were in the Ghost Zone, not Nocturn’s weird realm. Score.

“We should probably stand up-“

Danny grinned “Are you sure you mean that?”

Tucker glared lightly at him “Of course I do, what-“

He tried to move his legs under him, before realizing-

Oh. He had a ghost tail. He was in ghost form right now.

He knew from watching Danny that he could have legs, too, but he didn’t actually know how to do that right now.

So instead, he pushed himself up so he was hovering in the air. It was surprisingly easy to get the hang of, though he was betting that was cause they were in the Ghost Zone.

“Okay, I get what you meant now. Now c’mon, I want to-“ Tucker started to say, before Danny flew up to meet him, grabbing him in another hug.

The force of Danny’s hug pushed them off the tiny island, leaving the two floating in the endless space of the Ghost Zone, which Tucker really didn’t mind. His boyfriend was curled around him, their tails twining together. It was perfect, honestly.

“I was so worried, especially with the vines, but you did it! You’re okay!” Danny said, his tail squeezing Tucker.

“I am, I- Wait. You were the ghost watching me? I thought it was Nocturn!” Tucker exclaimed, a smile on his face.

Of course it had been Danny. He would’ve wanted to make sure everything would be okay, and that Tucker wouldn’t get hurt.

Danny nodded. “I made Nocturn let me watch. He said I couldn’t do anything, or let you know I was there, but I was.”

Tucker felt his grin get bigger as he wrapped his arms around Danny, pulling him into his side.

“Thanks, Danny.”

Danny was smiling up at Tucker as he said, “I can’t believe you did this, I love you.”

Tucker reached up to hold Danny’s cheek. “I love you too.”

They stayed like that, relishing in each other and the fact that neither of them were alone.

“My end of the deal is completed.” Nocturn said, pulling Tucker out of the moment a bit. Not that much though, considering this was amazing.

Danny pulled back slightly from Tucker, turning his face towards Nocturn and waving him off.

“Yeah yeah, I’ll be your apprentice or whatever. Later though, right now I wanna hang out with my halfa boyfriend.”

Tucker laughed, feeling his chest warm at the reminder that he was a halfa now. He could help Danny, and he wouldn’t be alone-

Neither of them would be alone.

Nocturn sighed “Very well. I will return at a later time.”

Danny gave him a thumbs up, already turning back to Tucker.

Tucker barely noticed as Nocturn left, too focused on Danny’s face in front of him, a large grin across it.

“So, wanna see who can fly faster?”

Tucker grinned back, already uncoiling his tail from Danny’s.

“I bet it’s me!” He said, before taking off.

“No fair, that’s a head start-!” Danny called, already giving chase.

Tucker laughed, feeling free, feeling happy, feeling full of love.

Feeling like he would never be lonely again.

And neither would Danny.

[milchig-de]

Over the phone

Anton Ivanov x reader

Notes: you and Anton have sex over the phone. Reader has a dick, but is kept gender neutral. not proofread or edited. this is like. porn so minors stay out!

Dhkshs why are there like. almost no anton fics. why is he on my mind so MUCH ARGH

-CLUNK-

"Good job, Hans! Keep going. Put your robotic arms to good use, bro!", Anton yelled. They had just managed to put the machines back together after the incident with the Prototype and already put them back on the grind. The metro system won't renovate itself after all.

Hans yelled back "You got it bro! Just putting in the work, haha!"

"Be careful not to overdo it! Hans only just got repaired... It would be a shame if I had to take him apart again~"

At Grace's words a shudder ran across the machine. Anton sympathized with him. The thought of being taken apart didn't sit well with him either. But as long as it kept the machines on the right track, he let Grace say whatever she wanted. Not that he could've stopped her anyways.

The vibration of his phone interrupted his tboughts. Sneaking a glance at his display, he was delighted to find out you were calling him- although you usually didn't call while he was at work. Worried something might have happened, he called out to Grace.

"I'll be right back, Gracie! Just got a call to take. Hans, you know what to do bro!"

"Got it, bro!"

Winking at him, Grace replied.

"Don't take too long flirting with your sweetheart~"

Waving her off and ignoring the way her words flustered him, he strutted to his makeshift office where the construction and machinery noises were significantly quieter. Thankful you waited on the line, he picked up your call.

"Hey babe, what's up?"

Only heavy breathing responded. Were you hurt? Running away from someone?

"Darling? Can you talk?"

A moan responded him. For a second he misconstrued it as a moan of pain, but then you finally began to speak.

"Antonnnn..... I miss you so, ngh, so much..... Wish you were here right now..... Mmmnnngh.... "

It was then that he also recognized the distinct wet noises in the background. He swallowed hard.

"Babe... can you tell me what you're doing right now?"

"Hmm.... I'm jerking off right now... Imagining it's your hand that's squeezing my dick right now... Rubbing your thumb into my slit.... Ah, I'm oozing so much...."

Anton felt his blood rushing to his cock. Any plans he had to hang up after you told him why you called him went out the window at your response. Instead he checked he had the door closed properly and leaned against it, ensuring it wouldn't open without him noticing. Then, he carefully reached down to palm his own crotch.

"Couldn't you wait for me to come home? You know I can't really take calls at work..."

You let out a chuckle.

"You've been coming home so late Anton... I just couldn't wait anymore... Mmph... Plus from what I'm hearing on my end, you're not faring much better than me..."

It was true. While you were talking, Anton had snuck his hand into his boxers and was gently stroking his cock in his underwear. His breathing had picked up and he was occasionally letting out small grunts.

"Fine, I admit defeat... But how could I possibly resist when you just sound so hot..."

"Hehehe... You know Anton... I've been craving to touch you again... Those tits of yours must be calling for me~ I've been wanting to suck on them and knead them so much these past few weeks... You always moan so deliciously... Ahhh..."

"Oh babe..."

"I just wish you were here now... I'd suck marks into your skin so everyone would know I fuck you the best... I'd press your dick against mine and cover both of them with lube... Wrap our hands around them and thrust into your dick and our hands... See which of us cums first... All the while I'd latch onto your nipple and suck so hard it'll be sore like your muscles are after a hard day of work~"

Anton groaned at your words. The scenes you were describing were vivid in his head. He picked up the speed of his strokes.

"Hahh... Tell me more please..."

"Since you asked so nicely~ I'll lick all over your entire body, cleaning any remaining sweat off of you... Then I'll slide down to kiss your cock... I'll first use my hands to jerk you off, paying special attentions to your glans... I'll tighten my grip especially there... Then I'll lean down to take the head of your dick in my mouth and I'll swirl my tongue around it before sucking on it lightly... When I've gotten used to feeling the weight of your cock in my mouth, I'll sink down to take you whole~"

At those words, Anton's face twisted in elation, hips bucking forward and moaning wildly. He kept gently stroking himself at your instructions, to properly ride out his high. This kept him twitching and groaning, overstimulating him slightly. His dick spurted out globs of cum, unfortunately staining his underwear. He was lucky his pants were white, so any stains that would print through weren't too visible.

He stood there for a moment in silence, breathing heavily. A few drops of sweat rolled down his face. Looking at the call time, it had only been a few minutes, yet it was already time to return to work. Luckily, he would manage to go the toilet to clean up at least some of the mess he made. Pulling his hand out of his pants he observed the cum that had stuck on his hand. He really had missed you as well...

"I'll be home early tonight babe. Get yourself ready, bro!"

"Don't worry, I already am! You just keep your promise~"

"Of course babe. See you tonight!"

"See you!"

Hanging up, you chuckled and turned on your back. This had been your goal from the moment you called him, though you weren't quite sure how to make him horny enough to want to come home quickly. But since he missed you as well, it had all worked out splendidly. You couldn't wait for his shift to end~

[hischierswhore]

FOR THE BETTER | chapter 3

✰ warnings: none!

✰ nat’s note: i know this lowkey sucks, but IN MY DEFENSE, i was sick. anyways the rest of this story will be continued through insta au’s so keep an eye out for those!!!!!

The morning after the gala, you woke up to a few notifications from Instagram. One in particular stood out to you, it being a message request from Dawson Mercer. Quickly accepting the request to see what he had said, you noticed almost immediately that his text was in regards to none other than Nico. 

“Hey Y/n. It’s Dawson, we met last night at the gala. I was told to ask because a certain someone noticed how well we clicked, but Nico wanted to know if he could have your number?”

Of course. Of-fucking-course. Of course the man who had taken up your entire headspace within only minutes of meeting him was asking for your number. 

“Hey! Yeah sure, go ahead!” Your reply was just a tad bit panicked, knowing your answer but not entirely sure how to come across as calm and collected. You hit send and set your phone back down, grabbing one of your pillows and covering your face in it. 

Moments passed as you screamed into your pillow when you suddenly heard a “ding!” come from your phone. Your anxiety peaked at the exact moment the device pinged. You were scared to turn it over. 

“Get a grip, Y/n” You mentally told yourself before you reached your shaking arm over to grab your phone. 

“Hey Y/n. It’s Nico. Wanted to see if you wanted to maybe hang out today. We didn’t get to talk much last night and I wanted to get to know you” 

Now this time you had a real reason to scream into your pillow. You let out the most blood-curling scream ever, causing both Jack & Luke to rush into your room. 

“What’s going on?” Your brothers let out, trying to catch their breaths from running across the apartment. 

“Oh nothing. I just got asked on a date, no big deal” You shrugged

“You WHAT?!” Jack let out, immediately losing any last ounce of sleep he had left in him. 

“Congrats Y/n/n! I’m proud” Luke smiled as he gave you a hug.

“Luke, you aren’t going to ask who it is??? You’re just going to let her be free like that????” Jack was completely astounded by Luke’s lack of care to the situation at hand.

 “Well no, she’s grown and I think she can make smart decisions for herself and pick a decent guy” Luke shrugged. 

“Okay well, you’re not nearly as nosey as I am. Give me a name, Y/n. Pleaseeeeeeeee!” Jack pleaded with you, desperate to know the details of your newly updated love life. You battled with the decision of whether or not to tell them the truth, that it was their captain. Eventually, the internal battle ended and you just told them straight up. 

“Ehm… don’t be mad but it’s Nico…” You looked down, afraid to see their reactions. It was silent for a few moments, you just knew they were gesturing to each other about your choice. After about a minute, you lifted your head and cracked your eye open, afraid to make eye contact with either of them. You unfortunately made eye contact with Jack, and he was just staring at you with his mouth agape. 

“Didn’t see that one coming, but I think you guys would be cute together” Luke softly spoke, being as gentle as possible before Jack could say how he felt. 

“I’m not completely opposed, but if he so much as hurts you, I will literally end him. I’m just afraid of you getting with someone again, especially after how the last one ended…” Jack trailed off, his emotions truly showing. 

“Well, I’m not going to rush into anything. I barely know the guy, we spoke like - max 5 words or something last night. I’m not desperate. And the last one ended because he was a cheating asshole. I'll be fine, Jack, I promise. If anything happens, you guys will be the first to know" You reassured him, knowing how your last relationship with one of his best friends deeply affected him.

✰ taglist ✰

@lovelynikol16 @ashloveshockey @slafgoalskybaby

[lakesbian]

and now for our Checking In With The Dallon Sisters poasting

Panacea shook her head, “Tattletale found a way around my sister’s invincibility. Glory Girl was bitten pretty badly, which is why I didn’t come sooner. I think it hits you harder, psychologically, when you’re pretty much invincible but you get hurt anyways. But we’re okay now. She’s healed but sulking. I- I’m alright. Bump on my head, but I’m okay.”

victoria is demonstrably having a bad time with the previously noted psychological pain of being forcibly reminded that, no matter how hard she tries, she will never be the spotless, invincible, perfect hero she wants to be. the bug bites suck obviously but the "sulking" After being healed is an indicator of where it really hurt--not just physically.

(amy's power reminds me of. do you guys know that one tumblr post about the concept of exploring the horror potential inherent to D&D-esque fantasy healers? like, the horror inherent to being perfectly, magically healed from horrifying injury a hundred times over, and being expected to just get up and keep fighting afterwards, without any regards to how your mental health is doing. that's exactly how amy's power functions: you're made physically better than ever, and expected to get back up and keep being a hero, but you still have the memory of the pain and the lingering psychological aftereffects. but, like, you're fine now, so you just need to get over it and go back to throwing yourself in the line of fire, okay?)

amy is also right off the bat clearly not doing so hot--she's acting very shy and withdrawn and unsure compared to both of her prior appearances. obviously that is due to the horror of some random villain going "btw, remember that you're ontologically an invader into the family you are trying to belong in!" but i think it's probably compounded by the fact that amy is so used to being treated either 1. like she's intrinsically awful/unwanted or 2. like she's only valuable/desirable as a resource by Everyone But Victoria that walking into a room of heroes w/o victoria by her side is always liable to make her insecure and withdrawn.

oh, and the burnout. obviously the severe fucking burnout.

“No, I hated that he would have a normal life, because I’d given up mine.  I was scared that I might intentionally make a mistake.  That I might let myself fuck up the procedure with this kid.  I could have killed him or ruined his life, but it would have eased the pressure.  Lowered expectations, you know?  Maybe it would have even lowered my own expectations for myself.  I… I was just so tired.  So exhausted.  I actually considered, for the briefest moment, abandoning a child to suffer or die.” “That sounds like more than just exhaustion,” Gallant replied, quietly. “Is this how it starts?  Is this the point I start becoming like my father, whoever he was?”

the "every second i rest, someone dies" conundrum would be nightmarish for her even if she had the healthiest social support net on the planet, but her circumstances make it infinitely worse. she's treated by everyone in her "family" but victoria like an invader, and even victoria has unintentionally stressed the importance of using her healing power in the way that the family wants (i.e. to cover up victoria's police brutality) in order to Be A Good Family Member. amy has internalized that being a good dallon is the same as being a good hero, and failing at being a dallon is the same as being overcome by her ontologically criminal roots. so she works herself to the bone, and when she inevitably starts to falter, she views it as an indicator of something intrinsically wrong with her rather than as a sign that her family + society's expectations for her are harmful and unfair.

and dean's advice for her only reinforces this further:

Gallant let out a slow breath, “I could say no, that you’re never going to be like your father. But I’d be lying. Any of us, all of us, we run the risk of finding our own way down that path. I can see the strain you’re experiencing, the stress. I’ve seen people snap because of less. So yeah. It’s possible.”

he suggests that she try to take a break, but only in the service of "so you can heal more people in the long run." he validates the idea that she could go "down that path," as if becoming a villain--becoming A Bad Person--is a risk all heroes have to fight against on an individual level, as opposed to criminality being a result of circumstance and not even inherently immoral. and of course dean thinks that way--he's a millionaire child soldier, his entire life is predicated on individualist thought with ignorance to the ways in which systematic factors impact people. acknowledging that amy is being horrifically mistreated would mean not only acknowledging the flaws in the PRT system, but acknowledging what might lead people to stray from it, and he simply can't do that. it goes counter to every idea that his life is built on.

he never even tells anyone that amy thought about letting a child die, or if he did, it didn't go anywhere. she was desperate for help all along, increasingly ready to explode, and everyone just ignored it. because as she says:

"My sister’s all I’ve got. The only person with no expectations, who knows me as a person. Carol never really wanted me.  Mark is clinically depressed, so as nice as he is, he’s too focused on himself to really be a dad. My aunt and uncle are sweet, but they’ve got their own problems. So it’s just me and Victoria. Has been almost from the beginning."

this is also where we see another more blatant sign of her crush on victoria--it's very ambiguous as to whether dean is interpreting amy's feelings towards him as meaning "wants to date me" or "jealous of me for dating victoria" but i think it's probably the former because there's no way he would keep his mouth shut if it was the latter, lmao. really what this scene is doing is introducing all of the stressors amy is experiencing that, because they're going unaddressed, because everyone else is refusing to address them and she has internalized that's how it should be, are going to boil over horrifically later on. that burnout and fear of accidentally-on-purpose making a mistake will lead to truly being unable to heal victoria later on. that sense of obligation, that if she can't keep healing she's turning into her father, will contribute to her being unable to just walk away from victoria instead of trying to heal her. her crush on victoria--the ultimate example of how her should-be family has ostracized her--will boil over in the impulsive brain alteration & the sexual nature of the wretch's design.

and all of this would've been avoidable if not for, as mentioned in the prior post abt this interlude, the dallons' and the PRT's enforcement of wallpapering over the kid heroes' pain to Keep Up The Show.

[drawingjester00]

A small sample of the DC x DP fic I'm working on. It's a Damian/Danny (Dead Serious) fic

Danny wonders why these things always happen to him. This was just supposed to be an end-of-year trip to Gotham. One week he didn't have to fight ghouls or deal with Vlad's fruitloopiness. The universe hated him. At least that's the only conclusion that makes sense.

It started at one of Gotham's museums. Everything was great. They were looking at old stuff and he was joking around with Tucker and Sam. Then his ghost sense went off because of course.

It wasn't a surprise to see a few ghosts come in and start wreaking havoc. How did they know where to find him? He quickly got his answer when he saw Vlad. Vlad grabbed a random kid and fled. Sam and Tucker reassured him they got the other ghost to go after Vlad.

Damian was ready to body slam this vampire-looking man. Who the hell was he and where did he come from? The man turned them both intangible, going through several walls before ending up in a mostly empty room. The man tied up his wrist and ankles but left him otherwise unrestrained. Damian was able to press the call button on his watch.

"Hey vampire, you're a long ways away from Transylvania." Damian snarked.

"I'm not a vampire you insolent brat."

Damian rolled his eyes, "Then maybe you shouldn't dress like one."

Vlad went to retort but was tackled by Danny flying through the wall. Damian would have been surprised if weird shit didn't happen to him on the daily but still he had to put on a performance.

Damian looked at the fighting pair deadpan, "oh wow gee looks like I'm in quite a jam."

By the time Vlad was sucked into the phantom thermos Damian had already freed himself. Danny looked at the kid bewildered.

"You know staring is rude."

Danny scoffed, "I wasn't staring. Who the hell are you? What did Vlad want with you?"

"I have no clue. You came in before his villainous monologue," Damian paused before snickering, "is his name really Vlad? Like Vlad the Impaler, the original Dracula."

Danny can't believe he hadn't made that connection himself. He couldn't help but laugh. Damian raised a brow.

When Danny calmed he looked at the kid, "So kid are you hurt?"

"I would think that's the first thing you would have checked for. I could have bled to death while you went hysterical."

"Since when did twelve-year-olds get so snarky."

"I'm not twelve! I'm sixteen!"

"But you're so small."

"You are only a few inches taller than me. I'm also still tall enough to kick your ass. Who are you anyway? Batman doesn't like metas in his city."

"A what now?"

"A meta," a big man stepped out from the darkness, "You okay Damian?"

"Yeah, hood. Is it just you?"

"For now, yes," Red Hood looked at Danny, "who are you kid and why are you in Gotham."

"I'm Phantom and I'm supposed to be on a school trip but one of my arch nemesis found me but I stopped him so I should get going."

"I should go back to Hood. I'm fine and I'm sure the ghost boy would be willing to bring me back."

"Uh yeah sure let's go." Danny flew off.

Red Hood lowered himself and whispered, "keep an eye on him. If you have a tracker, use it."

"I'm not an idiot. I was already planning on it."

Danny flew back into the room, "you coming?"

"Are you gonna walk 'cause I certainly can't fly or phase through walls."

"Oh yeah. Let me just, " Danny scooped Damian up in a bridal style, "there we go. You ready now?"

Red Hood snickered as Damian turned red, squawking at the poor kid holding him.

"Put me down! Don't manhandle me!"

"Sorry but this is the quickest way."

Danny rushed off. Damian scowled like an angry cat. Danny chuckled, causing the other to start another rant full of foul language. Finally, Danny landed. Sam and Tucker were there waiting.

Sam gave him a confused expression, "Why are you carrying the youngest Wayne."

"Who?"

"Me dumbass! Put me down!" Damian squirmed.

Danny set him down. Damian adjusted his expensive uniform muttering. Sam grabbed Danny by the ear and pulled him aside.

She whispered," What are you doing carrying the Wayne kid."

"Vlad had him. Plus I still don't know who Wayne is."

"Wayne as in Bruce Wayne, " Sam pinched the bridge of her nose as Danny stared at her blankly, "Wayne as in Wayne Tech Industries."

"Oh… ohhhh. So maybe Vlad had him for some rich guy reason."

"We should keep an eye on him. He is just some pampered rich kid."

Danny nodded and went back over. He was surprised to see the kid was still there. He shuffled uncomfortably, unsure what to do from here. What he didn't see coming was the quick peck to his cheek followed by a growled thank you. Moments later the kid was gone.

Tucker grinned, "look at you, Danny. You just get all the rich babes don't you?"

"It was just a hero kiss," Sam waved her hand in front of Danny's face, "you still there."

"Yeah yeah just wasn't expecting that."

"Go change and catch up with the class."

"Good idea."

That night Danny patrolled the city. Gotham was a whole different beast at night. It was still busy, the lights were bright and the people were completely unfazed. He decided to take a break in the park. Not even five minutes he was being dragged by a vine. Now he was upside down face to face with a pretty green skin lady.

"Whatcha got there?" The blonde lady next to her asked.

"I think this is the mystery meta that Red Hood was talking about."

"He's a cutie ain't he? What do you think we should do with him?"

"Interrogate. Why are you flying around our city?"

Danny gulped, "just making sure none of the ghosts from the attack earlier weren't causing more chaos."

"Responsible young man aren't ya."

"Look I don't want no trouble I have enough of that —"

"Ivy put him down," A boy came down from the tree tops dressed in a costume, "he hasn't done anything wrong yet."

Ivy hesitated but she dropped him. Danny landed with an oof.

"You spooky kid come here."

Danny hesitated but went over. The kid narrowed his eyes and clicked his tongue.

"Of course it's you. I heard about you," Damian walked over to Ivy, "I will deal with this," he gestures to Danny before putting his hands on his hips, "Isn't tonight date night?"

Harley smiles, "it sure is. Let's go Ives I think we can still make our dinner reservations."

Ivy grabbed Harley's hand, " be careful kiddo." She and Harley left the two vigilantes.

Damian went back over to Danny who just looked confused. So much happened in the past few minutes and he wasn't able to process it.

"You kid, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Uh patrolling."

"Gotham already has its team of heroes. We don't need you stirring the pot."

"I'm trying to help. I don't think Gotham's heroes know how to deal with ghosts."

"You don't know anything about Gotham."

"You know you're right. How do I know you're not a villain?"

"Because you would be in big trouble already. You're lucky those two are reformed."

"I guess you're part of Batman's crew although you're pretty short. I'm surprised the big bad Batman lets you out past curfew." Danny smirked.

Damian growled, "you better watch it, ghost boy."

"Oo did I strike a nerve."

Damian scowled and swung. Danny faked a yawn and went intangible. Damian ended up stumbling. He was quickly getting irritated. Damian tries to land a few more hits.

Danny laughed and pinched Damian's cheek, "so cute."

"I'm not cute. I'm gonna figure out what exactly you are and then I'm gonna kick your ass."

Before he could get another word in his ghost sense went off. It was the box ghost being annoying as fuck. Danny rolled his eyes before swiftly kicking his ass. Damian watched amused. Once the box ghost was away Danny was again at Damian's side.

"I didn't recognize that villain but you did adequately I guess."

"That's 'cause he is one of mine. He's a ghost."

"So you're both ghosts. Did you," Damian paused, "did you die?"

"Yeah, kinda I guess. I never thought about it that way."

"That is never easy."

"You say that like you have experienced dying."

Damian stayed quiet. Danny looked at him and was shocked. This boy had experienced death; his silence was answer enough. A million questions ran through his head but he shook his thoughts away and just hugged Damian.

"I don't know how that is possible but I'm not gonna question it."

Damian tense. It was weird the ghost boy felt so cold but it was comforting. Danny pulled away leaving a confused and blushing Damian. Damian was still standing there when Nightwing arrived.

[ilypaigebuckets]

Oh dear God I'm so sorry to hear that

I feel like I am the same as you, it's happened to me in two relationships so I'm sending you strength. And feel free to rant it's your fucking blog period!

i’m so sorry this has happened to you honestly it sucks. ok guys i’m gonna use this as my little rant so if you don’t wanna read this you can just ignore it!!

basically she texted me this morning and was like call me we need to talk and told me she had a whole other girlfriend. i was super upset and i was like so you’ve just been cheating on me like it’s nothing?? like what the heck?? and she’s like “oh well we’ve been having problems i didn’t know if we were still together” knowing damn well last night she told me she loved me and not to worry because we were going to work everything out bc we were both overthinking but we talked about it and we were fine. we were going to work things out and just be okay. but then i’m thinking now who is this girl?? and how long has she been around because no matter what timeline there is there had to have been cheating because we never broke up?? and i would love to say that i was simply just pissed and blocked her but i’m not that strong i guess because despite her doing that and all the shit she did in our relationship i cried and i begged her to say it was a joke i begged her to not do this and i feel so dumb. i don’t get why i let this happen to myself like i should’ve seen all the signs when she did other stuff that wasn’t healthy. im not saying im a perfect person and ive definitely messed up a lot too but idk this just hurts a lot and i just feel so pathetic for not leaving when i should’ve.

thankfully i got some sense and she was like “ill call you in 20. i wanna collect my emotions and give you closure” and i just blocked her bc i was like bitch the closure was you getting with another bitch that CLOSED our relationship! anyways do i make a hot tiktok thirst trap now or what☹️ sorry u had to listen to all this but i waited for her like a dog. i believed all the times she would change that she would. i let myself believe i was part of the problem and that i did this to us. LIKE??? KENZIE BRO WAKE UP THIS IS EMBARRASSING!! ahh thank u if u read this i love you

sorry i sound like so mentally unstable and this probably doesn’t even make any sense but this is just like wow like gosh i don’t even know what to say or what to feel i just feel like what the heck yk???