#and i was nodding along like 'yep that's how it works you have to analyze everything or you'll be ridiculed eventually'

[cat-madhouse]

I think

I think that me thinking I'm a compulsive manipulator for most of my "aware life" has something to do with the tism

[dhoranbolt]

You don't fool me

A/n: two thing- first this took me forever to write, I kept having to go back and scrap ideas 🥹 second, I did not know just how down bad I was for this man until I had to sit down and write this so.

Also friendly reminder- if your age isn't easily accessible on your profile I will not be tagging you! That said if you'd like a tag in future works let me know and I'll add you to the list!

bestie beta reader: @yukios-medic you are really the best ma'am I appreciate you so much 🥹💙💙💙

Pairing: Sukuna x fem!reader, Yuji pining

cw/tw: minors/ageless blogs DNI, all characters aged up, dub-con that becomes enthusiastic consent, unprotected sex, cream pie, fingering, oral sex (female receiving), oral sex (male receiving), rough sex, dirty talk, threats of killing

Word count: 5k (ish)

This wasn't the first time they'd been paired up and sent off to find and kill a curse, but it was the first time Yuji was weary of the whole thing. They were both strong, that wasn't an issue – he'd been on back-to-back missions for weeks and it was starting to take its toll, that was the issue.

Of course, it didn't help that whenever he was around her, Sukuna would become an even bigger pain in the ass (than he already was).

They'd been sent to a long-abandoned warehouse, falling apart as it was, and radiating with cursed energy. Yep, whatever it was they were after was definitely in here.

"Split up to cover more ground?" She suggested as she looked up at him, but he shook his head.

"We can probably exorcize it quicker if we come across it at the same time, we should just stick together for now." It was a simple enough explanation, not a hint of 'I'm pushing my limits just being here with you' or 'it's easier to know you're safe if you're by my side' detectable.

To her, at least. Yuji chooses to ignore the scoff that resonates in his head as they cautiously enter the building. They walk side-by-side down the hallway, ears and eyes analyzing every detail of their surroundings.

"Must be one pain in the ass curse to send the both of us. I can feel the cursed energy everywhere, I just can't tell exactly where the source is." She filled the silence, wringing her hands together nervously.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. It’s out there, but it's all about the same output. We'll just have to watch our backs." Yuji said with a nod.

"Hey, what do you think Nobara did when she found out Gojo canceled movie night to send us after this one? I can see her practically popping a vein." She laughed softly, moving around a stack of boxes to find any sign of their curse.

"Fushiguro is probably wishing it was you that got left behind right about now." Yuji guessed with a small chuckle, suppressing the thought that he might have wished for it, too. A faint gurgle sounded at the opposite end of the hall, cursed energy seeping into every corner of their bodies as it grew closer.

Yuji covered her mouth with his hand, keeping her scream muffled as he tugged her against his chest and pulled them into the shadows.

"Shh, I think I hear something." He murmurs, squinting in the darkness. He doesn't feel the mouth form on his hand, not until her lips are moving against his palm as she makes a noise.

She's gagging; trying to pry Yuji's hand off her face. And he's going to – until Sukuna's voice rings in his head.

'Pull away and I'll bite her tongue off. Try to keep her quiet while she's drowning in her own blood'

Yuji froze as Sukuna cackled, and she still struggled in his grip, now like iron to keep the curse from making good on his threat.

His name was muffled when she frantically tried to call it, but it only left her mouth open that much more for Sukuna to swipe his tongue along the inside.

If they could conceal their own cursed energy for just a second, then it would keep going on its path to the left of them, and probably wouldn't circle back around for a while. Yuji set his jaw, glaring up the hall as he spoke.

"Conceal your energy, then we'll deal with him. One curse at a time." The only confirmation she gave that she heard him was slightly loosening her grip on his arm.

The curse slunk away and Yuji held his breath, waiting to hear any sign of it coming back. When he was sure it wasn’t, he let out a sigh and threw his head back against the wall. Taking a moment to realize the situation they were still in he looked down at her.

He couldn’t see the blush in her cheeks, but he could feel the heat on his fingers. She shifted her body against his, letting out a whimper at the awkward kiss she was still locked in.

Yuji swallowed hard and took a deep breath. This was so not the time to be letting the sounds she was making go straight to his cock.

'You want her so badly, take her.' Sukuna taunted.

"No." Yuji snapped his response, trying to think of a way out of this (and the boner he was starting to sport against her back).

'Fuck her, brat. Or I'll kill her the next time I get the chance, and I'll draw it out while I make you watch.'

Sukuna knew well what he was doing, keeping this conversation in Yuji's head. She had no clue what he was trying to shield her from. Of course he wanted her, but not like this. Not when Sukuna was all but forcing his hand on the matter, not even giving her a choice.

“I said no! Knock it off!” Sukuna just chuckled, and she turned her head to look up at him with worry in her eyes.

'Or perhaps you’d like me to put us both out of commission. Tell me, just how long do you think she’d last against this curse on her own?'

Yuji’s heart dropped to his stomach. There’s no way Sukuna hated her enough to let her die like this, not with the way he found her so entertaining to him. Not with the way he currently had his tongue down the back of her throat- right?

'No, but if it would cause you everlasting turmoil, I’d jump at the chance.'

Could she ever forgive him for doing this? Would Sukuna even drop this after all was said and done?

Yuji was exhausted, and Sukuna knew it too. It was only a matter of time before he could slip out and swap places.

'I could always assist instead. After all, one wrong move and she’s on her own anyways. Go ahead brat, ask me for my help.' He grinned.

“No, last time I let you out you were a dick.” Yuji snapped, but he was running out of options here. How long until that curse realized where they were and turned back around? He could always make a deal with Sukuna, if he would agree to it was another question though.

At the sound of Yuji’s words her body tensed, blood running cold. There was no way Yuji was actually thinking about letting the king of curses out into the wild, especially when he already had her in this position.

'Tic-toc punk ass, this offer isn’t going to last forever.'

“Promise you won’t hurt her first.” Her eyes went wide and she began to struggle in his grasp again, body going hot. Screaming through his palm and Sukuna’s tongue as well as she could manage in protest.

There is no way he’s about to offer his body over to Sukuna right now, and all she could think about were all the previous times he’d spoken to her – though, at her might be a better word. Everything he’d said up to this point, his promises to absolutely wreck her- all came flooding back. Could they really not handle this job any other way than to bring Sukuna into the mix?

'You humans are so predictable, really fucking takes the fun out of everything. I’ll get rid of the curse. Just say you aren’t strong enough, you need a real man to do your dirty work for you.'

“That’s not-”

'Going once…'

“I don’t-”

'Going TWICE...'

“Fine! I need your help, please.” She was hysterical at this point, thrashing in his grip as much as she could, grinding her ass into him harder every time she moved.

'That doesn’t sound like what we agreed to, try again.'

Yuji groaned, thankful he could use that as an excuse to let out some of his frustrations.

“Sukuna please, I’m not strong enough and need a real man to do my dirty work for me.” Yuji bit out, and she stilled at his words, stomach knotting. Any minute now, Sukuna would be breathing down her neck. Months of sexual tension, mostly from his side - would it finally come to a head now? Or would he leave it and just get the job done, let Yuji take back over when it was safe–

A low chuckle rumbled from behind her, and the sound ran straight through her body to her core. She swallowed, realizing the tongue down her throat had finally disappeared.

Sukuna ran a hand up her chest before resting it on her throat.

“Well, well, this is certainly a turn of events, isn’t it?” She whimpered, frozen in place. What the hell was she supposed to do now?

“Sukuna…” She breathed his name warily.

“Surprised to see me? I did tell you I’d have you some day. So, how was I? It’s been a few hundred years. You’ll have to excuse the fact I’m a little rusty.” Sukuna filled the silence, not waiting for an answer.

“You weren’t too bad yourself; I think I even felt you participating at the end. Care for more?” He whispered in her ear, tongue flicking out to lick her lobe. She bit back her moan, clamping her knees together as she gently rocked back into him. He laughed, moving his hands down her body to grip her hips and pull her in closer against him.

“Oh, don’t be shy now, it’s just us. The brat won’t even know, it can be our little secret.”

“I-” She stammered, face hot. So what if she’d gone back to her room at the end of a long day full of Sukuna teasing her, and closed her eyes while chanting his name under the sheets? So what if being the object of the king of curses’ endless teasing was what she used to push her over the edge some nights? That was all by her choice - she was in charge.

Currently having Sukuna’s painfully rock-hard cock prodding her ass while he held her tight against him? She was so clearly not in charge, and to make matters worse? The realization sent her core gushing.

“I can smell you,” he continued, taking in a long breath. And this time she couldn’t bite back her moan.

“Sukuna!” She gasped, feeling the blush run up her ears.

“I think you should really stop being such a cock-tease, woman. No wonder Yuji can’t help but fuck his fist most nights. I bet he can smell you too, he just spares your feelings by not saying anything.” The fog he’d brought with him was starting to clear, and she tried to pry his fingers off of her.

“Stop! You’re lying!” But Sukuna just threw his head back in a cackle.

“I actually don’t care if you believe me, do you want to know why?” He stepped out from behind her so quickly, shoving her back against the wall, it made her head spin. Looking up at his tattooed face and red eyes only solidified how real this situation was for her - and her mouth went dry. He grinned down at her, gripping her chin to hold her in place.

“I’m going to fuck you through this wall. You won’t be able to look at that stupid brat without thinking of me inside you ever again. And he’ll never know because he’s out cold.�� Using his free hand, he ripped off her skirt. She cried out, trying to grip his wrist and stop her panties from meeting the same fate.

“Aww, still shy, are we?” He teased as he examined the red lace, running his fingers down to the ever-growing wet spot on them.

“N-No!” Sukuna just chuckled, watching her face morph from flustered to pleasure at his touch.

“And look, you even wore red just for me. How cute of you.” She moaned, closing her eyes. The physical and mental teasing was too much. If he wasn’t going to kill her, she was going to die of embarrassment. He sucked his teeth, hooking his thumb into her mouth and tugging her face.

“Look at me while I touch you, I won’t tell you twice.” He snapped, and her heart thrummed in her chest. It felt so good to finally have him touch her after all this time, she’d forgotten just how dangerous he was in the moment. She nodded sheepishly.

“Good, you listen well for a sorcerer. I don’t believe in praising those beneath me, but I think I’ll make an exception just this once.” He pressed his fingers against her core, watching the way she squirmed under him.

“You’re so wet already and I’ve barely touched you, was my tongue down your throat just what you needed?” Her head was spinning, his hold on her jaw rough, but all she could picture was wrapping her lips around him.

She slid her tongue around his thumb cautiously, watching his reaction for any sign that she’d miss-stepped.

He groaned, smirking down at her as he leaned closer.

“And here you’d have everyone believing you’re too innocent for such filthy things.” Finding the edge of her panties, he pushed them aside, running his fingers through her slick folds. He watched as she moaned, satisfaction settling on his face as the moan grew louder when he pushed a finger inside of her.

“God you’re so tight, there’s no way that brat could stuff his cock in you.” Her walls flexed at his words. Sukuna’s one finger was already so thick, and now her mind was swimming with the thought of having more.

“But don’t worry, you’ll take it from me.” And then she felt a second finger at her entrance, making her eyes open wider. She tried to speak as best she could around the awkward hold he still had her in, but it didn’t matter.

“Suku-na!” She cried out as he forced another finger into her.

“I’d be thanking me if I were you. I’m feeling generous enough to stretch you out before I ram my cock into your stomach.” He offered, grinning as he watched her try and hold herself together.

He didn’t wait for her to adjust to the feeling, why would he? Fucking her open on him was all he could think about while he sat bored on his throne - not that he was admitting it aloud.

So many days, weeks, months, of him wrapped up in her. He knew exactly what she was doing to him, even if she didn’t.

“Was it worth it to parade around like a whore in heat around us?” He asked as he began to slide his fingers in and out of her.

“You know I offered him the chance to have you first. Humans and their virtues though, so fickle. Of course, the brat couldn’t do this.” He pressed his palm against her cunt, and her back arched off the wall as his tongue shot out to flatten on her clit.

Letting go of her chin he wrapped his hand around her neck, giving it a testing squeeze before trailing down to her chest. Groping over her top, and then easily ripping the buttons away.

“Not my clothes!” She protested, but if he heard, he ignored her. Choosing instead to knead her breast as it spilled over her matching bra. Sukuna chuckled, looking back at her.

“The matching set, I’m starting to think you really did wear this just for me. Is that what you do? Under all those clothes you put on, you wear red hoping I’ll catch a glimpse. Hoping I’ll come out to rip it off of you.” He spoke as he rolled her bud roughly between his fingertips.

“God!” She cried out. He was everywhere. Pumping his fingers further inside her walls, tongue abusing her clit-

“I’ll be your god.” He hissed, before leaning down to suck her nipple into his mouth.

She was fast approaching the edge, gasping for air as he shot her towards her peak.

He curled his fingers inside of her, reaching a new angle that sent white hot pleasure shooting through her body.

“Sukuna!” She choked out, reaching up to ball her hands into his top. She was wary of touching him at first, opting to press against the wall instead. But it was all too much. She needed something more to try and ground herself through the first orgasm he was going to rip from her body.

“You gonna cum, little sorcerer?” He hummed around a mouthful of her breast, looking up at her expectantly. She already looked so cute and fucked out for him; grinding into his hand to push him further inside, face flushed as she whimpered his name over, brows pinched up while she looked down to him with a breathless nod.

“Please Sukuna...” If he wasn’t so pent up himself, he might have stopped what he was doing, but edging her would only edge him, and he had no interest in prolonging his own pleasure any more than being stuck in the passenger seat of his vessel already had.

For this encounter, anyways. So, he gave her what she wanted, driving his fingers faster into her cunt, biting down on the nipple currently still in his mouth, while his other hand roughly pinched at the other.

He could feel how close she was. It was getting harder to slide his fingers back into her, and he couldn’t wait to sink into her.

When he didn’t slow down or stop, she took it as permission, though, the tip of the iceberg was so close that even if he had told her no, she wasn’t sure she could have stopped, anyway.

It crashed over her in waves, throwing her against the wall as she cried out his name. Everything was gone - her sight, her hearing, all she could do was ride against his hand, and hope that their grasp on each other was enough to keep her standing through the intensity of it all.

Even when her high started to ebb away, he was still lazily pumping his fingers inside of her. Slowly the world came back to her, heartbeat pounding in her ears, and she whined.

“Aww, is someone sensitive?” He pulled away from her chest with a grin, red eyes glinting as he stared down at her dazed expression. She weakly pushed against his chest, trying to get him to stop while she regained some semblance of normal breathing.

“Sukuna…”

“Well, aren’t you going to thank me?” She swallowed hard, still trying to find her way out of the haze.

“I- thank you...” He pulled his fingers out of her, chuckling at the whimper that left her lips. Raising his hand to his mouth, he kept his eyes on her as he sucked his fingers clean.

“Mmm, I don’t think so.”

“What?” Confusion crossed her face, and he pressed the same two fingers against her parted lips, looking on in admiration as she opened them without question. Sukuna pressed his fingers against her tongue, pulling her mouth open as he did.

“Those red panties you’re wearing will be sufficient.”

“What?” The word left her mouth again, and he raised an eyebrow, dragging his fingers down her tongue and out of her mouth. She stared at him for only a second more before leaning down to slide them off her hips. She looked down to keep from fumbling, but he hooked his finger under her chin, tilting her face back up to him.

“I didn’t say you could look away.” She bit her lip, shimmying awkwardly to slide them down her knees. Stepping one foot out of them at a time, she began to lift them up. He grabbed them from her, large fingers brushing her own as he did.

She moved to stand up again, but he stopped her, shaking his head.

“On second thought, I don’t think one pair of panties is worth a mind-numbing orgasm, do you?” But it wasn’t really a question, not when he was already guiding her to her knees in front of him. The floor below her was cold - a shock that her core, still radiating heat, could feel.

“Be a good girl and open wide,” he said, reaching into his pants to take hold of his neglected cock. Pulling it out, he ran his thumb over the tip, smearing his precum up and down his length.

Sukuna groaned, gritting his teeth. The brat could imagine all he wanted; it would never compare to having her right here in front of him. Small hands braced on his thighs, eyes blown wide as she took in just how fucked she was about to be.

“See something you like?” Her breath hitched as he knocked his fat tip against her bottom lip. She slowly opened her mouth, tongue sliding out and against the underside of his cock. He groaned again, grabbing the back of her head as he forced himself into her mouth.

She dug her nails into his thighs as he did, trying in vain to pull her head back so she could breathe.

“You’re not acting very grateful. Don’t make me fuck your throat, I’ll end up hurting your feelings.” He chuckled. Tears were already welling in her eyes as she choked on what he could fit in her mouth. Slowly, she removed a hand off from his thigh, reaching down to run her fingers through her folds. When she’d gathered enough of her release, she reached back up to pump the rest of him with it.

“How resourceful of you. Makes me want to fuck my cock down your throat all the more.” She moaned around his length, gently rocking him as far as she could take him. Part of her was screaming for air, the other wanted to make him feel just as good as he’d made her feel moments ago. The fog was back, and she blinked the tears away as she looked up at him.

His jaw was tense, one hand still at the back of her head, the other balled in a fist and braced against the wall. Before this she’d only seen him when he was a mouth and one eye, stirring up chaos on Yuji’s cheek. Looking up at him now, though, red eyes trained on her and black markings all over his body - he was breathtaking.

All-powerful and terrifying as hell, considering that he could kill her in an instant, but breathtaking, nonetheless. She let her other hand slide down his leg to rest between her own, pressing her fingers into herself - only to whine in disappointment when it felt nothing like him.

“Needy little thing, aren’t you? I’ve gone hundreds of years without, and you just can’t wait for another.” She breathed hard through her nose, trying to take in as much air as she could before he hit the back of her throat again. Black dots buzzed at the corners of her vision, the sound of her choking on what she could take echoed through the hall.

Her jaw was pried open at a painful angle to accommodate him, and he wasn’t showing any signs of stopping. Her grasp on his cock grew slack, and she wasn’t fighting him every time he knocked his tip just a little further into her mouth. Her own fingers stilled in her aching walls, eyelids fighting to stay open.

Sukuna huffed, sliding his hand around to smack at her cheek.

“Don’t go passing out on me now, I’m not finished with you just yet.” And he pulled out of her mouth with a loud squelch as she gasped for air. The lightheaded feeling slowly dissipated as she looked up at him, tears and spit covering her face.

“You did okay. For now. We’ll revisit that later, get up.” She didn’t have to be told twice, rising on wobbly legs as quickly as she could. The thought occurred to her, that she was practically naked in front of him, while he was still fully clothed. She swallowed hard, trying to wipe away some of the shame along with the tears.

But he didn’t give her much time to wallow in her self-pity, quickly turning her around and pinning her to the cool wall. She shivered at the feeling of his solid body pressed into her back, erection still wet with her spit as it bounced on her bare ass.

“Maybe next time, I’ll let you look at me while I fuck you.” He breathed down her neck, grabbing his length and rubbing it through her folds. She dug her nails into the wall; he barely fit her mouth, there was no way she was ready–

“Relax, I’m not interested in breaking you the first time around. It would ruin the fun in watching you look at me in anticipation every time you’re around.” And he wasn’t wrong. Hell, he was still here, and the anticipation was coursing through her. Taking a slow breath she waited, thankful that the cool wall was enough to ease the heat on her face.

Sukuna gripped her hip and hooked his tip at her entrance before pushing in. She gritted her teeth, moaning at the already over-full feeling. For the situation being what it was, he was fairly gentle as he steadily eased himself through her tight walls with a prolonged hiss. She could only stay pressed against the wall, jaw dropped in a silent moan as he filled her out inch by agonizing inch. Her eyes rolled, body unsure if she should cry out in pleasure or pain.

“God look at you, practically foaming at the mouth. What would your sorcerers say if they caught you like this, hmm?” He groaned, bucking his hips up into hers. Her voice finally caught up to her, and she cried out, nails scraping down the wall as she clawed for anything to keep her grounded.

He didn’t quite fit all the way, but it only turned Sukuna on even more. Of course, he couldn’t fit - but he would. He would break her open on his cock as many times as he needed, until she fit him like a second skin. Until he was the only thing she could think about whenever she tried to seek pleasure elsewhere.

She was playing a game she had no clue about, and Sukuna was going to win. He laughed as he grabbed her hips, pulling out to slam back into her walls. They sucked him in and tried to keep him out all at the same time.

“Sukuna, fuck!” She moaned, reaching behind her to slow him down. He said he wasn’t going to break her, but the rough pace he’d set was literally fucking the air right out of her lungs. Her walls squeezed him tighter, and he moaned.

“Too much for you already, princess? I’m just getting started.” Sukuna grabbed her wrists, pinning them above her head.

“Too much, fuck, ‘s too much!”

“I’m not that brat, you’ll take what I give you exactly how I give it to you. Don’t piss me off, I’m in such a giving mood, right now!” He snaked his other hand around her, tongue darting out to swirl around her clit. Sukuna grinned. In an attempt to get away, she only managed to shove herself further onto his cock.

“Sukuna please, I don’t…Please!”

“Short circuiting, and I’m not even close yet. Shall we see just how many times I can make you cry before I’m finally satisfied?” Her mind was melting, she didn’t care anymore. What was she even begging for? Him to stop? Or maybe she was begging him not to stop. She’d never been filled up like this before; even the pain was pleasurable now. All she could do was stand against this wall and take it, anyway. Her body relaxed against him slightly, and he grinned.

“Is there something you want from me, little sorcerer?” She bit her wobbly lip hard, trying to focus on his words.

“I want- I wanna cum.”

“That so?” She nodded with a whimper.

“Beg, and I’ll think about it.” She couldn’t even be bothered with the feelings of shame looming overhead. She wanted one thing, and if begging was all she needed to do to achieve it, well…

“Please I wanna cum.” She whined, hands flexing in his grasp.

“Beg more, you can do better than that.”

“Please Sukuna please I wanna cum, never wanted to cum so bad. Please make me cum on your cock please I-” She was a wailing mess, she didn’t care who heard her pleas, only that he might answer them. His tongue licked at her folds, snaking around his length to tease her from every side.

He rocked her into her second orgasm, reveling in the feeling of her tightening around him as she screamed.

God, he needed to feel it again. The way her walls fluttered around his thickness, trying to close around the strain of taking him. The feeling was maddening, and Sukuna was sure he could pull another one from her immediately, he just needed to pick up the pace as he rammed his cock harder into her.

The wet sound of his second mouth lapping at her, mixed with her moaning variations of his name and ‘fuck don’t stop’ was more than enough to catch the attention of anyone close by, and as absorbed as Sukuna was in this little game, he wouldn’t let his guard down. He was sure she didn’t even remember what they were here for anymore at this point. If the whites of her rolled eyes and the drool currently sliding down the wall where her face was pressed against it were any indication, anyway.

He could feel her whole body start to twitch and tighten, and he knew she was close again. Two orgasms in, and he knew her body so well already. He’d put that knowledge to good use later.

“Go ahead little sorcerer, scream for me.” And she came hard, walls clamping down on him, practically shoving him out while she did. It was enough to send him reeling, too. Hips slamming up into her, he sank his teeth into her shoulder as he finished with a growl. If they weren’t both so wrapped up in each other, they might have realized he growled ‘mine.’ He painted her insides in white hot ropes, stilling when the euphoria finished washing over him.

“If you think that was mind-numbing, just wait until I get ahold of you in my true form.” Sukuna whispered against the shell of her ear.

He pulled out with a groan, watching her whole body quiver as he did.

“Clean yourself up.” She finally looked back at him, brows knit. He ripped the sleeve off his jacket, handing it over to her. When she tried to pull it, his grip tightened, and he looked at her expectantly.

“Thank you…” She said quietly as she cleared her throat.

“Such a good girl for me already, I don’t even have to train you. I’ll be back, be ready to leave when I am.”

“Wait where-”

“There’s still a job to do here, isn’t there? I’ve got a curse to kill.” He smirked as he walked backwards up the hall.

Yuji wouldn’t be awake for a while, plenty of time for Sukuna to hide his prize. One of the many he planned on taking from her, he thought as he twirled the red panties on his finger.

if you enjoyed this check out my masterlist !

Tags: @saiki-enthusiast @alice-smutthoughts @idktbhloley @rezitio @matchat3a @mo0nforme @bleach-your-panties @fateisnotafactor @lov3ly-bunny @antishadow2021 @xo-evangeline @aramea205 @ackachii @tiredravenette @carpioassists @yoongislatinagff @unoriginalidea @i-likebread @squishybabei @emyyy007 @bitchykittenconnoisseur @kokushibosgirl @wishandluck @kimchi-zaks @kyriekurokami @not-brionnne @andic137 @tang3r1n @mammon-s

[oliversrarebooks]

Okay, I may have binged this all of last night and today and I think I may be ObsSEEESSSSeeeDDDD!!! 🤩🤩🤩 The differentiation of the different types of Thralls, the way you've written Lily (and still makes her likeable even though SHE'S SO QUESTIONABLE??! 😂), and then the fear and desire in being a Thrall. I don't understand how you seem to be able to convince the reader of the hypnotism - and I'm like - yep, I won't feel anything - AND YET the way you write these feelings, the Thrall you put me in as a reader?? Like, wow!! It makes me want to be a Thrall for a vampire like Lex and I'M - I -... My brain stops functioning because it sounds so kind, so nice, and I'm nodding along like "yes, please - I want that too"

I'm curious - if you want to share! How did you find the way you write the hypnotism? As in, was it a specific influence, personal experience? (I went to a hypnotist for my own anxiety and my friend did for their arachnophobia!)! But reading this still feels so real and sleepy-making. ALSO seeing how Lily approaches three different victims (Oliver, Emily and Fitz), and peirces through what they need to hear is unnervingly touching, like, in such a way that makes me swallow with fear. Genuine, how-the-f did she work that out, what they needed to hear to fall, what words that sparked their hopeless weakness? So another question... How long does Lily need to truly analyse someone? What input does she need?

Like, also I love how you introduce those different ways of hypnotism! Like Lex, Fitz and Lily all having their unique ways to them! I ADORED that Oneshot of Lex's ideal way of including Oliver - it tugged at my heartstrings a bit. I may have fluttered when I read that Lex had sought and intended to have Oliver all along... I - I... My brain lost it.

And having Emily (poor Emily -) I literally gasped when I saw horrible vampire girl (I have literally just forgotten her name) Jessica? // had Emily and I'm like "NOOOO MY BABYYY WAHHH SHE DOESN'T DESERVE THIS". also how you wrote their individual ways of responding to influence? Like!! I love the inclusive but realistic take on how some people are susceptible to it more than others in a very human/realistic way - like a indistinct trait or behaviour about someone that makes them unique. Like,, does Oliver's price *increase* because he's easily susceptible? (I think this was hinted at but I'm not 100% sure!! ^^ but if this is a mystery that you would like to be kept secret then don't worry! ^^)

I also love Oliver's tendancy to slip out of it. That was such a nuanced and masterful way of adding that 'layer behind the service/the reader is kept rooting for you' and it's so awesome.

Are there other vampires like Lex (apart from Fitz!) who have this same attitude and care for humans? Will we meet them? Will we have an occasion where this is shown... 👀 I'm soooo soooo curious for a Oneshot on this or SOMETHING but this is literally just a scenario so I can daydream about this... I may have already...

Anyway... While I did my best not to spam your inbox with excessive reblogs and me foaming at the mouth, I had to leave this to you as a token of my extended and desperate love for your writing and beautiful, exciting world.

Your humble reader,

Enigma 🙏💐🤗

Wow, thank you for such a super long comment! It's always great to get something like this in my inbox! I'm so glad you enjoyed my writing enough to write this all out!

How did I find the way I write hypnotism: Long-time special interest of mine, you could say. While I sometimes try to incorporate actual hypnotic trance techniques, it's mostly pulled from ASMR videos and fantasy.

I'm glad it's fun and even a little enthralling for readers!

How does Lily analyze people? Since she's a supernatural creature with a special enthralling power and I'm not writing from her POV, I get to handwave it a bit! I think her powers give her an assist on analyzing the best way to enthrall people. Other than that, foreknowledge of the victims plus cold reading.

Most of the people grabbed by the auction house are scoped out before their kidnapping, so that they don't risk grabbing someone risky (i.e. has friends and family who will come searching for them). So she has some up-front info, plus she's good at reading people. Oliver's induction was mostly drawn from the fact that he's known to be a meek and quiet bookseller, Emily's is drawn from having lived in poverty, and Fitz's of course is based on him being an attention-starved entertainer.

Generally, Oliver would be considered more desirable (and command a higher price) for being easily susceptible to hypnotism. Easier to control and for the vampire master to mold to their will.

As for other vampires who care for humans as far as Alexander does, there definitely are some in the setting. I'm not sure if we'll really see any, but if you have ideas of what you'd like to see in a one-shot, feel free to shoot it into my inbox! (Just be warned I have a six-car pileup in there. I'm planning to get to them... eventually.)

Thanks again for this lovely ask!

[skylarmoon71]

Castiel (Supernatural/Grimm) - Short Story -Extra 1

You know it was hard to avoid.

Your parents would find out eventually.

At least he would.

It’s not like you were hiding Castiel per se. It’s just that a certain someone tended to get a little overprotective. So you knew you would have to slowly work up to it. Ease into the process.

You couldn’t just rush through it crazily.

Like you and Castiel do every other night.

You giggle to yourself and Castiel looks over.

“What’s so funny?”

He looks ready to hear the joke so he can join along in the humor. You just laugh, shaking your head as you park the car.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Turning off the engine you step out and Castiel follows, looking at the outside of the shop.

“Your god parents own this shop.”

You nod.

“Yep, that’s sort of how they met.”

Locking your car, you take Castiel’s hand as you both head to the door. You open it stepping inside and Castiel shuffles in behind you.

Rosalee looks up with a smile.

“(Y/N), perfect timing I have your order and you won’t believe who is here.”

She sounds excited and you’re about to ask who, but said individual walks out from the double doors and you gulp.

“Aw shit.”

Nick, Adalind, Diana and Monroe exit the back room.

Looks like you’ve been caught.

“D-Dad, what are you doing here?”

You laugh awkwardly walking over to him and he smiles, but he eyes Castiel suspiciously when you hug him. Nick pulls back and you move to your mom happily. Once you’re done with the little reunion, you take the paper bag from the table.

“W-Well we’d love to stay but I have to get going.” 

You grab Castiel’s hand to make a break for it.

The door locks click shut and you turn back, glaring at Diana. She just smirks.

“What’s the rush sis, why don’t you introduce your friend.” Diana grins.

You frown.

“I should have strangled you when we were kids.”

She just laughs.

“Quit teasing me sister, please, have a seat.” She gestures to the chairs and you sigh. Nick raises a brow.

“Who is your friend?”

You sigh heavily, and Castiel steps forward.

“My name is Castiel, I am an angel from a different universe. (Y/N) and I are lovers.”

That was certainly not easing into it.

It’s about to go down in three, two..

“What do you mean lovers!! Why am I just now hearing about this!!” 

Nick all but explodes.

Adalind takes a step forward, placing her hand on his shoulder with a smile.

“Calm down Nick, he’s a sweet guy.”

“You knew about this!?!”

Adalind laughs.

“Of course I did. She was a little worried you would overreact.”

“I never overreact!!”

“You’re overreacting right now.” You point out.

He still looks like he’s about to blow a fuse, but he takes a few calming breaths.

“Alright, just tell me, how long have you both been dating?”

“Five Months, three weeks, eight days and twenty five minutes, fifteen seconds. Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twen-”

“Castiel, I think he gets the message.”

He nods.

“I love your daughter very much. Thank you both for bringing her into this world. I’m forever grateful.” You blush.

He bows his head and both Rosalee and Adalind look about ready to gush.

Nick looks about ready to draw his gun. 

He’s always been this way. You were lucky that now that he is a captain of another precinct he no longer had the time to man your every move like when you were in high school.

He’s protective, and you understand why. Most parents are scared of the metaphoric monsters out in the world, be he’s aware of the very real ones. So his paternal meter seems to always be in overdrive.

“Dad I’m an adult now, you can’t keep manning my every move.”

“Don’t you take that tone with me young lady.”

“Dad!” You whine.

So much for being an adult.

Castiel’s brows are furrowed trying to analyze the issue.

“If you’re worried about any harm coming to your daughter I assure you that would never happen.” Castiel assures.

“Yeah, and if someone were to kidnap her what would you do?”

“I would hunt them down and scatter their parts across the galaxy after extensive torture.” 

His reply stuns everyone in the room.

“Wow, that got dark real fast.” Diana mutters.

Nick shakes his head.

“No, I think I kind of like him.”

“Nick!”

“Dad!!”

You can’t believe him. Adalind’s voice is just as scolding.

“How would you describe my daughter?”

“She’s the most beautiful being I have ever met.”

“What would you get her for her birthday?”

“The entire galaxy if it were obtainable.”

“What’s her favorite color?”

“Blue.”

You can’t believe the line of questioning your dad is dishing out. You’re blushing again because Castiel is the most straightforward and honest person you’ve ever met.

Nick takes a step forward and you’re ready for just about anything, but he holds out his hand.

“Welcome to the family.”

Castiel takes it, shaking his hand.

“Thank you.”

You just facepalm.

Maybe you should have been more worried about keeping these two apart, because now you have two overprotective men in your life.

How fun.

[mrsbrookegillespie]

⚝The Girl Next Door⚝ Vampire!Luke x Reader (Series)

(Not My Gif)

Vampire!Luke x Reader (My Babysitter’s a Vampire AU)

Description: Set in Season One (After The Movie) Y/N decides to stay around for a little longer for a unknown reason to the gang. With that comes new problems, more supernaturals, and more uncoverings of the secrets that lay hidden beneath her facade, especially when a new girl enters the town.

Warnings: mentions of death, minor violence, and probably typo. Also cringy My Babysitter’s a Vampire talk. Tried to make it like the show in the way I write.

One more thing... It’s long. Because this is the first one of the series I wanted this one to be long, but the other ones will be shorter, unless it’s a thicker plot.

Enjoy!!!

“Look who decided to stay…”

Y/N freezes for a moment. His chilling voice sent her heart pounding against her ribcage. “Could say the same for you.” She turns on her heels rapidly to face him. “New found freedom and here you are in this same small town, at a school that’s quite boring if I’m being honest.” 

Luke tilts this head. His eyes twitch, widening for a moment. “If it was boring there wouldn’t be witches and vampires roaming around. So, who knows what else is lurking around these corners…” He teasingly smiles at Y/N’s dumbfounded expression. “Am I wrong?” 

“No…” she sighs. 

“You’ve seemed to have caught quite a lot of people’s attention.” He side eyes the group of Freshmen boys gawking at her.    

“It seems I have.” She doesn’t bother looking away from Luke. “Luke.” His now yellow eyes fixate on hers. “I hope our previous encounters don’t get to your head.”

“I wish I knew what you were talking about, so please enlighten me.” He crosses his arms, subconsciously leaning towards her. 

“I mean… With me saving you.” 

“You didn’t save me,” he argues. 

A sarcastic laugh interrupts the confrontation between them. “Oh, is that right?” Sarah appears at Y/N’s side. “Because I think if she wasn’t there to rescue you, there would be a wooden stake in your chest right now.” She mimics Luke’s stance, Y/N awkwardly standing there witnessing this endeavorment.

Luke laughs, dryly. “Is that what you think? Well, I think if a pathetic girl--” 

“Right here,” Y/N mumbles.

“--could take you on, I could’ve survived your weak throw.” 

Sarah sucks on her two front teeth. “Come on Y/N, let’s get out of here.” She grabs ahold of Y/N’s arm tugging her away from the boy.

“Little strange that you’re buddying up with the girl who nearly killed you,” he shouts.

Weirded out glances are shot towards him. 

“You just had to save him?” Sarah asks.

“What? Would you rather me save Jesse?” Y/N responds, raising an eyebrow.

“Or how about no one?” 

Y/N huffs. “Think he’s going to be a problem?” She looks back at where Luke and her just were, only to find he’s disappeared. 

“The biggest,” Sarah answers.

“Yeah… Me too.” 

“Hey guys,” Ethan says, walking up to the pair. “What’s up?” 

“Just another lovely conversation with Luke,” Sarah explains. “Would still really love a reason from Ms. Magic over here.” 

Y/N puts her freehand up to mock surrender. “Don’t look at me,” she pauses. “Just doing my job,” she whispers to the point where no one else hears her. “Seen my cousin anywhere?” 

Ethan shakes his head, but it goes distracted when something catches his attention. “Found him.” 

They all turn to see Benny sweet talking to an unfamiliar girl. “Makes sense,” Y/N comments. “Who is that?” Her eyes narrow.

“No clue, never seen her around before,” Ethan informs. 

“She’s pretty.” 

They all jump, startled by Rory’s sudden appearance. “Where did you come from?” Y/N asks, harshly.

“Sorry, not as pretty as you Y/N,” Rory rushes, winking at her. 

She rolls her eyes. Benny and the new girl stopping in front of them. “Guys I want you to meet Clarissa, she’s new, and she actually just moved in next door to us,” he remarks. 

“Hello, Clarissa, I’m Sarah.” 

“Ethan.” 

“Rory.” 

Y/N stares at the girl for a moment. Something didn’t fit right in Y/N’s stomach when staring into her pure green eyes. They were almost too green. “I’m Y/N.” She bounces on the balls of her feet. “Benny’s cousin,” she adds.

Clarissa grabs Y/N’s hand without warning. “I’ve heard so much about you!”

“You have?” Y/N chokes out a laugh. “All good things, I hope.” She grew heavily uncomfortable when Clarissa stared intensely at the purple gem that was snug in the center of Y/N’s ring. 

Y/N pulls her hand away hastily, wiping it on her jeans. “Of course.” Clarissa’s sickly sweet smile almost gave her a headache. 

“Benny,” she grits through her teeth. “Can I speak with you?” 

Benny looks at her, confused. “What’s up?” 

Y/N clears her throat. “Alone.” 

With no verbal response she drags Benny to a corner where the rest of the group stared at the two. “What’s wrong? Is it Clarissa? Look, I know she’s coming off a little eager but--” 

“That’s all you’re getting from her?” Y/N exasperates. “Don’t you see her eyes they’re pure green, I think they’re magical contacts--”

“Magical--what?!” 

She gestures to where Clarissa was picking at Sarah’s hair. “And she’s wearing a headwrap-thing! And--” She aggressively points at her ring, “--she was analyzing it. I think she knows who I am, and people knowing what I am equals trouble.” 

Benny stares at his cousin like he’s witnessing a crazy person. “Okay, someone’s been overworking her powers a little too much.” He grabs hold of her shoulders. “Clarissa is just a lonely new girl, who just happens to now live right next door to us. And maybe she likes jewelry, and green is good. Nice color. And… You do know there is something called culture, right?” 

Y/N groans. “You’re not getting my point, I think she’s--”

The warning bell rings, cutting her off. “Gotta get to class, maybe you should go home--”

“But--”

“Get some rest.” Benny runs off, catching up with Clarissa.

“Okay, what’s got you all down?” Sarah asks, following the invisible lines Y/N’s making with her eyes, landing on Clarissa. 

“Something is not--”

“I had a vision,” Ethan blurts. “When I shook Clarissa’s hand.” 

“I knew it!” Y/N exclaims. “Snakes on her head, am I right?” 

Ethan shudders. “H-How did you know?” 

“Medusa, I can sense descendants wherever I go,” Y/N admits. “It’s my seventh sense.” 

“You mean sixth sense,” Sarah corrects.

“No, I mean seventh sense.” Ethan and Sarah furrow their eyebrows. “Hard to explain. We need to warn Benny, but I think she already put her spell on him.” 

“Spell?” Ethan questions. “What spell?” 

The second bell rings. “Let’s talk later, during lunch!” Y/N jogs away rounding a corner.

“The thing is…” 

“Ah!” Y/N screams when Clarissa slithers in front of her. “You…” She points an accusing finger at her. “Stay… Away.” Y/N makes a mental note of how her contacts were replaced with a dark pair of sunglasses. 

“You have something I need. You think I want to be this way, snakes for beautiful long hair, turning people into stone. Do you know how lonely it is? I turned my best friend into stone, no way to reverse her back.” Clarissa takes a step closer to Y/N.

“Well, there is, it’s just--AH!” Y/N falls back onto the floor when Clarissa pushes her. “A little more complicated because of…” Her voice fades off.

Clarissa’s eyes didn’t dare to look away from Y/N’s ring. “Because I don’t have that.” 

“So, you want my ring?” Y/N scoffs. “Well, you can’t have it. I’m not giving it to you.” 

Clarissa chuckles. “Like you have a choice.” 

“No, no, no, please don’t do this…. AH!” Y/N had no time to react before Clarissa’s headwrap fell, and she ripped her sunglasses off. 

Grandma gasps, placing a hand on her heart. Not wasting any time she rustles off of the couch, getting to work.

RING! 

“Where’s Y/N? She was supposed to tell us--” 

“Tell you what?” Benny asks, cutting off Ethan. ‘

“That--Clarissa!” Ethan fakes a smile when she comes into view. “Tell us--” 

“Tell us about her upcoming date,” Sarah finishes, nonchalantly. 

“Date?” Luke stomps up to them. “Y/N? On a date? With who?”

“With…” Sarah’s eyes search the area. “Rory!” 

The blonde boy stops, surprised. “What about me?” he asks.

“Your date with Y/N?” Ethan strains his voice, hoping Rory will be smart enough to follow along. 

Rory frowns. “Date…?” Ethan and Sarah nod, pointedly. “Date! Yes! Date. Date with Y/N. I am going on a date with Y/N.” Rory stills. “Wait, I’m going on a date with Y/N?! Sweet!” 

Luke’s jaw drops. “There must be a mistake,” he laughs. “She would never choose an idiot like you.” 

“And who would she choose… You?” Sarah ridicules.

Luke’s eyes flash yellow. “Well, thanks for the compliment. You don’t think I’m an idiot,” he replies. “Where is she?” He changes the topic.

“I-I think I saw her go home,” Clarissa chimes in.

Ethan and Sarah both avert their eyes to the girl. “You did?” Sarah glances at Ethan who undoubtedly thinks the same thing. 

“Yep!” Clarissa innocently smiles. “Why would I lie?” 

“Yeah, why would she lie?” Benny, oblivious of the situation, puts on the same smile Clarissa is sporting. “She’s new.” 

“Which means we know nothing about her,” Luke snarls. 

“Luke’s right!” Ethan confirms. 

“Is he?” Sarah’s voice goes a little higher, but on the inside she 100% agreed. 

“I’m going to go check on her,” Luke announces. 

“Why are you acting like you care about her?” Sarah snickers. “I’m coming with you.” 

“Sarah,” Ethan hisses, grabbing her wrist. Gasping when he makes contact. “I had a vision,” he confesses, letting go of her. “It’s urgent.” 

Sarah quickly glances at everyone before landing on Luke. “Just let us know if she’s there.” 

“Or how about you guys check after school?” Clarissa suggests. “And then if she’s not we can all help look for her--if missing of course. You don’t really want to miss school, do you?” 

Luke bursts into laughter. “You really are new.” And just like that he’s gone. 

“Woah, where’d he go?” Clarissa scans the room. “What are you people? First we have witches, and wizards and now--” 

“Wait, how do you know that?” Ethan interrogates.

“Guys! Chill out, I filled her in on Y/N and I being ‘magical’.” Benny does the quotations. “And how Y/N was a little freaked out by her, but it’s all good.” 

“You told her what?!” Sarah feels her anger rise within her. 

Luke opens the window of Y/N’s room, entering it. “Hello?” he calls out. “Y/N?” 

The door swings open, exposing Grandma on the other side. “Thank God, you’re here.” She runs to grab his arm. “She doesn’t have much time.” 

“What’s going on?” 

She takes him to the basement where Y/N sat on the table, completely made of stone. “She appeared right here, like this, not too long ago, but long enough where we’re getting close to the effects being permanent.” 

“What happened?” Luke walks up to Y/N.

“Medusa, or descendants. Has there been any odd behavior around the school? Or perhaps a new face?”  

Luke perks up. “Yes, there’s a new girl. A little weird, and--” 

“Tell me everything you know, and while you’re doing that, mix this up for me.” She hands him a bowl. “Hurry!” 

Sarah and Ethan continue to sit where they’ve been sitting for the last ten minutes. “How are we going to fix this?” Ethan asks.

Sarah scrunches her face when she realizes Ethan was actually asking for an answer from her. “Don’t ask me, this is not my area of expertise.” 

“If we don’t figure it out soon, you’ll turn to stone.” 

“I’m a vampire, Ethan, I don’t think that’s even possible.” 

“Well, you’re not a full vampire, maybe it’s different,” he disputes. “Look, I know what I saw, and I saw you turn to stone.” 

“So, what do we do?” 

Ethan stops again to think. “We… We need to use her own power against her,” he concludes. “But, we need Benny’s help.”

“Y/N said he’s under her spell, how are we going to take him out of it?” Sarah voices her concerns. “This would be so much easier if Y/N was here. Where is Luke? I knew we couldn’t trust him.” 

“Forget him, we have to figure it out on our own.” 

“I’m just--I’m worried. Y/N hasn’t just vanished like this before.” 

Ethan chuckles. “You obviously haven’t known her for as long as I have.” 

“What do you mean?” 

Ethan inhales through his nose. “We were all best friends when we were kids, it was always me, Y/N, and Benny versus the world. We thought she was crazy when she spoke about her being a witch, and having magical powers. But, she was still our best friend.” He frowns. “Then she left, and never came back. We never got an explanation as to why. She was seven and we were five… And, yet, we remember those days like they were yesterday, and then of course she randomly pops up out of nowhere ten years later. Knowing all of this stuff about me, vampires, magic, it just doesn’t make any sense.” 

“Well, she’s back now, you can get answers. Trust me, I’m just as curious as you for some things when it comes to her…” 

“Have you guys seen Clarissa?” Benny asks. “I haven’t been able to find her.” 

“What?” Ethan stands up. “She’s gone?” He looks at Sarah in alarm. “Benny, okay, I need you to understand this… Clarissa is Medusa, or descendant, or the same species..” 

Benny doesn’t move at first. “Funny, but seriously can you guys help me?” 

The lights flicker. “That’s not good,” Sarah thinks out loud. 

“Benny we’re telling you the truth, I had a vision, and Y/N she--” 

“She put you up to this. She was acting weird earlier. Where is she by the way?” 

“You won’t be seeing a lot from her anymore,” Clarissa’s voice echoes through the halls. 

“Is it just me… Or are we the only ones in the school right now?” Benny searches for any signs of life around them. 

“That’s your question?!” Sarah hisses. “Didn’t you hear what she said about Y/N?” 

“She’s probably just trying to scare us,” Ethan excuses. “We can’t make assumptions.” 

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you guys, we don’t know if Clarissa is--Oh my God!” Benny makes direct contact with the lockers' reflection of Clarissa, snakes floating around her head. “Run!” 

Clarissa apparates in front of them. “Don’t look her in the eyes,” Ethan advises.

“No duh, Ethan!” Benny shouts. 

The locker doors slam open around them. “How is she doing this?” Sarah covers her eyes.

“I’m guessing Y/N’s ring,” Benny guesses. 

“How do we stop her if we can’t see her?” 

“Maybe I can help,” another voice declares. 

“Y/N?!” Sarah calls out. “Where have you been?” 

“I was stuck in a… Situation. But, Luke helped me.” Y/N smiles at Luke. 

“Bring it, now!” Grandma orders. Luke hands it to her. “Stand back.”

“What do you need me to do?” Luke asks, taking a step away from Y/N and Grandma. 

Grandma meets his concerned eyes. “Be there for her when she comes back… It won’t be pretty.” She holds up the potion pouring it all around Y/N’s body. “Here we go.” She internally prayed this would work, especially with Luke watching. She begins to mumble some words incoherently, a bright light coming from her hands. 

“It’s working,” Luke blurts in relief, when the grey stone starts to break off exposing skin. 

“AH!” Y/N screams when most of her upper body is free. She notices the way her hands were still stone, panic rising. 

Luke doesn’t hesitate his arms around her neck, settling her head in the crook of his neck. “You’re okay, it’s okay, you’re alright,” he assures, softly into her ear. Y/N can feel her fingers break free, gripping onto his shirt. “Shhh…” He runs his fingers through her hair. 

Grandma weakly smiles, slowly backing away from them, to leave them alone.

“What are you doing here?” Y/N asks when her cries settle down.

He pulls away, wiping the last fallen tears from her cheeks. “You went missing, and the rest were worried. I took it upon myself to… Find you. I also heard you were going on a date with Rory and I--” 

“Wait! So, Clarissa is at the school with my friends… ALONE?!” 

Y/N’s expression turns stern. “Now Clarissa, how about you do us all a favor and give me my ring back.” She moves close to Luke. “Take the rest, and hide.” 

“What? No. I’m not gonna protect some losers, and that would include me touching them…”  

Y/N takes a deep breath, breaking her stance to hold the bridge of her nose. “Luke, I swear to God I will go back in time and stab you in the heart myself if I have to if you don’t listen to me.” It goes silent. Yes, even Clarissa didn’t move a muscle. “Got it?”

Luke simply nods. 

“Back to business now.” 

“Magical contacts,” Clarissa states more than questions. “Smart.” 

Y/N shrugs carelessly with a smirk. “Learn from the best.” In less than a minute it was just her and Clarissa alone in one of the many creepy hallways of the school. “Now my ring.” She holds out her hand. “It’s not going to give you what you want.” 

“And how do you know exactly what I want?” Clarissa snaps. 

“It’s dangerous for someone not trained to use it, I don’t want to hurt you.” 

Clarissa scoffs. “How are you going to do anything without this?” She points to the ring that rightfully belongs to Y/N. “You’re nothing without it.” 

Those words rang in Y/N’s mind. “That’s not true.” 

“Oh, but I think it is.” With a wave of Clarissa’s hand, Y/N goes flying back. “And with this ring I’m everything.”

Y/N winces as she stands. “You’re just going to hurt yourself.”

“Not a chance.” Another lifeless throw of Clarissa’s fingers Y/N falls to the floor. “See? Can’t even dodge a simple spell. You��re useless, and pathetic. It’s a miracle you can even call yourself a witch.” 

“See?” Y/N mocks Clarissa’s tone. “That’s where you’re wrong.” She stands up, strong. “I’m no witch.” She closes her eyes, the adrenaline coursing through her veins, a certain friction being felt at her fingertips. She elegantly moves as though she is a flower in the wind, building up a bundle of energy at the palm of her hands. 

“I could’ve said that,” Clarissa laughs. “You know, I never thought someone like you could befriend so many vampires.” Y/N bites her lip to keep from distracting herself away from the task. “Who was that one… The one you arrived with. Seems quite special to you. With this ring, vampires will never be immune to my power, nor will any other supernatural when I learn how to get past your little spells. I will make you feel the pain I felt… Starting with that boy.” 

When Y/N opens her eyes it sends a shock wave towards Clarissa. What used to be her dark brown eyes are now a violent shade of purple. “Oh… There is no spell,” Y/N’s voice comes out more deep and demonic. “This--” She gestures to herself, “--is all me.”

“Uhhh…” Clarissa stumbles back.

“Told you I’m no witch.” Y/N creeps up to her. “And I’d watch what you say very carefully.” 

“It’s not poss--” 

Y/N raises up her hand, Clarissa following as she leviates in the air. The lockers that were open around them began to crumple. “Oops… I meant that to be you.” 

“AH!”

Sarah, Benny, Ethan, and Luke become startled by the sound of screaming. “What was that?” Sarah asks, slightly scared.

“Was that Y/N?” Benny starts to stroll towards the school. “We need to help her!” 

Luke harshly grabs his shoulder. “If we’re going to go in there we’ll need these.” He presents the clear contacts to the group. “They’ll block out her magic.” Luke’s thoughts drift off to earlier. 

“What do you need me to do?” Luke asks, taking a step away from Y/N and Grandma. 

Grandma meets his concerned eyes. “Be there for her when she comes back… It won’t be pretty.”

“Let’s go,” Sarah says. “Luke?!” 

Grandma takes his wrist before he follows Y/N out of the house. “Be there for her.” 

“What?” 

“Be there for her when she comes back from the fight,” Grandma guides, vaguely. “She can’t control it.” 

“Control what?” 

“Her emotions… Her powers… Her alter ego,” she explains. “The night she saved you, the night she almost killed Sarah, who do you think that was?”

Luke shakes the odd feeling off. Running after the rest. 

“Please, help me!” Clarissa pleads. 

“Who would ever help you? You’re a monster. You kill people with no remorse. What makes you more worth saving than anyone you’ve murdered?!” Y/N grabs a hold of the girl's wrist. “This belongs…” She plucks the ring off of her with magic. “To me.” Carefully sliding it down her own finger without touching it once. Y/N moves her grip to both Clarissa’s shoulders. “How about I show you the pain you caused?” Her eyes grow brighter as she clearfully shouts sinful spells at Clarissa. The snakes that make up her hair cower in fear as her body becomes more and more weak in Y/N’s hands.

“Y/N!” Ethan yelps. “What are you doing?” 

“Dealing with the enemy,” she answers.

Clarissa allows the tears to fall from her eyes. “Don’t do this! I’m sorry.” Y/N ignores the girl’s cries, and wails. 

“Y/N, you need to stop this.” Luke tries to get her attention. 

Y/N lets out a dark chuckle. “That’s what they tell her, right? To stop this side of her, to hide, well not anymore, not while I’m around will allow her to bury me once more in her pureness,” she pauses. “They will all. Feel. My. WRATH!” 

With a blinding flash of light everything went quiet. 

Everyone opens their eyes to find Y/N lying limp on the ground. “Y/N!” Her friends rush to her aid, huddling around her.

“Wake up.” Luke cups her face, patting her cheek gently. “Wake up, wake up, wake up,” he repeats.

Y/N gasps, her eyes fluttering open. “Guys? Wh-What happened?” 

“You don’t remember?” Ethan asks.

Y/N shakes her head. “No, I just remember Clarissa and--” She cuts herself off, looking around. “Where’s Clarissa?” 

They hear a squeak behind them. 

They turn their heads, Y/N lifting hers to see the damage she caused. “Oh my God!” she shrills when she sees a small snake on the floor. “What have I done?” She scrambles away from the group, going over to what she believed was Clarissa. “I have to fix this.” She picks up the snake.

“Y/N--” 

“Please,” she sobs. “I’ll fix this. I promise I will.” She sets the snake down, taking a deep breath. “I can fix this,” she tells herself. Her arms lift up gracefully, as she moves them around, almost like a dance. A soft breeze brushes everyone coming around to where Y/N sat. “Mmm… Mmm…” She hums a melody. “Water, Earth… Fire, and Ice, I bring thee together to create a new light,” she sings angelically. “Water, Earth… Fire and Ice reverse what I’ve done… Take in the curse and disperse it with love. Reverse the curse and I’ll pay back for what I’ve done…” A warm light glows from Y/N’s hands illuminating the snake that transforms back into the shape of a human. 

Clarissa opens her eyes, sitting up. A trail of long, golden blonde hair follows. “You did it.” She smiles. “You broke the curse.” She wraps her arms tightly around Y/N. “Thank you.” 

Y/N hugs the girl back.

Hiss! 

They pull away from each other. “Oh! I think you have…” Y/N points at the top of her head.

Clarissa reaches up to grab the small snake. “I guess someone had a curse to be broken too.” Her eyes meet Y/N’s. “Thank you, once again.” She giggles. “Sorry I stole your ring, and turned you to stone” 

“What?!” Ethan, Benny, and Sarah exclaims.

“Old news,” Luke mutters. 

“And sorry Benny about the spell I put on you.” 

Benny blinks a few times. “A spell?!” 

“I owe you my life,” Clarissa says.

Y/N waves it off. “You don’t owe us anything. You’re free now, so be free.” 

Clarissa, and Y/N stand up. “Then I must go… Find my parents.” 

Y/N’s eyes light up. “I might have something for that.” Y/N looks around, twirling her finger around to make--

“A compass?” Clarissa questions.

“This is an enchanted compass, think about what you’re trying to find and it’ll take you right to them,” Y/N explains, handing it to her. 

“I was wrong about you,” Clarissa starts. “I thought the ring made you who you are, but… It turns out it’s your heart that makes you everything…” She vanishes.

“Wh-where’d she go?” Ethan looks at Y/N confused.

“To where her parents are.” Y/N smiles. 

The sun shines through the windows, the bells of the school ringing as people walk out of the classrooms. “Where were you guys?” Rory asks. “You missed fifth period.” 

Everyone glimpse at each other’s reactions. “Magic is seriously weird,” Sarah comments. 

“You tell me,” Ethan agrees.

“I already knew,” Y/N admits. 

“When will I get one of those rings?” Benny questions. “I mean… I am a warlock too, and yet why can’t I do all the cool stuff you can do?” 

Y/N laughs. “I don’t know if I would call it cool, but…” She looks at Luke who hasn’t been able to look away from her since she woke up. 

“Are you okay?” 

Y/N is taken aback by his question. “I will be,” she answers, truthfully. “Thanks for being there for me.” 

“Why are they looking at each other like that, when Y/N and I are supposed to be going out on a date?” Rory thinks out loud.

Hearing only the last part of it Y/N looks at him in alarm. “What did I hear about me going out on a date with you?” She gapes at Sarah and Ethan who appear guilty.

“Was that Erica?” Sarah dramatically points the opposite way of them. “I was wondering where that girl was… Gotta go!” 

Ethan stands there awkwardly, as Sarah runs away. “Did Sarah just call for me to come with? I think she did, buh-bye!” 

And so there were three. “So? When is that da--” 

Rory gets cut off by Luke hissing at him. “It’s a no from her loverboy,” Luke bickers. “Leave it.” 

Rory pouts, but genuinely frightened by Luke, paces away. “It’s been a long day, I think I’m gonna go home.” Y/N runs a hand through her hair. “See you later, ‘kay?” She walks off.

Benny was left confused when the direction of her words was towards Luke and not him.

Taglist (Comment If You Want To Be Add, be specific if you just want to be added for this series or Luke Patterson in general):

@lovesanimals @charliegillespiewife @wanniiieeee

[blank-slate-jay]

I Choose You

Tasm!Peter X Eddie Brock/Venom

Word count: 1.8k

(Also up on my ao3 account)

Tags: Fluff, Kissing

Summary: Peter brings gifts over to Eddie’s place, hoping to impress and take their relationship to the next level.

Peter stepped in, with the slightly cracked window, he was able to push it open and enter into the apartment. Eddie’s apartment that is, the one place where noise was never ceased. Whether it was Eddie or his symbiote, Venom, his home was quite active. To his surprise, it was rather quiet for a place occupied by two.

“Eddie…”, he called out gazing both left and right. ‘No sign of him anywhere, weird.’ Peter thought tracing his nails on the hanger in his hand. He had come over to give both Eddie and Venom a gift, something for him to further leverage his feelings for them. He thought it would be much better to just kiss Eddie when he saw him again, but a gift could be all he needs to make that happen.

Peter continued further in for no other reason then to enjoy the air of the apartment. The place was clean and smelled sweet. Peter picked up on the familiar smell, chocolate. He got closer to the kitchen counter before placing the bag on top. He thought about texting Eddie about the gift he left for him. That idea was short lived and the door to the bathroom swung open.

“See you look much better. Now call him.”

“I will just give me a-”, Eddie stopped dead in his tracks, “Oh Peter. Hi! I was not expecting you to be here”, he laughed.

“Pete, perfect timing,” Venom excitedly popped out from Eddie’s shoulders.

Peter smiled, “Hey guys. Am I intruding?”

Eddie shook his head, “No...no you’re always allowed to come here.”

Peter nodded looking down at his shoes, nervous as ever anytime he was around the two. “Anything exciting been happening lately?”

“Nah, nothing,” Eddie moved closer to the counter, “You?”

“Surprisingly no,” he responses.

Venom stepped in, “Really even with all your hero work, nothing’s been going on?”

Peter sat down in one of the counter stools, “I know sorry, my life’s been pretty boring.”

“I wonder if that’s the life of any other heroes out there,” Venom spoke out loud, tilting his head as if he was thinking. 

Peter huffed at Venom’s adorable squinting eyes. He turns to look at Eddie who was leaning into the counter, arms crossed and glare focused on Peter. The border of his lips noticeably being bitten down on by his teeth. His fixation on Peter was broken when his gaze locked onto the other’s. 

Eddie stood up, looking away for a second, “Umm do you want something to eat? We got plenty of stuff we can make,” The man did a poor job covering up his stare.

“I’m good, Eddie. I actually ate a bit before I got here.”

“...okay...okay,” Eddie reluctantly replied. He couldn’t tell if Peter was telling him the truth or if he was trying to prevent Eddie from having to do something for him. The selfless hero in him couldn’t stop seeping through even without the mask. Eddie’s attention was then turned to his left, in the direction of the bag. “What’s that?”

“Oh right that...Um I thought I’d get you guys something on my way here”, Peter explained with his hands rummaging through the plastic, “Think of this as my way of thanking you guys for everything.” Peter pulled out a box and handed it over to Venom. “This is for you Vee.”

“For me?”

“Yep, and this one...is for you.” Peter finished, sliding the item over to Eddie. There, blossoming in a small brown pot, were a batch of bluish-green flowers. 

Eddie analyzed them longer than he wanted to. The stems were a rich green with white outlines along the sides of the petal. “These are for me?”

Peter was quick to place his hands in his pockets, “Yeah. I saw them on one of the shelves and got them. Mainly cause I was looking at your plant over there and thought you might like some new ones.” As true as Peter’s statement was he really wanted to add how the colors matched Eddie’s eyes. Or better yet, just outright admit he got them for him cause he liked him.

Eddie smiled looking down at the flowers, his fingers entangling themselves around the stem. “Thanks Pete.” He could feel his face turning red, now too embarrassed to come face to face with Peter.

By no means was Peter blind to the other's blushing. It would have been fun for him to acknowledge this out loud just to get a stronger reaction out of him, but he let Eddie off the hook. "No problem. You might want to add some water in there. Had to dump some of it out so the bag didn’t get wet.”

“Yeah…yeah I’ll do that”, Eddie moved over to the sink to fill the pot up.

Peter watched Eddie for a second before his attention was on Venom, who had already opened the box and consume most of the chocolate inside. For once the critter wasn’t noisy while eating. “Like them?”

“Oh yes. Especially this one,” a tendril lifted up a half eaten piece. “It’s really sweet, we like this. What is this?”

Peter chuckles, “Here let me see”, he says reaching his hand out. Venom gave Peter the piece, allowing him the chance to inspect the scent further. With his noise close enough, he mumbled, “Caramel.”

“Caramel…it’s so much tastier than the ones Eddie gets for us.”

Eddie shook his head, “Enjoy it while it last cause Mrs.Chen rarely has any to offer.”

Venom growled, “Why don’t we get some at another store?”

“For double the price?” Eddie turned his head from the sink.

Venom let out a snarl, not wanting to back down from Eddie’s remark. But Peter, being faster than Venom, blurted out before the alien could even come up with something to rebuttal. “I can get some more for you guys it’s no big deal.”

In synchronization, both Eddie and Venom voiced their disapproval. “No!” Peter’s eyes widen, taken aback from the two’s defensive response.

“I would love for you to get us more but…it’s Eddie’s job to do that, not you.”

“What he said,” the last word dragged out longer in Eddie’s mouth as he realized what Venom was implying. He knew he was in for another day of the constant nagging sometime later in the week. Eddie made his way over to them and placed the moist pot onto the counter before resuming, “You don’t need to do that for us Peter. I got it covered, okay?”

Eddie’s voice, suddenly more gentle, had Peter’s spine fluttering. To hear this tone from Eddie nearly convinced him to put the idea to rest. But something in the back of his head told him otherwise. He enjoyed doing things for the pair, but he’d probably had to put gifts on hold, for now.

“Alright, if you say so.” Peter awkwardly handed the piece of chocolate back to Venom, who gently bit into it, trying to avoid hurting him. After gobbling up the candy, Peter ran his hand over the aliens head, feeling the silky texture flow between his fingers. Venom’s light purrs were a delight to hear and Peter’s face was a big indicator of that. He retracted his hand, “Well I umm, should get going. I just wanted to drop these off for you guys is all so…” Venom and Eddie made eye contact as Peter began to stand up from his seat. “When are you guys free?”

Eddie switched his gaze over to Peter, “It’s funny you ask cause I actually wanted to ask you something too.”

“Oh, I’m all ears.”

“Um…,” Eddie slowly walked closer to Peter, both hands fidgety with the other, trying to prepare himself if the worst outcome played out. Venom kept himself behind Eddie, only peeking his eyes over Eddie’s shoulders. “I was thinking about, possibly, if you wanted to go somewhere together like…just us two or three I guess.”

“Go somewhere?”

“Yeah,” Eddie nodded

“Like?”

“I don’t know maybe like a movie or a restaurant if you want.”

“A movie and a restaurant,” Peter teased. He could tell, no, he could see Eddie’s nervousness by the slight bouncing in his posture.

“Mhm, if that’s alright with you, I mean we could go somewhere else if you don’t-”

Peter giggled, “No those are great actually.”

The corner of Eddie's lips rose, “Cool, cool.”

“Yeah so what are we calling this exactly? Like is this a hangout or…?”

Eddie inhaled, cycling through his vocabulary attempting to find a word that suited their plans.

“It’s a date.” Venom interrupts.

Eddie turned to Venom, face becoming redder by each passing second. He laughed as he turns to Peter. “Funny guy, huh?

“Mhm,” Peter bit down on his lips. “You and Venom share thoughts right?”

Eddie tilted his head, “Kind of.”

Peter asked a question that froze Eddie to the spot, “So was that idea drawn from you or was that his own?”

“Totally his, I just said it for him is all.”

Peter smirked, “Thats good to hear.”

Eddie also smiled, eyeing Peter’s bottom lip that still was being chewed at. He could’ve swore he was seeing Peter’s face grow in size due to his pulse racing at a rapid rate. Or perhaps he was so focused on his face that he imagined how nice it’d be getting closer. Both were dead wrong, it wasn’t his imagination at play, it was real. His body was inching closer to Peters face and before he knew it his lips were locked with his.

Venom was undoubtedly the one responsible for making this happen, but Eddie had no complaints. Peter’s lips against his felt electric, comfortable and magical. He wanted to do this for awhile now and that reality had finally arrived. What made the sparks in his veins go up was Peter latching his hand onto his upper arm, closing the gap between the two. Eddie used his free hand to wrap around Peter’s unoccupied hand, grasping at his somewhat smaller palm to give it some warmth.

The kiss lasted no longer than a few seconds and the two gave themselves enough breathing room to speak.

“Wow Brock, and here I thought I was going to make the first move,” Peter comments while cupping the side of Eddie’s face.

Eddie gave Peter a pec, “What time do you wanna go?”

“I’m thinking tomorrow at 6pm is a good time.”

Eddie nodded in response as Peter’s grip on him was released. “I’ll come pick you up by then.”

With plans in motion Peter says his goodbyes before exiting out the window. Eddie couldn’t help but watch as Peter maneuver through building until he was out of sight. He let out a sigh, already missing the physical connection he had. Eddie began thinking about how things would turn out the next day, but Venom butted in to give himself some credit by saying, “You’re welcome.”

[butterysalt]

I’m Not Going Anywhere | Sherlock x Reader

Pairing: Sherlock Holmes x reader (gender neutral)

Summary: After John beats up Sherlock for being gone for the past two years, you help tend to his wounds back at Baker Street.

Word Count: 1,405

Contains: Slight post-Reichenbach angst, injury

A/N: Other fics are in the works I swear,,, Creative energy is at a small low right now. But I still wanted to be somewhat active so I pulled this one from the old archives. Personally, this one isn’t a favorite of mine. Hope you’ll enjoy either way. :)

You and Sherlock took a cab back to Baker Street. The flat still needed to be cleaned up after sitting idle for so long. The occasional sheets of dust that weren't cleaned by Mrs. Hudson remained thick on the surfaces of shelves and furniture. Generally everything there was left untouched. No one could bear to see themselves throw any of it out. A part of Sherlock Holmes lived within everyone whether or not he was still around.

You briskly wiped down the old green couch with your hand and led Sherlock to sit on it. He groaned lowly in pain as he carefully leaned back into the cushions. You frowned watching Sherlock’s sore expression. His eyes were shut tight and he hissed quietly, an arm clutching his ribs.

John did quite a number on him. It was your job to watch over him while Sherlock was gone but you supposed that no amount of pampering and comfort could bring anyone complete peace after losing their best friend — someone that meant so much to John. But you didn’t doubt that Mary would help bring him around with time. They were Holmes and Watson after all. They always figured it out no matter how much they’d like to deny it.

Sherlock eventually opened his eyes again and found you staring. He made an effort to straighten his back and relax his face as best as he could in his condition. He flashed a sarcastic smirk. His voice came out quiet and tired. “Don’t worry. I’ve looked worse.” There was that infamous wittiness you remembered so dearly.

You fought back the smile trying to creep on your face and shook your head at him. You went to the bathroom to grab some first-aid supplies. You returned to the living room with a bowl of cold water, some towels, and a first-aid kit. With everything on the coffee table beside the couch, you just stood in front of him expectantly. No words had to be exchanged for him to understand that you were waiting for his permission to help him. He smiled a little at your old habit. Always the sweetheart. Sherlock nodded lightly and you sat yourself down on a soft spot next to the detective.

His eyes followed your hands as you wrung out a small towel in the water. You dabbed the cold cloth along his long face, being sure to avoid touching the cuts and green bruises. Sherlock inhaled deeply, closing his eyes and relaxing under your care. Butterflies fluttered in your stomach seeing how calm he was with your touch. How he could fully trust you and be himself in your proximity.

Even when he was wounded and struggling to keep himself together, his mind was still racing as fast as ever. You swore you could hear how loud his thoughts were bouncing around in his head. Suddenly, the curly-haired man sighed heavily, “I thought I told you to take care of him when I left.” He was referring to John.

“I did, Sherlock.”

“Not well enough, surely,” he perked his eyebrow and immediately winced from it. You blew air in your face, huffing at his comment. “I did the best someone could do when their friend disappeared off the face of the earth for two years.” Sherlock was silent hearing this. Afraid you had struck a nerve, you scanned his face, searching for any signs of vulnerability. But he looked overall unconcerned so you decided to continue.

“He has been quite well, actually, aside from tackling you at dinner. He met Mary a few months ago and really felt something special with her… He was actually trying to propose tonight,” you said pointedly, pausing your sanitizing to give him a sharp look. Although his eyes were still shut, his lip twitched from the feeling of your gaze.

“John hasn’t been the same as before but let’s face it, no one is. We’ve all been doing the best we can; I’ve been doing the best I can.” The subtle shaking in your voice didn’t fly past him. It was safe to say that he was a big reason for your internal disturbance. He peeked an eye open and analyzed your expression.

You were focused solely on taking care of his injuries. Your brows furrowed down in concentration and your jaw clenched and unclenched ever so often. In your eyes, you were troubled. Conflict flashed and swirled within them but Sherlock could see how you suppressed those thoughts.

He knew you spent these last two years blocking out everything and marching forward. All this effort to keep yourself functioning. To keep living each day one second at a time. If it were otherwise, you would have cracked under the overwhelming pressure a long time ago. Anyone would do so. And yet here you were, still putting others before yourself like always.

Your hand accidentally brushed the cotton pad over his cheekbone. He hissed sharply and pulled his head away. You mumbled a quiet apology, “Sorry.” Your gentle hands carefully caressed his face and pushed his hair away. Along the way, you ran your fingers through his wavy locks. Sherlock leaned into your hand from the sensation.

He was reminded of how much he missed your tenderness. No matter how many harsh jabs you tried to throw at him, you were too good for him. It was a known fact to Sherlock — and one he did not choose to argue with.

His pale hand trailed along your waist as you leaned forward to patch up his wounds. Your mind was too busy to register his fond touch. Sherlock absentmindedly messed with the material of your clothes. He was soon engrossed in the feeling of the fabric wrinkling under his rough fingertips. You were still wearing your formal attire from the restaurant and Sherlock had to admit, it was a good look on you.

“You clean up nicely,” he commented. His soft tone shook you out of your immersive state. You pulled your hands away from his cuts and looked at him, baffled. “Was that a compliment I heard?” Sherlock made a small smirk and shrugged. You narrowed your eyes down at him. “...Odd hearing that from you.”

“I’m a changed man.” He smiled at you and you willingly returned it. The detective was all patched up now but you found yourself resistant to leaving that spot on the couch. Sherlock was humming deeply under the slow circles of your fingertips in his hair. You felt your chest heaving up and down as your eyes flickered along his beautiful features in the room’s dim lighting. You were his peace as he was yours. “You have no idea how much I've missed seeing your annoying face.”

“Well that's not a very good compliment,” he mumbled, on the brink of falling into a sweet slumber from your ministrations. You snorted at his casual humor, trailing your fingers around his jaw. “Yep. Definitely missed that.” He grinned in response and covered your warm hand with his, getting lost in your eyes. 

You continued to trace his features, delicately dancing around his wounds. Sherlock’s colourful eyes pierced through you and your breath caught in your throat. His eyes were blown, dilated. You could feel the vibrations of his heart pulsing through his body and over to yours when you touched him. The way he remembered to stop and breathe and all the tension in his body left when you were with him. And that’s when the realization finally settled in.

Sherlock is back. It's really him. A tear slipped from your eyes and a strangled noise gurgled in your throat. You pressed a hard kiss on his hand and curled up into his chest. He was shocked, jumping at first, startled by your sudden movement.

Slowly, he wrapped his arms around your figure and rubbed your back comfortingly. He hushed you, now being the one to run his fingers through your hair. “I really did miss you, Sherlock,” you hopelessly cried into his shoulder. “It’s been so long. I’ve been so worried, you idiot.” You weakly pushed his chest but ultimately ended up hugging him.

He smiled admirably at you, pulling back briefly to return a kiss of adoration on your forehead. Then he pulled you tighter into his form, holding you more securely as he whispered into your ear. “It’s alright. I’m home now. I'm not going anywhere.”

[well-its-not-human-anymore]

TMNT Headcanons

Ah shit, I'm at it again because this is my only current hobby

Y'all I can and will take requests on these if you want me to, I'm just doing these to give my brain the happy juice .

That being said, here you have it:

the boys realizing that you care and actually want to be their friend

Raphael

You wouldn't admit that you'd stalked him to the roof

Absolutely not, you wouldn't stoop that low

at least not that you'd tell him

From the looks of it he was pissed, Raph got a certain face that you eventually picked up as his 'my brothers were being dicks and now I'm not gonna have emotions but I'm gonna be angry about it' face

His shoulders would get all hunched and you could hear his dejected sighing from about seven miles away

So you opted to clamber to the rooftop, gear and all and drop into a crouch next to the temperamental terrapin

"you look like someone lit your favorite book on fire and forced you to eat cauliflower, what gives?"

"well hello to you too huh?"

"I'll take that as a yes then, you get in another fight with what's his name?"

He refused to look at you, letting out an angry huff

"somethin' like that"

You only let him sit in silence for another minute or so before opening your mouth again

"well you being pissed doesn't help me any. There's a gang meeting just up the street, drugs and illegal shit. Wanna tag along?"

Raph had the decency to look appalled. You were offering to hang out with him? Willingly?

Error 404: system has stopped working, plz try again later

He doesn't look at you now, not that he can see your face through the mask, a light blush creeps up his neck

"yeah. Yeah I'd like that. Lets go shorty."

"you got it princess"

Leonardo

He wasn't expecting you to care

The last fight you two had before he had to leave hadn't been resolved yet

But after his slip up during patrol he needed someplace to go so he wouldn't take his anger out on his family

And that's how he showed on your balcony at whatever ungodly hour of the morning

You'd barely pulled the window open before you saw his expression, you couldn't help but sigh

"leo what the actual fuck?"

"I'm really sorry about this, I just didn't know where else to go"

You really didn't want to feel bad but you did, and your feet were really fucking cold

"get your ass in here. You're letting the cold air in."

He settled easily on your couch, seemingly awkward and avoiding any eye contact with you.

You returned to the room with a bathrobe on, an extra pillow and an armful of blankets

"you can crash here for the night, im off tomorrow but don't wake me up before nine or I will stab you. Let me know if you need anything, I'm just down the hall. And we'll talk everything over in the morning, okay?"

He nodded with a sigh of relief

"thank you y/n. And I'm sorry"

You just shook your head with a smile

"I don't even remember what we were arguing about leo. And you hanging here isnt a big deal. I need friends anyway."

Your voice carried through the apartment as you retreated to your own room, letting him settle in

"now go the fuck to sleep, dumbass"

Michaelangelo

Mikey had no idea why you wanted to see him

Especially not with the urgency in your text

Technically speaking he wasn't even supposed to be out right now and he tried to ignore that as he sprinted further away from the lair

He was out of breath by the time he reached your window, the sun nearly gone and the street lights flickering to life

The turtle knocked twice on your window before coming in and yelling for you

"you good angelcakes?! Where're you at?"

There was a startling amount of crashing from your storage room, causing him to jolt slightly when you exploded out of the room with a huge smile on your face

"good you're here, sorry I used the emergency line but I knew you started patrol soon and I didn't want to forget to give you this"

And then you pulled out a tiny binder that reminded him of a scrapbook, however that definitely wasn't what it was because when he opened it multiple organized, clipped magazine recipes stared back at him

Mikey was confused™

At his expression you seemed to explode with a bubble of excitement you didn't know you were capable of

"I remember you telling me that you liked cooking but sucked ass at organizing so when I accidentally ended up getting bored this week I made that for you so you wouldn't have to organize it."

Definitely shorting out his brain

"dude I love it, don't get me wrong here, it's amazing. But uh- why?"

You raised an eyebrow at him, now also confused™

"oh uh- I figured you're kinda risking your ass coming out of your way to visit me so I thought I'd do something to thank you and that was the first thing that came to mind."

The boy is touched and has mentally vowed to die for you, you are too precious for this world

Donatello

Donnie never seemed to understand how you managed to read him in such a short time of knowing him

You swore it was all the reading, spending your childhood analyzing characters because you had no friends made you quite the people reader

So the second the turtle showed up to read with you that night your book became an afterthought

"you're upset. Does someone need to go into permanent night night?"

he'd literally been there for nine seconds and you were already calling him out

"uh no? I'm fine"

You rolled your eyes and resisted a great urge to clonk yourself on the head with your book

"okay that's a fucking lie. Dude you didn't even say 'whats up stranger' when you got here and you expect me to believe you're just fine? Yeah right. Did something happen? Do you need to talk about it?"

The poor guy didn't even get the chance to open his mouth

"say I'm fine one more time and Im adding the moon to my list of favorite planets"

He didn't know what he was expecting you to say but it definitely wasn't that and now he was fighting the urge to laugh

"are you really making fun of my planet knowledge right now? Not very cool of you man. I know at least 2 constellations. There's ursa major and ursa not as major right over-"

"you mean ursa minor?"

"THE MOON IS MY FAVORITE PLANET"

It might've started as a normal chuckle but in under half a minute it had dissolved into that ridiculously adorable snorting laugh he did that usually left him breathless, you laughed along with him, hanging your head and giggling as you did so

"thanks"

You shook your head, slightly dizzy from laughing so hard

"don't mention it. I don't like seeing you upset. Besides, you love it when I get all astrological, right?"

"uhhhhh..."

"this is the part where you lie to spare my feelings Donnie."

"yep. Love the astrological stuff. The best." *Plz insert awkward thumbs up here*

[swan-of-sunrise]

Civil War (Chapter Four)

Summary: In the aftermath of the U.N. bombing, (Y/N) receives a call from Steve and is ‘invited’ to the Joint Counter Terrorism Centre in Berlin for questioning.

Pairing: Steve Rogers X Reader

Word Count: 3k

Warnings/Disclaimers: None

A/N: I’m not too sure about this chapter, it’s all over the place and I’ve rewritten it twice so I can’t tell if it’s good or not lol thank you for reading, I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter Four (Previous Chapter)

While the paramedics finished fastening the bandage around her head, (Y/N) sat in the back of the ambulance and silently watched the chaos unfolding. A fire crew was busy hosing down the still-smoldering ruins and a medical helicopter flew overhead as different government agencies began setting up their base camps on the outskirts of the caution tape. The CIA agent who’d questioned her about the incident had informed her that a large-scale bomb had gone off next to their building, injuring over seventy people and killing twelve; she’d gone on to explain to her that if not for T’Challa’s last-minute warning, many more people would’ve perished in the blast.

Poor T’Challa, (Y/N) thought to herself with a pang of sadness. His father, King T’Chaka, had been the closest person to the blast and was killed instantly. The paramedics completed their work and she thanked them before quickly getting out of their way, knowing that there were many others who still needed to be helped. Shoving her hands into the pockets of her ash-covered blazer, she walked along the edge of the crime scene towards where she’d last seen Natasha and T’Challa; different international news reporters were documenting the tragedy and as she passed by one of them, their words almost made her stop dead in her tracks.

“Officials have released a video of a suspect who they have identified as James Buchanan Barnes, the Winter Soldier. The infamous Hydra agent, linked to numerous acts of terrorism and political assassinations…”

(Y/N) continued walking, afraid that she’d be recognized if she lingered too long, and finally sat down on an empty bench near the CIA’s base camp. Once she got over the initial shock of learning the suspected identity of the bomber, she couldn’t help but feel confused; Bucky had been on the run for over two years, ever since the Battle at the Triskellion and the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., and there hadn’t been any sign of him since. Steve and Sam had tracked down every single lead they could find but to no avail. To her, it didn’t make much sense that after all that time, the wanted man would suddenly decide to do something as massive as bomb the United Nations.

The buzzing of her cell phone in her pocket jolted her out of her thoughts; pulling it out and glancing down at the screen, her eyes widened in recognition and she was quick to answer it. “Hello?”

“Are you hurt?”

“Um…yeah, a little. My right eardrum ruptured from the noise of the blast and my lungs feel like crap, but other than that I’m okay…” She trailed off, listening as Steve let out a shaky sigh of relief. Try as she might, memories of their recent fight came to mind but she forced aside her irritation with him as she continued. “Listen Steve, I just heard about Bucky and I-”

“You’re gonna tell me the same thing Nat did: to leave it up to the Task Force and stay home.”

She blinked, taken aback by the shortness of his tone. “Well, I think she has a point about staying out of it but what I was actually going to say is that-”

“I’m the only one who can bring him in alive, (Y/N), so that’s what I’m gonna do. I just wanted to call and tell you myself so that you didn’t believe I was hiding things from you.” Steve abruptly interrupted and after a moment of tense silence, the hard edge in his voice softened a little. “Look, I’m…take care of yourself while I’m gone, okay? Don’t forget to change that bandage of yours every few hours.”

The call disconnected as (Y/N)’s head snapped up in shock and she hurriedly scanned her surroundings, but the super-soldier was nowhere to be seen. “Bastard.”

“(Y/N)!” She looked over in time to see Natasha striding over to her, her brow furrowed in worry. “(Y/N), I just got a call from Steve a few minutes ago, and-” The spy stopped herself short as she examined her assumedly-angered expression. “I take it you got one, too.”

“Yep, and I’d rather not discuss it right now if that’s okay.”

Natasha nodded. “Fine by me, hot-shot, but we should be going; our presence has been…um, requested in Berlin. At the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre, to be precise.”

Frowning, (Y/N) stood and walked alongside her. “Our? What’s all this got to do with me?” The spy gave her a pointed look and she exhaled through her nose. “Ah, yes, my ‘association’ with Steve Rogers. They’ve guessed that he’d be the first one after Bucky and since I’m his fiancé, they want to hold me for questioning.”

“Pretty much…but there’s another reason that I’ll let Tony tell you about himself when we arrive. It was his bad idea, after all.”

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

By that point, (Y/N) was well and truly sick of flying; they’d taken the Quinjet to the Berlin-Tegel Airport, where a car had picked them up and drove them to the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre. If her head hadn’t hurt so much and she were in a better mood, she would’ve taken the time to admire all the historical landmarks they passed by. And here I thought that week we spent dealing with Ultron was exhausting, she thought with a humorless smile, getting out of the car and walking alongside Natasha as they entered the parking garage’s elevator.

“When you’re questioned by an agent, be sure to answer as honestly as possible.” (Y/N) glanced up from her dirty sneakers and met Natasha’s serious expression. “Cooperation’s the only thing that’s gonna help Steve and Sam out right now, (Y/N). Don’t let the agent get inside your head, though; make sure that you’re the one in control of the situation, just like I’ve taught you. If I know them like I think I do, they’re gonna try and get more valuable intel out of you than just Steve’s whereabouts.”

She nodded after a brief moment of hesitation and the spy’s shoulders relaxed a little. The elevator stopped at the top floor and its doors slid open to reveal two men; one was Tony Stark, dressed stylishly in a dark-grey suit with a tense smile on his face and the other was an older man with salt-and-pepper colored hair that she didn’t recognize. The stranger stepped forward and shook Natasha’s outstretched hand. “Miss Romanoff, thank you for coming in so quickly.”

“Of course,” Natasha replied before glancing over at (Y/N). “(Y/N), this is Everett Ross, Deputy Task Force Commander of the CIA. Agent Ross, this is (Y/N) (Y/L/N).”

Agent Ross smiled and shook her hand, but (Y/N) got the distinct feeling that he was studying her expression and analyzing her behaviors. “I wish we were meeting under better circumstances, Miss (Y/L/N); my niece and nephew are big fans of your novel.”

(Y/N) murmured her thanks and followed the trio as they walked down a covered sky-way, not noticing that Tony had fallen into step beside her until he quietly asked, “How’re you holdin’ up, Austen?”

“Let’s just say that I’ve had better days.” She remarked, glancing over at the billionaire with a raised brow. “Nat mentioned something about a bad idea you wanted to run by me?”

“Oh, I have a couple of ‘em, but I’ll let you get changed before I go ahead and tell you. When I heard about the bombing, I figured that you and Romanoff would need clothes so I packed some before I left the compound.”

Touched by his thoughtfulness, (Y/N) allowed him to lead her to a private bathroom and quickly changed out of her soot-covered clothing; she felt a little bit like her usual self as she emerged from the bathroom, but the comforting feeling her change of clothes had inspired soon disappeared when the billionaire ushered her into a glass-walled conference room in the middle of what she imagined was a control room.

“Sorry if it seems like we’re sitting inside a fish bowl but this is the only place where we can talk without being overheard.” Tony sat down across from her at the long table, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. “And I’m sorry about the civilian consultant thing, Austen. We all found out about it last night when Secretary Ross called to ask who’d decided to sign; he seemed crankier than usual when we told him that we didn’t know what you’d decided to do.”

(Y/N) rolled her eyes and leaned her elbow onto the table, resting her head in her hand with an exasperated sigh. “What, does Ross think that if I sign then that’ll make Steve suddenly change his mind and decide to sign too?”

“Pretty much…but truth be told, he’s not the only one.” Her brow rose in surprise as Tony sat forward in his chair, an uncharacteristically subdued expression on his face. “Look, (Y/N), none of us wants to see Rogers gone. The team needs him and we both know how much he needs the team, so…I was hoping that if you signed, you’d be able to convince him that he’d be doing the right thing by signing too. Once Rogers signs them, then Wilson and Maximoff should follow suit and we’d have our Earth’s Mightiest Heroes all back together again in no time. What do you think?”

“You make it sound so easy…and I wish it was, Tony. I really do.” She stood and walked over to the glass wall, her eyes trained on a large computer monitor that bore her fiancé’s photograph on a wanted poster. “But you and I also know that once Steve’s made up his mind about something it’s impossible to change it. I tried telling him that refusing to sign might put our future together in jeopardy, and do you know what he said?”  Turning back around, she met the billionaire’s gaze and mirthlessly smiled. “He said that he couldn’t afford to be selfish and he left it at that.” A lump formed in her throat as she blinked away her tears and shrugged. “He respects the hell out of you, Tony, so maybe you’ll have a better change at convincing him. I’ll be there when you do, but…since I haven’t decided what I’ll do yet, I honestly don’t know how much help I’ll be.”

Just as Tony opened his mouth to reply, the glass door of the conference room slid open and none other than Sharon Carter poked her head into the room. “If you’re ready, Agent Ross would like to ask you some questions.” (Y/N) stood and spared Tony a final glance before following the agent down the hall, pointedly ignoring the jealous pang in the pit of her stomach as she did. “Romanoff mentioned that you weren’t much of a coffee drinker, so I brought you some hot chocolate instead.” She looked over to see Sharon holding out a to-go cup out towards her, a hesitant but friendly sort of smile on her face. “Might help settle your nerves before your talk with Ross.”

She accepted the beverage with a murmur of thanks and took a sip as they continued down the hall; giving the agent a sideways glance, she cleared her throat before saying, “I’m sorry about your aunt, Sharon.”

“Thank you…and thank you for everything you said in your eulogy. Actually,” Sharon stopped beside the stairwell door and gestured towards it. “We don’t have much time, but do you mind if we talk for a quick sec?” (Y/N)’s brow furrowed a little but she nodded and followed her into the stairwell, watching as she leaned back against the wall and shuffled her feet. “You meant a lot to Aunt Peggy, (Y/N), but I don’t think you know just how much she appreciated you. Back before her dementia got worse, she’d call me after her visits with Rogers and we’d talk for hours; she worried about him, always telling me that he was deliberately keeping himself from embracing his new life and that there wasn’t anything she could do to help. But then you came into his life and from what she told me, it was a night and day difference; knowing that you were there for Steve, as a friend and then as something more, gave her piece of mind. She really liked you, (Y/N), and she really respected you. I just thought that you should know that.”

“Thank you, Sharon, that…that really means a lot to me.”

The agent nodded, suddenly looking a little uncomfortable. “I would’ve told you all that after the funeral but you and Steve were sort of…well, you know…arguing. I swear I wasn’t eavesdropping, it’s just that you both were kind of loud and the cathedral has crazy-good acoustics.” (Y/N) started to reply but Sharon cut her off with a firm head shake. “You’ve got nothing to apologize for, (Y/N). I’m not exactly a fan of the Accords but just between us? I think that Steve was out of line back there.” Unsure of what to say, she nodded once and took another sip of her drink as the agent looked down at her wristwatch. “C’mon, we should get going before Ross starts looking for us.”

The two of them left the stairwell and continued down the hallway to an office; Agent Ross was seated at a desk and reading through a file, looking up from his work with a friendly smile. “Thank you, Agent 13, that’ll be all.” With one last glance, Sharon turned and left them alone. “Please, take a seat.” (Y/N) sat down in the chair across from him and crossed her leg over her knee, trying her best to remain cool and collected. “Miss (Y/L/N), we have reason to believe that Captain Rogers plans on interfering with the apprehending of the Winter Soldier; can you tell me when you last spoke to your fiancé?”

“A little over three hours ago in Vienna. He called to ask if I’d been injured during the bombing and then he warned me that he was planning on bringing in Bucky himself. That’s all he said.”

Ross nodded and gestured to the bandage wrapped around her head. “And are you okay?”

“Yes, it’s only a ruptured eardrum; the bandage is just keeping the ear from becoming infected.” (Y/N) shrugged, taking another sip of her drink before setting it down on the desk. “Truth be told, I’ve had worse.”

Nodding again, the agent picked up the open file on his desk and scanned its contents. “Yeah, it seems like you have. In March of 2014, you suffered a moderate-grade concussion, GSW on your left thigh and a severe muscle contusion on the other thigh; it also says here that you even needed an emergency blood transfusion upon arrival at the hospital.” He looked back up at her with an arched brow. “Sounds like a lot for a civilian to go through.”

(Y/N) blinked in surprise. “I-it was-”

“And according to witness statements from the Avengers, the Artificial Intelligence known as Ultron targeted you last year because of your close relationship with Steve Rogers, is that correct?” Nodding, she struggled to keep her expression neutral as her fingers began reflexively tracing along her old gunshot wound. “It looks like you were just a pawn in Ultron’s plan to break the Avengers apart, and it very nearly worked.”

Her first instinct was to snap at the agent but after recalling Natasha’s earlier warning, she swallowed her frustration and gave him a fleeting smile. “The CIA certainly cares a lot about historical fiction novelists, doesn’t it?”

Ross chuckled and leaned forward in his seat. “Only the ones engaged to rogue super-soldiers, of course. Speaking of super-soldiers, can you elaborate on the nature of your fiancé’s connection to James Barnes?”

“There’s nothing much to say that hasn’t already been said; Steve and Bucky were childhood friends who fought together during World War II and when S.H.I.E.L.D. fell, Steve and Sam tried searching for Bucky but they never found him.”

Nodding, the agent reached over and moved his computer monitor to face her; on the screen was a blurry image of a man wearing dark clothing, obviously taken from grainy security camera footage. “And is this James Barnes?”

“Yes, although I’ve only seen him in person once and this photo’s a little blurry.”

“Okay, let me see if I’ve got this straight: Steve’s old pal bombs the U.N. meeting that you, his fiancée, was attending and instead of rushing to your side like any other partner would do, he decides to leave the country to apprehend Barnes himself. Does that pretty much sum things up?” (Y/N)’s jaw clenched tightly and she stared silently at the agent in front of her, who tilted his head to the side as he considered her. “You see, the CIA knows that you and Captain Rogers are close but what we don’t know is how far you’d go to protect a man who doesn’t sound like he’s got your best interests at heart.”

Before (Y/N) could finally lose her temper, another agent poked his head into the office. “I’m sorry, Agent Ross, I know you said that you didn’t want to be disturbed but this is urgent.”

“Fine, fine…”

Ross stood and followed the agent out into the hallway, leaving the office door cracked open just far enough for her to make out some of what they were saying. “Rhodes…all of them arrested…Bucharest…ETA in less than six…”

Thank goodness they’re all right, (Y/N) thought as relief washed over her, they’ll both be charged with obstruction of justice but at least they’re alive. Some of her elation disappeared as her mind drifted back to Agent Ross’ line of questioning; Natasha was right, the CIA was taking the golden opportunity to get intel on Captain America with the knowledge that what they were doing was protected under the Sokovia Accords. The thought of being manipulated and used that way infuriated her but what angered her more was that this all stemmed from Steve’s unwillingness to consider the consequences of not signing the Accords. You’re in control here, she told herself with a calming breath, just do everything Nat told you to do and you’ll be okay…

Agent Ross reentered the office and sat back down with an expectant smile on his face. “Well, now, where were we?”

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

A/N: This story’s a little more challenging to write than The Winter Soldier or Age of Ultron, there’s so much angst to deal with and writing these chapters really takes a lot out of me, so any likes, reblogs and comments are really appreciated ❤️

Thank you all so much for reading and commenting, you guys are truly amazing! I’ve created a Spotify playlist inspired by this series, and I’ll be updating it every time I upload a new chapter. Enjoy!

Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4TsJ2TY1F2HDXhEYOfzCjY?si=f5f309da80a74a63

Chapter Five

Civil War Masterlist

Tagging: @mrs-obrien​ @lahoete​ @awkward117​ @cminr​ @natdrunk​ @momc95​ @savedbystyle​ @miraculouscloud​ @awkwardnesshabitat​ @marinettepotterandplagg​ @khuang3​ @supersouthy​ @benakenalove​ @brooke0297​ @hufflepeople​ @becausewelie​​ @outoftheregular @supreme-tantrum​ @ladydmalfoy​ @mads-weasley​ @username23345​ @crist1216​ @aesthethickks​

[oh-for-fic-sake]

If They Get Married I'd Be Your Uncle

Masterlist

Warnings: swearing, mentions of sex, flirting, Bruce is frustrated

A/n:So been in a dc mood today and couldn’t get this out of my head i really hope you enjoy it xx

Bruce meets you when you both get called into the school and instantly wants you to himself.

If They Get Married I'd Be Your Uncle.

You grumbled as you walked up to the pretentious school pissed that it wasn't near any bus routes, cos these type of people don't use that sort of thing. The walk was long and arduous especially after the 10 hour shift you just finished cos some stupid little twat decided he didn't feel like coming in today and called in 'sick' at the last minute even tho you heard his giggling girlfriend in the back ground. Sighing you pulled out your hair tie slapping it up into a neater messy bun as you made your way into the school reception stopping ,you raised an eyebrow at the receptionist as she gave you a side glance pretending not to notice you. You looked up to the ceiling praying for some restraint because you'd had just about as much as you could take today and didn't need the snobby attitude of these people. After a few moments you looked at her.

"Excuse me I'm here to see Mr Koleman I'm running a bit late so could you sign me in?" you said as calm as possible she rolled her eyes.

"Mr Kolman doesnt take personal meetings on the school grounds" she said snidely dismissing you , you growled at the implication.

"I'm Jack Cookes sister you phoned me earlier?"

"oh? you have an appointment?" she said. you grit your teeth.

"Trust me if I didnt I wouldnt be here" she gave you the once over then reached a perfectly manicured hand beside her screen lifiting a clip board

" and your Mrs?" you shook your head

"Miss Cooke with an e" a chuckle and whispers rippled through the office as she checked you in and handing you a visitors pass. You snatched it and made your way down to the hall to a mini reception outside the principles office. As you opened the door you spotted your little brother supporting a bloody nose ,cut cheek and eyebrow. Ignoring everyone you ran across the room stopping before him and his best friend.

"Oh for fuck sake Jack, here let me look" you said tilting his face this way and that you looked beside him swivling on your feet pulling the boys face up.

"Damien are you ok- seriously you to?" you cut yourself off seeing a dark bruise on the boys jaw you tutted rummaging through your bag pulling out a pack of ibuprofen and small bottle of water passing it to them both.

"here take these" stopping as the principles secretary snapped at you.

"Miss! you cannot give medication to other student's god knows what they are!!" you rolled your eyes giving the sleeve of tablets to Jack who then popped out two and gave them to Damien before taking his own.

"Happy?" you quipped at her with an innocent smile then turned to Jack

"Jack please please tell me you still have all your teeth" he smiled showing a full set then looked at Damien who copied. You sighed in relief smoothing both boys hairs then placed a kiss on each of their heads. You continued coddling them unaware of the man behind you watching shocked as damien sat still letting you fuss over him. Bruce didnt know you from adam but damien apparently did

"Was it them again? I told you if your gonna retaliate keep it off campus!" you said kneeling in front of them hand on either boys knee.

"We didn't start it." your brother stated and you believed him , he and Damien get themselves into trouble I mean there a couple of teenage boys there bound to act up but he doesn't just 'verbally disrespect people and attack other students' as the teacher on the phone had put it.

"Ok what happened?" you asked they both looked down Damien spoke up first

"They started calling us names again, kyle tripped and blamed Jack for it getting him told off so i called Kyle out on it then they started calling us names again we told Mrs Hatt and she laughed saying sticks and stones" . Jack continued

"So I called her a drunk fat bitch who was at best a fucking baby sitter, kyle slammed my head into the desk for it cos he's a little ass lick." you sighed as Damien took over

"SoIi punched kyle in the face knocking him on his ass and Clarence hit me and Jack headbutted him then we were pulled apart"

"yeah were did you learn to punch like that? he went down like a sack of shit" Jack asked laughing damien joined him laughing you deadpanned as they high five'd one another.

"Ok guys thats neither here nor there the point is your teacher sat back and watched?" they nodded there teacher seemed to have a problem with your brother due to your social class, he'd been accepted as part of a new law that all private schools must accept a certain number of full scholarship students to give everyone 'an equal opportunity' you'd been complaining to the school about the bullying and the teachers attitude but nothing has been one it seems.

"So you didn't hit them first?" you asked Damien shook his head at you. you believed them they were good kids.

"Good but you know fighting isn't the answer right?" they shook their heads you stood up fully taking a seat beside them.

"Damien thank you for helping him and Jack fuck sake don't you know headbutting hurts you more than the other guy. I'm sorry this is still happening guys but I'm gonna take care of it ok? trust me?" they both nodded at you still looking a little sorry for themselves you swung around in your seat only now seeing Bruce sitting opposite you.

"Bruce Wayne, you must be Jacks sister Y/n was it?" you nodded as his hand devoured your in a hand shake.

"Yep that's me. sorry your boy got dragged into this" he chuckled waving it off

"He will always find trouble at least this time its for sticking up for his friend, im glad to finally have a face to put to the name they talk about you alot" you nodded at that couldn't help your breathing hitch slightly at his smile his eyes seemed to burn into you analyzing you. You flushed slightly under his gaze

"Good things i hope" he nodded at you licking his bottom lip damien sighed you loked away before smirking at Jack.

"You really called her a drunk fat bitch?" he laughed proud of himself

"Yeah, sticks and stone and all that thought id test it" you laughed out loud

"To quick for them huh? I see where your going with it tho smart ass" he smiled sheepishly

"Well it worked for you, had to give you a leg to stand on" you laughed high fiving him . Bruce flinched as the display made you look your age. your relationship with your brother was a strange one. One moment you had to be the 'politically correct parent' the next you could return to being his 'cool older sister', there was 12 years between you but it didn't bother either of you , it wasn't that long ago that you were in school so you understood him. You struck up a conversation with the two boys, Damien had been the only one in the school to get along with Jack and you were thankful that they found each other two peas in a pod and he seemed to be coming round constantly it hadn't taken long before you started mothering him to. They were always together at your house or the manor but youd never met bruce jntill today sure damien had spoke about him, convinced that the two of you would hit it off, you just laughed him off saying it was wishfull thinking, but you couldnt help but wonder as you sat across from the handsom man well aware of his eyes watching your every move. Bruce watched fascinated as you seemed to be on the same level as the boys , if he was honest he was happy to see Damien relaxed around someone. Damien constaly gushed about you to him and he could see why as his eye scanned you up and down taking everything in , you was certainly beautiful petite and slightly heavy set you had a young carefree air about you that still held a nurturing aspect , probably what drew damien to you the boy had never had a motherly type of women around him, hell even he felt drawn to you in more ways then one, he noted as he felt,his blood rush south. It had been a while since any woman had coaxed such a strong reaction from him. He'd never been one for the young domestic type but there was something in him that wanted you. He tried reasoning that it was because of the way you had coddled his son, or maybe it was that he missed that motherly affection himself, but no there was something more then that a deep atraction pulling at him.He could see why Damien had taken a shine to you he'd be lying if he said he hasn't already been thinking of a reason to meet up with you outside of school. It was rare that someone caught him by surprise and you had defiantly caught him by surprise. Clearing his throat he re-position himself on his seat as his boxers became tighter embarrassed and admittedly a bit confused as watching you mother the two teens had begun to arouse him. You looked over to him with concern.

"Are you ok Mr Wayne?" he inwardly groaned at the name and way you looked at him so innocently ,no idea what you were doing .fuck. He forced a charming smile

"Yes just wish they'd hurry up." you sighed pouting slightly

"It seems a bit stupid calling this an emergency then making us wait this long. twats." you snipped crossing your arms across your chest huffing he chuckled hearing the barely held back irritation, imagining just how bratty you could be, and exactly how he could deal with said bratty behaviour a shiver ran down his spine, he sucked through his teeth as his cock twitched at the thought his mind racing to other tempting scenarios of you and him, shaking his head he had to snap himself out of it. The door opened and you were both called in. He watched wide eyed as you rose your demeanor changed completely, gone was a fun loving motherly young woman and there stood a less than impressed mama bear under 5ft tall but walked like a giant. He blinked and staggered in behind you thankful that he opted for a longer blazer that helped cover his 'situation' once in the office you set down in front of Mr Koleman the principle a stout balding man that was king of his own little castle and like to let everyone know it.

Mr Koleman looked at you with distaste then smiled shaking hands with Bruce.

"Ah Mr Wayne good to see you again tho I hoped it was on better terms. Miss Cooke I'm glad you could come down today I wasn't sure you'd make it this time." he said condescendingly you smirked putting on your polite 'adult' voice.

"well I've been trying to get an appointment with you about these issues that I'm sure your fully aware of, however you seem fully booked so I'm glad I finally have the opportunity to straighten a few thing out" he grimaced as he took a seat behind the desk.

" Yes well I am a very busy man." he said

"Yes I noticed that when the receptionist mistook me for a personal visitor." you hear Bruce cough covering a laugh as the principle opened and closed his mouth speechless.

"Any way what was it you wanted to discuss Mr Koleman?" he scowled not used to being shut down by a young women. He leaned forward shuffling papers

"yes well we've been having problems with Jack for a few months as your aware-"

"Yes I'm aware that he is being targeted by his teacher and bullied by other students in the class which is being over looked and in some instances encouraged by the staff at this school. but go on." you interupted him staring at him unblinkingly Bruce gapped before collecting himself sitting back to watch the show the distinct feeling that you were going to rip this man a new arsehole.

"Uh-oh i was not aware of that"

"do not lie to me" you growled 'and here we go' Bruce thought he'd been with enough women to know that all hell was going to break loose as the quiet sweetheart form out side became a little spitfire in the office and couldn't help the a quick fantasy of you being this fiesty for him in his office. You pulled out a small red diary from your bag turning to dates in it.

"On the 4th of March I phoned the school and spoke to a Mrs Hatt to discuss cases of bullying she said that it was being taken care of and that I had no reason to worry. March the 12th Jack came home with bruises on his back caused by the same students they had tied knots in there ties and whiped him with them while getting changed for p.e, I had raised concerns about it nothing was done. I phoned again and once again was fobbed off by Mrs Hatt that there was nothing happening, then Jack comemhome with a sprained wrist, then it was bruised stomach, then a cut forhead and a brokennfinger from them smashing it in a door etcetera these incidents continued and I continued to report them and it was always the same names that popped up, the same three boys. I'd had enough on May 21st I phoned and asked to speak to you instead I got through to a Mrs Hamsten? the vice principle?" you watched as his face became paler and paler as you spoke he nodded. Bruced leant back eyes blown finding himself getting hotter as he watched you tear down the man infront of you.

"Yes and she said that the boys had been put into detention for it which turned out to be a lie another student confirmed that nothing had been done. I then put my issue in writing, I wrote a letter sent by recorded post to you about the issue and received a reply, sighed by you, that you have a no tolorence policy and would look into it, nothing has been done and now you have the audacity to call me up and have me come in here because he finally had enough and stuck up for himself because this little shit split his face open on a desk whilst the teacher watched? tell me Mr Koleman do you still want to pretend you dont know what I'm talking about because I've recored all the calls I've made about this." you tore into him as he shrunk further and further into his seat not prepared for you to come at him so direct. Bruce didnt know what the fuck happened to the sweet little thing he saw outside but what he did know was that was one of the sexist things he'd seen as you asserted yourself beautifully not giving the man time to respond. If it wasn't for Mr Koleman sitting behind the desk he'd already have you spread out on it underneath him. 'Another time'he thought to himself he licked his lips tugging at his trousers again trying to ease the ache in his cock as it strained against its confines.

"Ah yes well, now that I think about it I do remeber a letter" he stumbled over his words you nodded your head

"Yes I'm sure you do. Today was the inevitale blow up." He collected himself looking at Bruce for some sort of back up instead the billionaire scowled at him.

"Be that as it may there is no excuse for calling a teacher a drunk fat bitch." you nodded

"I agree how ever it was for science. Your member of staff who has neglected her duty to keeping my brother safe on school grounds ,has brushed off his bullying useing 'stick and stones' so he decied to test that theory by calling her a drunk fat bitch, turns out names do hurt and caused her to become agitated that she allowed him to have his face smashed into a desk by another student cutting open his eyebrow, cheek and bloody his nose. I dont think she should be able to teach if she cant practice what she preaches and certainly shouldnt be left incharge of children if she is that unstable that she would allow an attack to happen because her feeling were hurt."

"yes well he dragged Mr Waynes son into this-"

"Damien and Jack are friends Damien saw Kyle attack Jack and defended him which is more I can say for the staff at this school. I'm warning you Mr Koleman sort it out before I go to the press. How do you think that would look? when your school board find out that Mr Wanyes son was injured defending his friend when the teacher didn't lift a fucking finger. You wanna go there? cos I fucking will I've had enough." he sat up straighter alarmed, Bruce moaned deep in his chest but watching you was really doing it for him he didnt know why or care in all honesty he just wanted more of you.

"No, no theres no need for that. We can sort this out between us no need for the governors or press. Mr Wayne is there anything you'd like to add." he said trying hard to wrap up this meeting. You looked at Bruce who frankly you forgot was even there he shook his head looking strange, shifting in his chair uncomfortably.

"I think Miss Cooke summed everything up wounderfully, and she has my full support sort out these kids, I know that they have been causing Damien problems name calling getting him in trouble such and he has said the teacher dosn't do anything about it. I wont stand for it any more , if its not sorted out by the end of the week I will bring Miss Cooke with me and we will speak to the school bored in person." You let out a breath you didnt know you was holding relief flooded you as he said this slightly worried that he'd throw you under the bus. He locked eyes with you his pupils were blown wide and he was breathing heavy he winked subtly, you flushed looking back to the man behind the desk as he cleared his throat.

"Right well I will see to it personally and it will be sorted by the end of the week, you both seem to have concerns with Jack and Damien's teacher so as of tomorrow I will have them moved into another class whilst I investigate. I will phone you both up to check in with the boys I'm terribly sorry that it has been left this long." he stood motioning for you both to do the same ending with.

"The boys can leave early today while I deal with this." Bruce opened the door letting you through growling as the principle made a point to oogle your ass as you left, quickly standing between you blocking his veiw of you he glared at the fat prick his message was clear. That hot little spitfire is mine so back off. He stared down at him chest puffed out standing taller and broarder intimidating the little weasel until he looked away. Bruce smirked then left the office slamming the door behind him finding you explaining to the boys what was happening, joining you as they stood up getting there bags .

"you boys go out and wait by the car while we sign out at the front." Bruce instructed they nodded running ahead to the school enterance.

"The car?" you asked looked up at him shyly

"Yes i will give you both a lift" he said leaving no room for argument. You thanked him then spoke quietly looking down trying not to freak out as he stood closer then you thought was neccasary.

"Thank you for sticking up for me in there, I dont usually get like that but you know I get a bit protective." he chuckled at you showing off a brilliant smile

"Its no problem, to be honest I found the whole mama bear thing very sexy your lucky we we'rnt alone" he said winking you blushed

"Wh-what? sh-shut up" you squeeked out he shook his head at you as he put an arm out over you holding the doors to main reception you thanked him queitly skipping through feeling small catching yourself breathing deeper to smell more of his fresh scented cologne.

"No I'm serious any where else and well" he wiggled his brows at you making you giggle

"and the way you are with damien?ive never seen him like that" he asked trailing off

"Yes well he is a sweet kid, he comes over quiet a bit as you know Alfred drops him off and the boys go off doing their thing, just sort of started to mother him a bit sorry" he smirked at you

"Well if I'd known how stunning you were it'd be me dropping him off. And dont apologize I'm not mad just a bit jealous. Tho not for long" he said handing his pass to the snooty receptionist who gave him bedroom eyes before glaring at you for keeping his attention.

"J-jealous? of Damien why?" you stuttered then bit your lip blushing. He groaned the site of it as he throbbed agin nearly cumming as his cock rubbed harshly agains the soft cotton of his boxers, he just couldnt control it. oh he was definatly gonna have you for himself, somehow you turned him into a horny teenager all over again.

"Well he got to have all your attention earlier, hurts a mans pride when his son can capture a beautiful woman's attention and he cant." you looked away from him giving your pass to the secatary who snatched it with a snarl.

"Im hoping you'd show some mercy and come out for lunch with me?" you gasped snapping your gaze at him.

"Wh-what you mean to talk about the school?"

"No as in a date" he explained you froze feeling butterflies in your tummy looking at the gorgeous man.

"Date? now? like right now?" he nodded smirking thoroughly enjoying you being so flustered.

"yes now I dont have anything else planned for today." you gulped when he gave you a heated look you felt like a meal taking a step back

" I'd love to but I have to clean up Jack and-." you began your excuse only for him to cut you short.

"Nonsense he can come to the manor and spend the day with Damien, Alfred is a good nurse he will patch them up." you blinked trying to think of another reason as he stood staring you down at you waiting to for to decide feeling like a deer in the head lights you realized this alpha of a man wasn't going to give you much of a choice.

"O-ok if your sure alfred wouldn't mind watching him." you nodded shyly Bruce gave a triumphant smirk and threw an arm across your shoulders tucking you against him walking to the main doors.

"Alfred wont mind watching the boys." you both walked outside to the boys Damien sighed at his dad before Jack spoke up.

"Told you he was looking at her ass"

"JACK! He was not!" you screeched at him damien laughed and bruce unlocked the range rover

"I thought I was being subtle about it" you gaped at him speechless as he opened the passenger door the boys gagged getting in the back. You got in the car pouting to yourselfand Bruce climbed in.

"Fucking hell I've never seen her speechless, how'd you do that?" Jack said Damien scoffed

"Dad just keep your boner in your pants until were out of the way."

"Yer shes my sister dont need to see her sucking face." You blushed trying to shush the boys

"DAMIEN! He does not have a boner!"

"Uh yer he does look."You tired not to look you really did but it just sort of happend you squeeked covering your mouth faceing forward and jumped as bruce leant over buckling your seat belt whispering in your ear.

"I did tell you the mama bear was sexy" puljng away he spoke to the boys

"Dont worry boys, we will behave until your out of ear shot" You gapped as they cringed with cries of 'ew dad no' and 'come on thats my sister' he laughed at them patting your thigh before pulling out of the school

"So you asked her on a date yet Dad?" Bruce raised and eye brom looking at him in the rear view mirror pulling out onto the main road.

"Well we are dropping you both off at the manor does that answer your question?"

Jack groaned not sure if he likes the idea of his sister dating his best friends dad.

"dont you hurt her Mr Wayne I know where you live" you smiled at that finding it cute him trying to be the protective little man. The drive was quiet for a while before jack piped up.

"Holy shit if they get married I'd be your uncle" you groaned holding you face in your hands bruce only laughed

"Jack its one lunch date jesus"

".....Can I walk you down the isle?"

"JACK?!"

"What she means is well cross that bridge when we come to it" you stared at Bruce as he smirked enjoying teasing you the boys snickered in the back. You sat back wondering just what you'd gotten youself into.

[astro-rain]

delicate; b.barnes

chapter four - mri’s & other modern commodities

delicate masterlist

word count: 1.8k

synopsis: bucky faces his first day of treatment, and discovers some new things along the way: some scary, some awesome, some maybe slightly embarassing.

pairings: bucky barnes x fem!reader

[A/N]: not my gif

When he woke up, he scanned his room, making sure everything was the same as how he left it the night before. Making sure no one came in while he was asleep and poisoned his brain. Making sure he was waking up in his living quarters in Wakanda and not a damp cell in some secret Hydra base. It was just something he did now.

Some may call it paranoia, others may call it adaptation. Either way, once he stepped outside and made sure he was alone, he allowed himself to take a breath.

Today was the day, the first day of official treatment. He had no idea what to expect; he was just hoping to high heavens that it would end up working. Freedom. That's all he wanted. Liberation from the chains Hydra had had around him since he fell from the train all those years ago.

He was apprehensive for sure, but he tried his best to keep himself optimistic. Bucky was sure that Shuri was smarter than any Hydra scientist he once came in contact with. So, if they can tear apart his mind, perhaps she can put it back together. Right?

Her in addition to (Y/N). That psychologist woman. He had spoken to her the day before at the lake. She was funny, and she seemed decently easy to talk to. That's a good sign, he guessed. She told him that she hadn't minded relocating to assist in his treatment, but he honestly couldn't make out her true feelings. She was rather hard to read. Perhaps it was a psychologist thing; he tried not to look too far into it.

He waited outside his door until two Wakandans came to escort him to Shuri. Bucky noticed they were armed. Guards. He wasn't surprised nor did he blame them. However, that didn't make it any easier to trust. He hadn't had that luxuy in a very long time. The former assassin fought against the voice in the back of his head telling him to analyze their every move in order to ensure that he wasn't in any danger. That any minute they weren't going to strap him down and rip his brain apart the way it had been so many times before. So many times. He gave the slightest wince at the thought. His brain suddenly felt prickly, painful memories creeping up on him.

Not now, don't think about it.

Sometimes, if he fixated on the thoughts for too long, he would drive himself to this panicked state of fear and constriction. He wasn't sure exactly what this thing was. All he knew was that these things - these episodes - were extremely unpleasant, and utterly unnecessary at the moment.

He shook his head (somehow hoping that this would rid him of the prickly memories like a dog shaking off water), strands of long brown hair swaying quickly in front of his eyes, and fixed his gaze to the floor.

Floor. Floor. Floor. Floor. Just the floor. The floor. The floor. The floor-

"Sergeant Barnes!" Shuri welcomed him happily.

Oh. He was in the lab now. He let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Let's do this.

"Good morning," he smiled, "and just Bucky's okay."

"Of course, of course. This is my lab! Best place in Wakanda in my humble opinion. Today's only the first day of treatment, so nothing too intensive. But, we will be working all the same!"

He glanced around the lab. The guards were at the doorway and they didn't look like they were leaving anytime soon. Again, he wasn't surprised. Moreover, sitting at a table a few feet from Shuri, was a familiar face. This familiar face soon met his gaze.

"Hi, Bucky" (Y/N) greeted, offering a polite smile. "See! I remembered this time."

Bucky grinned. "Are you still (Y/N), or is it Dr. (Y/L/N) since we're in the lab now?"

"I'm always (Y/N)."

"I don't know, if I went to school for as long as you did, I'd make everyone call me Doctor," Shuri added.

(Y/N) laughed. "Well, if you want to call me Doctor you're more than welcome, Shuri."

"That's the spirit, Doc," she declared before turning to Bucky. "Now, follow me and we'll get a quick MRI done."

"A what?" He quickly caught up to Shuri who already started walking away.

"An MRI. It stands for magnetic resonance imaging. Basically, scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves to generate images of the organs in the body."*

Yes, very basic.

(Y/N) leaned over to Bucky, explaining softly, "It's used to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body."**

"Oh."

"You just lay down and it scans you. Y'don't even feel anything."

"Thats... not too bad, I guess."

"It's a bit of a tight fit though, so I hope you're aren't claustrophobic."

Bucky rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, after cryo, I doubt tight spaces will be too much of a bother for me."

"Right," said (Y/N), "but it's still decently in your personal space. Just so you know - so there's no surprises."

He nodded. They didn't say anything until Shuri stopped short in front of them. She stood a couple feet from a shiny metal table which was lined up in front of an equally shiny and metallic semi-cricle arch. It was long enough to fit - well, would you look at that - a body.

"Oh. I guess there is a surprise," (Y/N) blurted, turning to Shuri, confused. "That isn't like any MRI machine I've ever seen."

"That's because you're in Wakanda," Shuri flashed a proud smile. "Tech's a bit... advanced here."

(Y/N) turned to Bucky. He thought he saw something resembling self consciousness flow across her features, but he wasn't sure.

"Sorry, I guess I was wrong. But, honestly this is way better than a typical MRI set up. It's much more open... and wide. Regularly, it would be like a super narrow tube with hardly any space inside. This way, you'll even be able to see us and the rest of the room."

That's good. More space. More freedom. And he'll be able to see her- them, see them.

Shuri clapped. "Alright! Shall we get started then?"

He had no idea how any of this worked; he was way out of his element here. He just barely learned what a damn MRI was, and had to hide his shock when he found out. Medicine has changed dramatically since 1945. Although it is helpful, he is completely clueless. Great.

"Do I jus-just lay on the table?" He asked, unsure.

"Yep! Just lie there and be absolutely still, and I'll do the rest," Shuri replied, reassuringly as she walked around to a control panel next to the machine, preparing to start.

Bucky took his place on the thin metal table, and he thought he was seeing things. Was it was levitating? Honestly, from what he's seen so far he wouldn't even be surprised. He stared up at the ceiling, getting lost in thought. A string of various questions and uncertainties fluttered through his battered mind.

Would the metal arm interfere with the magnet- oh. Right. No arm. Just a scan, no need to worry. (Y/N) said it would be fine. Can I even trust her Then again, can I even trust anyone yet? She's the best I got right now. Damn it, I wish I wasn't so wary of everyone.

"Hey," a gentle voice pulled him out.

He looked over to the left of him, the side with no arm. (Y/N).

"I can practically hear your brain whirring around right now - which is justified - but do you need anything?"

'Do you need anything?' He hadn't heard that phrase in a while.

He adjusted his body on the table. "I'm alright, just... a bit out of my element here."

She nodded, knowingly. "Honestly, me too. This lab looks like somethin' out of a sci-fi movie for me, so I can't imagine what it must feel like to you."

She was looking down at him. He felt vulnerable, exposed. It seemed like she noticed.

"Here, I have an idea."

With that, she turned and grabbed something from a nearby table. Rotating around to face him again, she displayed what she had taken: a pair of headphones... but without a wire? What the hell?

"Are they broken?" he asked, feeling perpetually confused.

"No, they're wirelessly connected to my phone. It's called bluetooth."

The look on his face was almost laughable.

"Bluetooth? What kind of name is Bluetooth?"

"The kind of name that I didn't invent nor should I be blamed for," she chuckled. "Do you want to listen to music while you're in there? It might help to keep you down on Earth with us."

Music. The thought was almost surreal. He hadn't been privileged with such a pleasure in longer than he'd care to admit. It actually seemed... nice.

"Y-yeah," he said, pondering. "That'd actually be nice."

"Awesome."

She leaned over him to put the headphones on his ears, causing him a very conflicting series of emotions.

First of all, close. She was very close to his face. His face, his eyes, his nose, his lips. It almost seemed a tad bit intimate. And then he realized he hadn't been this close to a woman in forever. A real woman, not some fellow assassin he had to take out. He hoped the shy embarrassment he felt didn't show on his cheeks.

Second of all, she was wrapping something around his head, his brain. He tried not to, but he couldn't stop the muscle memory of what he'd been conditioned to feel. Hydra's machine would wrap around his head and rip his psyche apart. His mind expected pain, the worst pain, the dehumanizing, out of body, mind splitting pain. He hoped the way he flinched ever so slightly didn't offend (Y/N).

She didn't seem offended, and her voice was soft. "You're good. Just music and a scan. Then you're done."

He looked up at her face, reassuring and calm. He took a deep breath.

"Good?" she asked.

He nodded. "Think so."

"If it's too much at any point just let us know, and we'll pull you right out. It's your comfort level, your choice."

His choice. Choice. Control. The prospect gave him comfort.

She gave him one last look before stepping away and signaling Shuri to start the machine. The seemingly levitating table began a smooth descent into the machine when the music started playing. It almost startled him, but he then he was pleasantly surprised by what he heard.

There were loud drums, guitar riffs with attitude, and voices that had so much emotion they were almost screaming. It was like no music he had ever heard before, and he loved it. In fact, he was so into it that he didn't even notice when the MRI had finished. That is, until he felt a feather light hand on his shoulder. His eyes opened, and (Y/N) had the biggest grin on her face. While taking the headphones off of him, she looked very pleased with herself.

She looked at Shuri but declared to no one in particular, "Bucky likes Rock and Roll!"

- - -

* = from wikipedia

** = from wikipedia

[marvels-writings]

Professional Flirting

Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel) Masterlist

Requested by Anon: Req for carol x female reader where carol gets hurt and the reader who’s the avenger’s medical dr treats her and carol was nervous but ended up so love stricken that she kept finding any excuse to go and gets a check up by the dr again. The dr also likes carol a lot but is bolder than carol and is very flirty which makes carol flustered and gives her butterflies. Please let it end with carol making the first move. Thank u I love ur writing!

Word Count: 2,282 (long and fluffy)

A/N: Do I have a minor sprain in my wrist? Yes. Do I give a single fuck? No. And I love this req

“Tony, I swear to god, what did you do this time?” You groaned when you heard the knock on the glass panes of the medical bay.

You turned away from your workplace to where Tony and Peter were carrying in a blonde woman who was bleeding blue blood. Your eyes widened, the woman’s suit was covered in her blood, her hair messy and falling into her hazel eyes. Peter and Tony seemed as surprised as you were as they helped her inside. Her arms slung over each of their shoulders, she was panting heavily.

“What the hell happened?” You demanded, walking over and helping the woman on one of the medical beds. Blood coated your hands, you quickly washed it off and slipped on gloves.

The rest of your staff was on their lunch break or absorbed in their projects. You were in charge of the entire medical team, none of which were present. For now, you were the only person in the medical bay. The responsibility of treating the woman in front of you was up to you.

“It wasn’t my fault,” Tony defended himself, raising his hands in defense after helping the blonde onto the bed. “She came back from a solo mission that went sideways.”

“For once, this isn’t your fault,” You muttered, ushering Peter over to help you with the suit.

The teenager quickly hurried to help you after putting on gloves. He was familiar with the medical bay. Peter had many accidents while living in the compound. Whenever he came, he was sure to ask you questions and help as much as he could. Your medical team often waved him off, unwilling to deal with his questions, but you didn’t mind.

Carol glanced up at you from the floor. You wore the same uniform as the rest of the medical team. Your hair was down, but you were tying it into a hasty ponytail to deal with her injuries. The blonde stumbled when she saw your face. Even in her exhausted and painful state, she was still able to admire you.

You ignored her statement and quickly analyzed her. Most of the injuries seemed to be on her shoulders. You needed to peel aside the suit to see it. The blonde seemed familiar, Carol hadn’t been to the medical bay since you had been in charge. But you had a hunch it was the famous Captain Marvel.

“Shouldn’t you get the rest of your team to help Ms. Y/l/n?” Peter asked politely, gently unzipping the suit.

“It’s fine,” You waved off his concerns, analyzing the wounds and quickly bringing over a small bowl of water and cotton. Peter’s brow was furrowed with concern. He wasn’t sure what to do or how to help.

“Peter, trust me,” You reached forward and took his hand. “I’m a doctor. I know what I’m doing,”

“You sure sound like it.” The blonde mumbled, you raised an eyebrow but laughed anyway.

“I’m y/n y/l/n, and you are?” You asked sarcastically, reaching one gloved hand towards her to introduce yourself to her.

The blonde rolled her eyes but shook your hand, introducing herself as Carol Danvers, confirming your suspicions. She was Captain Marvel.

“How did the great Captain Marvel end up looking like a bruised banana?” You joked, cleaning up the wounds on her back gently with warm water. Tony laughed, announced he had other things to attend to and left.

“I…” Carol trailed off, unwilling to describe how she had gotten injured on a simple mission. The blonde didn’t want to embarrass herself in front of you in a few minutes of meeting you.

“Don’t get me wrong,” You patted her uninjured shoulder before moving to the other side of the room to get ointment. The blonde looked from you to Peter nervously, unsure of what you were going to say.

“You still look attractive,” You winked.

Carol’s eyes widened at the compliment. She stuttered to reply. Peter joined you in laughing at the prominent blush that tinted her cheeks. Giggling, you made your way to her back to start applying ointment to the wounds.

The blonde stayed quiet, not knowing what else to say to you. The teenager at your side, however, had many things to say and questions to ask. You patiently answered all of his questions about you, how you got where you were, your doctorate, what you were doing. Carol was surprised at the amount of patience you had. Most people Peter asked questions to waved him off, but you answered all of his questions.

“Pete, as much as I love talking to you, could you get some bandages from that drawer?” You asked, gesturing to the cabinet in the corner of the room. Peter nodded excitedly and hurried to find the bandages.

“How, how bad is it?” Carol stuttered, you patted her shoulder.

“It’s not too bad, some of the cuts are deep,” You licked your lips, choosing your words carefully as not to confuse her. “You might have a sprained shoulder which you might need to follow up on.”

Peter handed you the bandages, which you gratefully accepted and started putting them on some of the deeper cuts. On the smaller cuts, you applied bandages. Peter continued to pepper you with questions, making sure to apologize in case he was annoying you. But you easily reassured him that he wasn’t annoying you. Once you were done, you gave her a small pat and got up.

“Alright, that should hold for a few days,” You said, taking off your gloves and tossing them into the trashcan. “If not, don’t hesitate to come back.”

“Doctor y/l/n?” Peter asked, helping zip up Carol’s suit.

“I told you to call me y/n Peter,” You chided, before indicating for him to continue.

“Is she okay?” He asked, his voice concerned.

“Yep, as long as she doesn’t strain her shoulders too much.” You said, watching Carol smile at the teenager for his concern.

Peter helped Carol out of the medical bay after saying their goodbyes. But Carol had intentions of coming back, even if it meant getting injured for it or faking an injury for that matter.

————

The next day, you were helping an intern learn how to use the regeneration cradle when your assistant told you someone was here to see you. Usually, you never had personal visitors except for family and the occasional Avenger bringing you lunch. You were almost famous for forgetting to eat.

But this time, you saw Carol waiting by the doorway. The blonde wore a light blue t-shirt and jeans, her hair was washed, a few strands falling into her eyes, a sheepish smile on her face.

“How can I help you?” You asked, a flirty smirk on your face. Carol noticed but played along, shuffling her feet and fidgeting before looking up to meet your eyes.

“Sorry to bother you,” Carol apologized, lying easily. She wanted to see you again, the superhero was unapologetic about wanting your attention.

“But I thought one of the cuts might be infected.”

“Come over here,” You gestured over to the same bed you had her on yesterday.

Carol promptly sat down, waiting for you as you put on your gloves. The blonde pulled down her t-shirt so you had a better view. You examined the cut, it didn’t seem infected at all. It was just fine, but taking a little longer to scab over.

But you weren’t as oblivious as Carol had hoped. You knew why she was here, the blonde was almost infamous for avoiding the medical wing even if she had a broken ankle. For her to come to you because she thought a cut is infected was almost ridiculous.

“It seems to be fine,” You observed, pulling the t-shirt back over her back. The blonde sighed, hoping you didn’t hear the sound of disappointment.

“I’ve never seen someone more disappointed about a clean-cut,” You joked, taking off your gloves and smiling at her while throwing them away.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Carol covered it up, knowing she was caught when you raised an eyebrow skeptically.

“Come back if you need anything,” You laughed at her expression, “Unless it’s another ‘infected cut’” You used air quotes, walking off towards where your intern was calling you.

Carol watched you leave, wanting your attention again. But she didn’t know how to ask you out. The only time she could spend time with you was when you were at work. So, that was when she would spend time with you.

Even if it required her to come up with injuries every time she came to see you. Every time Carol came, she made sure to try to talk to you before you got back to work. But whenever she tried to flirt, it ended up backfiring. She intended to leave you a flustered mess, but you were always the one to give her butterflies and a blush that stayed with her for the rest of the day.

By about the fourth time, Carol decided to bring you lunch after Peter told her you often forgot to eat. She brought you some take-out that she heard one of your interns had recommended to you.

With the bag of take-out, she knocked on the glass door to the medical bay. You turned around from your laptop, looking around the empty medical bay for a student before turning around to face Carol. You smiled and gestured for her to sit.

“What seems to be the problem this time?” You asked, tilting your head to the side. “Rotator cuff tear in one day? Perforated ligaments?”

The injuries you listed were the same injuries Carol had faked when trying to spend time with you. They were both injuries she had found when she searched for shoulder pain. The blonde had learned later they could not because by minor cuts to the skin.

At one point, she tried to make up an injury, which didn’t end well. A majority of your interns were now joking about the superhero who faked an injury to see you every day.

“Nope, just got you lunch,” She lifted the bag of take-out.

“Thanks,” You smiled, taking out one of the boxes.

It was sushi, you picked up chopsticks and ate them with ease while working and talking to Carol. The blonde realized far too late she had forgotten to get a fork for herself. When she tried to get up to get herself a fork from the kitchen, you decided to teach her how to use chopsticks.

“Like this?” Carol asked, holding them the way you would make the ‘Live Long and Prosper’ sign from Star Trek. You laughed and finally gave up, leaning back in your seat.

“I don’t know how you plan to eat by saying Live Long and Prosper,” You groaned, brushing the hair out of your face. It was one of the few times you let your hair down since you weren’t working. Carol licked her lips while staring at you, trying again to use the chopsticks.

“Come on, it’s not that hard,” You finally reached forward and took one of her hands in yours, guiding her fingers to hold the chopsticks.

The blonde blushed, watching you guide her hands to hold the chopsticks.

“I swear, it’s easier to teach my students to operate on someone than teaching you to use chopsticks,” You muttered, trying to move Carol’s fingers to hold the chopsticks properly. The blonde laughed and shook her head, strands of hair falling into her eyes as she tried to use the chopsticks.

Once she got the hang of it, you helped her put the sushi roll in her mouth while grinning at her. Your warm hands still resting on hers.

“See, you finally got your lips to touch something,” You remarked, brushing a strand of hair away from your face and returning to your food.

“I’d rather my lips touching yours.” Carol quipped, smirking at you.

This time, it was your turn to blush and fluster while Carol laughed at you. You glared at her angrily and took a bite out of your sushi roll.

“Oh, how the tables turn,” The blonde said sarcastically. You raised an eyebrow, turning to face her. Carol moved her chair closer to you, her knee brushing yours.

“Don’t be too sure about that Danvers,” You warned, a prominent blush still on your face as you turned to face your laptop.

“Oh?” Carol asked, leaning forward with a smirk so her face was inches from your ear.

You opened your mouth to say something sarcastic, but you turned around only for your lips to meet hers. The blonde grinned and leaned forwards, resting one hand on your thigh as your lips moved over hers. Pushing herself off her chair, Carol was about to pull you closer to her when a knock at the door surprised her.

Peter was standing behind Tony, eyes wide in surprise. The millionaire stood there with a smirk, his hand against the glass panel. You broke away from Carol in surprise, rolling your chair back and clearing your throat.

“Hi…” Carol trailed off, biting her lip to prevent her laughter from breaking out. The blonde brushed her hair away from her face.

“I thought flirting wasn’t allowed in the workplace,” Tony said, smirking at both of you.

“This,” You gestured between you and Carol, it was professional flirting,”

Carol started laughing instantly, you glared at her to try to get her to stop. It didn’t work, the blonde’s infectious laugh caused you to start laughing too. Never did you expect lunch to go the way it did, but you weren’t complaining.

A/N: Y’all i hurt my wrist typing this so please tell me it was worth it

Tag List: @capcarolsdanver​, @versdan​, @lesbian-girls-wayhaught​, @lovebotlarson​, @dhengkt​, @hstoria​, @natasha-danvers​, @veryfunnyal​, @xxxtwilightaxelxxx​ , @ophelias-heart​  , @never-didbefore​ , @justarandomhumanhere​, @the-most-unicorn-of-them-all , @thatssocamryn​ , @lesbian-x-blackwidow​ , @marvelbbyx​ , @wlw-imaginesss​ , @hcartbyheart​​ , @summergeezburr​​ , @imnotasuperhero​  , @dversstark​ , let me know if you’d like to be in any of my tag lists!

[sergeantsporks]

Swapped

Ch 4/5

Ao3

Or read under the cut

The year did not pass in a flash, even after he got a job at a little cafe. The year passed agonizingly slowly, with one dull moment after another, while in the meantime, Zoe came back with story after story of exciting goings-on at Hextech.

Well. Not every moment was dull. Sometimes the moments were painfully embarrassing as he would be called up to the board to attempt something he didn’t know how to do, or would be handed back yet another assignment with a ridiculous amount of red ink scrawled on it.

The teachers seemed to be catching on that he knew absolutely nothing, and had one of two reactions; one of them was to simply leave him alone and not embarrass him further, and the other was to attempt to help him learn by calling on him more often.

At least once the students accepted that he was dumb as dirt when it came to school, they liked him fine. A lot of them were incredibly confused about how he could possibly be so bad at school and then be socially competent. He tried to steer clear of them.

Douxie Casperan, please report to the counselor’s office.

Uh-oh. That did not sound good.

Aaaaand yep, the whispers started up, following him down to the counselor’s little room. Really, it wasn’t THAT hard to figure out why he was being called out. He sat down in a chair, his report card facing him with a line of F’s and D’s. Oh, and one A+ in history. He could do that, at least, having lived through most of it.

“Douxie,” the guidance counselor started.

“Yep, I know, I’m a horrendous student with horrendous grades, I need to take school seriously and apply myself. I know all that.”

“You’re a smart kid, Douxie. Your history grades prove that you can do well. And the teachers all say that you’re trying. It just seems like… you’re missing a lot of other information.”

Uh-oh. She was a little too smart. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that you don’t seem to struggle in Calculus because you don’t understand calculus—it’s like you struggle because you never learned algebra, so the background isn’t there. It seems like no one ever taught you basic essay-writing skills, so you can’t write an essay, despite seeming to understand analyzing literature fairly well.”

Douxie nodded along as she spoke, but his attention was caught on something outside the window. Something very shiny, and glowing blue.

Trollhunter. The amulet. That bar girl had been right. And the trollhunter was… wandering around in broad daylight. A human?!

“Douxie?”

Douxie put his hands down on the desk. “You’re right, I never took algebra, also I’m nineteen so I don’t technically have to be here, bye!”

He ran out the door, grabbed his bag, and left school forever. He didn’t find the trollhunter, but that didn’t matter. No more calculus. No more counselors and school. The human trollhunter had arrived.

According to the instructions Merlin had left behind for his apprentice, that meant Merlin couldn’t be far behind.

Xxx

Douxie read Merlin’s instructions. Then he read them again. And one more time just to be sure. The old wizard hadn’t left behind anything specific. Only that there would be a human trollhunter, and he would be the one to wake Merlin. And that Douxie was to stay out of it. No handy dates, or a “meet up here!” note, besides a vague bunch of instructions about opening up a bookshop.

“Don’t stress too much over it,” Archie advised him, “He’s Merlin. He’ll contact us when he’s ready, I expect.”

“I don’t want—” Douxie bit down on his tongue. He couldn’t exactly tell Archie about his mission. “I don’t want to wait that long. What if he’s forgotten about us?”

“Merlin never forgets a detail. It’s his thing.”

“I know, I just…”

“Douxie. It’s okay. He’ll be here. Just… be patient.”

Douxie swept the pages of instructions off of the Hextech help counter. “I’ve been patient!” he shouted, “I’ve waited for nine-hundred years, and he can’t even bother to give me a place to check?!”

The door swung open, and Zoe took in the scene. “Oh, boy. Don’t tell me Mr. Arthurian legend is going to be here soon.”

“Well, the problem is,” Douxie growled, “I don’t know!”

Zoe delicately picked up the written instructions, scanning through them. “Right. Well, if you’re really so determined to wait around for this guy—”

“I am!”

“Then I suggest you open that bookstore he’s got set up. If he’s going to meet you anywhere, it’ll probably be there.” Zoe took his hand. “Douxie, can I talk to you? Alone?”

Douxie let her lead him outside, where she dropped his hand. “Why do you need Merlin?” she asked simply.

“What?”

“You heard me. Why do you need him? Why are you so determined to meet back up with this guy that abandoned you for nine-hundred years?”

“I—there’s still so much I don’t know about magic. And I’m not a master wizard yet, I—”

“Why do you need to be a master wizard? Why do you need Merlin? You’ve been doing just fine without him, or some master wizard title for so long! With just you, me, and Archie! What do you need some crusty old guy to tell you?!”

Well, being a master wizard had been the other Hisirdoux’s plan. But… why was he still holding onto some mission? One that he hadn’t needed to do for nine-hundred years? No. That kind of thinking was out of line. He needed to do this. For his parents, if he couldn’t do it for the pale lady. “I… I just need it.”

“But why?!” Zoe half-screamed, “What’s so important about it?!” She grabbed his hand again. “We don’t have to open the bookshop! We don’t know when or if Merlin will wake up! We can go anywhere, do anything—just like we did before you saw the human trollhunter! You can work here, at Hextech, the wizards here are so varied, you can learn whatever magic you want from them—some of them probably even know things that Merlin doesn’t! Just forget about Merlin and his instructions! How can you feel so attached to him still—you’ve spent nine-hundred years with Archie and I, isn’t that more real than any old apprenticeship that you haven’t been a part of for centuries?”

“I’m opening the bookshop,” Douxie growled, “I’m waiting for Merlin.”

Zoe threw her hands up in the air. “Fine! Fine, you open your bookshop, and wait for your stupid master! I’m staying here at Hextech!” She ran a hand through her bangs. “Gah, Douxie! I love you, but you need to learn to let go of some things, okay? Just… think about it. Give it a few days before you open up that bookshelf. Figure out what you really want, not what you wanted nine-hundred years ago and have been holding onto ever since.” She went back inside, the door slamming behind her.

What he really wanted.

He had a mission. A purpose. Right?

Well, what did he care what the Pale Lady wanted? She hadn’t been seen for centuries, just like Merlin. She’d just left behind cryptic instructions, just like Merlin.

But his parents—he couldn’t just abandon them. And if he was on the winning side of this war, if he kept on Gunmar’s side and delivered the information about Merlin’s plans—if he ever woke up—maybe, just maybe, he could make sure that Zoe and Archie wouldn’t get hurt. That there would be a place next to him for them.

Who was he kidding? They’d never agree to that. He couldn’t have a Gum-Gum victory and his new friends. There had to be something else—a way to get his parents back and protect Zoe and Archie and not lose their friendship.

He had to figure out a way.

In the meantime, he opened up the bookshop.

He kept monster hunting with Zoe and Archie.

He kept working at the café.

All the while, more and more of his skin was turning to stone, blue stone lines meeting pink flesh where Something Had Happened to Hisirdoux, but WHY?! So he kept covering up more and more skin, wearing long sleeves and pants even in the heat, much to Zoe and Archie’s amusement.

And he kept running through plans. But they always came down to choosing between his parents or Zoe and Archie. Volunteer enough information to get his parents out of the Darklands, Zoe and Archie hated him. But he couldn’t just leave them stuck there!

Then there was the problem of… well, explaining what he was. Could he ever tell Zoe and Archie the truth? If he rescued his parents, it would come out eventually, wouldn’t it? But he couldn’t just leave them stuck there!

He was set in autopilot, going through the motions of his day while his brain continuously raced to figure out the paradox of How to Not Lose Anyone.

And then he wandered right into a web of dark magic at work. He almost stopped dead in his tracks before forcing himself to continue walking and acting like nothing was wrong. The human trollhunter. Jim. He’d tried to get in closer a few weeks ago, shown up at the school, handed out flyers for the Battle of the Bands. Talked to Jim’s friends. He still wasn’t sure what he’d done wrong, but the trollhunter was glaring at him.

That magic, though. It wasn’t coming from the trollhunter. It was coming from… Claire. No surprise, she was the shadow magician, but… this felt… different.

And then a voice spoke in his head, slithering and cold.

Stay out of it.

Douxie blinked. Had he just-?

I am your queen, your creator, Morgana, Baba Yaga, the Pale Lady, and I am ordering you to not interfere. The girl is mine.

Douxie gulped. Right. This was happening. Okay. Fine.

Act as though nothing has happened. Your cover is necessary—Merlin may soon return.

Douxie steeled himself and took their orders—he wasn’t quite sure how to tell her, but Morgana wasn’t exactly… doing the best job fitting in. And the whole time, his mind spun and reeled. Had Morgana read his mind all along? Did she know everything he’d struggled with?

Well, don’t think about it now, he told himself, shaking his head.

Should Merlin return, Gunmar awaits in trollmarket. I will guide you to him, my special wizard. Soon, you will no longer have to pretend. You will be free to be yourself.

Morgana’s presence faded from his mind as Claire and Jim left, and Douxie shivered, rubbing his arms.

What if I’m not sure who “myself” is anymore?

[creativenostalgiastuff]

Fealty

Summary: Virgil wants to ask Roman to the prom. And sometimes things don’t quite go according to plan. HumanAU. Hurt/comfort. So much fluff with a dash of angst

Warnings: prom, anxiety, outting, homophobia, manipulation, self doubt, Janus as a villain, fighting, self deprecation

Word Count: 8k

AN: Oh my god. I love this story more than you can imagine. But it's also my longest one chapter thing ever . To help make it a little more digestible, it's broken into 3 parts. And you can read it along with the others in this… I guess AU or alone. Here is the link to the first in that sequence.

Before you ask, yes JD is Janus. To be fair, I started this before the last video came out. That being said, I will spoil it and let you know that Janus/JD is the bad guy in this. And I stand by that. I don’t think he always is (read my story Ally if you need an example where I don’t make him the bad guy). But he is here, so please just be mindful of that. 

Shout Out to @today-only-happens-once for all of her help with this fic. Also to @meowthefluffy and the one anon for their help with some prom culture questions I had! 

-1 month away-

“Patton, step to the left…. No, your other left,” Logan calls from the lighting platform to Patton who is standing on stage.

Virgil sits  on the lighting platform, in the back of the high school theater next to Logan. He sits on his leg while holding his other knee, biting at a hangnail as he watches a few lights change colors corresponding to the commands Logan is typing. The backdrop, once white, is now a wash of deep purple, accented by the heavy red lights hitting further up on the stage. He analyzes it silently as he tilts his head to the side. The way the lights are hitting Patton looks a bit better now that the purple downstage has been lifted and the red isn’t quite as intense. The stage now looks dramatic, yet keeps the softness Virgil is looking for.

“There. Is that better?” Logan asks. 

No, it looks dumb, thinks Virgil. I’ll look dumb. This whole thing is dumb!

Virgil leans back in his chair, nodding. “It’ll work.”

“Thank you, Patton,” calls Logan. “You can get down now.”

“Okay,” Patton says as he gives a little salute before walking to the stairs leading down from the stage. 

Virgil runs his hands over his pants, trying to dry them off. This is such a dumb idea. Why would Roman ever want to go to prom with an anxious mess?

“Relax,” suggests Logan. “He’s going to love it.”

Virgil rolls his eyes. “What do you mean? I am relaxed.”

“Virgil,” Patton says in a warning voice as he climbs the ladder, peering up on the lighting platform. 

“I know, I know,” Virgil allows as he makes an effort to uncurl himself a bit from his chair, running a hand through his purple bangs. “It's just… what if I mess this up?”

Logan types a few more commands into the ancient computer before sliding his chair back a little from the desk. “You won’t.”

“But this is Roman we’re talking about,” Virgil argues, noticing how dry his mouth feels. “Roman Prince. You know he’s been dreaming about a ‘promposal’ since he could practically walk!”

“That’s a gross exaggeration. They didn’t really get popular until…”

“What if it's not what he wants?” Virgil asks, flipping his hood up and stuffing his hands in his hoodie’s pocket.  “What if I say the wrong thing? This moment matters to him, ya know? He wants an over the top, profession of love shouted from rooftops.”

Logan sighs. “He wants you, Virgil.”

Is that what Roman wants? He would be happier with someone that was more comfortable with open flirting and expressions of romance. Why does he put up with me?

“Well… he deserves more than me,” Virgil mutters to himself as he stands, pushing in his chair. 

Patton interrupts sternly, “Now, none of that. You two are great together. Just, breathe. Trust yourself. He’s going to love it.”

“You sure?” Virgil asks, slinging his backpack onto his shoulder. He walks over to Patton, who moves over, and climbs down the ladder and onto the floor. 

“Completely,” Logan confirms as he climbs down too. “Would it help if we run through your checklist one more time?”

Virgil nods, not trusting his voice. Patton comes next to him, taking his hand and looking at him with big eyes full of hope and encouragement. 

“Okay, Ms. Martin is here to supervise?” Logan asks, pulling out his phone and the checklist he had made with Virgil when they were planning this. 

What if she thinks this is a dumb idea? Is she listening to us? What if I say something horrible? Will she laugh at me?

“Yeah,” Virgil mutters, shuffling his feet, “In the soundbooth.”

“Good,” nods Logan as he checks it off. “Are the lights set the way you want them?”

Oh god what if Roman thought the lights were dumb? Who decides to go for dramatic AND soft? Isn’t that an oxymoron?

“Yep.”

“Great. Notecards?”

What kind of dork needs notecards to ask their boyfriend to prom? Like, what a special kind of stupid, right?

Virgil reaches into his pocket and pulls out the five notecards he made earlier with Patton, and pulls them out. “Check.” 

“Calculator that Roman conveniently left behind that I am texting him to return?”

“Uh…” Virgil stutters. He doesn’t have the calculator. Roman’s parents will murder him if he looses it again. It costs over a hundred dollars and he had lost three already this year. What if they ground him?

“Oh, I have that!” Patton jumps as he reaches into his backpack, pulling out the bright pink calculator and handing it to Virgil. “We got your back, Virgil.”

“All that’s left is for us to send the text,” Logan smiles as he slides his phone into his pocket. “Are you ready?”

Virgil swallows the lump in his throat. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Good, because I already sent it,” Logan answers. “We’ll get out of your hair.”

“We’re rooting for you.” Patton smiles as he takes Logan’s hand.

Virgil can practically feel his heart in his throat as he watches Patton leading them out. “Thanks, guys.”

Logan looks back for just a second and Virgil gives what he hopes is a small smile of reassurance. Logan nods in acknowledgement before allowing Patton to pull him down the hall. 

Virgil slings the backpack into a seat and goes to sit on the edge of the stage to wait for Roman. He could do this. It was just Roman, right?

He leans back, laying down on the stage spread eagle, looking up at the lights above. He feels  like invisible strings are wrapped around him in a vice grip. Virgil takes three deep breaths, focusing from his stomach like the school counselor had taught him. He was going to ask Roman Prince out to their senior prom and it would all be okay. He would go through the little speech he had outlined with Logan’s help. Worst case, Roman would turn him down and he wouldn’t have to go to a dance he didn’t especially care about anyway. Best case, he would pull off a miracle and sweep Roman off of his feet. Either would be okay. Roman would be happy either going to prom with him, or he would go with someone else and have an even better time, right?

Virgil closes his eyes at the ache in his chest that thought causes, moving one hand over the pain. Of course he wants to be the one to take Roman. Of course the only acceptable option is success. He had observed Roman for so long, resigning himself to watching his Prince thrive in the spotlight while he waited in the wings. There was no way Virgil could stand someone else taking his place. This was a dumb idea. 

He pulls out the notecards from his pocket and flips through them, reading them through for about the thousandth time that day. Logan had insisted that notecards would help alleviate the stress of remembering what to say. Patton had then added his own touches with stickers and doodles along the edges to get Virgil to relax. Neither the notecards nor the pictures were being very helpful at the moment, Virgil notes as he realizes his hands are shaking holding them. 

The door to the theater opens, causing Vigril to jump up, the note cards falling as he sits upright. He blinks into the darkness of the theater and feels his breath catch as his eyes find Roman coming up the aisle, out of breath.

“Hey, Virge! Have you seen Logan? He sent me a text that he had the calculator I left in math. If I come home without it again my sister is going to gay-up murder me.”

Virgil reaches into his pocket and slides the calculator towards the edge of the stage where Roman now stands. “Yeah, here.”

“Awesome, thanks,” smiles Roman. He looks around the stage. “What were you guys setting lights for? Looks amazing.”

“Think so?” Virgil asks, suddenly very aware of how sweaty his hands are. He pulls his knees to his chest and wraps his arms around them, discreetly trying to dry them on his black denim pants. 

“Uh, yeah,” Roman answers, flashing Virgil a smile that could light up the whole stage itself. “There’s a duality that exists in it I can really get behind.”

Virgil feels ones of the invisible strings around him loosen, relaxing that Roman likes the lighting. Now for the hard part: words. 

Virgil swallows a couple of times, his tongue feeling thick. This was not a time to stop knowing how to speak. A new panic started to fill Virgil: what if I physically can’t do this?

“Hey,” Roman asks gently, “You okay?”

Virgil looks around himself and sees the cards scattered on the floor. He gets on his hands and knees, trying to scoop them up with his shaking hands, but they’re all out of order and sticking to the floor. 

This is not how this was supposed to go. I have totally messed this all up. Roman will never forgive me for not doing this right. 

Before he knows it Roman is kneeling on the stage next to him.  “Whoah, hey,” he softly calls, slowly placing a hand on Virgil’s. “I’m here. What do you need?”

Great, now I’ve upset him.

“I’m sorry,” Virgil gets out, his voice tight as he keeps his eyes trained  on the ground in front of him. 

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Roman states calmly. “What do you need?”

To not be wasting your time in a relationship. To be so heavily sedated that I forget this is happening. To not be such a wimp when it comes to asking you on a date. 

“I need to do this.”

“Do what?”

“This,” Virgil answers as he gestures to the cards on the floor, still not looking at Roman. 

“Oh, okay?” Roman hesitantly replies. “You’re being kind of vague.”

“Sorry,” Virgil sighs, hanging his head, trying to loosen the panic. “I’ve totally messed this up.”

There's a beat of silence before Roman picks up the nearest notecard, causing Virgil’s eyes to snap to him. He reaches for it, but Roman turns just slightly out of reach. He looks it over and reads it aloud, “I promise that I will always be there for you, never hurt you, and will defend your honor.”

Virgil freezes as he watches Roman’s reaction. There’s a moment of puzzlement behind his eyes as he mouths out the wording again before they seem to spark with realization. “I believe that is a pledge of fealty, my Dark and Stormy Knight.”

Virgil sits back at the positive response and recognition, his chest loosening at the positive reaction. “Seemed fitting for a Prince.”

“What are you trying to do, Virgil?”

“A-ask you to prom?” Virgil answers, looking away from Roman. “But it’s, it’s not going so well. I really messed up.”

“Oh Virgil.” Roman scoots closer and places a hand on Virgil’s. “Darling, you could never mess that up.”

“But you need a big promposal,” Virgil sighs. “And I can’t…”

“I don’t care about a big promposal,” Roman interrupts, gently placing his forehead against Virgil’s. 

“What?”

“I… I mean, they’re very nice. But I don’t want a big moment if it means nothing. There’s something romantic in a certain level of intimacy, right?” asks Roman. 

Virgil laughs a little in relief. “Just when I start to think I have you figured out, you do something completely unexpected.” 

Roman tilts his head just enough to kiss Virgil, soft and gentle. Virgil feels his whole body relax at the moment, silencing the repeating worry that he was used to. Before he knows it, he grabs Roman’s shirt, pulling him in closer and deepening the kiss. There’s a cough from the sound booth, causing the two to pull away just a little. 

“Sorry Ms. Martin,” Virgil calls with a laugh as Roman turns and waves at their chaperone. 

Roman stands up and offers Virgil a hand, pulling him upright. “I would love to go to prom with you, Virgil,” Roman says, pushing Virgil’s bangs out of his eyes. “No big scary shows of adoration required.”

Virgil smiles as the relief settles and he looks at Roman. “Cool.”

“Come on.” Roman takes Virgil’s hand. “A little bird told me that Patton was going to ask Logan to prom today and I’m dying to know how it went. It's about time they acknowledge their mutual pining.”

“Okay,” agrees Virgil, allowing himself to be led down the stairs to the theater.

Less than 1 week-

It's the week of prom. Senior prom season always caused a little bit of an undercurrent of excitement that permeated the atmosphere. Virgil sits in his study hall, hood flipped up trying to focus on completing a study guide for economics. However, all of the students in the room are buzzing around, whispering to one another and on their phones, showing one another everything from prom dresses to campaigns for prom court. Virgil rolls his eyes again as another girl asks their friend “why isn’t Roman running?” 

Roman had decided that he didn’t want to run for court. His grades weren’t great right now and he had many college music and theater auditions happening at the moment. The group of friends had debated the idea into the ground, ultimately with Roman agreeing that his priorities right now were not prom focused. Virgil, of course, had agreed to support Roman in whatever manner was necessary. But still, the student body was shocked. 

“Did you hear what happened at the bell with Prince?” another girl asks. Virgil stops writing, suddenly interested in the conversation. Without moving his head, Virgil looks up in the direction of the girls who had pulled their desks into a circle. 

“No, what happened?”

“Check Claire’s Snapstory,” the first girl says. “She got some of it on camera before a teacher got in her way.”

Virgil pauses for a moment before he feels his phone vibrate in his hoodie pocket. He pulls it out and sees the banner “Text: Patton” he opens it up and reads the text.

“Something happened with Logan, Roman, and JD. Don’t know what, they sent me out of the office, but security was with them.”

Virgil feels his stomach drop. JD, Virgil’s cousin, never meant anything good. And security only meant trouble. 

He wasn’t aware of when he stood up, but he finds himself walking towards the sign out sheet, stuffing his belongings in his backpack. As a senior, he could technically go home now if he wanted to, so he marks the signout sheet as such. 

Virgil walks deliberately as his brain swims at the information provided. There was a video, two friends, one enemy (if Virgil had one of those), and security. He needs answers. He needs to know that his friends are okay. And even if he were to text them, he wouldn’t believe it until he saw them with his own two eyes. 

He turns the corner towards the office when he stops suddenly. He pulls back instinctively as his eyes follow JD and his aunt, JD’s mother. JD has his head down, holding his wrist with the opposite hand. His mother walks in front, her designer bag over her arm as she types a text on her phone, her heels clicking with each step. “Come along, Janus, darling. We have to go to the store to replace that phone before it hits rush hour.”

JD looks up, sweeping the area around him. His eyes land on Virgil, causing something to spark behind them that Virgil can’t place. The emo holds his gaze, refusing to back down and show unease at his cousin. He takes a step forward and JD speeds up, walking next to his mother now. Virgil inwardly takes pride in the reaction. JD wasn’t afraid of much, so he’ll take the victory where he can. 

As soon as his aunt and cousin are out of the main door, Logan emerges from the office. Virgil runs over to him, noticing the glasses missing from Logan’s face. 

“Hey,” Virgil greets as his eyes scan his friend over. Logan looks tired, his hair more tousled than usual. His shirt hangs partially untucked and his tie was just hanging loosely around his neck. Virgil can clearly see the dark circles from working overtime getting ready for exams that usually are hidden by his glasses. 

“Hello, Virgil,” Logan says flatly, looking at his hand that was holding his clearly broken glasses. 

“What happened?”

There’s a sigh before Logan responds, “Don’t worry about it.”

Virgil shakes his head. “You know I can’t.” 

There’s another pause before Logan says quietly, “It's not my place, Virgil.”

Virgil doesn’t miss the pauses in Logan’s responses. He’s being overly cautious, the emo notices. “Are you okay, at least?” Virgil asks, matching Logan’s tone. 

“I’m fine,” Logan says, his eyes still focused on the crushed glasses in his hand. “I cannot say the same for these, however. I’m sorry, Virgil, but I have to get going. My sister was just called from class to take me to get them repaired.”

“Yeah, totally.” Virgil nods. 

The door to the office swings open again. Logan’s hand grabs Virgil’s shoulder and pulls him against the wall, out of the walkway. A husband and wife walk through the door, and Virgil’s stomach drops: it’s Roman’s parents. His mom’s lips are pressed firmly together, her eyes trained in front of her. While she was always a beautiful woman, there’s an almost fire behind her eyes that scream to watch out. Roman could get the same look when his friends were threatened. His father, a burly man, walks next to her, shaking his head with a defeated look etched in his features. 

A security officer, Officer Ward, comes out and Virgil recognizes him from when the man helped with a couple of set builds for the theater. Virgil’s chest tightens as he sees Roman next to the man, looking small against the large frame of his father and even larger one of Officer Ward. 

Roman is staring at the floor while he walks, not blinking. Virgil can see the start of a bruise on Roman’s jaw and his heart breaks. Roman doesn’t look up or even seem to realize two of his best friends are standing right next to him. Virgil starts to reach, but Logan digs his fingers into Virge’s shoulder while shaking his head ever so slightly. He drops his hand and watches as the officer leads them outside of the main glass doors. He says something to Roman, who nods, before shaking hands with Mr. and Mrs. Prince and heading down the sidewalk, probably to do a last check of the premises before the day is officially over. 

Virgil moves Logan’s hand off of his shoulder and walks towards the door after it closes, separating them from the Prince family. Virgil can’t help but ask again, “What happened?”

Logan joins him, watching as Roman’s parents say something to their son, who seems to deflate even more. He takes Virgil’s hand and gives a gentle squeeze as a familiar car pulls up in front of the school, Logan’s sister sitting in the driver’s seat. “I have to go. But we’ll be okay, Virge.”

“What happened?” Virgil asks another time, desperate for answers as to why his boyfriend was standing outside with his parents looking smaller than Virgil had ever known him to be. 

“He’ll tell you when he’s ready,” Logan says as he pushes open the door and starts walking towards the car. He gets to where the Prince family is standing, says something to Roman’s parents, his mom nodding and his father offering a handshake. Logan says something to Roman before getting in the car and driving off. 

Virgil stands and watches as Roman and his parents continue to talk, his mother getting more agitated as she goes back and forth with her son. After a moment, Roman’s dad puts a hand on his wife’s shoulder and starts ushering her towards the guest parking lot. Roman hangs his head before turning in the opposite direction towards the student parking. 

Virgil doesn’t remember when he started running. When he gets to the edge of the parking lot sees Roman fumbling with his keys next to his red Ford, “Roman!”

Roman stops with the keys, but doesnt turn around. “Not now, Virgil.”

“Are you okay?” Virgil asks, out of breath. “What happened?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Roman sighs, starting to shuffle through his keys again. “None of it matters.”

“Why?” Virgil demands, clenching his fist at his side. “I don’t understand what’s going on! Logan wouldn’t tell me anything!”

Roman drops his keys on the ground as he presses the heels of his hands to his eyes, “I really messed up, Virge. I lost my cool and let him get the best of me.”

Virgil quickly bends down and picks up the keys from where they had bounced. “Who? JD? Whatever it was, I know he started it.”

“Not ac-cording to the school,” Roman says, his voice breaking. Virgil’s eyes grow at just how defeated he sounds.

“We all know how he is,” Virgil responds, shoving the keys in his pocket. “They can’t be serious.”

“It’s on camera.” Roman’s shoulders start shaking, as his voice takes on a harsher tone, tilting his head back looking towards the sky. “God, I played right into his hand.”

Virgil quickly moves himself around Roman so that he’s now facing him. “Hey, it’ll be okay, Ro.”

“I’m suspended, Virgil!” Roman shouts, finally lowering his gaze to meet Virgil’s, challenging him to argue. “Five days. And I have to replace his phone. And they took prom.”

“What?”

“I can’t go to prom. Our senior prom!” he looks away again, tears falling, unable to contain themselves. “God, you must hate me. First I make you feel like you have to do some big thing just to ask me, now I can’t even go.”

Virgil’s gut twists, “Listen…”

“And Logan gets roped into the no prom group for just trying to break up the fight!” Roman sobs, sinking to his knees as he clutches his car to slow his fall. “He must be crushed. And what about Patton? You all must despise me. And rightfully so.”

“Stop…”

“I should have just done what he wanted. What would one statement hurt? I could have avoided this whole mess. And now everyone that I care about hates me.”

“Shut up!”  Virgil shouts, anger coming back in a flash. “Just shut up, for one minute. You are not allowed to put words in my mouth, Princey. Ever.”

The sudden outburst of anger stuns Roman for a moment. Virgil immediately feels guilty for his outburst. The last thing Roman needed right now was to be yelled at from someone he should be able to open up to. Virgil takes a deep breath before sinking down to eye level with Roman, “Listen to me, I don’t care about prom. Like, at all. If you’re not going, I’m not going. It’s that easy. And while I can’t speak for Patton and Logan, I am sure that whatever they’re feeling, it isn’t hatred. Not for you. Not ever.”

Virgil offers a hand to Roman, who takes it, tears still falling. The anxious teen pulls Roman in and lets Roman collapse in his lap as he strokes his hair. Roman had done this exact thing to him so many times, Virgil was almost glad to get to return the favor for once. 

“Hey,” Virgil says softly after a moment, “I don’t know that the fight was about. At this point, it doesn’t matter. What I do know is that you, Roman Prince, are not one to fight without just cause. You are not the bad guy in this story. I won’t let you. That’s my job.”

That earns a small chuckle from Roman, calming the storm of worry inside Virgil just a little. They stay there for a minute, Virgil just holding Roman as he pulls himself together. Virgil focuses on keeping his breathing steady, smoothing circular motions on Roman’s back. He slowly stops crying, pulling himself together. 

“What are we going to do?” Roman eventually asks.

“Are you able to drive home?” Virgil asks, his brain switching into recovery protocol. His therapist had practically drilled it into him when they talked about how to handle his anxiety attacks, and they seemed to work well for all different kinds of crisis recovery. 

Roman sighs. “… I want to be.”

“But you aren’t. That’s okay. I’ll drive,” Virgil nods. “So here’s our three steps…”

Roman chuckles as he pulls away from Virgil, sitting up straight, “Are you like Picani’s star pupil or something?”

Virgil rolls his eyes. “Hush, you know you feel better knowing I’m talking to a therapist. Okay, step one is we’re going to get in the car.”

“You still have last period.”

Virgil waves his hand dismissively. “I signed myself out ages ago. If you thought I was going to sit still for a study hall when my boyfriend was in trouble, you clearly don’t know who you’re talking to. I made a pledge to always be there for you and I meant it.”

“I thought it was my job to protect you,” Roman quips with a raise of an eyebrow. Virgil’s unease settles more at the jest. If Roman was poking fun in a light hearted manner, it meant he was coming around. 

“Last time I checked,” replies Virgil as he stands up and offers Roman a hand, “A knight is expected to stay by his Prince’s side. That’s part of the whole fealty thing, right? Or did I totally miss what Logan was trying to tell me?”

“Okay, okay,” Roman allows with a soft smile. “Step one, car. Step two?”

“Step two, I’ll drive you home.”

“Are you sure-”

“Yes. I got it. Step three-”

“I get to kiss you,” Roman says as he grabs Virgil’s hoodie and pulls him close, kissing him softly, gently, as if trying to say something Virgil can’t quite place. When they pull apart, Virgil can’t help but smile. 

“I mean, sure,” Virgil laughs. “But you’re doing it out of order.”

“Let’s get out of here. I technically can’t be on property anyway.”

Virgil nods, “Okay,” and unlocks the car. As Roman walks to the other side of the vehicle, Virgil’s brain is already starting to figure out a way to make Roman feel better when it comes time for prom. 

-1 hour-

Virgil stands holding the bottom of the ladder while Patton reaches to get the string of Christmas lights through the last hook to attach them to the house. Patton’s parents had graciously allowed the boys to use their backyard for their master plan to make Logan and Roman feel better about the loss of their prom. 

When Virgil had gotten home after driving Roman home, he immediately called Patton and started planning this alternative prom. Patton was all over the idea before Virgil had even finished explaining his ideas. And over the past few hours, all of their hard work had finally come together. 

“There, how does that look?” Patton asks, backing down the ladder. 

Virgil looks around the brick patio in the dying light and squints, “Kind of hard to tell without the lights plugged in.”

“Right,” Patton smiles, walking over to the light switch by the door and flipping it. The whole yard is then awash in a warm glow. Lights outline the house features, windows and doors. They stretch across the ground along the flowerbeds under the windows to the fence, where they twist through the whole perimeter of the backyard. Twinkling lights are woven through the pergola, softly adding a shimmering effect to the whole yard. 

“Whoah,” Virgil whispers as he takes it all in. The patio furniture sits in the yard, clearing the patio except for the large speakers synced up to Patton’s phone. The long picnic table sits off to the side of the yard with punch and snacks all spread out. “It looks great, Patton.”

“Are you sure it looks bright enough?“ asks Patton. “I could go get another strand.”

“What? No. Why do your Dads have so many Christmas lights in the first place?” 

“You mean you don’t?”

Virgil shrugs.  “We just don’t. Bought the house spotlights in green and red, calling that a day.”

“Oh those are cute,” Patton muses, walking over to the speakers. “Should we start these up?”

“Good idea,” Virgil agrees. “That playlist is like 10 hours long anyway.”

Patton presses a couple of things on his phone before soft music starts playing. It takes a moment before Virigl can place it: Suddenly Seymour from Little Shop of Horrors. Virgil smiles softly at the memories from that show come to him. It was the musical his and Roman’s freshman year. Patton and Virgil had spent hours both of them pulling music to put on their own personalized prom playlist: pop songs that drove them crazy from over use, songs from shows they had been in, songs they loved to sing in their cars, songs that just reminded them of Roman and Logan. 

“And we are in business,” Patton puts the phone in his pocket, having set the volume loud enough to be heard, but soft enough that they could easily talk over top of it. 

“Sweet,” Virgil comments, checking his watch. Any minute now. 

Patton walks over to Virgil and smiles, “Can I fuss?”

Virgil rolls his eyes, “Okay, dad.”

Patton reaches up and starts straightening Virgil’s purple skinny tie. It matches his favorite purple Converse which he had insisting on wearing. Patton flattens it and tucks it into the black vest, adjusting the collar of the white button down to let it cooperate. “There. Much better. Where’s your jacket?” 

Virgil pushes the cuffs up his arm to his elbow, having rolled them up while setting up, nodding to the black jacket that matches his pants on the chair just inside the door, “Inside. It's too hot out here for it.”

“Fair enough,” Patton nods. He’s wearing a light blue suit that really makes his eyes pop. Virgil can’t help but smile and return the favor of fixing his tie, a darker almost navy blue. Not many people could pull off the light blue, but it just makes sense for Patton, Virgil thinks.

“Hello?” Logan’s voice comes accompanied by the click of the gate opening. Logan and Roman walk into the yard, their eyes large as they take in the scene. Virigl’s breath catches as he takes Roman in. Roman has a dark maroon suit on with a white button up and a gold tie. It was the perfect outfit for Roman, demanding attention but for all of the right reasons. Virgil can’t help but notice that while Roman seemed put together, he was lacking in usual spark. Something wasn’t quite right about him, something in his eyes. Roman’s eyes find Virgil’s, and Virgil is suddenly very aware of his ears burning. 

He breaks Roman’s gaze and looks over at Logan, and a smirk forms. Of course he and Patton would end up in complementary looks. Where Patton was in a lighter blue suit with a dark blue tie, Logan was in the opposite with a dark suit and lighter tie. 

“Oh, you’re here!” squeals Patton as he runs over to greet them, Virgil following behind him. 

“What is all of this?” asks Roman, his eyes sparkling. “Mom wouldn’t tell me anything, just pushed me into this and then into the car to pick up Logan.”

“It was all Virgil’s idea.” Patton beams as he takes Logan and Roman by the hand, pulling them further in so they can see the whole space. “If you can’t go to prom, we would bring prom to you. Or, as much as we can, anyway.”

Virgil looks at his shoes, feeling his face turn warm. “Patton came up with most of the plan, really. I just had a few suggestions.”

“You two--” Roman swings an arm around Virgil and the other around Patton, wrapping them in a hug-- “are the absolute sweetest. You didn’t have to do all of this.”

Patton returns the hug. “Of course we did. You two deserve this.”

Logan joins the group, taking Patton’s hand and giving it a squeeze. “It is very thoughtful of you. Both of you,” he adds, catching Virgil’s eye with a smile. 

The song changes to Footloose, making Roman jump in recognition. “Oh my gosh I loved this show!”

Virgil smirks at the memories behind the spotlight for tech crew. It was their sophomore year, over the summer. “I made sure it got on the playlist.”

Roman starts pulling away from the group, keeping Patton’s hand. “Come on, Pat. You have to remember this dance!”

“Of course I do,” Patton giggles as he and Roman break into the show’s choreography.

Virgil smiles, watching them dance. He feels his chest settle a little at the light in Roman sparking. Virgil had been worried this week, noticing the dark circles under Roman’s eyes increasing with each night. He hadn’t been himself. Something was eating away at his Prince, but Roman kept pushing him away, denying the issue. 

“Logan?” Virgil finally asks. 

“Hm?”

“Can… can you tell me what happened.. Yet?” He hates asking again. But the worry is always present. 

Logan sighs, turning his attention from Patton and Roman, making eye contact with Virgil. “Are you sure you want to know?”

“I… I just want to know how to help,” holding the contact. 

Logan looks back at the two dancing. “He was just trying to protect you, Virgil.”

“Protect me?” Virgil asks, almost offended. “From what?”

“Your cousin, JD.”

“I can handle JD,” insists Virgil. “Why would Roman get involved?”

“He wanted Roman to help Remus’ campaign for prom court.”

Virgil’s eyes widen at the absurdity of the idea. Remus Duke was a fellow senior classmate who was chaotic and dangerous. The guy has tried to set fire to theater sets when he wasn’t cast in shows, harrasses students, and has caused chaos at numerous football games. 

“Why?”

Logan adjusts his glasses. “I don’t have to tell you how popular Prince is with his classmates. His decision to not run, while I fully support it, meant that students were lost with where to go. Roman throwing support may turn the tide, much like when presidential nominees may be supported by their enemies after they drop out.”

“Right.” Virgil’s brow furrows as he tries to think through his cousin’s actions, “So JD asked for support, Roman said no, probably because Remus is a hazard to society.”

Logan rolls his eyes. “Yes.”

“So where does the fight come in?”

“JD made a threat to try and force Roman’s hand,” Logan slowly explains, fidgeting with his tie. Virgil knows Logan well enough to pick up on the nervous habit. “JD took it two steps too far and Roman went after him.”

“What threat?” Virgil demands, clenching a fist at his side. How dare his cousin threaten Roman. 

There’s a heavy, weighted pause, before Logan answers softly, “He threatened to out you, Virgil.” 

Everything stops for Virgil. It isn’t like he had never thought about coming out fully. At school he is kind of out. It isn’t like he hid his relationship with Roman to the theater kids. Most other kids pay no attention to him anyway and couldn’t believe the Roman Prince would be with someone so opposite of himself. 

But at home? At home he wasn’t out. He couldn’t be. Not without significant risk of repercussion. He always thought he and JD understood one another though. They were never friends, Virgil would say. But JD seemed to not mind giving Virgil his space at school. Virgil had never thought about JD being a risk for Virgil, especially in such an underhanded way. Would JD manipulate Virgil if it meant getting what he wanted, yes. But this? Threatening to out him? JD couldn’t be that underhanded, could he? It must have been a bluff.

“Obviously Roman wouldn’t let your safety be at risk,” Logan continued, pulling Virgil back to Earth. “So when JD pulled out his phone, Roman went after it.”

“If JD pulled out the phone…” Virgil’s certainty of the bluff crashes to zero. He feels his temper rising. “Shit. Why?”

“I assure you, I don’t know,” Logan admits. “It seems oddly ‘Aaron Burr’ for your cousin.”

Virgil’s mind spins with anger. “Why didn’t he just tell someone? If he was bated into it, wouldn’t the school go easier on Roman?”

Logan shakes his head. “Roman’s only goal through this has been to protect you. He wouldn’t tell them what JD did, because to do so would out you anyway, allowing JD to win to an extent.”

Virgil swallows, his eyes stinging a little in frustration. He takes a few deep breaths, calming himself a little. This is why Roman wouldn’t tell him what happened: he was worried Virgil would get upset. Virgil could handle this. 

Logan places a hand gently, reassuringly on Virgil’s shoulder. Virgil looks at him. Logan smiles a little. “It's okay, Virgil. What's done is done.”

Virgil nods, feeling a little better with the reassurance from Logan. Logan was one of Virgil’s favorite people. He could count on Logan to be there to tell him the truth when he needed it, but he also didn’t sugar coat it. Logan was a good friend to have by your side in a hard time. Virgil smiles a little as he finally realizes, “You tried to pull Roman off of him, didn’t you?”

“After Roman got in a few good punches, yes.” Logan smirks, something flashing in his eyes too fast for Virgil to identify. “I had to try to stop Roman or he might have seriously injured your cousin. But the school has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to fights.”

“I’m sorry you got roped into it.”

“I’m not.”

The song ends, leading to Patton and Roman collapsing in giggles on the dance floor. Virgil takes a deep breath, noticing the tension releasing with the knowledge of what happened. Of knowing that Roman would be ok. 

“Thank you, Logan. For telling me. And for having his back.”

“Any time,” nods Logan. “Come on, let’s get our stage kids off the floor before they ruin their outfits.” 

“Hello!” a familiar voice shouts, causing the four boys to turn towards the gate.

“Leo! Terrance! You guys made it!” Patton squeals in excitement at the sight of their friends. He helps Roman to his feet before running to greet the newcomers. Behind them, Virgil can see lots of other theater kids walking up the path all dressed for prom, although slightly disheveled. 

“Where are they?” Adri calls. “Ah, our favorite delinquents!” 

“Logan and Roman! Long time no see!” Camden says, making a show of looking around. 

“What’s going on?” asks Roman, his face lighting up as he sees his friends pouring in. 

“We told you,” Virgil says, walking up next to him. “Since you guys couldn’t go to prom, we brought prom to you.”

Roman looks at Virgil, opening and closing his mouth with nothing coming out. Virgil smirks at that and continues, “Obviously we didn’t want to ask them to skip prom entirely. We’re hosting the after party.”

“And we left as soon as we could,” Valerie says, walking past them. “Wouldn’t be prom without you, Prince.”

“You guys,” Roman squeals in excitement. Virgil can’t help but feel the excitement too. Roman finally looks like himself again: the familiar glow, the magnetic force, the dazzling smile. He stands tall again, looking perfect in his suit. 

Virgil nudges Roman with his shoulder. “Go socialize. You haven’t seen these guys all week.”

“But I haven’t spent any time with you,” Roman says softly. 

Virgil laughs. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Roman!” Kenny shouts, waving him over. “Get over here, I want a pic.”

Roman looks once again at Virgil, who smiles in reassurance, before running to the group. Virgil stays towards the gate, watching as the yard becomes more and more populated. He laughs a little when he notices a couple of freshmen from the theater in the mix. Seems as if everyone wanted to be a part of the celebration. 

Virgil watches as Roman walks around, taking time to greet every person. Politicians wish they could be as popular as Roman, Virgil thinks. Always with the best intentions, making everyone feel special in their own way. It was no wonder Remus wanted Roman on his side for the election.

Virgil fidgets at the thought of the cause of the fight. He didn’t need Roman to protect him. He had dealt with his cousin long before Roman was a part of his life. JD wasn’t a bad guy, he just determined. He even had probably been calling Roman’s bluff with the phone… probably. When JD was determined there was nothing he wouldn’t do to get his way. Virgil solved this generally by staying out of the way. JD only became an issue if you were in the way. And apparently Roman had opted to get in the way, drawing a target on his head.

“Is this thing on?” Patton asks, tapping a mic that he had hooked into the speakers. “Oh great. Can I have everyone’s attention, please?”

All of the teens settled down, pooling on the dance floor. Virgil is amazed to see how many people were there, at least two hundred. Theater kids, band kids, choir kids and a few other students all mixed together. It shouldn’t have surprised him. Virgil knew there was lots of overlap in these musically inclined groups. But to see them all in one place with their dates is impressive. 

“Okay, great,” Patton chirps. “I just wanted to take a moment, on the behalf of myself and Virgil, to thank you all for coming to this little get together to celebrate Logan and Roman.”

There’s a cheer from the crowd which causes Virgil’s heart to swell. It is nice to see the group support their boys. 

Patton passes the mic to Joan. They wave at the crowd to try and hush the sound that grew when they took the stage, “Alright, alright. You gotta let me tell them.”

After a moment the crowd quiets, although there is an almost electric current running under the surface, much like the one before a curtain is pulled for opening night. “Thank you,” Joan nods as they turn towards Roman and Logan, who have been pushed to the front of the crowd. “Logan and Roman, we the students would like to thank you for your service as part of our community this past year. Logan, for your awesome tech skills as well as study help. Roman, for always being a source of entertainment for us.”

Cheers erupt again. Thomas walks up and mutters something to Joan, who laughs, before taking the mic. 

There are a few whoops before Thomas dramatically starts, “Story Time! The Prince decides not to run for King. The people are disappointed. They start talking. Then the Prince is removed from the kingdom, with his faithful Paladin, causing anger in the land.” Virgil snickers at the reference of Logan being a Paladin. The group had played a round of Dungeons and Dragons once that was centered around Roman’s last name. Clearly Thomas was borrowing the concept yet again. 

“But the people are smart,” Thomas continues. “They hatch a plan, unknown to the Prince’s healer and knight, to get the Prince his throne.”

Now this was news to Virgil. He took a few steps towards the group, now curious where this was all headed. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, as most of you are aware, tonight we crowned a Prom King. We all agreed to vote for our candidate that would pass the crown on to the rightful ruler,” Thomas explains as someone in the crowd hands him a golden crown. “It is my pleasure to pass the title on to its rightful holder. Prince, I believe this is yours.”

Virgil fills with a mixture of shock, pride, and relief as he watches the crowd explode into cheers. While he stood by Roman’s choice not to run, he is so relieved to see Roman graciously accept the role from his friends. It just made sense. 

Patton appears out of nowhere and takes Virgil’s hand, leading him through the crowd that seems to part for them. Virgil doesn’t even have time to process what is happening before he realizes his hand is now held by Roman, the golden crown on his head. 

“May I have this dance,” Roman asks, bowing deeply, a twinkle in his eye that catches Virgil’s attention. Virgil nods and allows Roman to pull him in as a soft song starts playing. Oh right, Prom King normally dances with his date for a song, don’t they?

Roman smiles at him as they start swaying together. “There’s my Knight. Finally a moment together.”

Virgil can’t help but notice the people around them, the space they are occupying, the eyes following them. “How do you do this on a stage?” Virgil asks quietly. “Dance with everyone watching?”

“Oh easy,” Roman answers, flawlessly twisting the two of them around the floor. “You forget they exist. Merely part of the background. In my world, it's just us. I can’t even see Logan wrapping his arm around Patton’s waist right now, what are you talking about?”

Virgil chuckles as Roman expertly maneuvers Virgil so he can see what Roman is talking about. Sure enough, Logan is standing behind Patton, his arms wrapped around Patton’s waist as they watch, swaying slightly in place while Patton closes his eyes. It was a sweet moment between the two. If only it could have happened at the actual prom.

“Roman?” Virgil asks after a moment. 

“Yes?” he answers, pulling away just far enough to see Virgil’s face. 

Virgil meets his gaze. “You know you don’t have to protect me, right?”

Roman’s eyes give him away. “What are you talking about?”

“Logan told me what happened,” Virgil admits softly. 

Roman pulls him closer so that Virgil can’t see his face, spinning slowly. 

“I can handle myself, is all I’m saying,” Virgil tries again after a moment. 

“Of course,” Roman nods before pulling back again, his brow pulled together. “I know that. I never meant to insinuate that you couldn’t. I just… hang on.”

The song ends as the crowd applauds before the next song kicks on. Its something upbeat, but Virgil isn’t paying attention. He’s too busy trying to read Roman’s expression as the Prom King pulls him from the middle of the crowd to a darker corner of the yard. Roman doesn’t drop his hand or his gaze, as if trying to hold the moment while getting out of a public setting. Once out of the way, Roman looks at their hands still together. 

“Virgil, you know when you asked me to prom you had that whole pledge of fealty as part of it?”

“Right,” Virgil nods. 

“Well,” Roman explains, his brow pulled together in thought. “It’s part of feudalism from the middle ages, right? I remember you said Logan helped you with it. He must’ve explained it. Anyway, a person swore to a lord that they would do them no harm, that they would be honorable and keep them safe and everything you wrote for me back then.”

“I remember.” Virgil smiles softly. “I still stand by that.”

“I know.” Roman returns the smile. “But there’s part of it that people seem to forget. The people would do this for their lord, but it wasn’t a one way street. The lord was bound by the same principles in return.”

“Okay,” responds Virgil slowly. 

“All I did was uphold my end of the promise. And I would do it again,” says Roman, pushing Virgil’s bangs out of his eyes. 

Virgil leans into the touch, “I… I just don’t want you to get hurt because of me.”

“I think you’ll find I can handle myself too,” Roman smiles. 

Virgil rolls his eyes and reaches up to straighten Roman’s crown, “Okay. Fair enough.”

Virgil isn’t sure which of them pulls the other, but he finds himself kissing his Prince. Softly, melting into one another. Roman wraps an arm around Virgil and pulls him gently into it, deepening the moment just a little. Virgil embraces it for a moment before he pulls back, smiling. 

“Come on,” Virgil whispers, breathless for a moment, pressing his forehead against Roman’s. “As much as I want to keep you to myself, you do have an adoring public that is waiting for you to lead them in some kind of line dance, I am sure.”

“Only if you come with me,” Roman answers, his smile radiating its normal light once again.

“Uh, I don’t dance,” Virgil scoffs. 

“Just one, please? It's our senior prom,” Roman pleads, making puppy dog eyes. “What about the Cha-cha slide?”

“Only if you can convince Logan to do it too,” Virgil answers. 

“Challenge accepted. He’ll hear his King out, I am sure,” Roman agrees, taking Virgil’s hand. “Are you coming with me?”

“Always.

[melaninkpopimagines]

Crave

Daddy Woo x Reader 

Word Count: 4442

Warning: Smut 

Author: Admin Jae 

“These are the last papers to sign," the owner said. 

“Thank you. It was a pleasure doing business with you.”

“Of course when you start making money” he slyly said. 

“And I will" you guaranteed. 

“Thank you for your time," he said. You happily shook his hand. 

You looked around the entire place envisioning everyone enjoying themselves with food, chefs hard at work, hosting various themed events and gaining celebrity attention. You smelled the fresh cool air of the new rental space that will turn into your very own soul food restaurant. 

3 Weeks Later. 

“Dang it where is everyone at?” you scoffed to yourself. “Am I doing something wrong?” 

“No, you're still doing a good job as always.” Chel said. Chel is one of your closest friends. You two met in college as roommates and were inseparable ever since. You wouldn't trade her for the world. She was your first investor to your restaurant. You promised to pay her back in full. She flew out to Korea to see you and help run the business with you. 

“Thanks Chel.” you smiled. “I couldn't have done this without you.” 

“Girl, it’s no problem at all. I would do anything for you.” Chel said. 

You stood at the front entrance with your arms folded, you were worried. 

“We're near one of the most populated areas in Seoul and no one hasn't come in” you stressed. 

“Here have a glass of wine.” Chel tried to hand it to you. 

“Chel, I love you but this is not the time nor the place to drink while the restaurant is opened!” you scolded. 

“What?! you worry too much. I'm just trying to help.” Chel said drinking the glass herself. 

You continue to stare out the window with people steadily walking past. 

“Where is everyone?” Minhyuk peeped his head out the kitchen door. Minhyuk has been with you two since the business opened. He walked in asking to be your cook after seeing your ad online. 

“I don't know," you said.

Minhyuk came from behind the door teasing “What did you do? Scare everyone off?”

“Maybe your food was terrible" you teased back. Minhyuk made a playful sad face then laughed. 

“I wish it was that easy, then I must be really ugly.” you chuckled. 

“Far from it” Minhyuk complimented. 

You smiled. “Your food is terrific by the way. I just wished people would COME in so they could see for themselves.” 

“I’ve got an idea.” you said. 

“What?” Chel asked, pouring another glass of wine. 

“What if we gave people flyers of the restaurant?” you suggested. 

“I'm down with that.” she agreed. 

You head to the office to create festive flyers. You came out feeling proud of yourself. 

You handed out a handful. 

“Are you sure it'll work?” Minhyuk said. 

“It has to.” you insisted. “I'm running out of options.” An idea sparked again. “Or better yet…. what if we gave out samples of items on our menu?” 

“Let's do it," Chel supported. “People will know how good our food is.” 

“Exactly” you agreed. “It's worth a shoot.”

“What kind of samples should we make?” you mumbled flipping through the entire menu. You scanned the menu in seconds, analyzing what would be a popular item. “Any ideas?” Minhyuk questioned. 

“Yeah, a few" you mumbled. “Ok, here's what we're going to do.” 

Everyone stood at attention. 

“We are going to create appetizer samples of fried chicken poppers as well as a small cup of homemade mac and cheese.” 

“Alright, on it!” Minhyuk heads to the kitchen to get started. 

“You think we can pull this off. Rent is due at the end of the week.” Chel asked. 

“Hey, I thought I was the one that was supposed to be worried.” you corrected.

“You're right.” Chel smiled heading to the kitchen with Minhyuk. 

“I hope you're not too drunk to help out.” you called out. 

“Of course not.” Chel giggled. 

You flipped the sign to the front door ‘CLOSED’ it wouldn't make much difference since no one came in. 

“So exactly how many samples do you want to make?” Minhyuk started to cook. 

“At least a hundred samples maybe” you speculated. 

“A hundred sounds good," Chel nodded, handing you an apron. 

You three spent the next hour and half fixing samples for the locals. You covered the food in wrapping paper. You rolled out a little food cart with an umbrella attached to the top. You guys walked over to a crowded shopping area with a small one way road cars slowly passed through. 

You three reached an intersection. “Should we get started?” Minhyuk asked. 

“Yep.” you said as you finished the final touches to the stand. 

Minhyuk began randomly walking up to people handing out samples and flyers on his tray. He even went out his way pointing in the general direction of the restaurant. 

You and Chel did the same. 

You had people reject your offer, they were in a rush to their next destination. Luckily, you guys ran into some tourists. You hoped they would stop by eventually while they were in Korea. 

After giving away samples and flyers, Chel and Minhyuk took the remaining samples and headed back. You stayed behind cleaning the cart off. You heard a motorcycle in the distance, but you didn't pay it any mind. 

You reached a small intersection around the corner from the restaurant. The motorcycle became louder. You looked both ways in the crosswalk. You saw a guy on the motorcycle, he was far back, so you figured you'll have ample time to cross. As you walked, one of the wheels got caught in the small pothole in the street. 

You looked up at the motorcycle coming closer and closer. You tried your hardest to push the cart but it wouldn't budge. Your heart was racing, you were about to panic. The motorcycle sped closer. 

This is it. I'm going to die. 

The motorcycle made a sudden stop and swerved in front of you and managed to reach a stopping point on the sidewalk. 

A guy stepped off the motorcycle. His dark was slicked back with a fade on each side. His entire outfit was black with just a sliver chain hanging from his jeans. He had the most intimidating look on his face and to add his height made you feel smaller. 

“What the hell is your problem?” he spoke in a rough deep voice that stirred you up. 

“What the hell is yours? You could have hit me” you retaliated. 

“Couldn't you have waited until I passed?” he asked. 

“I thought I would make it in time until one of the wheels on the cart got caught in the pothole, so if you'll excuse me” you continued struggling. 

He looked underneath the cart to see for himself. 

“Let me help.” he said. You both grabbed each side of the cart pushed as hard as you could. The wheel broke free. 

“Thank you.” you said. 

“No problem.” he said, smirking “What do you sell?” 

“I wasn't selling anything. I was giving samples away.” you answered while pushing the cart away onto the sidewalk. 

“Samples of what? Hair products, make-up, facial masks….” he guessed. 

“For your information, it was food. I own a restaurant nearby.” you corrected him. 

“Let me push it for you.” he offered. 

“No, I'm fine.” you denied. “But thank you, I'm not far from here.” you continued walking. 

“Umm….who's watching your motorcycle?” you cautioned hoping he would leave.

“No one's going to touch it.” he replied and continued to walk beside you. He kept his eyes on you, studying you. You couldn't clearly look him in the face without feeling embarrassed yet you felt completely comfortable. You were smitten. 

“Again thank you for your help!” you said

“No problem, maybe I can give you a ride sometime,” he asked. You froze in place. 

“You never rode a motorcycle before?” he asked. 

“No.” you shyly laughed. 

“Maybe, I can change that,” he smirked. Your eyes slightly widen, thinking eroticly. 

“Mmm. I'll think about it.” you said as you both stepped in front of the restaurant. “Well, here I am.” 

“This is your restaurant?” he asked. You spotted Chel and Minhyuk spying on you. 

He looked up and noticed something. “I like how you played with the words,” he remarked. As you pushed the cart into the restaurant. You noticed he was looking up at the title. Se(ou)l Food. 

“Thanks, I hope to one day bring a little soul into Seoul” you winked at him. Omg, did I just wink at him. Christ. 

“That's a plus. I could use a little soul myself. “ he winked back smiling at you . You shyly smiled. 

“Yep. I just opened about three weeks ago.” you answered. “ Listen, well thank you for not killing me, how could I ever repay you?” you spoke in a mockingly girly voice. 

“A ride" he answered. You nearly choked to his request. “A what?” you gasped. “Take a ride with me on my motorcycle". He smirked. “What did you think I mean?”

“Uhhhh...mmm” you hesitated. “Listen I'll see you around.” He winked before walking off. 

You stumbled back in the restaurant, flustered. “Girl, who was that?” Chel asked. 

“Someone who could have hit me” you answered. 

“I guess he didn’t hit it hard enough,” Chel suggested. “CHEL NO!” you shrieked. “What? We both know you could use some. You’re so tense. ” Chel smiled.

“Omg, not now. I have a business to run and I’m praying we can make some progress and actually get customers in here soon” you sighed.  

Within the next week, business started to come along and business picked up on Friday nights. Koreans and Tourists alike. Customers really enjoyed your food and posted their reviews on social media. 

As business continues, you never thought you’d see him again. 

………

Distracted, “What can I get you?” you stared down at the notepad ready for an order. A familiar voice spoke, “I guess those samples really did pay off, Uh?”  

“Oh God” you mumbled to yourself. You took your eyes off your notepad to see him smiling at you. “What are you doing here?” you seethed. 

“What else am I here for?” he replied. 

“I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?” you insisted. 

“Relax, Baby Girl, I’m here to eat with my friend here. You looked across the table to see a gentleman politely wave. “Hi, you must be the girl, Woo was talking about.” 

“Oh, so you’ve been talking about me?” you raised an eyebrow. 

“I mean what can I say” he smirked as he shrugged his shoulders. 

“Well if it’s any consolation, I’m happy you came to see how good the food is yourself” you smiled. 

“No problem” he skimmed the menu. “Let me have a cheeseburger, fries, and a beer. He slowly closed the menu and looked at his friend to say his order. “Yeah, let me have fried chicken, with a side of mac and cheese and collard greens”. 

“Sure, not a problem, I’ll get those orders for you”. You smiled while collecting their menus. You felt him staring at you as you walked away. You walked quickly into the kitchen so he wouldn’t see your reaction. 

“Girl, did you see a ghost?” Chel asked as she was preparing to hand plates of food out the door. 

You swallowed and spoke, “I’m fine, but he’s here”. Chel eyes widen in excitement. “He came back” Chel peeped through the kitchen double doors and saw him sitting with his friend. “Omg, girl, yeah he likes you. He wants to see you”. 

“Now is not the time for all of this, we need to focus and provide everyone with a good experience” you remained calm. 

“Minhyuk, I have another order for you for booth 3” you placed the ticket on tab grabber. “Got it,” he shouted. “Let me know when you need a break, I’ll jump in and cook” you shouted back. I’m taking a break in about 5 minutes, so if you can take over then” he mentioned as he dumped a new batch of chicken into the fryer and placed french fries into another fryer. “I gotcha” you said. 

“Chel, if you can remain a waitress for me while I cook” you asked. “No problem girl, I got it” she left the kitchen to tend to the table. 

You didn’t know which was hotter, seeing him or being in the kitchen cooking. You grabbed the hamburger from the massive fridge and placed it on the grill and continued to monitor the chicken frying. One thing you knew: collard greens and mac and cheese were popular side dishes, each day you keep these pots filled with hot food.  You started to create side dishes. You cooked both sides of the burger perfectly and placed a slice of cheese, it slowly started to melt. You hurried and grabbed two brioche buns and buttered them and placed on the grill for one minute. The chicken and fries finished cooking, you placed them both in individual racks to drain. You created his plate and lightly seasoned his fries with sea salt, created his cheeseburger with every topping. It was massive. I hope he’ll be able to eat all of this. You created his friend’s dish, you prepared to give him a thigh, leg and wing with collards and mac and cheese served in individual stone bowls. You also included a small basket of hush puppies. Chel burst through the doors, you jumped so hard. “Another order”. Minhyuk came back prepared to work again. “Thank you for covering me,” he said. 

“No problem” you said. “Hey Chel, take these orders out to booth 3 for me, I didn’t realize how much time passed” you remarked. 

You noticed every time you cooked, you were always in a daze, time always slipped away from you. 

"Minhyuk, Chel came back with another order" you said. 

"No problem" he said as you walked out the kitchen doors. You and Chel continued to wait tables. Each moment, you could get you glanced over at him eating. He was holding a piece of the burger with a fork. He was almost done with his food. Each bite he took, he savored. He licked his lips. 

You went over to his table. "How's everything?" you asked. 

"So far, it's really good," he said as he wiped his hands and mouth with a napkin. His friend nodded in agreement. 

"I'm Woo by the way" he introduced himself. "This is my friend Tres." 

"Hi, nice to meet you" you smiled. "I'll take your plates if you're finished" stacking their plates together. 

"Thank you". You smiled and hurried to the kitchen. 

You staked the plates in the dishwasher. You looked down at your watch only to see an hour and half left in time till closing. 

You stepped out of the kitchen to say good-bye to him. 

He was gone. 

You stepped to his table to see he left a $50 dollar tip. Tips aren't necessary in Korea. You continued to collect the remaining dishes on the table and wiped the tables and seats for more customers to be seated.

The next hour and half flew by. After Chel escorted the last customers out. You, Chel and Minhyuk collapsed into the chairs. Exhausted, you went back into the kitchen and gave Minhyuk and Chel a bottle of water to cool down. 

"Well, you guys we did it!" you exclaimed. "It was successful for sure" 

"Alright let's clean up a bit, you guys go home and get some rest" you said. 

Minkyuk and Chel took care of the kitchen while you took care of the dining area. You started stacking the chairs onto the tables. And began swiping the floor. 

You went to the register and started counting the money and creating the deposit. You took what was left and paid Chel and Minhyuk. Agreement was met with them being paid on the weekly basis. 

"We're done with the kitchen, the food is set in the fridge, we cleaned the fryers, and everything else" Minkyuk reported. 

"Thank you, I appreciate it," you said. 

"Should we wait for you?" Chel asked. 

"No, you two go ahead. I need to mop the floor" you said. "I'll see y'all tomorrow" you smiled. 

Minhyuk and Chel waved good-bye and left. 

You locked the doors behind them. 

You went back into the kitchen and grabbed the mop bucket cart and began to mop the floors. You were almost finished mopping the floor near the entrance. 

Lost in thought, you didn't care for the slight knock at the door. The sign says closed. 

The knock continues. 

"We're closed!" you shouted. The knock continues. You finally look up to see him standing at the door. 

You walked to the entrance to unlock the door, he's smiling at you. 

You opened, "Can I help you?" 

"Can I come in?" he asked. 

"For what?" you asked. 

"To talk," he replied. 

You sighed and let him in. 

As you walked towards the mop bucket, you advised him. "Watch your step, I just mopped the floor. So don't fall". 

He stepped carefully into the restaurant, you motioned him to follow you into the kitchen. You placed the mop bucket into the back room and came out. He was standing there observing the kitchen and the set up. "This is nice," he said. 

"Thank you" you smiled. 

"You left in quite a hurry earlier" you remembered. 

"Yeah, I did. I had all the more reason to come back" he responded. 

"Why?" you asked. 

"Because I didn't even ask you for your name," he answered. He stepped closer to you. His presence was overwhelming you. 

"It's ummm…. Y/N" you swallowed. The cologne he was wearing, heightened your senses. Damn, he smells good. 

"Are you afraid of me?" he asked. 

"No why?" 

"I have a tendency to make people feel intimidated”. You were a little nervous. However, you definitely didn't want him to notice. You kept calm. 

"I was at first when you were about to hit me with your motorcycle" you smirked. 

"I told you I wasn't going to hit you, honest to God" he chuckled. 

"If you say so" you reckoned. 

"So why are you here exactly?" you asked. "I know you didn't come all this way just for my name" you folded your arms. 

"No, not just for your name. How about that ride?" he asked. 

"Not today, I had a long day as you saw. Tell you what let's postpone it for another time, deal?" you proposed.

"Deal" he said. "You know the face you made when I said ride when we first met?" he asked. 

Shit, he saw. 

"I...don't know what you're talking about" you denied. 

"I believe you do," he stepped closer. 

You were backed against the kitchen counter. You felt his aura engulfing yours. You started breathing slightly heavier. 

“I know you wanted to see me too,” he whispered. “That’s why I came back, to be alone with you”. He continued "…..let me taste you". He stared into your eyes. 

You closed your eyes and you both leaned in for a kiss. His plump lips were soft and smooth. You pulled yourself closer to him. His arms wrapped around you, you wrapped your arms around his neck pulling him closer for more. You felt yourself become lighter and pulled away to breathe. 

You both looked at each other. It was clear, you both wanted more than a kiss. 

You both dove in for another kiss. This time, he picked you up in his arms and sat you down on the kitchen counter. He was all over you. You wanted it that way. 

You both frivolously removed every layer of clothing. His arms and lower torso were covered in tattoos. His kisses were becoming more passionate and intense. You moaned in his mouth. He kissed your neck, working his way down. He was so warm. 

You slowly parted your legs open. 

"Are you sure?" 

"Yes" 

“I may not go easy” 

“Neither will I,” you smirked. 

He stroked his swollen girth, while licking his lips. He wants to tear you apart. He leaned for another kiss as he slowly slid inside your pulsing warmth. You immersed yourself fully into his presence as he stretched you. 

He groaned in your ear. “Fuck baby girl.” 

You gasped as he pulled you closer to him, you felt all of him. He steadily snapped his hips into you. You felt yourself becoming more wet with each tug and pull to your tight pink walls. 

His pace increased with each passing moment. You tilted your head back savoring every moment. 

“Hold on to me,” he said. He scooped you in his arms, holding onto him he lifted you off the kitchen counter, he held your legs in place and proceeded to plummet into you, your juices spilled out of you. You started to whimper out loud. “I love how well you take this dick,” he whispered. You hung onto him tightly, you scratched his back. You were drowning in his sex. He kissed you harder as bounced on his dick, you moaned into his mouth. “Woo”. You felt yourself losing control, your body was his. He made sure it was. 

Your eyes rolled to the back of your head. He placed you back on the kitchen counter, he lifted your legs over his shoulders.“I’m not going anywhere” he whispered, softly kissing you, his pace became deep and sensual. “Cum all over this dick,” he groaned. 

He started deep into your eyes, as he kept his pace. He wanted to see your reaction as he quickened. Your face said it all. All he needed was confirmation, you were enjoying yourself, you were enjoying him. Your core began to tighten, you were ready to release, shivers ran throughout your body. You were barely able to hang on at this point. Woo saw you were about to reach your max. He gripped your sides to hold you in place as he rapidly tore you to pieces. He was becoming too much, you tried to push him off but you were too weak. 

“I can’t hold it any longer!” you moaned loudly. He immediately felt your warm liquids squirted out your stretched pussy. He pulled away, as you climaxed in front of him. You trembled in place until your orgasm  stopped. You saw him staring at you. You wanted to hide, you were embarrassed. 

Still stroking his hardened member, he rubbed it against your sensitive pussy wanting to see more juices sprinkle out. 

Your eyes widened in astonishment as you cried out in pleasure, more juices came out of you. You felt your body being numb. You didn’t know how much more you would take from him. You realized he wasn’t finished with you yet. You slowly assumed into position, with your feet touching the floor, your legs widened for him again. Your breast touched the warm surface of the kitchen counter where your back was on. He approached from behind, slid his dick inside once more. Your back arched for him to touch the most vulnerable parts of your wet dripping pussy. He gazed in awe as he tapped your ass from behind. Your skin collided with his, clapping in unison as he took control again. You continuously moaned his name out loud as you felt yourself slipping in a daze. He landed heavy slaps on both of your cheeks, making his hand print on your skin. 

He grabbed a handful of your hair and pulled your head back a little as he kept his pace. You turned to face him, he kissed you. He placed his hand on your right breast, rubbing your nipple. 

“Fuck” he groaned. “You feel amazing Y/N” 

“So do you” you whispered. He pounded and pounded and pounded into you until his thrusts started to become more sloppy, he was reaching his max. “Woo, it’s alright” you said. You figured he knew what you meant. 

He slipped out of consciousness as he came inside of you. His length released more cum than you had anticipated. He held onto you. He was breathing deeply. He remained inside of you for a few more minutes before pulling out. His thick cum seeped out of you. He hurried and grabbed a towel to clean up both of your messes. 

He walked up to you and kissed you some more. He held you in your arms. “Are you ok? Did I hurt you?” he asked. 

“No, I’m fine” you smiled. “It’s just been a while”  

You looked down at your watch. It’s getting late. 

As you both began to get dressed. “Let me take you home,” he offered. “I know it’s late, the trains don’t run at this time. Taxi Drivers aren’t the best at this time either”. He had a point. 

You nodded your head. “Sure, thank you.” 

You wondered if that would be it between the two of you. Just a one night stand. 

You cleaned the kitchen counter off and turned all the lights off. Woo followed you out as you locked the door. 

His car was parked right outside the restaurant. “What happened to your motorcycle?” you asked. 

“Nothing, I figured to bring my car” he said as he opened the door for you. You got inside the passenger seat. “Where to?” he asked. 

“I live in Gangnam” you said “I’ll tell you where to go” you instructed him to your apartment when needed. 

However, the ride was awkward, you didn’t know what to say to him. You twiddle your thumbs. 

He found your apartment, placed the car into park. You both sat there silently for a couple minutes. “Listen, thank you for tonight”. 

“Anytime” he smiled. “Listen, Y/N, I know we barely know each other, I wanted to ask you if you would like to go out on a date with me?” he asked. 

You smiled. “I would love to” 

“Good, it’s a date then” 

You both exchanged phone numbers. “I’ll text you later today,” he promised. 

You both looked at each other again. You couldn’t stop staring at him. He placed his hand on your cheek and pulled you in for a gentle kiss. You both smiled and pulled away. You bit your bottom lip. 

“I guess I’ll see you later then” you said exiting his car. 

“You will” he smiled as he rolled down the window. He waited for you to enter the building before pulling off. 

You entered the elevator to your apartment excited about the beginning of a new chapter in your life.

I hope you guys enjoyed this. I’ve been writing this for a long time. I guess you can say I’m back. I miss you guys, I hope everyone is doing well and being safe. 

~Admin Jae 

[bluedemon1995]

Stay True To Yourself!

I read a story about a girl whose boyfriend took her to a swingers party…but neglected to tell her! And of course, that story led me down a very strange rabbit hole until this popped in my head. Ummm, this one has a little bit of a more adult theme - so please read with caution! This is an alternate reality story- obv not canon.

Katie Holt sat in the car feeling a niggling sense of unease that she cannot dismiss as hard as she tries to shove it down. She tries to narrow down the cause, thinking and analyzing as is her nature. Is it because she hasn’t been dating Mark very long and he picked her up roughly an hour ago. In fact, if she was honest, this was probably the longest amount of time she’d actually spent in his actual company. Previously, it was mostly online chats then a couple of in person short lunch coffee dates. But they were maybe twenty minutes. Is it because they are going to a party and she typically does not enjoy parties? Or maybe it’s because he’s the only person she’d know from this party, and she hates being dependent on anyone. She’d much rather rely on herself.

Regardless of the cause, she tries to shake off the feelings and enjoy the moment. Live a little in the real world like Allura said as she was helping her getting ready. Actually, if she was honest, this was the second novel experience of the day since having a friend come over and help her get ready for a date was a first as well. Yesterday, when she absently mentioned that she could not go to the movies tonight because she was going to a Christmas party with Mark, Allura got so excited. She immediately made plans to go shopping and offered to come and help me get ready. She was honestly more excited than I was but it was nice to have someone care.

Which was nice because her mom and dad had a work Christmas party to go to and her brother was on a date himself. It was nice for Allura to come over and help her out. In spite of the make up, dress and dating tips, she had a good time. Allura was only a couple of actual years older than but in experience she was decades ahead of her!

This year, partly due to their project at work, she’s gotten closer to some of co-workers or team. It’s been a nice change since high school and college where she was mostly alone except for her family and their friends. She loved feeling like people got her sarcasm, her references well, just HER. It was nice to have people who made her stop working to eat lunch or heck, even remembered to check to see if she left work for the day. Slowly but surely her team had become her friends.

Which all leads her back to a few moments ago, when Mark parked and got out of the car, stopping at the hood to wait for her. He looks impatient but whatever, she needs to take a minute alone to get her self under control. Her nerves hit a high point but deciding this was as good as it gets, Pidge stands and walks to the him, impulsively reaching out and holding his hand. It was dark and snowy, she definitely did not want to fall on ice as they walked up! How embarrassing!

He seemed surprised by her hand but quickly pulled her close, “Hey so, this is a special party and I’d really appreciate it if you kept an open mind, think of it as an of it as an experiment.”

Pidge felt like a five alarm bell was suddenly going off at the conclusion of that sentence. FUCK! What was he talking about?!? Why would he say something like that now? It was akin to setting a bomb and saying, do not look at the timer.

While Pidge is having an internal panic attack they walk in-no knocking just walk straight in the door. She doesn’t see anything right off the bat that concerns her. There’s a table where keys were thrown, shoes piled in the front hall and music playing. It was a really nice house, set in one of the fancier subdivisions of the area. Pidge was trying to keep calm but she was annoyed that he’d state something like that as they were walking in the door! What about beforehand so she could of decided?!? And he really didn’t tell her anything, which is worse than knowing.

He takes his shoes off, she does the same. Hesitating, he turns and pulls her towards the kitchen. “Drink? What’s your poison?”

Pidge sighs, beer seems safe and not like she’s going to be drinking much of anything after that bomb he dropped walking in. “Beer is fine, I’d like light if they got it.”

He nods and goes towards the coolers lined up along the wall. Pidge does what she does best, fades into the background and observes the room carefully. The lights seem dim and she could see out the patio doors that more people are out there by the pool. She squints, maybe it’s the just the glare…but are those people naked?!?

Mark comes back at that time with a draft beer which means I won’t be taking a drink of it. Why wouldn’t he give me a bottle or can that I could open myself? I’m quiet and watch Mark take in the party. I wonder who he knows? Suddenly, I look at a pretty girl in a Mrs. Claus outfit who comes up to Mark. She smiles brightly, and proceeds to lock lips with Mark, wow. She’s actually impressive with her ability to wrap around him like a snake yet keep her hand with her drink still, not spilling a drop. I’m actually impressed! My eyes dart around the room, trying to gauge what the hell is going on here. Why would he bring me here if he already has girl???

Finally she breaks off and slides over to me, “Hi, Danni with an I, wanna make out?”

I blink, rapidly, “Um, no, I’m good, but, uh, thank you for the offer though.”

She smiles, “Okay! If you change your mind I’ll be around!”

She flounced away and I looked to Mark, quietly questioning, “Exactly what kind of Christmas party is this? Why am I even here?!?”

He chucked, “It’s a swingers party and you can’t come alone. You NEED to bring a date, you know for the numbers. C’mon, this will be fun.”

I look at him feeling myself turn red. “Wait a minute, I bought a fucking new outfit for this?!? I put goddamn makeup on! You fucking asshole! Look, I could give two shits about what you do, honestly, we aren’t involved like that but why involve me? Could you not find someone else to bring? For fuck’s sake!”

Mark stared at me, having the NERVE to arch a brow, “Cursing really? You know swearing is for people not intelligent enough to come up with a better word. Besides, don’t be a prude, look walk around and find someone you find interesting or hot. There are a lot of people here, like it’s not that hard.”

I close my eyes and as bad as I want to hit him, curse him out, I refrain. Oh, he will pay, just later when there aren’t about a hundred witnesses who can fill out a police report. I take a breath and walk away, back to the front door. I look at the keys, but they all look the same, how would I know which is which. I guess I could take them all but what if someone wants to leave. I step out to the front steps.

Honestly, this could not have happened on a worse night. I can’t call Matt, he’s finally on a date with his current dream girl and my parents at that work party. I close my eyes, take a breath to reign in my anxiety that is sky rocketing and first I try Allura. But, duh, she’s at the movies with Romelle and probably turned her phone off. Shit. My eyes fill with tears but I refuse to let them fall. I take a deep breath, trying Hunk instead another coworker. Straight to voicemail. Shit he might be sleeping.

I look at my contacts and realize, I don’t have a long list of people to call. I sit and sigh, okay no matter how embarrassing I could always get an Uber. I schedule one but because I’m so far it will take about an hour. I walk around to the back and sit on a chair in the dark corner of the backyard. Sitting, I let my finger hover over the last name to try. Here goes nothing. Hanging up I text a short message. What the hell do I have to lose at this point.

I sit. And sit. I don’t know how many girls and guys I rebuff but something about a person not wanting to hook up makes people want to hook up with you apparently. Jeesh, in my real life, no one wanted to date me now everyone was trying to have sex with me. WTF?

Sighing I look at my phone, and crap, it looks like all my surfing has killed my battery. Suddenly a very naked Mark and a different Mrs. Claus come up to me.

Mrs. Claus giggles out, “Hey if you’re nervous, you could totally hook up with my husband. He’s the hot elf over there, standing on the edge of the pool and hot tub. It will be fun! Then if we like, we could continue next week!!” She giggles a lot and I try not to be rude.

“Thank you for that kind offer, but I’m good.”

She shrugs, “Sure thing baby, but aren’t you bored. Marky said you were shy and um, a novice. Don’t be afraid.”

Mark turns and Pidge can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Only for some guy in his boxers to edge into her space. “Darlin’, you-me-, it’s written in the stars baby.”

I groan, “Nope. You misread them, thank tho.”

Usually once I say no, they just move on. But nope, not this one. “Don’t be a prude. Sex is very natural. It’s elemental. It’s like essential. You need me baby!!”

Really, that’s his line? I shake my head no, but now we’ve got a crowd. I hear people interject how I’m falling into societies lanes and I must be a virgin because I’m sitting by myself. Then I hear people say I should be grateful and oh my gosh, yep, I’ve been transported back to high school. Except I’m not a self conscious kid anymore and I don’t give a fuck what they think about me. But, I’ll be damned if I don’t respond. No one pushes me or pressures me to do something I don’t want to. And I’ve never just gone with the crowd cuz it was easier, not then, not now.

I hear a roar and suddenly all attention is lost on me. I decided to leave before my temper actually erupts. I quickly move towards the gate to get the hell out of here. I’d rather walk home then stay here. Fuck Mark and his party. I might actually brainstorm with Allura and Romelle on a way to get back at him. Something embarrassing.

As I walk away I hear Mark yelling my name, “Katie! Katie! Don’t walk away! You need to expand your senses and life. Don’t be scared. There is so much I could teach you. Don’t be such a prude!”

Laughter.

Well fuck him. Now I’m pissed. I’m not scared. I just don’t want to do this. Yet, who does he think he is telling me what I should do. As if. And what if he did this to other girls, who weren’t able to say no? I turn around and calmly but loudly state, while looking straight at him, “Look, don’t act like I’m the scared one. Who didn’t tell me where they were taking me. If this was a scene I was into, fine. And believe me, I will sleep with whoever I want. I just don’t want to sleep with you nor do I have anything to prove to anyone. But if and when I see a guy or girl for that matter, that I’d like to fuck, then I would. So, shut up, cause Marky you’re just not it.”

I could hear murmurs and then Mark yelling, and his feet slapping on the ground. Ughhhhh. One thing I could be thankful for is seeing him naked, cuz ick. He has no muscle definition and oh my God, I cannot wait to tell Allura how he looks like he waxes cuz he has no hair anywhere on his body.

I turn to walk away and see a guy who I have HAD the luxury of day dreaming about striding towards me with an shit eating smirk. Well, shit, of course. My eyes closes but it doesn’t stop my from seeing him behind my eyes. His hair is slightly matted from his helmet which means the roar must have been his Harley. He has one of his many black t-shirts on with his favorite leather jacket over it. His jeans are well worn and faded not those designer ones that only look used. He has on his riding boots, which of course give him another inch or so of height. Which he loves. Opening my eyes I see him about 6 feet away and I see he still has his riding gloves on.

I determinedly walk towards him only to hear Mark scream, his feet slapping, or at least I hope it’s his feet. He yells, “Yeah right, you prude-like you would ever-“

I reach said hot guy and say, “I’m kissing you in two seconds. One, two.”

I fist my hand in his shirt and pull him closer to me. Except he doesn’t move, so I look up into his eyes and arch a brow, he arches his, which causes me to roll my eyes and I open my mouth to tell him to go to hell when grins. With his hands on my hips pulls me into his hard body, throwing me off balance. I slip my arms around him lift my head and his lips slam onto mine. Ok, point proven. Yet, as I lean back to break the kiss, I feel two arms encompass me, hold me close and reposition me.

His mouth re-angles on mine, I feel myself lifted on my tip toes. Omg, the heat of his body is amazing. I didn’t even realize I was cold sitting out here but against his body I felt like was next to a heater. His tongue pushes past my lips and, well, I stopped thinking for a full minute, hell maybe minutes. It was that good of a kiss. Shit. His tongue stroked mine, made me shiver and then he nipped my lip causing a groan. I literally could feel him smile and I was going to move back when his hand fisted in my hair and he started to kiss my neck and holy crap! I think my knees buckled but it didn’t matter because he picked me up and my legs were suddenly wrapped around his waist. His hands were supporting my weight but I think they were actually under my dress. My hands were in his hair and digging into his shoulder respectively. Well. Hell.

I don’t know how long that went on for when suddenly I hear Mark right next to us yelling, “That’s enough.”

Slowly pulling back, his gravelly voice questions, “Outta here or are we continuing the show? Just to be clear, I’m good with either decision.” He then arches that fucking brow.

Face flaming, I whisper, “Let’s go. Please.”

Eyes on me, he nods. “What’s asshole’s name?”

“Mark.”

Nodding he raises his voice, “Hey Mark, fuck off and if I ever see you again, you’re dead.”

A girl in just a string bikini bottom steps in front of us, drawing our attention. Her hand is gliding down her chest when she looks right at him, throatily murmuring, “Wanna upgrade?”

He laughs, “Um already did. Let’s go Pidge.”

He moves his hands and I lower my legs. He instantly laces his fingers with mine and pulls me to the path back to the front. “Keith! You can’t say that! You know about Mark being dead meat.”

“Just did.”

“Why, what, are you even doing here?”

As he places his helmet on my head and carefully tightens the straps, “I saw Shiro’s phone buzz, so I looked. It seemed like something that couldn’t wait. So here I am.”

Blinking I nod, “Okay. I said I had an Uber coming.”

“Saw, don’t care. I, um, didn’t like the idea of you being here when you didn’t want to be. So yeah, deal.”

“But why didn’t you respond?”

“I pinged your location to my phone and left. Didn’t think about it honestly.”

“What if I was gone?”

He shrugged as we approached his bike, which was on the lawn! “As long as you were safe.”

He then takes off his coat, slipping it around my shoulders, “Arms in, it’s cold when we start moving.” Eyes on her legs, fingers play with her skirt, brushing her thighs. “I can’t do anything about your legs though. Let me know if you need a break. We can stop as often as you need.”

I nod, and as we drive into the night, my arms tight around his waist, I can’t help but smile. Keith Fucking Kogane. Damn this boy can kiss. Maybe there is hope for my love life after all. I feel his hand cover my hand on his abdomen, squeeze and drift down to my leg. I squeeze him a little tighter and I know it’s just my imagination but I swear I can hear his laughter.

My hero.