#and the chirps Vy makes is just to cute

[hollowwrites]

I think you are a wonderful writer! You're slight dips into the spicy side of fics were a good showcase of what could come :)

So i know you just gave us the protective posse. And protective omi around others vying for her attention but what about both of our slytherin bois being protective. She got a lot of attention after fifth year, and being so close to those two. I feel like she's got her hands full.

I love you!! Feeling really crap about my writing as of late but little comments like this really help me! Thank you!! 💕

Medusa’s Vipers

I have the weirdest need for the boys to be protective lately. Send help. I would constantly put myself in danger if it meant these bois were there to help me.

I’m naming the Slytherin bully guy from beasts class Daniel because it makes writing easier and also everyone knew a Daniel who was a bit of a bully. Unless anyone knows his name in which case please tell me!

Also I’m including a made up spell. Don’t hate me!! It’s like Muffliato but for eyesight so Ocliato? I thought it was cute…

Warning - I mention some implied sexual assault. Nothing too graphic but just in case. I’ll section it off with ——————— mentions of blood too.

Word Count - 1689

~

“See you later boys” Eve chirped, her hand lingering on Ominis’ shoulder for just a second before waving to Sebastian. She skipped over to Poppy and Imelda who waited at the end of the Slytherin Table for her before they all left for their monthly ‘Girls Night’

“Tsk, she really does have you wrapped around her little finger doesn’t she?” The uppity Slytherin boy sneered. No one really knew what his problem was, but he seemed to pick fights with everyone who fell into his line of sight. Ominis sighed.

Wonderful

They ignored his taunts, well aware that if they bite, he’s won.

“Or is it the other way around? Is she wrapped around yours? Do you share her or-“

“Watch it, Daniel” Sebastian spat

“Don’t…he’s not worth it. Not worth anything from what I’ve heard. How’s your fathers business again?” Ominis said casually, leaning on his palm. The boy gulped. How does he know about that?

“She’s wasted on you, you know?” Daniel turned his nose up, firing towards the Blind Slytherin. “Someone so pretty shouldn’t be pining over someone who can’t even appreciate her beauty” Ominis’ jaw visibly tensed. He couldn’t hide that not being able to ever see her pained him.

“You know…” Daniel shuffled his chair along the floor sending ear piercing screeches as the legs scraped against stone “…she has this wonderful little trick she does with her mouth. Whenever she’s concentrating really hard…she’ll nibble along the end of her pencil…”

Ominis took in a deep calming breath…not that it did anything…

“…I bet you can hear it…” He whispered directly into Ominis’ ear. His fingers tightened around his wand under the table. Sebastian’s eyes flickered over the visage of his best friend. His usual calm and collected appearance cracked slightly, the narrowing of Ominis’ one eye the only indication he was about to snap.

“And I bet you’ve seen it, Sallow” Daniel continued on chipper as anything, as though he were discussing the latest quidditch happenings.

“Ignore him” Sebastian said, though was content to ignore his own advice. “He’s just bitter the only company he can seem to keep is Astoria…how is that Rancid Ravenclaw anyway?”

“Shut it, Sallow. If we’re talking bitter, then you’re it’s poster child. Don’t think I didn’t notice her sudden shift from you to Ominis” he leaned back in his chair folding his arms across his chest “What’s it like playing second fiddle to your blind best friend?”

“And I suppose you think you stand a chance with her?” Sebastian snorted “Please…that gippy Mooncalf Howin keeps has better odds”

“Well she does seem to be a bit of a slut for Slytherins…”

“What did you just say?” Sebastian rose from his chair looming over the now smug Slytherin.

“First you, then Ominis, now she’s off dallying with Reyes. Maybe I just remind her what house I’m in and she won’t be able to keep her hands off me.” Daniel also rose from his chair and before Sebastian took another step toward him, Ominis gripped his wrist yanking him back down.

Sebastian looked over at Ominis. He could tell for the twisted smile on his face that Ominis was gone…

“Ocliato”

Daniels smug features fell away as his eyes darted around desperately. He stumbled backwards and tripped over his chair landing in it with a started yelp.

“W-What did you do?”

“Oh me? I just thought I’d even the playing field” Ominis murmured, twisting the tip of his wand into his hand playfully “Why don’t you show me how it’s done then Daniel? Just try and talk to her and see what happens…Maybe I won’t stop with just taking your sight…”

~

“You should’ve let me hit him?” Sebastian sulked pacing in front of one of the large fireplaces in the Slytherin Common Room.

“What would’ve been the point?” Ominis retorted sitting back lazily against the large comfortable chairs. The incident with Daniel only happened that morning and yet Sebastian still harped on about what they could’ve done differently. “Pretty certain he gets off on it, the amount of beatings he’s taken”

“I can guarantee he wouldn’t have enjoyed it” Sebastian muttered darkly

“And I can guarantee he won’t enjoy being blind for a few days”

“Days?!” Sebastian halted his pacing to stare over at Ominis “Remember how you droned on at me about Dark Magic? That may not be considered ‘Dark Magic’ but that’s pretty cruel…”

“Oh how terrible for him to not be blessed with sight for a while” It was his turn to sulk now, folding his arms across his chest and moping against the backrest.

“I’m not saying I don’t approve” Sebastian smirked.

They’re ‘Daniel Debate’ was cut short by Evelyn hurriedly stomping down the spiral staircase and making a b-line for the girls dorms.

“Evelyn? Are you okay?” Ominis called, immediately recognising her footing and her familiar scent the moment she entered the room.

Her head snapped over to the pair and she sighed, veering off course towards Sebastian.

Oh…she’d heard about Daniel

Before Sebastian could get a proper reading on her expression she came crashing into his chest. What little he did see did not bode well.

Red eyes.

Blotchy skin.

And now she was against him he could feel her tiny sobs throughout her whole body. Her arms clung round his waist, fingers digging desperately into his back.

“What’s going on?” Ominis said flatly, suddenly appearing next her. His hand hovered protectively at her waist and Sebastian watched as she flinched away from it.

——————————————————————————

“What happened?” Sebastian pulled her from him, taking her ruddied face in his hands. She could see his eyes darting all over her, settling between her eyes. The movement made her feel dizzy, trying to keep up and make eye contact.

“I…” Evelyn started weakly.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard her cry…” Ominis said softly, almost to himself.

“…since Ranrok…everyone has been trying to thank me. People have bought me gifts and all sorts. Little tokens of appreciation.

“And he’d been so nice to me in the past. He’d bought me some flowers said they were from his parents for saving their son. And he offered to help me put my books back…

“Then he held my waist whilst I leant up to put a book away…and…he…touched…”

Her voice cracked as she stopped speaking, covering her face in what looked like…embarrassment?

No. That wouldn’t do.

The red bloom of her skin angered Sebastian more than he thought it would. He’d only ever known Evelyn as this strong, independent witch who’d surpassed him in every way in less than a year.

Now she was a shell. It almost felt…wrong.

——————————————————————————

“What happened?” Sebastian repeated with urgency.

“Forget that…Who was it?” Ominis growled

“Ravenclaw in our Herbology class…’S’ something…” she mumbled

“Samuel Graves…” Ominis said flatly

“On it…” Sebastian grunted and released Evelyn before making for the staircase.

“Where are you going? What are you doing?” Evelyn panted desperately her eyes wide with fear. She was perfectly aware of what Sebastian was capable of.

“I’m making a trip to Ravenclaw Tower. Amit owes me a favour”

“Ominis, stop him!” She turned to the blind Slytherin pleadingly. She was met with a simple shrug “Sebastian, don’t. I…I was being friendly he probably didn’t mean anything by it or-“

“No!” Sebastian snarled “Did he make you uncomfortable?”

Evelyn opened her mouth to protest but she choked on the ghost of a sob…and reluctantly nodded.

“That’s all I need to know”

~

When Sebastian returned to the Dungeons, it was well past curfew. Ominis and Evelyn sat in the stained glass alcoves waiting for him, Ominis calmly drinking tea whilst Evelyns own cup had gone cold on the floor by her feet.

“I may or may not need you to talk to Black” Sebastian said upon seeing the Blonde Slytherin nod in his direction

“What did you d-“ Evelyn scrambled to her feet before halting her approach.

Wand drawn and covered head to toe in blood. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen him like it…but it was the first time she knew it was a students blood on his robes.

“I’ll need to talk to Black anyway…he will not be staying in this school. I can assure you of that” Ominis said casually, his power and influence still coming as a shock to Evelyn.

“Sebastian…” she breathed “…what…did you do?”

He shrugged

“What I had to”

~

Roughly a week later, Daniel got his eye-sight back. He meekly made his way through the halls, trying to ignore the smirks and comments as he went.

“Oh Daniel there you are” Sebastian’s fingers wrapped around the nape of his neck. From the outside, the tone of his voice and his hand to his neck seemed…rather friendly. But the subtle way Sebastian dragged him backwards and flexed his fingers into his skin informed Daniel…this was anything but...

“Nice to see you again” Ominis’ haughty tone only adding to impending sense of danger.

“What do you two want? I haven’t gone anywhere near her” Daniel spat weakly

“Oh, we know” Sebastian grinned “Won’t you join us for a walk around the courtyard”

“I have Charms I need to-“

“It wasn’t a request I’m afraid” Ominis chirped smugly and Sebastian dragged him by the neck along with them, a wicked smile pulling at his lips.

Upon entering the courtyard, all three were greeted with the high pitched and desperate screams of the Ravenclaw, Samuel Graves. He kicked and screamed as several ministry officials physically dragged him away. He was putting up quite a fight, considering his face, arm and opposite hand were all bandaged up still.

“Such a shame…” Ominis spoke almost disinterestedly, as Sebastian pushed Daniel forward. “Turns out our good friend Samuel has been dabbling in the Dark Arts”

Sebastian chuckled darkly, arms folded and watching with glee as the Ravenclaw got bundled into the back of a carriage, heading straight for Azkaban.

“See Daniel…” Ominis leant down to whisper in his ear “…that could be you. Easily. So I suggest you continue to keep away from Eve”

Masterlist

[izayoichan]

Rylan takes Lobo with him, calling his dad, asking him to come pick him up and help him get some gifts, looking at Lobo with a smile. 

“According to dad, your kind likes this way of travel, hopefully, he is right”

River, on the other hand, does like Rylan told him, and messages his mom while he waits for the train. She calls him, which means he gets around 15 minutes of his mom yelling at him over him sneaking out and disobeying her. Once she gets tired of yelling he finally speaks. 

“Can I still spend Christmas with my boyfriend or am I grounded?”

There is a complaint on the other side followed by a fairly unhappy: 

“Okay, you can” “Thanks... My train has arrived, I'll call you later.”

Hanging up his phone, he hurries so he catches the train, finding a seat by the window, waiting for it to take him where he wants to be. 

“Okay, that's all of it.”

He smiles at his dad, the three off them vanishing and reappearing outside his home.

“Just need to wrap it all, come on Lobo, you'll have to be introduced to the house overlord.”

Chuckles, taking the large dog with him to introduce him to Felix, hoping the two off them will get along. 

River sighs his train stopped in Windenburg due to their being reindeer on the tracks, stressing slightly as it means that he might not make it. Taking up his phone, quickly messaging Rylan.

“Train is delayed, stuck in Windenburg. But I'll be there in time for dinner, maybe? Do you guys celebrate Christmas eve or just Christmas day? I never get that.”

Rylan looks at the message, having an idea, messaging him quickly while at the same time walking to see if he can find the person who would need to agree to do it. 

“I can ask if Hayle can pick you up if you want, travel by dragon flight? Oh and a bit of both, but mostly tonight with opening gifts and such..” “That would be awesome! Just try not to scare the train driver.”

Erased the part of the message where he complained about having already spent the rest of his savings on the train ticket before he sends the message, getting off the train quickly. Walking up to his dad, he notices Felix sitting there with him. 

“Hey dad, could you do me a favor and pick up River in Windenburg? The train is stuck there, something about reindeer on the tracks.”

He notices Felix come walking, looking at Lobo, then ignoring Lobo

“Well.. that went decently.” 

He lets Lobo off the leash so he can wander around the house getting to know it. Felix following him around as if making sure he doesn’t do anything bad. 

“Oh, sure. He would just have to find somewhere a bit hidden, then I'll find him.” "Thanks, I don't quite want the reaper portal thing to be sprung on him just yet.”

Picks up his phone and messages him.

“My dad is on his way, just find somewhere a little hidden and he will be able to find you, sorry I didn't suggest it earlier, not quite used to my dad letting anyone but us on his back.”

“Okay, on the alleyway next to the station.” “He should be there in no time, so see you soon.“

Waves at his dad as he flies off, knowing he doesn’t really use much time when he has no passengers. River sits on a box waiting, playing games on his phone when he is suddenly interrupted by a police officer. 

“Hey kid, what are doing back here?”

River looks at the man and gets up, cursing under his breath, this was really not what he needed right now. 

“Huh... waiting for my friend." “Back here? What's in the bag."

He takes out the package and shows him, internally begging for Hayle to show up, knowing just how this normally ends. Hayle flying quite high above, finding River simply by his smell, noticing someone else there with him landing out of sight, and for the first time in more years than he can remember, changes into his fully human form.

“Ah, there you are River, sorry it took so in that last store, and they still did not have it...”

He smiles at River and the police officers.

“Perfect, I see you at least got your’s that's good.”

He looks at the police officer.

“Is there a problem?” " Mister Hayle?...”

He is at first surprised to see him without his horns, or scales then rushes to him past the police officer

“Sorry, just wondering what a child was doing alone in the alleyway. Good to see you have adult supervision, no need to take you to the station, I will, however, still want to see that package!”

Holds out his hand for the package

“Come on, it's wrapped! I had...”

starts becoming honestly distressed, as he looks for the receipt.

“See, I bought it today, it's a DnD set it's for boyfriend I” “I need to check it for drugs... “

Takes the package from his hands and rips the wrapping off then shakes the DnD box in front of them, almost as if mocking them. River looking on horrified, magical energy starts lifting up, becoming clearer he is going to zap the officer.

Hayle shakes his head, noticing the magical surge in River as the police officer keeps acting like a douche, putting a hand on Rivers's shoulder. His magic suddenly dissipating, Hayle's magic field nulling his. 

“So let me get this right, you are accusing my son's boyfriend of having drugs in a D&D box... am I understanding this right? If I am, I would like your name, your badge number, and the name of your superior officer so I can make an official complaint about your behavior.”

Although his voice is calm, there is something about him, in general, that would make almost anyone's skin crawl slightly. 

“So, I suggest you give that back, and walk away, or I can promise you this won't end well for you.”

The police officer flinches standing back, suddenly immensely frightened by the man in front of him. Quickly shoves the box back into River's hands.

“Sorry, sir! No need for that! It won't happen again!”

He walks away very quickly leaving the two behind, River just staring at the box and knees down picking the ruined wrapping and ribbon he had so much work making perfect his body starts trembling like he's about to cry. Hayle kneeling down putting an arm around him. 

“Hey, it's okay, we can stop by somewhere and get new paper and a ribbon. I'm sorry I wasn't here faster, I thought people like him only existed in movies my husband has made me watch.”

River holds his breath and gets up, clearly holding back the tears.

“I-its okay... “

Puts the box inside the bag alongside the ruined ribbon and sighs

“I... I don't want to be a bother. I already made you take human form and... Calm my magic I don't want to bother further.” “You are not a bother River, and it's kinda nice to take the full human look on occasion.

Put’s his arm around River's shoulders.

“So, where do we get paper and ribbon, want to go to another town maybe, or should we mock the policeman by getting it here? 

smiles gently at him, hoping to undo what that asshat has done. A part of him still wanting to scare the hell out of him before leaving, knowing his dragon form would do just that. He also knows what his husband would think off it if he did.

River looks up at him and smiles nodding.

“There must be some store nearby with wrapping paper. If no, I can always use a newspaper sheet. Won't look as fancy as the paper that that idiot ruined but... Or just a pretty Christmas bag, that can work too.” “Well come on, let's see what we can find, who knows, maybe we can find something randomly extra for my husband, to actually surprise him. He is horrible with gifts, he always finds them and manages to guess what is in them.”

Pulls River with him out into the street, looking around, noticing what he guesses is some sort of book store. 

“Ah, there, they have to have stuff like that there.”

Vy sits close to the window looking outside to the snow, licking his lips in anticipation of the tasty treats to come.

“Ice in cakes? Is it good?”  “Yeah, it's macaroon, small flat cakes, with icecream slices in the middle, you can try one if you want?”

Looks at Vy, letting his mind wander slightly, the many what if's that he keeps asking himself playing on his mind.

“Can I?”

He looks at the food that gets delivered as they talk, then picks one macaroon up and smells it with curiosity, finally takes a bite, taking in the taste, let's go of a small chirp. 

“Tasty! I like it!”

Hayden chuckles, just watching Vy taste the cookies.

“It's fascinating how they can make them, warm cookies, cold ice cream. Now, you need to taste your cake. Oh and the coffee!”

Vy licks his fingers to get all the sugary goodness of the macaroon and nods

“Do you want to... oh... it's true, warm... They need to make a pistachio ice cream cake! That way the two of us can eat it because it's cold! Though, I like these macaroons”

Grabs his cake slice and coffee, and takes a bite of cake, chirps louder, making people look around for a bird. Covers mouth giggling.

“Sorry, just! gooood!”

Hayden chuckles as people turn their heads looking for a random bird in the cold. “Hmh... well you know they do make things if you ask. We should ask, so we can share someday. And I can eat cake, even if it's not cold, just not warm coffee.”

He smiles honestly just enjoying watching Vy be happy and enjoying the cake and for at least a short while, not worrying about the people around him. Vy smiling at him, actually glowing green as he takes a piece of cake and holds it out for Hayden.

“Try!” “ Wow... that is really sweet, but still good”

finding himself chewing on the many layers of taste from the cake, the frosting and everything surprising him along the way. Vy nodding eating a bit more and drinking the coffee

“It is very nice here. Cozy and nice! Thank you for bringing me here! How much is the cake?” “Ehm... I didn't really check, why? You want one more?” “We could take some for your parents and Rylan but I don't know if I have enough.” “Oh... how about we just buy a cake and share it after dinner? We could split the cost, or I can just pay for it?”

He notices Vy looking through his money, figuring he might not have enough money Vy looking up at him and nods happily.

“Yes! But... I only have... 5 simoleons...I need to make new trinkets to sell in caster's alley.” “Hmh.. how about we get a cake, you pay five simoleons I pay whatever is left, then it's from both of us right? I think they would love to have that as a surprise.”

“ Okay. I pay 5!” “Okay, I'll go order one, and we can finish our tasty treats while they pack it and make it ready? If you are okay to sit here for just a little while I order?”

He did notice how he shrank a bit when they entered, not wanting to just leave him there if he didn't feel safe.

🎶

Beginning - Previous - Next

[solalunar-eclipse]

A Gift To Remember

Summary: Shadow receives a gift for his birthday that causes a series of very interesting (and often cute) events.

Word count: about 7500 words

Author’s Note: I didn’t realize today was Shadow’s birthday! At the moment I’m more than a little confused because the release dates for SA2 say everything from the 18th to the 23rd, but this seems to be the one, so here this is!

Also, to that one anon whose question about this fic I never quite managed to answer- sorry about that and I do hope you’re still here to read this!

...

The main room of Team Dark’s home was, on a normal day, at least somewhat clean- which was in and of itself surprising, considering the fact that three teenagers lived there. (It was, of course, slightly less surprising when it was noted that one of these teenagers was a giant robot, one was already a businesswoman, and one had grown up in an incredibly clean environment.)

At the moment, however, said room was currently rather less clean, instead covered in various colorful signs, streamers, balloons, and other such decorations. After all, today was a very special day.

When Shadow and Rouge had discovered they shared a birthday (or creation day for Shadow, technically), they both became infinitely more determined to celebrate it for the other’s sake. This had actually, interestingly enough, also ended up making them enjoy their own festivities more than they had in quite some time.

Omega, meanwhile, had officially decided that this was his favorite day of the year.

Over the past few days, Rouge had already received a few presents from various people she knew in the line of clothes, makeup, or jewelry- but as much as she loved gems, her favorites so far were definitely the ones Omega and Shadow had gotten for her: a laser cutter that could slice through anything and a pair of (stylish) infrared goggles, respectively.

Shadow had just opened his present from Omega, which happened to be a sword that looked very cool...but was also longer than his actual body. This wasn’t actually as big of a problem for him as might be expected, as he’d gotten used to handling weapons several times his size during the alien invasion a little while back. 

He had, however, been told rather quickly by Rouge to put it away ‘before you slice the wall in half, this place does cost money, you know!’.

Next, Rouge placed her present in his hands, but at first all Shadow could do was just stare at it. This was likely because the gift wasn’t actually wrapped, but instead consisted of a box made of wood slats and filled, oddly enough, with paper shavings. There were quite a few ribbons on it, though, in an attempt to make up for the lack of other decorations.

“I couldn’t wrap it, or else the present wouldn’t have worked.” she explained, sitting back down to watch him open it.

After prying off the top and shifting aside some of the paper pieces, the hedgehog froze.

Inside, there sat a single white chao egg.

Carefully lifting the egg out of the box, Shadow held it gingerly, as though he were afraid it might try to bite him if he wasn’t gentle enough.

“Rouge…” he began nervously. “Don’t get me wrong, I really appreciate this, but...are you sure I’m the best person to be taking care of a chao?”

“Of course, hon!” she said. “You’ve taken care of them before, haven’t you?”

“Yes, but…” Shadow protested, “...are you sure I’ll be able to do as well at home? The garden is their natural habitat…”

Omega folded his arms. “YOU ARE THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM. OF COURSE YOU CAN RAISE A CHAO.”

“That’s right!” Rouge added. “The chao are always happy when you take care of them- this time isn’t going to be any different.”

“…I suppose so.” Shadow conceded, taking a deep breath. He began to rock the egg slowly from side to side. “Here we go-”

A crack appeared across the pristine white surface. The split spread rapidly while Shadow sat and watched, making sure not to move the egg about much. Chao had to hatch their eggs on their own- it was the way they first began to strengthen themselves. 

Rouge laughed. “See? You know exactly what you’re doing!”

Shadow studiously ignored her and continued to focus on the egg. Then, suddenly, a chirp came from inside and the whole top half came flying off.

The hybrid looked at his newborn chao...and his heart (though he’d never admit it) immediately melted. Soft, big eyes gazed up at him, an overjoyed smile on the creature’s face. It cooed happily upon seeing him give a small smile back, and he reached out and began to gently pat its head.

The chao broke into an even wider smile as its eyes closed blissfully, the little sphere above its head popping into a heart. Shadow continued to pet it, offering gentle words of praise, and might have continued like that for the next ten minutes had a camera noise from Omega not made him look up in alarm.

“ADDING IMAGE TO FILE: SHADOW BEING SOFT.” he declared, while Rouge looked on with a giant grin.

“You will do nothing of the sort-” Shadow growled, jumping to his feet, before a soft whimper from his chao stopped him. Its eyes were watery, wide and distressed, and the hybrid immediately scooped it up in his arms, holding it close. It relaxed quickly, snuggling into his chest fluff, and he shot Omega one last semi-serious glower before turning his attention back to the newborn.

Omega promptly took another picture.

…

Later that day, at the party that all of their friends had thrown for them, the chao and Shadow were nearly inseparable. It tended to rest in his lap when he was sitting or rode in between his ears whenever he stood up to get something. Eventually, though, the excitement of a new environment overwhelmed its initial nervousness, which unfortunately led to Shadow returning from the dining room with his hands full of plates of food to discover his chao crawling along the precarious edge of a bookshelf.

Suddenly, the chao’s footing slipped, and Shadow froze, unable to move or do anything- but then Sonic of all people noticed and was already there, leaping up and catching the chao before resting it snugly in his arms. “Looks like someone’s already progressed to the giving-their-owner-a-heart-attack stage, hm?” he asked, smirking at the little creature.

“Thank you.” Shadow said as his chao was returned to him, trying very hard to ignore the way his hands and Sonic’s brushed in the process.

(He’d been nursing a bit of a crush on the hero for a while now, but had decided to ignore it until it wore off. Sonic had admirers from all across the globe vying for his attention- it was absurd to think that anything could happen between them.)

…

Over the coming weeks, all three members of Team Dark made sure to rework their schedules so that someone was always home to watch over the chao- no more climbing on bookcases for the little one now. Shadow did most of the caretaking, feeding, training, cleaning, and providing Chaos Drives (mostly green) to the chao. Rouge did, however, occasionally claim she could ‘handle the extra work’ to give him some spare time and Omega even took it upon himself to watch it every so often.

Sometimes, Shadow and his chao would even cook together in the kitchen (a hobby he’d discovered he enjoyed after finding out that Rouge tended to eat takeout all the time- “You can’t live off that day in and day out- you’re not me, Rouge!”). The sight of a tiny pale blue creature determinedly lifting a bag of flour and flying it across the room was awfully cute- especially after Shadow bought it a tiny apron in what he unconvincingly claimed was an accidental purchase. 

Shadow never made accidental purchases.

As much as the hybrid took care of it, though, the chao also seemed to be helping him. He smiled more, glowered less, and generally seemed more tolerant of mistakes than he had been in the past. Nowadays, errors that would once have caused him to go off on a rant or huff about were now met with a calmer ‘it’s okay’ or an offer for help fixing it.

He often laid a hand on it in his sleep or curled around it protectively, and could easily be seen patting its head, carrying it around, or even- when he thought he was alone- nuzzling it gently. The amount of time and care he put into making sure that his chao was happy would have been astonishing to anyone who hadn’t already seen how much he cared about his friends.

It was no surprise then that, before long, Rouge and Omega woke up one morning to find the chao inside a cocoon (and also a very stressed-out Shadow).

The hedgehog promptly called in sick for the entire week- an incredible occurrence for him. He’d originally sworn that since he couldn’t get ill, he’d give his sick days to others when they needed it, but now that was all out the window. He wanted nothing more than to stay home and essentially sit and stare at the cocoon until it hatched.

While the two other members of Team Dark managed to convince him to eat, sleep, and do chores on regular intervals, whenever Shadow had a spare moment he’d stay in his room, watching and waiting. Their friends got so worried that Rouge and Omega had used everything in their power to coax him out of the house twice over those five days, but he refused to do any more. Even then his outings had to come with the promise that they’d both stay home, check it every five minutes, and call him the absolute moment something happened.

On the sixth day of waiting, the cocoon began to hatch while Shadow was attempting to discreetly read out loud to the chao from one of his favorite books. The moment he saw the split, he dropped the novel, jumped up, and shouted louder than he had in months- “Rouge! Omega! It’s HAPPENING!”

He hovered so closely around the cocoon that Omega had to physically pull him back as Rouge reminded him to give the chao more space. Within moments, the split had widened enough for a single black paw to poke out, feeling around carefully for some sort of purchase to pull itself the rest of the way outside. Soon enough, it had succeeded, earning- impressively enough- widened eyes from Omega and a gasp from both Shadow and Rouge.

Frowning light blue eyes were set in an equally grumpy (albeit adorable) face, with two little black ears and three tiny quills on the chao’s head. The ears and quills both had red stripes, as did the arms, legs, and even its tail. A red crescent shape sat on its chest, and two tiny purple bat wings flapped slowly behind it.

In short, it looked a lot like a tiny Shadow.

The hedgehog in question reached out carefully and began to pet his chao, offering some quiet words of praise, but before long it flew up and settled in its favorite spot in between his ears. When Shadow turned around to face his friends, they were met with the sight of a little glowering creature settled on top of his head…which really did look far too similar to the hybrid himself when he was irritated. 

Rouge covered a smile with both of her hands. “Shadow...hon…”

He frowned at her, only serving to make the resemblance more obvious. “What?”

“It looks exactly like you!”

“Not really- it has blue eyes and...bat wings…” He looked up at her suddenly. “Rouge...how much time have you been spending with Spark again?”

“Oh, just a little- wait, Spark?” she said quickly, redirecting his attention.

Shadow flushed a bright green at that. “I might’ve already picked out a name...does it sound alright?” he asked, studiously looking anywhere but at his friends.

The chao chirped at the name and snuggled a little further into the fur on his head, seemingly pleased with the title. 

He began to smile at that. “You like that name, do you?” he asked teasingly.

“It sure looks like it! I think it’s a lovely name, hon.” Rouge added.

The chao cooed, cementing its name with all of the team (whether Omega would admit it or not).

Now, if anything, Shadow and his chao were even more close than before. Rouge even bought it a tiny leather jacket to match his style, which was quickly deemed by everyone (especially their friends, to whom she’d sent about fifty photos) the most adorable thing ever. 

...

One day, Shadow came home from lunch out with Silver and Blaze only to discover a quite unexpected scene- though he really should have seen it coming, considering what he’d noticed after his chao had hatched. Rouge was kneeling next to the sofa, scratching Spark behind the ears and saying in what could only be described as a baby voice, “Who’s your favorite momma? Me, that’s right. That’s right, isn’t it?”

“Uh….” he interrupted, feeling more than a little uncertain as to how to respond to this. He was torn between “I didn’t know you had a baby voice” and “I’m glad to see you and Spark getting along” and wasn’t entirely sure which one to go with here.

The bat, on the other hand, jumped a good three feet in the air at the sound before glaring at Shadow furiously. “Don’t startle me like that!” she shouted, more than a little tense...and also a bit worried?

The hybrid didn’t react, instead saying “It’s nice to see you spending time with Spark too, Rouge.” with a smile. 

She relaxed a little at that, and Shadow sighed. “Rouge, I wouldn’t make fun of you- I do the same kind of thing, don’t I?”

“You’re right, you’re right.” the bat admitted. “I just had to! It looks like me- it even has my wings! How could I not?”

Shadow moved to sit down on the sofa at that, reaching out to pat the chao as well. Rouge smiled at him gratefully, and then they both looked down at the cute creature in between them, who was promptly staring up at both with a confused look on its face. After a moment, though, it seemed to realize that everything was alright and nuzzled both Mobians before curling up on the couch happily.

…

Another time, the entire team was out grocery shopping at their favorite store when Spark’s eye was caught by the soft, warm cinnamon buns sitting behind a glass case. After a minute or two of desperate pulling at the seams- to no avail- it flew over to Shadow and began to poke at his shoulder until he turned to look at it.

“Yes? What is it?” he asked, giving the chao a little scratch under the chin.

The chao pointed excitedly at the sweet treats, but its expression melted into one of dismay upon hearing him say “No, Spark, that’s not very good for you- and it’s too big for you to finish all by yourself, too.”

It mimed a clock insistently- they didn’t go to the store that often, after all- its frown deepening all the while. Shadow felt a little uncertain- he enjoyed giving the chao treats, but was now really the best time to feed it so much sugar? It could end up flying all over the place, and he really didn’t feel like getting banned from yet another grocery store. (The last one had been because Omega got a little too excited while messing around with the shopping cart and had melted it and twisted it into a knot...somehow. They were rapidly escorted out after that.)

Suddenly, though, the chao shuffled forward, took one of his fingers in between its tiny paws, and stared up at him with the softest, most pleading look it could possibly manage, its eyes wide and mouth quivering. “No...no, come on…” Shadow protested weakly, but already his resistance was melting away. It practically seemed to be saying haven’t I been good all week? Can’t I please just have this one treat? and the hybrid was in no condition to fight back.

Within moments, Spark was holding a cinnamon roll and dug into it with glee, only pausing once to nuzzle Shadow happily and offer him a quick bite as thanks. He accepted the gesture of appreciation easily (even though now his face had sugar on it after the chao’s affectionate thank-you) and was more than happy to see his chao smiling broadly with the treat in its hands.

…

The chao was, of course, still a great help to Shadow as well. One night in particular, it woke up to the sounds of quiet whimpering and began to look around, startled. For a moment, it turned to its caretaker for help- and then discovered that he was the one in trouble.

Shadow was curled up on his side, his brow creased in distress and his whole body shaking terribly. His eyes were squeezed tightly shut and occasionally the most terribly saddening sounds would escape his mouth. Once or twice, a tear escaped and trickled down his face.

Spark crawled up to his face gently, licking away the tear and nuzzling his cheek. Shadow shuddered briefly, but seemed to relax almost infinitesimally when the dark chao pressed itself against his chest for a moment. Eventually, the creature managed to get him to roll onto his back, at which point it crawled onto his chest, hoping that this would help him begin to relax.

It really did work- within moments, the small, warm weight on his chest made Shadow’s breathing even out and his shivers ease as the nightmare that was plaguing him began to fade.

Spark curled up, pleased with itself, and fell back asleep not long after.

…

There was just one problem amongst all this newly-discovered happiness that came with the chao. Ever since it had evolved out of its cocoon, Omega seemed as though he were hardly willing to interact with it.

Rouge or Shadow would hand it over to him, only to get it back less than a minute later. He spent the least amount of time with it out of the three, but when he was asked if he didn’t like the chao, he never said as much. 

Omega didn’t tend to lie...but then why wouldn’t he do anything with it?

Once or twice, they’d caught him merely staring at Spark as the little creature sat on the couch, his optics clicking but otherwise utterly silent. The two Mobians hardly knew what to make of it- he’d never acted like this before.

They finally had the opportunity to discover why he was behaving strangely several days later, though, entirely due to an accident on Shadow’s part. Rouge and Omega had been answering a distress call regarding some rogue G.U.N. robots and needed to call in the hybrid to help. He’d driven his motorbike directly to the scene and leapt straight into battle…

...and hadn’t noticed Spark peeking out of the bag he’d left on his bike.

The chao- while fast, to be sure- was in no way prepared for a full-on battle. While at first it had hoped to help its little family, flying about uncertainly in hopes of doing something, it quickly discovered that the only thing it could really do was to hide behind an upended concrete slab and hope it wasn’t noticed.

That, unfortunately, didn’t quite work out.

It didn’t take long before one of the rogue drones spotted a fourth heat signature aside from the three it was fighting and began to stalk towards it, charging its laser cannon in the process. Shadow, confused at first, felt his stomach drop in horror upon seeing his tiny chao shaking in fear as the machine advanced on its hiding spot. He hadn’t thought to bring a Chaos Emerald, believing this would be an easy battle- and Rouge was busy in the air.

The laser cannon on the drone was almost fully charged, and Shadow fired up his skates in a futile attempt to somehow reach Spark before-

A white hot blast lit up the area.

Shadow couldn’t have stopped the strangled cry that came from his mouth if he had wanted to. The smoke began to clear, and he almost couldn’t look…

Something stirred within the haze, and as it cleared away, Shadow felt his whole body sag with relief upon seeing Omega shifting to an upright position from where he’d shielded the chao with the back of his chassis, blocking the full force of the laser. He let out a sigh as he caught a glimpse of Spark held safely in Omega’s hand as the other one retracted to reveal a flamethrower.

“MY TURN.”

Within moments, the drone was just so much melted slag on the floor and the battle’s tide was turned. Shadow and Rouge dispatched the other robots and then rushed to Omega, who had held onto the chao this entire time.

“Omega...thank you.” Shadow said, taking Spark from his friend and holding it tightly.

“IT WAS- zzzt- NOTHING.” Omega said, a sudden staticky buzz splitting his sentence in two.

“Omega?” Rouge asked, her eyes narrowing. “What happened to you?”

“NOTHING.” he said hurriedly, his voice still glitching. “WAIT- DON’T YOU D-DARE-”

The three had already begun looking to see what had happened...but then froze when they saw the damage his back panel had taken while shielding Spark from the blast. A giant, smoking hole of warped and fused metal was burned into his chassis, revealing a bunch of melted and sparking wiring that definitely needed urgent attention.

“Omega…” Shadow looked horrified.

Rouge frowned, confused. “Why would you do this to yourself? I know how much you hate having to go get repairs.”

The robot let out a burst of static that sounded almost like a resigned sigh. Turning around, he muttered, “IT’S LI-LITERALLY YOU. AND ROUGE. BUT TINY. THAT APPEARS TO HAVE… STRANGE EFFECTS- zzzt- ON MY BEHAVIOR.”

“Do you...not like those effects?” Rouge asked, now clearly shifting into ‘I’m figuring things out’ mode. “Is that why you’ve been avoiding it so often?”

“I AM A ROBOT OF MASS DESTRUCTION. I AM NOT SUPPOSED TO CARE FOR TINY CREATURES SUCH AS THIS ONE. I SHOULD NOT FEEL ANY ‘WORRY’ ABOUT IT- AND YET-” Omega cut off there with a frustrated crackle.

Shadow still didn’t understand. “You’ve always been a robot of mass destruction, but you never thought it was weird to worry about us before.”

“THAT WAS DIFFERENT!” Omega insisted. “YOU BOTH ARE POWERFUL. IT IS NATURAL THAT RESPECT AND CONSEQUENTLY OTHER THINGS SHOULD COME FROM THAT. BUT THIS-! IT HAS NO DESTRUCTIVE QUALITIES! BUT STILL I...YOU KNOW...”

“It’s official, Omega.” Rouge said at that, a smirk growing on her face. “You’re becoming more and more like us...organics are always weak for cute things.”

“IT IS SHAMEFUL THAT I SHOULD COME TO THIS.” he grumbled.

“It’s not so bad, really.” Shadow said, placing a hand on his arm.

“And that’s coming from the guy who never used to admit he cares about people!” Rouge insisted. “Omega, you know you don’t have to be embarrassed about that kind of thing here- you’d never make fun of Shadow for not being tough all the time, would you?”

“I GUESS NOT…” he said, still seeming irritated.

At this point, Spark flew up to sit in Omega’s hand, looking up at the robot with its little frowning face, before reaching out and patting a single finger solemnly with its paw.

“OH NO.”

“Oh yes.” Rouge answered, grinning. “Let’s get you to Tails now though, okay? Then once you’re fixed up you can come home and pet the chao.”

Omega turned his head away and refused to dignify that with a response.

(He did, however, pet the chao when he got home. Nobody teased him about it, for which- while he’d never say it- he was rather grateful.)

…

It was inevitable, eventually, that Team Dark’s schedule wouldn’t be perfect and that they’d all have to be out and busy at some point. This, of course, meant that Spark would have to be dropped off at the chao daycare. 

Shadow had managed to force himself to reconcile with that fact, but the chao wasn’t nearly as good at that sort of thing.

On the day of, it was sobbing desperately, clinging to Shadow’s jacket with a tight grip as though it’d been handed a horrible punishment instead of a day spent at the warm, welcoming building in front of it. “It’s going to be alright. You’ll be okay, it’s just for a day. See, the Mobians who run it are very nice- won’t you look?” the hybrid whispered in a soothing voice, gently rubbing Spark’s head.

Omega stepped forward. “DON’T YOU...WANT TO SHOW HOW BRAVE YOU CAN BE?” he said awkwardly. Talking to the chao was still taking some getting used to for him, but he was definitely trying his best.

Rouge smiled warmly at that. “Of course! We’ll all be so proud of you, don’t you know that?”

“We can make a cake especially for you when you get home too, alright?” Shadow said, and that was the final thing the chao needed to hear. Wiping its eyes with a final few sniffles, it flew over to the little walkway towards the entrance and stood up tall, its body shaking slightly with leftover stress and its attempts not to cry.

“We love you!” Rouge called, blowing it a quick kiss.

“See you soon.” Shadow said gently, waving with a smile.

“YOU’LL BE THE BEST ONE THERE.” Omega added, shuffling in place a little.

The chao whimpered briefly, but then turned away and bounded into the daycare before it could lose its nerve. 

Throughout the morning, it remained relatively antisocial- a bit like the hedgehog whose appearance it had taken- during the music and karate lessons. The other chao all babbled and played together, being mostly neutral and hero-types, and the few dark chao that were there wanted to cause an awful lot more trouble than Spark was in the mood for.

One thing that it noticed very clearly, though, was the extraordinarily frustrating presence of a royal blue hero and speed-type chao.

This chao didn’t seem to think even once (let alone twice) about anything it did. It banged on the drums until Spark’s ears were sore during music class and then somehow managed to smack it in the face during karate lessons twice, and all the while it chatted away with about five other chao all around it.

Needless to say, by midday, when it was playtime, Spark had just about had enough.

When the blue chao rushed directly through the little sand city that it had been carefully building, swiping everything away with a single dash, Spark growled, picked up the plastic shovel it had been playing with, and threw it so hard it whacked the other creature in the arm.

Snarling, it began to stomp off when it felt a hand on its shoulder. The blue chao darted away and began hurriedly to try and rebuild the city, occasionally glancing up at Spark with an apologetic expression in its eyes.

It...looked awfully sad, actually.

Suddenly, the dark chao remembered how it had quickly stopped banging on the drums when the teacher had told it to, and how it had looked rather guilty when it had smacked Spark in the face, and how excited it was when talking with the other chao…

Maybe it was just a little clumsy sometimes.

Spark sighed a little. The other meant well, it decided, as its anger began to fade. It appreciated the apology...but now the sculptures were gone and it couldn’t get them back. Then, though, its gaze fell upon a pair of toy cars sitting nearby. 

Pulling the blue chao over to a strip of flat, packed earth nearby, it gave one car to its surprised companion and then set its own down at a line that could work quite well as the start of a race.

Soon enough, the other creature worked out the idea and began to cheer with delight, and before long they were racing cars like they’d been friends since the start. Eventually, they even switched to running races themselves, over and over again until they were all worn out and collapsed on the cool grass in a heap. Before long, though, they were up and at it again, only this time they started with a building game, and then had a little fun with the musical instruments, and soon enough Spark couldn’t help but wonder how they had ever fought in the first place.

Eventually, they decided that their next activity would be a race to the top of the jungle gym they noticed nearby. Spark was determined not to lose as it scrambled up the bars. It pulled itself paw over paw up the structure, getting closer and closer to the top, until-

Suddenly, a bar that it had been sure existed in front of it only a moment ago was now clearly just a little too far away, and the mistake caused it to reel forward, desperately clinging to the slippery bar it sat on. It twisted head over heels until it slid and fell all the way back to the ground, the wind slammed forcefully out of its little lungs.

Spark gasped soundlessly, trying and failing to pull air back into itself. After several agonizing seconds, it finally caught its breath- and then nearly got it knocked back out again by the impact of its new friend.

Regaining focus, the dark chao realized with a start that its friend was practically wailing into its chest, the soft blue creature shaking with desperate, panicked sobs. It looked up quickly, its eyes swollen and teary, and then reached out with its paws and hurriedly patted Spark’s body down, as though to reassure itself that the dark chao was still there. 

The creature in question sat up and pulled its friend into a tight hug, feeling nothing less than awful as the blue chao sniffled and whimpered worriedly in its arms. Eventually, it managed to calm down enough to amble over to a small nest made of blankets especially for tired chao and lay down there next to Spark. The two chao curled up together, nuzzling gently as the shaky breaths of the blue one finally evened out.

Spark felt the little ball over its head pop into a heart shape, and noticed briefly that its friend had done the same. They remained curled up like that for the last half-hour or so of their time in the daycare, alternately simply cuddling or talking about their respective owners.

Spark hoped they’d get to spend more time with this friend of theirs soon.

…

Shadow pulled up to the daycare on his motorcycle at closing time, doing his best to smooth out his frazzled quills. It wouldn’t be very good to let his chao know that he’d been nearly as worried about it as it had felt itself. 

He sighed, making his way towards the entrance of the building- and instantly felt the last wisps of his composure vanish upon seeing Sonic standing just inside. Before he could panic and flee the area at top speed, his legs (which didn’t seem to have received the message just yet) carried him through the door and inside.

Almost immediately, the blue hedgehog turned to face him with a bright smile. “Oh! Hey, Shadow!” Sonic said happily. “I didn’t know you brought your chao here, too! I’ve gotta say hi to the little guy again sometime!”

“This is my first time bringing it here. If it’s alright with that…I suppose you may.” the hybrid said, trying his best to sound coherent and cool (but actually just seeming stiff and awkward).

They talked for a little while as they waited for their chao to come out, chatting about their lives and friends. More than once, Shadow had to pinch himself in order to stay focused. His mind kept threatening to wander off into dreamland when he was around the hero, ready to admire his many great qualities (and wonderful appearance) at the drop of a hat.

Eventually, though, he became a bit worried by the fact that chao after chao were wandering out through the playroom door, being collected, and leaving…but neither Spark nor Sonic’s chao had even showed up. Soon enough, the two decided to walk into the room and find their tiny charges themselves.

“Uh, hi, mixter!” Sonic greeted the leopard who ran the daycare. “Didja see my lil’ buddy somewhere around here?”

“Oh, hello Sonic!” they said brightly- clearly the hero had been to this place quite a few times before. “Yes, your chao is over there in that nest there, sorry. I just hated to disturb those two…”

Shadow frowned. Those two?

His question was promptly answered when Sonic whisked aside the blanket covering the nest, only for both of them to stare at the sight inside.

Two purring chao, one clearly Sonic’s and the other obviously Shadow’s, were snuggled up together with big hearts floating over their heads. Even the hybrid’s dark chao, notorious for its ever-present frown, looked completely at peace with a small smile on its face.

He tried his best not to freak out.

“Erm…” Shadow began eloquently.

“Uh…” Sonic replied.

The two chao perked up at this, looking happily at their owners before nuzzling gently together in a manner that made Shadow’s stomach leap into his throat and then crash straight through the floor. In a further twist (both in events and in the striped hedgehog’s internal organs), Sonic’s chao then leapt happily into his arms, leaving Shadow to stare at the tiny version of his crush cuddling into his chest fur.

He sincerely hoped there was a convenient couch nearby for him to sit down on.

“Blu- come on-” Sonic began, looking oddly panicked for some reason, but then Spark sprang eagerly onto his shoulder and the hero rapidly fell silent as the dark chao nudged his cheek.

The two hedgehogs stared at each other for a long time. Shadow tried to move or do something other than just stand there, but it was awfully difficult when the hero was looking at him with those wide, soft green eyes….

“Er…Sonic?” Shadow finally choked out, in an odd, strained sort of tone.

“Yeah?”

“I think I’d like my chao back now.”

“Yeah.”

They each handed over their respective creatures, though Shadow felt rather reluctant to let such a tiny version of Sonic out of his arms. And for a moment he could almost have sworn that the hero held Spark a little longer than necessary, too…

…

Once he got home, the hybrid collapsed onto the couch and covered his eyes briefly with a hand. Spark, who had at first rushed into the kitchen (not having forgotten the promise of cake), came back and began to tug on his arm briefly before realizing that maybe Shadow wasn’t quite up to doing much of anything at the moment.

Rouge and Omega walked in just a moment later, their work having ended a little after Shadow’s. Upon seeing him slumped on the furniture, though, their greetings were cut short and instead replaced by worried questions.

Shadow sighed. “Spark...just spent a bunch of time cuddling with Sonic’s chao. And he noticed.”

“And that’s a good thing, hon.” Rouge shot back, having resisted a facepalm the moment she realized what all this was about.

“It is not!” the hedgehog cried out, before realizing that Spark was more than a little stressed by his tone of voice. “I’m not mad at you, don’t worry, it’s just...I already make enough of a fool of myself around him on my own. He’ll figure it out soon enough if we keep this up.”

“SO LET HIM.” Omega said. “EITHER HE STARTS DATING YOU OR HE’S AN IDIOT.”

Shadow blushed furiously. “It doesn’t work like that!”

“EXCEPT WHEN IT DOES.”

“Why don’t you tell him, hon?” Rouge asked. “I mean…” and here she developed a devious smile, “...didn’t his chao technically also act all affectionate with yours?”

The hybrid’s ears were bright green by now. “He’s nice to everyone, Rouge.”

At this point, Spark- who had left temporarily to get a pencil and paper- held up a drawing it had made of the scene at the jungle gym earlier. Shadow, of course, immediately began fussing over his chao, checking for any bruises or scrapes, but the bat in particular saw something entirely different.

“Kinda...reminds me of what happened on Space Colony ARK.” she mused. 

Shadow’s head shot up at that. “What?”

Rouge smirked, but it was bittersweet this time. “Your fall...it really hurt him too, y’know? He didn’t go out in public for a long time after that.”

“He...he never mentioned that to me…”

“He wouldn’t have!” she said. “Sonic isn’t the type to ‘bother’ others with his feelings.” Rouge explained, doing air quotes at one point.

“HE ALSO STARES AT YOU WHEN YOU ARE NOT LOOKING.”

“He what?!” By now Shadow had been reduced to just looking back and forth between his two friends. 

Spark flew in front of Shadow’s face and began to mime something. First pointing at Shadow, then a heart, then talking, then a hedgehog with all its quills pointed down…

“No! I can’t just tell him!”

“We’re hanging out with his team next week at the park- you should do it then.” Rouge replied, ignoring the last thing he’d just said.

“Did you not hear me, I can’t-”

“YOU WILL NEED SOMETHING NICE TO WEAR.” Omega said loudly over the rest of his sentence.

Spark cheered approvingly.

“So...you three have just decided for me whether or not I’m going to confess to Sonic.” Shadow sighed, beginning to resign himself to the fact.

“Absolutely, hon!” Rouge said brightly, slipping an arm around his shoulders.

He glowered at all three of them, but it lacked any real malice. “Alright, I’ll play along...for now.” he grumbled.

“EXCELLENT. LET THE PLANNING COMMENCE.”

…

One week later, Shadow was standing in the middle of a patch of grass, feeling like his knees were about to buckle as sweat trickled through his quills. He was no longer resigned to telling Sonic about his feelings and was in fact considering jumping into the nearby lake and hiding there for the duration of the hangout. His stomach- along with whatever scraps of resolve he may have had- were currently all the way back at their house.

On top of all that, he was frankly surprised he didn’t just spontaneously burst into flames when the other three Mobians showed up, Sonic in the lead.

“Hey guys!” he said excitedly. “Long time no see!”

Rouge snickered a bit at his catchphrase (it was one of many) but Shadow just felt his ears burn. He was just so cute and cheesy and already the hybrid’s mind was devolving into a mushy mess.

“Rouge, Omega.” he greeted them each, but he seemed to pause for a second on the last name. “...Shadow.”

The hedgehog in question thankfully managed a reply, and then the fun began in earnest. Knuckles and Shadow competed in several arm-wrestling matches with narration from Tails (“...aaaand Knuckles looks like he’s in the lead!”) and commentary from Omega (“YOU’RE LUCKY I DON’T ARM-WRESTLE OR ELSE BOTH OF YOUR ARMS WOULD BE BROKEN.”). Rouge and Sonic were busy pranking other innocent people, though once in a while the latter would look over at the competition, distracted.

Eventually, Tails and Omega got bored- which of course meant Knuckles and Shadow had to play the role of caretaker (“No, you can’t blow up trees. No, not even for ‘science’.”) for a little while.

At one point, though, Rouge got bored with the pranks and had dragged the echidna off to a park bench and was now flirting with him enough to turn his face as red as his spines. Tails had promised to behave- which now meant that he was halfheartedly attempting to convince Omega not to modify his cannon to launch ducks from the nearby pond- leaving Sonic and Shadow to themselves. Blu and Spark had been playing in the grass all this time (since both of them had brought their chao without really realizing that the other would do the same), and Shadow had very definitely not been thinking about how lucky his chao was that emotions were easy for it.

He remembered the talk his friends had given him before this outing then and wondered if maybe, just maybe, it could be that easy. Before he could stop himself, he’d already spoken.

“...Sonic?”

“Yeah?” the hero asked, turning to face Shadow.

“I...wanted to talk to you about something.” he said, regretting everything already because look how stupid he was about to seem...yet Shadow Robotnik the Hedgehog had never been one to do things by halves.

“Oh, really?” Sonic said, and now he almost looked relieved, for some reason. “I, uh, was actually hoping to do the same. That’s cool, what is it?”

“No, no, you go first.” Shadow urged him, hoping that he’d take the offer.

Unfortunately, today was not his lucky day. “No, man, you asked first! Go ahead, what was it?”

“Really- it’s fine.”

“No, you had something you wanted to say!” Sonic insisted.

“It’s okay, I swear-”

“Well, I guess-”

“I mean, if you want-”

“Okay-”

“You see-”

“I like you!”

Both hedgehogs shouted the words at the exact same time, before freezing and staring at each other.

“Wait…” Shadow began.

Sonic’s eyes were wide. “You like me back?!?” he gasped, hands flying up to his mouth.

“...yes.” he admitted, looking off to the side in embarrassment. Then it hit him. “Wait. You like me back?”

“Of course! How could I not?” Sonic asked incredulously. “You’re smart, funny, nice-” He’d begun listing off attributes while counting on his fingers, but cut himself off upon noticing Shadow’s confusion.

“Yes, but you’re a hero. The world’s hero.” Shadow began to frown, staring at the grass. “Why would you settle for someone like-”

“No.” Sonic growled, and the hybrid looked up suddenly to see his face twisted in anger. “Don’t ever say that.”

“But everyone thinks it…” Shadow protested weakly.

“Yeah, well, ‘everyone’ isn’t part of my love life.” Sonic assumed a slightly less aggressive stance, placing a hand on his hip. “Whoever’s been telling you that can either leave you alone or get their face introduced to my sneakers.”

Shadow blushed. “Nobody needed to. I just assumed...but perhaps I shouldn’t have.” he added quickly, seeing the hero begin to glower again. 

“That’s right!” he said, zipping over to stand directly in front of Shadow. “No assumptions here- talk to me from now on if something’s worryin’ you, ‘kay?”

Then, he seemed to notice the sudden stiffness in the hybrid’s posture, as well as the green flush slowly creeping up his ears. Sonic leaned forward with a smirk, resting his forearm on Shadow’s shoulder. “Thinkin’ about something?”

Shadow gulped.

For once, he decided that he could do what he wanted. So, he slowly reached up a hand and touched the peach fur on Sonic’s arm gently, like it was the most delicate thing in the world. 

Rather more quickly, Sonic turned a shade of bright red to rival Omega’s paint job.

“So, uh…” he began, his voice shaky. “Erm...do ya feel like sitting under that tree? Together?”

Shadow agreed, and the two walked over to the shady patch, sitting down and resting against each other. Soon enough, though, Sonic turned to face Shadow, a little nervous. “Do we, like, need to talk about this? Figure out...what to do about…us?” He started turning pink again.

“Maybe later. We have a lot of time, after all.” Shadow said, trying to contain the soaring feeling inside when Sonic said ‘us’- until he realized that he didn’t have to any longer.

“What’re you smiling about?”

“You. And me. Together.” Shadow said simply, making Sonic laugh and snuggle up against him, resting his head on a black-furred shoulder.

“Wow. That’s, uh….that’s new. I really like it though.”

Then, the hero looked up at him. “I really like you, too.”

At this point, a loud whistle could be heard from Rouge, who was standing not too far off and had likely heard a lot of what they’d said. Sonic just giggled, while Shadow shot her a death glare. She just winked and mouthed I’ll keep them occupied, at which point the hybrid tried not to show how very much he appreciated that and failed miserably.

And Sonic was purring now. Which of course meant that every single brain cell in Shadow’s head was promptly dead for the next five minutes.

After he’d recovered from that, Shadow wrapped his arms tightly around his...boyfriend? Maybe? He thought for a moment. “Hey, Sonic?”

“Yeah?”

“How do you feel about being my-” Shadow paused briefly to cough, trying to get the words out- “-boyfriend?”

“I think I like that a lot.”

Shadow smiled warmly, feeling the beginnings of a purr rise up in his own chest.

“I like that a lot, too. Almost as much as I like you.”

[penaltbox]

two can play - roman ahcan

this fic belongs to @puckyess​ just as much as it does to me, if not more! if you like it you have to make sure you tell her thank you just as much as you tell me, which we both really need you guys to tell us what you think because this one was an absolute gem to write and create for you guys. if you like it, reblog it, let us know. thank you!!

word count: 14k (uh holy shit lol)

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The bar is busy when you get there, but you manage to get in and get your drink. What you don’t understand is how you ended up flirting with this cute boy that’s all smiles and curls. He seems completely enamored with you and you even notice his friends checking on him every now and again. It’s one of those friends that catches your attention even more than the boy vying for your attention though.

You keep looking over at the other brunette, exchanging glances that feel like you’re getting away with something. It’s almost like a challenge to the other boy. He’s getting to look at you and exchange flirty smiles and smirks all while his friend has no idea it’s going on. It seems like a fun game to you and you let it continue the rest of your night. The friend you’d gotten to entertain in the meantime is plenty cute enough though so when the curly haired boy, Owen as you’d found out, had asked for your number you had no reason to tell him no. In fact, you gladly agreed. 

You exchange numbers, thinking you’ll probably never see the cute boy whose attention you managed to hold while never exchanging a word, but oh would you be wrong. You’d be so wrong and it would turn into a game that almost ruined things for you between multiple boys. The initial realization that things were trouble comes when Owen invites you over to his apartment a few days later to hang out.

Unbeknownst to you, Owen had been raving to his roommate about how interested in you he was. Roman knows Owen is oblivious to what happened that night and he has no reason to pop the younger boy’s bubble, so he lets him ramble on. Roman gets annoyed, wishing he’d talked to you even a little bit that night, but he hadn’t so now he had to sit and listen to his friend have the time of his life with you. He really thought he’d missed his chance at you, but oh would he be wrong. 

Roman had done the bare minimum that night and he kicked himself for it now as Owen showed him pictures on your Instagram. He’d honestly thought you’d maybe come talk to him after all the glances that had been exchanged that night but you were apparently just as stubborn as him. You’d also found him on Instagram through Owen and you’d be a liar if you said you hadn’t looked through his pictures a few times just to see that sly little smirk again. 

__

As you get to Owen’s apartment the last thing on your mind is the possibility of his cute teammate being there. Owen practically breaks an ankle getting to the door when he hears a knock and Roman is two seconds from chirping him when he catches sight of you. You lean in to hug Owen and Roman immediately smiles at the sight of you. When Owen steps out of the way you two make eye contact instantly and he sees how your eyes go wide, but you match his smirk once again. The energy picks back up right where you two had left it at the bar. Owen offers a polite introduction of the two of you before offering to grab you a drink.

He leads you over to the couch and pats it before heading off into the other room. You mind your own business, thinking Roman was in the other room with Owen, when two hands press into the couch on either side of your shoulders. Roman leans down, his lips hovering near your ear when he lowers his voice so only you can hear.

“So you like to play games, huh?”

Your jaw drops for a second, skin practically buzzing at how close he was to you. You can feel the heat radiating off him, but you quickly pick up your jaw, turning to look at him with a proud little smile, “I sure do and I absolutely hate losing.”

Your response makes his blood boil with the anticipation of a good challenge. He had expected you to back down. He doesn’t get the chance to shoot back though because Owen comes back into the room with impeccable timing.

“What’d I miss? Are you two playing nice in here?” he asks, completely oblivious, but his question couldn’t be more fitting. 

Roman laughs and it’s a sound you think you could drown in. He’d pulled away so fast you swore you felt a breeze and you can see him chewing on the inside of his cheek from across the room. Owen is all smiles as he sits next to you, handing you a bottle of water. Roman sticks around the entire time you hang out, continuing to steal looks and heated glances with you. He made no effort to hide when he’d check you out and something about it only fueled whatever it was the two of you had started. 

He behaves, more or less, the rest of the night otherwise and Owen seems none the wiser. He slips up slightly when Owen slips an arm around your shoulders and he lets out a cough, but he quickly covers it by claiming he needed a drink of his own. Owen gives you a confused look and mentions that he found it weird, but he doesn’t bring it up any further than that. By the time you’re set to leave you can’t even look at Roman for fear of breaking into a grin so he gives you a simple nod when you get up to go but you know he watches you on the way out. 

You’re left with a constant thread of thoughts that involve Roman once you leave rather than the boy who had initially invited you to hang out. You get home despite the daze you’re in and get ready for bed. When you crawl under your covers that night there’s a notification from Instagram and then suddenly another. You have a new follower notification, but more than that, you have a message waiting in your DMs.

‘Game on. I don’t play fair.’ 

You roll over and press your face into your pillow, letting out a little scream. You can’t wipe the smile off of your face from those five words and you know right then that Roman Ahcan really might be the death of you. He already knew the power he held over you so you leave him on read to send him a message that two can play this game.

It haunts Roman for the next three days that you leave him on read. He thinks about it constantly and the couple times he’s seen you are like an endless movie reel that plays in his brain. He’s pretty sure Owen has no idea, which he’s thankful for, because even at practice you manage to find a way to distract his thoughts. He was guilty of taking the frustration of trying to chase someone else’s interest out by checking his teammates a little too hard, but he had to do something to calm his mind down. He makes a note to himself after their last practice of the week to push the game along that weekend at the party. He knew you’d be coming but you, and Owen, had no clue what Roman had planned for the two of you.

__

When you show up to their apartment again that Saturday you feel his eyes on you the moment you step inside. You find him in the sea of people first, eyes meeting as usual, and smirking at each other. It was almost routine at this point even with the party in full swing. You throw him a wink and move your attention elsewhere, needing to find the boy you’d actually shown up to see. It worries you a bit when you have to actively look for Owen after so easily finding Roman in the busy space.

You manage to find Owen eventually and you give him a big hug. He really was a sweet boy and you had a lot of fun whenever you were with him. You get introduced to his teammates that are around and he easily hooks an arm over your shoulders to pull you into his side. Roman tries to shake his thoughts off as he realizes he’d been watching the door most of the night until you got there. When did he get like this? 

He decides to try and distract himself by flirting hard with the first girl that comes up to him, but he finds himself looking over at you when he leans down to hear the girl talk. You’re already staring at him and you raise your eyebrows at his actions. You shake your head and quickly turn your attention back to the conversation you’d been in. He was bold, that was for sure. You were sitting on Owen’s lap, playing with his curls, and Roman still had the guts to try and get you worked up. Unfortunately, it worked too. Roman almost instantly lets the girl go once he loses your attention though, claiming he needs another drink despite his being half full. 

He catches you out of the corner of his eye as he pretends to dig through the fridge, watching as you head for the bathroom. He follows you, waiting until you’re opening the door to back you up and shut the door behind you two. You’re surprised, but you recognize what he’s doing right away. He knew he had to catch you off guard and honestly, you gave him credit. This gave you both a bit of privacy for a second without seeming suspicious. 

“Uh, personal space?” 

He smirks, of course, at your question and pins you against the counter. It’s instantly much closer than he’s ever been, but his only question is “so what are the rules for this game?”

“Rule #1 is you can look but you can’t touch,” you say glancing down to where his chest is practically touching yours. You take your finger and poke his chest, pushing him away from you and trying to move around him in the small place.

He pouts as you poke his chest but steps back. You don’t expect him to give in so easily and you smile, thinking you’d earned another leg up on him. That is until he leans back against the door, blocking you in once again.

“I don’t really like that rule,” he shrugs, “so good luck getting out of here with that one.”

You’d never backed down from a challenger before and you weren’t going to start now, even if you should so you cross your arms and say fine and sit yourself on the edge of the tub scrolling through your phone as if you weren’t completely bothered by his presence. He’s shocked when you just sit on the tub and act so nonchalant. He’s supposed to be making you more fired up so he can win. 

He frowns for a second but flips the lock on the door handle and walks over to you, “what if I break the rules? I don’t lose technically because one of us has to give up to lose, right?”

You’re lucky he has to turn his back to flip the lock on the door handle so that he doesn’t see you swallow hard when he does it. Just being in a small space like that with him had you on high alert but ready to give him back whatever attitude he was dealing out. It was an addicting feeling to have around him. He doesn’t hesitate to hover close to you after he asks the question and you pretend to think about it.

 That is, until he picks a spot on the floor that’s dangerously close to your thigh to stop, but finally you say, “Actually, I believe you’re the one who can look but not touch, but there’s no rule saying that I can’t touch, right Ro?” 

You stand despite the extreme lack of space between the two of you still and start to comb your fingers through his hair. You watch his jaw tense when you all but press against him and run your hand through his hair. As hard as it is to tear your eyes from the muscle twitching in his jaw, it’s totally worth it when you bring your eyes up to meet his and you see the fire that’s there. You have to play it cool because he looks so good when he does it, but you lose your composure when he grabs your wrist and tugs you the rest of the way against him. 

“Remember when you said you don’t play fair? I think I may have to take that line and borrow it. Your rule then is that you can’t kiss Owen in front of me.”

When he grabs your wrist, you’re thankful to have somewhere else to look for fear that you might lose it right there in that bathroom. He manages to leave you speechless and walks out the door like he didn’t just rock your world. You have half a mind to storm right after him but that would mean he was winning and you couldn’t have him thinking that. Instead you walk right back out there and announce to Owen that it was probably time for you to go. When you see Roman catch your eye, you add “back to my place” just loud enough for him to hear.

Roman’s glad he’s thrown you off enough and he can tell you’re flustered when you finally come make your announcement about leaving for the night. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t enjoy spending time with Owen and (most of) his friends, but you were all out of sorts after the bathroom incident and you needed to clear your head. Owen is surprised to hear you say that and when he falters for just a second Roman steps in. 

“I can walk you home and make sure you get back safe. I was just about to head out too” he smiles nicely and you feel like your eyes are about to pop out of your head. 

Owen happily, to your chagrin, obliges, “oh perfect! I was just about to start a game of fortnite here otherwise I’d take you so this works for everyone.” 

And yeah technically it did but now you and Roman were about to really be alone for once. Your thoughts are already racing as you look between these two boys. The options weren’t bad really, but could you survive this? Was it worth finding out who was better? Maybe you could see a relationship with Owen, he was sweet, funny, smart. Maybe you could see it if Roman and his big ego wasn’t in your way. You’re completely unsure at the moment, though you know there’s a little extra something when it comes to Roman, and you catch the eye of the older boy and his seemingly permanent smirk is turned on you.

Roman can tell he’s got you right where he wants you when you demand to leave. Admittedly, he thinks you’re inviting Owen back with you when you first say it and he starts to panic that he pushed you in the wrong direction so he’d stepped up with the offer to walk you, and only you, home. You have no reason to be mad at Owen, he has no idea what’s going on between you two, but your irritation with Roman shows in your tone when you snap a “fine” to Owen. 

Walking out the door without a goodbye leaves him confused, but he figures maybe something is wrong since you’re leaving so suddenly. Roman has to move quick to leave when you suddenly do but he’s hot on your heels. You barely glance over your shoulder to see where he’s at but when you have to wait for the elevator he stands next to you as close as possible. 

“You better behave,” you tell him, looking up at him. 

“Scout’s honor” Roman says holding up his hand, but with that smirk you know there is definitely no honor there.

When you step in the elevator you expect him to stand as close as he possibly can without touching you like he did in the bathroom, but instead he leans his back on the opposite wall, seemingly collected and cool while your blood runs hot. The stare down he gives you is intense and makes you wish that he actually was close enough to run your hand through his hair again. You hate how easily he can cloud your judgement after being around him so few times. You weren’t sure how the connection between you two was so strong, but it had a way of getting to you before you even realized it.

“Are you undressing me in your head?” He crudely questions you.

Before you can argue back Owen shoots you a ‘let me know you get home safe’ because of course he’s sweet like that. It throws you off for a second before you scoff at Roman’s question in the small space but you do let yourself look, “you’re awfully bold, you know that?” 

“That’s not a no,” he boasts, and almost on purpose you swear, runs a hand through his hair. He has no problem telling you, “but I definitely have undressed you in my head. I prefer to do it in front of your boy though.”

Owen’s text gets a second glance as you roll your eyes and try disregarding his comment. You figured Roman was done, but when he realizes he’s being ignored and seeing you smile at your phone, who he presumes to be Owen, that’s when Roman kicks it up a notch and puts the emphasis of his last sentence on “your boy”. You shrug, trying to not let him see how much it affected you, how much you wanted it… or him?

“Well I guess that does follow the rules....and here I thought you were a rule breaker, Ahcan.”

The elevator doors open for you to waltz out of, karma on your side for the moment. You can’t help but feel like you won that round despite him seeming to have it taken care of with his out of pocket comment. He’d noticed you let out a little laugh at the phrase he called Owen though and that lets him know you and Owen were definitely still getting to know each other and nothing close to official. 

“I break rules at the right times though,” he follows you closely, tucking right against your side as you walk, “when it helps me win.” 

You give him a confused look but head for your apartment. He breaks his one and only rule when you open the door to the complex and he lays his hand on the small of your back as he holds the door open with an arm over your head. His remark about winning has you starting to think about what exactly it would mean to “win” but don’t have much time to give it more thought because the feeling of his hand is burned into your back and the act of holding the door is also not lost on you. The touch gives you a little shiver that he doesn’t miss but he behaves the rest of the way to your apartment. When you put the key in the lock though he speaks up, “aren’t you going to invite me in?”

You’re not sure whether to laugh or cry at his question. You could either send him on his way with a ‘try again next time’ or you could go against your better judgement and let him in, surprising yourself and him. It would practically be a crime to shut the fun down after he walked you all the way back so a simple “if you swear you’ll behave” and a smirk as you walk into your place and leave the door open is what you give him.

He had hoped you’d say yes, but he hadn’t actually thought you’d agree so when you do he’s a little puppy scurrying beside you before you change your mind. You try to go about your business as if he wasn’t there, changing out of your party clothes into sweats and throwing your hair up. Padding into the kitchen, you grab a glass and turn around to see him standing in the middle of the room watching you. He looks totally out of his element now that he’s on your territory. He had just kind of tapped away on his phone as you went about what you were doing but you don’t miss the softer smile he gives you when he sees you come back to the kitchen in your comfy clothes. 

“Are you planning on staying a while or?” You ask motioning to him with another glass in your hand. 

“I think you already know the answer to that,” he says with a smirk. He’s slick though, so he grabs his glass and comes around the counter to stand much closer to you.

You snort a little at his response but pour the wine into his glass anyway and set it on the counter for him to retrieve it. You boost yourself up on the counter and watch as he leans his hand next to your thigh and decides that’s the best place to start a conversation. 

Your brain speaks for your heart though when you suddenly have an idea, “I have another rule. For both of us this time though. No one gets hurt. We can be all fun and games with this, but you don’t hurt me and I won’t hurt you. Deal?”

He tried to busy himself and figure out what the heck he was doing here. Yeah he wanted you, he had already made that clear but what was his end game and what was he going to do now that he had you all to himself tonight? His proximity is so close you don’t know how he’s not touching you and the weight of your request hangs heavily between you two. It feels both natural and charged to have him this close, but he knows if anything, he’ll make sure to keep you safe no matter what. When you state that rule, all of his cockiness from before dissolves and it’s a surprise to you. 

“I would never hurt you” he promises. 

You’re probably a fool to believe him but the way he looks at you, you do. He feels comfortable though so you trust him, and how close he is, even with the added alcohol. Things only get more flirty and before you realize it he’s standing between your legs to talk to you, free hand on your thigh as his thumbs rub circles. 

“So really, you would pick Owen over me? I mean he’s nice and all but I’m way more fun,” he says, and the smile he has is so genuine that you’re both starting to forget the game that was at stake.

You hadn’t exactly given in but you’d let him a whole lot closer than he was expecting to get already. You were both just tipsy enough to know exactly what you were doing and also not give a damn. His question, from what it’s asking, to the way he words it to the tone of his voice is intriguing. The smile is genuine, there’s no smirk. The way he chews his lip after he asks lets you know he’s a little nervous about what you might say. You said he couldn’t hurt you and he was pretty sure you wouldn’t hurt him but he didn’t want to be made a fool of either. It’s almost like he’s staying it as a fact, but there’s a slight waver to his voice, something in his tone that lends itself toward insecurity- truly wanting to know if you would pick Owen over him. 

Does he think about what your answer could lead to? No. Do you have to think, even a minute before you respond? No. 

“It doesn’t matter who I’d pick, the real question is would you pick me?”

You both knew there was an imaginary line drawn and both were working on seeing how far they could push that line. Roman has to take a minute to think of his response, but he’s sure of it. 

“I would pick you, but maybe not the same way Owen would.” 

You swallow hard realizing your request to not get hurt may be more difficult for him than you originally thought. In his mind, he stayed true to the rule of not hurting you by being as honest as he could in his answer. When he watches the way you swallow hard and sees the flicker of hope in your eyes vanish, replaced by a mischievous gleam he knows he’s in for it. You had to think quickly to defend your heart. He’s suddenly more defensive of his own heart than he thought when he sees the quickness of your shift in emotions. He swears it’s because he doesn’t want to lose, but there’s also a small part of him that could see you two together. He has to squash that down though or he’ll be in too deep, too fast. 

You know you have to protect yourself so you go on the offensive, “I guess I just really need to step it up then. After all, you’re the one with the no touching rule you can’t follow.” 

He frowns, wondering what you mean before you down the last of your wine and put the glass down. You turn your attention to him and slip your arms around his shoulders and start to play with the ends of his curls as you pull him closer. The fact that he has to chant “win the game” in his head to stay focused should be a good indicator that there’s more to it than that. You have to protect yourself because he had already warned you that he doesn’t play fair and his admission that his intentions were far from the warmth and safety that Owen provided was proof of that. 

The frown on his face shifts into a look of content as he leans into your touch. Your fingers continue their movements as you still pull him closer and closer, gauging his reaction. You can see his mind working overtime trying to figure out his next move. 

“What’re you doing?” He mumbles, not making any move to halt your actions. Instead of answering his question you lean in so close your lips are almost touching, his eyes fluttering closed. 

You give him credit for not closing the millimeter of distance, “do you think you could handle sleeping in the same bed without touching me, baby?”

You’re both in deep trouble and you’re well aware of it but there’s also no chance either of you give in yet. It’s nice to have the chase though, the attention so solely focused on you. You have to watch it when you start to think how easy it feels to be so wrapped up and close with him even if your stomach hasn’t stopped flipping since he stood between your legs. He immediately opens his eyes at the question and you realize how close you two are suddenly. It makes your cheeks burn hot and the smirk on his face doesn’t help. 

“Aw, do you need me to stay and make sure you’re safe? Or is this your way or getting me into bed with you on day one?”

You refused to lose and he shared that same mentality. You told yourself the contact was to get him worked up but was that really true when you felt your own heart race with every inch being closed between the two of you? Your cheeks were already flushed and you were 100% blaming it on the wine and not the devilish smirk he was giving you. 

“Funny, I don’t recall actually asking you into my bed? Just if you could handle it, but I guess we both know the answer to that one. Now, why don’t you see yourself out.” 

He raises an eyebrow at you, shocked at the move you’d managed to pull on him, “oh yeah?”

“I have a date with Owen in the morning” you smirk. Your eyes automatically flick to where, as you predicted, his jaw was clenched. 

“Well then”, he says pushing himself from you, “I’ll be sure to remind him of that when I get back to my place.” 

He wastes no time heading for the exit and he’s closing your door maybe a little harder than necessary without so much as a goodbye. Without him in your space you can finally breathe for what feels like the first time that night, but you suddenly feel lonely. You reach for your phone and finally respond to Owen’s text from when you first left and ask him if he wants to get brunch with you in the morning since now you had to make good on your lie. 

The whole way home Roman curses himself for not just taking you up on your offer of sleeping with you, even if he couldn’t touch you. Who knows when he would get that chance again? He never let his guard down like that and got walked over but you’d done it so easily. He considers going back to your door but he can’t. Not the first time anyways. He gets to breathe too when he’s not all wrapped up in you with your hands in his hair. 

__

Owen almost too easily agrees to brunch and you find yourself missing the fight that Ro puts up. You try and talk yourself out of it but it’s pretty obvious who has your attention now. In your haste to get to bed to end the previous day you had left your’s and Roman’s wine glasses on the counter. Owen seems to find them almost immediately upon arriving before your impromptu brunch date. 

“Did you have someone over last night?” Owen asks you, his brows knit together. 

You were in your room still trying to make yourself not look like last night had ever happened when you heard his question from the kitchen. You pretend to not hear him and pray that he doesn’t repeat it. What were you supposed to say? ‘Yeah, I almost slept with your roommate? And then invited you to brunch because I wanted to make him mad’? You had made Roman promise to not hurt you but you begin to realize Owen could be a big piece of collateral damage and there needs to be another rule about keeping him safe, too.

Owen brushes the second glass off, thinking it’s probably your roommate who had it. As you walk to brunch, he takes your hand and smiles over at you, “Roman got you home safe then last night?” 

You keep your eyes on the ground as a little wave of panic runs over you but you manage a response somehow, “yeah he made sure I got here. Dropped me off at the elevator and headed out.” 

Owen buys it when you give him a little smile. He seems happy knowing his friend did what he assumed was a good thing. At hearing your response though he starts to think maybe he should take that next step and ask you to officially be his girlfriend. You seemed to fit in his life nicely and he liked you enough that he couldn’t imagine you being with someone else. You make a mental note of mentioning that new rule to Roman and you wonder why it even has to be a rule at all. Why can’t you just let Owen go, harm free why were you still holding onto him?  

__

Roman is so worked up that he manages to avoid you for the entire week but once again, there’s a party that next Saturday and you’re stuck locking eyes with him as soon as you walk through the door. The night is a shit show, to say the least. He’s got a girl trying to hold his attention and he gives it to her once he sees you. It makes your blood boil but you retreat to Owen’s side. It’s full of those loaded looks and his games are working, why couldn’t he pick less obnoxious girls at least? But he chose the ones with tiny waists and loud voices, ones that draped themselves all over him, their fake nails raking over his arms, gripping his thigh and running through the same head of hair that yours had been in last weekend. 

Well, two could play that game. You made sure to be sitting on Owen’s lap and twirling the ends of his hair again, like you had with Roman’s. You even went as far as pretending to be cold so that he’d offer his sweatshirt, the one with his number branded across the sleeve. While you could tell Roman noticed, his eyes hardly left you all night even though he pretended not to care, he still made no move. 

You wait for him to acknowledge you at all, or even talk to you, but it never comes. You’re one of the last people there when you make up your mind about your next move. 

“I should probably head home now.” 

You know he hears it and you leave it as an offer for him to repeat his actions from the last week, hoping he’ll step up again. When even your announcement to leave has no effect you take what’s left of your dignity and get up to go home. Owen pulls you back down for a kiss and as if on instinct you immediately turn your head to the side, his lips making contact with your cheek. ‘You can’t kiss Owen in front of me’ rang through your head. You feel bad as you stand up and see the hurt look on Owen’s face, his hands falling from your waist. 

“I’ll, uhm,” he clears his throat, “I’ll walk you home.” 

You don’t offer him any explanation for your behavior; you just nod, not catching Roman’s expression as you turn for the door. Your walk home is silent. O drops you off at your door, his hands hesitantly come up to brush the hair off your face from the wind. 

“I’m not sure if I did something to upset you tonight, but if I did I’m sorry,” he tells you with a frown. 

Your heart squeezes and you know how in the wrong you are. You shake your head, sighing. “you didn’t do anything, O. It’s me. I’m just having a night and I’m tired. Can we talk about this tomorrow?” 

Of course he agrees because he’s Owen and you’re thankful that he’s so patient with you. He, again, is hesitant as he leans down to place a kiss on your forehead this time before he leaves. You give him a smile and he waits to hear you get inside and lock your door before heading back to his own apartment. You head right for your room and fall onto your bed, completely frustrated with everything when you hear a knock on your door.

You hesitate for a second at the noise, wondering if you were hearing things. There’s no way it was him. He doesn’t say anything when you first open the door either. Just leans against the frame and gives you that same small smile he’d given you the first night when you changed out of your party clothes. 

You almost debate not opening the door at all, knowing nothing good can from him being here this late, but you know him well enough to know that he’d wake your neighbors in his pursuit before he gave up that easily. Your annoyance with him that night disappears the second you see the expression on his face. He’s grateful you open the door and don't curse him out the second you see him, he deserved it. Your stomach gets butterflies just seeing him there and instead of saying anything either you hold your hand out and let him take it before pulling him inside. 

He grips your hand, well aware that it could be breaking rule #1, but he just doesn’t care. Right now he needed your touch and the fact that you were offering it after the way he acted tonight was reason enough for him to let go of the rules and give in. You lead him to the couch, not a word yet to be spoken between the two of you. You study him curiously, he’s chewing on his lip a sign that something was on his mind. You’re also aware of the way he takes you in as well. You were tired he could tell, but you also looked serene. Your body was facing his, your arm resting along the back of the couch like his, fingers tracing patterns on the back of his hand. He takes note of the fact that you’re still in Owen’s sweatshirt and makes a comment on it. 

“Ya know, 13 would look a hell of a lot better on you” he says and immediately your fingers stop tracing and you pull away. ‘Fuck,’ he thinks ‘why did he start with that.’ He sighs running a hand over his face. 

“You-” 

“I know, I know; that was uncalled for,” he says, cutting you off, “I didn’t come here to start anything.” 

You swallow the rest of your retort, not expecting an apology, “why are you here, Ro?”

You’re a liar if you said you’d rather wear the 18 on the sweatshirt you had on versus wearing Ro’s. You had a feeling it would just fit right like he seemed to on your couch with you. He’s so quiet when you ask that and it starts to make you nervous. Why ask that? There was no rhyme or reason to anything that was going on between the two of you. It was all based on feelings rather than any sort of logic. He turns to look at you then, wasn’t that the million dollar question? What was he doing here? His brain immediately goes to what he’d heard in practice earlier in the week and he remembers why he had to chase you down and get more time with you.

“I mean,” you start to ramble, “it’s so late. You could have just gone home. I know you were plenty busy tonight so there had to be someone who would have gone with you. Why end up here? Why are we even still doing this?” 

“Owen is about to ask you to be his.” 

Your heart sinks at his words and the pained look on his face is even worse. He can’t look at you when he says it and he’s back to chewing on his lip. 

“He’s what?” You whisper, but you both know exactly what he’d said. Your mind starts to race over it. You had no reason to tell Owen no. He was sweet, thoughtful, and always asked you to hang out. 

“You can say yes to him. We’ll have to call off the game but I don’t want to get in the way of you being happy,” Roman shrugs, though you can easily tell it’s hard for him to say as you watch his jaw clench immediately. It was a tell that you’d learned already about him that showed you easily that he was frustrated.

“I don’t know if I want Owen,” you tell him honestly.

-

Owen’s gut tells him not to wait apparently and he ends up bringing up that he wants to ask you to be his in the locker room one day. The words make Roman’s heart drop even though he doesn’t show it and it puts a panic into him. You two had just started the game. It couldn’t be over already. But he still didn’t know what it meant to win and neither did you, so should he really be interfering with you being happy? 

Owen doesn’t want to make you wait but he also wants to make it perfect so he thinks maybe after the road trip next weekend he’ll do it. Roman’s head snaps up from his skates, but luckily doesn’t draw the eyes of anyone. That means he had about a week to figure his shit out. His mind kept going back to the night that he had mentioned Owen as your boy and the little laugh you let out. You didn’t seem serious about it then, were you now? Were you happy with Owen? 

-

Maybe it was the fact that you’d thought the same thing about 13 looking much better on you, or maybe it was the fact that Owen’s sweatshirt just didn’t feel right suddenly you needed to take it off. Based on his demeanor toward you at the party this was the last place you expected him to be and his confession had you reeling. His words, the look on his face, the prospect of what Owen was offering, it was all too much. You went from tired to completely wired. 

“Well you can’t have us both, and he’s giving you no reason to not say yes” he says. His nice guy act was coming at the worst time. 

“I don't get you, ya know? One minute you’re doing everything you can to win my attention and steal me away from your friend and the second you actually have my attention and the opportunity you’re trying to push me into his arms again. This really is all a game to you isn’t it?”

Roman thought about whether you’d say yes to Owen more times during that week than he wanted to admit. He replays the night at your place even more often and he knows he’s fucked no matter what you choose.It seemed to consume him. How exactly had you managed to have a hold on him like this when he really only had one short lived weekend with you? He can hear how frustrated you’re getting with him and he hates it. He liked the flirty and playful way you two usually were, but he knew there wasn’t much time left for that with Owen making up his mind so fast. 

“It is a game, but it’s not. It started as one but now it’s real and it got real so fucking fast. I’m not pushing you back to him. That’s the last thing I want to see happen but I don’t know if I can be what you want either. I don’t think I’m cut out to be a boyfriend or something,” he defends himself. You scoff because of course this was how it was going. 

“You just come along and mess with my feelings then run away, huh? Must be nice to get out of this so easily without getting hurt,” you say, suddenly feeling too close to him. 

You stand up quickly and head towards the kitchen just to try and get some distance between him and all the thoughts swimming in your head. Roman is damned if you say yes, he barely handles seeing you with Owen as it is, but he’s damned if you say no too because what would that mean for the two of you then without Owen in the way? 

He shoots up after you knowing this was just the beginning of the conversation that so desperately needed to happen in that moment.

“Now wait just one fucking minute. You think this is easy for me huh? Always watching you with one of my friends?” he questions, moving closer and closer despite you trying to keep space between you both, “What about you coming along and messing with my feelings? and then going on dates with someone else? I haven’t had anyone else this whole time, but you, how do you think it makes me feel knowing you’re in the room next door kissing my best friend? Or showing up in my apartment unannounced, knowing you’re there for someone else? Or knowing I only get your attention when it’s part of a game? If you think I’m getting out of this easily and I’m not hurting well you’re wrong.”

You feel your confidence waver as he backs you against the counters but still keeps a few steps of space. You’re not sure if you’d rather have him completely in your face or across the room but something in you wants to pull him closer. 

“Roman, I-“ you mumble, trying to figure out how to digest it all at once. You really thought it was all a game to him but the tone of his voice tells you he’s serious. 

“You what? You get it now? You see what it’s like from my side?” He says, his voice dropping lower than it had been. 

“What am I supposed to do now? If I drop him then what? Are you going to seriously go for me or are you done once the game is?” You ask, looking him up and down. 

He sighs and moves closer, leaning his hands on the counter on either side of you. “Who do you want?” He whispers.

It makes your head spin and your stomach flip with the way he’s boxing you in but still giving you an out. You most definitely wanted to pull him closer and show with your lips the words that you couldn't get your brain to form. The thought of losing him if you picked Owen hurt you more than you wanted to admit, but the idea of looking like an idiot by following your heart and taking the chance on Roman just for him to decide it wasn’t as fun as the chase was warring in your head. 

“I want-“ you hesitate, and it’s a moment too long because he cuts you off before you have a chance to say his name. 

“Well,” he says, again pushing himself off the counter like he had last weekend “if you have to think about it, then there’s my answer”. 

You feel defeated as you whisper his name but he’d already retreated into himself. 

“No, it’s fine,” he says, stepping back. He blinks like he’s awoken from the stupor he was in yet he still looks lost, “I don't know what i’m doing here anyway” 

He shakes his head and you don't miss the frustration and wholehearted truth in his voice. Whether he was talking about physically being at your place or his lack of control of the situation, you weren’t really sure. 

“I’ll see ya around I guess”, he mumbles before he heads for the door.

Having Roman close felt right, that much you were sure of. You feel safe and excited and it feels the way you think it would with someone you trust, but he’s so quick to pull away sometimes and it stresses you out because you don’t want to be the one reaching but you want the comfort that having him close causes. You knew Owen wasn’t who you wanted. You’d pick Roman if you had to. Ro knows too but he won’t push you one way or another so when he walks away you freeze, but a little cry bubbles out when the door closes. You rush over and open it, looking for him. 

“Wait!” You call, thinking he’s farther but he’s smugly leaning against the wall next to your door. 

“Yes?” He asks, a little smirk on his face. He knew you’d come after him, or at least, he hoped.

Good Lord this boy was dangerous, but he also held some kind of home in him for you too. You knew you needed to swallow your pride and go after him, to save everyone the pain, but your confession disappears from your lips as soon as you see the smug look on his face. 

Nope, you shouldn't do this, you really shouldn't and yet the words tumble from your mouth “Tell Owen I said yes.”

The smirk falls from his face immediately and so does his heart when he hears you say those five words. You had to be bluffing.

“You think I believe that? You wouldn’t even kiss him tonight because I told you not to. You’re not fooling me, honey”, he sneers. 

You try not to grimace, remembering the exact reason you had dodged Owen’s lips tonight. By now he had pushed himself from his position on the wall, invading your space once again. 

He leans down and in a low voice that sends shivers down your spine he says, “you’re all mine.” 

It takes everything in you to not grab a hold of his shirt and shove him back against the wall. Instead you grab a fistful of his shirt and pull him down so that he’s face to face with you. 

“Try me” you challenge him, holding his gaze a second too long. 

Before he even realizes it, you shove him back, slamming the door in his stunned face. That would be one message he would not be delivering. Roman can’t help but laugh at the way you sent him off. He’s not even mad that you slammed a door in his face because the energy between you two was back and that gives him hope. He’s fired up, but in a good way this time. He felt like himself again, this was his element. 

You, on the other hand, were still trying to process what the hell just happened. Everything from how close you had been to just giving in, the tone of his voice, those three words would never leave your mind, you were sure of it. You had to lean on the door and get your bearings back though after the way everything had gone. Your emotions were a mess and your thoughts were even messier.

__ 

You see him only a few days later too when you’re over at Owen’s and he comes barging into the apartment. The smirk he throws you when he sees you is enough to get you worked up and he’s well aware of it. At this point he shouldn’t be surprised to see you, parked on his couch and his stomach shouldn’t be doing flips either. But he’s excited all the same. He tries to play things off as friendly when he comes and sits next to you on the couch, thigh right against yours, but he turns his attention to Owen. 

“What did you think of that last drill at practice?” He asks, looking across you to Owen and the slight turn of the corner of his lips lets you know he’s ignoring you on purpose.

“Oh you mean the drill where Coach said no contact and you cross checked me into Robbie? It was so much fun,” Owen says, his voice dripping with sarcasm. 

You raise an accusatory eyebrow at Roman who just holds his hands up in defense. 

“Cole pushed me into you, and you could’ve, I don't know, been a little stronger in front of the net and stayed on your feet.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it. Now my back hurts,” Owen pouts. 

Roman just shrugs, examining his nails like he’s suddenly bored with the conversation. You, however, see the perfect opportunity in front of you. 

“Awh, O. Why don't you take off your sweatshirt? I’ll massage you and then we’ll get you the heating pad,” you offer with a sweet smile. 

Owen accepts easily, smiling as he slides off his sweatshirt and laying face down on the floor, “that would be amazing, you’re the best.” 

You smirk as you straddle his hips and lock eyes with Roman, “I know”. 

Roman just shakes his head at you, you knew exactly what you were doing. You frown as your eyes catch the long horizontal bruise that was already forming across Owen’s back. He wasn’t kidding when he said Roman roughed him up. You’re careful to press around the bruise, forgetting for a second about the man sitting feet away watching you as you felt Owen’s muscles flex beneath your touch. Roman on the other hand was completely focused on you and the way your hands were touching his teammate. When Owen lets out what’s pretty close to a moan along with an ‘oh my god’, you shift your gaze back to Roman with a smirk. 

“That feel good, baby?” you ask, staring at Roman. 

At this point he was chewing on his cheek so hard he was surprised he couldn’t taste blood. He was so fucked. 

“So fucking good,” Owen breathes out, oblivious to the exchange going on above him. 

Roman can’t take anymore of this show and he’s way too turned on. You swear you hear him growl when he pushes himself off the couch and storms past you. 

Apparently Owen hears it too because he lifts his head to ask, “what’s his problem?”

You just laugh and shake your head, “no clue.”

Your eyes follow him to his room, amused that your spur of the moment idea had worked so well. Later on as you’re in the kitchen, about to start doing dishes with Owen, Roman takes an opportunity to pounce when the younger boy mentions he needs to plug his phone in as it dies from playing music through the bluetooth speaker. You roll your eyes as you see him approach, popping the last bite of your dinner in your mouth before shuffling around the counter to put the plate in the sink. 

“You really came to play today, huh?” he smirks leaning on his elbows on the counter across from you. 

His question, well not so much the question itself but the way he says it and looks at you has you choking on your food. 

His smirk grows as he slinks around the counter to stand close behind you. “Ya know”, he breathes, his lips finding your ear, “that’s one of the few times I’ve made you speechless,” his arm snaking up your front until his hand is just hovering around your throat, “want to see if another way works just as well?”

He’s got you all worked up he knows it, forcing you to drop the news, “you better behave because I’m spending the night and he doesn’t need to find out.” 

“I’m not breaking any rules here, am I?” He challenges. 

You hate that he’s not, that you can feel him just barely touching you, but can’t actually feel his hand around your throat.

You can’t help but laugh a little, your senses working on overdrive with how close he is, “kinda wish you would but I don’t think O would appreciate that.”

He gives in, wrapping his hand around your neck and leaning as close as he can, “just remember whose you really are.” 

You gasp at the feeling of his hand on your throat and just as fast as he’d shown up, he’s gone. Your cheeks are bright red and Owen gives you a concerned look as he comes back into the room. 

“Are you okay? You look really warm. Maybe you should go sit down and I’ll finish cleaning up.” 

You nod, giving him a tight smile, and head for the couch. Luckily Roman stays in his own room for the rest of the night but you do bump into him as he’s leaving the bathroom and you’re heading in. He’s changed into some shorts for bed and nothing more, giving you plenty to look at. He leans against the doorframe, keeping you from going in and you make no effort to move him. 

“It’s rude to stare,” he smirks, “but you’re welcome for the show.” 

“Oh get over yourself,” you say, but the playful eye roll you give him makes him smile. You, maybe on purpose, bump into him as you walk past each other in opposite directions. You knew you’d be thinking about how good he looked later despite sharing a different bed in that apartment. 

You both lay there that night, thinking about each other without being any wiser of the other’s thoughts. 

You, of the feeling of his hand, the warmth of his body even as you just bumped into him and the little “show” he’d put on just for you. 

Him, of the sight of his hand around your throat and the way your eyes instantly fluttered closed at his grip, the way you took him in when he stopped you from entering the bathroom, and the playful eye roll that still brought a smile to his lips even was he lay in bed with you in the next room sleeping with his teammate.  

It’s the middle of the night when you swear you hear your name. Owen is sound asleep next to you but you hear it again and this time it’s accompanied with a “please don’t go” and it sounds so distressed. The tone of it makes you nervous and you pick your head up, trying desperately to hear it better. You thought you knew who it was but you swear you must be wrong.

You get up and figure out that it is, in fact, coming from Ro’s room next door. You open his door and are so taken aback by the glow of the stars being thrown across his ceiling from the light projector on his dresser. It catches you off guard, making you look all across the room. Something about it makes your heart tug in a way it hadn’t before with him.

You almost forget why you were in there until he whimpers again, the words “don’t leave me” and your name again tumbling from his lips. You make your way towards his bed to try and wake him from his nightmare, making sure to shut the door behind you. You didn’t need Owen stumbling in on whatever would happen next. 

“Ro, baby, wake up,” you whisper, trying to shake him awake without startling him. 

He finally comes to with a jolt, reaching out and gripping onto your arms for dear life. The wild, terrified look in his eyes shifts to relief when he sees that you’re really there with him unlike in his dream and he starts to relax. He swallows hard and focuses finally, looking up at you.

“You’re here,” he whispers and pulls you onto the bed with him. 

You instantly crawl into him, wanting nothing more than to comfort him. The same as it was on the couch other nights, he just fits his body with yours seamlessly. You end up holding him, your fingers brushing his hair off his forehead that was covered in a thin layer of sweat. His chest was still heaving up and down, breathless from whatever it was that had him so distressed. 

“Shhhh, it was just a nightmare, Ro. I’m here,” you whisper to him. 

He sighs into your chest and mumbles, “not for long.” 

You wonder if he can feel the way his words make your chest squeeze. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” You ask him gently. You feel him shake his head against your chest, still tucked in against you. 

“I just want you to stay with me” he says softly, peering up at you and who are you to say no to that? 

“Whatever you want, Ro”, you reassure him, and when you think he’s finally asleep from you rubbing his back you add “I’m all yours.” 

It’s easy for you to end up falling asleep and you’re completely alarmed when you wake up in his room. He’s not there next to you though and you hate that you automatically frown. Last night was well past the standard of how the game had been going and it had to break every rule you’d both set out. When you go into the kitchen though, there’s already coffee and a bagel waiting on the counter for you along with a very sheepish looking Roman. 

“I, uhm, figured you might want this since I kept you up last night,” he says rubbing the back of his neck. He looks slightly embarrassed and you have to admit it looks cute on him. 

“It wouldn’t be the first time,” you mutter under your breath, trying to bite back a grin, or at least you think you do. 

He chuckles and a smirk forms on his face, “and it won’t be the last.” 

He winks at you when you glance over at him, making you nearly choke on your bagel just as Owen emerges from his bedroom.He eyes the coffee and bagel suspiciously but Roman has a lie ready and waiting. 

“I got sick last night and she stayed up with me,” he explains, looking over at you with a soft smile. You can’t look at him or you know you’ll start blushing so you opt for a sip of your coffee. 

“Oh okay,” Owen says but you all know he doesn’t believe it. 

Your nerves start to kick in that he’s going to call you out but instead he kisses your cheek and asks if you want to hang out longer or go back to your place. The question seems loaded. If you go back to your place and Roman leaves for any reason then you’ll both seem guilty. If you stay then you’re still subject to being around him and with the way he was pushing boundaries with Owen only a room away was getting dangerous. 

You pretend to think about it for a second before deciding you probably needed some fresh air, “I’ll probably head out in a few minutes. I have some cleaning I need to do at home.” 

The answer seems to tide Owen over more than you expected and when he turns to grab a water from the fridge Ro shoots you a wicked grin. For once you credit Roman’s quick thinking, though since Owen doesn’t even bother asking how Roman’s feeling now, you can tell he doesn’t buy it. It’s the second time he’s ever had that gut feeling and both times it’s been associated with you, but you wouldn’t actually stand here in his kitchen and lie to him, so he brushes it off. You do the, obviously, mature thing and stick your tongue out at Ro and it’s so playful that he breaks out into a real smile, one that makes your heart skip a beat. Owen turns back to you and asks if you want him to walk you home to which you accept. 

“Yeah, I'd like that,” you say, hoping on the way he’ll charm you out of thinking about the boy whose smile has fallen behind him.

Roman wants to kick himself when you and Owen leave. He’s stuck watching someone else get you when he’s trying so hard to win you over. His mind keeps flashing back to you waking him up from the nightmare and he can’t shake how good it felt to have you there when he needed you. He swears he can still feel your fingers brushing the hair off his forehead and he hates that he couldn’t just pull you into his arms again that morning. 

You always left him in a whirlwind. One second he’d be throwing some flirty line at you for sake of the game and the next thing he knows he’s thinking about waking up in your arms while you walk out on him with someone else, just like in his dream. You had shown no judgement of him and it was like you already knew him so well when you didn’t push him to talk about it. You were so gentle with him, so comforting.He figures he has to give it one last effort. He hated losing and there was a lot more than usual on the line with this one. 

__

Owen holds your hand the whole way back to your apartment and even holds the doors open. You want it to have the same effect as when Roman did it, but it just didn’t. You let out a big sigh in the elevator, making Owen give you a worried look. 

“Everything okay? I’m sorry you didn’t get much sleep last night,” he says, an admittedly adorable smile crossing his face. 

You return the smile and shrug, “I’m okay, just tired. I think I’ll probably take a nap before I get going on some stuff.” 

“Did you need someone to stay and keep you company?” He asks, his smile turning to a smirk and really you had no reason to say no. 

Except this nagging voice in the back of your head that sounded exactly like a boy you’d just spent the night with. It sounded so similar to Roman asking ‘do you need me to stay and make sure you’re safe?’ except this time there was no ‘or is this your way or getting me into bed with you on day one’ attached to the end. He really had a hold on you. Maybe Owen had just what you needed to shake that, even though you doubted it. 

“You better behave,” you tell him, pulling him inside. 

You hate that that line is recycled too and it just doesn’t feel right when it’s directed at the wrong boy. When Owen doesn't return home from the 8 minute walk back from your place right away Roman starts to worry. That would mean he’s still with you, at your place. Had you just wanted to get away from him he wondered? No, you seemed just fine before you left. But he had crossed a line last night, had he gone too far? It was eating away at him. What if Owen chose to skip ahead in his plan and ask you to be his now instead of waiting until after the road trip this weekend instead of after? His heart was racing as he began to think of that possibility. 

Against his better judgement, he pulled up your contact and hit call. Your phone ringing has Owen pausing his pursuit of leaving marks all over your neck and you whine, pulling him back to you. 

“Just hit ignore” you groan and he agrees, reaching for your phone. 

He hovers over you again with a weird look on his face, “Uhm, why is Roman calling you?” 

You want to hide even though you don't know why he's calling, but you do know that Owen is close enough to hear whatever he’s about to say to you as you pick up the phone.

“Uhh, Ro?” you answer nervously. 

He sucks in a breath when you answer with his nickname. You also sound out of breath and he tries to make his mind dance away from whatever the possibility is for the reason behind that. 

“Hi,” he says and you swear you can see the smirk on his face. You have to stop yourself from smiling as Owen watches you closely. 

“What does he want?” Owen mouths to you, getting annoyed. 

“Did you need something?” you ask him. 

Shit. In his haste he hadn’t even thought about what he was going to say, but he bluffs enough to make something up, “yeah, uhm, I just wanted to know if Owen was with you?” 

You can tell that there was more to that question but you can't get into it with Owen right there so you hand the phone over. 

“Are you serious, dude? I'm kind of in the middle of something. Can you just check the schedule or call Ty or something?” he snaps and he hangs up. You curiously raise your eyebrows at him, you’d rarely seen him snippy like that. 

“He literally wanted to know what time we leave for Minny tomorrow. Like, I don’t know. We got the schedule last week, go check it. Why is he calling you of all people to ask about the schedule? He’s been acting so weird lately,” Owen huffs. 

But you had a feeling as to why he called. To let you know that time was just about up.

Your stomach sinks when you realize how close things were to you having to make a decision. Sure the game was still going but you still had a rule of not letting Owen get hurt and that was starting to seem harder and harder. You suddenly feel too overwhelmed by having him there and when he leans down to kiss you again you press your hands to his chest. 

He freezes and gives you a weird look, “one phone call and you’re not in the mood anymore?” 

“Owen...” you sigh, not wanting to argue. 

“No, it’s okay. I won’t make you, you know that,” he rolls off you and sits on the edge of the bed. His head hangs a little and you sit up next to him, rubbing his back gently. 

“Good luck in Minnesota, by the way. I know you guys can win those games,” you try and reassure him of at least one thing in his life. 

He looks over at you with a little smile, “thanks. If we sweep them I promise I’ll take you to a nice dinner. Or I’ll take you either way. How does that sound?” 

You know exactly what that dinner would be for and you have a feeling he wouldn’t be getting the answer he wanted to hear. 

You nod in agreement though, “that sounds really nice.” 

He leans over and presses a kiss to your lips before standing up, “okay I should go. I have to pack for tomorrow and you had stuff to do. I’ll see you later.” 

You walk him to the door and say your goodbyes, wishing him luck one more time. You lock your apartment after he leaves and go on a deep cleaning spree to keep your mind as busy as possible.

_

Owen was obviously frustrated as he left, but not with you. He never was and that, in some sick way, seemed to be your problem. His mood instantly picked up with your good luck wish, realizing how close he is to asking you to actually be his. He had the feeling now more than ever that he needed to be quick to officially lock you down. His head was swimming with thoughts as he made the short walk back to his place. That was weird for Roman to call you, right? Did he actually need to know what time the plane leaves? Then there was what he thinks was a lie from this morning. He was finally starting to put it all together. 

He walks in to find Roman flipping through channels on the tv and he eyes him suspiciously. “Did you figure it out?” he asks. 

Roman doesn't move his eyes from the screen, “figure what out?” 

“The plane, jeez. That conversation was all of 10 minutes ago,” Owen says rolling his eyes. 

“Yeah, uh, I did. Thanks,” Roman answers absentmindedly. 

“So what time do we have to be there?” Owen asks, taking a drink of his water and leaning against the counter. 

Roman struggles to come up with any kind of time to give him and Owen curses under his breath. He hated being right in that moment.

“She’s pretty great huh?” he says trying to be as nonchalant as possible. It works and Roman finally meets the eyes of his friend, “I knew you didn’t give a damn about the plane time. I don’t know what you think you’ve got going with her, Ahcan, but she’s mine.” 

Owen’s tone lets Roman know that it’s a threat and it catches him by surprise. Even though hearing those words terrifies him, Roman doesn't back down. 

“Right, right because which one of us did she spend last night with? And who did she send back home after one phone call? She may not be mine, but she’s definitely not yours.” 

Hearing the confirmation of his suspicions does shake his confidence a bit, but Owen sticks to the one thing he has on Roman, “she’s a good girl and she doesn’t need you fucking her up. So go ahead, play your games and have your fun, but when she’s mine, there’s nothing you can do about it.”

_

You keep rolling from one project to the next until your whole day has flown by somehow. With pajamas on and a glass of wine next to you, the couch gets your attention before bed. Or it did until a knock on your door startles you. Confused, you check the peephole and see Roman on the other side. 

You open the door and shake your head at him, “this can’t be good. It’s awfully late and you leave early tomorrow.” 

He has a serious look on his face though that levels you almost immediately. “I needed to see you before we left. I can’t get last night out of my head and I can’t get you out ever anymore. I don’t want to win the game if it means I lose you.”

You’re so shocked when Roman stands there in front of you, his confession still scrambling your thoughts. He carefully steps forward, taking in your blank stare. 

“Please say something,” he whispers, his gut twisting over the possibility he could be too late to tell you how he felt. 

“I, uh...” you stutter, feeling all thrown off. 

He knows he’s not good at any of this and when you’re silent he panics even more than he already was but he’s trying not to show it. What if Owen had somehow gotten to you before he had the chance to come over? What if he was too late and your mind was already made up. 

You need to ground yourself so you reach for him and he immediately grabs your hand. A little squeeze and a deep breath help you think straight again. Even in your overwhelmed state, you took note of the fact that you reached for Roman for comfort. It was kind of funny how you both went to each other when things got to be too much.

“The couch,” you say, “we should probably talk.” 

He nods, closing the door and following you back to where you had been starting to relax. That was thrown out the window now however. You let go of his hand as you sit down and he frowns at the loss of contact. When you turn towards him though, legs pulled up under you, and get in his space on the couch, he relaxes. It’s easy for him to reach over and rest a hand on your thigh, and you’d be lying if you said it didn’t calm you down a bit. 

“Owen knows I’m going after you,” he says, giving you yet another shock.

As soon as you feel his hand on your thigh you feel so much better. And then his confession sends you right back over the edge. 

“What- what do you mean he knows? You’re going after me?” 

Your head was spinning. Like you always seem to do, you pull a smile from Roman. 

“What do you think I’ve been doing this whole time? Of course I’m going after you.” 

“But do you really want me, Roman? Or do you just want to win?” You held your breath waiting for your world to come crashing down around you. 

“I want you.”

“Ro, you can’t lie to me right now. You realize that right? The rule is you don’t hurt me since you never have listened to that first one about no touching,” you laugh a little. 

You’re so worried he’ll break your heart but you know you’ll pick him over Owen. You just need him to be honest and get you to trust him. 

“I stopped caring about the game after last night. Sure it’s fun but... I don’t know how to explain it even. Something about you being there when I woke up just changed things,” he admits, feeling a little embarrassed about it. 

He’s pretty sure you feel the same so he just lets it out. You soften at his confession, realizing he really had been worked up when you woke him. 

“So does this mean we both win or what?” You ask, needing to turn the mood up. 

You could deal with Owen later. Knowing you and Roman were on the same page was priority number one at the moment. He laughs at your question, because of course you were worried about the game.

“I’ll lose if it means we don’t keep beating around the bush about what we want here,” he smiles, a blush taking over his cheeks. 

You shrug, not actually minding either, “I think we both win. It’s not like we’re actually losing anything here.”

“You have a point there. But what about Owen?”

“Well, I have until you guys get back to really make something happen,” you say, “especially if he already knows. He’s pretty smart so he’ll probably figure it out.”

Roman agrees, something he finds far too easy to do with you. He checks the time and realizes he came over much later than he thought. He sighs and gives you a rueful smile.

“I should probably go. I have to get stuff packed up still before tomorrow,” he stands slowly, reaching a hand out to pull you with him.

You easily follow him, not ready to let him go after the revelation you’d both come to. He stops at the door and turns around, pulling you close as he wrapped his arms around you. You feel your cheeks heat up as you hold on tight to his waist and smile up at him.

“You behave while I’m gone, okay?” he asks, a hint of a smile dancing on his lips.

“Mmm,” you pretend to think, tapping your chin, “I guess if you asked nicely.”

He laughs and grabs your chin, “If you please behave I’ll make you an offer you can’t resist when I get back.”

You’re ready to argue back somehow when he leans down, gently kissing your forehead. Your breath catches in your throat and you swear your heart begins to hammer twice as fast as it should. Roman offers the most polite goodbye you’ve ever heard from him before he lets you go, leaving you with a whole weekend to get your life back together from the mess he’d made in it.

__

It’s only a few hours into their road trip that you get a snap from Roman letting you know they’d landed safely in Minnesota. You don’t wipe the grin off your face for a few hours after as he keeps up a bit of conversation going. 

You get the contrary from Owen the next morning as he holds a wrist up in his snap to you, showing off a big bruise with the comment ‘tell your boy to stop being a dick during practice so I don’t get hurt so much’. Your jaw drops a little at the sight of the nasty purple and blue bump that had taken over on his skin. You know you should probably say something to Roman, but you leave it. There were some things they’d just have to sort out themselves. 

You’re practically falling asleep Saturday after watching their game when your phone lights up with a FaceTime call. You see Roman’s contact pop up and sit up quickly, answering as fast as you can manage. You hardly expected the call but you didn’t mind one bit.

“Hi,” he says, the smile on his face contagious as you match it.

“And to what do I owe this honor?” you ask, trying to play it cool. You knew him so when did you get so excited to talk to him? You try and take a deep breath to calm down, but it hardly works.

He shifts in his seat, angling the phone towards the wall of the airport they were waiting in, “just wanted to check in with you. Did you watch the game?”

“I did. Someone on the team had a pretty good weekend, too. Maybe he’ll still hang out with me after he gets back,” you tease, knowing he’d played really well during both games.

“Ah yeah, he might have some time. I don’t know. He could be busy,” he pretends to think about it, looking around the room before looking back at his screen, “I’m just kidding. I’ll be there as soon as you want me over.”

You soften up, “good because if you showed up right away I wouldn’t even mind.”

“Someone else definitely wants to talk to you first and I’m okay with that. We all know you’re all mine anyways,” he smirks, giving you a wink.

He has to hang up much sooner than you’d like but you’re left knowing he’s on his way back and there were things for the two of you to catch up on when he returned.

__

You nervously play with your fingers, pacing around your apartment. Owen had sent you a text asking if he could stop over and talk. You were pretty sure your stomach had wound around itself ten times over in the time it was taking him to get to your place. When he finally does knock you jump, scuttling over and pulling the door open with a bashful smile.He returns the smile and you know it’s not a full one. 

He doesn’t attempt to step in and instead starts off heavy, “you like him, huh?”

The words sit heavy on your chest as you try to figure out how to word things. Eventually you settle for a simple answer, “I do. I’m sorry.”

“I kind of figured,” he shrugs, “I can’t say I’m happy with it but I can’t really hold it against you either. Everyone deserves to be happy, right?”

“Owen, I’m really sorry. You deserve the whole world and then some,” you apologize, starting to feel guilty suddenly.

“Look at me,” he says, putting his hands on your shoulders, “does he make you happy?”

You nod, not able to meet his gaze, but he puts a finger under your chin to make you look at him. You give him a more certain nod and he hugs you suddenly. It’s warm and it’s tight, but it doesn’t feel like a goodbye. It’s more like a truce and you hug him back just as hard.

“Just make sure he treats you right otherwise I have no problem kicking his ass.”

You laugh, swearing he’ll be the first to know if Roman makes any such mistakes. He gives you a kiss on the head before letting you go and heading back the way he’d come from. You watch him all the way until he gets into the elevator, exchanging a little wave as the doors close. Your heart feels so much lighter and you go back to your couch with a whole new set of issues on your mind. Did Roman still want you? Did he know Owen was already there to see you? What if he’d changed his mind in the time it took them to get home and then through the day? You close your eyes and try to pull it all together when a loud knock on the door startles you.

You mumble under your breath about reprimanding everyone you knew for constantly scaring the shit out of you with the way they came over to your place but the anger dissipates when you see who’s waiting. You open the door and smile, about to ask what he’d been waiting for, when he interrupts by stepping in and shutting the door behind him right away.

“Remember when I said I break rules at the right times? When it helps me win?” He asks you.

You’re ready to claim some sort of win from the game, but right before you can, his hands come up on either side of your face as he smashes his lips against yours for the first time. It takes your breath away and you grab onto him like your life depends on it. He lifts you up, your legs wrapping around his waist as he heads for the kitchen. He sets you on the counter before finally pulling away as the two of you smile at each other like idiots.

When you finally manage to catch your breath all you can manage to say is, “all I remember is you saying you don’t play fair.”

“And I remember you telling me that two could play this game so as far as I’m concerned we’re even here. Time to make some new rules though because this is a whole different game now, and you and I are one game I don’t ever plan on losing.”

[closetweebsmh]

Uno || Hanako [TBHK]

Pairing: F!Reader x Hanako

Word count: 888

Genre: Fluff

"Hey, Y/n! Wanna play uno with me?" The choppy-haired apparition chirped as he waved the familiar red pack of the classic card game, Uno. Your eyes glimmered in excitement.

"You bet I do!" You smiled cheekily at the male and sat down on the bathroom floor.

Hanako smiled brightly at your enthusiasm and sat down in front of you while he takes out the cards from the red package.

He picks out 7 cards for the both of you and places a starter card in the middle before setting aside the extras. You sure hope he didn't peek at your cards-

"Rock, paper, scissors on who gets to go first?"

"Sure!"

You quickly whip out a scissor while he on the other hand pulls out a paper sign. You grinned and cackled in triumph. You carefully skimmed through your deck and placed down a corresponding card. Hanako takes a peek at the card you placed down and places a card of the same color.

"Remember the time when Nene-chan and Kou-kun got stuck in a tight box?" You let out a soft laugh as you suddenly bring up one of your favorite memories with the squad. Hanako's face turned sly and snickered at the memory. "The kid fainted because of how close the radish was, kukuku~"

"I think it's adorable that he's crushing on Nene-Chan though! He's a good boy and is practically perfect for her!" You fawned, feeling giddy for the two. Hanako chuckled at your "mom-like" behavior.

"What a fan girl you are, Y/n~"

"I can't help it, okay?! They're just so cute!"

"What are you? Their mom?" The apparition stifled a laugh as he prodded your cheek. "Well, I guess you can say that.." You sweat dropped as you remember the times where you acted so motherly to them.

You're that one mom friend of the group who would always scold and fret over them when they do something stupid and give some pretty witty advices. Y'know, like a mom. You sighed and placed down a different colored card.

Hanako pouted at your card's color and grumbled a series of light curses as he reaches for a new card from the extra pile. You snickered at his frustration.

He noticed your amusement and shot you a teasing smirk. "Hey, remember the time when you thought No.2 was-" Your face flared bright red and you quickly covered his mouth to stop him from saying anything further. He knew just how to press your buttons and it bugs you every time he does so.

"I thought we agreed not to talk about that!!" You whined as you bombard him with weak punches. He cackled while he tried to protect himself from your fury.

"That's what you thought, Y/n!" He lets out a hearty laugh at your embarrassment. You pouted and slammed down a block card on him. Your pout twitched into a competitive smirk as he sulked at the card. You then placed a plus two card, making his lower lip jut out in frustration.

"WAHHH NO FAIR, Y/N!!!" He whined. You stuck your tongue out at him wordlessly. To think that the 7th wonder of the school is such a dork—An adorable one at that.

He begrudgingly gets two cards from the pile. And by his expression, it looks like his two extra cards were bad ones.

Or at least, that's what you thought.

As soon as you placed down another card, he immediately pulled out a plus four wild card from his deck and placed it on the center.

"I call red!" Hanako yelled, his honey colored eyes vying with your e/c ones. You clicked your tongue and snatched four cards. You skimmed over your cards; great, no red. You eyed the apparition in front of you in suspicion.

"You sure you didn't switch my cards-"

"WhAt- How rUdE oF yOu To aSsUmE!" He faked an offended expression and wiped a tear using his handkerchief that appeared out of nowhere. You only rolled your eyes at his drama.

As he sulked, you silently gazed at him with soft eyes. How did this ghost baby made you so head-over-heels for him? He's so difficult to handle. He's clingy, possessive, annoying, and a pervert for fuck sake! But...

Why are you so in love with him?

"Tell me why I fell in love with you again?.." You muttered as you stared at him with a straight face. Hanako's face bloomed red and gaped at you owlishly. Letting the words you said sink in, your face turned red and short-circuited. Oh fuck you messed up big time now.

"I- I MEAN!-" You fumbled with your words as you flailed your arms around in an attempt to cover up the fact you said you love him.

Hanako stayed quiet and covered his flaming face in his palms. You stayed quiet too and fiddled with your uniform. Ah, embarrassing..

Hanako noticed a certain uno card that he has on his deck and reached out for it. You eyed his actions in curiosity and anxiousness.

He flipped the card towards you and all of your blood rushed up to your face at the sight.

A red uno reverse card.

[tsipasce]

Same Difference, Ch.07

A/N:   Is it really a fanfic without at least one semi-flirty bar scene? 

Chapters: 01  |  02 |  03 |  04 | 05  | 06

AO3 | Fanfic

“All work and no play makes Nanami a dull girl~” Hitomi hummed on the other end of the phone “Come out with me tonight.  I haven’t seen you in weeks since you started that research project with… what’s the company’s name?”

“Oh, you wouldn’t know it, it’s just a startup.” Nanami replied, quickly dismissing her friend’s question, Overhaul rolling his eyes in the background.  “And I know, I know, I just haven’t had a lot of time, but I’ll definitely make it up to you, scout’s honor.”

“Well scout, you said that last time, so your honor’s really on the line now. It’s a Friday night and I know you have that cute black dress you haven’t taken out for a spin yet, so what’s it gonna be?”

Hitomi was one of her closest girlfriends and had been asking her to have a girl’s night out for weeks. The excuses were running low and the steam she needed to blow off was running high. After all the work she’d put in, it was time to let loose for once. “You know what… Hell yeah.”

“That’s my girl. I’ll pick you up at your place around 10. See ya. ~”

Ending the call, Nanami was reinvigorated. She had to admit that despite Overhaul being the opposite of a normal guy, it was a bit demoralizing working so closely with a man her age and only being seen as a colleague. I am a young, vivacious, attractive woman and it’s high time I acted like it. Responsibly, of course.

“I presume you’ll be taking your leave for the night?” He queried but sounded disinterested.

“Why yes I will. I have plans.” She said aloud to him. “Plans that involve me looking cute for once.” She remarked to herself eyeing her usual lab coat + sensible business attire critically in the reflection of one of the glass cabinets. Behind her she could tell he was looking in her direction.

“…. What?” she asked, already expecting a smartass answer.

He stared a beat, looking as if he was wanted to say something, but didn’t, “Nothing. We’ll resume on Monday. Have a nice night.”

“Hm. Suit yourself, see you Monday!” Nanami chirped as she almost skipped out of the door, not realizing he hadn’t taken his eyes off her.

 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 Nanami rushed home, all-too excited about her plans. She hadn’t treated herself to a night of casual debauchery in what felt like eons and was fully prepared to indulge the whims of her friend. Tossing her bag on the counter, she rushed to the shower, shaving her legs and washing her hair. She knew the exact dress Hitomi meant and made a b-line for the back of her closet to retrieve the box it was in. She’d been too shy to wear it before, but Tonight is the night. She confirmed with herself before slipping on the garment.

It was a short, satin black dress with spaghetti straps and a subtle slit along the side, the straight neckline complimenting her delicate collarbone and now-confident, square shoulders. Damn I look good, she thought gassing herself up in front of the mirror. She decided to wear her hair down, styling it simply with a part down the middle.

Throwing on a pair of strappy shoes, it was now 10:01 and the doorbell rang. Looking through the peephole she saw a woman dropping it low, thoroughly invested in making that ass clap while yelling “Ayyyee”.

Yup, Hitomi’s here.

Opening the door, Hitomi turned around greeting her with a huge smile she’d sincerely missed,” Well hello gorgeous. ~” Hitomi beamed as she gave her friend a once over before embracing her, “I missed you, girl.”

“I missed you too,” Nanami replied wholeheartedly, rocking back and forth in the embrace before taking a step back to look her in the eye.  “Are you ready?” Nanami asked, determined to make good on her promise to behave like a “normal” young adult.

“You bet your ass I am... But not before we pregame.” Hitomi said with a devilish grin.

Two shots later and they were in the Guber car. Hitomi chatted about her promotion and the new place she’d just moved into with a killer view. It was nice being a regular twenty-something for a change and getting to talk about all the fun transitions going on in each other’s lives—well, really in Hitomi’s since Nanami had a gag order on half of what she did at present. Still, she listened intently, happy that her friend was thriving.

“So you’re saying I should come over after this?” Nanami chimed in.

“No, I’m telling you you should come over after this. You can borrow some of my pajamas and we’ll make a sleepover out of it!” Hitomi squealed.

“That sounds perfect. Snack run on the way home?”

“You truly are my soulmate,” Hitomi gushed, dramatically. She perked up and gasped, looking past Nanami to the front of the club as the car pulled up.

Stepping out there was a bit of a line and Nanami was already mentally preparing herself to suffer for fashion as her heels were not meant for standing hours on end. Just as she was accepting her fate, Hitomi hooked her arm with her own “Where are you going? I know the manager here.”

“No way, you know I hate skipping lines. We’ll get death stares all night.”

“Didn’t you promise to indulge me tonight? You know, ‘scout’s honor’ and all?” Hitomi cajoled.

“…You’re the worst.” Nanami sighed, admitting defeat. She’d flaked too much to refuse her friend now.

“Knew you’d be a team player. Now let’s get it moving, sweet cheeks.”  

Marching to the bouncer, Hitomi worked her magic and they were in. Nanami was pleasantly surprised it wasn’t loud and rave-like like she’d assumed. The lighting was dark and blue, the dance floor was full of people, moving and singing along to a crowd-pleasing playlist. The bar was at capacity, dozens of drunken hopefuls vying for the stressed bartender’s attention. Despite having a quirk that gave him multiple arms, he was still struggling to keep up. The lounges that lined the wall were filled with people ordering bottle service, putting on airs and trying to look cool as they had to yell at each other over the music just to make casual conversation.  One might think she was judging them, but the opposite was true. It was nice being able to people watch, especially when said people seemed to be enjoying themselves so much. She needed this after the past couple months.

“Come on, let’s get some drinks!” Hitomi yell-whispered in Nanami’s ear over the music.

“Ok, I’ll get in line for us.”

“What? No, this is not the final destination, my sweet. Follow me!”

With their arms still linked, Hitomi led the way up the stairs in the corner of the room, weaving through people that had already drunk themselves underneath the table. The further they went, the more the crowd shifted from casual partygoers to hip bar flies. They continued down a hall until they came to a door with a slit in it, not dissimilar to one you’d find in a medieval castle. Hitomi knocked confidently and Nanami wiggled in excitement at what mystery could be behind the door.  A man on the other side pulled the metal slit open, only revealing his hardened gaze.

“Password.”

“No vermouth for the uncouth” Hitomi recited like it was normal, Nanami trying to keep a straight face.

The slit closed again before the door was opened and they were permitted to enter by the doorman. Upon walking in, Nanami was treated to an ideal speakeasy atmosphere. The lights were low and warm, and the barkeep relaxed as he made artisanal drinks. At the dozen or so small booths people were engaging in easy conversation. This is perfect, Nanami thought to herself, breathing a sigh of relief.

“You’re welcome.” Hitomi winked, knowing this was what her friend desperately needed. She hadn’t said it outright, but she knew Nanami was massively stressed and just needed to feel pretty and relaxed for an evening. She was more than willing to oblige.

Giving her friend an earnest look of gratitude, Nanami hugged her before offering to get them drinks while Hitomi found a spot to sit. Already feeling a little warm and relaxed from their pregaming, Nanami plopped herself on the barstool and waited patiently for the barkeep to notice her. As she studied the space, she saw a wall lined with unmarked bottles, herbs, and other ingredients for drinks. It looked like a mage’s pantry from a fantasy novel and she was here for it. Now where’s the menu… Nanami thought to herself, glancing around.

“There’s no menu miss,” the barkeep replied confidently to her unasked question as he polished a glass. “we make things custom here. Tell me what kind of spirits and flavors you like, and we’ll go from there.”

“Oh, now that’s interesting. Let’s see I’m ordering two drinks, but for me personally, I like gin... green tea.. and…lavender? Yup. I like lavender.” She said thinking carefully about the ingredients and how they’d mix.

“Those are great flavors. I’ll start working on it now. And for your friend?”

She was much more careful about Hitomi’s, wanting to reward her friend for being so thoughtful in choosing this place. “ Hm… She likes rum, most spicy things, and cinnamon.”

“Got it. Sit tight and I’ll have those drinks out for you in a second.”

“Thanks!”

Friendly staff, lowkey, and interesting drinks?  Yeah, I could really get used to this place. Nanami thought contently, already plotting her next visit. She was about to wave down Hitomi to let her know she’d secured the drink order, but someone she assumed to be the manager she mentioned earlier was making conversation and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Not wanting to interrupt, she stayed at the bar, content to be hypnotized by the barkeep’s expert work in making their ~mystery drinks~.

Just as she was fully relaxing, the door opened, but there was no exchange of passwords this time. She turned to see who the VIP who bypassed the system could be and—Omfg. No,no,no. Absolutely not. Nanami thought as her eyes went wide before she snapped her head back forward, attempting to hide her face. What the hell is he doing here?? Ok don’t panic. Don’t panic. There is zero reason to panic… but still why??” Nanami lamented inwardly. She was tipsy, enjoying herself and definitely not in the proper state to deal with him, but here he was.

Overhaul casually strutted into the room like he owned the place, and Nanami quickly realized it was probably because he did. Shit.

Her hair was in a different style, long enough to hide her face, and the lights were low. She prayed it would be enough to keep him from recognizing her. After a couple minutes she was curious as to where he was, hoping he had silently left the room. Not being completely sober, she thought opening up her selfie camera would grant her an ingenious vantage point of the room. She opened it up and saw him sitting casually in a booth behind her, calmly observing the room while two men sat with him, conversing like old friends. If she hadn’t known who he was, she’d think he was just another very hygienic, handsome stranger—Handsome? Where the hell did that come from, Nanami thought to herself, blaming it on the shots from earlier.

Looking up, she could see the shelving that held the liquor and herbs behind the bar was backed with a stylish mirror. Not wanting to look like a creep with her camera open the whole night, she closed her phone and peered at the mirror, continuing to observe him observing other people. Looking closely, she could see what he was wearing now. He was in his trademark black button-up and slacks, but this time his sleeves were rolled up neatly to his forearms and he went without a tie, the top two buttons of his shirt undone exposing a thin gold chain that matched the studs in his ears and the slightest bit of cleavage. Nanami cleared her throat, continuing to study him. His gloves were black this time, matching the rest of his all-black look. He for sure has a closet neatly lined with 100 of the same outfit. Nanami contemplated as she sipped the drink the bartender had handed her. She’d thanked him, but she was massively distracted while doing so. Her eyes roamed up towards his face, and – Shi—Fuck! Nanami exclaimed inwardly, trying not to choke on her drink as she saw him staring right back at her through the mirror, brow raised questioningly at her. Clearing her throat, she pretended as though nothing had happened, suddenly very interested in her drink.

Just as she was about to look back at the mirror to make sure he hadn’t noticed her lame attempt at espionage, she felt a hand place itself on the small of her back. “You alright miss?”

She looked up to see a man she hadn’t met before. He was dressed in a suit, his hair slicked back and neat. He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Coupled with the fact that his hand was still firmly placed on the small of her back, Nanami was beginning to get uncomfortable. “Yes, I’m alright, thank you.” She said with a cheery smile, hoping he would go away.

“It’s not a problem, anything for a beautiful lady.”

Ugh, gag. Nanami reacted instinctually. The entire internet exists and pick-up lines are still this corny…

“So you wouldn’t have helped me if I was unattractive?”

“We—Well no—I mean yes! What I mean to say is, could I buy you a drink?”

Waving her drink, still-half full, she replied” No thank you, I’m covered for now.”

“And what about later?” He intoned suggestively moving further into her personal space.

“Yeah, no. I’m good for... a while. Like a really long while.” She retorted, in her mind effectively shutting him down.

A look of annoyance flashed across his face before he maneuvered his hand from the small of her back to her thigh, “I find that hard to believe. You’re here alone so why not leave with some company?” He was close enough she could smell the alcohol on his breath. About to refute him by saying she’d come with a friend, she saw Hitomi heading for the bathroom. DAMN YOUR BLADDER HITOMI Nanami cursed inwardly.

Just as she was about to pop off, she saw the man’s face sour as he looked behind her.  “Haven’t you been rejected enough for one night? Take a hint.” She’d recognize that tone of arrogance anywhere.

“Um, I can speak for myself.” She said to Overhaul who was now standing at her side. Turning she looked the other man in the eye, “Take a hint.”

“Oh, so that’s what this is. My apologies, I didn’t know the lady was claimed.”  He said removing his hand, taking a step back from her.

“Claimed” whose backwards ass mans is this? Nanami thought, getting progressively irritate.

“Well now you know.” Overhaul replied gravely as he stepped closer to her side. Nanami quickly reeled in her look of surprise at the proximity before using her liquid courage to steel her gaze at the unwanted party.

The other man smiled hollowly, putting his hands up in joking surrender. “Well, it’s a shame we couldn’t pursue this connection further. It looks like I’ll be taking my leave, have a nice night~.” And with that he disappeared into the crowd.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Nanami quickly found herself holding her breath again as she realized the predicament, she was in. Still close to him she slowly looked up to meet his gaze. She expected to get a smart remark, but he stood silently for a couple moments, studying her. She suddenly felt very vulnerable as his eyes roamed over her and she instinctually shifted in her seat. Seemingly realizing what he was doing, he stepped back a bit, looking away, and Nanami found herself missing the warmth.

Feeling the blood rushing to her cheeks, she quickly turned forward again, now fiddling with the straw in her drink. After a moment of tension, she finally spoke.

“I could’ve handled myself.” He quickly turned his head back to her, giving an incredulous look before she finished, “… But thank you.”

His gaze softened, as he sighed and she could tell he was keeping whatever smart remark he had to himself, “You’re welcome.”  He said as he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and dusted off the seat next to her before sitting down. He waved down the bartender who quickly dropped what he was doing to start his drink. Nanami was about to gloss over this detail until the possibility of seeing his face hit her.

Biting her lip and looking around nervously, Nanami wasn’t sure where to take this next. Does this even need to be taken anywhere next?... can it? She thought semi-hopefully, before mentally slapping herself  for being tempted so easily. You are tipsy and thirsty. He doesn’t even see you that way, just a colleague helping out another colleague. Stop making it weird.

“Soo…” she began, nervously tucking a stray hair behind her ear “What brings you here?”

He turned; his brow furrowed.

“Ok, that was cheesy.”    

Rolling his eyes he put her out of her misery by answering, “Just business.”

“Yup. Don’t know why I even as—”

“And... I like it here.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“Well sure, but I just never imagined you liked anything outside of cleaning and…” She pantomimed a little explosion.

He huffed, bringing a hand up to his mouth. Nanami would usually let it slide, but she was 3 drinks in, and feeling talkative. “Was that a laugh?”

“Absolutely not.” He quickly replied, looking away.

Her eyes lit up with excitement. He’s lying. “It’s alright, I won’t tell. My lips are sealed.” She winked.

“It will be easy since there’s nothing to tell.” He replied nonchalantly.

“Hmm,” Nanami hummed, a look of mischief clear on her face, “challenge accepted.”

He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously,” What do you mean.”

“Oh, it’s nothing, I just have a new goal. You’ve inspired me,” she replied simply pulling her mini-planner and a pen from her bag. She could feel him eyeing her waiting for an answer, but she continued without a word. Opening the notes section, she turned to fully face him, holding the small booklet between them in one hand with a pen in the other.  Glancing between him and the booklet, she began writing something. After a few seconds of this, she nodded to herself in approval and set the planner down on the bar.

Watching her intently, he looked down to see what she’d been scribbling. Even with most of his face covered, she could tell he frowned, as he shifted his gaze back up to her looking completely done with her foolery. It was a simple doodle of what he could only assume was himself, as the only three features in the portrait were his plague mask, short hair, and two dots she meant to be exaggerated angry eyes. Returning his stare, quite proud of herself, she dramatically lifted the pen before placing two tally marks.

“… What is that.” He asked, obviously irritated. She smiled, unclicking her pen while maintaining eye contact. A few months ago she would have taken his irritation very differently, but over time she came to realize just how fun it was to tease him. Being so serious all the time, he’s practically begging for it. Nanami thought, already enjoying herself.

“What do you mean?” Nanami responded feigning innocence.

“Ignoring that terrible attempt at a portrait, I’m referring to the tally marks. What do they mean and why are there already two of them?”

“First of all, you have wounded me. To question my artistic ability so openly… Haven’t you seen the meticulous diagrams I put into our notes?”

“Yes. I have Kurono redraw them after you leave so people won’t think I’m working with a child.” He deadpanned.

Her brows shot up, her face incredulous at the petty remark. He let out another huff, similar to before. Nanami’s mischievous smile returned as she confidently went to put down another tally. What she knew was a smile underneath his mask seemed to drop as he looked at the notebook and then to her in realization.

She raised a brow, continuing to play dumb,” What? I thought we were having a laugh?”

“Erase it. Now.” He said, placing a finger on the bar to emphasize the “now”.

“… I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re always so particular about taking notes, you should be happy.”

“You truly vex me.”

“… That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me. Say it again, slower this time.” She meant to say it playfully leaning closer, but it came out way more sultry than she meant it to thanks to the alcohol. They were mere inches away, close enough that she could smell his cologne and discern the specific hue of gold of in his eyes, I always thought they were more yellow gold, but there’s a little saffron in there too... Registering that she was in fact too close, she quickly sat back in her chair, turning her face which felt very warm all the sudden. She had just finished her drink but pretended to be thoroughly invested in it as she stared straight forward. Out of the corner of her eye she could see his head tilt and would bet money he was smirking under that mask. As he leaned towards her, she felt her heart racing, What’s he doing? Why am I so nervous all the sudden?? Just as she braced herself for the unknown, she heard him pick up her pen. Her notebook still open, he began to write something, though the proximity made her too tense to look. Cautioning a glance, she did a double take as she saw him draw a tally mark next to a small doodle she knew was meant to be a portrait of her.

Looking back up at him as he laid down her pen, she managed to get out,” What does that mean?”

“As you so eloquently put it before, ‘you’ve inspired me’.” He replied simply. The bartender nervously placed the new drink in front of them and Overhaul rose to leave.

Still taking in the exchange, Nanami could only think to ask, “You’re just going to leave your drink here?”

“You can have it; I’ve taken enough of your time. Good evening, Dr. Watanabe.” He nodded to her and then someone behind her before leaving, the two other men he came with following shortly after.

“Well, well, well I didn’t know my friend was such a little minx,” Hitomi purred from behind her, wiggling her brows suggestively.

“What do you?... NO. That was—Just no. Absolutely not. That was my research pa—a colleague.” She responded emphatically, her cheeks still too warm for her liking.

“Wish I had a colleague that looked like that~.”

“Don’t make it weird. Where were you anyway? I needed you a while ago.” Nanami said pouting.

“Sorry I got caught up in conversation with the manager here and when I went to the little girls’ room I saw what I presumed to be a mack session after that creep in the suit left. I just decided to let you work your magic in peace.”

“There was in fact no ‘mack session’. And you weren’t going to come over and back me up when that creep was on my case earlier?”

“When have I ever left you high and dry?” Hitomi asked, offended at the implication that she’d just abandon her friend. “I only stayed put because you were all hugged up with your ‘colleague’ and looked like you had it handled.”

Nanami immediately regretted the insinuation. Hitomi had always had her back and she was just projecting because she knew the truth. Though it turned out alright in the end, when the creep was harassing her, she felt helpless for a moment and she hated it. She didn’t want to have to be saved next time, she wanted to save herself.

“I’m sorry, I just felt small in that moment and lashed out at you. That wasn’t fair.”

“I understand, and forgive you,” Hitomi replied softly, hugging her friend from the side. “You didn’t ask for advice, but if you want some, I highly recommend taking some self-defense classes. People always say you’ll forget all the steps in the moment, but at the very least it might give you a confidence boost.”

“That’s not a bad idea. First thing come Monday; I’m going to start looking. Thanks for being such a good friend.” Nanami smiled warmly. “Now, enough with the serious stuff. You ma’am, owe me a sleepover.”

“Oh, I owe you some hang time now? Well let’s go then. I’ll get a drink too and then we can bounce.”

Nanami was confused for a second before remembering Overhaul had left a drink that she was now responsible for finishing. Sighing and dreading as to what kind of boring drink someone like him would order, she was surprised to see another of her own. Smiling to herself for a moment, she sipped slowly. It was naïve to take his act of kindness at face value, but she found herself contented with the turn of events all the same.

[sparrowrider]

Eyo! Another request done! This one was interesting to write; I’ve never done Quill before, but I had fun with him! Hope ya enjoy!

Warnings: injury/blood, fear, pain

You grit your teeth, aimed your blaster, and pulled the trigger.

A flash of blue light lit up the cave, and you suppressed a shiver as you caught sight of the aliens around you, their mottled green faces cast in the neon blue light of your blaster.

An angry screech echoed throughout the cavern as the blast cut through one of the creature’s legs, and you felt a pang of satisfaction—however, it was quickly muffled by the wave of pain rolling through your injured leg.

You were currently stranded on a deadly planet packed with carnivorous bipedal aliens. Your crew had abandoned you at the first sight of danger, leaving you alone—and after a particularly nasty encounter, one of your legs was left useless. It was all you could do to drag yourself to a cave, and even then they found you.

All you could do now was continue to delay the inevitable.

At least, that’s what you thought.

A loud whirring sound cut through the air, startling the aliens into turning towards the cave entrance. You caught sight of something rusted and silver flashing near the entrance, and your heart leaped in your chest; could it be a race of (hopefully) friendlier aliens? The ship was enormous, so it must have a good-sized army—enough to fight off the hungry creatures vying for a piece of you.

Then the door opened, and a foot stepped out, and you realized that you were totally and absolutely screwed.

Because, as it turned out, the ship wasn’t big because it contained many you-sized people; it was meant to carry someone who was easily twenty times the size of you. They were bipedal, with smooth skin and hair on their head and face—which, coupled with their size, could only mean that they were an Earthling.

The Earthling stepped forward, whistling something, when he caught sight of your situation and froze. You could only imagine how you must look, crumpled against a cave wall with a leg oozing blood, surrounded by ravenous green dinosaur-like carnivores.

The human pursed his lips, and you braced yourself as he drew his leg back.

“Hey, back off!” 

The human’s voice was loud, made even louder by the fact that it reverberated throughout the cavern, and you flinched backwards. Even more startling, however, was the fact that the human’s leg was now swinging about wildly, kicking away the creatures with almost no effort. You shuddered, unable to stop yourself from imagining how easily it could do the same for you.

Deterred, the horde of creatures chirped angrily but retreated deeper into the cave, leaving you alone with the giant.

“Uh...thanks?” you managed. Your Earth English was a bit rusty; it had been some time since you’d practiced it, but you were glad you knew it now that you were faced with an Earthling.

“Uh, yeah, no problem,” The human responded, blinking owlishly. Then, as if unable to stop himself, he began speaking rapidly. “Wow, you’re really small. And you’re obviously sentient and you know English? And—holy crap is that a mini gun in your hand that’s so cute—“

You felt your face burning as the human continued to chatter. When you opened your mouth to cut in, the human quickly fell silent.

“My crew left me here,” you interjected cautiously. “I am...hurt. Can you help me?”

Earthlings were known for being generally hospitable, and given the giant’s demeanor, it was probably a safe bet. For the first time in the past couple of days, things were looking up.

“Oh, yeah!” The human blinked, almost sheepishly. “Sorry, I probably shoulda done something about that sooner...uh, I’d prefer to work on my ship, though. No weird green tiny dinosaurs there.”

You nodded, making to stand, but your leg burned and you collapsed back against the wall with a grunt of pain. The human winced.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t move if I were you. Uh, here, let me just…”

Suddenly, something warm and leathery was enveloping you, gently lifting you from the ground, and a moment later the human’s face was much, much closer than it had been a second before. You glanced around, your heart stuttering once you realized that you were in the human’s hand.

“There we go!” the human said cheerfully, and you twitched at the volume. You pushed yourself into a sitting position as the human unfolded his body upwards, beginning to make his way towards the rusty ship.

You were in the hands of a giant, and your survival depended on him. And yet, as he made his way forwards, mumbling an odd human song under his breath, you couldn’t find it in yourself to be worried.

You merely leaned back and finally allowed yourself to relax.

[alandofhoneyedfruits]

runoff [Peking Duck & Master Attendant ]

[grimmseye]

Kill Your Heroes (Chapter 2)

Fandom: Critical Role

Relationships: Mollymauk Tealeaf/Caleb Widogast, Mollymauk Tealeaf & Jester, Mollymauk, Mollymauk Tealeaf & The Mighty Nein

Chapter Characters: Mollymauk Teafleaf, Caleb Widogast, Jester 

Other Tags: Superhero AU, Reporter!Mollymauk, Vigilante!Caleb, 

(Read on Ao3) (Chapter 1)

Mollymauk will never understand those people who hate to see photos of themselves. He can only smirk with pride as he watches the numbers go up, the name he’s made for himself calling out and letting viewers know exactly where to head when they need the up-close source. Several deposits have gone into his account, news stations vying to broadcast his footage. No one gets as close as Mollymauk dares, so no one but the luckiest get the shots he brings to the table.

‘New Hero: Firebird?’ is the approximation of every headline he clicks past. He’s pleased as the cat that got the canary, feet up on the couch as a crockpot roils in the kitchen. A few batches of those will guarantee quick meals for the next few days, save them the money that takeout would cost.

The new villain, now promptly beaten to a pulp with the combined power of four heroes (really by the type Yasha got there it was just to hold the guy down as they cuffed him) had been dubbed Beholder in an instant. Molly’s always had a good sense for names — what sounds dramatic, what gets a glitter in the eyes.

He clicks from site to site, video to video. There’s one that makes him pause as he’s clicking through, eyebrows raising as his head cocks to one side.

‘The Return of Verbrennen?’

He cocks an eyebrow, crunching down on the trail mix he’d deemed to be a good breakfast. A blurry still from his camera is presented on screen: the cat-masked individual. It’s from the moment he was put on his feet, camera still rolling, distant enough from the man to actually get a good shot.

The picture shrinks, two news anchors on the screen now. His tail twitches as he listens, impatient for them to get to the point of it all.

“It’s hard to say is this is him or not,” one anchor is saying. “Fire isn’t exactly an unusual power. The Scourgers were almost indistinguishable from each other — we don’t even know their voices. I think people are jumping the gun with this one.”

“That’s fair. As much as I hope it’s true, the last we say of Verbrennen seemed pretty final.” A new picture comes up. Burning building. Large building. A new picture: collapsed, glass and rubble. A disaster. “We did extend a question to the remaining Scourgers and the Cerberus Assembly, but they have yet to comment on this new arrival.”

“And as far as we know, he’s not associated with any organization. Making him a vigilante — the first Zadash has seen in quite some time. How the sanctioned agencies are going to receive him is still unknown but —”

Mollymauk gets bored. He sets down his phone with a roll of his eyes. Names, names, names. Verbrennon means nothing to him, just names thrown around without explanations. He could look it up, of course, but Molly’s not much of the reading sort. He can blabber just fine into a microphone, but drivelings are to be heard, not read.

He’s reluctantly tapping in the name, unsure how its spelled, when a rapraprap at the door catches his ear. Mollymauk perks up, an amused grin on his face. “Yasha?” He calls. “You forget your keys again?”

She’s only got patrol this morning, could be done early. They’re always amped up after villain attacks, keep the citizens calm. Deal with the idiot criminals who think their petty theft won’t be noticed.

The voice on the other side of the door, though, is not Yasha’s. “Er, no. This is not… Yasha.”

Oh. It’s the neighbor Molly never sees, the one with the Zemnian accent. Lots of those around lately, he muses, a bit of a grin on his face. Old neighbor, new hero. He’s heard a bit of chatter surrounding the man: elusive, seen at odd hours of the night, nervous demeanor. Never clean shaven, allegedly. Molly had always assumed he was on the run from the mob or something of that like.

So of course he cracks the door open to get a look at the complex’s very own cryptid. With such a reputation preceding him, Mollymauk is more than a little disappointed to find someone who is clean-shaven, even handsome standing at the door. And then he remembers that a handsome man at his door isn’t actually anything to be upset about, and he gives a friendly grin as he sweeps open the door and leans against its frame.

“Good morning,” he greets, amiable as always.

Mister Cryptid doesn’t say a word. He just stares for a long, long while, eyes wide and jaw slightly slack. Perhaps Molly gets the best of both worlds — handsome and a weirdo. It’s a good day.

And then the man recovers. He clears his throat, shakes his head. “Pardon me,” he gulps. “You just, ah… have I seen you somewhere before?”

“Almost certainly,” Mollymauk laughs. “Though if you have, I think you’d remember it just fine so — actually, maybe not? Doesn’t matter, you have now.”

“That is true,” he murmurs, still blinking as though he were dazed. “Um, my apologies. My name is, ah, Caleb. You haven’t — I do realize that this is against regulations, but he is a perfectly good cat — have you seen Frumpkin — have you seen my cat, Frumpkin, around by any chance?”

“Brown tabby?” Molly asks, remembering the cat from yesterday. “Bushy tail?”

“ Ja, yes, that’s the one.” Caleb gives a smile of sheer relief.

“Haven’t seen ‘em,” he chirps. Unfortunately for him, that soft smile immediately falls into shock, annoyance, and then resignation. He winces, hastily adds, “Ah, don’t look like that. I’m just pulling your tail — so to speak, Mister Caleb. I saw him yesterday afternoon, just hanging around in the hall. Nothing since then.”

“Scheisse.” Caleb sighs. “Well, thank you. Don’t, ah, I will probably be setting some old clothing out to try to lead him back home. Cats are quite good at finding their way around but in case he gets lost…”

“Sure thing.” Molly gives a wry grin. “I promise I won’t report you for dirty laundry in the hall. Might want to let the old lady know, though. Three doors on the left — no, on the right. Definitely the right.” He gives a wave of his hand just to make sure. “She’s a bit of a crotchety old bitch until you get on her good side.Tip? Compliment her nails, she always gets the acrylics with the french tips and you don’t spend that kind of money unless you want to get a compliment.”

The guy is still just blinking at him, slow and baffled. He licks his lips, mumbles, “Okay. I will do that, thank you. And, ah, if you do see my cat, just knock on my door. I am right across the hallway.” And he does point to the door across from Molly’s, room nine on this floor.

“Good to know.” His tail curls behind him. “Good luck in finding your cat then, Mister Caleb. It was nice meeting you!”

“It — it was nice to meet you as well.” Caleb ducks his head, backing up towards his door. Molly gives a little wave before turning around, pulling the door shut with his tail.

He stretches out, a faint smile on his face. A bit disappointing, maybe, that there’s not some rando across the hall with a machete. But Caleb seems nice enough. And, he supposes, he gets enough excitement just from living in Zadash. At least that trouble earns him some coin.

  On Fridays, Mollymauk meets with Sugar-Bomb.

Secret identities can be difficult for tieflings, except that apparently Sugar-Bomb can disguise herself. Different skin tones — he’s seen blue, red, purple, bright pink, neon yellow. Different horn shapes. Different tail structures. Taller, shorter, younger, older — no one can keep track of her, except by her distinctive costume, a cotton-candy pink and blue.

Today, Sugar-Bomb is shade deep shade of violet, her hair buzzed into an undercut. She’s not wearing a mask because she doesn’t need to, Molly wouldn’t be able to recognize her anyway.

Yellow eyes brighten at the sight of him. “Hello, Molly!” She beams, flouncing towards him and scooping him into a hug. He laughs as she lifts him clear off his feet. Her horns are in upward twists today, framing the bun of her hair.

“Hello, Sugar,” he laughs, delighted as she twirls him and then drops him back on his feet. Their tails twine loosely as they stroll into the coffee shop. Not a soul is aware of the hero in their midst.

They order their usual drinks, Sugar’s loaded with sugar, Molly’s just as elaborate. He’s sure the staff would hate them if they didn’t drop an extra copper into the tip jar. The two of them slide into a little booth, Molly saying, “Yasha’s got patrol today. I’m sure Lionheart is trailing after her as usual.”

Secret identities are also funny things. He doesn’t know who Sugar-Bomb is, and he doesn’t intend to ask. Sugar knows who Yasha is, though, and Yasha knows she knows, because they see each other around so frequently that it’s impossible to not realize that the large civilian human woman who hangs around Molly is the same as the hero with all the same traits.

He thinks it’s only a matter of time before Sugar-Bomb wears her actual face to their litle dates — gods know it was Mollymauk who dissuaded her from outing herself from the get-go. People might not look at her and pin down the cotton candy hero, but Mollymauk is recognizable. Everyone knows his face. It’s the reason he doesn’t get Storm Herald on camera very often, it’s the reason they don’t greet each other with the same familiarity that Sugar does when masks are on. Someone as colorful as Mollymauk knows how to keep attention where he wants it.

“I think they’re cute, don’t you?” Sugar sighs, leaning her chin on her hand. “Do you think she’s ever going to notice?”

“Who, Yash?” Molly snorts. “Hard to say. She’s not oblivious, but at the same time, Lionheart’s kind of…”

“Constipated?”

The two of them dissolve into snickers, Molly hiding his behind a hand, Sugar loud and raucous. “That’s the word,” Molly chuckles. “Yeah — yeah. Uh, I mean… even if Yasha did know, I’m not sure if she’s going to go for it? They get along, like — I mean, you’ve seen the footage.”

“They’re pretty badass together,” Sugar nods.

“Yeah, yeah. I know — I think? — that I’m not either of their slice of pie but I can appreciate. It’s kind of hard to say, gender’s fake.” He and Sugar have had this conversation a dozen times and it always ends in headaches. Molly would freely admit he has some jealousy over her ability to just alter her body at will. “ Regardless, I don’t know if she’s looking for a relationship right now. Between her job and me —”

“And you?” A grin.

“Oh, I’m a handful.”

“She has very big hands though.” Sugar beams as Molly chokes on his drink, covering his mouth laughing. “And I can help! I’m always willing to hold your hand, Molly.”

“You make me blush.” And it’s the truth. There’s a warmth on his cheeks from happiness. Simple zest for living, and loving. He loves Yasha, he loves Sugar-Bomb, he loves being here with them.

And in that moment, of course, Sugar’s phone starts to buzz. They both go quiet, they both know which phone that is. She mumbles something under her breath as she pulls her phone out, eyes flicking over the screen. Her face darkens.

“Shit,” she curses. Her head lifts, lower lip stuck out in apology. “I’m sorry, Molly…”

“Don’t worry, dear,” he waves her off. “You go do your thing. I’ll be right behind you, anyway.” He winks. It’ll be on a phone instead of a camera, but footage is footage. “Actually, would you mind giving me a lift there?” “Oh, yeah, sure!” She smiles. “I gotta get changed first, though.” Sugar-Bomb scoots out of their booth, snagging her drink with her tail to pull it into her hand before heading out. Molly idles a few minutes until the emergency sirens start to wail. Phones go a-buzz, villain alert near the Signet Wall. Then it’s time to go.

Mollymauk keeps an eye out on the rooftops. He sees a flash of red and heads for it, dipping into the alleyways. Sugar-Bomb is there at once, leaping down to meet him, sticking the landing with no apparent trouble. She’s changed to a red tiefling, short horns that curve up and back, a thin, spaded tail. “Ready to go?” She grins, and then promptly throws Mollymauk over her shoulder.

He laughs, trusting her to get a good grip on him as she pushes off and scales the wall, taking them to the rooftop and leaping over the streets of Zadash. Most heroes figure out some form of mobility — those that can’t fly or sprint stick sirens on a motorcycle and gun it.

They head for the far end of the city, flitting around the Tri-Spires that loom over the populace and then further. An attack on Zadash’s sect of the Righteous Brand is a gutsy move. The fact that there’s even an alert, though — that’s concerning. Most villains know better than to stage an attack where the heroes are so clustered together. Most villains would be put down without a thought trying such a thing.

Before he’s prepared, Sugar-Bomb is coming to a halt. She on the edge of a roof, steps back and sets Molly on his feet. “Whoa,” she blinks, as Molly steps up to get a glimpse at what she’d seen. “The fuck is up with them?”

Molly gets his phone recording immediately. There are figures far below, moving through the streets. “They’re not running, that’s… weird,” he frowns, not even slipping into the right persona. The camera zooms somewhat, only getting a blurry figure on the screen as civilians amble below at a slow pace. “Why the hell aren’t they running? The attack’s at the Wall, right?” He turns the camera, just to catch the plume of dust that marks the disaster zone. It’s not frighteningly close, but enough that any person in their right mind would be moving away, fast.

He pauses the video as Sugar-Bomb starts to speak, her voice low. “That is super weird. I would have gotten a dismissal if, you know, they got the bad guy.” She checks her phone just in case, shakes her head. Her ears tilt down, tail curling in a nervous manner.

“Wanna check it out?” Molly suggests. She looks at him, and then she smiles. Molly gets an arm around her shoulders, letting her carry him down the walls of two buildings and back onto the pavement of the wide alley.

They crouch low. He’s not sure exactly how Sugar-Bomb’s illusions work, but she seems to pull the shadows around them, her form in his peripheral growing dull despite the bright colors she’s donned.

On the main boulevard, just down a block, he can see what looks to be a human shuffling towards them. They move at a slow pace, head hanging down, legs almost shambling. Molly looks to Sugar-Bomb, the two of them exchanging deep frowns. “I’m gonna go check it out,” he whispers. After a beat, she nods, and he slips out of hiding with his video rolling.

He makes sure to capture the person as they trudge down the block, calling out, “Excuse me! Hello, are you doing alright?”

They lift their head, looking to Mollymauk. For a moment, their gaze is distant, and then it sharpens, fixed on him. They keep moving forward.

He turns his head, getting a sweep of the area. They’re not the only person around, two more are further down the block, one walking in the street, all having paused now to look at the source of the noise. “Hello?” He calls again. “What’s — what’s going on? There’s an evac alert, you know.”

They start moving towards him. The one up the block keeps up their pace, the two further down turn around. “Well that’s just weird,” Molly mutters, edging towards the one that’s alone. He can see Sugar-Bomb still crouched low, eyes intent on him. His head turns, looking full in the face of the human. A woman, short hair, older face. Her gaze is distant, but fixed on him at the same time. She keeps moving — definitely towards him now, not just along her path.

“Okay. Well, these people are either on something or are in some kind of a trance, and I’m not sure I like either option,” Molly mutters, more out of habit than anything. He stays still, wary gaze on the woman as she approaches. The other three are still further back, still out of range.

The woman slows. About four paces from Mollymauk, she stops. Her breath swells slow, deep.

Her head rears up. From hanging low, it’s suddenly tilted towards the sky, her jaws parting to reveal yellowed, serrated teeth. And then she shrieks and lunges for him.

“Fuck!” Molly backpedals. Two steps and then Sugar-Bomb is at his side, tail pressing against his stomach, pressing him out of the way as she pulls the hammer from her back and swings. It impacts the woman in the stomach, her breath choking out of her, stumbling back with a horrid gasp.

Sugar-Bomb grabs Molly and bolts, hoisting him into a fireman’s carry that has him fumbling for his phone, gasping out, “Sugar-Bomb saves my ass as usual. Those people look zombified — oh, gods —!”

They round a corner, and stumble into a small hoard. Humans, elves, dragonborn, without discrimination there are sallow, stumbling, sharp-toothed beings that crane their heads around and then immediately swerve around to advance upon them. “Oh, fuck,” Sugar-Bomb gulps, bouncing back and away. “That is a lot of zombies.”

“Up, up, up,” Molly gasps. She reels back, just in time for one of these things to reach out and swipe at her with gnarled, yellow nails. “Down! Put me down, you need your — ”

She dumps him onto the ground without question, Molly landing on his ass. Her hammer is in her grip and she’s swinging hard, planted defensively in front of him. The first one falls with another rattling wheeze of pain. It’s just one among a couple dozen. A hand closes on Molly’s tail, and he jerks back, scrabbling up to his feet only to yelp as a hand gets ahold of his jacket and pulls him back down.

“Molly!” Sugar-Bomb’s voice is a rough cry. More hands are grasping at him. He kicks hard, foot cracks one in the jaw. Two hands off, two more holding fast, clawing, pulling. Sugar-Bomb slams them in the side with her hammer, the body a ragdoll tossed into the street.

And in this time, they’ve clustered and advanced, several dozen of these veritable zombies now swarming them. Sugar-Bomb grabs him by the jacket, yanking him up by his coat, ears pinned back, tail lashing, hammer in her grasp, Molly’s eyes darting back and forth searching for a single thing he could use to be more than dead weight to her —

And then a wall of flames erupts in his face.

[izayoichan]

Vy: It's beautiful! So quiet and pretty! 

He closes his eyes taking in the scent of the water. Then he starts glowing pink as a thought crosses his mind, he turns to Hayden, fidgeting his finger.

Vy: We can go get our cooler here, and the blanket...Make it a 'private' picnic.

Hayden chuckles as Vy glows pink, knowing just what is on their mind. 

Hayden: As much as I would love too, I think I'd like a couple more good days first. 

He sits in his merman form at the beach, water still covering his tail. 

Hayden: I want to enjoy it when we get to that.. I don't want it ruined like when we were younger. 

He gently caresses Vy's cheek.

Hayden: So how about a couple of days from now, if all goes well again, we'll plan a date, right here?

Vy chirps a little sadly and kisses Hayden gently.

Vy: I understand. I'd love a date, a date with you when all is well.

He kisses Hayden gently, pressing his forehead against Hayden's.

Vy: There's still ice cream though!

Hayden had no idea when all would be well if he was honest, but he at least wanted a couple of days off good before he let himself indulge in something he admitted he had missed. 

Hayden: An all day date, kids can be with their grandparents, and we'll have the whole day, just for the two of us. Ohh yes.. we best head back and get that ice cream so it doesn't melt! Will you fly me?

He chuckled, he had slowly gotten used to sitting on Vy's back, and he was quite enjoying it. 

At the shelter, Eltanin follows his grandpa, keeping a close eye on the stranger.

Eltanin: Are you going to keep the doggy? He is a big doggy. A bit stinky and sad, but he's cute. What's your name? Are you a mage?

Beginning - Previous - Next

[ryqoshay]

How to Handle a Nico: Yazaween

Primary Pairing: NicoMaki Words: ~3k Rating: K Time Frame: October of Maki’s 2nd year in high school and Nico’s 1st year in college. Story Arc: Stand Alone

List of all HtHaN scenes

Author’s Note: This too far longer to finish than I thought it would. Ended up longer as well. Not complaining, much, though it does kind of hamper my ability to get a scene out for HL in time.

“Hap…” Cocoro started as she opened the door. “Maki-san!” She beamed upon recognizing the redhead on the other side. “Welcome! Come in! Come in!” She opened the door wider to allow entry before turning to call into the apartment. “Onee-sama! Cocoa! Cotarou! Maki-san is here!”

“Maki-chan?!” an excited voice immediately returned.

A moment later, an energetic Yazawa scampered around the corner and barreled into Maki, glomping onto her like a smaller version of a certain older sibling.

“Oomph…” The second-year high school student grunted with the impact. “Hey, Cocoa.”

Cocoa looked up with a smile that left no doubt of her bloodline. “We haven’t seen you in, like, fo~re~ver~, Maki-chan! What gives?”

“S-sorry…” Maki began.

“Maki-chan’s been too busy studying.” A twin-tailed girl said, appearing in the entryway. “Ms. Study-o-holic hasn’t even visited Nico in over a week!” She huffed, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall.

“N-Nico-chan…”

“A week?” Cocoa protested. “That’s still better than us.”

“Maki-san…” A fourth voice drawled.

A young boy plodded toward one of his favorite people and joined his sister in attaching himself to her.

“Cocoa! Cotarou!” Cocoro chided. “Let Maki-san at least take off her shoes.”

“It’s fine…” Maki assured.

“But dinner is almost done, so you need to be able to come in and be ready.”

The sister actively pouted while the brother’s expression remained fairly passive. However, those who knew him could read the disappointment on his face.

Once freed, Maki stooped to remove her shoes before accepting a pair of slippers from the most responsible of the Yazawa siblings. When she stood back up, she was finally greeted by the smile she wanted to see. Well, not that she wasn’t happy to see the others, but…

“C’mon in.” Nico said, reaching forward to grab the younger girl’s hand. “I’m teaching Cocoro how to make tomato curry.”

“Maki-san is going to love it.” Cocoro assured, taking Maki’s other hand and leading the way back into the apartment.

“Hey, no fair!” Cocoa complained, following the others.

Nico laughed as they neared the kitchen. “You can show Maki-chan to her seat.” She said, handing off the redhead to her sister. “We’ll be ready in a bit.”

Maki couldn’t help blushing a bit as she was lead to the table in the dining room. She wasn’t accustomed to the younger Yazawas vying for her attention; Nico’s attention, sure, not hers. But, despite it being a bit embarrassing, she found she kind of liked it. She could kind of see why Nico loved it as much as she did… well, she enjoyed attention in general, so maybe it just ran in the family?

Of course, it wasn’t as if Maki couldn’t empathize. Seeking attention or approval or affection or whatever from a specific individual was something she did herself, like with her parents. Or from someone else… sometimes. Only sometimes. Maybe.

Maki smiled as she listened to Cocoa talk about the tennis match she had won, despite it being her first after healing from a sprained ankle. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Cotarou retrieve a handheld game before trying to squeeze in between her and the edge of the table. Allowing herself a small chuckle, she scooted over to allow him room before reaching over to tousle his hair. Not surprisingly, Cocoa did her best to bring Maki’s attention back to her while Cotarou contented himself with his game and simply being near.

It was times like this that she truly envied Nico with her adorable siblings who looked up to her with all the admiration in the world. And she couldn’t help thinking about how her life might have been different if she had younger siblings of her own.

“Dinner is ready!” Cocoro announced proudly, striding into the room.

“A Nico-nii special with a Cocoro twist.” Nico added, setting plates out for everyone.

“Looks good.” Maki commented as the visible chunks of tomato and a wonderful aroma made her mouth water. “Smells good.”

“But of course!” Nico preened. “What else would you expect from the No. 1 Chef in the Universe and her No. 1 Protégée?”

Maki opened her mouth to issue her usual retort, but closed it when she noticed Cocoro basking in the praise of the two older girls.

“Let’s eat!” Cocoa proclaimed, reaching for the serving spoon. “Maki-chan, hold out your plate.”

“She’ll need rice first!” Cocoro insisted, kneeling and opening the cooker. “Would you pass me your plate, please, Maki-san?”

Maki hesitated for a moment before she heard Nico chuckle. A quick glare only earned her a wide smile in return as the older girl took her place.

“Onee-sama, you’re next.” Cocoro reached for her sister’s plate.

“So, what are you gonna be tonight?” Cocoa asked the redhead sitting kitty-corner from her.

“Eh?” Maki blinked.

“You’re coming with us tonight, right?”

“Yes, but…”

“Well then you have to dress up!”

“Dress up…” Cotarou repeated.

“Onee-sama is dressing up.” Cocoro pointed out.

“Nico-chan?” Maki looked at the twin-tailed girl across from her.

“Not to worry, Maki-chan!” The older girl grinned. “Nico has it all taken care of!”

“I’m going to be Date-Krumm Kimiko!” Cocoa announced before Maki could get more details.

“The tennis player?” Maki inquired, redirecting her curiosity from Nico to a younger Yazawa.

“The best!”

“Cow…” Cotarou held up a hand.

“Cow?” Maki raised an eyebrow.

“Moo…”

Nico laughed. “Mama and I made a really cute costume for him this year.”

“A cow?” Maki continued to question.

“It’s what he wanted.”

“Moo…” The young boy repeated.

“So how about you, Cocoro?” Maki asked.

“Julia Child.” The oldest of the three younger siblings stated. “The second-best cook in the universe.”

“Second?” Even as the word left her mouth, Maki realized the answer.

“To Onee-sama, of course.”

“Soon to be third best, if Nico has anything to say about it.” Nico added, patting her sister’s head.

Again, the rebuttal bubbled up, held in Maki’s throat and was swallowed with her next bite. Not only was the food she was eating delicious, there was something… just… what to call it… heartwarming, about the interactions between Nico and her siblings. Far be it for her to ruin the moment.

As dinner continued, the younger Yazawa siblings talked about their plans for the night, what shops gave out the best candy last year and what they hoped to receive this year. Maki and Nico added a bit to the conversation here and there but were otherwise content letting the kids be excited.

Then after the meal and clean up, everyone went to change into their costumes. Maki followed Nico into her old room.

“Here you go, Maki-chan!” Nico said proudly, holding an outfit toward the younger girl.

“Nico-chan…” Maki was struck with nostalgia as she accepted the garment.

“Dancing stars on me!” Nico sang the title line of the song from a year ago.

“Where… How many did you and Kotori keep?”

“Just a few.” Nico shrugged. “I thought everyone knew.”

Maki shook her head.

“Well, if you want any of yours, let us know.”

“Hrm…” Maki wondered if she should take up the offer.

“And I’m wearing mine from the same set.” Nico turned to retrieve said costume from the drawer. “So Nico and Maki-chan can match! Which is part of why I invited Maki-chan tonight. Also,” She giggled as she turned back around “I may need help carrying some stuff if I’m going to wear these.” She held up her hands, now wearing pink cat paws.

“So I’m to be a candy pack mule?” Maki raised an eyebrow.

“Yup!” Nico chirped.

Maki deadpanned while Nico laughed.

“I suppose it can’t be helped…” The younger girl finally agreed with a sigh that was nowhere near serious.

It wasn’t like she was completely against the idea. If she were being honest, she had been looking forward to spending time with Nico and her siblings and watching said siblings collect their candy ever since Nico had proposed the idea. She hadn’t anticipated participating, but getting to wear another old µ’s costume was something she couldn’t pass up. And maybe seeing Nico wear one as well might have its own appeal. Maybe…

“Anyway, I think we’ll have fun tonight.” The older girl continued. “So let’s hurry up and get changed!”

Maki did as instructed, smiling as she secured the black caplet around her shoulders. It really had been an adorable costume, she thought, checking her reflection in one of Nico’s mirrors. Still was an adorable costume.

“Don’t forget this.”

Maki turned to see a headband with bat-like wings being handed to her.

“Oh yeah, thanks.”

“And we can’t be dancing stars without stars.” Nico produced a pair of hairclips. “Here.” She reached up to secure the star in Maki’s bangs. She stepped back for a second before moving forward again and adjusting the accessory. “There.” She nodded before attaching her own. “How’s that?”

Maki smiled and reached over to adjust the star in Nico’s hair, not because it needed realignment but because part of her wanted to mimic what Nico had just done for her. For some reason.

“Now we’re good.” Maki said, satisfied with her actions.

“Then let’s check on the kids.” Nico replied, slipping on her cat paw gloves again. She then frowned as she reached for the other girl’s hand but found she couldn’t do anything through the gloves.

Maki laughed and grabbed a paw. “Alright.”

“Pretty…” Cotarou murmured as the group entered the shopping mall.

Maki couldn’t disagree as she surveyed the stunning scene around her. Many of the shops had gone all out with their individual decorating as though there had been some sort of competition among them, but even the common areas had decked out. Witches on brooms hung from above while skeletons and ghouls danced below. Jack-o-lanterns provided flickering lighting amid the dimmed normal fixtures. Spider webs were stretched across doorways and passages. Mist crept across the floor in many areas.

And the costumes. By the gods, the costumes. They were everywhere. Though she had pretty much expected this to be the case, Maki found herself relieved that she wouldn’t stand out too much in her own costume.

“Hey, we should have a contest.” Cocoa suddenly suggested, refocusing Maki’s attention to the group.

“A contest?” Nico grinned. “What do you have in mind?”

“Who can get the most candy!”

“Wouldn’t we all get the same?” Maki wonder aloud.

“Not if we split up into teams!”

“But we’re five people.” Cocoro pointed out. “There’s no good way to divide that number.”

“Hrm…” Cocoa considered. “Alright, how about kids vs. adults?”

Nico scoffed. “Adults?” She glanced at Maki.

“What was that?” The redhead raised an eyebrow. “You’re one to talk.”

“Anyway, as much as Nico would love to team up with Maki-chan, I think it would be best if there was an adult on each team.” The raven-haired girl accented the word adult unnecessarily, earning a glare from the high school second-year.

“Then I’m with Maki-chan!” Cocoa claimed immediately.

Cocoro looked like she was about to protest but decided against it. “Then I shall go with Onee-sama.”

“And Cotarou?”

“I’ll take him.” Nico offered. “I’m used to dealing with all three, so two is easy. Is that alright with you, Maki-chan?”

Maki hummed an affirmation.

“But then they have three.” Cocoa said.

“We can average out the total earnings of each team.” Maki suggested.

“That’s my Maki-chan.” Nico grinned. “A brilliant solution.”

Maki felt heat gather in her cheeks. It was not uncommon for Nico to call her as such, and it never failed to embarrass her, much to her chagrin.

“So, we have our teams.” Nico raised a paw to encourage on the others. “Let’s go get some candy!”

The younger Yazawa siblings cheered in response.

“Thank you for inviting me tonight, Nico-chan.” Maki said, straitening her skirt, having just changed back into her school clothes. “That was a lot of fun.”

“Thanks for coming.” Nico replied as she turned toward the younger girl with a grin. “And thanks for putting up with the kids again.”

“They’re fine.”

“They enjoy seeing you. And of course, Nico does too.”

Maki felt her face warm a bit in embarrassment, but it still made her happy. “I like seeing them too.”

“Just them?” Nico pouted playfully.

Maki laughed. “Of course, I like seeing Nico-chan as well.”

“So, you two never did tell us…” Nico started.

“Tell you what?” Maki had a feeling she knew the answer, but asked anyway.

“What Maki-chan and Cocoa did to get so much candy.”

“Oh…”

“I mean forget averaging, you two beat the rest of us flat out.”

“… Just… normal trick or treating stuff…” Gods, why couldn’t she hide her embarrassment better?

Nico narrowed her eyes. No surprise, the older girl didn’t believe her.

“I’m telling you, it was just normal.” Maki insisted.

“Fine. Fine.” Nico shrugged. “I’ll just ask Cocoa later.”

Maki took a deep breath through gritted teeth and held it as she maintained eye contact with the older girl. After a moment, it became obvious Nico wasn’t relenting, so she relaxed her jaw and sighed. “She… uhm… convinced me to sing…”

“I know.”

“Buweehh?” Maki balked. “Y-you knew?”

“Uh, yeah. We weren’t too far away, you know. I just wanted to hear you admit it.”

Maki couldn’t help pursing her lips into a pout.

“And Maki-chan has a fairly distinctive singing voice.” Nico smirked. “Almost as lovely as Nico’s.”

Maki’s cheeks burned. “I-idiot…”

“You like it.” Nico stuck out her tongue.

“… Maybe…”

“Anyway, I’ll walk you to the station.” Nico offered, reaching forward. As she was no longer wearing the cat paws, she was able to actually take the other girl’s hand this time.

Maki nodded and the two headed for the bedroom door. However, as soon as Nico opened it, they found three faces staring up at them.

“Are you really going back tonight?” Cocoa was the one to speak up first.

“Huh?” Nico blinked. “Well, yes, that was kind of the plan…”

“You can have your old bedroom back for the night.” Cocoro offered.

“Stay…” Cotarou drawled.

“Well…” Nico laughed lightly. “I guess it can’t be helped. Let me just walk Maki-chan to the station.”

“Stay…” Cotarou repeated, this time reaching up to take Maki’s hand.

“Eh?” Maki blinked.

“You’re certainly welcome to stay as well.” Mrs. Yazawa said, coming up behind her children. “We have two guest futons in the living room.”

“Yeah!” Cocoa chimed in, taking the redhead’s other hand. “Stay with us tonight, Maki-chan!”

“Stay with us tonight, Maki-chan!” Another voice mimicked.

“Nico-chan?” Maki glanced at the older girl beside her.

“And in the morning, Nico will make her super special omurice.”

“Onee-sama’s omurice is the best.” Cocoro stated happily.

Maki was tempted to say that she already knew Nico’s skill in making breakfast. Instead, she smiled and said, “Alright. Let me just send a message to Mama.”

“You go ahead and do that.” Mrs. Yazawa nodded. “Nico and I will set up the futons.”

The morning flew by much quicker than Maki would have liked. Thankfully, there was no morning practice with the idol group, but she still needed to leave time to get home and change before heading off to school. As such, she wasn’t able to savor Nico’s breakfast as long as was deserved for such a delectable dish. But at least she was able to get three wonderful smiles when she decided to leave most of her candy for Nico’s siblings to split. It came as no surprise that Nico quickly followed suit, though Maki noted the older girl kept a bit more for herself.

When it finally came time for Nico and Maki to head out for the day, Cocoro, Cocoa and Cotarou lingered in the entry.

“You’re going to come back again soon, right?” Cocoro was the one to give voice to their shared thoughts.

“Of course.” Nico replied with a grin.

“Before Christmas?” Cocoa pressed.

“Absolutely.” The college first-year laughed lightly. “Maybe even in the next week or so, before I have to crack down for my exams.”

The high school second-year bit her tongue on commenting about Nico’s study habits.

“You too…?” Cotarou looked up at the redhead.

“Eh?” Maki hadn’t expected that.

“Yes, you as well, Maki-san.” Cocoro added.

“Come back soon, Maki-chan.” Cocoa smiled.

“Come play with us Maki-chan.” Nico echoed.

“Alright, alright.” Maki held out her hands. “Just… stop saying my name like that.” Especially with those pleading eyes and adorable expressions… She added silently.

The two older girls eventually worked their way through goodbyes and headed for the station.

“So, it’s obvious the kids want to see Maki-chan again.” Nico said as they approached the point where they would need to go their separate ways. “But when does Nico get to see Maki-chan again?”

“Hrm…” Maki pretended to consider. “Well, as you said earlier, exams are coming up. So I suppose you’ll need my help studying…”

“Exams aren’t for a few weeks.”

“Never too early to start studying for them.”

“Bo~o~!” Nico puffed out her cheeks. “And here Nico was hoping Maki-chan would just wanna hang out.”

Maki laughed. “I suppose we could do that as well.”

“Tonight?” Ruby eyes lit up with anticipation.

Well, there’s no doubt where her siblings get it. Maki thought to herself.

“I have practice this afternoon.”

“That’s fine. Just come whenever. Nico will have dinner ready.”

“Alright.” Maki finally agreed with a smile.

“And that’s my train.” Nico said, moving quickly as the doors opened. After boarding, she spun around, grinned and waved her signature gesture. “Have a good day, Maki-chan! See you tonight!”

“Bye, Nico-chan.” Maki managed to reply before the doors closed.

Maki then walked over to where her train was just arriving. As the train started moving, she found herself thinking about how much fun she had the previous night. That may have been her favorite Halloween celebration yet. However, as her thoughts continued, they began to dwell on three young siblings and the big sister they missed. She really couldn’t blame them; she missed seeing Nico every day as well.

Perhaps she could check her schedule to see when she might be free next to visit the younger Yazawas. But at least tonight, she would get to see Nico again. Maybe Nozomi and Eli as well, but definitely Nico. Maki smiled as she watched the city scroll past the windows. Definitely Nico.

Author’s Note Continued: I was inspired by a recent event story in Bandori, but I hit a wall with the main part of what I wanted to write here. And ended up cutting it completely. Hopefully, my little cheat around it will work out.

As mentioned above, this scene turned out a bit longer than intended, and took a bit of a different direction as well. However, in doing so, I think it ties nicely to other scenes I’ve written, as well as a few I still have planned.

Also, it was fun finally writing the Yazawa siblings. I definitely want to write more scenes with them now. E.g. a scene about how they came to refer to Maki as they do might be fun. I had a pretty good idea for Cocoro and Cocoa, but had to think a bit more for Cotarou.

Finally, Dancing stars on me remains high on my list of favorites in the franchise, both the song and the costumes. It is the only one for which I own an entire set of figures; partly because they’re chibi and as such were not as expensive as larger figs. I have the Nico and Maki out on display and have been using their R cards on my casual Cool teams in SIF all month. I’m actually a little disappointed that I will be taking down said display and changing the teams soon, though I am consoled by the fact that I’ll be replacing them with Snow halation.

In any case, because I love Dsom so much, I knew I had to include it in HtHaN at some point.  And I’ll probably do so again later.

[bnha-hcs]

Cat Cafe - Todoroki x fem!reader

I couldn’t really get myself to write anything else gomen. But I have more time this week to actually write?? I only have to work three days thank the gods ahhh. I meant to upload this waaaaaay earlier but I was freaking out bc my homework online was being stupid and I couldn’t find all questions I needed to answer. Rip, i guess I’ll die. Anyways, I hope you enjoy! (I swear my faves and cats are my aesthetic ahhh)

Words: 2,170

You were way too excited for your own good. And I mean, strangely excited to the point where you found yourself not being able to sleep the night before. You tossed and turned for what seemed like ages until you decided to play some sort of weird game of switching between the same three apps on your phone before you decided to just get up and accept your sleepless fate. This happened a lot, whether it was for a good reason or out of anxiety for a test, you never found yourself to be able to keep still and prevent your thoughts from straying endlessly.

After getting out of bed you found yourself stumbling into your kitchen and lazily flicking on the lights. It took you a second to contemplate the choices before of what to make yourself to eat. Looking at the clock you saw it to be roughly close to six in the morning. You wouldn’t be meeting your boyfriend for another three hours so wasn’t like you didn't have time contemplate what to do. To be honest you were seriously thinking of texting him to see if was awake, but knowing how much of a light sleeper he was you’d just be waking him up. You opted to just make yourself a cup of tea or really just anything warm at this point.

While waiting for your dumb drink to finish cooling down you shuffled over to the tv and turned it on. The blaring noise of the tv startled you considerably and you rushed to fumble with the remote to turn it down. Your face was flushed slightly from your own embarrassment despite the fact that you were alone and the feeling of adrenaline rushed through you. Well, there was no way you could go back to sleep now. You strolled back into the kitchen and got your drink along with some sort of snack before heading back into your living room and plopped down on the couch.

Just as you had gotten comfortable you heard a knock on your door. You squinted out of confusion but got up and made your way to the door nonetheless. When you opened the door you were surprised to see your boyfriend standing there, looking a little disheveled, or as disheveled as a pretty boy like him could look. His hair looked a little bit more ruffled and out of place than usual but it honestly made him look even more charming. You also noticed his eyes betrayed some sort of vague tiredness that you weren’t extremely used to seeing.

“Shouto? What are you doing here?” You asked quickly moving out of the way to let him in.

“I had a feeling you’d be up this early.” He replied in his usual tone. “Did you not get my text?”

“Uh… no?” You squeaked out before rushing to look at your phone on the kitchen table. Sure enough there were a few unread texts from your boyfriend. You felt a little embarrassed.

There was a groan from you as you locked your phone and rested your head against his shoulder. He gave you a quizzical look and went to comfort you by giving you a few reassuring pats on your back.

“Don’t worry about it.” He said with a small chuckle. “It worked out anyways.”

“It’s because you know me so well.” You said with a fake sentimental sniffle. “I’m so proud.”

You couldn’t see but he made a sort of lost expression on his face before he realized you weren’t actually about to cry. Sometimes he couldn’t tell with you… One time you had burst into tears after seeing a miniature fake cup of coffee in one of those new jewelry stands at the mall and it nearly gave him a heart attack. You were probably going to pull the same thing today since the two of you were going to a cat cafe after weeks of you trying to set up a day to go.

He felt you shift and go to give him a hug to which he went to return, although he was a little surprised by your sudden gesture. You buried your face in his shoulder and let out a small content sigh after inhaling his scent. He always smelled like something refreshing like mint or eucalyptus… It made you question whether or not you should start being one of those people who pretty much bathed in rose water so you could smell like some sort of spa goddess. But to be honest you didn’t have time to be the self care deity you’ve always wanted to be because of school, seeing how you barely had time to fit even this date into both of your schedules.

“It’s nice to see you this early without it being something related to school.” You murmured, squeezing him a little tighter. He returned your affection wholeheartedly before he pressed a kiss to your temple.

“Yeah, it’s been awhile since I’ve been able to hold you like this, too.” Shouto replied quietly.

The two of you stood like that for a little bit longer, trying to make up for lost time during the semester. But you’d need a different day for the other sort of attention the two of you had been craving. You parted and went to look at your phone again. A little time had passed, but not enough so that you could head out early. At least now you could chug the rest of your drink and scarf down our choice of snack so you could get out of your pajamas. You were sure you looked like a right mess considering you hadn’t changed or even washed your face. Walking over you picked up your now slightly warm drink and chugged about half of it. It didn’t really taste that great now that it had been sitting there for a little bit.

“You can change the channel, I need to get ready anyways.” You offered to your boyfriend while swirling the contents of your drink.

Shouto gave you sort of a lost look and you realized he didn’t really watch tv much. Habits were habits though and you always told your friends to change the channel if they wanted to to. Chugging the rest of your drink you hurried off to your room and picked out your outfit. A simple large sweater and jeans since it was a little cold outside this morning. You threw that on and then sauntered to the bathroom to take care of of your hygienic needs so you wouldn’t look like you just rolled out of bed. Not that you really cared if you did or not but you were sure your boyfriend didn’t want to walk around with goblin looking you…

You returned in record time to find Shouto messing with the ends of his jacket, looking a little sleepy himself. He could’ve gone with a few more hours of sleep and you felt bad for making him get up so early on your only days off. So you plopped down next to him on the couch and snuggled up to him. At least you could snuggled with him for a good while before you had to get up and go anywhere.

---

Time seemed to float on by precariously fast and you found yourself a little heartbroken to have to get up already. Looking over at your boyfriend you were even more saddened by the fact that you had to wake him up seeing as he had fallen asleep next to you on the couch. Luckily you moved enough so that it only gently jostled him awake and his sleepily rubbed his eyes. Too cute…

“We gotta gooooo.” You drawled sweetly, nudging his side softly.

He only hummed in response and you left his side to grab your keys and wait by the door. He trailed after you, obviously trying to kick of the remnants of sleep so he could keep up with your excited demeanor.You both slipped on your shoes before heading off on your way to the cat cafe. You were practically skipping you were so excited. You had always seen them online and in the news and such but you had never had the pleasure of going yourself. But now was the time! It was the ideal date for you and being able to go with your sweetheart  was arguably the best feeling in the world right now.

It didn’t take long for you to get there either. The place was remarkably close to your house meaning you’d be able to stay longer. The second you walked in, hand in hand with Shouto, you nearly burst into tears right then and there. A lovely little calico kitty had greeted you upon entry and thrown herself at your feet. She meowed brightly and rolled around like a gleeful little slug. You cooed and called at the cat immediately as your boyfriend looked over the place for a spot to sit. You buried your hands into the plush fur of the cat before you  which earned you a few playful swipes and meows.

“There’s a spot over by the cat tree.” Shouto informed you. You hummed and stood back up to look.

“Then let’ go, there’s so many over there…!” You chirped, practically racing over there.

A large white cat was sitting in a hammock by the window to which you stopped to pet. He was obviously sunning himself in the morning rays because he seemed a little perturbed by your sudden appearance. He let a out a gruff meow and sniffled at your hand before deeming it worthy of petting him. You personally felt honored and took the blessing in stride. Shouto approached and got the approval of the white cat as well, going to scratch the side of the cats face and then under the chin.

You Skipped over to your table afterwards and took a look at the menus- everything appropriately named and cat themed for the cafe. It was all a little too much and you felt the tears welling in your eyes.

“I’m going to cry it’s too cute.” You sniffled. Your boyfriend shook his head.

“You’re too cute…” He said.

“E-Eh?” You stammered out, “Since when did you become such a smooth talker?”

You puffed out your cheeks to try and distract from the fact that you were now a little flustered. Shouto didn’t comment on it, instead going to tuck a piece of your hair behind your hair to show your pretty face. The cats of the cafe were vying for your attention, but you could only pay attention to the duo colored hair besides you. It’d been awhile since your heart had started pounding like this in your chest and if it wasn’t for the insistent meowing of the cats then you were sure he’s be able to hear it, too.

“It’s true, you’re always cute.” He said. You felt your face flare up in another rush of heat.

Was he trying to kill you? You averted your gaze and nervously fiddled with your fingers, going to push them against each other over and over again. You had no idea what to say or do next. You spotted another cat, trotting over to you with all due haste and noticed something special about its eyes. You picked the kitty up, and held it over to the boy beside you.

“Look it’s you.” You said with a small smile.

Sure enough, it was a cat that looked very similar to him. Shouto seemed transfixed on the heterochromic eyes of the cat and went to hold it in his lap. He already seemed really attached to it and the look in his eyes told you he was unusually excited about it. You laughed and looked at the other cats in the cat tree by the two of you. There were so many cats…

For the rest of the time you sort of got into a competition on who could find the cutest cat and compare it to the other. You didn’t win, mostly before the whole gesture was too much for your poor little heart and you found yourself too flustered to continue. And you swore Shouto was enjoying himself a little too much afterwards. But it was nice, and afterwards you headed back to your house for a much needed cat nap. You found your lack of sleep had caught up to you about halfway through your second piece of coffee cafe and nearly fell asleep in a pile of cats.

Just before you fell asleep back on the couch in your house you felt a warm sensation on your lips and realized it was a kiss. The sensation made your heart flutter, although it was short lived. Not a second later you felt the grip around your waist tighten and a smile etched onto your face. Nothing was better than a day of cats, sweets, and your dear boyfriend.  

[punmasterkentparson]

Like Baby Bird

inspired by this text post because tater would.

I pulled this out of the bottom of my “unfinished” folder and finished it because I promised you guys some writing and I’m gonna deliver even if it’s crap.

(warning: it’s crap.)

edit: (ao3 link)

There’s no one else in the NHL whom Tater would rather piss off than Kent Parson. Feints and unnecessary checks and stealing Kent’s puck while saying, “You mind I’m borrow?” like he’s just swung by Kent’s place for a cup of sugar. Twice he’s gotten up in Kent’s business all through a tight game, asking “You want fight? Come on, Parson, little fight, know you want, been asshole all game, come on,” and waited until Kent has snapped, “Yeah, fine,” and tossed down his gloves, only to have Tater laugh and say, “Just kidding.” And then skate away.

Tater also snow showers Parson every chance he gets. He gets the fight he was asking for twice, but mostly he gets insults yelled at him as he ducks away.

Thirdy calls it hilarious. Marty calls it “kinda dangerous, you know he’s gonna kill you one day, right?” 

Snowy calls it “the most disgusting display of courtship I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”

Kent isn’t known for being a mouthy guy on the ice. In press rooms and in person he can’t be convinced to shut up, but in a game his sole focus is his team and the puck. He doesn’t have much time for chirping. Except, it turns out, in situations involving Tater. 

The more Tater goads him, the more Kent Parson talks. Fast, clipped words, growing more and more eloquent as the season goes on.

But it’s the Stanley Finals where things really heat up. They go through seven exhausting, drawn out games and it is not pretty. Bodies and tempers are stretched to the limit. Tater’s customary on-ice hassling of Kent takes on more of an edge. Kent, in return, constructs elaborate chirps in reply. Tater barely has to grind to a stop nearby and send a mild puff of snow Kent’s way to get a lengthy tirade in response.

At one point, Tater elbows Kent out of the way--just a nudge, really--and says, “Scoot, peanut,” and Kent seems to lose it.

The tussle that follows is half shoving, half pissed-off yelling. The refs pull them apart and send them to the box. Tate goes in with his jersey askew and his mouth guard almost knocked out. He tries to get Kent’s attention through the glass and is treated to another tirade that he barely catches half of.

“Holy shit,” Snowy says conversationally once Tater’s back on the ice. “He just went at you. Don’t think I’ve seen a roast like that since Beiber went on Comedy Central.”

Tater shrugs. “Kent is baby bird.”

Snowy scrunches his entire face up behind his mask. “Explain.”

“Is cute when he is angry chirping but I'm not know what he's say.”

Snowy pretends to gag. "It’s Parson. Do not ever make me listen to you call Kent-fucking-Parson cute ever, ever the fuck again.”

“So cute,” Tater reiterates, and laughs when Snowy tries to push him over.

The third period is brutal. The Aces and Falconers are tied. A single point will tip the balance.

Zimmboni gets that point, right off Tater’s assist.

The clock runs down the rest of regular time and the Aces don’t get that point back. Tater hears the stadium count down the last ten seconds. Then, all he hears is five hundred fans and twenty-two Providence Falconers screaming in chaotic joy.

Eventually both teams get around to lining up and shaking hands.

Tater is still wearing an enormous grin when he gets to Kent. He shakes the man’s hand and pats him on the arm, saying, “Was good season, yeah? You and me?”

Kent looks startled, befuddled, and intently curious all at once. “I—yes?”

“Good, good. Let’s have good season again next year. You fun.” Tater pats him again and moves on down the line. He thinks he feels Kent watching him go.

The Aces leave the ice. The Falconers are awarded the cup. It is the single greatest night of Tater’s life.

Tater doesn’t expect to see Kent until the next regular season. He most certainly does not expect to see Kent sitting in the Falconers’ locker room three weeks later after a routine, low-impact skate.

Kent has one foot propped on the opposite knee and is playing with his phone. Falconers file in and do double-takes when they notice him.

“The fuck—is that Parson?”

“What’s he doing here?”

“Parson, what the hell?”

Kent doesn’t speak until Tater goes up to him, shadow falling across Kent’s body and half his face. “Kent, why you are here?”

Without looking up from his phone, Kent says loudly, “Do you know how rude it is to spend six months hitting on a guy and then not call him once the season’s over?”

Behind Tater, there’s a choking sound from Snowy.

Kent continues, “Not that you have my phone number, ‘cause you didn’t bother getting that, either. At least you didn’t ask me out with the damn cup in your hands, but still, point stands: I had to fly a thousand miles just so you could do this in person. I am so offended right now. Even Zimms and his chicken tenders had a better game plan.”

“Please don’t bring me into this,” Jack says weakly from the corner.

Kent gets up, pocketing his phone and looking up expectantly at Tater. The locker room is not quiet, since most of the guys are going about their business in a pointed attempt to ignore the soap opera in their midst. But there’s a definite atmosphere of anticipatory breaths being held.

Tater realizes that, for all that he really did spend about six months vying for Kent’s attention, he hasn’t given the actual act of getting a date with Kent Parson any concrete thought.

“You, uh,” he fumbles. “You want…have dinner?”

Kent crosses his arms. “Where are you taking me?”

“Steakhouse okay?”

What follows is the most overdone show of consideration Tater has ever witnessed. Kent is such a drama queen. It’s enticing and not a little bit hot. Tater really hopes he can get his hands on Kent by the end of the week.

Kent says, “Sure. Steakhouse is good. You’re paying.”

“Of course,” Tater agrees, overriding Snowy’s call of “Mooch!” behind him. The rest of the guys seem to take that as their cue to resume pulling off skates and jerseys at full volume. Tater speaks to Kent over the noise. “I’m shower and change, you wait?”

Kent snorts and flops back down into Tater’s spot on the bench. “Waited six damn months, didn’t I?”

Just adorable. “Yes, ptichka,” he says, and heads for the showers.

“Don’t think I won’t Google that!” Kent yells after him.

“Okay, ptichka!”

“You suck, Mashkov!”

“Swallow, too.”

Snowy cuts in, “God, both of you, shut up!”

Tater looks back over his shoulder, and catches sight of two things: Snowy’s green-faced glower, and Kent’s warm, smug grin.

Tater still doesn’t know what he’s going to do with Kent Parson now that he’s got him. But whatever happens, it most certainly won’t be dull.

[writer-and-artist27]

Swing of a Tail, and a Miss?

This is actually a story that’s been sitting in my notes a while for S&S, and with an Organic Chemistry midterm hanging over my head tomorrow morning, I’ve been needing to get away. Note that the original version of this was written back in the summer of 2017, so it’s old and I had to revise some things. Hence a certain Tailed Beast not sounding fully himself in my opinion. Early writing, go.

Not to mention, I remember sending the first draft of this to Lang about it a long time ago, and she liked it enough then. And, well, the actual story’s still in its early set-up stages, so this scene will see changes later. For now, writing shared! Answering this anon from so long ago. Because it helps keeping me out of the Sulking Corner otherwise with a temptation to cry from frustration.

For once, I was the one who brought up the idea.

“Hey, Kei-chan? Is it okay if I could try talking to Isobu-san?”

My best friend was in the middle of drinking her tea (courtesy of Mama, who gave it to us earlier before we slipped into my room for the usual canon-debunking/life catch-up), so I wasn’t fully shocked at her near-spit take at my words. Thankfully, she didn’t choke or spit out her tea, but ended up coughing into her hand anyways as her cup found its way back onto the table.

“Wh-What?” she breathed, tone clearly showing her disbelief. “T-Tomo, do you even realize what you’re fucking asking?”

“…Yes,” I said after a small beat, blinking. Then I raised my pointer finger in the air for the sake of… well, making my point. No pun intended. “I was hoping to try talking to Isobu-san. The Three-Tails?”

Kei stared at me as if I had grown a second head.

Then again, with Hisako…

“I heard you the first time,” Kei then deadpanned, shaking her head. “But Tomo. Tomo.” Kei ducked her head down, no longer meeting my eyes. “This is a Tailed Beast we’re talking about, y’know. I already ‘kinda’ got in trouble with someone about his presence,” emphasized with heavy air quotations, “even when I thought I could handle it, and they were actual ninja. You’re…”

“A civilian who looks like she can’t handle herself for shit?” I filled in adequately.

Kei averted her eyes again, this time glancing to the side and focusing on my closet. She didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to.

I found myself sighing. “I know, I know, weak blow.”

“Towards you, yeah,” Kei added quietly.

Even with that, I still found myself smiling. “But I still want to go anyways.”

Kei raised her head to look at me with another strange face. I was honestly grateful for the fact that it didn’t look zombie-like. “Tomo, are you serious? I’m not sure if he’ll listen to you.”

“Even so,” I nodded my head, clenching my hands a bit tighter in my lap. “I want to try talking to him. There’s something I feel like he needs to know anyways. Especially since he is an integral part of you now. Considering all the shit the Tailed Beasts have gone through in history, I feel like that he deserves to know what I have to say at least.”

Kei inclined her head at me with confusion now. “Question. You’re not going to start rambling when you see him, right?”

“No promises,” I said immediately. “It’s all from the heart.”

Kei proceeded to facepalm.

“…And here I thought Mom’s meditation would’ve stuck,” she mumbled.

I shrugged. “Eh. Even with control, I’m an open book. That’s not going to change for quite a while. Sue me.”

Kei removed her hand from her face as she started to chuckle. “Okay, okay, you got me, you goofball. But don’t be too open, Tomo, okay? This is a Tailed Beast we’re talking about here. And if Isobu even opens his mouth to eat you, I’m pulling you out. Simple as that.”

If not that, then I’m doing it before she can. Hisako added hotly. After everything that’s gone down, you’re not dying again on my watch, honey.

“Crystal clear on that, ma’am,” I answered to them both.

Hisako hummed in approval as Kei lurched back, frowning. “Don’t call me ‘ma’am,’” she said slowly, before going through some quick hand-seals. “And try not to scream.”

“Why would you say that—” I didn’t have time to finish that sentence before Kei put her right hand on my head and my vision warped.

The first thing I noticed when the bright lights cleared was that we were in a mental world. More specifically, Kei’s mental world.

And…

“Why is it so wet in here?” I found myself commentating.

No matter where I looked, I was ankle-deep in what appeared to be a towering, overarching ocean. Unlike my own mindscape, where Hisako and I had constructed our own mental library to hold memories and so on in the form of books, there was barely anything to this world, only having an expanding blue sky above our heads and ocean covering our feet.

At least the constants that carried over from my mental world was my appearance and Hisako’s presence. When looking down at myself, I was still wearing the same moving galaxy-patterned kimono dress, with white stockings and geta sandals hidden by the waves lapping at my ankles. Along with the orange hair ribbon at my left hair strand (from an outsider’s point of view when looking at me anyways), this seemed about right.

Hisako, on the other hand…

“Huh. So apparently I float in here. Good to know.”

I turned to my left at the sound of her voice, just to nearly jump at seeing my other self there, floating as she said she was. With her sneaker-covered feet hovering at least an inch or two above the ocean that we were in, it was a change from her usual appearance. Aside from that, everything else was the same—purple blouse, jeans, long brown hair, and circular blue-green glasses.

My Nobody had essentially become a modern-looking Genie with the levitating trick.

“Hello, Tomoko-chan.” Hisako hummed when meeting my eyes, crossing her arms behind her head. “Hope you don’t regret this.”

“Not planning on it,” I said flatly. Then it was looking around. With the ocean and sky, where was—

“It’s been awhile since I’ve seen you wear that,” Kei answered mildly from over my shoulder.

“Wah!” I tried not to scream more than that, and turned around to see my best friend donning the same attire from before, only lacking the glasses I saw her in the last time we were sharing minds. White-purple hoodie, shinobi pants, and all. The only other thing I think she was missing was her hitai-ite. “Oh,” I said, taking a breath, “Hi, Kei-chan.”

“Yo,” she said with the same mild tone. Her black eyes then darted over to Hisako’s direction. “Hi, Hisako-san.”

“Hello, Kei,” Hisako answered, warm smile on her face. “I’m guessing you’ve been comfy?”

“…Kind of,” Kei hesitated before motioning with her arm behind her. “And he’s here.”

I only had a moment to process what she said before the water underneath us rippled. Then, a voice shook the whole landscape to where I nearly felt my hair stand on end.

“WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?” were the apparent first words of the large turtle known as Isobu.

Back when I was Vy, the only Tailed Beast I was familiar with in terms of appearance was Kurama. And since he was the Nine-Tailed Fox, that said enough. But for Isobu? Oh man, I was seriously wondering how my past self missed this guy, because…

“Did anyone tell you you look completely scary, but awesome and handsome at the same time, Isobu-san?” was the first thing that left my lips.

A long pause followed. Along with the faint chirp of crickets.

Hey, blame a girl for being honest. Seeing a large turtle sit in front of me like this, spiked tails swishing in the air, I found it all rather cute. And handsome.

The one large red-yellow rimmed eye focused on me with almost pinpoint accuracy before widening.

“…What?” he rumbled finally.

Kei looked at me as if I had grown a third head. Woo. “Tomo?!” she freaked.

Heat flooded my face almost instantly as I could hear Hisako facepalm. “Tomoko-chan…”

“U-Uh, I’m sorry about that, I didn’t mean to be rude!” Out of habit, I found myself bowing my head in Isobu’s direction. “Um, I’m Hoshino Tomoko, Kei’s friend and civilian pianist. It’s very nice to meet you, Isobu-san.”

The Three Tails then proceeded to answer with a surprisingly quiet, “Human. How do you know my name? And who is that girl next to you?”

“Um, excuse me,” Hisako proceeded to cut in, sounding very much offended. “I’m an adult, thank you very much. And I’m Hisako. Call me Tomoko-chan’s conscience when she doesn’t have one.”

“Hey!” I flailed. Hisako, you’re not helping! 

Screw that shit, Hisako commented bitingly, I’m not a kid!

Kei was now glancing between all three of us as if we had gone nuts.

I then coughed into my hand to get my composure back before looking back up at the turtle. “…Well, Isobu-san, I’m just like Kei. I know your name from past memories. That’s how.”

The same large eye widened again, almost big enough to where I could see myself reflected in it. “Explain,” he then demanded eloquently. “NOW.”

“Hey, you don’t have to be so rude about it—” I made sure to raise a hand up for Hisako to stop her potential rant, only for my other self to look at me with clear confusion and disbelief. “Tomoko-chan—”

“Hisako, please,” I said quietly. “Just let me do this.” It was only when Hisako nodded that I looked at Kei, meeting her rather panicked eyes with a smile. “You too, Kei-chan.”

The ninja seemed to be caught between shaking her head and just sitting there like a gaping fish before closing her mouth and nodding curtly.

“WELL?!” Isobu promptly demanded, tails swinging to where I could feel myself and the world around us shake. “Talk, as you humans like to do!”

Nonetheless, I took a step forward to bow my head. At least, as far as I could without doing seiza, since doing that in the water probably wouldn’t make for a better first impression. “First up, Isobu-san, I’m sorry. On the behalf of all those who hurt you in the past, I wanted to tell you, ‘I’m sorry.’”

The same three spiked tails swished in the air again, a little less irritated this time. I took it as my signal to continue.

“I know, this must sound weird and probably foolish to hear from a little girl you just met, especially since I’m probably invading a lot of personal territory by saying your name alone, which I also apologize for,” I made sure to bow my head lower for the sake of proving my point, “but I felt like I needed to say that. The apology, I mean. Especially since…” I trailed off, holding back any sign of hesitation via gulping my saliva. Then, I made sure to look up and stare into that same eye while speaking aloud. “Especially since no other human aside from the Sage of Six Paths treated you with the same respect otherwise, Three-Tails-san.”

The red-yellow eye widened even more as silence greeted me.

I didn’t miss how Hisako and Kei looked at each other behind me with wide eyes and small whimpers that sounded a lot like worries I knew from another life.

Then, Isobu replied with a quiet, “You know. You know of the Sage and…” His tails waved in the air, a bit more softly this time, as though placated. Curious even, if I could say that much. “Your chakra functions almost like…”

“Almost like his?” I answered with the same quiet tone.

“Yes,” Isobu finished gently. “The first form of chakra, ninshu. You…you, a little girl, know how to use it?”

If I didn’t know any better, it was as if the large turtle sounded like a small child, having just wandered out of their corner asking for their parents.

“…Yes,” I said finally. “I do. I don’t know how, but I do. And it’s with that in mind that I wanted to apologize. Since I’m not sure how I’m doing it, and I can’t speak for other humans who have long lost that knowledge already. Nor can I speak for why people have hurt you and your siblings for so long.”

The large turtle for once went completely silent, not even growling, instead simply staring at me with that large red-yellow eye.

Is he…Is he listening to me?

I slowly got to my feet while still keeping eye contact with him, pushing the thought to the side. “But still. Humanity thus far has failed in achieving the Sage’s original dream of understanding one another through chakra. Ninshu was lost in exchange for ninjutsu, and I can’t apologize enough for how much pain it put you and the other Tailed Beasts through. Nor can I guarantee that things will get better.” I took a breath before bowing my head again. “So, on the behalf of all humanity, I’m sorry.”

“…” Isobu blinked that large eye at me before raising his head towards the sky. The last thing I was expecting then was for him to roar.

It wasn’t even a threatening roar, despite how the volume shook the entire mindscape. And the presence of the two others in the world with me.

If I had to make a comparison, it was as if…

It was as if Isobu-san was crying out. To who, I wasn’t sure.

To the Sage? To his siblings? I didn’t know.

“…Leave,” he said finally, glancing at me once the sound faded into the air. “Go. Now.”

I only had to look at Kei once before my vision warped again.

The next thing I knew, we were back in my room again, and Kei was staring at me in a mix of awe and shock.

“Tomo, we have a lot to talk about,” she said finally, scooting over so that she could wrap an arm around my shoulders in a half-hug. “Because that was…”

“A thing?” I finished sheepishly, shrugging with a small smile.

Most definitely a huge thing, dear.

“A lot more progress than I ever did,” Kei answered instead, grinning softly. “So, should I start, or you?”

“Either or,” I said, leaning against her shoulder with a long sigh. Who knew that saying all that could take so much out of you? “We have a lot of time.”

A lot of time to hopefully fix things. My mind finished.

[ethicallysourcedhumanmeat]

Lost Boys: Day Two:5

[ < ][first][ > ] [AO3][Masterpost]

He’s on the train back from his meeting with the director when he wonders if No would be at rehearsal; He wants to tell her about getting the part.  Elle had seemed so excited she’d even left him a really cute voicemail while he was on a call with his agent just now but for some reason he wanted to tell No about it.  He couldn’t really figure out why, he hadn’t really gotten to talk to her all that much, but he wanted to know her better.

Maybe it was the intensity he saw when she was rehearsing, Elle was so cute but No, well she was definitely attractive, nope, this was a professional interest.  Watching her fence, watching her run lines, she could match his intensity if she did musicals, and she could sing if she got past her stage fright.

Yes, getting to know her was purely professional.

Standing on the train back into the city he sees a boy with blue hair and remembers the chat with V from earlier.  It had been weird, something had been off, and Elle’s demeanor had totally changed for the brief time they were talking to him.  She must be a fan, god she’s so cute, that’s probably why V was strange, he could probably tell.

When he gets inside he doesn’t have to ask if anyone has seen her.  Most of the performers have stopped to eat, and being Friday the space is pretty empty but No is on the stage, the bright white of her headphone cord flares out with her movements, stark against the dark coloured tank top she wears. 

She’s dancing now?  God was she just good at everything?  Well, not good, there was something not right about the way she moved, she seemed to struggle with her feet.  Maybe he could offer to help?  But she stops and pulls her phone out of her shirt, makes some notes, stretches and starts again.

“Hyun, you’re back,” the director slaps him on the back.  “Did you forget something?”

“Oh, I, uh, just thought I’d—”

“Don’t hurt yourself kid, you don’t have to tell me which one it is.  You’ve got perfect timing regardless; I just got the first draft of your script.”

*

Nina had been happy to see her.  Noelle had arrived at the end of one of her classes, a bunch of grade school kids ranging in skill from constantly laying on the ice to practicing camel spins when they thought no one was looking.  She tried to sneak in and hide in the bleachers with the parents but Nina clearly saw her, she supposed being a head taller than most of the parents with a bright blue skate bag over her shoulder probably wasn’t the subtlest she could have been.

Nina had practically slammed into the boards and screamed her name.

“When you said you might stop by later I thought you meant my house for a drink, you know since your short break has turned into six whole months.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to get your hopes up it’s just been really busy at work, and I’ve been spending a lot of times at rehearsals, I keep meaning to come back it’s just—”

“You do you babe,” Nina had laughed and planted a comical sucking kiss on her cheek.  “Get your skates on and help me round up these little monsters!”

She’d meant to, she really had but when she was lacing up her skates her phone had chimed and, well that had been the weirdest conversation she’d ever had.  V was Jihyun, she’d known that, it was his Photography Psued, but he’d been cold.  Maybe that’s who he was now, no one seemed to find it out of place, Zen had seemed so happy to see him. 

Was she crying, shit, it had been so long.  Did he know it was her?  No, why did she care.  She didn’t care if Jihyun knew, so what if he’d been like that on purpose, it was probably for her benefit, this was why she didn’t call him.

“Hey, if you didn’t want to skate with the kids you could have just said,” Nina frowned down at her but her face softened.  “Noelle, what’s wrong? Sorry, I didn’t-”

She shook her head. “No it’s fine, I got distracted by one of those sad dog transformations on facebook.”

Nina shook her head.  “You didn’t, but you don’t have to talk about it, what’s up?”

Noelle leads her friend back to the ice and explained the situation to her, of course Nina was already familiar with the source, just like she’d hoped and after two hours on the ice, not only did Noelle have more reference shots than she knew what to do with, they’d managed to work out a simple standalone program that Noelle was going to animate in her non-existent free time as plan-b.

Just like she’d hoped Nina didn’t even want payment, Noelle simply had to commit to coming back to their skating family, teaching a group class once a week, and consider coaching private lessons.

“I know you’ve got a lot on your plate but as soon as you finish this project I get you one day a week, guaranteed, that’s all I ask.”

Noelle had laughed and agreed.

With that worked out she went home, proper home, and packed a bag.  Her things, Darryl’s things, her computer and tablet, she even grabbed her favorite mug out of the cupboard.  She collected Darryl from her neighbor and thanked her profusely.

“Are you moving Noelle?”

“Oh no Ma’am,” Noelle smiled up at the older woman from where she knelt in front of her dog, “just house sitting for a while.”

“Oh that’s very kind of you.”

She drags 2 suitcases, a gig bag, a laptop bag and a giant dog into the elevator.  Her phone chimes again as she drops everything in the entry way.  Darryl saunters past, laying one big slobbery kiss on her forehead before surveying his temporary kingdom and Noelle lets herself fall gently to the floor where she lays face down while she fishes her phone out of her pocket.

“So are you married to your dog?” 707 laughs on the other end of the phone.

“It’s an open relationship,” she grunts.

“So is that a family thing?  Does Chief Han have a ferret his girlfriends can never live up to?”

Noelle sits up cross legged and laughs.  “You know we’re not really related right?  I mean big bad hacker did a background check on me so...”

“Hey the internet says you guys were doing the incest, who am I to question— No, No, Elle don’t hang up I’m kidding, I’m kidding.”

“It’s not funny, that ruined my life, okay, and it was a stupid rumor nothing ever happened.”

“I could get rid of it if you want,” his voice is earnest, softer than she’d yet heard.

“It’s been so long, the damage is done.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he says, “I’ve already got a program that can do the job, just a little tweak, it’s already going along, hungry little buddy, no more nasty rumors about you and your not-brother.”

She laughs despite herself.  Where was this guy 8 years ago?

“Byebye,” he chirps and the line goes dead.

*

She’s sitting in her car in the free parking lot a few blocks from the rehearsal space when her phone chirps again.  She’d gotten groceries and decided to pack dinner for herself; she’d eat it when she got home probably, she rarely ever had an appetite when she was rehearsing.

She pulls her phone out of her pocket and checks the notification from the messenger.  Zen is excited about a new role, written just for him, Jesus where do I find fangirls?  She swallows her jealousy and cheers him on.  She’d flirted with him earlier in the day and she was tempted to call him and flirt again, it would stem the disappointment.  He was on his way home.

Fuck it, she does call him but it goes straight to voicemail.  She leaves a message for him, conscious of the pitch of her voice, a little higher than her practiced speaking voice, a little more femme than she normal goes for, 707 had been clear he couldn’t know that she was Elle.

Her agent is more than apologetic and she feels her body tense in anticipation as he lifts her off the floor in an bear hug.  She shrugs and hangs her things up, switches to her slippers and scouts out the stage.  She should be running lines, finding someone to read with her at the audition, they’d specified they wanted the performers to bring a scene partner, someone not vying for a role in the showcase. 

But she really needed to get the flow of this choreography down, she had the foot work down when she’d left but Nina had been on her about her arms.  She had slacked on her workouts, and her core had suffered, it was hard to keep her arms moving the way Nina liked to see when she was distracted by her posture, the way her stomach was jiggling, the way she felt so wobbly.  Nina could see it too; she hadn’t added any jumps despite Noelle’s history.

It was probably the weirdest dance, so much should happen while she was gliding, she stops and makes a few notes and scans the stage, maybe if she had a balance beam to stand on it would be more effective.  It’s a stupid idea.  Min-ju corners her.

“So that’s cool, are you going to a really slow rave or something?”

“Do people still go to raves?” she laughs. 

Min-ju cocks her head to the side.

“Thinking of getting back into skating.”

“That’s random, are you giving up the dream then?”

Noelle laughs, “which dream?”

Min-ju throws her arms to the sides and spins in a circle. “This one, of course.”

Min-ju isn’t there to rehearse, she tells Noelle, but she didn’t want to admit that she just didn’t have plans for Friday night, she’s still young and excited to be disappointing her parents.  She tweaks some of Nina’s program and runs line with Noelle for another hour or so.

“So did you hear about your boyfriend’s new role?”

“My what,” she chokes on her water.

Min-ju laughs.  “Or your hero or whatever, Zen,” she fakes a swoon when she says his name and Noelle laughs.

“Yeah, I heard something about it.”

“Can you imagine,” Min-ju swings her feet dreamily, “do you think they’re really adapting it especially for him?”

Noelle shrugs.  “I should apologize to him for yesterday.”

“Eh, whatever.”

“Is he here?”

“Do you like him,” the smaller woman whispers.

“I’ve only talked to him once,” Noelle frowns.

“Then what are you so worried about?”

“It’s manners, MJ, I literally fell on him yesterday and then whatever happened on that stage last night.  He was really nice, that’s all.”

“Okay,” she draws it out and squints suspiciously.  “I think I saw him in the reading room when I came in.”

Noelle’s phone chimes again in the hallway.

“WooOooOOOoo,” 707 warbles into her ear, “it is I the ghost of boyfriends yet to come.”

“Oh my god,” she groans.

“Just a friendly reminder that Zen does not know you’re Elle.  Remember No and Elle are separate until the party, when you can finally be—”

“Please don’t.”

“Noelle.”

“Please never make my name a pun again.”

[themaraudingmisfits-blog]

The one with all the camping

Bucket lists, that pretty piece of paper filled to the brim with things we want to do, places we want to see, fears we want to conquer…most of them end up resembling a pinterest board full of pretty things and then there’s that ominous deadline of to do before I die which kinda really lessens the chances of us ever doing any of those things, what with most of us vying to be a better procrastinator than the other…BUTT if you have mad urges and a restless spirit and if your throw in some crazier than thou friends into the mix then CHEEEHOOO!!! You cupcake are gonna be ticking things off that list faster than your chubby hands can touch the base of that big tub of gooey caramelized popcorn!! And that is eggactly how we ended up going CAMPINNNGGGGGGG!!!(Hopefully your heads are still reverberating from the screechy echo that made).

Now y’all gonna be like, “Oh gawd, she’s gonna bore us with more gibber gabber about her trip and tell us how to set up a campfire without roasting off that perfect perm and how to not get entangled in your own tent and not to follow the poop trails with little grizzly bear bells in them”. BUTTT WEIGHT, I’m not gonna do that folks. Instead I’m going to bore you with swoon-worthy accounts of my camping trip which was completely poison ivy and bear attack free.

After a week of mid terms which were seriously messing with our long periods of doing nothingness, that brochure from Campper** was a godsend, it was just the kind of break we were looking for, a camping trip to Mankulam (near Munnar, Idukki), by the waterfalls overlooking never ending hills with bonfires and tents , all those goody goody treats my childhood backyard camping trips with moms shawls (masquerading as my tent) didn’t have.

We set off at about my post breakfast siesta time so we could make it in time for the complimentary lunch(raising eyebrows in that cool way).  The drive was along narrow roads, the hillsides lush and glistening under the sun, baby monkeys playing peekaboo and miles and miles of unending tea estates. Three hours and winding roads,  Ashik in the driver’s seat and the horrendous no siesta situation got to me though and I was a woozy nauseous mess by the time we got there but as soon as they opened their gates I was pretty gung ho about camping again.

We got out of the slightly stuffy and air conditioned insides to the fresh, breezy and clear air of the mountains, a welcome relief for us city dwellers. We oohed and aahed at the view, entranced by the witcheries of the misty mountains, the beckoning breeze and the trees dancing to their music, bubbling little brooks sparkling blithely nearby, the adorable homely tents and wait….the sounds of a roaring waterfall!! Wowieee!! EXPECTATIONS??? EXCEEDED!! We had our qualms about camping after our last “incident” and we dared not expect anything more than a plain old vanilla flavored ice cream situation but these guys gave us an ice cream sundae with our pick of toppings and a smear of chocolate!!

Ain’t the view pretty?? 

The gorgeouus waterfalls at our campsite!!

While my heart was doing a triple flip they brought in the complimentary lunch (I should stop saying complimentary right?). The owner’s grandmamma had cooked us up an amazing traditional Kerala meal much to the great skippety doo daa of our hungry tummies. She even sent us a huge bunch of bananas from her backyard thinking either that it’d be a nice wholesome snack for weary travelers or she just spot on guessed that we’re a bunch of monkeys. While our insatiable hunger was being soothed with the wholesome food, plans were bing made for us by the sweet people at the campsite. They were all ready with a jeep and loads of towels and some more bananas, ready to whisk us off to Some “secret” spot nearby…After an an unforgettably bumpy ride in an indestructible jeep with an amazing driver on a road which was more uphill than your average Joe steepy ones( the jeep was basically making its way up a non-existent hillside path), we finally got to our very own private multi-million dollar Jacuzzi/ shower/hot tub/…..faainnee…we didn’t get there but what awaited us was a secluded waterfall with pristine clear water, cold enough to make your teeth chatter, deep into the woods cloaked by a deep silence only broken by the sounds of our revelry.

How we got there: And we made several stopovers on the way, by rivers and hanging bridges and we even rode through a rivulet…

My very own sauna….If this were mine forever I’d take more baths…

Us water babies goofing around….

As much as I love places like Athirapally and the lot, I hate the tourists, the snack munching, giggling, loud, overly dressed up tourists. It sorta takes the joy out of going places. This, this was a different cup of tea by itself, covered by dense foliage, no prying eyes, the clean freshwater… We splashed about and frolicked to our hearts content till dusk and headed back to the base camp.

What awaited us was pure magic, as dusk turned to shadowy darkness and our tv-addicted eyes adjusted themselves, we were greeted by a bejeweled sky.

Calvin sure got that right…They’re like little bits of magic strewn all across the never sky…We just sat there, stargazing, losing all sense of time, normalcy and reality seemed a figment of our imagination. I for one was all warmed up inside being surrounded by some of the best people in my life and open starry skies and entrancing music, it was way better than all the dreaming  of shoes and ships and sealing wax and cabbages and kings I’m prone to doing at all times to the annoyance of everyone I know.

Our reverie was broken by a shout out to go check out aanakulam, a sort of teen hangout spot for elephants. Driving through the same places we went by daylight was just super spooky at night, the friendly mountains now took us back to instances from The hills have eyes and that my dears is not something you want to recall when you’re out at that time   on stranded hill roads.

When you’re pee-in-your-pants sacred think of funny puddy tats

We got to Anakulam though without any blood curdling incidents but it turned out to be a disappointing night ride coz there were no huge herd of elephants at the watering hole only a lone baby elephant who was pretty shy what with all the noise we were making and the glaring headlights of our jeep . But we were told that locals have  have seen a herd of 90 on certain moonlit nights, I guess we’re not the lucky kind. Sigh…But we got to take a nice snack break to quiet our rumbling tummies from the little tea shop nearby and we went back as a happy troop humming old tunes and thinking happy thoughts.

B y the time we got back we were ravenously hungry and gorged on the flavorsome and gravilicious chicken curry and fluffy rotis   meanwhile, the men were busy setting up the bonfire. Soon there was a blazing fire and we were drawn towards it, what followed was a night of mirth and frolic, with dancing and games of charades (which I lost miserably) . The embers turned a pretty shade of glowing reds and oranges, and there were tiny spurts and burps of flames trying to lick our little toes which were getting all warmed up…there’s something about fires which wakes up sleeping dragons and roaring phoenixes and unfulfilled dreams and they all march on with blazing spirits in your mind and these thoughts lingered on in my mind as the fire died out and I was back to bracing myself against the cuttingly cold winds which came in with their whoosh noises, rocking the dear pine trees and our little tents back and forth.  

There were yawns and shivers and sleepy eyes from the most of us and we turned in for the night. We were lulled to sleep by Mommy nature herself, the misty moonlit night, the chilly breeze and the roaring waterfall humming it’s night song, the cicadas chirping away to glory…the best sleep I’ve gotten in ages I’d say.

Our very own tent!! And yea… us smiling away goofily….

Sadly, there was no beautiful sunrise to wake up to, coz most of us sleepyheads never woke up in time for that and those who did missed out coz it was way too misty but we did squeeze in a morning walk before breakfast to the waterfalls and got a closer look at the valley with its rivulets and forests.

Morning walks and loads of sunshine …

Soon the sun was up in all its fury, the heat getting a bit prickly while we were in a rush to pack up and head back to our humdrum lives in the city. The drive back was with a bunch of subdued reminescy  people in the car who only had Moti’s moms biriyani to look forward to but then again biriyani makes everything better…

Coz happiness is biriyani!!

Camping out at Mankulam is something I’ll never forget, what with it being my first time and it certainly was an amazing one at that and I can’t wait enough for the next time out on my own in the wilderness, with haunted woods and unstable tents and  grizzly bears and no plumbing. What funnn!!! If anyone’s ready to brave the wild with us just shout out to us and we’ll be there bags, tents, grizzly food and all!!

A bunch of happy campers!!

Before you go-go: For all you wild wanderers looking forward to camping, ring up camper or mail them. They’ll whip up an unforgettable camping experience for you and your chums and all you have to worry about is getting your lazy asses to the campsite!! Get those monster trucks out, or your cute rides or RENT a car but do go for you’re sure to have loads of fun!!

Check out the link if you’re up making some memories!!

https://www.campper.com/