#and somehow not completely fuck up the next already posted chapter and the rest of my planned plot

[incognito-insomniac]

Legitimately loving all of this character analysis people are doing for Morse (and others but let's focus on Morse). There's especially posts pointing out the hypocrisy in his judgement of others and his image of himself as second fiddle when he has almost never been such in his newer relationships. And like again I cannot express how much I love it.....

But it also just invalidated the fuck out of the second chapter of my fic, At the Seams. Where he's railing at Jake's for not opening up to him about what's go him so upset (which we as readers all know is a massive amount of trauma bubbling to the surface) and then Morse steps back and realizes that he's never once offered up anything similar to Jake's before and what he's asking for is not where their relationship is.

And like.....I love that scene I wrote.....but Morse doesnt have even a fraction of the self-awareness required to come to that conclusion in the middle of a fight, especially one where a case is involved. :|

[tragicclownwrites]

So, about that fic... (it's good news!)

Hello! So, y'know how I made this tag post recently? Well, it still stands, but there's been a slight change of plans. We're used to this by now, right?

(explanation below the cut)

As I was working on the shorter fic I mentioned in the tags, I was somehow re-introduced to another fandom that I rarely posted about on here - Kingdom Hearts. The lore honestly goes over my head sometimes lol so I never got into it properly (... until now?), but I recently had this beautiful, wonderful idea for an AU involving my fave ship from it (Soriku) and the concept wouldn't leave me alone (alluded to here).

Therefore, I dabbled in this other fandom, got inspired, and wrote another short fic that I'll be posting after I finish a few more scenes. I even made a Spotify playlist and Canva banner for it, so it's officially happening. 😝

I know many of you follow me for SBSP/SquidBob (a.k.a. a completely different fandom lol), so rest assured that I wasn't going to post this fic without delivering on the one I actually promised. Therefore, I'll be posting the first chapter even sooner, despite the fic not being finished.

For context, I usually prefer to post when my fic is 97-100% completed for a couple reasons:

It allows me to have a more consistent upload schedule

It leaves less room for mistakes. It's much easier to correct minor grammar/spelling errors after the fact than it is to re-write an entire section and then explain to the readers (who already saw it!) that I fucked up and left a massive plot hole. 🫠

It's not for everyone, but that's what works for me personally.

The next update for the unfinished SquidBob fic may take a bit longer, of course, but hopefully not by much. I don't expect the first chapter to change much at all, so I have no qualms posting it. And because I'm excited about this and I don't want to leave folks hanging, I'm making an exception this time. 🤗

Anyways, hope you enjoy both fics!

♥️ Tragic 🤡

[aritamargarita]

GOLDEN || 006

you thought it was attitude but ITS GOLDEN

trying to make up for being so behind. really been enjoying these chapters. we are pulling all the grandpas and dilfs yes we are. MALEWIFING THEM ONE AT A TIME. AND WE CANT FORGET ABOUT THE LADIESSSSS!!!! HEY LADIES!!!!HEY LADIES!!!!!!! consider this chapter a bit of a timeskip, we’re goin to the intergender match yes yes. it’s not gonna be what you think y’all have to listen to the plan. i have to put the pieces in place….

scrambling events here the way i would like them to go, so this is like at the end of the year, it’s november / december 1997,,,,idk. it’s a vibe im hungry as fuck. splitting the chapters because well? yeah. i have things that happen post match

sorry triple h for cropping you out but it’s chyna foreva and always..im just one of her sassy shootas!!!

YOU ARE VERY happy you have something to do tonight. You’re thrilled, even. All you want to do is showcase your wrestling skill. But things don’t always go the way you want it to..

BACKSTAGE // 7:01 PM

After Shawn told you about the upcoming intergender match last show, you decided to go head to the hotel for the night and rest up. You also make a mental note to issue an apology for Bret for not showing up…

But this was pretty important. It’s the week of Christmas, so you’re sure that the company has a lot of plans for the holiday..

You’re in DX’s dressing room, sitting on the floor and doing stretches. You had a reputation among your peers in previous companies for turning up to the events early. They didn’t know whether to envy it or love it. You’re always ready to go.

The door opening startled you from the floor, Chyna being the first to walk in with two duffel bags. She doesn’t greet you at first, but you watch as she sets her things down.

“Hi!” You chime.

And at the sound of your voice, she jumps too. You don’t think she noticed you at first. “Hey. You scared me.”

“You scared me too.” You smile, standing up. “What’s up?”

“Nothing in particular.” She responds. “You’re here early.”

“Oh, I always get here early. I like to be ready, you know?” You start to feel nervous in her presence, which you’re already hitting yourself mentally for. Somehow, you feel like you be trying to impress her. “You’re here early.”

Immediately, the tone in her voice changes into irritation. “Hunter was taking too long. I left without him. Shawn’s probably going to get him now.”

“You snooze, you lose.” You say, completely understanding. Truth be told, it kinda reminded you of Raven. Sometimes, you’d travel with him by car. Stevie would tag along at times too, but you’d much rather just ride with him alone if Raven’s gonna take forever.

Raven would come out 10 minutes late and it would mess with your schedule. He started doing a little better after you chewed him out about it, but the principal…

Just was you considered leaving him in the dust, he’d come outside, suitcase and all. There’s a tiny part of you that misses traveling with them, but, yeesh.

There was a moment you got fed up once and for all. Seeing some girl hastily leave his hotel room really upset you for some reason. You’re not exactly ready to explore why, but it really pissed you off.

You didn’t even care, you just left. Unfortunately, you fell right back into the trap of talking to him when he cornered you during an ECW show to ask what’s the deal….

Now’s not the time to mull over these things, you’re still talking to Chyna.

“Hey, why don’t we travel together next show? I’ll drive!” You offer. “That way we can get here on time and do what we need to do.”

“Fine with me.” It’d probably be better for the both of you, especially since you offered to drive. Chyna just hopes you’re a better driver than Shawn. She’ll never ride with him in a vehicle again.

The last time the three of them rode together, Hunter had been egging Shawn on the entire time, telling him to zig zag through the cars “if he’s not scared”. With the Heartbreak Kid being the show off he is, he did.

Never. Again. They’re lucky they didn’t crash.

“I heard we had an intergender match.” You continue on. You won’t let this conversation end so easily. “Is it me and you…?”

Chyna shakes her head. “No. It’s you and Hunter versus Shawn and I. They wanted to experiment and switch us up.”

Boo…

At least Hunter seemed nice, despite the fact he threw wads of paper at your head the other day. Nothing’s wrong with him at all. In fact, you’ve been meaning to ask him how he keeps up with his hair. It’s so nice.

However, you really wanted to work with Chyna, not against her. Even though you had ring gear, you would’ve changed it if it meant you could match with her.

“Aw man. I wanted to partner with you!” You complain. “We would’ve had so much fun.”

There’s a ghost of a smile on her face, but as soon as you look at her, it goes away. “It would’ve been nice to be partners. But it’s just not happening. Don’t expect me to go easy on you, [Name].”

You give her a thumbs up. “I wouldn’t want you to!” It goes silent for a minute, so you return to the ground to stretch a bit more.

“I have something for you.” Chyna suddenly speaks up, making you look towards her. “Here, take this.” She tosses a rolled up shirt in your direction.

You unroll it, revealing a black shirt that says ‘Chyna Syndrome’. Woah.

“I hope you don’t think it’s selfish or anything. It’s just that Hunter and Shawn are wearing it tonight…” She trails off. You don’t even care if it was selfish or not. She just gave you a gift!

“Not at all, thanks! I’m definitely wearing it tonight.” This has gotta be your new favorite shirt. You’d cut it into a crop top, but you don’t want to ruin it. You may settle for tying it. “I really like this.”

“Good to hear.”

“You, uh, wanna go shopping before the next Raw?” You ask. “I’ve got a really good eye, I think we can find something you’d like!”

Chyna’s never been shopping. Well, she has, but not with another girl in the company. “Sure.”

Yet again, the door opens. Neither of you look up. You’re too distracted with your shirt and Chyna’s sorting through her belongings.

“Ohhh! Look at our lovely ladies congregating!” Shawn loudly says, tossing his bag to the side to come over to you. You’ve started to associate obnoxiously loud noises with him. “Raw’s never looked so good!”

You roll your eyes, but you can’t help the smile that appears on your face.

“C’mon, do a little twirl for me!” He’s a little too spontaneous. Is this how he always acts? You don’t mind though..

You give him your hand and he immediately spins you around.

“What a sight for sore eyes! You know, that Sergeant Slaughter guy’s been a real pain in the ass. Ever since they let him be Commissioner…”

You really start to tune him out after a while. Hunter’s over there getting his stuff together, and your eyes trail over to him as he walks over to Chyna. He looks frazzled, but you hear him chuckling soon after.

Good, he doesn’t seem too angry. Even if he did, you’d definitely defend Chyna quickly.

“…..And he knows I’m the champion! He’s putting my title on the line, can you believe that?! So you know what we’re gonna do? We’re gonna mess up the match. We’re gonna do it our own way. [Name], I need you to lay down for me.”

Him saying that immediately caught you off guard, looking at him in confusion. “You want me to what?”

You had no clue he was champion. The first time you met him, he wasn’t carrying his belt around.

“I want Chyna and I to win. It’s the least you could do, you know, since she’s letting you win the Miss Slammy awards…”

That was two bombs at once. Goddamn.

“Miss Slammy?” You repeat.

For some reason, you notice Chyna turn away in the corner of your eye. Is she embarrassed? Shawn comments on it. “Hey! Don’t get all shy now. You offered. You see, [Name],” He slings an arm around your waist.

“—there’s this thing called the Slammy’s coming up. Big formal event, it’s like the Emmy’s.” He explains.

“It’s like the Emmy’s??” You question. A wrestling event like the Emmy’s, huh? You feel like you’ve heard of something like that before. The only banquet event you’ve been to lately was Terry Funk’s Lifetime Achievement Banquet. You gave a speech and everything.

“Yup. You know, I’ve heard you’ve got nominated. Don’t tell anyone else, I just heard that down the grapevine.”

The grapevine?

You’re surprised. It’s one thing to be nominated, but another thing because you literally just got hired. “Are you serious? Don’t mess with me.”

“Yup. We were thinking about rigging the votes. Chyna, being the sweetheart she is, said she’d rather you get the win.” He grins.

That really is sweet of her. You’re already turning around to tell her ‘thank you’ one more time.

It’s not fair to the other nominees, whoever they are. You shake your head. “I’d rather win it myself fair and square. You know me and Hunter won’t go easy on you.”

Shawn can only scoff at your words. “That’s boring. You’re really gonna let Marlena win over you? Now personally, if that was me…?”

Marlena’s nominated too?

Well, now you absolutely had to win! You quickly interrupt him. “Um, no way. For sure, I think I’ll be Miss Slammy, but I told you I want to do it the fair way.”

“If you say so. Oh shit, I almost forgot. Listen, [Name], What I really wanted to ask you was…..”

Chyna and Hunter both look over at him curiously, but Shawn shakes his head and waves his hand at you dismissively. “Nevermind.”

“Shouldn’t you be talking with Chyna?” Hunter makes his way over to you two. “That’s my tag team partner now.”

“I’m not worried, Trips.” He says. “Me and Chyna are gonna win, even if [Name] won’t lay down for me.”

“I’m not going to lie.” You speak up, causing everyone to look at you. “I kinda wanted to be in Chyna’s corner. Really bad.”

“Unfortunately, you’re not!” Hunter cuts in, a shit eating grin on his face. “You’re with me. Aren’t you happy??”

You hesitate for a minute to respond. You’re a-ok with teaming with Hunter, but you like how he’s starting to get all sour about it. “Ehh…..”

He’s not too happy with your answer. “That’s not fair. You know, we’re gonna have to bond sometime, new girl..”

Chyna holds her hand up to her mouth, hiding her snicker. With the idiocy bouncing between Shawn and Hunter, you may be her only saving grace.

After that fiasco, you headed out to check out the card for the night. It should’ve been on the wall somewhere. Just before you could study it, one of the staff members called you over.

Before he started speaking to you, he holds down his earpiece. Someone must’ve been talking to him at the same time. He eventually looks up at you. “Evening. I’ve got some papers from Creative for you. You can look through them...”

“Okay. Thanks.” You nod, taking the papers from his hands.

Great, more papers. You thought what Rick Rude put you through was hell, you just hope you don’t have to sign anything else right now.

“Vince McMahon wants to speak with you as well. He’s in the meeting room next to the catering area.”

Oh fuck. The boss wants to speak with you too?? You hope you didn’t do anything wrong yet..

You’re already panicking as you turn away quickly and make your way to the meeting room. It’s strange he wants to see you there instead of the office.

You don’t know why you’re so nervous. You’ve dealt with Bischoff and Heyman. There’s no reason why you couldn’t deal with Vince McMahon.

In your defense, it was a new playground. You haven’t gotten a feel for the work environment or for your coworkers.

The people you’ve met so far have been pretty okay though. Things were off to a nice start, so you’re not entirely worried on that front.

As soon as you got there, you remember to take a breath with your hand on the handle.

Once you swing it open, you already start to feel pretty awkward as all eyes fall on you. There’s only one familiar face in the room and it’s Sable, who looked incredibly bored until you walked in.

“Good evening.” Vince says. “Please take a seat.”

The only open seat there is was one across from Sable. How convenient! This definitely was a set up. You don’t say anything as you quietly take a seat. You don’t forget to wave at Sable.

She just blankly stares at you. You wonder if she’s not in a good mood…

Vince begins this meeting with formally greeting the both of you. “Good evening, ladies. I’m sure you’re both wondering why I’ve called you here.”

You and Sable definitely are. This’ll be interesting.

“In the next couple of weeks, at least by the beginning of the new year, we’d like to put you and Sable into a program. [Name], you will be the heel, Sable, you will be the face.”

First of all, this is the wrong blonde you wanted to be in a storyline with. Marlena’s the one who you had to get revenge on, not Sable. She didn’t even do anything.

Did he get the two mixed up?

No, there’s no way. When you’re the boss, you should be able to tell your own superstars apart. There’s a vast difference when it comes to Marlena and Sable.

You point it out. “What about Marlena? I thought we had a thing going on there.”

“It’ll happen eventually.” Vince reassured. “Just not right now. We want Sable to enter the picture, we’ve got plans to split her up from Marc Mero—“

“Wait, you’re splitting us up?” She’s surprised herself, turning her head over to Vince. “…I’m going solo?” You were sure she wasn’t expecting that either. “I don’t know anything about wrestling.”

“Now’s the time to learn.” Vince says, shuffling papers. “Two of my up and coming female stars, going head to head. This is where the dough is made. This, is what’ll get us some views.”

The way he said it made you a little uneasy. He was almost on the verge of laughter. Something’s definitely not right in his head.

You’re not exactly sure what to do. You’re conflicted, especially since he was mumbling on and on about the amount of money he’d be making. Damn old men these days.

It makes you idly look at the table for a moment. You’re not bored per-say, just concerned. Okay, perhaps just a little scared too.

Sable seems to mirror you, although the frown on her face is more noticeable. It’s silent in the room, save for the occasional chatter you’d hear outside the door.

It’s starting to make you uneasy, so you speak up. “I’m gonna be a heel, huh?”

Vince snaps out of his rant and looks towards you. “Yes. Just be prepared to be booed. The people aren’t going to like you. They’re gonna like Sable. She’ll be over.”

Great! You’re putting her over. You just hope she doesn’t get injured by the end of this, though if she says she doesn’t know how to wrestle, you hope that YOU don’t get injured by the end of this.

“I don’t want to take any bumps.” She says outright, crossing her arms. “Especially hard ones.”

You don’t know how this’ll work then. She doesn’t have a choice. “There’s just no way around it, you know? I’ll go easy on you, okay?”

It didn’t make her feel any better. Sable shakes her head. “No. I don’t want to.”

You turn your attention to her. “…If we have to work together, you’re taking a bump. I don’t know what else to tell you.”

She snaps at you. “Who are you to tell me what I have to do?”

“Someone who’s putting you over, and I don’t HAVE to do that.” You can keep up with her. Something you’ve learned being in the business was to never take shit from anybody. Though, it may have been the result of Terry instilling a lot of courage into you.

Sable stands up from her chair. “I can get over just fine by myself! I don’t need you. Remember where you came from, some company no one even knows about.”

She jabs a finger in your face, but you swipe it away. “Oh yeah, I remember where I came from. And I’m about to use this table and fucking—“

Vince stands up too, clenching his fists. “THIS IS WHAT WE NEED!” He yells, damn near startling the both of you.

…….

He clears his throat, regaining composure. “If you have this much energy in the ring, both of you would be winners. You two need to calm it down immediately. This meeting is adjourned.”

Most of the people in the room leave, frazzled by you and Sable’s bickering.

Sable doesn’t forget to give you a glare before she leaves. You’re stiffing the hell out of her when the time comes.

You’re just about to leave too, probably to storm off and complain to the first person you see. Vince stops you just in time.

“[Name], I’d like you to meet someone,” He says. One of the members stayed behind it seems. Your mood is starting to sour, which doesn’t bode well for anyone in the future. However, you do your best to keep up a front for the boss.

Vince grunts something and motions with his head toward you. The younger man examines you, but at Vince’s movements, seems to take the hint and reaches out his hand for you to shake. “I’m Shane.” He introduced. “His son and the co-owner of the company.”

Interesting! You could see the resemblance as soon as you saw them side by side. Incredibly uncanny. Being face to face with both of your superiors felt strange.

“Hey.” You take his hand and shake it. “[Name], but you probably already know that. Really sorry for my outburst earlier.”

He chuckles. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to mind too much. “It’s fine. Just shows how serious you take the business.”

Vince looks between you two.

For some reason, he can feel the connection already. This will be documented for future reasons, of course. Alas, you’ve got something to do. “[Name], I’m glad you’ve came to this meeting today. Don’t disappoint on your match tonight. I will be watching.”

You’ll try your best.

BACKSTAGE // 7:24 PM

Before you had gone to gorilla, Hunter quickly ran you through how things would go. It’s a simple match. Nothing too fancy. He just requested you to do stupid shit every once in a while.

He had forgotten his water bottle, so he ran back to the locker room really quick. You stand there, using a rubber band to tie part of it into a knot. You have your gear on under it, but you’ve gotta represent.

So true, you indeed have Chyna Syndrome.

“Wow, I can’t believe you’re actually going to wear it..” Chyna’s voice comes as a surprise to you, making you turn around with another smile.

“With pride!” You pose, just as if she was holding a camera. “By the way, are we all coming out separate with our partners or all together?”

“Me first, then Shawn, then you two.” She says. “Don’t forget to put your game face on. Me and you are first to go at it in the ring. The other two take over after.”

Okay, this wasn’t too bad. Shawn wanted all of you to mess with this Sergeant Slaughter guy and you knew Chyna wasn’t going to go easy on you, but there’s gotta be a way to goof around with her in the meanwhile…

Hunter comes back with his water bottle in hand. “Shawn’s not here yet?” He looks around, completely confused.

Chyna just shrugs. “No. I’m not exactly sure what he’s doing.”

“Oooh, we win by default. Hunter, let’s hold the championship together.” You say.

“I’ve got an even better idea.” He says. “You’re gonna lift your shirt up and…” He trails off, glancing over at Chyna. He does not want her to beat him up for saying that to you. “…put the title belt on.”

“Just for me? Sweet.” It flew over your head this time. “I’m not opposed for sure.”

Chyna just shakes her head. Just in time, Shawn comes around with his belt in tow, a smile on his face. His gear was pretty gaudy, with a vest and some….what the hell is he even wearing…? It looks like you could unzip part of the pants, but even so, this shit looks like a fashion disaster.

“You guys ready to wrestle?”

Of course you were.

Chyna and Shawn are first out, just as she said. Then it was you and Hunter. You hadn’t ‘officially’ been given theme music quite yet, so they just allowed you to come out with Hunter to DX’s theme until decided.

All of you settle into the ring. You and Chyna were first up.

You’re ready, unable to fight the smile on your face. Chyna on the other hand, was as doing her best to be stoic as ever. You understood it though, she had to be.

Chyna comes towards you and you immediately fall down to the ground.

The crowd gets a good laugh out of it. You’re “knocked out” cold and she didn’t even hit you. Hell, she didn’t even touch you!

She stares down at you, then grabs your leg to drag you around the canvas a bit. You’re still not moving. She then tries to pin you, but you kick out.

You stand up and shoot her a smile. She can only roll her eyes at you, another smile playing at the corner of her lips. You’ll try and be serious now. The two of you lock up, but Chyna breaks it up and irish whips you into one of the corners.

You try to sell it as hard as you can, but it backfired on you completely. That shit really hurt! For a second, you keel over, your back absolutely killing you.

Using the ropes for some leverage, you jump up and hook your legs around her neck for a rope-aided hurricanrana. That’s one move!

Once you hit the ground, you try and exaggerate. (It still hurt though.) “Ow, ow!” You whine, putting a hand on your back. “OOOOOWWWW!” You try whining a little louder, rolling around.

Shawn’s eager to get himself tagged in, holding his hand out for a slowly recovering Chyna.

She sees it and reluctantly tags him in. She wanted to go a little longer with you, but she couldn’t deny him. He’s chipper as hell.

You use the ropes to stand up, then stagger over to him. The two of you were face to face in the ring.

He can only give you a grin. “Remember when I said you have to lay down for me?”

“Uh, yeah?”

Nothing could prepare you for what he was going to do next. He immediately tackling you down like a football player. “I meant it!” When he gets you down to the ground, the referee had started to count it as a pin.

“OW! What the fuck!” You exclaim.

If he wants to play dirty, then so be it! You don’t even let the referee hit two, you kick out immediately.

“Woahhh! You kicked out!” He was taunting you. As you try to get up, he starts to push you down, grabbing your arms to try and stop you from swiping at him. “Watch the hair!”

You’re getting a little frustrated at how he’s holding you down, so you’re doing your best to get the hell out of it. He’s having a bit of a hard time controlling you.

The crowd is enjoying this very much. Whatever you guys are doing, it’s working in your favor!

Shawn’s decently impressed, you’re much stronger than he thought! Well, of course he thought you were strong, you had twisted his arm in the hallway pretty hard.

Normally, girls would just turn into putty under him, especially if they were play fighting like this.

“Hey, HEY, HEY—“ His voice slightly rises in volume as you start to push him off of you with your legs. He doesn’t let go of your arms, trying to overpower your own attempts of moving away.

It’s not doing him any justice. You’re able to flip over him and roll off. That was incredibly embarrassing. In the middle of the ring, no less.

You jump up to your feet and he does too. What’s next?

You take a few steps back and so does he. Then you take a few steps forward. He does too. Is he copying you?!

You hold you arm up and he follows. Yeah, he definitely was copying you. You slowly lower it and flip him off. He returns the favor. Goddamn it.

You’re not for the bullshit, you’re just not. You back away and tag Hunter in. He hits your hand and you switch places.

Shawn doesn’t tag Chyna in, instead deciding to jump in place. You have a feeling that it’s going to go downhill from here.

Both of them pull on the ropes a bit, warming the ring up. They’re acting like the match is just beginning.

Once they’re all finally all geared up, the two of them lock up…and Hunter quickly throws Shawn right onto the mat. He just lays there.

It was a little too easy, definitely done on purpose. Maybe he was even mocking you a little bit.

Hunter bounces off the ring ropes and just as you think he’s about to do something, he just runs and bounces off, jumping over Shawn every so often.

You can’t help but to laugh. Hunter flops right on top of Shawn and pins him with no issue. Congratulations, you two won! He’s the new champion! …Of whatever the hell the theme was, you guess.

“Your new European Champion, Hunter Hearst Helmsley!”

European champion? Ah, very nice.

Shawn’s in the middle of the ring having a temper tantrum. He slams his hands and balled up fists onto the mat. Once he comes up, you see him crying crocodile tears.

Poor thing. He runs over to Chyna for some comfort, the woman fighting a laugh as hard as she could.

Hunter’s brought to tears of joy, crawling around and throwing his arms up. He crawls over to you and hugs your waist. You pat his back.

The referee hands over the title to you and you slightly drape it over his back, trying to catch his attention. He lets go of you and rises to his feet, taking it away from you and holding it up to the crowd.

“You know…” Shawn, now equipped with a mic, can barely get his words out without dry-heaving. “It’s—it’s—“ He pauses for a minute, choking over his tears. Boohoo!

There’s a man at the front of the stage watching all this chaos go down. Now that you take a look around, this arena is a little different than the usual.

Hunter throws his arm around you for support like he just wrestled a very hard match. Shawn’s still sobbing. He takes a minute to pull it together.

“It’s not easy being defeated for the European tiiittleeee…I’ve been in so many matches…I’ve been in ladder matches, I’ve been in cell matches, I’ve been in marathon matches, but, oh god—never has any match been so….emotionally, physically, and mentally draining as this one..”

Shawn continues wordvomiting something else something akin to “youtwowonfarandsquareaauughhh” but then hands over the mic to Hunter.

“I’d just like to say one thing. Other than my kid being born….I don’t have one, that I know of—,” He pauses, definitely letting that sink in. “This is the greatest moment of my life!! YOU ALL SAW IT! I DID ITTTT!!” He yells.

Hunter doesn’t forget to shout you out. “AND [NAME], MY BEAUTIFUL PARTNER, THAT NONE OF YOU PEOPLE IN THE CROWD WILL NEVER GET THE CHANCE TO BE AROUND! THANK YOU!! Oh god, thank you!”

You feel like this match kinda sucks….

Seems like things were back to normal. Hunter tosses the mic somewhere after coming in for a hug and Shawn starts doing crotch chops. The latter grabs the mic again. “I know ya’ didn’t need any help from us Sarge, but we made an ass outta you anyway! MERRY CHRISTMAS!”

Even with Christmas being just days away, you don’t exactly feel in the spirit….

the night is not over. I REPEAT THE NIGHT IS NOT OVER. yes the match was short and stupid. yes we’re complaining about it next chapter (so are some fans…) DO NOT WORRY,,

mickie actually does the rope-aided hurricanrana, it’s pretty cool, though i just think mickie herself is pretty cool :). im actually gonna make a gif move set list to reference or something like that i dunno.

you know, golden seems much more “mature” than attitude idk maybe it’s just me. that was a fun match to write,,sometimes my worst enemy can be writing too much in one paragraph grrr. anyway i hope you guys enjoyed i liked this kinda sorta. until next time

do you guys remember when dx “invaded” wcw? lol thought it would be funny if reader was there like damn.

[anamazingangie]

iron out the kinks by AmazingAngie

Aegon II Targaryen x Daemon Targaryen x Rhaenyra Targaryen

E / 3k / Chapter One

Summary:

“I’m sorry she is so rude.” Aegon said.

“That’s okay,” Daemon said, “Some girls just need the attitude fucked out of them.”

“I–do not!” Rhaenyra said defensively.

“Really? In my experience, girl’s get so sweet after you’ve made them come a—hm, half dozen times? All fucked out and too full of cum to talk back.”

sequel to a sign of maturity (or a midlife crisis)

...

vanilla

...

Daemon almost wanted to laugh at the location Rhaenyra suggested for their first post-auction meeting. An ice cream shop, of all places. He wasn’t sure the last time he’d been to an ice cream parlor, it must have been decades at least—he honestly didn’t even realize they still existed. But a quick google search brought up the shop—complete with retro 50’s vibes and milkshakes served alongside metal shakers. 

Realizing she was serious, he agreed, eager to see her and her brother regardless of location. Even the possibility of the staff awkwardly assuming he was there with his children was not going to sway him from meeting with them. Rhaenyra responded with a thumbs up, which he assumed was young person speak for affirmative. 

Then, he tried to empty her existence from his brain—at least for the next four days. 

It was…harder than he expected. He wasn’t used to feeling so needy. He knew that domination and submission was, at its core, an equal exchange of power. He’d never thought a submissive was lesser than him simply because of their sexual preferences. Okay, that sounded bad. He’d never thought anyone was lesser than him. He was just used to having the upper hand in his relationships. He tended to be less invested than his partners, effortlessly seeming coy when in reality he just didn’t care that much.

But he cared a lot about them, already, even though they’d only spent one night together. There was a charm to the youth and eagerness the pair had. Aegon’s desire to please—the flush of his cheeks when he was talked down to, and the delight in his eyes when he was praised. Rhaenyra resisted commands, but followed them anyway, trembling slightly with pleasure when he complimented her. 

It wasn’t just their personalities though, it was their… everything. He found himself waking up with an erection like he was twenty again, after nights spent dreaming of Aegon’s pretty mouth and Rhaenyra’s tight cunt. 

He worked eighteen hour days for the rest of the week, burying himself in paperwork until he was too exhausted to think of them. It half worked. He still woke up hard, the pair tormenting him in his dreams—the submissives turning into switches, and tying him up leaving him to watch them fuck. It was like his fucking subconscious didn’t even think he deserved them, which was fair, but mean. 

After a week of little sleep and lots of work, he wasn’t quite at his best. But his suit was pressed to perfection and he was hopeful he would still impress the pair. He’d confirmed the day before via text, but other than that there hadn’t been any contact between them. It made him antsy, leaving him wondering if they were no longer interested. But there was little use worrying now, he’d be able to gauge their interest better in person—or at least he hoped he would. 

…

He wasn’t late, but he wasn’t early either, so he was unsurprised to see the siblings already seated. He greeted them by name, pressing a kiss to Rhaenyra’s cheek since she was seated on the outside edge of the booth. He smiled at Aegon, hoping his expression hid his nerves, then sat across from them. 

“You two look lovely.” He said, finding he meant it. They were dressed plainly, but the simple white garments suited them. It somehow intensified the little color there was in their pale cheeks, which brought to life the bright lilac shade of their eyes. They looked younger like this, but no less attractive for it—even if it made him disgusting to admit that. 

“You look nice, too.” Aegon responded, and Rhaenyra merely nodded.

A waitress interrupted them then, taking their orders with a bright smile before putting the little book in the front pocket of her polka dot apron. This place was… unique and Daemon said as much. 

“Doesn’t it remind you of your childhood?” Rhaenyra asked sarcastically, causing Aegon to cough and not so subtly nudge her side. Daemon should have been offended by the implication he was old enough to have fond memories of a fifties themed diner, but he found himself smiling at her attitude. 

“I’m far too old to remember my childhood, I like to relive my youth by surrounding myself with pretty young things like you.” She blushed, squirming a little in her seat in a way that only made his smile wider. 

“I’m sorry she is so rude.” Aegon said, and Rhaenyra pursed her lips at him in annoyance. By gods, they really were siblings. I mean, he knew that, but it was somehow less obvious when they were naked than when they were sniping with each other. 

“That’s okay,” Daemo said, reaching for Aegon’s hand across the table. “Some girls just need the attitude fucked out of them.” 

“I–do not!” Rhaenyra said defensively. 

“Really?” He asked, his brow arched. “In my experience, girl’s get so sweet after you’ve made them come a—hm, half dozen times? All fucked out and too full of cum to talk back.” She shifted in her seat, and he continued, “Have you ever come that many times in a day? In a night? In an hour?” He asked, and she shook her head. 

He gave her a pitying look, that was truly a shame

“It isn’t permanent, I’m afraid, the brattier the girl the more they need to be fucked. The easiest way to silence a brat is to satisfy her, and the second easiest way is…” He intentionally trailed off, hiding his smile when Rhaenyra budded in, “The second easiest way is what?” 

He sighed, “The second way to silence a brat is to spank them. Some little girl’s and boy’s just need to suffer before they are sorry for their behavior.”  Rhaenyra was looking down at the table, and he couldn’t tell if she was blushing but he thought she might be. So he kept talking,  “A combination of the two can be used, too, in extreme cases. But I’d always start with orgasms. Why try pain first, when you can tame with pleasure?” He said, pragmatically. 

“I’ve never…had that much pleasure.” She admitted. “I’m not surprised.” He said, “Pet’s shouldn’t be responsible for their own orgasms, they are too easily distracted to please themselves properly. You need someone with more experience.” 

“We don’t have a lot of that,” Aegon admitted, looking almost ashamed of this fact. 

They were temporarily interrupted by the waitress, who delivered their milkshakes. Daemon thought it was a little ironic that he ended up ordering a vanilla while…god, he wanted to call them the kids, got chocolate. 

After the waitress left Daemon asked, “Why did you enter the auction then?” finding himself curious. The thought had been plaguing him all week—the fact Rhaenyra had only been with her brother before, and then decided her second experience would be with a stranger? It didn’t seem to fit. 

Rhaenyra snorted, “We entered because Mysaria told us to.” She admitted. And… fuck, Daemon should’ve thought of that. He winced at his stupidity, looking down at the milkshake in front of him. “And let me guess, she told you who would have the winning bid?” He asked, knowing from the girl’s expression that he had assumed correctly. 

“She showed us your photos ahead of time.” Aegon admitted, looking slightly guilty. “And told us about you, and how long you had known each other.” 

Daemon hummed, “And what, exactly, did she tell you?” 

Rhaenyra sipped her milkshake, using the straw to stir what remained as she spoke. “She said she trusted you and that you were experienced enough to remain respectful.” She paused for a moment, before continuing, “ And she said you had a great cock and that we would basically be your walking wet dream.” 

Daemon coughed in surprise at how bluntly she spoke. Wow. He shouldn’t have expected less from Mysaria.  

He found himself feeling a bit…flattered by the fact she trusted him, rusty from years of normal relationships, to take on this pair. This inexperienced pair. He’d done some training before—like, a decade ago, as it was sort of an inevitable role for a versatile dom who was afraid of commitment to fall into. But that was, a decade ago. 

“You’ve never had a master before? A daddy? A dom?” He asked, listing the most obvious options. Rhaenyra’s nose wrinkled in disgust at the words, and Aegon didn’t look too pleased either.

“Nothing has really felt… right.” Rhaenyra said, shifting in her seat as if she was uncomfortable. Aegon continued where she left off, “I think that was part of your appeal—Mysaria said you had done it all and hadn’t quite found your place. And we might be inexperienced, but we’ve seen it all and found ourselves feeling the same way.” 

“What do you want, then?” Daemon asked. 

Rhaenyra blushed, looking back down at the table. “We kind of want a…husband?” She said, her tone questioning. Seeing his sister struggle seemed to give Aegon confidence, chiming in. “Someone to love us and take care of us. Someone to praise us for being good but also tell us when we are being bad.” 

“And sexually?” Daemon asked. 

Now it was Aegon who blushed, it was cute—one with their embarrassment over intimacy, the other over sex. 

“We’re still exploring that,” Rhaenyra said, “But we liked everything from last weekend a lot. In the confines of a relationship we’d be open to things that were off limits during the auction.” 

He nodded, only their ‘ enthusiastic yes’ kinks were allowed for that night. Of course they still had safe words, but the goal for scenes with strangers was to respect their limits, not push them to the point where they felt uncomfortable and had to use them. 

“There is a lot we’d like to try.” Aegon admitted. 

“What about you? What do you want?” Rhaenyra asked. 

Daemon paused, he hadn’t really thought about that. The immediate answer on his tongue was you. “I want to be what you want, I think.” He said, honestly. 

Rhaenyra narrowed her eyes, “And sexually? What do you want?” He laughed, “You’ve seen my list.” He said, before taking a sip of his own milkshake. Rhaenyra rolled her eyes, brat behavior on display as she said, “Yeah you’ve tried and liked basically everything that doesn’t involve scat, narrow it down for us.” 

Aegon chimed in, “I think…we’re worried we aren’t kinky enough.” He admitted. 

Daemon wanted to laugh at the idea they weren’t enough for him. Like he wasn’t fucking blessed to be in their presence with the potential opportunity to fuck them. But he didn’t think that response would be taken well, so he took a deep breath to organize his thoughts. 

“I’ve tried a lot because I’ve been doing this for longer than you’ve been alive.” He said, feeling a little disgusted by the truth of that statement. “And I’ve liked a lot of it because I’m a controlling asshole who likes sex.” He said, with a laugh even though it wasn’t really funny. 

“But I’ve also gone without it all for years, because even the most extreme elements of the lifestyle weren’t… enough. I don’t think I cared enough about the people I played with to garner true pleasure from their pleasure.” He paused, “Now I’m ready for that commitment, and I think as long as I’m meeting my partner's needs, that matters more than the needs themselves.” 

Aegon nodded, but Rhaenyra still seemed unsatisfied. “But, like, what do you like?” She asked, and he laughed earnestly, thinking about what elements of the lifestyle he had enjoyed most. 

“I like it when a submissive tries to please me, and I like pleasing them in return. Any type of sex is good. I like the… ” He considered how to phrase this, “A dom obviously doesn’t own a submissives’ body, but I like having constant access to them. The casual intimacy of being able to fondle, finger, and fuck them when I feel like it.” 

They both blushed at that, and he grinned. “Nothing better than coming home from work and finding something pretty waiting for you. Or, I suppose two pretty things.” He corrected. “I like watching movies with someone in my lap, my fingers in their cunt. Or their mouth wrapped around my cock, just a warm place for my length to sit after a long day.” 

He watched them shift, trying to hide their arousal in a way that only encouraged him, “Obviously, I’d need consent first—but it’s nice when you wake up in the middle of the night, to have something soft to rut against. Or even better, a wet hole to push it into.” 

“That sounds… good,” Aegon squeaked, and Rhaenyra nodded. 

“I think we are compatible, then.” He said with a grin. 

The conversation moved on, and Daemon continued to learn about them as the date, or whatever it was, progressed—including how they got into the lifestyle.

“When we moved here for school, there was this… freedom of not having to hide anything when we were at home. But then we started posting online, which is fun but obviously… evidence. So we didn’t post anything together. And I think we got sort of bitter? We wanted to explore our relationship where people could see it. We wanted people to comment on how we looked together, not  just our looks. ” 

“And then you found Dragonstone?” Daemon asked, the pair responding with matching nods. 

“Because of the non-disclosure agreements we felt safe there. We couldn’t afford the membership, but Mysaria was really interested in us. She offered to subsidize it if we did weekly shows.” 

“Is money an issue?” He asked. The pair hardly looked like they were struggling. With their clear skin and bright complexions, he wouldn’t have guessed they had to worry in that regard. Their clothing was, perhaps not designer, but far from tatty. Still, he knew looks could be deceiving, he wouldn’t presume to know their situation until he heard it from their lips. 

“No!” Aegon said, “We get an allowance from our parents. And money from what we post online. And when we’re twenty-five we’ll gain access to our trusts. The membership is just… a lot, it would look suspicious.” 

Rhaenyra snorted, “Yeah, not eager to explain that expenditure to our parents.” 

Daemon could understand that. “And your relationship with your parents is…?” 

He couldn’t imagine it being good. A healthy upbringing didn’t usually forge a bond between siblings that was so close they sought out a sexual relationship with each other. The fact that they looked at each other with hesitance before speaking on the topic said a lot, too. 

It was Rhaenyra who spoke, “Not…great? They had really high expectations, and we never seemed to meet them. They cared more about appearances than us. We were often punished but rarely praised. And even after being punished and apologizing they would be passive aggressive about what we did wrong. They didn’t really forgive us.” 

Aegon spoke then, “I think that’s the appeal you know? In the lifestyle after a punishment all is forgiven. You can right your wrongs and don’t have to bear the weight of resentment.” 

Daemon nodded, “Given the sake of not wanting to trigger anything—what type of punishments?” He asked, crossing his fingers under the table and hoping to god they didn’t say spanking. 

“Mostly being grounded. Losing phone or computer privileges.” 

Daemon’s brow rose, interesting. So their parents' way of punishing them was isolating them, taking away the possibility of having others' attention, which is what they craved most. Drawing out what they did ‘wrong’ and making them consider their actions without outside support. He didn’t have children, he shouldn’t judge, but he could certainly understand how it shaped the kinks of the pair before him.

“And how long have you two been together?” 

They both looked down at their drinks, which made Daemon laugh—”I won’t judge, I promise.” He swore. 

“We started like…kissing and stuff when he was thirteen.” Rhaenyra admitted. “I was fifteen and going on my first date and worried I wouldn’t be good at it. So we practiced…and it became a habit? And eventually we did more than that.” 

Aegon spoke up, “We dated other people in high school and fooled around, we weren’t like…together, or at least not exclusive. But when we moved here…” 

Rhaenyra shrugged, “We realized we were always going to want each other, and if we saw someone else…we’d want them to want both of us, too.” 

“Do you?” Rhaenyra asked plainly. “Do you want both of us?” 

Daemon didn’t even think before speaking, 

“Gods, more than anything.” 

The pair of matching grins that responded to his answer were infectious, and he swore their pretty purple eyes sparkled. 

“Good.” She said, “We want you too.” 

The relief that washed over him with those words. Gods, he wasn’t sure he’d ever felt anything that good. He wasn’t prone to anxiety, but these little submissive things got him twisted up inside. 

But relief was quickly replaced by desire when they turned to each other, then asked, “Do you want to get out of here?” 

…

[hayffiebird]

Taste of Strawberries, chap. 44

Hayffie Post-Mockingjay Multi-chapter, Rated M

Four years have passed since the end of the war when Effie returns in to Haymitch’s life once again. An old friendship is renewed. Will it lead to something more?

Meanwhile Panem has entered a new era. The rebellion’s over, the borders are open but in the shadows, anger and mistrust are smoldering. Something that will affect Haymitch and Effie’s life in a way they never saw coming.

Chapter 44

Haymitch’s lullaby

Night again. Midnight.

Cleo, June and Annabel’s bearded dragon moved quietly in her tank. Her claws rattled against rock and root in her shadowy world, illuminated only by the pale shafts of moonlight.

Haymitch peered inside the living room, half-hidden by the doorway. Effie had yet to come back to her room. Not that it was any of his business. If she was restless tonight she had good reason.

But an hour passed, an hour-fifteen, and finally he followed her.

Not to try and make her reconsider. About Twelve and all. Her mind was made up. He’d certainly done everything in his power to cement her belief that the children were better off as far away from him as possible. Even if she was too polite to say so.

All he wanted was to check on her. Make sure she was OK.

As OK as could be expected.

And there she was. Curled up in the old armchair. Eyes closed, knees under her chin. Breathing softly.

Their trusty side-kick – the baby monitor - stood on the table, next to a half-finished glass of milk. Goat milk probably. She bought a bottle just the other day. Some local farmer, downtown.

Maybe she misses Twelve, he thought. Katniss and Peeta and … all the rest.

That or she just needed something sweet to help her sleep.

If so, it did the trick.

He watched her pale face, framed by soft strands of strawberry blonde hair. That special hue from the Trinket family tree that she passed on to her children. Their children.

In just a couple of hours, they’d all be gone. Effs, the kids. She already bought the tickets. One for the Capitol. One for Twelve.

He couldn’t even follow them part-way. Not when they were going in two completely different directions.

He’d hinted, several times, at the solution of him setting up camp in her house while she and the twins moved to the Victor’s Village. But every time he tried to open that door, Effie closed it again.

Didn’t take a genius to figure out why.

He would have joined them for the whole trip. Gladly. All the way to the Capitol and home again. It still wouldn’t feel like enough time.

But who wanted to lock themselves on a train for 24 hours with a dumbhead in withdrawal? Not Effie. Especially not when she already had two young children to take care of. The liquor was gone. No hair of the dog available. He’d be a wreck, not two districts later. He couldn’t do that to her. Wouldn’t expose her or the children to any of that bullshit.

Yeah, the booze really was gone. The hip flask. The bottles. He poured all of it down the drain. Something he’d done maybe never in his lifetime

While he waited for news on Effie.

A feverish act. A mad frenzy. Nothing but a desperate man’s desperate pact with … whoever might be listening. Bent over the sink – blood pounding in his ears, his pipes clenched to what felt like half – he just snapped one seal after another.

As if his tossing the lot would somehow make Effie return home unscathed.

Unscathed? Fuck. Effs hadn’t been without scars in decades and definitely not these past couple of years. Or days, for that matter.

With bated breath Haymitch stepped over the threshold. Occasional splatter of rain drip-dropped down the misty windows as he threaded soundlessly across the carpet.

He wasn’t always a bull in a china shop. Katniss would be amazed (or maybe not) if she knew how quiet he could be still. When he had a mind to. And was sober.

He plucked the baby monitor from the table. Turned it off and slipped it in his pocket. His empty pocket.

Effie only mumbled something in her sleep when he spread the blanket over her. Tucked her in. He touched her cheek with a feather-light hand.

“Sleep well, princess. See ya in the mornin’.”

The brisk breeze elbowed the house in the side. Over and over. Made it creak and groan on Haymitch’s way upstairs.

Just like my place, he thought. It too was a talker. Course, had this been his house and his hour he wouldn’t have noticed. He’d already be three sheets to the wind by now.

Or four or five.

He stopped by Effie’s bedroom. Polished the wood with his ear, listening for anything out of the ordinary. Hand against the handle, he hesitated. Then pushed inside. One inch at a time.

Just to check on them.

The kids usually slept through the night now. Thanks to the tireless hard work of one ms. Effie Trinket. And like a drop’s effort on his part.

So no wonder his heart jumped – like a cat off an electric fence – when Amy turned her head the moment he walked in.

Wide awake. Sitting upright in her side of the travel crib. Not an ounce of fatigue in her Seam gray eyes.

Mostly, when the girl woke up at odd hours – sleepy and overtired – she had no problem making herself heard.

But for whatever reason she only blinked her long lashes. A look in her eyes like “Do you have an appointment?”

Haymitch crouched before the crib.

“What’re you doin’ up, sweetheart?” He whispered the words because Ian was still sound asleep. Eyelashes dark against his chubby cheeks. The beloved binky propped in his mouth.

Haymitch caressed his daughter’s silky hair.

“This is bedtime”, he said. “Not playtime.”

Maybe it was the word. “Play”. That or simply the cadence of his soft dad voice. But Amy instantly put both hands up in front of her, palms facing him. Expectantly.

When he didn’t immediately respond with the double high five (or something equally enthralling) she let out a bright bird squeak, like he was a little slow and she had to spell it out.

Haymitch’s lips curved upwards. But it was a smile that couldn’t quite quench the sadness in his tired red eyes. He flopped down on the floor, cross-legged. Held her perfect little hands between his shaky, timeworn thumbs and forefingers.

“Tomorrow”, he said. “Now’s night-night. OK?”

Amy shook her head violently from side to side. A bull’s eye coincidence but enough for him to flash a hint of teeth.

“No. You gon’ need your energy in the morning. Come on. Lay down your head. And close your eyes. Just like it says in aunt Katniss’s song.”

Ever so gently he helped her down on her back, but Amy’s body had no sooner touched the mattress before she struggled back up again. Shot him a look that was so Effie-like he half-expected “Manners!” to be snapped his way.

He tried it a second time. Put her down. Scanned the room for the pacifier.

Big mistake.

Amy’s bottom lip jutted out. Eyebrows creased, her face turned a darker shade of pink as it crinkled up dangerously.

“No, no, no ...”, said Haymitch hastily. “Don’t cry. Don’t cry, girlie.”

Too late.

Fucking hell, he thought as he reached inside the crib. Lifted out his wailing child. When would he learn? Almost a year in and he still made these clueless first dad mistakes.

“There, there, I got ya”, he mumbled into her hot temple. “No need to work on my deafness. I got ya.” Her arms clutched his neck and he rocked her, speaking the same soft words as many a night before.

And, of course, her cries had not yet subsided before her brother stirred. The boy rubbed a fist into his eye, the pacifier slipped out onto the mattress and from him came a few pitiful whimpers.

Before long Haymitch had both arms full of his two cranky children.

Got no one to blame but himself. Why didn’t he just sit with her? Read a bedtime story or hummed some of the songs they liked. Girl would’ve passed out eventually, without him pushing and prodding her.

He gave them both a kiss.

“Whatcha say we go back to my room, hm? Don’t think you’ve ever been there, like once, this whole trip.”

Said and done.

“His” quarters weren’t nearly as neat as Effie’s, obviously. But he put in the effort to make the bed at least. The fact he’d hardly slept in it this whole time helped of course.

Guided by moonlight, he unloaded his precious cargo onto the embroidered bedspread.

And there they felt right at home. Because if there was one thing his little cubs had always enjoyed, it was beds. The bigger, the better. Here, in the Capitol, in Twelve. Everyone’s but their own really.

Their whining instantly stopped, like turning off a tap. Ian flopped forward against the pillow with an excited huff.

“Don’t fall off”, Haymitch warned, head inside one of the wardrobes. “Can’t return you to mama with any bumps. She’ll wring my neck.”

“Aa-mm-uh!” squeaked Amy eagerly, clutching her toes with both hands. “Mmm-amm-amm-amm!”

“Mama’s sleeping”, Haymitch said. Hangers creaked when he nudged the jackets and sweaters and raincoats aside, looking for his secret further in. “Long day. We just gotta look after ourselves for now, yeah?”

Getting a good grip he carried the box out. Just a regular-sized cardboard parcel. Big enough to carry … what? A dozen bottles of beer?

He lifted it onto the bed, before Amy and Ian’s mildly curious gazes.

“I know it should be tied up with strings and all that fancy-schmancy.” He climbed in with them. “But I can’t wrap for sh… A drunk orangutan would do a better job.”

Not like Eff, he thought. Seriously, what’d she do? Apply for a gift wrapping certificate alongside her escort courses?

The old man could’ve probably fixed it. When Haymitch called in the order. But it just didn’t occur to him at the time. To ask the favor.

Ian tugged at him. The usual cue when he wanted to be picked up. Haymitch settled him on his left knee. Amy, on the right.

“Think of this like it’s mama’s cooking”, he said and inched the box closer. “Just cause it doesn’t look right doesn’t mean you won’t like what’s inside.”

The seal was already broken. Earlier. Not with his knife. Effie would have had a fucking asthma-attack had he brought it here. Just a regular pair of scissors with ring handles made out of hickory wood.

He flipped open the flaps. The outer the inner. Reached through the bubble wrap.

It was heavier than he remembered. He needed both hands to get it out of the box. The twins watched with peaked interest as he placed the object, the present, before them.

“You were supposed to have it when you were born”, Haymitch said quietly. “And then again the other day. I messed up but … better late than never.”

Ian reached a hand out. Gingerly grazed his five tiny fingernails against the left one of the three.

Three goslings sitting on a patch of grass.

Amy followed her brother’s example. Touched the bird on the right. The soft down. The pearly eyes. The little beak. Babbled something, questioningly.

“Nah, it ain’t real goslings”, Haymitch said. “Don’t worry, I already made sure. It’s called a music box. I want you to have it. Take it with you when you …”

His voice faltered.

“Crazy day that was.” He kissed the top of her head. Kissed Ian’s too. “First time I ever met ya. Feels like a hundred years now. You were so squished. Both o’ ya. Got these … purplish lil’ monkey faces. Hollering at me like I’d broken your grandmother’s china.”

He smiled at the memory.

“And I knew I’d never seen anything more beautiful in all my life. And yeah, that’s including your poor mother. I was a goner. From the start. Never been more proud, more terrified, of anything. Ever. Lucky too. Cause out of all the people in this world, I get to be your dad.”

Eyes shiny, he swallowed hard against the painful lump in his throat. Caressed Amy’s cheek with the back of his fingers. Dropped a kiss to the dimples of Ian’s knuckles.

“But I can’t be a good dad to you now. Not the kind you need and deserve. Tomorrow when it’s time for bed I won’t be there. I don’t know when we’ll see each other again. Properly. But if you ever feel sad and anxious and can’t sleep cause I ain’t there, mama can play you this song and wherever I am or whatever I’m doing I’ll be listening with you. No matter what happens, we’ll always be a family. In here.”

He touched the spot right over their hearts.

“And whenever you look out on the night sky, remember that even though we’re far away from each other I’m looking at the same moon you are. The same stars. OK?”

He tilted the goslings over, carefully, having a look at the underside.

“So, watcha say?” he asked, trying to keep the pain out of his voice. “Wanna try and play some music? See what kinda song it’s got?”

There was something engraved in the metal. Haymitch squinted at it, ran a thumb over the old letters.

“’Someday’”, he read. “Never heard of it. Have you?” He looked at the twins. “Maybe mama knows … and there’s the key …”

He grabbed a good hold. Gave it half a dozen twists. Just like Paulus Bell had taught him.

The music box came to life immediately.

But what Haymitch first noticed wasn’t the tinkles, the chimes, the melody itself.

No. It was the goslings themselves.

They were glowing.

All three of them. Carried within some kind of light, burning right where their hearts would be. Warm and comforting.

A night lamp. Not painful to the eye but warm. Ember-soft. Like a campfire. But not the fire you lit with cold-stiff fingers in the arena. Fires that got you killed.

No. The kind you lit on your own hearth when it was time to eat, time to sleep. The shadows cast: not frightening. Not dangerous. Just … playful. Calming.

This, he’d already sensed of course. Back at the Forum, when Paulus Bell first demonstrated the music box to him. It had a light of some kind, sure.

But in the vivid and bright cascades of artificial bullshit that the Capitol spewed all over you – spotlights, billboards, fairy bulbs – this tiny little source was all but drowned out. Leaving only glimpses.

But here, in the quiet and the dark, it was different. Now they burned strong and steadily. Unswerving. Always had … course … It’s capacity to shine never changed. Never went anywhere. Even if he was too distracted to realize it.

And then the music. He strained his ears; once again, tried to place it. Where it came from. He’d always had a remarkable memory. That was his curse. One of them, anyway. And as for songs and melodies, he was a living breathing archive.

Sae said he reminded her of Katniss’s grandmother in that regard. She never forgot anything with a tune either. One hearing was all she needed.

The song was simple enough. He could easily find it on the piano – if he’d had a piano at his disposal. A lullaby, obviously. Soft and gentle, like the light it emitted. Kind, if that made sense? Tenderly merry. Like a kiss on the cheek. One of Effie’s kisses.

Someday. Someday, what?

The twins had fallen completely silent. Marble-eyed. Sitting very still, as always when they were really into something. Mesmerized, either by the light or the music or both.

His good, sweet children. How odd to think they weren’t always in his life.

So many more things he wanted to say to them. While there was still time. Not that they understood what he was telling them or even if they did, they wouldn’t hear a word he said, being so awestruck by their new present.

He ought to just let them enjoy the show. Have it lull them to slumber before he carried them back to Effie’s room.

But one thing he had to say. Couldn’t let them leave without it.

”I love you, little uns.” He kissed their soft, goose-downy hair. “I know I don’t say it a lot. Not like mama does. I never got to keep anything to call mine and I know it’s silly but … it’s like if I say it too often someone will pick up on it. Like a frequency on the radio. They’ll know and then … But I do. So much. You’re the best thing I ever did with my life.”

Heart aching, he rested his chin against the top of Ian’s head. Cupped his hand around Amy’s little foot.

“I’m really really gonna miss you.”

Author’s note: Now they’ve all gotten geese for a gift, did you notice? Haymitch has the origami goose that Effie made him, Haymitch gave her a porcelain goose on the December Fair before knocking her up and the twins now has their music box goslings.

“Someday” is a real song. There’s even an actual music box version of it on Spotify and YouTube played by Nibble Pig. And if you’ll wonder, just like I did: “Where the hell have I heard this melody before?” it’s because it’s a roll credits song from “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” Go check it out! The Alan Menken version. It’s got the loveliest lyrics ever! Very “Deep in the Meadow” and “What I need is the dandelion in the spring” themed. ;)

Also, the sentence “You’re the best thing I ever did with my life”. I can't take credit for that cause it’s a variation of a line (said by another addict) in “Riding in cars with boys”. A movie (and book) I was obsessed with when I was 15. If you ever get the chance, watch it on dvd. That way you can also enjoy Drew Barrymore’s beautiful voice-over commentary!

[catreginae]

Thou Shalt Not Fall: Threatened and Threatening

This is part 3! If you missed it, this chapter comes on the heels of the previous chapter, which I uploaded just the previous day. You might be alright if you don't read parts 1 and 2 (A Bitter Meal and A Sad Tea Party) but there is additional context if you do read them.

[Previous] - [Next]

View the Master Post here!

Time growled as he swung his sword through one of the blade-like leaves from the peahats he remembered from his childhood. Wind said peahats on the Great Sea were bigger and Time was thankful that he had yet to see them with the few trips to the Great Sea they already had. There were also red deku babas that he couldn't remember from his childhood, ones that when Legend cut through the stem, chased after him instead, somehow using its mouth to propel itself across the ground. Twilight killed it before it could bite Legend.

There were several more types of deku babas, the longer they fought. Time knew some of them, ones that died as soon as he cut the stem. There were others that Sky claimed to be his, which had to be cut through their jaws, but the orientation of the jaw seemed to change from deku baba to deku baba. There were even the annoying ones from Warriors' era that did nothing but spew a poisonous fog around itself, and while easy to dispatch, they had to be extra aware of their surroundings while they were dodging.

Wait, where was Warriors?

Once the last of the vicious plants were disposed off, Time did a quick head count. Only seven, including himself. Warriors and Twilight. Damn, he got too comfortable using Twilight to track down their missing party members. He couldn't use Twilight when Twilight was missing. Hopefully the two of them were together.

“Anyone see Warriors and Twilight?”

“Not after he saved me,” Legend mumbled. “Fuck.”

“Then we don't have a moment to waste,” Four mumbled. “We should split up-”

Whatever plan Four had died in his throat when the death scream of a monster rang out. Nothing more had to be said. Their missing companions had to be near the source of the scream. They took off without another word.

The types of monsters on the second battlefield they stumbled into were completely different. They fought plant-like monsters before they were separated but Time could spot dead skulltulas, wolfos, aeralfos, a couple of redeads, and one of Hyrule's lynels on the second battlefield. There were even more monsters that he recognized seeing once or twice, but couldn't recall any of their names. It was enough to make Time wonder if they were tricked somehow, that the deku babas and peahats were a mere division to just get a couple of the boys on their own.

He spotted Warriors first.

Warriors threw a dead aeralfos that he seemingly killed with his bare hands, leaving its crumpled body at his feet as his head spun in their direction. Blood coated his lips and chin, and though he was covered with red and black blood, it looked as though he only drank regular, red blood. He curled his lips back, baring his teeth that somehow seemed even sharper when they were turned on him as he let out a particularly threatening snarl. When Time looked into his yellow and red eyes, there wasn't an ounce of recognition in them. Despite the fact that Warriors didn't seem to drink the black blood, he was perceiving the rest of them as a threat.

But then he saw why.

Behind Warriors was Twilight, laying unconscious at the edge of the battlefield on the other side of Warriors. Blood coated his head and hair, and his arm barely looked attached to his shoulder. Hyrule saw Twilight the same time he did and started to head towards him, only for the captain to turn the rest of his body towards them, his knees slightly bent. His fingers, which ended with extended claws, twitched.

Was... it emotional? Was he so focused on protecting Twilight that everything just became a threat? Time found himself hoping it was the black blood. They knew how to fix that. He wasn't so sure how to calm Warriors down if he felt threatened enough to depend on his vampiric instincts instead of his tactical mind. He must have felt overwhelmed, trying to protect Twilight on his own against an onslaught of infected monsters. Time couldn't blame him, really. If only he realized that the two of them were missing earlier, then Warriors wouldn't have been in such a position.

“Warriors, it's just us,” Hyrule mumbled, holding his empty hands up. “We're here to help.”

His words did nothing to placate Warriors and neither did the empty hands. He snarled again and in a blink of an eye, Warriors was charging across the battlefield with one clawed hand outstretched. The traveller barely managed to grab his shield and hold it front of him. The captain collided into it with a thud that made Time wince but he was back in action in a second, yanking on Hyrule's ankle and pulling him to the ground. Hyrule yelped.

Warriors loomed over him, one hand beside Hyrule's head and the other hovered over Hyrule's throat like he was deciding on something and for a moment, Time hoped that maybe Warriors finally recognized Hyrule. Then that hope shattered when the captain slowly, almost gently, curled his fingers around the traveller's throat in a manner that seemed strangely curious for somebody who slaughtered a bunch of monsters with his bare hands. Warriors' mouth broke into a strange grin before he bared his fangs with a hiss. A curse escaped Time's lips. He could very easily snap Hyrule's neck and Warriors would never forgive himself.

Suddenly, Legend was all but flying into the air, tackling Warriors to the ground. They rolled together for a moment before Legend managed to pull them out of the roll, straddling the captain to pin his wrists to the ground with his power bracelets. Four joined them quickly, also using his power bracelets to pin Warriors' ankles. We're going to need a better method to calm him, Time thought to himself. It didn't feel right to restrain him, not when it did nothing to calm him and it definitely wasn't going to make him feel less threatened. That was a problem for later though. For the time being, Warriors wasn't in his right mind and they had to stop him from doing something else he would regret when his senses came back.

Wind helped Hyrule to his feet. He looked a little shaken but there wasn't any sign that Warriors actually applied any force to his neck. At most, he had a small scratch from Warriors' extended claws and a little bit of blood on his neck from Warriors' hand. Legend got to them just in the nick of time. Hopefully, the captain would never find out how close he was to killing one of his brothers. It was a small moment of hesitation, a strange moment of curiosity that took over the need to kill anything in his path, that saved Hyrule and that was cutting it way too close. Time wasn't even sure what came over Warriors in that moment and it was hard to say if that could even happen again.

“Sky, Wild, Hyrule – go help Twilight. The rest of us will calm down Warriors!”

“Do you need the sword?” Sky asked, watching as Hyrule and Wild ran without him.

Time shook his head, so Sky ran off ahead. He didn't know if the sword would bring him back if it wasn't some dark magic or force fuelling his instincts, otherwise he would put aside his past with the sword in a heartbeat if it would help Warriors. Unlike that first time with the black blood though, Warriors wasn't completely drowning in a tidal wave of black blood and instincts. He couldn't be completely gone if knew he was protecting Twilight. He just couldn't recognize them. With that in mind, Time was sure they could bring him back without the sword. They just had to break through to him somehow.

“Dammit, Wars! We're here to help! Stop fighting us and come back to your senses already!” Legend growled.

Warriors managed to turn his head to towards Twilight and let out a guttural growl that would surely hurt his throat later when he saw Hyrule, Sky, and Wild with him. With another loud hiss, he jerked his limbs violently and managed to tear one of his arms out of Legend's hand. At the same time, he managed to get one of his legs free and if Four wasn't so quick, he would have been kicked in the face. It took Four and Wind working together to pin his ankles again. Time knew he was strong but overcoming the power of strength-augmenting equipment was something they weren't prepared for.

Time ran to the captain and knelt down in front of him as Legend and Four struggled to pin him down again, cupping Warriors' face in his hands.

Warriors growled again, baring his bloody fangs. His eyes still held no sign of recognition but he could see the desperation. Time shushed him. Keeping one hand around Warriors' chin, he pulled out the yellow Keaton mask with the other and held it to the side of head like he did when he was child.

“Link, it's me, Mask. Back up just arrived. Everything will be fine.”

Time wasn't sure if reminding him of their shared past would work. Their past wasn't necessarily a pretty one, not when children were forced by circumstances and maybe even by the Goddesses themselves to fight a war that wasn't their own. Warriors tried his best to make sure Time and an older Wind (older but still a child who shouldn't have been called upon yet again) had something they could enjoy outside the war. He tried his best to protect what innocence they might have had left. He made sure they ate before he did, sometimes sneaking them more of his own food when he thought they weren't looking. He would check in on them after battle even though he was coughing up blood and dried blood sealed one of his eyes shut. Sometimes, he even sent Proxi after them if he couldn't walk. Warriors just couldn't relax and take care of himself until he knew his two little brothers were accounted for.

With that in mind, maybe Warriors could hear the child that Time used to be. Maybe he could hear one of the children he fought tooth and nail for. If he couldn't recognize them, maybe he could recognize Mask.

Legend shot him an arched eyebrow, twisting his face in confusion but Time ignored him, trying to look for a positive response in Warriors. The captain stopped moving, the tension in his muscles dissipating slowly as Warriors studied him. Suddenly, his eyes widened and a red tinge spread across his cheeks. The claws disappeared, though the fangs and eyes remained. Time let him go and motioned for the others to do the same.

He watched Warriors try to scramble to his feet, only to flail his arms and land on his back instead. He pushed himself up and used his arms to put distance between himself and the rest of them.

“Warriors-”

“No no no no no, stay back.” He was shaking his head and holding out a hand to stop them. Time found the other three exchanging confused frowns.

“Warriors, it's fine. You didn't hurt anybody. Twilight is being looked after and he's going to be fine because you defended him,” Time said, taking a step towards the distressed hero. Warriors responded by kicking himself backwards, putting even more distance between himself and the rest of the heroes. “Warriors, please.”

“No. Can't you see that I'm just a danger to everybody? I... I should have just stayed home.”

Time's heart broke at the hitch in his voice and the way tears began to well up in his eyes. He picked up his pace a little and thankfully, Warriors didn't try to to escape this time. Time dropped to his knees and threw his arms around the captain, patting the middle of his back. Warriors chose to cry into his neck but that was understandable, given his armour. His shoulders fell completely.

“I... I don't want... hurt you guys,” he said in between sobs.

“I know you don't. We all know you don't mean us any harm.”

“I-I can't stop myself...” he said when the sobbing calmed.

“We'll figure it out.”

“You always say that.”

“I always mean it,” Time said softly. “I want to help you. We all want to help you because you're family and we want you to be happy. If we can do something, we're going to do it.”

Warriors hiccuped and broke down again, the tears coming back full force. Time tightened his embrace and weaved a hand through the captain's hair. He couldn't really comfort Warriors when he was a child, aside from hugging him around the waist or holding one of his hands. He was much better at being aggressively fussy and stubborn when it came to making sure the captain was taking care of himself too. If there was one good thing about growing up, for real this time, was that he was able to hold Warriors like he always wanted to, to be the one to shield him from the world instead of it being the other way around.

“We've got you, Wars. We're aren't turning our backs on you or leaving you behind. We're here for all of you, the vampire included.”

Time patted his back and caressed his hair until his crying calmed once again and Warriors went limp in his arms. He looked down to see the captain sleeping, resting his head on his chest. He must have been completely exhausted to fall asleep so suddenly. Legend, Wind, and Four came up from behind him.

“Why is he so scared all of a sudden?” Four asked. “I get being scared of hurting us but he didn't react like that the first time and I highly doubt he was at all aware of what he was doing today.”

No, he didn't. He was probably a little embarrassed when he returned to himself but he was quick to join them and he was later comfortable enough to answer some questions. Time didn't know what the difference between that time and now. Was it because it happened again?

“He has seemed... off lately,” Wind said with a frown.

Legend huffed and put his hands on his hips. “Well, whatever is on his mind, if he's that scared of hurting us, then I feel like we should know why. Secrets are secrets until they hurt the group and all that.”

“I hate doing that to him but...” Wind trailed off as he took a deep breath and shifted his weight from one foot to another. “But I'm worried about him. Ever since we've gone to that tavern, he's been kinda of quiet.”

Four scratched his head. “We're missing something.”

They were definitely missing something, but what?

[kenthenugget]

Adobe Broke Photoshop in 2023 (October Update)

Back in July, I made a post detailing how bad Photoshop has gotten for me this year, which you can read here. But if you want a tldr version of it, following new years Photoshop stability and reliability has taken a nose dive with constant crashes that prevent auto recover from being as effective to glitches that make working in it a nightmare. Its been over 3 months since I made that post and I kinda wanted to do an update on how photoshop has been. Has it actually gotten better? Kind of but not really. In some ways, its gotten better, in others worse but generally not much has changed. I guess two positives that come to mind is that one of the afformention glitches I noted was patched up at some point in July, so I was able to update finally. Though, I didnt experience the backlash from not updating photoshop like I had in March (fuck you Adobe). And I havent been experiencing the left click lock as much, although thats more to do with me not doing certian commands that I found could trigger it than adobe actually being a good company and fixing it. There's a thread on the adobe forums about this issue, and according to one of most recent posts as of the 22nd, they run a photo company and have called Adobe support 5 times about this issue, and it seems that no one at Adobe knows about this glitch. Yes a billion dollar company who sells programs at inflated prices because they're "industry standard" knows nothing about a single bug that has been in the program for 6 months, but will gladly add in new features no one will use.

Now when I say things got worse, crashes started happening more frequently again in late September and Early October. But instead of happening weekly, they happened almost every fucking day. One day I would have a crash, the next day nothing would happen, before a crash happening the following day. And what was more crushing about this was that it happened while I was dealing with selections and flatting comic pages... whats funny about this is that not only can selections not be recovered if you close the file (even if you save), but can only be saved by pressing a seperate save button which has no keyboard commands. Which made these crashes more horrible than if I had been inking or sketching. Once again, I consulted the Adobe forums for help and once again, the solution was to update my gpu driver which was out of date. I don't think its the fact that I had already done this and nor that somehow, the driver I had been using since March was already out of date by September that makes this situation so ridiculous. But its the fact that I've pretty much had to bend over to change my pc just so I could run photoshop within the same year. In contrast to how things were before 2023 where I didn't have to do a single thing and photoshop ran fine. Its only this year that for some divine reason that the program decided to be shit to me.

So why was I still using it if it was so bad? It was because of my first Chapter. Around the time I had that initial post, I was still hard at work on finishing my comic's first Chapter which has taken me 4 years to complete. I had anticipated getting it done around that time, but due to burn out I ended up taking much longer, finishing it on October 13th. During those final few months, I decided that upon finish Chapter 1, I would be done with photoshop and moving onto a different art program for the rest of my comic. And that program ended up being Clip Studio Paint which I got as an early birthday present from my dad, following photoshop crashing on me two times in that day, the latter happening an hour after I took a break to calm myself down after the first crash....I wish I was making that up. I went with CSP due to the fact that most tapas artists I know use it and because of the many good things they've said about it. Its a pretty highly regarded program, and even if my motive for buying it wasn't because of Photoshop's "quirks", it has features that make producing comics much faster in CSP than in photoshop. So with CSP in my hands, you'd think the nightmare would be over, right?

You so, my plan was to use CSP for my comic starting with Chapter 2 but after spending some time in the program, I realized I probably wouldn't be knowledgeable enough or adapted to it enough just in time for me to start drawing Chapter 2 with a release date of early 2024. So in the end, I decided to wait until Chapter 3 to make the switch, while limiting myself to CSP for spur of the moment drawing ideas and illustrations. Yes, Photoshop has been a complete failure to me but I am way more experienced with it than with Clip Studio. I dont want there to be a potential quality drop following the most recent episode and I want to be sure I can use it before jumping into creating comics. This isnt like the switch from traditional to digital for my comic back in 2021, because I had already had more than a years worth of experience with photoshop and digital drawing by that time. Because of that, the switch wasn't as rough as it would've been if I had done it earlier. I was going to save this announcement for one my kofi 'comic corner' blogs (btw if you want to support me on kofi click here: https://ko-fi.com/kenthenugget) but Im making this post now so why the hell not. But for the time being, Im still going to be using photoshop for Chapter 2, and my character sheets of course. Given how long I spent on Chapter 1, you might think Im crazy for wanting to use the program for another 4 years but I don't anticipate this chapter taking as long, due to skill and because its much shorter in comparison.

Im not going to lie, I have mixed feelings on continuing to use Photoshop for my comic. On one hand, Im glad I wont need to worry about a potential quality drop but on the other, I dont know how long I can handle crashes and glitches that only seem to persist as time goes on. I'll just pray to God to give me strength during the drawing of Chapter 2 once I finish thumbnailing. Hopefully, I and photoshop will be able to last.....

[tokusmuts]

My Holiday (Chapter 5)

Characters: Hidden Male Character x Yume Shinjo

Category: Miniseries

Words count: 1,8k

P/s: Although I'm only posting this series with the intention of giving everyone an appetizer before I get back to the main projects, but the series is completely free to continue if you want. So send me a message whenever you want this series to continue and I will continue this series

Read chapter 4 here

Enjoy!

By the time the clock hit 3:00 A.M., the house was filled with Yume’s moans and skin clacking sound as I was still forcefully stabbing my dick inside her ass.

“Aahhh…it's still midnight…ah…mou”

"But I'm so hungry"

I don't show any signs of wanting to slow her down as she's on her stomach and I'm on top of her back and my dick is deep inside her. I grabbed her hand tightly and kept pushing on top of her. Those sticky sounds appeared again, the feeling of being fucked in the middle of the night when she was still naked was really interesting. Her face became more lustful than ever, and her breasts bounced back and forth with every push I gave her. Then I got on my knees and she put both hands and feet on the bed and I continued to push her into a Doggy position.

“Ah…Kimochi…Hurry up honey…ah”

"Didn't you just lament that it's still midnight?"

“But now I'm so happy…ah…so I can't take it anymore…ah”

The clicking sounds became more frequent and more intense as I increased the speed of my thrusts, while also slapping her butt a few times. That slapping sound along with the bounce of her butt excites the viewer. With one hand I held her hips and nudged her while the other reached her breasts and squeezed, occasionally twisting the tips of her nipples, making her groan. I want to suck her breasts but I have to shoot a bunch of sperm into her ass first. So I increased the speed to maximum and made her half groan and half scream

“Aahhh…shoot me….shoot more….aahhh…i want….AAHHHHHH”

Immediately after that, I shot a large amount of sperm at her while she also screamed in satisfaction and collapsed on the ground. I also followed and lay on top of her. I used the last bit of strength I had to pull my dick out of her butt, turned her around, and then stabbed my dick straight into her cunt causing her to let out a groan in her throat, and then I didn't warn her. but went to lick her breasts right away.

"Ah...let me take a break...I'm so tired...ah"

"But I also want milk from your breasts to restore energy"

Her nipples were now fully erect thanks to my previous passionate care. Her plump breasts were filled by me and even though her breasts didn't have any milk at all, sucking on it for a while restored my energy considerably and I continued to push her cunt while still sucking on her breasts.

"It's already 3 o'clock...ah...let me sleep a little bit tomorrow...ah...we can fuck again...ah"

"But I'm so hungry...um...I can't take it anymore," I said while still sucking on her nipples.

Normally, I wouldn't be able to fuck her in the middle of the night like this because we were both tired after a long day of fucking. But today somehow I never feel enough when I fuck her. Although it wasn't the first time, these midnight hunger pangs drained both of us. That's why we usually spend the night resting and spending our energy so that we can fuck as much as we can tomorrow. Returning to that bed at 3 a.m. it seemed that after driving her crazy I had finished the last batch of sperm, the two exhausted lying next to each other and hugging each other.

Time went on like that until noon that day. After I shot her at 3 am, I was still sleeping. It was only when she jumped on the bed and sat upon the blanket to wrap me around that I started to show signs of waking up

“What’s up, dear? Why are you up so late?"

"I ran out of strength last night, how can I get up?"

"That’s because you were too hungry in the middle of the night!"

"But…."

I had to stop talking midway when I looked up, she was only wearing a thin shirt, her white breasts were pressed and held together by a thin silver bra. I really wanted to separate them and bury my face in her cleavage, but as soon as I lifted my head she jumped out of bed, went to the window, and opened the curtains, the sunlight shining on made me blind for a moment, but as soon as I successfully acclimatized to the sunlight, my eyes met her wonderful body, thanks to the sunlight shining through her thin clothes, I could see her fully admire her back along with the 2 knots of her bra, and 2 bowknots on the sides of her panties. Today I will have to work at full capacity with her again, but to do that, I have to recharge my energy, just as she turned to look at me and smiled.

"Come out for breakfast and then come here with me!"  - she said

I walked out of the kitchen neatly disposed of the pate she had prepared and returned to my room.  As soon as I got up from the kitchen chair, I heard the monotonous groans in the bedroom, I went in and found her curled up in the single chair by the bed, her legs glued together and fully folded on the chair, next to a glass of wine that was already drunk, her mouth constantly panting and her hands constantly stroking the wet place while being clamped by her thighs, anyone could see from a glance that she is masturbating.

“I…ah…I can’t take it anymore…ah”

One hand still caressed the outside of her panties enthusiastically while the other continued to slide over the flesh of her breasts. That scene made anyone want to come in to fill her up. I want to do it even more in the name of her lover.

“Aahh…quick…come here…honey…ah”

I couldn't wait any longer, but rushed to hug and kiss her immediately, she also coordinated to spread her legs so that I could enter her lap and clamp it, one hand continuously squeezed both sides of her breasts, the other hand there was constant friction against the outside of her panties, moans caught in her throat. My hands leave her cunt from time to time to stroke her inner thighs, causing her to feel uncomfortable again, and put my hand back in the right place to caress. I don't know what was in that glass of wine that made her so excited. It was obvious that just using my hands to care for her breasts wasn't enough so I let go of her lips and went down directly to her breasts and looked at it for a moment, while reaching behind to unfasten her bra, using a free hand. It took a lot more strength, of course, when my other hand was now directly fingering her cunt right inside her panties. As soon as the laces were untied, the silver bra fell, and the breasts began to bounce, her free hands squeezed them excitedly right in front of my eyes.

“Aahhh…suck them up honey…aahhh…i want…aahhh”

Returning to the room that was still resounding with those sticky sounds, after I had filled her breasts, I stopped for a moment, looking at her face that was becoming wilder than ever but still not forgetting to take good care of her while my hands are still working continuously on her body. The two fingers where her cunt was still creating a feeling of lack, so the 3rd finger entered and filled her cunt slit, the moment the 3rd finger entered it was also when she was starting to show signs of having an orgasm, from then on every click left her with nothing to do but moan continuously.

“Aahhh…I am going to cum…I am going to cum…aahhh”

And then, with just two more clicks, she emptied all of her vaginal discharge, part of it splattered all over the chair and the rest of it all over her panties as well as my hand. I reached out my hand and licked the liquid that was on my hand. That flavor has never lost its inherent deliciousness. But it seems she is still very enthusiastic. She continued to rub her whole body with her hands, her mouth constantly begging:

“More please, honey…this is still not enough”

"I know"

I carried her sweat-soaked body to the bed and took off the entangled panties, but before I threw it on the floor, I was able to lick all the liquid that remained on the panties. And then, without hesitation, went straight to her cunt, then sucked with all her might, her whole body began to contort again and again with each sucking from my mouth. Her moans got a little hoarse after the first climax, the more I sucked, the more her pussy spewed out. There was a time when I choked when she spat too much but if it was fluid that she has, I enjoy them all. After a period of non-stop discharge, she showed signs of fatigue but still felt itchy inside, she continued to beg:

“Please satisfy me, honey…I want…aahhh”

My cock, which had been hard for so long, was released from the chain and shoved right into her still very wet cunt, and began to push. Her hands gripped the back of the pillow as I prodded her cunt and sucked her nipple at the same time. I changed positions to fuck her repeatedly, sometimes the missionary way, sometimes folding her legs and fuck. Each time my dick just got out of control and just shot sperm straight into her cunt, then I turned her around, still letting her lie on her stomach, and shoved my dick straight into her butt to push. Then I turned her over again, while her mouth was still breathing heavily, I immediately put my dick in it, she used the little strength she had left to hold my cock while I copulated pushing in and out to let her recover a little more energy. Sperm just kept pouring out inside her mouth

After I had splashed enough, I gave up the game to her, let her sit on my crotch, and at the same time stuffed my dick back into her cunt, clicking and riding again, her bending phase could make everyone excited, her speed gradually increased and she did not stop moaning excitedly

“Kimochi…ahh…I’m going to cum baby…aah”

“Me too…aah”

The two of us just fell in love together and hugged each other and lay there breathlessly

"Why are you so excited today?"

"On the way back to the home, I found and bought an aphrodisiac that I heard was safe, so I bought it to try it out, who would have thought it would have such a strong effect."

“I see…but it should be good if sometimes you take the initiative to warm up like this, right?”

“Please…so tired”

[fedzkun]

Villain Hunt Arc Meta: All For One’s Horrific Guide to Methodically Breaking Down Your Local OFA Holder

Ft. Turning the ‘Overpoweredness’ of OFA into a Setback, and AFO’s Successful Manipulations Of Midoriya Izuku

In which I also give AFO too much credit for all the pain he’s probably caused, and theorize that his plans to break Izuku actually started getting enacted even before he’d escaped Tartarus.

(A.k.a. me loving the angst because this is really good angst writing, but also hating it because the manga doesn’t come with a Angst with A Happy Ending tag unless you count Izuku’s ‘this is the story of how I became the greatest hero’ which isn’t really a guarantee of happiness )

So. What an arc! In the span of ten chapters (starting from the end of the War arc) Hori delivered a full-on Villain-looking, Vigilante Midoriya Izuku. Congratulations, Horikoshi, for finally introducing Akatani Mikumo!

The fast pacing and lack of breather panels are so fitting for this arc truly. AFO never gave them a moment’s rest. Yes, from henceforth as he’d promised... It’s always going to be his turn.

Izuku is making amazing progress with unlocking the full power of One For All. In his words, his abilities might as well already be on par with what a healthier All Might could do, and with no recoil to boot. Plus, there’s only one last quirk to unlock. For villain fights, I don’t think we need to worry about him losing, or him breaking anymore bones at this time.

Which, some might argue, makes Izuku too ‘OP.’

To start with, I want to talk first about the ‘overpoweredness’ of the One For All quirk. It’s a wonderful quirk truly, having inspired and amazed so many because of its sheer power. Used well, it could grant instant victories and restore the people’s wavering faith to the heroes. Because with a quirk like that on your side, everything’s going to be alright, right? There’s always gonna be that bit of hope that something is still strong enough to stand against the looming evil...right?

Yeah. That’s what the people who’d lived under All Might’s Era of Peace thought so too. History repeats.

OFA’s ‘OP-ness’ is both a great blessing and a great burden.

Here are some points on how the narrative has made OFA's 'overpoweredness' a setback:

1. All For One—that bastard—exploits the urge that comes with OFA. Just as ‘AFO the quirk’s’ goal is to steal OFA, OFA’s job is to defeat AFO, and Izuku is sacrificing himself to its cause.

Here’s another thing I want to point out: The conclusion that the heroes drew about AFO planning to capture Midoriya Izuku alive? In rereading, I’m starting to believe it’s nothing but a mere assumption of his plans. Aside from the deal made with Lady Nagant—of which I think AFO didn’t take seriously anyway and set her up for failure— (and while we as readers are already aware of his true intentions to wear Izuku down) it’s weird that nowhere had AFO directly mentioned to Izuku that he’s going to kidnap him and take his quirk from him.

2. OFA made Izuku so brilliant (e.g. Pros and former Pros alike going “This kid...”) that they really can't help but place all their hopes on him. Sighs. In an ideal world, this would be a dream come true of Izuku getting his due credit for all his heroic achievements Pro heroes have started to do to Izuku what they’ve done all their lives to All Might--which is to put him on the pedestal, while they fall back to cover him like guards/safety net. Hence, falling back to the One Pillar Model mindset.

3. OFA makes Izuku untouchable, not only to the villains, but also to his allies. Prime material to reinforce isolation. And if Izuku doesn't want to be caught, he won't make it easy for either side.

4. OFA IS SUS AF, OKAY? What are the Holders doing?! While gaining access to them makes it easier and convenient to have personal trainers in handling OFA, the vestiges prove to add a lot to Izuku’s mental load. If they’d allowed Izuku to come to the point of being caked with blood and filth, they’re not doing very well at guiding him. Realize that most of their arc interactions with Izuku is Quirk Talk. They, of all people, should know how AFO’s machinations work! Hey First, for the love of god, warn Izuku! He’s showing so many signs of being manipulated that you should be picking up on. please /sobs ;;

Tbf, like, I’m pretty sure that the Holders haven’t been as mentally okay either, which would feed into Izuku’s current mindset.

Now that the setbacks have been listed, let’s dive in to AFO’s plans to toy with Midoriya Izuku.

PHASE 1: Pre-Tartarus Breakout

Speaking of OFA being sus, there’s something that has been niggling at the back of my mind.

All For One basically tells Izuku: “You were my main interest that entire time I was in prison”. So, to pass the time in Tartarus (since he can’t use any(?) of his quirks), AFO has been doing nothing but apparently daydreaming and designing a personal hell for the Ninth Holder during that entire period. HOWEVER, it also made me wonder…

…Even before he’d broken out, had AFO made any moves at all in enacting his plans to break Izuku?

Yeah?

And here’s the kicker: he says that before Blackwhip bursted out.

AFO is a master manipulator. Assuming that Izuku doesn’t have any latent AFO quirk (for whatever reason *coughs* maybe dfo if you're a believer) or that Quirk Singularity has anything to do with it, what is the trigger to Izuku suddenly having access to Blackwhip?

I’d argue that it is All For One himself.

Why? What’s his goal? If you notice during the Joint Training arc, Izuku is feeling pretty confident about his progress. He’s rather happy and feeling blessed, and he is making leaps and bounds with base power OFA.

AFO can’t have that. He can’t allow the Ninth Holder to become too emotionally stable, or else he’d have a stronger will. So by somehow activating Blackwhip, AFO makes Izuku feel like he hasn’t made any progress with his quirk at all. During the evaluations, Izuku mentions that he still needs a lot to work on, and while not all of it is visible, with the way he behaves, it’s pretty evident that his self-confidence has taken a rather large hit.

But, wait! If AFO had tampered with OFA during the JT arc, paving the way to unlocking the rest (like he’d also done during the War arc when he tried to ‘steal’ it then), then wouldn’t AFO be sabotaging himself since he’d be making Izuku a more formidable opponent?

Sure. Except that the quirks inside OFA are mostly useless when it comes to the mental part of the fighting. The only thing they’re useful for is for the current Holder to be able to play keep-away in the physical realm. And AFO could easily just find counters for those through his work on Tomura.

You know how else the situation becomes advantageous for AFO? With every quirk unlocked, Izuku’s goalposts keep on getting away from him, and Izuku will always feel like he isn’t ready or prepared enough. Izuku will push and push himself to master OFA to its fullest, to become more powerful, at the cost of his mental/emotional stability and physical wellbeing as he wears himself down.

And every time Izuku grew more powerful, and became more ‘OP,’ he is burdened with all the aforementioned setbacks that came with it. He could be the most powerful person in the world, but it’s all for naught if he doesn’t take care of himself. This plan is both a high risk and high reward on AFO’s part, and as of the moment, with a bloody Izuku staggering all over, AFO is visibly reaping these high rewards.

PHASE 2: Post-Tartarus Breakout

He’s going to toy with Izuku until Izuku fucking breaks. What follows is his series of actions that instills the desired responses from Midoriya Izuku. Let’s see how the master manipulator plays this game of chess, shall we?

Izuku’s plan: Reach out to villains and try to save them.

AFO’s counter: Kill off those who turn their back against villainy and/or acknowledge Izuku as a true hero.

Izuku’s resulting response: Stop reaching out to villains. Gain an instant victory and move on.

After all, what do you get when you block a hero from showing sympathy? You get an unfeeling living weapon.

---

Izuku’s plan: Work with the top pro heroes to bring down AFO.

AFO’s counter: Make plans that will serve to highlight how the top pros are just slowing Izuku down. (e.g. Making moves while it’s raining, so as to divide them, but also to bring out No. 1 Hero Endeavor’s "slowness" in the rain. Nope, I don’t think that’s a throwaway line at all.)

Izuku’s resulting response: Grows more reckless, often leading the charge.

---

Izuku’s plan: Track AFO down.

AFO’s counter: Lead them to dead-ends. Or when they do supposedly reach something, endanger them.

Izuku’s resulting response: His tunnel vision worsens, as he grows more desperate.

---

Izuku’s plan: All Might following him around is okay since it would help All Might from worrying so much, and Izuku could simultaneously keep an eye on and protect All Might.

AFO’s counters: There are a lot to really fuck with this bond, damn you AFO.

Taint that passing the torch memory of ‘You’re Next.’

Declare that All Might no longer interests him. Liar. He outright stated before that he’s one for keeping a grudge

Send another assassin to Izuku [Underlying Message: You yourself are a walking danger zone to those whom you dearly care for.]

Izuku’s resulting response:

Interpret that memory of ‘You’re Next’ as taking up the position of being AFO’s shiny new plaything, and therefore supposedly sparing All Might from the torment (Unfortunately, making Izuku push AM away is just part of the torment ;A;)

Think that AM is no longer in the direct line of fire as long as AFO focuses on Izuku

Finally, push his last line of morale support away, and completely isolate himself.

Btw, I wonder how All Might feels about Izuku using Nana's quirk to get away from him.

---

The suffering doesn’t end.

Izuku’s plan: Save people.

AFO’s counters: (possibly offscreen) Send more villains and assassins to torment Izuku some more with the knowledge that he can’t save them. Sending villains out also puts innocents in danger.

Izuku’s resulting response: He won’t stop for anything. He won’t sleep, won’t eat, won’t slow down. He will always do his best to save as long as someone is in danger.

His body will keep on moving and moving and MOVING on its own.

--- All For One is very effective as a supervillain. He has managed to make the heroes think that his only goal is to capture Izuku alive for his quirk. He has Izuku right where he wants him: dancing to his tune at the palm of his hand, utterly toyed with, left with no escape in sight.

Psychologically vaulted.

.

.

.

PHASE 3

And so, if Izuku is being manipulated to drive himself further and further into self-destruction, what then is there left for All For One to do?

So much more. Because, my god, I think AFO has mastered the art of traumatizing the OFA Holders.

All For One once told All Might, “I will destroy all that you’ve protected.” And boy, is he delivering. He's definitely not done with AM btw.

First, he destroys All Might's image. And he is manipulating Izuku to drive himself to that point. To looking into his absolute worst.

And when that point arrives, AFO will hammer the final nail home.

Something like...

BEHOLD

JAPAN’S SYMBOL OF PEACE.

And oh, how it'll hurt. To see All Might's pride and joy be flaunted about as looking nothing like a hero to the masses, for him to be so utterly humiliated.

"See what I did to All Might's successor."

AFO will be banking upon the possibility that the angry masses will not want to be saved by whom they're tricked into viewing as someone that's the cause of all the pain. Izuku might have the willpower to stay true to his resolve, but with him on the verge of total breakdown, what would happen when he is shunned by the very people he is trying to help?

I once wrote a post about how the current events seem to be a bastardization of Izuku's wildest fantasies: he's working with the top pros, he has the most powerful quirk, and he's working with All Might (whom technically acts as a sidekick to him rn).

AFO has warped all that into a never-ending nightmare. And Izuku...

Izuku is really in need of saving.

Last thoughts:

Let me just say that it shouldn't be a competition about who gets to get through to Izuku. Right now, he’s gonna need all the help he can get, and it can’t be delivered by only one or two people. Saving Izuku is going to be a team effort, a solid support system that sees Izuku as their classmate/friend/student/actual person that they care about. And there’s sufficient space for that.

More hands reaching out means more chances to catch him if he falls.

[plaid-shirtsandvibranium-arms]

Nemesis: Retribution (4)

Summary: 10 years after the Avengers had left you for dead during a mission gone wrong, you unexpectedly re-enter their lives. Wholly unrecognizable from the person they used to know and now with a new team behind you, they ask for your help to stop a chain of syndicates who were manufacturing and peddling the super soldier serum. You were determined to say no until the chance at the vengeance you had been chasing for years was added to the offer.

Fandoms: Avengers, Marvel, MCU, The Punisher, Daredevil

Pairings: Female Reader x (Frank Castle, Billy Russo, Matt Murdock, Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, Pietro Maximoff)

Warnings: EXPLICIT SMUT. SHAMELESS SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR (18+ ONLY. I WILL BLOCK YOU), voyeurism, exhibitionism, authority kink, praise kink, spanking, slight dom themes, polyamorous relationships, reverse harem, blatant disregard for canon timelines and events, angst, Punisher canon level of violence and gore, strong language, mentions of trauma, mentions of character death, fluff if you squint, 

A/N: Slowing it down just a bit to move plot along. Freaking out on the reblogs and comments are encouraged and will be rewarded with cookies. Seriously though, I love hearing what you guys think and use some of it to make the next chapters better. I adore you all! Have at it!

No permission is granted to repost, steal, or translate my work. Not even a credit makes it okay. Tumblr is the only place I post my writing. If you see it anywhere else please report it.

Series Masterlist | Full Masterlist

1:4 Apple Crumble

Steve Rogers had kindly offered for you and your team to stay at the Compound. For however long this mission would take, you were all going to start running straight at it early tomorrow. In terms of the mission, he was relieved to have your help. The sooner the serum was out of circulation the better and they truthfully did need your help. This underground world was more your scene now and you could better navigate it.

On a personal level, he was glad that you were sticking around even if it was on a contract. He would take whatever opportunity he can and make the best of it. That's how he's always been and he wasn't going to change that now.

He told himself that it was because he was the Captain that he was at your door this late after you all had agreed to part for the night. It was out of consideration that he carried with him some of his own clothes to offer you in case you needed something to change into. It was out of a need to clear the tension with you now that you were going to work as a team again that he was knocking on your door.

That was all.

You opened the door a moment later wrapped only in a short towel and with your hair still dripping wet from the shower. The smile that rose on your face was sly as you leaned on the doorframe with your arms crossed and your hip cocked to one side. He swallowed.

Maybe that wasn't all.

"What can I do for you, Cap?"

He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He was far too distracted by the little droplet that rolled down from your temple to the valley of your breasts. He shook his head and cleared his throat, forcing himself to focus only on your eyes and not the inappropriate answers that sprung to mind at your question.

"I brought you a change of clothes in case you need it," he managed to say. "And I wanted to talk to you if you're not too tired."

You opened the door wider and took the clothes from him without a word, turning into the room toward the bathroom. You casually dropped your towel to the floor and Steve choked at the sight of your bare back, a small set of black panties the only stitch you wore. The breath in his chest released only when you disappeared into the bathroom, the door cracked open offering him enticing glimpses as you moved around.

Steve hurriedly closed the door behind him and as he made his way further in, he caught sight of an open go bag beside your bed with clothes clearly visible. There was also a shirt and sweats beside it, the design he knew belonged to Pietro. He felt a little embarrassed. Of course Pietro would have already beaten him to it and that your team always came prepared. Still there was a satisfaction that bloomed in him when you stepped out clad in his shirt, the hem barely reaching mid thigh and bare feet soundlessly crossing the carpeted floor until you came to sit with him on the sofa. You tucked your legs under you and rested your head on your hand over the back of the seat.

"Gotta say I like this look, Steve," you grinned at him.

He chuckled, self-consciously rubbing at his beard and pulling at the hair at the back of his collar. The light dusting of red on his cheeks didn't go unnoticed by you.

"What? You don't like the all American apple pie look?"

You hummed and took a leisurely look at him from head to toe. Rugged and imposing as he appeared, the heat on his face intensified at your obvious appreciation and the way you swiped your tongue along your bottom lip. You were biting your lip when your eyes met his again, trying to stop yourself from laughing at how flustered he was getting and how much you were enjoying it. You've always found Steve handsome and he made apple pie look damn good, but this look on him was just so dangerously delicious.

You had a type.

"I'm more of an apple crumble kind of girl. I like the texture better," you winked. "And I don't mind a little beard burn."

"Will your team mind that I'm talking to you without one of them here?"

You raised an eyebrow and held his unsteady gaze, clearly understanding he meant more than just your professional relationship with the three men.

"You're curious."

"It's none of my business. That's not what I came to talk to you about," he stammered, unaccustomed to how forward you were.

"What did you want to talk about then?"

"I wanted to apologize properly and thank you for agreeing to help."

You groaned and threw your whole body back on the seat, causing Steve's shirt to ride up just shy of completely flashing him. You sat back up and pinched the bridge of your nose, letting out a long breath. It was only the fact that it was Steve that you were even entertaining this conversation.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Steve," you firmly dismissed.

"I do, Nem. We all do."

"Fine. List down what you're sorry about. Let's go through it one by one or we can draw lots to make it interesting."

"Nem," he said, low and clear with warning yet imploring you to listen. "Can you take this seriously for one second?"

The ever present smirk on your face dropped as you sighed heavily and ran a hand through your hair. For the first time since he's seen you, your expression softened a fraction and a shadow of the person he used to know passed across your features.

"Listen to me, Steve. I don't blame any of you. I'm not angry at any of you. I honestly have no room for more anger even if I wanted to be."

In the beginning you were. There were days while you were getting tortured that you hated them while you pleaded to the heavens for them to rescue you. It had taken a decade and three incredible men for that inferno of fury to turn into a manageable bitterness.

"Do you know how tiring it is to be so fucking angry all the time?" you chuckled darkly. "It took a while, but I learned to prioritize what I choose to be angry about."

"Salvacion," he muttered and you nodded, your eyes staring blankly forward.

"I've carried that name for a decade, Steve. That asshole has to die by my hands."

Steve saw now how selfish he was for forcing the conversation with the purpose of earning your forgiveness. It was for easing his own guilt that he was doing it when instead he should have just been thanking you for what you did and had to endure.

"Why didn't you ever come back?"

"I tried, Steve. When I was recovered enough I tried to go back. Did you know my sister had a girlfriend?"

He shook his head, throat suddenly closing at the sight of absolute misery in your eyes. He regretted starting this conversation even more.

"Jill. She was amazing to Lily and she was like a sister to me too," you smiled a little, not in your usual sarcastic way but with a hint of gentle fondness before your expression hardened once more.

"I saw her and I just couldn't bring myself to face her. I'm the reason the love of her life is dead. I couldn't, Steve"

It started off with the fear that they might have killed Jill too. You told yourself you had to know, but truthfully you were trying desperately to find a connection to Lily. You found her visiting the graveyard, laying flowers on two stones and spending the afternoon sitting on the ground tearfully talking to the dead. The shame burned through you and from then on you made it your sole purpose to destroy the man who took Lily from you both. Until then you had no right to face her. You had no right to return to the life you once knew.

Steve noticed that you weren't crying although the look in your eyes was swimming with grief. He expected you to cry, but somehow seeing you with dry eyes only made you look more in pain. You only clenched your fists, your shoulders tense and your jaw stiff. Steve decided he would tell the others instead of having you go through this conversation again.

He would do that for you.

You woke up surprisingly refreshed the following morning, strangely lighter than you have felt in the past decade. You didn't expect for that talk with Steve to have such an impact on you. You smiled ruefully, remembering your many counseling sessions with Curtis before and that maybe you were finally seeing his point.

FRIDAY had directed you to the larger conference room for today's briefing session with the rest of the team. You were wearing another one of Steve's shirts paired with your usual cargo pants, a fact that didn't go unnoticed judging by the raised eyebrows and teasing smiles. Billy in particular was leaning in to whisper to Matt what was going on.

"You don't have to tell me. I can smell it," Matt chuckles, crinkles visible at the edges of his dark sunglasses. "His cologne is quite distinct."

You smacked Billy on the arm, but laughed with them as well before throwing a wink at Steve who proceeded to blush a deep red. As you took your seat, a cup of coffee suddenly materialized in front of you accompanied by Pietro's ever bright smile. You smiled gratefully and took a sip, eyes slightly rounding in surprise at the taste.

"You remembered how I took my coffee."

"I've forgotten nothing about you, little star."

You haven't taken your coffee that way in so long. It's been just strong plain black coffee lately, the lack of sugar and cream where you lived with the boys being a factor. It had seemed pointless to eat something sweet when there was a permanent sour taste in your mouth from life. Now though you couldn't seem to help taking one sip after another, licking your lips before going in for more.

Right now this tasted right.

You didn't notice that Billy was smiling adoringly at you and sharing a look of approval with Frank as the briefing began, happy that someone aside from him was spoiling you. You certainly didn't know that Matt was smirking because he heard your heart literally skip a beat at the sweet gesture.

It took hours for the meeting to wrap up, but there was still more to do before you could actually take action. A number of the Avengers were sent out to gather more intel while the rest would stay to make further preparations.

"I only really need to talk to Frank a bit more," Steve said as he approached your group. "Why don't we have Pietro show you guys around the Compound? There are some improvements I think you'll find interesting."

Your tour guide for the afternoon appeared beside you, taking your hand in his and bouncing on the balls of his feet in his excitement. He was just too cute that you couldn't help but let out a small smile. The effect he had on you remained it seems.

"A tour would be really helpful for me," Matt easily agreed.

"And I go wherever the pretty girl goes," Billy added, slinging his arm over your shoulders.

"Great. Surrender your weapons and you should be good to go," Steve asked with a pointed look at both you and Billy who groaned in answer.

Billy was ready with a string of complaints and counter arguments when the clang of metal on the glass conference table stunned him into silence. He watched in complete disbelief as you removed every gun and blade attached to your body, efficiently dismantling them and lining them up on the table.

"Is she?" Matt murmured, leaning closer to Billy.

"Yeah."

"All of them?"

"Yeah."

By the time you stepped back, there was practically a decent sized armory on the table. How and where you managed to fit all of it on your person was a mystery to them.

"You missed one," Billy said, snapping out of his daze.

He stepped in front of you and casually slipped his arm up the front of your shirt and under your sports bra. His fingers grazed unnecessarily close to your now hardened nipples and he simply winked when you raised an eyebrow at him. Billy pulled out two small throwing daggers soon after and placed them alongside your other weapons.

"Oh yeah. I keep forgetting about those," you chuckled.

"Do you always come armed to the teeth?" Bucky snapped, clearly bothered by the display.

"She doesn't want her team to carry extra ammo for her, Sergeant," Billy scowled at him, the obvious animosity surprising Bucky. When he turned back to Pietro, his expression was back to his usual playful one. "So how about that tour?"

Frank turned to Steve when you had exited the room. "You gotta teach me that trick, Cap."

"What trick?"

"First time in 10 years I've seen her take any kind of order without a knife fight first," he said, cracking a smile and shaking his head.

It turns out that coming back was doing some good for you and this made him more comfortable around the Avengers. He wasn't about to braid them friendship bracelets but he was less inclined to pop a cap in their ass. At least for the time being.

Walking around the Compound brought back some of that wonder you felt when you first stepped in, but it recalled everything you had lost. Sensing the sudden tension in you, Billy gripped you by the waist and pulled you into his side. He kissed your temple, a silent reminder of what you had gained.

Pietro had been an absolute sweetheart, specifically describing what was in the area for Matt's benefit and pointing out the changes to you. The training area was your last stop, the place you had spent the most time in during your short stint here. There were loud sounds coming from the area and walking in you saw fresh-faced recruits in paired off sparring sessions.

Your full attention was on Pietro as he happily listed off the new features and answered questions from Matt and Billy, the latter now in businessman mode as he thought of what he could implement for Anvil. You were having an unusually pleasant time until a familiar shrill voice demanded your attention.

"Well look what the street cat dragged in. Y/N?"

You knew that voice. A decade with torture and trauma included apparently couldn't change how much her voice grated at you. The cold smirk made a reappearance on your face as you slowly turned to face her, the three men with you were instantly alarmed at the change in your demeanor.

"Kim," you nodded.

"Thought you were dead."

"Thanks. Can't say I thought about you at all though."

"I see you're still pathetically clinging to Pietro."

"What can I say? He's really cute," you said with a wink at Pietro who seemed to enjoy the compliment.

She sneered at you, her irritation rising when you weren't backing down like you used to do. She couldn't quite put her finger on what had changed about you, but you seemed rougher around the edges and far too cocky for her liking. Luckily, she still remembered a sure-fire way to take you down a few pegs.

"I'm teaching a class on hand to hand combat. How about we show them a demonstration on what a real fight looks like?"

You giggled as your smile grew, a disturbing sight that made even Kim doubt herself for a moment. You nodded your head in easy acceptance and she looked like she was pleased at herself for getting this opportunity. Before you could step forward though, you found Matt's walking stick blocking your path.

"What? It's not assault if it's provoked," you grinned at the frown on his face.

He hated it when you found loopholes, but he relented with a heavy sigh. He was too used to this. He leaned toward Pietro and told him that he should inform the Captain.

"Get some snacks too, roadrunner," Billy chuckled, delightedly watching you strip off your shirt and walking confidently towards Kim on the sparring mats.

Pietro had returned a moment later after completing his task, actually handing Billy a bag of fresh popcorn. The smile on his face froze when he caught sight of your bare skin. So far all he had seen as evidence of your torture was what was visible on your neck and face. He had stupidly brushed that fact aside, too excited to have found you again. Now the vicious marring on your beautiful skin was a cruel reminder of their failure as your team. They had failed you.

He had failed you.

Back in the conference room, the same feelings were shared by two super soldiers. They had pulled up surveillance on the training area after Pietro's message, just in time to see you take off that shirt.

Bucky felt the air leave his lungs at the horrific sight. He was alive and you had paid a heavy price for saving him. He could barely keep his eyes on you, the shame burning through him. He didn't want to imagine the amount of pain you had to endure to sustain those injuries.

"Don't you people dare look at her with pity," Frank warned. "Those scars are a testament to her strength. She's damn beautiful."

Steve agreed. He'd caught a glimpse of your scars last night and jarring as they were, your complete lack of self consciousness to them just made you more alluring. Looking back at the screen though he was concerned that you could hurt yourself. Kim was a top agent now, high enough in the ranks to be training recruits and leading missions. She had proven herself deadly in combat, but the way you were grinning was chilling in itself.

"One question before we start," you said.

"What?" Kim scoffed, flipping her braided hair over her shoulder.

"When's your next mission?"

"2 weeks. Why?" she answered, perfect brow raised in confusion.

"Just calculating your recovery time," you shrugged. "I'm nice that way."

Kim predictably charged at you then, growling and cursing at you under her breath. You smirked, standard SHIELD movements were easy to read for you. You stayed completely still and relaxed in your stance as she lunged at you with her fist. You timed your movement precisely, sidestepping at the absolute last moment. One hand grabbed at the back of her head, forcing it down to ram against your oncoming fist with a sickening crack.

Broken nose.

Kim shrieked in pain as the blood gushed from her nose and she tried to pull away from you. You didn't let her. You pulled her down by the shoulder to bend her over before driving your knee up her midsection. She wheezed at the impact, the mat below her smattered with her blood.

Bruised ribs. Maybe slightly broken.

You unceremoniously threw her aside, letting her fall groaning on her side. You clicked your tongue, watching her struggle and turning to the class she was supposed to be teaching.

"Lesson 1, kids," you waved your hands in Kim's general direction. "Don't end up like that."

Broken ego.

You turned to go back to your boys when the glint of metal caught your eye. You tilted your head just in time for the dagger to zip past your eye line, only thinly scratching at your cheek. Your hands reacted on instinct, reaching for the small hidden pocket along the waistband of you pants. You flicked the thin blade with deft fingers, embedding on the mat and landing it purposely close to Kim's eyes that it cut through her fake lashes.

"Nem!" Steve's unmistakable voice boomed through the speakers. You had forgotten that they had FRIDAY everywhere. "We said no weapons."

You rolled your eyes and smiled cheekily at the cameras. "It's just a nail file. I don't like keeping blood under my nails."

"You call that training?" Steve groaned rubbing his eyes and turning to Frank.

"I call that anger management," Frank said, amused at how unpredictable to handle they already found you when they've barely scratched the surface. He noticed how Bucky looked furious, his metal hand clutching a little too hard onto the table. "Don't like what you see, Sarge?"

Bucky didn't answer. He didn't tell them that he didn't like what he saw because he knew he was a major contributor in what caused it. If only he had been kinder, gentler, more honest. Maybe things would have turned out differently.

He walked down the hallways much later gripping a first aid kit in his metal hand and nervously running the other through his cropped hair. The cut on your face was barely anything, but he needed an excuse to talk to you. He was afraid you would turn him away, but he was terrified that you wouldn't. He didn't know what to say to you. He didn't know how to begin to apologize for everything he's done. His palm grew sweaty and beads were beginning to form on his brow.

He was only a few steps away from your bedroom door and he was sorely tempted to turn back around when he noticed that it was cracked open and he could hear voices from inside. He should have followed his instinct to keep his distance but a high whine that definitely came from you pushed him to peak through the small opening.

What he saw made his already thumping heartbeat grow quicker. His eyes grew wide and his throat went dry. Whatever he was expecting, it definitely wasn't this.

You. Stark naked. Grinding your mound on someone's face.

You looked absolutely glorious as you wound your hips in your chase for release; head thrown, back arched, and lips in a dreamy smile. The view he had of you, facing him and deep into your pleasure, was enough to cause his pants to tighten. He couldn't see which one of your teammates was beneath you, the bedframe blocking his view. Whoever they were, Bucky was jealous. He wanted to taste you too.

He felt that stirring of longing again now as he watched you in the throes of passion with another man. He felt it the moment you stepped back into their lives. He felt it during the 10 years they thought you were dead. And he felt it when you were still in training as a recruit every time you smiled at Pietro and Steve.

You picked up your pace and he could see muscular arms reach up to grip your waist and pull you down harder. You were panting curses, your breathing turning erratic and Bucky could see your thighs begin to shake. The sight of you coming undone has to be the most entrancing thing he's ever seen.

Movement from you and your partner pulled him from the hypnosis caused by your erotic display. His face heated up, deeply embarrassed at having watched you for so long and finding enjoyment in basically violating your privacy. He was about to leave when the man whose face you had been riding, came up to kneel behind you.

He pulled your hips back against his own, sliding his hard length easily into your dripping cunt causing you to moan so deliciously that Bucky felt a shiver run down his spine. You reached your hand up to grip the back of his head, letting him bury his own in your neck as he set a languid pace with his thrusts.

Your head rolled to the side and your eyes opened, locking directly with Bucky's. You smirked and reached down to circle your swollen bud, pressing your back further against the hard body rutting behind you and purposely putting on a show. You winked at him.

He bolted out of there.

"That wasn't very nice, honey," the low voice was thick with lust in your ear. His breathing was growing labored too, finding your heat wrapping around him overwhelming.

"I don't see you stopping, Captain."

"How can I when you're gripping me so tight?" He snapped his hips earning a sharp moan from you. "Did you like that? Torturing my best pal with me balls deep inside you?"

You sighed and closed your eyes. Apple pie Steve wouldn't have whispered such sinful things to you, but this Steve could make you cum with just filthy words alone.

"Yeah, you did. Look at you clenching and soaking my cock from having Bucky watch you. You like being bad to him, honey?"

A sudden smack to your ass had you snapping your eyes open. He chuckled into your neck, biting down hard on the juncture as he felt you gripping him even tighter.

"Answer," he growled, landing a harsher smack to your bottom.

"Yes! Yes, Captain, I did."

"Good. Will you be good for me now, honey? You caused a bit of trouble today." His thrusting was still slow, making sure you felt every ridge and vein with each stroke as he drove you into a stupor. "Will you be a good girl for your Captain now?"

"Yes, Captain."

He smirked against your skin, pleased at your compliance. He was reveling in the power he had over you. Frank had said that you never took orders without a fight, but here you were being so good for him. Pliable. Yielding. He was enjoying it.

He gathered your hair in one hand and pulled, your back arching beautifully and emphasizing where his cock was buried deep inside you. With each thrust his cock came out glistening with your slick. The image made him lose control, abruptly escalating his pace to rail feverishly into you.

He had you gasping and clutching at the sheets instantly, begging for him to go harder and push you over the edge. He bent over you and reached around to rub furiously at your throbbing clit.

"Cum like a good girl, honey. Cum around my cock," he commanded. "I wanna feel you fucking drown me."

You came, lights dancing in your eyes and your head empty of all thoughts aside from the pleasure that racked your body. He followed soon after with a loud grunt, the sensation of you fluttering around him too much to resist.

He fell on top of you, spent and satisfied. Your sweat and heavy breaths mingling together as you both tried to return back to the world. You liked the heavy feel of him on top of you, strangely finding comfort in the weight.

He dragged you with him when he rolled off you, spooning you and planting kisses on the back of your shoulders that had your skin tingling from his beard.

"When are you going to put him out of his misery?"

"When it stops being fun?" you chuckled.

Steve wasn't going to push the issue. He knew that it was up to you whether you forgave Bucky or not and when that would be. It would be on your own terms how things moved. Just like what happened between you two. He wasn't expecting it, but the heated argument about the injuries you inflicted on one of his best agents had somehow escalated into him spanking you and you growing wet from it.

Not that either of you were complaining.

You turned around in his arms to face him, looking up at him with a taunting smirk. "You sure your old heart can take being in a polyamorous relationship?"

He chuckled and pecked your lips before going back in for a much deeper kiss that had you swooning. When he pulled back, he was looking at you lovingly.

"I'm known for waiting too long about things like this. I lost my shot at you 10 years ago. I'm not missing out on you again."

His words were firm and genuine. He honestly thought that he would mind having to share you with several other men. He thought that he would feel jealous and possessive. Instead, he felt reassured. He knew that wherever and whenever he lacked, someone else would pick it up and he would be the same. There was a sense of relief knowing that you would always be taken cared of by people who felt the same for you as he did.

"Well then you have some making up to do for waiting so long," you said nibbling at his lower lip.

He groaned and grabbed your thigh, hitching your leg up on his hip. Your thighs and core were still sticky and slippery from both your releases. His tongue dove into your mouth and he could feel you moan against his lips as he ran the tip of his cock against your still sensitive core. Your nails dug into his back as he sunk in, fitting perfectly inside you.

"You're running with a super soldier now, honey," he said, eyes burning with want. "I can do this all day."

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

A/N: Some asked about Jill and Kim so here you go, lovelies. Come freak out with me in the comments and reblogs. Thank you all for the support! More coming soon. 

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[zarnzarn]

Stolitz fic rec!!

||

I'm going to just drop my favorite stolitz fics here.

They run at night by @wearemisfortune

Blitzo is always moving because when his body stops, his mind races. This almost always leads to a terrible fucking idea.

Tonight is no different—but the result will be.

-lovely angst, lovely climax, and it captures Blitz's line of thinking in a serious tone but in a way still feels authentic to the character. And I'm ALWAYS a sucker for the sheer unconditional trust trope.

Junctures by @sluttycrimehat

To everything, there is a season.

-I still am in complete awe of how the author managed to fit so much in such little time. The bit at the end always fucking gets me, I love it so MUCH.

The last general by @curtailed

It's in a month after, with Stolas spent and lying on his side, that Blitzo finally musters up the courage to tell him.

-Hello??? BEAUTIFUL post-harvest moon fic, wonderful vibes, love how well they know each other in this one, the trust is amazing. Love it.

You got everything that I want by @bipridemoth

Stolas can’t recall a time where “love” wasn’t synonymous with “pain” for him.

With Blitzo, it’s not love. So, there’s no pain. Stolas doesn’t let there be pain, at least not emotionally, the physical pain is something he quite enjoys. When Blitzo leaves after their monthly night together, he doesn’t allow himself to feel pain, only anticipation of the next time. He likes that there’s always a next time, even though that’s because of his active incentive more than anything else. But that’s alright, he doesn’t want Blitzo to come see him without an incentive. He deserves favors in turn for what he’s giving Stolas.

-Stolas angst!!!! The angst really is delicious in this one, with just as nice of a happy ending. Blitz is confident about the relationship, which is Wonderful to read and the "I know where this is going" segment had me in TEARS.

Between fairy tales and realities by @coloringthegreyscale

Blitzo's a complicated imp and Striker and Stolas accept that. But what happens when the two worlds he's made for himself collide together for one night? Well...

-Okay, so yes, this is striker/blitz/stolas, but it's so good. All three of them have a lovely dynamic, managing to work out somehow, with powerful Stolas, wonderful Blitz and a HILARIOUS Striker. Go read the series, it's a lot of fun and has many cute interactions that made me smile.

The look by @seireileafy

Blitz has been noticing a change in Stolas.

-It's such a CUTE drabble, I adore when one person can tell the other is pining for them, and the LAST LINE FUCKING GETS ME EVERY TIME-

Instead I made my bed with apathy by @thebooklord15

Just like every night before this one, Blitzo glared at the form next to him, already lulled into the bliss of slumber. He had never meant for things to turn out this way-he’d gotten the grimoire already, he didn’t need this man and from the way Stolas treated him it was clear he did not need the imp either.

And yet.

-Jcjdkafj this one is so GOOD I love blitz being pissed off yet too deep in to stop, and like I've said for others already THAT LAST LINE, PLEASE-

Call and response by anon

It was a love story, maybe.

-short but deliciously angsty, with some beautiful imagery, really nice dialogue, and time-doesn't-exist-in-this-motel-room vibes. Love it.

Shovel proof by @kereea

Octavia tries to give Blitzo the shovel talk. He decides to help with that.

-FUCKING cute, love the Octavia/Blitz dynamic, and it has snappy fun dialogue!! Really sweet.

Reaching out, touching me, touching you by @allmightshipserasermic

Stolas hasn’t been able to preen sufficiently in quite awhile, since Stella refuses to do it for him anymore. Blitzo offers to help.

-PREENING FIC is there anything more I have to say?

The skin you could have by @coloringthegreyscale

Stolas catches Blitzo staring and it leads to some talk, some magic, and a little bit of fun.

-Again, BEAUTIFUL dynamic between the two, lots of angsty tenderness, and lovely body imagery.

Different shapes by @sirdust

“Before the exorcist, he taketh the image and shape of a man.”

Blitz catches a glimpse of Stolas’ human form.

-okay, practically a direct opposite of the previous fic, but SO GOOD, I can't describe it. Love the imagery and their comfortable relationship.

A helluva mess by @stratumgermanitivum

It’s not like Stolas isn’t a hot piece of ass, because he is.

And it’s not like Blitzo’s blind or anything, because he isn’t.

It’s just that there’s pleasure, and then there’s business, and never the twain shall meet. (Unless he finally gets Moxx on board with that threeway, in which case, Blitzo fully intends to christen every damn surface of the office except his precious Loony’s desk.)

-AMAZING, love the pining and denial on both sides it's so great especially since you can tell both sides know that they've messed up. Again, LAST LINE!!

Eat the whole cake (it's what you deserve) by @okoyik

"His Highness is on the phone for you, sir," Moxxie says.

Blitzo makes a face. "Who?"

"Stolas," Moxxie supplies, as if that's supposed to help Blitzo understand. His expression is surely one of complete confusion as he stares at the other imp.

"Who the fuck is Stolas?" Blitzo asks slowly, racking his brain for a face to put to the name.

-

Blitzo's memory starts to slip, and all he knows is he needs that owl that seems to haunt his nightmares to stay away.

-HELLO it's only on one out of four chapters for now but it's already SO GOOD I can't WAIT for the rest!!!

Stand tall, but your hands are shaking by @remymorton

It’s been a month since the Harvest Moon festival. Another full moon night arrived, and after that... Blitz ... He's not well.

-wordless cute comfort, truly very sweet, I love it.

Palaces and souvenirs by @cloudysonder

So Stolas is objectively. Objectively. Attractive. Kinda soft-looking, sometimes. Pretty. Whatever. Fuckin’ whatever. That’s always been a thing. Blitzo knew that, Stolas definitely knew that-- whatever.

"This is not," Blitzo thinks, sounding a little bit desperate even to himself, "some sort of revelation."

His flicks of the lighter get a little more unstable, a little more frustrated.

A clawed hand reaches over and takes hold of the lighter, lighting Blitzo’s cigarette with practiced ease, as if he’d done the same thing a thousand times before (He has, Blitzo realizes).

“Silly Blitzy,” he giggles quietly, giving Blitzo a soft pat on the head before curling up beside him, stretching one last time before closing his eyes to sleep.

Blitzo feels warm.

"This," Blitzo tells himself, and it sounds like a command, "will not be a problem."

-I saw the start of this fic on Twitter and have been following it religiously ever since. It's really a gorgeous fic, three chapters up, with the promise of a Great slow burn, fun dialogue and Octavia & Blitz bonding. The level of denial Blitz is in even as he moves comfortably around every aspect of Stolas' life cracks me tf up.

Can't by @hazbincalifornia

Blitzo realizes he feels something something that he doesn't want to feel. This was supposed to be simple.

-feelings realization fic, wonderful, amazing, lovely, also the exact same way I realized I was gay, funnily enough (girl fell asleep in my lap and I was like oh. Oh fuck.)

Too late to stop by @malkaviancake

Stolas spends some time with his thoughts, realizing that his feelings for Blitzo aren't as one sided as he presumed.

-GORGEOUS vocab, I'm truly very obsessed with it. Like most of these stories, LAST LINE!!!!

Itchy with want, thin on sleep by me

It happens in parts- both falling in love and having his eyes opened.

-I will,, finish this one day, but for now here's a few in between moments before they have The Conversation.

Heaven in hiding by me

Their nights together are good, they always are, both of their tastes lining up to be shockingly compatible, but on the days where they end early and they get to spend some extra time cleaning up in comfortable silence or playful banter- and Blitz would rather take a bullet than admit this out loud- but those nights are pretty great too.

-AFTERCARE FIC, I had to write an aftercare fic ft. Good dom Blitz, Stolas taking care of him in return and a comfortable relationship that they both know is going to cause Problems in the future :)

Love in the bones and sinews of this curse by me

Five times Stolas and Blitz needed the grimoire to break a curse + one time they didn't.

-self explanatory. I tried to make it as funny as possible, everyone bickers a lot and Blitz brings Stolas flowers and gifts, what more could you need?

Life is a curse (love makes it worse) by me

"Alright!" Blitz says, clapping his hands together, "Weapons out, and-"

Half pull out some gun or the other, but half just look at him blankly. Blitz wishes for death.

"Save me from this family," He mutters under his breath, "Okay. Take these then." He passes out the few weapons he'd brought along with him and doesn't ask if they know how to use them because if he hears a no, he's giving up and going back home. "Stick close and talk loudly so the others can hear us. Let's go."

They move out, Blitz taking the lead and the rest forming a circle close behind him, starting up a loud conversation about the neighbour's garden. It gives him enough time to wonder exactly what the fuck he's doing here, in a nightmare world with a bunch of pretentious snobs, searching for his stupid Ars Goetia boyfriend, instead of sleeping in his nice lumpy bed back at home.

-a sequel to the previous fic!!! I had to write some Octavia and Blitz bonding, and accidentally added in a bunch of teenage imps who work for Stolas who imprint on Blitz immediately. And there's Eldritch Stolas, protective boyfriends and found family!!! The whole shebang!!!

This ended up being Much longer than I'd expected, but genuinely every fic up there is really good, go check em out!!!!

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 309: Gotta Go My Own Way

Previously on BnHA: Muscular was all “well if it isn’t the protagonist on his solo journey of self-discovery, for some reason I’m unironically glad I get to fight you!” Deku was all “hey Muscular before I finish kicking your ass would you please take a moment to answer these two survey questions? Question one, do you regret being a total piece of shit? And question two, if you could do anything at all in the world other than being a total piece of shit, would you?” Muscular was all, “pfft, no and no.” Deku was all, “thanks buddy, your feedback helps make me a better hero, here’s a coupon for fifteen percent off your next ass-whooping.” Then he whooped his ass.

Today on BnHA: Deku is all “what up All Might can you believe you’ve been here this entire time?” All Might is all “I sure can since that’s literally my catch phrase, anyway how are your magic movie 1 gauntlets holding up?” Deku is all “they’re holding up fine, how are Hawks, Endeavor, and Best Jeanist doing?” Hawks, Endeavor, and Best Jeanist are all “we, your fellow co-conspirators, are also doing fine, thanks for asking!” Flashback!Deku is all “anyway so I secretly have All Might’s quirk and the most dangerous people in the world are after me, so sorry mom but that’s why I’m dropping out of school.” Inko is all “I CAN’T ACCEPT THAT” while totally accepting it. All Might is all “I GUESS WE’LL JUST HAVE TO GO ALONG WITH IT SINCE I DON’T FEEL LIKE TRYING TO STOP HIM.” Hawks, Jeanist, and Endeavor, as previously mentioned, are all “yeah that sounds like a good plan”, and Gran is all “see ya kid, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” So basically everyone in the entire world has suddenly teamed up with Deku to defeat AFO, except for the one person whose entire foreshadowed endgame is “teaming up with Deku to defeat AFO.” O Kacchan where art thou.

dear tumblr image limit: okay look. you don’t like me, and I don’t like you. but just as an experiment, I’m gonna try writing this recap with as few images as possible and we’ll see how it goes

(ETA: spoilers for how it went: it didn’t, lol.)

oh my god WHY ARE WE OPENING WITH MORE KETSUBUTSU ACADEMY KIDS.ffs we’d better at least finally get some Ms. Joke content out of this

(ETA: seriously who do I have to bribe.)

so these two KB kids who no one cares about are watching Deku leap away from the scene after dispatching Muscular. but more importantly wtf is this chapter title omg. “I can’t stay being a child” so that’s how it is huh. we’re gonna have feels and we’re going to like them. well then

oh my god he’s hauling Muscular away dhfksklfkh okay this is gonna have to be our first image because I can’t fucking help myself. look at this

just. Deku is so tiny and he’s carting away this massive unconscious lump of a man like it’s nothing why is this so funny to me. it’s like when people buy furniture, and they don’t want to pay extra for delivery and so they’re like, “I can definitely fit this king-sized mattress in the back of my compact sedan if I fold the fucking seat down, idk.” and they refuse to be talked out of it, and the next thing you know you’re watching them drive home with their open trunk door haphazardly tied down with bungee cords, and somehow it fucking works. because it turns out the compact sedan has super strength

anyway for SOME REASON now Horikoshi is all “have fun with that Deku, meanwhile we now return you to your regularly scheduled SHINDOU CONTENT” whyyyyyy

look at this. we’re really using up a whole fucking entire page on everyone arguing over who gets the honor of carrying Shindou

love how the civilians are all, “shit lol is this actually our fault?? quick, how do we play this off all casual like we were the reasonable parties here all along”

turns out all it took to finally get them to listen was making them watch while a kid got his insides ground into a pulp because of their stupidity!! what a heartwarming conclusion to this little standoff

anyways THANK GOD we’re cutting back to Deku now!! well actually we’re cutting back to Muscular who is being dropped off at the police precinct, good bye and good riddance lol

so Deku’s leaving him there and bounding away and okjdlSKFJLKJDSL OH MY GOD

no fucking way. no fucking way this little jaunt is All Might-sanctioned and approved. are you serious?? then who else is in on this?? what the hell is going on

so All Might is just WAITING FOR HIM IN AN ALLEY FFF WHO ARE YOU, JIM GORDON. or would Alfred be a better analogy here?? but like, Alfred if he ditched the suit for a moto jacket and shades

this new ensemble of All Might’s may or may not severely impact my ability to take this forthcoming conversation seriously; please stand by

also, quite the spectacular landing there, Deku. seriously lol what was that

“HOW ARE YOUR LIMBS” “THANKS TO YOU THEY’RE COMPLETELY FINE” I’M SORRY WHAT

LOL WHAT. “THANKS TO THE POWER OF THESE MAGIC GLOVES” OH I SEE THAT EXPLAINS IT

are these the same gauntlets from the first movie, then? well that’s all well and good, except that now there’s going to be more Deku Discourse than fucking ever lol. so if it’s all the same to you guys, I’m gonna once again go ahead and declare this week’s post a discourse-free zone, at least when it comes to the specific discourse of Deku’s merits as a MC, and the impact that him kicking ass and having working arms has on said merits. this has been something of a low mental energy week for me, so I’d rather reserve the energy I do have for more fun topics, such as All Might’s bitchin’ leather jacket

anyway so All Might’s saying that the gauntlets will help reinforce Deku’s arms, but they can’t withstand OFA at 100%. so basically it’s a support item designed to maintain the status quo lol. we’re basically in the same situation we were before, arm-capability-wise

homg All Might’s getting a call. time to see who else is in on Operation: Deku Alone?? or not so alone for that matter

omg

HI HAWKS, WHERE ARE YOUR WINGS

(ETA: seriously are they really gone for good?? why would he even be back on active duty then?? does he have his own American ex-boyfriend who can hook him up with exclusive support items?? dammit Horikoshi we want answers.)

looks like Jeanist and Endeavor are teaming up as well, just like they said they would. I would gladly follow this trio around all day long tbh

is this the same giant villain from the very first chapter??

looks like it to me, and it would tie in with that callback from the end of chapter 306. we all thought that was Muscular, but maybe it was this guy, and Deku left these three to deal with him while he ran off to take Muscular down

oh my god now Deku is running off again just like that

kids these days

ffffff I have not had nearly enough sleep to follow along with whatever tf Hawks is talking about here sob

like, is he trying to say that All Might is keeping Deku’s whereabouts unknown to anyone except for him?? in order to keep him safe?? but Hawks is pointing out that that’s a bad strategy and probably won’t do shit against AFO and it’s better if he lets Deku work with the rest of them?

(ETA: so @hanashimas​’ translation makes a lot more sense -- it’s not All Might who’s being overprotective, but Deku. in other words he’s trying not to drag All Might into his battles. and in addition Hawks is saying that their strategy is to take the offensive and go after AFO themselves rather than wait for him to come to them. which I’m not too sure about myself, but that’s another topic for another day.)

btw I can’t help thinking how much better this entire conversation would be if All Might was still wearing his sunglasses. put them back on my dude. it’s not too late. embrace your inner badass

DKLJSLDKFJL FLASHBACK ALERT, FUCKING FINALLY

“turns out, we were just trying to scare you straight. fuck lot of good that did though lol”

also what is this. one true love: the hospital bed. is that a scanlator joke or is Horikoshi actually that funny omg

SKLJDFLJLK

ITSA ME!! omg I love this hospital so much. though it’s sure not helping me in my quest to try and keep this post below ten images. I’m already up to eleven haha r.i.p. to me if tumblr doesn’t get its shit together

whaaaaaat, so he’s saying that Deku’s injuries were external (i.e. Tomura beating the shit out of him) rather than internal this time?? whaaaaat. excuse me but that’s some bullshit lmao. believe me, I was there

okay now he’s going on to explain that Deku’s “internal structure” seems to have been protected from the inside and out, and the corresponding panel seems to be implying that using Blackwhip as a brace paid off. huh

and also that his body is just stronger now?? so I guess he’s better able to withstand the quirk after an additional year of training?? I’M NOT SURE IF I BUY ANY OF THIS LOL but I’m willing to suspend my disbelief

OH MY GOD RED ALERT, INKO IS ASKING ALL MIGHT TO EXPLAIN WTAF DEKU’S QUIRK IS, IS IT FINALLY THAT TIME OMGGGG

SO HE’S EXPLAINING IT TO HER OFF-SCREEN, AND INKO IS JUST LIKE

I GUESS THAT’S FAIR LOL. IT’S TRUE INKO I’M SO SORRY, YOUR SON IS A PROGATONIST R.I.P.

AHHKKJH DEKU ANGST IS IT FINALLY THAT TIME OMGGGGGG

what is this soft pop beat that’s suddenly being pumped in over the speakers. I’VE GOT TO MOVE ON~ AND BE WHO~ I~ AM~~~, I JUST DON’T BELONG HERE, I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAAAAAAAND. also, follow-up question, when is Kacchan finally going to come back so he can jump in with the “WHAT ABOUT US~~~” bridge, huh. come the fuck on, Horikoshi

lmao All Might jesus christ

but given that it’s a stupid-ass decision...

anyway, yes!! finally that sweet, sweet “I don’t want to put anyone else in danger” angst!!

mmm that’s good angst Brent. Kacchan with center panel honors as usual, you love to see it. anyways though who do I have to yell at to get Deku a goddamn HUG around here seriously

so Inko is of course reacting with panic, and sensibly saying that she doesn’t approve of Deku’s “RUN AWAY AND FIGHT THE BAD GUYS ALL ON MY OWN, DON’T WORRY MOM I’LL JUST GET STRONGER, EASY AS PIE, IT’S A FOOLPROOF STRATEGY” plan

son of a bitch this manipulative green asshole is really gonna sit here and smile fondly at his mom and try to convince her that he’s Not A Little Kid Anymore. the hell you’re not mister

y'all are really just gonna sit there and let him talk you into this?? surely it can’t be that easy??

OH MY GOD

THE FEELS oh my god oh my god. BUT ALSO YOU’RE SERIOUSLY JUST GOING TO COLLAPSE INTO HIS ARMS SOBBING AND LET HIM DO WHATEVER THE FUCK HE WANTS LKJLJLFK. WHERE ARE ALL THE STRICT PARENTS AT?? AIZAWA, GANG ORCA, MITSUKI, SOMEONE PLEASE COME AND TELL DEKU TO SIT HIS ASS THE FUCK DOWN. NOW LISTEN HERE YOUNG MAN!!

“EVEN IF I TRY TO STOP YOU YOU’LL STILL LEAVE” WELL SURE, IF BY “TRY TO STOP HIM” YOU MEAN POLITELY TRY TO TALK HIM OUT OF IT FOR THREE SECONDS. HE’S SIXTEEN WTF WHEN DID HE BECOME THE BOSS OF YOU ALL. SOMEONE NEEDS TO COME AND TELL HIM HE’S GROUNDED

anyway sob so that’s the story of how Deku talked his parents into letting him drop out of school, and even convinced All Might to be his own personal Guy In The Chair. holy shit. this kid really went and rolled a nat 20 and the rest of them had no choice but to fold without argument

meanwhile here’s a panel of Best Jeanist trying to braid his phone into his hair just cuz

I’m dying to know which part of his language he considers to be crude here. you literally didn’t even use a contraction my guy

so now flashback!Deku is talking to Gran in the dark, and Gran is all “can you believe I’m not fucking dead yet lol that’s too funny. anyway, you sure I can’t interest you in killing Tomura after all?? no?? okay then here’s my cape.” truly a heartwarming scene

I’m kind of torn here tbh. on the one hand, my adhd ass wasn’t all that interested in sitting down and having an extended scene between these two when there’s so much else that I want to get to. but on the other hand, even I can admit that cramming this entire reunion into a single page seems just a BIT rushed. idk. like maybe someone can let Horikoshi know it’s a marathon and not a race. Deku didn’t even get any dialogue here, some of us want to know his thoughts!! but anyway

AND JUST LIKE THAT?!

how did all four of them let him con them into this. I literally just watched it happen and I still can’t figure out how. “I GUESS THIS SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT IS OUR LEADER NOW” ffflfjf. when Aizawa finds out he’s gonna go apeshit. AND DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON BAKUGOU KATSUKI, WHO I HAVE BEEN ASSURED DOES IN FACT STILL EXIST. WHAT ABOUT USSSSS, WHAT ABOUT EVERYTHING WE’VE BEEN THROUGH. WHAT ABOUT TRUST???! YOU KNOW I NEVER WANTED TO HURT YOUUUUU

btw lol don’t get me wrong, I am enjoying this, and I’m honestly glad Deku’s not alone because that would suck for him! but that said, Hawks and Jeanist have lost any credibility they might have once had as far as being The Responsible Ones, and as for All Might and Endeavor, fucking hell lol. everyone just deposited all of their fucks in a bank somewhere for safekeeping and decided to never look back. godspeed you mad lads

[moralesispunk]

Content

Frankie Morales x Female Reader (no name, use of Y/N or physical description) Summary: On Will’s wedding day, Frankie reflects on his perfect, little family with you.

Word Count: 1.2k

A/N: I am back from my holiday! I will be back to posting more regularly now and have started on my fisherman! Frankie fic which will begin soon while also working on the next caramel latte chapter!

Man, stop fixing your tie, it's fine!

Has anyone seen my cufflinks?

Do you have the rings?

I thought you had them?

What? I told you to lift them!

Wait... yeah they're in my pocket.

There was an organised chaos humming around the large hotel room that was suddenly feeling a lot smaller with the four men ransaking around as they prepared for the day ahead. Black tux jackets being swapped from man to man, hands reaching to straighten ties and bow-ties, the occasional hand running down a face when someone shouts out the time.

To be completely honest, none of them, least of all Will, thought this day would arrive. That somehow after all the shit that went down in South America he would end up in the same supermarket as his ex-fiance who caught him standing in front of the cereal aisle for five minutes, his head the noisiest yet quietest it had ever been. She took him to a coffee shop and listened as he told her everything that had gone wrong before giving him her number should he need to talk again. After seeing her it was the kick he needed to go to therapy and reevaluate his life, eventually finding the confidence to pick up the phone and ask her on a date.

Now, just over a year later, he was standing in a hotel room with his brothers in arms and  preparing to wait at the end of the aisle for the love of his life. He was surprisingly panicked, something the rest of the guys had never seen before even on the toughest missions. Pope was trying to lighten the mood as he poured some of those tiny bottles of whiskey and tequila into glasses before passing them out while Benny had lost and found the rings three times now. But Frankie?

Frankie was watching silently from the corner, texting you to check that you and the kids were ready and on your way. After the text had been delivered he placed his phone inside his tux pocket, sighing when his eyes locked on his panicked friend. He pushed off from the wall and walked over to Will, placing steady hands on his friend’s shaking shoulders.

“I’m going to tell you what you told me the morning of my wedding,” Frankie’s unwavering voice suddenly quietened the room, “do you deserve that woman who will be walking down the aisle to you in less than an hour? Probably not. But does she love you more than anyone else in the world despite all the fucked up shit you’ve seen and done? Hell yeah. And do you love her?”

“More than anything,” Will sighed.

“Yeah you do,” Frankie took his hands from his friend’s shoulders and patted him on the back, “so let’s finish getting ready and then you can go make her your wife so you can be the best goddamn husband.”

The now calm room was a lot easier to get ready in, all four men looking in the mirror for one last check before heading to the door. As they walked to the elevator Frankie’s phone pinged and he took it out of the pocket to silence it before checking the text.

Just at the church now. Sofia was finally convinced to swap the Cinderella dress for the flower girl one and baby girl is still asleep, let’s hope it stays that way for the ceremony.

Frankie smiled down at his phone, leaning forward to press the elevator button for the ground floor before texting back.

My Mom will pick them up later and then we can enjoy the free bar:)

The text bubbles were already popping up and he waited for your response.

Are you trying to get me drunk Mr Morales?

Well, while I’m sure you look beautiful in that dress I will tell you I can’t wait to get it off you tonight ;)

Frankie! I’m in a church!

Frankie chuckled as the elevator bell rang again and it opened to the hotel lobby, now a lot quieter than it had been with all the guests already at the church that was attached to the side of the hotel.

Just heading over now, baby. See you soon.

It was barely a two minute walk to the church, quiet as the other three men let their friend sort his head up before the most important day of his life. The peace was disrupted with the church doors opening, the chatter halting for a moment as the heads turned and landed on Will and they followed him down the aisle. 

Frankie’s eyes immediately landed on you, one of your hands balancing your eldest daughter who was bouncing on the pew seat while the other held your youngest to your chest. He paused as he reached your row, leaning across and giving a kiss to Sofia’s cheek and the top of baby girl’s head before finding your lips.

“You look... beautiful,” he whispered.

“And you look very handsome,” you whispered back as he stood up.

Frankie winked at you before following his brothers to the front of the church. It was a quick blur as they settled and the music began, notifying everyone of the bride’s soon to be arrival. At some point not long after the ceremony began, Frankie’s mind wandered back to his own wedding day four years ago.

He remembered how sick with nerves he felt the morning of until you started your walk down the aisle to him. You looked beautiful as you do everyday but now, with the air an official of commitment between you both, his heart faltered. He remembers every single word shared between you both, how you wiped his tears away with your thumb as he stuttered through his vows, how wide you smiled when you were pronounced husband and wife before biting your lip and leaning forward for your first kiss as a married couple.

His eyes moved up to find you again. You were whispering something in Sofia’s ear, your arm around her shoulder and keeping her close against your side with the baby tight against your chest and your arm slightly rocking to keep her asleep. 

It was at this moment that a wave of contentness washed over him; looking at his perfect, little family that had brought him back from the darkest point in his life. His wife still looked at him with the same love and adoration as she did on their own wedding day. His eldest daughter looked at him like he could slay every monster and dragon like the ones in her storybooks, and he would if it meant she would be safe. His youngest always settled quickly in his arms, like those same hands hadn’t killed and hurt before.

Your eyes flicked up to meet his, a small smile finding your lips. You mouthed those three words that you say to each other every day, which he returned knowing no one in the church was focused on him.

He had never felt the calmness that he was feeling in this moment before. For the first time he felt that somehow he maybe deserved the life that he had because no matter what he had done, in the army or on the grey legal area missions him and the guys had done since retirement, he loved the three of you more than anyone else would and he could protect you better than anyone else could. 

Now, with his three beautiful girls happy and healthy and safe, he knew what real contentness felt like.

//

Permanent tag // @phoenixhalliwell @asta-lily @hb8301 @princess76179 @sarahjkl82-blog @spideysimpossiblegirl @blackmarketmummy @bison-writes @dihra-vesa @queridopascal @sfr99 @rosiefridayrogersunday

[anonymousfiction211]

You always have a choice: 2

Summary: You and Loki went to his hiding place, after being locked up in prison on Asgard together. You still don’t quite trust the God and things get out of hand.  Word Count: 2.857 words Warnings: Bit of angst, smut A/N: There are a few more chapters coming. I will post them every thursday. This is an alternate timeline. Loki has encountered Asgard and helped Thor fighting the Dark elves. After that he took over Asgard, was caught and thrown in jail. Hope you like it <3 Click here to read chapter 1

The morning light shone trough the window and awoke you. Your hands roamed the space next to you. Your eyes snapped open when you didn’t feel anyone next to you. You sat up straight and scanned the cottage. You didn’t see anyone. You slowly got out of bed and stalked around. Loki was nowhere to be seen. Panic was starting to rise. You were stupid to believe that you could trust the God of Lies. He was gone, with the Tesseract, probably to save his himself. And you, you would die a painful dead, alone. Worse, he had used you. He could have taken off the moment you arrived here, but no. He probably just wanted to fuck you, which explains his way of fucking you. And you foolishly believed that he actually cared for you.

At this point you starting to search around the cottage for your clothes. You needed to move and fast. You dressed yourself and went to the kitchen. It wouldn’t hurt to grab some knives you could use as a weapon. The front door opened behind you, you turned around with two knives in your hand. Ready to attack, whomever had entered. You were surprised to see Loki standing there, eying you. ‘What are you doing, darling?’ he asked you. ‘Where were you?’ you screamed at him. You were still standing in your fight stance, adrenaline rushing through you. You were expecting him to make the first move. He just holds up a bag and looked a bit hurt at you. ‘Getting something for us to eat’ he said to you.

It took a few seconds for you to calm yourself. You lowered your knives to your sides, but still feeling bit on edge, you hold onto them. Loki closed the door behind you and walked towards the table, he was standing on the opposite side of it. With a loud thump he threw the bag of food on the table. You noticed his breathing was faster than it was a moment ago. His hurt expression has made way for an angry one. Without saying a word, he held out his hand and the Tesseract appeared. He put it on the table and slide it over to you. When you caught it a lump in your throat began to form. Tears were pricking behind your eyes, but now was not the time to display any sign of weakness. ‘Just take it and go’ he said. His voice was monotone, and his face didn’t show any emotion. You looked at the cube in front of you and back to Loki. Even tough he didn’t show it, you felt like you had hurt him.

That’s when you realized, you needed him, but he didn’t need you. He would be perfectly capable of living his live, whilst avoiding Thanos at the same time. After all, he apparently was doing that for a very long time. In this situation you were dependent on him and he could easily betray you. He could have betrayed you from the moment you were in Odin’s vault together, he could have run of with the Tesseract by himself. Or worse, deliver you to Thanos himself, he could easily spin it like that was his plan all along and get back in good graces with Thanos. ‘I thought..’ you started but couldn’t finish the sentence. The way he looked at you, you knew he already knew the end of that sentence. ‘I know we were in each other’s way a lot and didn’t treat each other like we should have. But for you to think I would actually do that. If you really believe that, take it and go’ he said. ‘And if I were you I should hurry. It will only take a few minutes before the signal of that stone will emit and after that a few seconds for them to be here’ he took a long pause. ‘If you don’t and you stay, I already told you. I need you to trust me’ he said.

You slid the cube back to Loki. After all, what choice did you have? You put the knives down on the table. Loki made the cube vanish like he did yesterday. He walked towards one of the chairs, grabbed a book and started to flip through it. ‘Loki?’ you said, hoping that you could somehow apologize for hurting him. But Loki didn’t respond and kept his attention fixed on his book. You walked towards the bag and saw that it contained some food, which you had never seen before. You took out something that looked like bread and pulled off a piece. You sat down at the kitchen table and nibbled at the bread. It tasted nothing like on Asgard, but it wasn’t half bad. You didn’t eat all of it, the suspense in the room made you lose your appetite. You put the rest of the food away in the cabinets. When you turned your back you felt Loki’s eyes on your back, but when you turned around his eyes were glued to his book. When you were done you decided to give it one more try ‘Loki?’ you asked again. He still didn’t answer you. You sighed ‘I’m going for a walk’ you told him.

You walked towards the door and turned the handle. When you pulled the door towards you, it didn’t open. You started to wiggle the knob and pull harder, but the door still didn’t budge. When you turned and looked at Loki you saw he had a small smile on his face. ‘You’re not going anywhere’ he told you, still not looking at you. ‘Seriously? you asked, stunned by this sudden move. He wasn’t even trying to hide his amusement at your reaction. ‘Just trust me, darling’ he purred. ‘Loki, don’t be an ass. Just let me leave’ you were starting to get aggravated.

‘Oh, I’m being an ass? How would you call your behaviour?’ he countered.

‘Given my situation, completely rational’ you answered.

‘Concluding that I abandoned you when you woke up and arming yourself is rational?’ he had lowered his book and he locked his gaze in with yours.

‘Given who you are, I think that it is’ the moment the words left your lips you knew you regret them. But you had already said them, no turning back now. You flinched when Loki got up from his seat and strutted a few steps in your direction. It made you take a few steps back, until you felt the table behind you. There was only a meter of space between you and Loki, but you could feel the anger radiate of him.

‘That’s how it is? After everything I’ve done fore you? You knew that I didn’t have to help you. In fact, my life would be a lot simpler right now if I didn’t help you’ he yelled at you.

‘Then why are you helping me? I don’t understand’ you yelled back at him. There was a silence for a minute. You two were still in some sort of staring match and you refused to be the one who would lose. ‘How could you not understand after last night?’ he asked you. He was still angry, but his voice was much softer now. ‘What? Because you told me you never let me go? Guys say anything when they just hade some’ it felt like an outer body experience. You literally saw yourself fighting with Loki like you were a third person in the room. And when you heard yourself, even you didn’t understand yourself. No wonder you were alone, you had no friends, always bouncing from place to place, the only ever solid relationship you had was an enemy. And that was Loki. He closed the distance between you. His hand went to your cheek and you flinched, expecting a hard blow. The blow never came, instead you felt the back of his index finger stroking your cheek. ‘I thought last night meant something. Apparently I was wrong’ he pulled his hand away from you and his soft voice was replaced with one of spite.

He took a stab back. ‘Loki, I didn’t mean…’ you started. Trying to explain your behaviour, even if you didn’t quite know where that explanation was going. ‘I help you, I protect you, I keep you safe and I’ve shared my bed with you. In return you think the worst of me, don’t trust me, and use me to escape your fate’ he said. There was no emotion in his voice, and that was worse than the anger and spite. ‘We have history, how do you expect me to forget that?’ you said. ‘I don’t, but even if I trapped you, or left you, it was only in situations which I knew you would be able to handle on your own’  

He walked towards the door and opened it. ‘Trusting someone is a choice. I’m the God of Lies, so people don’t choose to trust me. Even after I had my brother’s back a hundredth times, even if he was the one who was acting stupid and irrational. People lie, a lot. But somehow, I’m the one who always lies’ he took another step, he was standing outside with the doorknob still in his hand. ‘Where you’re going?’ you asked him, still thinking about what he had told you. ‘I’m going for a walk. You can stay or go as you please’ he said. Then he took a deep breath ‘But right now, I trust you to be here when I get back’ and with that he closed the door and left.

And for the first time in your life, you felt utterly alone. You were always alone, you barely remembered your life when your parents were alive, or you had friends. How it all went wrong, you couldn’t quit tell either. But being on your own was something you were good at, you always had your own back. There were flashes of your time in Thanos his clutches. The way he explained his plan, and how he treated you. It made sense to be on his side and you were hoping to find a family there. What you found was madness, chaos, and destruction. But by that time, it was too late, you were in too deep. You felt your tears starting to stream down your cheek. The only thing you wanted right now was for Loki to hold you, but he wasn’t there. You were alone, because you pushed him away.

You quickly brushed the tears from you face and walked towards the chair Loki was sitting in earlier. It still smelled like him. The book he was flipping through was laying there. You picked it up and it wasn’t noticed it wasn’t a normal book. It was a notebook, and you instantly recognized his handwriting. Maybe it was invading his privacy, but you couldn’t contain your curiosity. On every page there was a different scenario on how he could escape Thanos. He had written them down and later commented on his own ideas. Some he thought to be useful and some he found later to be downright stupid. Halfway through the page you came across a page where the title was underlined multiple times. Even tough he couldn’t see Thor breaking him out of jail and requesting his help to fight the dark elves coming, he had planned to fake his death a long time. He was just waiting for the right opportunity. And Loki was cunning when he saw his chance he took it.

When you turned the next page, you saw that his change had changed. He had written down everything you told him when the two of you were briefly locked up together. After a few pages you saw different plans. Plans about escaping Thanos, but ending up together. You looked at the date and saw it was dated only a few days after the two of you were thrown in a cell together. Next to his plans there were again, little comments he left for himself. You saw a debate with himself about including you, whenever you did something to annoy him he would write it down as a reason to leave or betray you. But he had scratched all those thoughts and written down reasons to help you underneath them. You couldn’t help but laugh a little at Loki’s constant bickering with himself. When you turned to the last written page you were absolutely stunned. The last page didn’t say much, it wasn’t about a plan he had come up with. It just said:

Last night was amazing. But you need to come up with a better plan, quick. Let’s face it, life without her in it isn’t worth living. And maybe get her a few books so she stops stealing yours.

After reading that you put the notebook aside. You scanned his bookcase and started to read one of the stories. Trying to distract yourself from all the thoughts and emotions, you didn’t want to deal with right now. When you were hungry you ate some of the food. You noticed it was getting darker outside and wondered when of if Loki would come back. You stopped that thought and realized it wasn’t a question of if Loki would come back, but when Loki would come back. Because you decided he would come back. He had to.

You jolted awake when the door opened hard. You realized that you had been sleeping on top of the bed, waiting for Loki to come back. Loki walked in and slammed the door shut behind him. You noticed rain was pouring down and Loki was drenched. Water was dripping from his hair and his clothes on the hardwood floor. You were wondering why he hadn’t just teleported back. The two of you looked at each other. His emerald eyes seemed to glow in the dark. He walked towards the bed while stripping off his clothes. The only thing he was wearing when he crawled onto the bed were his damp boxers. He crawled on top of you, and you let him. His body felt cold from the rain against your own. He kissed you fiercely and you eagerly returned the kiss. His hand was under your shirt and fondling your breasts. When he heard you moan you felt him smile.

You took of your top, giving Loki better access to your breasts. He took advantage of that by trailing his kisses down your neck to your nipples. The way his warm tong swirled around your nipples made them hard. After he was done with one he moved to the other. His hand was at the hem of your shorts and underwear and in one smooth motion he pulled the down. You were laying before him, you returned the favour by undoing his underwear. He looked at you and you swore you saw him looking sad. He sighed and didn’t move. You hesitated a bit, but decided to take matters in your own hands. You pulled him in by his neck for a deep kiss. Your heart fluttered when he returned the kiss. He was surprised and you took that to your advantage to flip the two of you around. Loki was laying on his bed, letting out a soft groan. You were straddling his lap and felt our heated core against his erect cock.

At this moment you didn’t needed foreplay. You were already wet and ready for him. He moans loudly when you took his cock and slowly pushed it inside of you. You didn’t give him any time to overthink this and slowly started to ride him. Loki grabbed your hips and after a while starting to move with you. You were riding him at a slow pace which was adding to the intimacy. When you started to moan Loki tried to speed you up by taking control of your hips. You grabbed his wrists and pulled his hands down on either side of his head. You were pinning him down whilst riding him. ‘(Y/N), I can’t hold off for long’ he whimpered beneath you. You felt all his muscles flex underneath you and knew he was trying to hold of until you were there with him. 

You broke your kissing on his lips and necks and sat up straight. You guided one of his hands to your clit and he started to stroke small circles on it. When you were panting you felt Loki’s cock inside of you twitch and his seed spill. It triggered your own orgasm. Loki moaned your name shamelessly when he felt your wall clench around his sensitive cock. After your high ebbed away you pulled off him and laid you head on his chest. Your arms were around him. You felt a touch of his magic cleaning the both of you up and suddenly the two you were beneath the blankets. ‘I’m glad you stayed’ he whispered to you. ‘I’m glad you came back’ you whispered back before you fell asleep safely in his arms.

[yuzukult]

i’m bad too 18 || kdy & reader

title: i’m bad too - drabble series pairing: kim doyoung x reader genre: angst, fluff, eventual smut, goodboy!doyoung, nerdy!dy (basically he’s a dork) & badgirl!reader, hitman!au, oc-isn’t-a-hitman-but-she-could-be!au, word count: 1.8k warnings: none for this chapter a/n: just two more chapters left to the end !! :D taglist: @wownajaemin​​​​ @crescent-iak​​​​ @ncttboo​​​​ @byunbaekby​​​​​ @jinfizz​​ @doyoungyoung​​ @ahgayeah0305​​ @doyobun​​ @sexualitaeyong​ @mrkleelvr​​ @m1ss-foodi3​​ @hcwurld​​ ← previous chapter || next chapter →​​

Doyoung’s favorite drink is caramel coffee.

He doesn’t like it hot—you recall him mentioning, he prefers it iced, and he finishes it so fast that the cubes don’t melt and condensation doesn’t drip off the sides of the plastic cup.

So you shouldn’t be surprised that he’s at this very café. Especially since it is his spot, but it also shouldn’t be news to you when you’ve come here everyday for the past two weeks in hopes of running into him.

You wonder how he’s been doing. It’s been months since you’ve last seen him; forever ago since you saw him with that girl Karina, and you’re curious if he thinks about you as often as you think about him. He’s on your mind daily, sometimes by the hour depending on what you’re doing, and he feels like a drug you can’t quite quit (despite the shortage of time you’ve done fine without him).

And you admit willingly that your feelings for him come rushing back the moment you see that pretty smile dressed upon his lips when he laughs from his chest at the video his friend shows on his phone.

But you continue to sit in the corner of the shop, face behind your device as if you’re immersed in the technology when you’ve got your eyes on him the entire time.

Instagram doesn’t do justice. You never know what he’s really up to, you learn, because his feed only shows the happy pictures he poses for. But his stories—you stay for that. There’s some nights you’d catch him posting something with a scenery, a little heartfelt description written along the horizon, and it gives you a glimpse of how he’s vaguely feeling. Maybe they’re for you, well, you were hoping they were, but for a guy who isn’t the greatest in the romance department, he’s very artistic, so it wouldn’t be surprising if it weren’t for you.

Maybe it was for Karina.

Okay, there might be a slight chance that you were bitter about that chick. She hung out with Doyoung often, from what you speculate, possibly involved in the same friend group, having mutuals together (which, already is how she’s so different from you). She roughly reminds you of that emotion that runs through your veins when you first saw Doyoung talking to Joy; that clenched jaw, tightened fist, and a deep swallow to push down all your anger. Joy was just a friend, and you eventually learned that without having to go the hard route, but Karina… didn’t give you any reason to believe her friendly motives. But Doyoung isn’t yours, you have to remind yourself, and because he isn’t, there’s no need to get upset.

For one, the times you followed (don’t judge, you missed him but didn’t want to approach him if he wasn’t ready) him, Karina always stuck to Doyoung like glue. She was practically joined by the hip; batting her pretty long lashes, cheeks brushed with that coral pink blush like she’s all embarrassed because sweet boy Doyoung accidentally touched the back of her hand, and whenever she got the chance, she’d hold onto his arm tightly, pretending that she couldn’t catch her balance in those Ultraboost sneakers that were basically socks on a sole with no support.

“Ugh, you always do this,” one of his friends says, loud enough that you could hear from where you’re sitting. “How do you manage to beat me every time?”

“I learned the tricks,” Doyoung retorts, voice stable but his face all smug. “Doesn’t look like you did though.”

The other guy rolls his eyes before tossing his phone onto the table. “Forget that dumb game. I’m actually curious about something,” he begins, leaning over with his forearms pressed against the surface. There’s a mischievous smile that tugs on the ends of his mouth, and you rest back in your seat in curiosity when his tone changes. “You and Karina. What are the two of you?”

You nearly snap the pen you’d been fiddling in your hand.

Fucking Karina. Again. This bitch just keeps being brought up, doesn’t she?

Doyoung shifts in his seat, hands with his phone dropping onto his lap. A brow quirks, narrowing a strange gaze at his friend. “Why are you asking?”

“Mmm, heard there’s rumors going around about Karina liking you.”

“And,” Doyoung takes a sip of his iced coffee. “Why’s that matter?”

The friend clicks his tongue, groaning that Doyoung isn’t picking up the not-so-subtle hints. “Because. Have you seen her? Or are you just blind. She’s smokin’ hot like… literally any guy would want to get with her. And you too, which is kinda crazy—”

“—is it impossible to believe that someone attractive can like me?”

“I mean, no offense Doyoung, you don’t exactly look like the type that would sweep those types of girls off their feet. You spent most of the time indoors! Watching movies, playing games, maybe sometimes you go out to clubs and parties but barely and it’s with our geeky friends. Even I can come to terms that I’m a geek. Jocks or bad boys are what she would be into.”

Doyoung sighs. “Where are you going with this?”

“You should date her. Since, you know, you have that chance.”

He shrugs, bending the straw of his drink like he’s occupied with something else that’s going on in his mind. He’s quieter than usual, especially around a friend, and it’s left you pondering what’s got him so tied up. But then, you hear it.

“I’m waiting for someone.”

His guy scoffs in belief. “You’re waiting for someone. Who? That chick you were having friends with benefits with like a year ago? Dude, she was also out of your league. Rode a motorcycle, didn’t talk to anyone, hot, and somehow you got her attention. But dude, she’s been gone for a while now.”

Doyoung purses his lips. “Told her to come to me whenever she’s ready. Karina and I don’t really have something like… that. Not worth dropping the chances of her coming back and seeing me with Karina.”

“She’s got you that bad?”

A soft smile pulls on his lips, and he nods confidently. “Yeah, she does.”

When Doyoung and his friend pack up their bags to leave, he halts in his tracks. “Actually, you head out first. I’ll meet you later tonight, I won’t be going to the pre-game.”

The latter stares at Doyoung suspiciously. “Really? What’s up with you? Thought you said you were tagging along.”

“Yeah but… I gotta do something real quick. I’ll meet up with you.”

Strange, you think to yourself, because Doyoung seemed like he was going to leave too, until that very last second. Then, you notice something. When his friend leaves through those double doors, he turns and looks directly at you.

At you. Like he sees you.

You’re not a ghost, but you’re pretty good at camouflaging yourself with a crowd. You’re not the prettiest nor the ugliest, so being average has an advantage in this field, but Doyoung isn’t like normal people. He sees you, and even though you’re in a black baseball cap with casual clothes to match, he still can spot you in a sea of people.

“You’re here,” he says, his tone between a question and a statement. Part of you expects him to be angry, fuming with rage because you’re here instead of asking him to meet up. “You’re… actually here.”

“I’m surprised you found me,” you retort, standing up from your seat and gathering up your belongings. “I thought I was good at blending with people.”

“I’m in love with you, you expect me to not see the girl I’m head over heels for?”

You pause.

Bag not even slung over your shoulder, your heart does the complete opposite of your motions and races. He what?

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Doyoung straightens his posture, trying his best to read the expression on your face. “Why… Why haven’t you called or reached out? Were you not ready until now?”

“I thought… you had a girlfriend,” you admitted, and truthfully, you’re not sure how Doyoung manages to get you to spill out your insecurities so easily. His eyes widened, and before he could say anything else, you interrupt his train of thought. “But that was months ago. It’s fine. I trained, and I’m back in the field, and I wanted to see how you were doing, that's all.”

“But you didn’t want to call me?”

You clear your throat, drifting your gaze elsewhere. “Like I said before. Thought you had a girlfriend. I don’t want to interfere with anything in your life that could be normal.”

He has a finger on your chin, directing your attention back to him. Your heart skips a beat this time, air sucked out of your lungs from his stare, and you swallow. “I waited for you, though. If you’re ready to come back, please come back. I have never dated anyone since I left your place, and I don’t intend to either. I made a promise and I’m keeping it.”

You hated reporting here.

There’s something ominous about this warehouse; it’s not just the people who occupy it, but it’s the building itself. Outside, it looks like an abandoned stone mill. Worn down walls, windows shattered, and located in a dangerous neighborhood, secluded from all the up-and-coming buildings that are being constructed a couple blocks down. The cars that came for drop off didn’t come here either, so it made the building even more mysterious and seemingly empty.

But the moment you stepped in the front doors—it’s like a factory.

A factory that manufactured everything from guns, grenades, to bombs, and so on. Everything that you wore on missions, everything you held between your fingertips, and everything you utilized in the field were all made here.

The headquarters.

Upon entering, you had to go through security. Guns are to be logged in, identities are checked through the system, quick but yet thorough pat down, and phones are chipped until you leave the premises. Needless to say, they were careful and even someone like you with so much skill and worthiness cannot go undetected here.

“Boss is asking for you.” A gorgeous girl says, clipboard in her arms. She’s got her hair tied in a low bun, glasses on with thick frames, and a pencil skirt to pair with her white blouse.

“I asked for boss, but yeah, that.”

She nods, bowing her head just slightly and you’re wondering how she even got in this field. Shy, quiet, and fragile, she seems, and you wonder if she knows what’s actually happening around here. “Please follow me.”

She takes you down a narrow hallway, far from where the other workers were posted, and takes you through these metal doors that looked too heavy for her to push, but the guards standing by the sides do it for her instead.

“Head on in. He’s waiting.”

“Right,” you gesture her a head nod in thanks.

Taeyong is seated at his desk, two additional guards standing on either side of the wood, and he’s fidgeting with the pen in his hand. “Lookie here. Our star player. Ten’s little sister. What do I owe the honor?”

“I want out.”

[jungblue]

aphrodite in war | 02

pairing: jeon jungkook x reader

genre: comedy, fluff, angst, eventual smut / greek life, fake dating, roommates, lovers to enemies and back to lovers au

word count: 14,243

description: Everyone knew about the war that had been brewing on the edge of campus for the past two years. Sorority versus Fraternity; a showdown for the ages. However, when the escalating antics between them yields the consequence of possible suspensions for both chapters, the presidents of each house must come together to try and figure out how to end this battle... Which is kind of hard, considering they were the ones responsible for it in the first place.

note: here is an audio post of a beautiful song with lyrics inspired by AiW, which was written by one of my lovely readers!

→ part 01

Red, hot anger had curled its way around your bones, forcibly moving your limbs until you somehow found yourself standing in front of the Lambda house with a single pair of heart-covered boxers in hand; murderous intent leaving Jungkook’s voice indiscernible in the distance as you’d left him standing in front of the defiled Tri Delt house. Maybe he was telling you to wait for him while he began to pull down the rest of the countless pairs of boxers that were plastered along the outside of the sorority. Or maybe he was telling you to not go inside because it would only make it worse to have the furious president of Tri Delt waking up dozens of Lambdas at seven in the morning. You genuinely couldn’t tell what he was shouting as you ripped the front door of the fraternity open and stomped inside. 

It had been over two years since you had stepped foot inside of your neighbor’s house, but it was exactly as you remembered. Red solo cups and crushed cans of beer scattered around the floor as a telling sign that it was indeed the morning after a night of partying, two Lambdas passed out on the couch because apparently the staircase that led to their rooms had been an impenetrable obstacle in their drunken states, and the scent of weed encasing the entire house that seemingly never went away. It was all the same, and you hoped as you went down the hallway to the left, that held a portion of the bedrooms in this house, that a particular person’s room was also the same as it had been before. You banged your fist against the door, scowling as you waited for the person on the other side to answer. 

“What the fuck?” You heard someone say. The voice was scratchy from just being woken up but still recognizable as the person you were looking for; Jimin. 

You banged on the door again, your patience level laying at zero. 

You heard the bed creak and then footsteps began padding across the floor. “Uh, is this the cops?” He asked, probably to know whether he should hide a few things before opening the door. 

You rolled your eyes. “No, I’m not here to confiscate your coke. Now. Open. The. Door.” You spat each word out through gritted teeth. 

“Y/N?” Jimin asked before ripping his door open, revealing a mop of messy bed head framing his bewildered expression. He stood there shirtless, adorning only a white pair of tight Calvin Klein boxers that were doing absolutely nothing to hide his morning wood. 

“Oh, god.” You threw your hand up to try and block out its unavoidable presence. 

Jimin glanced down at himself before raising his head, smirking as he leaned against his doorframe, not even attempting to hide the piece of him that you were trying to avoid looking at. “You’re not exactly decent yourself there, Nips.” He pointed toward your chest. 

Your eyes widened. In your rage you had completely forgotten about the attire you had decided was appropriate to storm the Lambda house in. You immediately crossed your arms over your chest to hide the fact that you were wearing the flimsiest tanktop of all time in combination with no bra. 

“Plus, I’m in my own house,” He started again. “What’s your excuse?”

“Trust me. I would’ve loved nothing more than to never had to of stepped foot in this place ever again. But,” You paused, holding up the pair of heart covered boxers you had ripped off the Tri Delt house because you thought they were the most recognizable among the sea of plain solid blacks, whites, and maroons. “I have a motherfucking bone to pick with someone in this house.”

Jimin studied the piece of fabric that you held up before him before his mouth dropped open. “Fuck, did you sleep with Taehyung? I’m gonna knock his ass out if Jungkook doesn’t get to him first.”

Your face wrinkled in disgust. “Ew, no. There are about a million pairs of boxers all over the Tri Delt house and I’m trying to find out who did it, so thank you for letting me know. Now where is Tae’s room?” 

“Oh, thank god.” Jimin’s expression softened, as if he was relieved that his friend didn’t sleep with you; who they thought of as the devil incarnate. “But no, I’m not telling you. I had nothing to do with that. I went home early last night. But Jungkook can deal with it, just like you can deal with what your girls did.”

“What’re you talking about?” You asked, eyes narrowing. 

“Oh, you don’t know?” Jimin smiled. “Some of the guys texted me before I fell asleep last night saying that when they left Pub they found their cars with words written all over their windows in lipstick.”

Your eyes screwed shut, tongue jabbing at the side of your cheek as you tried to calm the colossal wave of anger that flooded through you for a second time in the fifteen minutes you had been awake. 

What a fantastic day this was turning out to be. 

“Are you serious?” You finally asked, voice a little bit louder than you’d intended.

“Yeah, so you might wanna check your own people before you come into someone else’s house and accuse them of things.” He shrugged. “Might save you some embarrassment next time.”

Heat rushed to your face. You were pissed, but that was only because you agreed with him. “Look—” You started, not really sure what was going to come out of your mouth, but it was the squeak of sneakers running along the wooden floor boards that stopped you. 

Jungkook was suddenly rounding the corner, a mountain of boxers filling his arm. “Y/N, what the hell?” He hissed before dropping them to the ground. 

“What? I was just trying to get to the bottom of this.” You held the heart boxers up one last time before tossing them into the pile next to Jungkook’s feet.

“Yeah, and how’d that go for you?” He pointed towards Jimin. 

“Well, I found out who those boxers belonged to… But…” You trailed off, not wanting to admit what you just found out. 

“But?” Jungkook asked.

“But, she found out that it was only payback for some of her members participating in a little bit of lipstick graffiti on Taehyung and a few other people’s cars.” Jimin smirked next to you as he revealed what you were too embarrassed to say. 

There was a small pause, and then Jungkook was laughing, like he couldn’t believe that this was actually happening. That even after the threat of suspension to these people, they just didn’t care. And you just wanted to understand why. Was it truly because they didn’t care or was it due to the fact that the failed relationship that had acted as the catalyst to this war still held hostility and therefore still felt unresolved. Either way it was an issue that you and Jungkook needed to figure out how to fix. You were already trying to think of other possible solutions to this mess when another door a few feet away opened, and the sleep-deprived face of Taehyung poked its way out. 

“The hell’s going on out here?” He slurred before his eyes locked with yours. “Whoa, seriously what the hell is going on out here?”

A few more doors throughout the hall began to open. Clearly this little altercation had been a little bit louder than you’d anticipated. All of the Lambdas faces twisted in confusion as they found you standing in their hallway for the first time in years. 

“We found your little boxer exhibit,” You finally answered. 

Taehyung threw his hands up. “Hey, I only did it because of the—”

“—Lipstick,” You finished for him. “Yeah, yeah, I got that part already.”  

“Some of us had been drinking and it pissed us off.” Baekhyun shrugged, as he had been one of the guys to join in on this little morning confrontation. “Sorry.” 

“I can’t deal with this. I have a million other things to worry about today.” You rubbed your palms over your eyes in frustration as you remembered the other issue you had to handle once the financial aid office opened for their half day, since today was Saturday. The mystery of your less than lucrative bank account and the implications that it had on your living situation hanging over your head. 

“Well, as a sign of my immense regret and an attempt to repair this terrible relationship between our houses, I do have to say you look great this morning.” Baekhyun motioned towards your minimally covered body. “If you ever wanna hang out—”

You rolled your eyes, deciding to not listen to the rest of the garbage he decided to spew, but it turned out you didn’t even need to tune him out because suddenly a voice sliced through the air like a razor. 

“Watch it, Baek.” Jungkook sounded cold, mouth set in a firm line as he stared daggers down the hallway. 

“Uhm, I’m…” Baekhyun started, an awkward air encasing everyone. “I just woke up. I’m mildly delusional. My bad, Kook.” He tapped at his head and raised his hands as an apology before shutting the door. 

There was silence, a palpable silence that had Jimin, Taehyung and a few of the other Lambdas that had opened their doors grabbing the back of their necks as they stared at the floor. But Jungkook kept his stance, arms crossed over his chest as he continued to stare at Baekhyun’s door. 

After only a few moments of this you just couldn’t take it. You clapped your hands together, trying to let the sudden burst of sound break the tension. “Come on,” You said, pulling at Jungkook’s shirt. “Let’s talk outside.” 

He nodded, finally breaking his glare down the hallway before turning towards Jimin. “Do you think you could give me a ride back to my place in a minute. I don’t have my car.” 

“I can, but why’d you Uber back here last night instead of your place?” Jimin asked, clearly not privy to the events that had transpired between you and Jungkook last night. 

Jungkook’s eyes found yours for a split second before returning to Jimin. “I met a girl from Chi Omega. I was gonna meet her at her place, but it fell through.” He shrugged, a lie so on the fly that it made you wonder how many times he’d done that to you since knowing him. 

“Gotcha.” Jimin nodded, seeming to perfectly understand. “Just let me know when you wanna go.”

“Thanks,” Jungkook said as he joined you in stepping over the pile of boxers still strewn across the floor. “And make sure everyone picks this shit up.” 

“Will do, boss.” Jimin saluted before shutting his door behind him.

After that you made a straight line through the house, not wanting to stand inside this place that held too many memories. You breathed a sigh of relief when you pushed the front door open, letting the fresh air wash over you — albeit the hot, muggy fresh air that reminded you of the fact that it was the end of summer and rain every single day was a constant. 

“I got all the boxers,” Jungkook finally said. 

“That’s great, but it still doesn’t change the fact that my members fucked up first. Plus, I have this financial aid bullshit to deal with.” You pinched the bridge of your nose, trying to flush the stress from your body. “What the hell are we gonna do?” 

Jungkook shook his head and sighed, because like you he apparently also didn’t have any solid answers, but before he could try to offer anything his phone began to ring. He pulled it from his pocket and eyed the contact on the screen. 

“Give me a second. It’s my new roommate that’s supposed to be moving in this week,” He said before answering. 

“What’s up?” He began. 

You stood there for a minute, watching the way Jungkook’s face began to slowly devolve as the person on the other side of the line spoke, and from the expression on his face, it did not seem like it was good news. 

“Are you serious?” Jungkook finally said, grabbing at his hair. “Like I’m happy for you guys, but rent is due next week and you were supposed to be moving in and paying half.” 

It seemed you weren’t the only person having issues involving living situations. 

“I doubt I’ll be able to find anyone this short notice. And if I can’t there’s no way I can pay rent in full this month and have enough to last me the rest of the semester.” 

After that the conversation on Jungkook’s end was mostly just grunts and short responses as he was clearly frustrated and already had his mind focused on possible solutions. 

“Alright, alright, bye.” He hung up the phone, pressing his hands against temples. 

“Well that didn’t sound good,” You said. 

“Yeah, my new roommate apparently worked things out with his ex-girlfriend, so instead of moving in with me, he’s moving back in with her. So now, I have no one to split rent with and am basically fucked.” 

That was actually very unfortunate, but even though you and Jungkook had experienced a somewhat understanding moment last night, it still wasn’t enough to completely erase the hostile relationship the two of you had engaged in for the last few years. So the comment that you replied with was already halfway out of your mouth before you could even think to stop it. “I’m sure it wouldn’t be too difficult to convince some of your harem of girls to play roomie and split rent with you.” 

Jungkook turned to look at you, eyes narrowing into slits. “Yeah, I might do that actually.” He sounded pissed, clearly not finding any amusement in the comment that you admittedly shouldn’t have made. “And when you get kicked out of the Tri Delt house you should ask that guy from the soccer team if you can move in with him. What was his name? Hoseok?” 

You deserved the response, but it still didn’t make your blood boil any less. “Whatever, we can deal with our fucked up living situations later on. For now just try and think of a way to get our idiot friends to stay in line. We’ll see who has the best idea at Kappa Sig tonight. Did Yoongi tell you about the party? Are you going?” 

Yoongi was a mutual friend of yours and Jungkook’s from high school. He was also in a fraternity, but instead of Lambda Phi Epsilon it was Kappa Sigma, which was located a little further down Greek Drive. When the relationship between you and Jungkook ended he somehow managed to stay impartial and remained friends with the both of you, thankfully. 

“Yeah, I’m going,” He said simply, clearly still embittered from your joke. 

“Good, better start thinking then,” You said and then turned to head back towards the Tri Delt house; any progress you and Jungkook made last night seeming to snap in half as you left him behind. 

Yet, somehow you could feel him staring into your back, the lingering feeling not disappearing until you closed the front door to your house behind you. 

 —————-

You had spent the past half an hour nervously fidgeting in your bed as you waited for the financial aid office to open. As soon as the time on your phone read eight a.m. you immediately dialed their number. However, it was the first week of classes, and that meant that everyone and their mother needed to talk to financial aid, because unfortunately situations like yours were completely common. So even though you called the second they opened it was still a twenty minute wait before you finally heard a voice that wasn’t pre-recorded and asking you to press various numbers depending on your issue or question. 

“Hello. This is financial aid. How can I help you?” The woman on the other side of the line chimed.

“Hi, I have a question about my refund.” Your voice was high-pitched as it shifted into a mode that was more professional. “I received my refund on Thursday, and it was the correct amount. However, when I checked my bank account yesterday my refund had been completely taken out. I was just trying to figure out why that is.” 

She hummed in understanding. “Could you give me your student I.D number and we’ll see what’s going on.”

You rattled off your number and there was a few seconds of silence as the woman on the other side pulled up your information. 

“Okay, it says here…” She paused, presumably reading through whatever she was seeing once more. “That you will be getting your refund deposited back into your bank account, however, it had to be taken back out to adjust the amount. One of your scholarships informed the university that you and a few other recipients did not meet the new community service hours minimum they implemented to receive the scholarship this semester.” 

You felt the blood drain from your face, anxiety making your hands go shaky. “New community service hour minimum?” You asked, trying to understand what that was even referring to, because you knew nothing about the change in hours you were supposed to obtain. 

“Yes, they upped the amount. A few other students have already called to complain about this situation, but the office for that particular scholarship said that they sent an email out last year to inform you guys about the new amount that would be needed.” 

Email? You didn’t think that you ever received an email with any information about that. “Oh… okay… Uhm, I guess I’ll try and figure out what’s going on. Thank you.” 

You hung up the phone and immediately opened up your email app and began to scour through any undeleted messages from last year that you might have overlooked. And after a few minutes of scrolling, there it was, sitting in the depths of your inbox like some monster that was going to destroy you. You clicked on it as some sort of masochistic gesture. You already knew what it was going to say, so you didn’t know why you were even bothering to read it. And yes, there it was, written in bold print at the bottom of the email. A message that relayed the raise in community service hours needed. 

“Fuck my life!” You yelled, throwing a pillow over your face and screaming into it. 

Living in a sorority or fraternity was different than living in a regular apartment or house that wasn’t associated with the university. Instead of paying a monthly amount like a normal living situation, in order to live on campus you had to pay the full amount for the semester up front. Which basically translated to needing to fork over a couple thousand dollars all at once. Which, unless you were rich or incredibly well disciplined at saving money, scholarships and loans were the only option. That had been one of the reasons Jungkook decided to live at an apartment this year instead of at Lambda Phi Epsilon. 

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” You continued to yell into your pillow until your bedroom door was suddenly swinging open; a concerned Sana standing before you. 

“I’m sorry,” She said, walking to the side of your bed. “You totally could’ve been having sex in here, but the expletives sounded more like frustration than fun, so I wanted to make sure.” 

“It’s beyond frustration. It’s devastation.” You threw your pillow across the room to make your point.

“What happened?” She asked as she sat next to you on your bed. 

You took a heavy sigh and explained the entire financial aid situation to her, and ended with the consequence of your entire scholarship debacle. “So I’m not going to be able to stay here this semester. I’m gonna have to find a new place to live.” 

Sana’s mouth dropped, hand twisting into her hair. “Seriously? You’ve gotta move out?” 

You, Sana, and Jennie were best friends that had lived less than ten feet away from each other for the past three year, and you had all hoped for your final year to be the same. But hope was like that. It gave you so much to look forward to, only for it to end in a way that you didn’t at all expect. You had experienced that many times, unfortunately. 

“Yeah, looks like it,” You whispered, arm coming up to cover your eyes.

“No, it’ll be okay.” She squeezed at your arm. “I’ll text around today and see if anyone knows about people needing roommates.” 

“Thanks,” You said, offering a weak smile. 

“It’s not even something to stress over honestly. It’s gonna work itself out.” You could tell Sana was trying to be upbeat for your sake.

You nodded, but there were other issues besides where you were going to live. “But something that is apparently not going to work itself out is the failed peace treaty between us and next door.” 

Sana cocked her head to the side. “Wait… Did something happen? What did they do?” She sneered, having the same reaction as you from earlier this morning. 

“Plastered boxers all over our house.” Sana was about to go on a rant, but you informed her of the whole story before she could. “Because some of the girls wrote shit in lipstick on their cars at Pub last night.”

“You’re kidding me?” She slammed her palm down on the bed. “Who was it? I’m gonna kick their asses.”

The image that brought to your head actually made you laugh, which you were thankful for. You needed some sort of humor in your life on this miserable day. “I have no idea. I got a call from Jungkook this morning about the boxers and ran outside. I haven’t even had the chance to try and figure out who did it.”

“Wait… You were already here?” She asked. “You weren’t at Hoseok’s.” 

Oh yeah, you forgot Sana had left Pub last night expecting to not see you until some time later today when Hoseok brought you home. She still had no idea about Jungkook and that entire emotional disaster from last night. 

“Yeah, about that…” You definitely weren’t going to hide what happened, but you decided that you were going to sugarcoat it a bit. You didn’t like talking about your insecurities, even with your friends, so you decided painting it in a more positive light was for the best, because relatively speaking that actually had been a less hostile conversation compared to others that you and Jungkook had experienced over the years. “Because my bank account got emptied out from the whole financial aid thing, I just felt like going home instead of over to Hoseok’s, but I also didn’t have any money to Uber, so… Jungkook walked me home.”

Sana’s eyes widened, hands cupping either side of her face. “What?!”

“Yeah, he offered to walk me home.” You shrugged, trying to make it seem as though it wasn’t a big deal, but you knew that was going to do nothing to stop the onslaught of questions about to be thrown at you. 

“Wait, wait, wait, so did you guys talk? Did you argue the whole time? Was it just awkward and silent? Like tell me.” She moved closer to you on the bed, curiosity beaming off of her. 

“It wasn’t, uhm, bad actually.” You sat up, avoiding as much eye contact as you could manage without looking like a complete liar. “We talked and cleared the air on things. It was… enlightening.” That wasn’t a total fib. Certain feelings had been revealed, and yes, that might have ended up with you crying, but in the grand scheme of things that was a totally miniscule detail, right?

Sana’s expression twisted into that of bewilderment. “...Enlightening? What does that even mean? What became enlightened?” 

You shrugged, buying yourself time to try and think of some way to fumble through any sort of half decent explanation. “Just our feelings on everything that happened and how we felt. Nothing crazy.” 

She squinted her eyes, finger tapping at her nose. “I feel like there’s something you’re not telling me.” 

“There isn’t. We just understand each other a lot better now.” You knew the longer she pushed the higher the possibility of you cracking, so you decided to bring up the one thing that you knew would flood her mind with thoughts completely unrelated to you and Jungkook. “You’ll see at Kappa Sig tonight. We’re better with each other now.” 

Pink flushed to Sana’s cheeks at the mere mention of Kappa Sig, because in her mind Kappa Sig directly correlated to one of its members; Kim Seokjin, or one of Yoongi’s good friends. 

“I almost forgot about the party tonight,” Sana started. Mission success it seemed as she completely dropped the conversation from before. “Maybe love is in the air, and Jennie’s luck with Namjoon will rub off on me tonight with Jin.”

“Maybe it is.” You smiled. 

Sana gave you a strange look at your response, and you weren’t sure why, but you didn’t get the chance to find out before she dropped the expression and moved on to something else. 

“I’m gonna text Jennie and see when she thinks she’ll come home.” She began typing on her phone before looking back up at you. “You wanna go get lunch or something in a few hours? Get your mind off of the whole financial aid thing while we wait for the party tonight? My treat since you don’t have your refund back yet.”

“That actually sounds great.” Sana leaned in, hugging you before jumping from your bed and heading back to her room directly next to yours. 

You fell back flat against your bed, eyes wandering around your room. The pictures plastered across your walls of all of your friends and family. Posters of your favorite shows and movies. You couldn’t help but think about how in a week or so this wasn’t going to be yours anymore. 

Where you were going to wind up at in the end, well, that was a complete mystery.

———

JUNGKOOK’S POV

Jungkook climbed into Jimin’s truck, slamming the door behind him. He pressed his forehead against the dashboard, palms pressing at his temples to try and relieve even the tiniest amount of stress that was currently running amok through his head. 

Jimin jumped into the driver’s seat a minute later, whistling at the sight of his friend in such a rough position. “You good, man?” He asked. 

“Do I look good?” Jungkook asked, sitting up against the seat. “I’ve gotta find a new roommate in the next week, act like a goddamn babysitter between forty-two grown adults, and worry about Y/N storming around the Lambda house now apparently.” He paused, clenching his hands into fists. “So, no, I’m not good.”

“Kook, just take it easy.” Jimin reached over, squeezing at his friend’s shoulder. “There’s gonna be a ton of people at that party tonight, and I guarantee you at least one person there needs a place to stay or at the very least knows someone who does.” 

Jungkook nodded because he agreed that there were always people looking for places to stay. “What about the other two things?” 

“Oh, you’re fucked on those. I don’t know what to tell you.” Jimin laughed as he hit the gear into reverse. 

“You sound surprisingly calm about that, considering the chapter will be suspended if me and Y/N don’t figure out a way to make things okay between everyone.” 

Jimin shrugged as he pulled out of the driveway. “If I had come out last night and seen my truck covered in lipstick, would I have been pissed? Sure. But, I would’ve just told you so that you could tell Y/N, and she could deal with it. The fact is, that’s how I am, but everyone’s different and you two can’t control that many people without some sort of miracle.”

Jungkook sighed, banging his head back against the headrest. “A miracle, huh?”

“Yeah, a straight up miracle,” He repeated as he drove past the Tri Delt house that was no longer covered in boxers. 

Jungkook’s eyes drifted to the far right window on the second story, a small twinge budding inside of his chest. Words from that night almost two years ago pushed their way to the surface as they never failed to do. 

“It’s nothing that you did… I’ve just been having these… thoughts.”

“Thoughts? What, thoughts of cheating on me? Of being with other people?”

“No! I mean, it’s not how you’re thinking. It’s just… You’re the only person I’ve ever dated, Y/N, and I don’t know if…”

“Oh, I’ll finish it for you, Jungkook. You don’t know if there’s someone better. Just fucking say it instead of going around it like you have been for months now.”

“I don’t think there’s someone better. I’m not ending this because I met someone else. I’m ending this because I can’t look at you and say I love you everyday when I’m having these thoughts, because it just doesn’t seem right. And I’m not saying that I don’t love you. I still do, but that doesn’t stop me from having these feelings of doubt about whether this is the last relationship I ever wanna have, when it’s the only one I’ve ever been in. I can’t just sit there and look at you when I know I’m thinking these things. I can’t do that because I care about you so fucking much, even if you’re looking at me right now like you hate me. I don’t want you to hate me.”

Jungkook wished he could permanently scrub that night from his head. There was so much crying, so much blame, so much anguish, from having to end things with someone that he truly did love. He hadn’t stopped loving you. That wasn’t why he broke up with you. He ended things because he wanted to be sure that the one experience that he’d ever had was the right one. And he knew when he took that risk that he could be throwing away something that was perfect. But he couldn’t be sure until he knew.

He had dated a few people in the two years since that night, and he had found some great relationships with some great girls — but nothing that had lasted. None of them ever felt as if he could see himself with them for years and years to come, and wasn’t that the whole point of dating? And of course, he couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like if he had never ended things with you. He thought about it every time he saw you actually. You wouldn’t know that, and no one around him would know that, because there was always something hostile coming out of someone’s mouth. Jungkook had hurt you, and he understood that, but it still didn’t excuse some of the things that you had accused him of over the years, and after a month or so he had gotten tired of playing polite and matched your antagonism; insult for insult, sneer for sneer. 

He wasn’t sure if they could ever fully reconcile. The words had been said and there was no taking them back. He thought last night was actually a step in the right direction, with you revealing why you acted the way that you did. But still, he wasn’t sure if things could ever be civil between the two of you. The embitterment ran so deep on both sides that it seemed almost impossible to even try. 

Jungkook remained lost in these thoughts when through his haze he heard Jimin speak a name that had him fearing for half a second that his friend could read his thoughts. 

“Y/N?” Jungkook asked. 

“Yeah, what actually happened last night?” Jimin glanced over, one brow arched. 

“Uhm, what do you mean?” 

“When I asked about why you were at the house and not at your apartment, you looked at Y/N.” Jimin slapped one hand to his chest. “Don’t think I didn’t notice.” 

Well, he had only looked at her for all of half a second, so yeah, he had kind of hoped that no one would notice. But unfortunately, someone did, and that happened to be his nosy ass best friend. 

“Y/N got stuck at Pub last night with no ride because financial aid fucked up her refund, and she couldn’t get a ride, so I walked her home. That’s it.” Which was true. He had done exactly that, but simply failed to mention the crying and sentimental admissions. 

“So why didn’t you just say that when I asked?” 

Jungkook ran a hand through his hair. He really didn’t want to reveal any of the details from what you’d told him last night, but he knew Jimin wasn’t going to stop asking until he at least told him something of substance. “Because there were other people in the hall listening, and I didn’t want them getting the same ideas as you right now.” 

Jimin smirked. “Oh yeah, and what am I thinking?” 

Jungkook shook his head, turning to look out of the window. “I’m not even gonna say it.”

“Any talk of feelings or gushy bullshit?” Jimin chuckled, clearly joking, but Jungkook hesitated before answering, and that was all his friend needed to assume whatever theory was being crafted inside of his head. “Oh, Jesus, did you guys actually talk about your feelings? Oh my god, did you guys kiss? Fuck?” Jimin was looking at Jungkook frantically now, like he needed the answers to the questions being proposed in his favorite TV show. 

“You’re truly the biggest gossip I’ve ever met.” He leaned back in his seat, arms crossed over his chest as Jimin pulled into his apartment complex. “It’s sad.”

“Your lack of answers is making me lean towards you guys fucking. And if that happened,” He let go of the steering wheel for a second to motion at his head as if it was exploding. “I’m gonna lose my goddamn mind. Like I get it, sex is sex, but after everything she’s said about you since you guys broke up, I just…” He trailed off, shaking his head in disappointment like he had already decided that the two of you had definitely hooked up.

“She said that shit in the beginning because I made her feel terrible about herself, so she wanted to make me feel terrible too. I’m not saying that it’s right, but at this point we’ve both said shit we regret and didn’t mean.” He tried to make it seem more casual by shrugging. “And we didn’t sleep together. Chill out.”

Jimin’s expression was skeptical as he pulled into the parking space in front of Jungkook’s building and unlocked the doors. “Still, something definitely happened, because otherwise you would be talking about how she was acting like a bitch, but you’re not, which means that you weren’t acting like an asshole, which in turn means that something went down, because the last time the two of you were anything less than pissy to each other was when you were still dating.”

Jungkook simply placed a hand on Jimin’s shoulder, forcing a smile. “Your conspiracies are unmatched, my friend.” And then he was climbing out of the truck, shutting the door, and waving his friend goodbye without even looking back. 

However, that didn’t stop Jimin from rolling down his window as he began to back out of the parking space, throwing his final sentiment to the wind. “You guys getting back together was the kind of miracle I was talking about.”

———-

It was currently ten p.m. and the scene on Greek Drive was about two dozen or so Tri Delts making their way towards the most well known party frat on campus; Kappa Sigma. 

Kappa Sig was the blueprint for the types of fraternities that you see in various movies or TV shows. There was never a time when your shoes weren’t sticking to the wooden floors due to the constant barrage of alcohol being spilled by various drunken patrons. Each member had an actual mini bar set up in the corner of their room, which in the next few weeks, once football and tailgating started up, would be the most popular place to score some free drinks — if you were a girl that is. Kappa Sig was also fairly stereotypically frat in who it allowed entrance into its castle of alcohol and sex. Basically, if you were a girl, you were good. If you were a guy, well it was complicated. Usually it was a no go, or you were asked to pay such a ridiculously high cover at the door that no one in their right mind would pay it, or the easiest way: have a friend who had sway within the house. 

So fortunately for you, Sana, Jennie, and the rest of the Tri Delts, it was a non-issue. However, unfortunately, Yoongi, a good friend of yours and Jungkook’s, happened to be the president of Kappa Sig, and therefore Lambdas were allowed free reign. No cover charge and no being turned away, which meant tonight was bound to be interesting. 

“Jennie, hold my hand until we get there.” Sana didn’t even wait for a response and instead opted to simply interlock their fingers. “I need good luck in the crushes-actually-approaching-and-showing-interest department.”

Jennie laughed, swinging their arms back and forth between them. “Well if you can get even half my luck, it should be a good night for you.” 

“Oh, wow. Way to brag, bitch,” Sana said, throwing a hand over her heart. “We’ve got Mrs. Already Dick Whipped over here.” 

“I am not!” Jennie yelled. “He just…” 

“Lasted longer than sixty seconds?” You finished for her with a purse of your lips. 

She pointed at you. “That he fucking did. That and so, so much more.”

Sana groaned next to the two of you. “Ugh, I want that. I haven’t had good sex in months.”

“Well, even if things don’t happen with Jin tonight, there’s gonna be plenty of guys here,” You tried to remind her. 

“Uh yeah, lots of Lambda guys,” She reminded you right back. 

You shrugged. You didn’t like that it had become this sort of unwritten rule that Tri Delts and Lambdas couldn’t get together, but when everyone was pranking or fucking with each other’s stuff, it was kind of difficult to look past that just for the sake of a hookup. 

“Well, Kappa Sig boys for you tonight it is then.” You motioned towards the top of the driveway, the party seemingly already completely started. 

The music was blaring and there was a fairly long line of people waiting to get in, but it only took a couple minutes for you to move through the line and pass over the threshold and into the scene of dimmed lights, packed bodies, and endless alcohol. 

You knew you had a lot of things to worry about, but after the absolutely horrendous two days that you’d had to endure, between suspension threats, disastrous house meetings, crying in front of your ex, the boxer and lipstick fiasco, and financial aid meltdowns, you just wanted to be able to relax and have fun for a single night. You didn’t think that was too much to ask for, and the vodka bottle currently staring at you from the kitchen, seemed to be calling you and saying they were the perfect place to start in order to make that fun, relaxing night come true. 

Once everyone got into the house, the girls broke up into their mini groups of close friends. You motioned to Sana and Jennie to follow you to the kitchen so you could get some drinks. It took some effort but the three of you eventually managed to make your way through the crowd that couldn’t bother to idle anywhere else besides around the counter of various alcohols and plastic cups. Each of you quickly made a sufficiently strong cup of vodka combined with whatever random mixers were available. 

“Okay, now let’s find a comfy couch that isn’t covered in vomit stains to camp out on and get plastered.” You pointed towards the living room, where a majority of the party goers were. 

“A couch without vomit stains?” Jennie clicked her tongue. “That’s a tall order for Kappa Sig.”

“Indeed.” Sana giggled, pointing towards some of the few empty places to sit in the back corner. 

You made your way over there, exchanging hellos with a few people that you knew before plopping down on the couch, all three of you spilling a few splashes of your drinks on each other; not even a drop of alcohol in your systems yet. 

“Well this is a great start.” You laughed, taking a large gulp from your cup that had you grimacing. “Jesus, this cheap ass Pinnacle. Come on, KS, get your shit together.” 

“Well excuse the fuck out of me.” The voice came from someone you recognized immediately. 

You turned around, a wide grin plastered across your face. “It’s okay Yoongi. I still love you even though you’re making us suffer with cheap booze.” 

He sauntered over, sitting down on the armchair beside you. “Well, you’re lucky you’re one of my very good friends or I wouldn’t bless you with my own personal stash.” His smile was devilish as he pulled up a bottle of Tito's vodka.” 

There was a collective gasp from you and friends. “Wow, keeping the good shit all to yourself.” 

“Hey, didn’t I just say I was gonna help you out?” He twisted the cop off and motioned for the three of you to hold your cups out, and one by one he filled your cups up to the very top. “Be wise with this power, friends.” 

“You know, Yoongi,” Sana said from across the couch. “I’d be totally willing to not take advantage of your hospitalities if you’d wanna help me out in another department.” 

“Jesus, Sana!” You already knew where she was going with this. “You’re willing to drink rubbing alcohol instead of Tito’s just to get a good word in to Jin?” 

Sana simply shrugged, zero shame in her methods. 

Yoongi laughed. “Put a good word in? I’ll see what I can do.” 

“Appreciate it.” She raised her cup to his and they cheered in the hopeful union of Sana of Jin. 

Yoongi opened his mouth to speak, but something near the front of his house caught his eye. “Also, can we try to have no brawls in the house tonight?” 

“Huh?” You were confused until you followed his line of sight, a mob of Lambda boys entering the house one by one; Jungkook leading them all. 

“No fighting,” Yoongi reiterated. “Or no more Tito’s for you.” 

You rolled your eyes, taking a sip from your drink that was currently ninety percent vodka. “You haven’t heard? We’re cordial now.” 

“Cordial? A Greek Drive miracle, I guess.” He stood up from the armchair and motioned towards the guys. “I’m gonna go say hey to Kook.” 

You nodded. “Okay, I’ll catch up with you later.”

Yoongi had managed to stay good friends with both you and Jungkook throughout this entire process. You hated the fact that the three of you never got to hang out together anymore because of the tension between you and Jungkook, but, hey, that was life. 

“Don’t forget our deal, Yoongi!” Sana shouted as he started across the living room. 

“I got you, girl. But just so you know our bedrooms are right next to each other so be mindful.” He lowered his hands to the ground, silently saying to keep the volume down. 

“You’re the best!” She said, kissing her hand and throwing it out to the party host. 

“Someone might be getting lucky after all.” You squeezed at her thigh before standing up. “So while you celebrate that, I’m gonna put more mixer in this drink so I don’t blackout by midnight.” 

“You act like you don’t do that every other week.” Jennie laughed. 

You squinted at her. “Rude.” 

“Love you,” She said, making a heart shape with her hands as you made your way back towards the kitchen. 

You gave small smiles as you passed more people that you knew that had just arrived at the party. You glanced towards the door, the Lambda boys still congregating there. You couldn’t help your eyes from catching on Jungkook. He was standing there, grinning at everyone who approached him. He was the type that could be friends with anyone. A bright light that everyone gravitated towards, that no one ever found boring. You bit the inside of your cheek at the gnawing though that never failed to enter your head anytime you saw him. And it was like he could sense that pull, because then he was looking at you, giving a small nod of acknowledgment. 

A tiny, insignificant nod. At its very best, that was what your relationship was now, and that made you feel incredibly empty. 

You screwed your eyes shut for a second, shaking your head, trying to force those things from your head as you finally made it to the kitchen and poured a little bit of the first soda you could reach into your cup; just a little bit. 

And the party continued on like that for the next hour or two. Laughing and smiling with your friends and then hunting Yoongi down to steal some of his personal alcohol, all while catching random glances of Jungkook. It was fun and your buzz was well in effect by the time it was once again the moment to go find Yoongi.

You asked Sana, who was currently talking to Jin in the corner of the living room, if she had seen him. Apparently a very good word has been put in and two seemed to be hitting it off. 

“He went out back.” She motioned towards the sliding glass door. 

You offered a hum of thanks and left them to mingle alone as you made your way to the door and pulled it open. You searched the tiny groups of people that were standing around, not able to find Yoongi anywhere until you noticed two occupied chairs sitting in the distance. One was Yoongi and the other… Well, of course it just had to be Jungkook. 

You took a deep breath, taking a sip of your drink before walking out to the secluded area beneath the giant tree where they were chatting. You did a little run in the last few feet of approaching them before kneeling down next to Yoongi’s lawn chair. his body slightly hiding Jungkook’s. 

“Hello, my spirit bearing friend.” 

“And if it isn’t the spirit stealer herself,” Yoongi said as he grabbed your cup and poured a shot or two inside. “I already had to get another handle of Tito’s from my room. You’re killing me tonight.” 

“It was a bad day.” You poked your bottom lip out as an apology. “I’m sorry.”

“It couldn’t have been that bad.” He motioned towards your cup that he had filled up multiple times already tonight. 

“Well, I fucked up something with one of my scholarships, so now I’ve gotta find a place to live by the end of next week because I can’t afford to stay in the Tri Delt house.” You shrugged, the alcohol making the daunting situation seem less serious than it actually was. “So yeah, bad day.”

“Are you serious?” Yoongi said at the same time that Jungkook leaned forward with this concerned look on his face before saying, “Wait, what?”

“No… It’s, uhm, fine.” You glanced at the ground and began awkwardly scratching at your temple. “I don’t wanna ruin the mood for tonight. I’m gonna start looking for roommates tomorrow, so if either of you guys know of anyone.” You pointed your cup towards both of them with a shrug, trying to make it seem casual. 

Yoongi nodded, and then suddenly a smile was creeping across his face. You knew that expression well. It was the expression he’d made when you were all sixteen and drunk and decided that going to the rope swing down by the lake (the alligator infested lake) in the dead of night was a perfectly sane idea. Or when it was your senior year prom and he convinced you and Jungkook that an impromptu beach trip a few hours away would be fun, and it might actually have been if any of you had thought about money, hotel reservations, or just any sort of planning in general, but you didn’t, so it essentially became a three drive only to end up at a  Denny’s in a beach town instead of your hometown. The point was, you had seen that expression many, many times, and it was one that he made when a bad, impulsive idea started creeping through that brain of his.

“Whatever it is, no,” You said as you pushed some of the leaves and sticks off of the grass so you could sit down. 

“You don’t even know what I’m gonna say!” He exclaimed. “It’s a brilliant idea actually.” 

“Yeah, we know that face anywhere.” Jungkook moved his chair forward slightly so that the three of you were now sitting in a triangle, facing one another. “Ideas that come from that face are never brilliant.” 

Yoongi smacked his lips. “Well, that’s offensive.” 

“What’s offensive is almost getting eaten by alligators because you convinced us by using bogus gator attack statistics,” You pointed out, and Jungkook chuckled at the memory. 

“But, we didn’t get eaten, so it’s fine.” He shrugged. 

“Whatever.” You rolled your eyes. “So what’s this plan cooking in your head right now?” 

The devilish expression returned once more as he began looking back and forth between you and Jungkook. Oh, this was not good.

“Well, you said that you need a place to stay, right?” 

“...Right,” You said hesitantly, not completely sure where this was going until he turned his sights towards Jungkook; the phone call you’d overheard from earlier in the day flashing through your mind. 

“Yoongi, you idiot—” You started to say, but he was already spewing the other half of his grand plan. 

“And Jungkook needs a roommate!” He shouted, clapping his hands together like he’d just invented the surefire way to cure a hangover. “It’s perfect!”

There was a pause between the group, complete silence save from the chatting going on closer to the house — and then there was uncontrollable laughter. You and Jungkook doubled over at the most ridiculous proposal that you’d ever heard in your entire lives. 

Because it was totally ridiculous… Right?

“Why are you guys laughing?” Yoongi asked, looking genuinely confused. “That solves literally all of your problems.”

You caught the tear that was escaping out of the corner of your eye. “Yeah, it’s a great idea in theory Yoongi, if me and Jungkook didn’t have issues.” 

“I mean you guys are sitting here right now with each other.” He motioned between the two of you. “And there’s no fighting going on like there usually is. Plus, you said your houses were cordial now. I thought that meant you guys too.”

You and Jungkook glanced at each other, the amused smiles from Yoongi’s scheme faltering slightly. It had been a long time since you guys had been like this with each other. There was the talk after Pub last night and now you were here, just sitting and laughing with a mutual old friend. It was nice, you had to admit. But living together? That was just totally absurd. 

“Yoongi, that’s…” Jungkook trailed off, shaking his head, but not saying anything concrete. “And it doesn’t actually solve all of our problems… Our houses aren’t as cordial as we were hoping they’d be, even after we told them about President Kwon’s suspension threat.” You had texted Yoongi about the suspension fiasco yesterday and you were sure that Jungkook had done the same. 

“Wow, your members really are fucking idiots.” Yoongi laughed, shaking his head in disbelief. “You guys have way more pull than you realize.” 

Your brows furrowed. “What do you mean?” 

Yoongi held one finger up as he sipped from his cup, like he was about to drop some serious knowledge on the two presidents who had no control over their houses. “College kids are like toddlers. They need guidance. Before you guys were sort of like their big brother and sister whose lead they followed because they liked you and thought you were cool — that’s how you guys became presidents after all. Which means now you’re essentially like their parents.” 

You snorted at the idea, but it wasn’t the craziest analogy. You remembered when you were a freshman and first joined Tri Delt. The president back then felt like this motherly figure who you could go to for anything. It was hard for you to think that other people now saw you that way, but maybe they did and you hadn’t fully noticed yet. 

“You’re laughing, but I’m serious,” Yoongi started again. “Okay, so you guys told them they needed to get their shit together, right?”

You and Jungkook both nodded.

“And like I said, you guys are like their parents — their divorced parents who they respect but feel the need to defend depending on whose side they're on.”

Again, you and Jungkook just looked at each other, a tiny piece of understanding falling into place. You and him had just been two people who didn’t work out. You thought it was a simple issue, but you just never realized what the consequences of that would be. People choosing sides. Defending each other’s actions. Getting even. 

It was a mess. A mess that needed to be fixed somehow. 

“Well that’s nice to know,” Jungkook said, breaking you from your thoughts. “But it doesn’t actually help us fix anything.”

That was true. Just because you knew why everyone had so easily fallen into this feud didn’t change the fact that something needed to change. Something had to be done… And as you glanced over at Yoongi, his expression that signaled bad ideas returned once more. It let you know that he had an idea or two about what could be done. 

“Well, maybe you guys could reverse the divorce.” He shrugged. 

It took you a second to grasp what he was trying to say, and then you were sputtering and ripping the bottle of vodka from your friend’s hand. “You’re cut off.”

Jungkook scoffed, an incredulous look adorning his features as well. “Seriously, what the fuck did you smoke, dude?” 

“Nothing!” He grabbed the bottle back from your hand. “Strictly liquor tonight.”

“Like the roommate idea was one thing—” Jungkook started. 

“Oh!” Yoongi cut him off. “So you didn’t think Y/N moving in was the worst idea ever.”  

“I… I…” His mouth was closing and opening, like he truly didn’t know what to say. “Like as a last option it wouldn’t be the end of the world.” 

“What?!” You said, a little louder than you’d intended, but you couldn’t help it. He was actually considering the idea of the two of you moving in together? “Us? Living in the same house?”

Jungkook shrugged. “I mean it’s better than you being homeless and me being broke.”

Your head was spinning, and you didn’t know if it was from the alcohol or that this insane idea was actually being proposed in a semi-serious manner. 

“See, this is perfect!” Yoongi sat the glass bottle down on the grass and reached out to grab at yours and Jungkook’s arms, yanking you closer together. “Just pretend to get back together. If you just said it, no one would probably believe you, but if you guys actually move in together, no one would think that you’d go that far just to get everyone to stop fighting. The Great Greek Ruse! It would be the best story of all time!”

This was crazy. This was absolutely fucking crazy, and you knew Yoongi was half-joking with all of this, but you could tell that there was little bit of hope gleaming off of his eyes. 

You grabbed Yoongi’s face on either side, forcing him to look at you. “You. Are. Fucking. Plastered.” You said each word slowly and deliberately to try and penetrate through the haze of drunkenness to get to the part of him that held actual common sense.

“Yes, I am in fact plastered.” He grabbed your wrists, his excitement only seeming to multiply. “But I would argue that the most logical solutions to problems come from being drunk. There’s no hesitation that an idea seems ridiculous, because everything seems less ridiculous when you're fucked up.”

You fisted your hands through your hair. “You’re crazy. Literally crazy. Jungkook, tell him he’s crazy.” You looked at him for confirmation, but he just sat there, pursing his lips like he was… thinking. Like he was actually considering it. “Are you serious?” 

He threw his hands up in a defensive position. “No, it’s completely crazy. It’s just… Do you have any better ideas?”

“I can’t believe we’re even talking about this right now.” You scoffed, falling back flat against the grass and throwing your hands over your face. “Even if we did try to be that stupid and lie to everyone, they would never in a million fucking years believe that we would ever get back together. We fought in front of them literally yesterday!” 

You peeked through your fingers and Jungkook held an expression that made it seem like he wasn’t so sure that was true. “I don’t know about that. All I did earlier was tell Jimin that we talked last night and two seconds later he had gone off on some tangent about how disappointed he was in me for sleeping with you again — and I corrected him that we didn’t, by the way.”

“Oh, fuck Jimin then,” You hissed, going off topic from this insane fake dating ruse. 

“Come on, you know how it is. Sana and Jennie would act the same way. It’s like Yoongi said, the Lambdas defend me and the Tri Delts defend you. That’s literally how this entire mess started.”

You sighed, sitting back up and raking any stray pieces of grass out of your hair. You didn’t say anything, because you truly didn’t know what the correct response was. Sure, you knew that you needed to figure out a way to not get your chapters suspended… But this idea of pretending to get back together? You tried to imagine the reactions, but you just couldn’t, because again, this was fucking absurd. You were about to verbally reiterate this point once more when Jungkook continued. 

“Look, all I’m saying is that when we broke up they saw how bad our relationship got and they decided to defend us. Maybe if we pretended to get back together, just for a little bit, they’d finally back off because the entire reason they started fighting in the first place wouldn’t even be an issue anymore.” Jungkook shrugged. He fucking shrugged. 

“Do you even understand what pretending to get back together entails?” You began waving your hands around and pointing at your head, because maybe it would help get the point across somehow. “It means acting like we actually want to be together in public. It means no flirting or going home with people on campus or at parties because someone we know might see us. Would you actually be willing to go through that much effort?”

There was a pause and Jungkook just stared at you for a second, and then he started… smiling. This small, sad sort of smile. “What could it hurt to try?” 

You scoffed, and scoffed, and scoffed, because you just couldn’t form words. You had explained it as best as you could, but neither he nor Yoongi seemed to get it. This meant… hugging, touching, kissing, just to prove to people that this was real. That you weren’t lying. That you wanted to be with him… And that he wanted to be with you. 

You knew you hadn’t said anything in a minute or so, just lost in the details and implications of this scheme. You were only brought back to reality by Yoongi, speaking his piece once again. “Y/N,” He started, his voice quieter than it had been when he was excitedly explaining the idea before, “The worst thing that happens is they don’t believe you. But if you actually pull this off, you guys could save your chapters.”

Your mouth went firm and straight. The worst thing that could happen was the members not believing you? You had to stifle a laugh as you glanced towards Jungkook. No, that definitely wasn’t the worst thing that could happen. Not by a long shot. You knew why Jungkook didn’t see this as a terrible idea. He had nothing to lose, but you did.

However, in the end, you thought maybe the risk was worth it. Maybe this fucked up scheme could save you guys somehow.

“Uhm,” You finally started, clearing your throat to try and push your emotions back down into your chest. “So in the scenario that we actually tried this ridiculous plan… How would we go about telling everyone?”

You were staring at the ground, so you didn’t see what expression Jungkook’s face shifted into. You weren’t sure you wanted to know. Was it relief from having a shot at mending the relationship with your members? Or was it regret from you feeding into this idea that he hadn’t actually been taking seriously? 

“Well,” Jungkook started, and you still refused to look at him. “First of all, did you say anything about our talk last night to anyone?”

“Not really. I told Sana that it was ‘enlightening,’ and basically said the same to Jennie. What about you?”

“I told Jimin that we talked about our feelings.” 

You couldn’t help but laugh at that. “I’m sure he took that very well.”

“He was surprised…” Jungkook paused. “And I think that’s a good thing.”

You finally turned to look at him. “Why’s that a good thing?”

He stood up from his chair and held his hand out to you. You just stared at it for a second, confused at the kindness of the gesture before grabbing it and letting him help you up. He didn’t drop your hand even after you were standing up right, less than a foot of space separating you. 

“Because I think if our best friends look genuinely shocked by what we’re about to do, then it might be a lot more believable.”

Your face twisted in confusion. “Uhm, what’re we about to do?”

Jungkook pursed his lips, hesitant as he opened his mouth to reveal what he was thinking. “I think if we’re gonna pull this off, we need to… show them, not tell them.” It was instant, the way your hand trembled in his. Immediately he was squeezing around your fingers, silently trying to reassure you. “We don’t have to do this. It’s probably not even gonna work… But again, it’s just something to try.”

You knew you didn’t have to do this. You knew it was probably smarter not to do this. But some small part of you wanted to do this. Some stupidly hopeful part of you. 

You sucked a deep breath in through your nose and gave your bottom lip one hard, painful bite. “Fuck it, Kook.” You shifted your hand in his and interlocked your fingers. “Let’s do this.”

His eyes widened, the nickname slipping past your lips like the past two years never even existed. And then he was smiling, this pleasantly surprised smile that you hadn’t seen directed at you in what felt like an eternity. 

“I know it was my idea, but I can’t believe this is actually about to happen.” Yoongi was standing next to the two of you, hands holding either side of his face, like he was about to witness the ruse of the century. 

“Ready?” Jungkook asked. 

“I guess I am.” You shrugged, motioning towards the house. “Let’s do this.”

“Deep breath,” He said before inhaling, and you followed without hesitation. 

“Deep breath.” You nodded after you let the air slide past your lips. 

And then he was pulling you towards the house, hand in hand, the only thing keeping you from devolving into a panic attack was the way he kept squeezing your hand. 

You were approaching the fractured groups of people that stood outside of the sliding glass door, and all it took was one person to notice the two of you, and then suddenly people were pointing and staring, confused expressions appearing like a line of dominos, but you didn’t see any Lambdas or Tri Delts yet thankfully. Though, you knew that wasn’t going to last very long. 

You ignored the attention as best as you could as Jungkook opened the door and led you in through the back of the house. 

“So what exactly are we gonna do?” You whispered to him as you got closer to the living room; the main room of the house, with the most prying eyes. 

He slowed his walk and dropped your hand before placing his palm on your lower back as he continued to usher you forward into the wild circus the two of you were about to create. 

“I’m…” He paused as he pushed through the brush of people blocking the hallway until you were standing in the heart of the party. The lights in the house were all dimmed, but you still felt as though there was a bright, blinding spotlight on the two of you. 

“You’re gonna what?” You asked, looking around to find Lambdas and Tri Delts lounging in every corner. You started to fidget, wringing your hands and gritting your teeth until you felt someone lightly grabbing your jaw and forcing you to look at them. 

“I’m gonna kiss you,” He whispered, hand dropping to cup the side of your face. “I’m gonna kiss you right now, okay?”

Your eyes widened a little, mouth parting. You knew earlier that was what he’d probably meant when he said to ‘show them,’ but now that you were actually here in the moment, with him so close to your face that you could feel his breath hitting your skin… You were freezing up. 

“I’m going to,” He said, leaning in closer. “If you changed your mind just push me back, because I’m really about to kiss you.” 

A small voice in your head replied that you really wanted him to, as sad as that was. But you kept that thought to yourself as you closed your eyes and said, “Do it.” 

His gaze dropped to your mouth and then he closed the gap, a gap that hadn’t been closed in over two years. His lips warm and soft, just like you remembered, suddenly pressing against your own. His hand slid to the back of your neck, the other coming to rest on your hip, the familiar motion in familiar places tugging your fingers like a magnet until they were twisting at the front of his shirt. 

You knew that this kiss needed to be believable. It couldn’t be over the top, like you were trying to put on a show, but it also couldn’t be stiff, like the two of you were forcing it. Which technically, you were forcing it. It was pre-planned and clinical… But it didn’t feel that way. 

You knew every tilt of his head before he decided to move, every light brush of his tongue before it met your own, every touch of his thumb before it grazed along the column of your throat. You knew everything. You remembered everything. And you wished you could say that there was at least one thing that was different. You wished you could say that when he hummed against your mouth, your stomach didn’t twist. But unfortunately, you couldn’t say that. Because it didn’t just twist — it warped into this undistinguishable, untangleable shape; one that you didn’t think anyone could ever hope to be able to unravel. 

It was getting tighter and tighter, tying a knot around your lungs. You thought you’d have to pull away, gasp for air, and maybe ruin this whole charade the two of you were putting on, but all you needed to do was try and focus a little less on Jungkook kissing and touching you, and you’d be able to hear the buzzing chatter that was already surround you on all sides. Your names being shouted in unison breaking you apart.

You pulled back, breath heavy and uneven as you stared at his mouth, and you were at the very least happy that he looked just as uneasy, his eyes dark and hooded and reflecting something that you couldn’t pinpoint. But you weren’t able to just sit there and stare at him forever. You had to face the consequences of what you’d done, and when you turned to face the congregating mob of Lambdas and Tri Delts, complete shock resting on every single one of their faces, you knew this wasn’t going to be easy.

“Y/N?!” People were shouting your name, dozens of them, and you couldn’t tell who they were, but your eyes were locking with two particular people whose voices pulled you straight to them; Sana and Jennie. 

“Jungkook, what the hell?!” Someone else said in the distance. 

“Okay, literally what the fuck is going on?” Everyone was saying something along these lines to the point that it was just a sea of expletives and confusion, but it was Jimin suddenly climbing on top of the one of the couches that caught the entire room’s attention. 

“I fucking knew it!” He yelled, shirt half-unbuttoned and clearly intoxicated as he jumped up and down on the cushions. “I knew something happened with you two last night, you bitch ass liar!” The upside to that proclamation was that it made this entire scene seem a whole hell of a lot more believable. 

“What happened last night?” Jennie asked, concern embedded in her features as she and Sana pushed to the front of the crowd. 

You couldn’t blame them for these over the top reactions, especially your best friends. They figured that you would tell them anything, and you would. If you actually managed to pull off this ruse, you were going to tell Sana and Jennie the details immediately. But you had to admit, Jungkook was right. Having your best friends raw reactions was making this seem more realistic and not as far-fetched. 

You glanced at Jungkook for a second, giving a small nod that said they were just going to have to improvise this as best as they could. 

“We… There was more to the talk last night than I told you,” You said, finally responding back to the random questions being thrown in every direction. 

“Yeah, I wanted to tell you, Jimin,” Jungkook started. “But it happened so suddenly, and I knew a lot of you guys weren’t going to understand, so we wanted to talk about how we were going to go about telling you guys about this,” He said as he grabbed your hand and interlaced your fingers once more. The small gesture had people gasping as if that was more damning than making out. 

“Wait, wait, wait,” Sana rattled off, hands tangling in her hair like her head was about to overheat. “You guys are back together? Y/N, you didn’t say shit about this when I talked to you this morning.”

“I… we’re not back together… yet.” You squeezed his hand, silently telling him that you knew what you were doing. You thought saying you were completely back together was less believable than saying the two of you were simply talking again. “We’re just working through things, and I didn’t wanna jinx it when I was talking to you this morning, but I was going to tell you.”

You could see the hurt flashing through her eyes at you not telling her the truth, even though it wasn’t actually the truth. You wanted to pull her in and apologize, but she would know the actual circumstances soon enough.

“This is in-fucking-sane,” Taehyung said as he also stepped to the front. “Talking? If you’re doing that, you’re basically already back together.”

“Fuck, is that why you got pissed at me for making that comment about Y/N this morning, Kook?” Baekhyun shouted from the back. “I’m sorry, man. I didn’t know!”

This was actually going a lot better than you had anticipated. All of these tiny coincidences of what you had told your friends or the way the two of you had acted since yesterday were building up to be a pretty convincing lie. 

“You’re fine,” Jungkook shrugged. “You didn’t know — but now you do.” That last part came out a little more harsh; a believable act from the Lambda president. 

“I just don’t get it,” Joy said from somewhere in the middle of the crowd. “You just called him a lying piece of shit literally yesterday.”

Your jaw clenched. This was the part that had worried you the most, the fact that only yesterday the two of you had portrayed a relationship that wasn’t even slightly cordial, and now you were trying to say you had jumped right back into almost being in a relationship? It was a leap, but you were going to have to convince them to take the jump. 

“I know I said that,” You started, clearing your throat to try and sound louder and more confident. “But I only said that because I was feeling hurt. We ran into each other after everything that happened yesterday and apologized. We ended up hanging out the entire night and texting all day today, and… and we talked about things that we haven’t talked about in a really, really long time.” That part was true at least. “Honestly, we weren’t going to say anything for a while, because we thought it would be too sudden for you guys, but we’ve been drinking and we kind of just forgot about how you guys might react. I’m sorry it happened like this.”

Everyone was quiet for a second. You looked around and found a slew of people that belonged to neither house recording this entire debacle. You weren’t sure where the two of you should go from here. Should the two of you stay together for the rest of the night or should you go talk to your friends? You didn’t know the best route to take. However, you and Jungkook had to be the luckiest people in the entire world, because you had a friend like Yoongi, who not only gave you ideas that were so crazy that they just might work, but also could get you out of any hiccups that his said crazy plans might run into.

“So everyone knows about the happy couple now?” Yoongi threw his arms around you and Jungkook, a beaming smile staring out at the crowd of stunned Tri Delts and Lambdas. “Perfect, because I’m shit at keeping secrets.”

“Wait, you knew?” Jennie asked. 

“Yeah, they were both texting me this morning about all of their gross, mushy feelings.” He faked a gag for good measure. “You guys know I’m friends with both of them so they wanted an impartial opinion. Plus, as their very good friend I’ve wanted them to get back together since they broke up, so I may have pushed them along in the right direction.” You weren’t sure if that was what Yoongi actually felt or if he was just saying it for whatever reason. Either way, you were actually happy because it was only adding to the air of believability. “So instead of standing there like you’re devastated, maybe seem happy for this newly rekindled love?”

“Give us a minute,” Johnny said, his tall head poking up from the crowd in the back. “We’re in shock.” 

You finally let yourself look at Jungkook again. He was already waiting for you with a small upward tilt of his lips. To everyone else it probably just looked like a smile between two people who were reconciling, but to you it was a sign of victory. The two of you did it. They believed you — at least for now. 

“Okay, can we at least talk to you in private?” Sana asked, now that the crowd was starting to disperse to simmer over this newfound information. 

“Yeah, let’s talk.” You nodded and then turned to whisper into Jungkook’s ear. “I’m telling them the truth, but no one else.”

“Yeah, I’m telling Jimin and that’s it,” He murmured. 

“Okay,” You said and then quickly pressed a small peck to his lips before dropping his hand and immediately getting dragged away by your friends before you could say a single word. 

You spent the next half hour explaining to them every detail of the Great Greek Ruse Yoongi had cooked up, and by the end of it they were completely slack jawed before disintegrating into a fit of laughter at just how insane the two of you must have been to try and pull off something like that. 

Your only response to them being that there were only a few things in life that could end a war that was saturated in as much hostility as the one between the Tri Delts and the Lambdas; love being one of them — even if it was fake.  

 ———---

The party continued on after that. Your friends not allowing you out of their sights as they bombarded you with every idea that danced through their heads about how to keep the ploy of yours and Jungkook’s fake relationship up for as long as possible, and how the two of you were going to go about hooking up with people without everyone finding out. You were actually thankful for that, because you and Jungkook hadn’t gotten a chance to work out the logistics of how you were going to act in public. 

You simply listened as Sana and Jennie amused themselves with this situation that their best friend had gotten themself involved in when you felt your phone buzz in your pocket. You pulled it out, Jungkook’s contact flashed across the screen with a text. You should probably get around to changing his contact name from ‘Jungkook the Jackass’ in case anyone ever caught a glance at your phone. Meet me out front, the text said. 

“I’ll be right back,” You told Sana and Jennie as you lifted yourself off of the couch. “I’ve gotta talk to Jungkook.”

“Tell your lover I said hello!” Sana chuckled, no longer having that hurt like in her eye from earlier now that she was in on everything. 

You quickly moved through the crowd of people that was now beginning to thin as the night got later and later before stepping past the front door. You looked around for a second before you noticed Jungkook standing at the base of the driveway waiting for you. He spotted you, motioning for you to come down. You wondered what he wanted. Probably to just gloat in relief that their idiot plan actually succeeded. 

“Hey,” You whispered as you decided to stand a little bit closer to him than you normally would just in case anyone was watching. “What’s up?” 

He looked around, presumably to make sure no one was in ear shot, and when he found that the coast was clear he turned towards you, an ecstatic grin staring at you. “I can’t believe that actually worked.” 

“I can’t either. Yoongi was right. They really are like toddlers.” You laughed. 

“Yeah, I mean we don’t know for sure yet if this is actually gonna stop them from fighting, but I saw some of the members who I know have had issues in the past actually talking, so I think that’s a good sign.”

“Yeah, I saw them too.” Lambdas and Tri Delts who had pulled some pretty spectacular pranks on one another seen speaking in what looked to be a respectful manner? A complete miracle. “How’d Jimin take the news?”

“Oh, he thinks it’s completely hilarious.” Jungkook chuckled. 

You smiled. “Sana and Jennie think the same.”

“I figured they would. Though seeing them that pissed off was kind of funny.” He paused, looking off into the distance before shoving his hand into his pockets. “But anyways, the reason I called you out here was to give you this.” He pulled his hand out of his pocket and made a fist in front of you. You opened your palm to receive whatever he was trying to give you; a single key suddenly falling into your grasp. “I have a spare in my car, but that’s the key to my apartment — or I guess our apartment now.” He laughed, scratching awkwardly at the back of his neck. 

You had been so focused on the fake dating aspect of this predicament that you had almost forgotten about your living situation. You held it up between the two of you. You couldn’t believe this was actually happening. You were about to move in with your ex, while everyone except for your best friends believed that you were back together. 

“Are we really gonna do this?” You finally asked. 

“I don’t see why we wouldn’t be able to make it work. I think the past two days showed that we can be around each other and not act crazy.”

You agreed that things had definitely shifted, and not just because you had to pretend to be in a relationship now. You wanted to think that you could make it work, that you could put your petty, bitter ways behind you.

And when you told Jungkook that you felt the exact same way about making things work before leaving to go home for one of your last few nights in the Tri Delt house, you truly meant what you had said to him… But sometimes situations happen, and as they say, old habits die hard. 

--------

three days later

You were completely out of breath as you climbed the stairs to your new apartment building, about a dozen duffle bags filled with your various belongings were wrapped around your body as you tried to keep your phone smashed between your shoulder and your ear. 

“Why’d you decide to move out early?” Jennie whined from the otherside of the line. “Did you wanna get away from us that bad?”

You tried to muster a laugh as you attempted to make it up the final few steps without passing out. “Of course I wanted to stay longer, but both of my classes got cancelled, and I’d rather just get it over with than have to deal with it on a Friday like I was going to.” 

“Yeah, yeah, I get it.” She huffed. “But I’m still not happy about you having to live with the devil’s spawn.”

You tsked at her. “Hey, we’re all trying to get along now, remember?” 

“I know… But I’m still acting like a bitch to Jimin, I don’t care,” She added quickly. 

“Well, that one I’m okay with.” You chuckled. “But I just got to my apartment, so I’ll call you back in a little bit, okay?”

“Okay, talk to you later.” And then the line went dead and you were fishing for the key that Jungkook had handed you outside of Kappa Sigma on Saturday night. 

You couldn’t believe it had only been three days, but in those three days things had been going okay, actually. There had been no incidents involving either the Tri Delt or Lambda house, and after the everyday, non-stop antics from the past few years, that was as close to divine intervention as you could get. So yes, you could say that maybe you had developed a slight bit of optimism. Everything was working out at the sorority, you actually had a place to live — things truly were going well. But you should’ve known that when things were going well, Jeon Jungkook was always there to throw a wrench in your happiness, because as you wiggled the key inside of the lock and pushed your way inside, the last thing you had ever wanted to see in your entire life was staring right back at you. 

Your ex-boyfriend, who publicly was once again your actual boyfriend, whom you still had occasional feelings of longing for, was currently balls-deep in a girl on his living room couch — which was now also your living room couch.

The door slammed against the wall before you could stop it, both of their terrified faces suddenly turning to you as they immediately yanked a blanket over their naked bodies. 

“Jesus Christ, Y/N!” Jungkook yelled. “You said you were coming Friday!” 

You couldn’t help it. The tiny, petty demon you had tried to squash down in size over the past few days was suddenly bubbling over at the flare of emotions ricocheting inside of your head. Your teeth gritted together, eyes cutting daggers across his skin as you forced a saccharine smile as fake as this relationship. 

“Well, honey, I’m home now.”