#and the fact that he lets his bangs down when he plays in private for loved ones

[secretsandwriting]

Hermit love confessions

Ren, Mumbo, Doc, and Tango.

Pulled this one out of the drafts for you so @etsumumoo hand it over babe

Ren

You sighed as you looked out your window. It had been clear and sunny before breakfast and almost as soon as you were done eating, the sky opened and rain poured down. Normally, you didn’t mind the rain, enjoying the excuse for a break or working on your interiors. But it had rained for two days and you desperately wanted to work on the walls to the next part of your mega base.

In the two days it had been raining, you had done all of your interiors, finished the book you had been in the middle of, and taken at least three naps. You were out of things to do and from the looks of the sky, the entire day would be filled with rain.

Your sulking was interrupted by a banging on your door. Curious as to who had come out all this way in the rain, you slid to the door and opened it to find a soaked Ren. He was grinning ear to ear and you could see his tail wagging rapidly behind him. His good mood was contagious and you found yourself grinning back at him.

“Ren! To what do I owe the pleasure?” his grin got impossibly bigger.

“Well my fair beauty, it is raining! So I have come to request a dance!” He placed a juke boy down on the ground under your roof's Overhang and slipped your favorite disk in before holding his hand out to you. Glancing behind him at the rain, you decided, why not. You could ahrays blame your blush on the chill.

"I would love a dance!" You placed your hand on his and let him pull you into the cool rain. Your free hand went into his and you found yourself giggling as he led you in an overly dramatic Waltz.

Asyou twirled around with Ren, you found yourself gazing into his eyes. It wasn't often you got to see him without his Sunglasses and every time you found yourself lost in his gorgeous eyes.

"I love you." Ren's voice broke you out of your trance as well as stopping your movement. Ren stood in front of you still holding onto your hands. You took a second to gather your Thoughts so you could actually respond and not just stare at him with your mouth hanging open.

I love you too. Ren immediately perked up even more and dragged you into a Kiss before Playing another disk and leading you around in circles to the Sound of whatever disk the two of you decided on.

your rainy days were no longer a curse. They became a day of Ruddles, dancing, and whatever else Ren came up with.

Mumbo

When Grian had told you he needed to test something that you might die in, you said No. When he offered you a reward if you did it, you said yes. you put your things in a chest and Set your Spawn in the nearby bed.

what you didn't expect was to be dropped into an obsidian Box with Mumbo. When you glance up at the hole you fell in, you were met with a smirking Scar before he was blocked with another block of Obsidian.

It was very obvious neither of you really knew what to do, So you just sat there and listened as he nervously rambled about his redstone, asking a question here or There to Keep him talking So you weren't sitting in an awkward silence. Despite the fact Mumbo was clearly unsure of his situation which of course caused him to stutter a little more than normal, you found yourself relaxing. That was until Grian broke a block and yelled in.

"Just confess already!" The block was replaced and you and Mumbo sat in Silence, avoiding looking in the others direction. Neither of you seemed to know how to move on from that.

Clearly you had made a big mistake when you told Grian about your crush on Mumbo. You figured that would be Something Grian wouldn't spill, understanding that was something to be kept private. Unless…

You glanced up at Mumbo and found him looking at you, seemingly putting together the Pieces you were. Once it clicked he snorted and started laughing, you followed shortly behind.

"You told Grian about a crush didn't you?" Mumbo asked when he caught his breath. you nodded. "So it's Safe to assume We're both locked in here due to the fact that Grian found out about our mutual crushes and dragged Scar into his planning."

"Probably. Do you want to sort this out now or work on payback first?" Mumbo scooted over to your side, his warmth was a nice welcome from the cold obsidian.

"Payback of course." Neither of you mentioned how close you Sat, or the fact your hands ended up intertwined. You both knew how this would end, but first you Wanted a little revenge.

Doc

You were basing with Doc this season which had not been the best choice in hindsight. Between him trying to break the server, creating huge redstone machines that sometimes lagged so bad you'd end up dead, and your growing crush that made you worry too much when he overworked himself, you were not having a good time.

There were some nice moments but all of those contributed to your crush so it wasn'tmaking it any easier for you.

This time, Doc was working on another huge project. You weren't sure what it was, he hadn't told you but he was overworking himself more than normal which said a lot.

So you took it upon yourself to go find him and try to convince him to rest a little bit, the phantoms spawning led you right to him. The amount of them was worrying. Wandering around the machine, you looked for him. finding him tucked away into a corner working on some wires. You made sure to make lots of noise when walking up so you hopefully wouldn't scare him.

"Not now. I need to finish this."

"Doc, it's been six days you need to rest."

"No, I need to finish this!" He snapped

"Doc, there are phantoms swarming outside. You need to take a break. I made your favorite for dinner so please at least eat."

"I'm not hungry."

"Doc y-" He cut you off.

"No! I need to get this done. When I'm done I'll rest and eat but for now i need to work. Besides, there's no reason for you to care this much!"

"I need you to stop and think for a second because there's no way you can fully believe i'm not head over heels in love with your stupid oblivious self!" You didn't mean to let that slip bit it was too late to back out now.

"You're in love with me?"

"Doc, I wouldn't be putting up with everything I do if I wasn't. Now can we please go back to the house so you can eat an actual meal and get some rest?"

Y/n: Help! I broke Doc!

Xisuma: How?

Y/n: I was trying to convince him to take a break and we argued and i ended up telling him i was in love with him and he isn't moving anymore!

Xisuma: I don't think thats something i can fix

Tango

Someone had decided it would be a good idea to bring alcohol to the party. It was not a good idea. It was a very bad idea.

Tango was drunk. Not only was he drunk but he was a clingy drunk who liked professing his love for you to anyone who would listen. You weren't sure how to take it honestly.

Your crush of three seasons was grabbing onto you and whispering just how much he loved you into your ear. Everyone else loved it and was encouraging it. Everytime you left his grasp, his ruby eyes would start filling with tears and you couldn't help but let him latch back onto you.

Once the Party ended you found your sheet in charge of taking care of I drunk blaze. Which was surprisingly easy. Tango was very happy to listen to you as long as you were very close or responded to his "I love you's" with one of your own, or if you called him a nickname.

However, no matter what you tried, he wouldn't go to his base. He only wanted to go to yours. He wouldn't even go in for a change of clothes without you right by his side. Once you had finally gotten him into pajamas, you headed to your base.

Once at your base you had to convince him to let go of you enough for you to change and go to the bathroom and then to let you go to the Kitchen to grab him some water for the morning.

"Sorry darling, I just need to go grab a glass of water for you. Why don't you warm the bed up while I grab it?" Tango was more than happy to comply with the nickname and Special task you gave him. Hopefully he would be asleep when you came back. Stress had slipped you a bottle of hangover recovery meds when it became obvious Tango would only go home with you. Tango was still awake When you made it back to your room. He had enough patience to wait While you put the recommended amount next to the glass.

You climbed into bed next to him and the second he could he curled around you. You waited, until he was comfortable to adjust. Tango was out cold before you finished.

The next morning, Tango woke up in an unfamiliar room with a Killer headache. After pulling himself VP into a sitting position and noticed the water and pills on the nightstand and chugged them down, hoping they would work fast. While he waited for them to Kick in, he laid down and hoped he didn't make a fool of himself.

He had made a fool of himself. As the medicine kicked in the memories started flooding back. Not only had he confessed but he had been clinging to you and had to be convinced into letting you go. What did you think of him now? Slowly making his way downstairs, he tried to ignore What was left of his headache and the anxiety burning in his stomach.

He found you in the Kitchen making breakfast and decided if he could do it drunk, he could do it sober. Was it a good idea? Probably not but he was going to commit to it. so he moved behind you and tucked himself around you. His arms around your waist and his head on your shoulder.

"sorry." You snorted

"Its ok. It will be a fun story to tell." Tango groaned in embarrassment and you laughed at his misery. "Does your head hurt? ll He nodded into your shoulder. "Did you take the meds?" another nod. "After breakfast you can go lay down again. I'll make sure I'm quiet."

Tango perked up when he realized you weren't sending hin home. In fact, you hadn't moved away when he came behind you.

"I love you."

"I love you too Tango. If you would please let go of me So I can grab something out of the oven I would greatly appreciate it." Tango retreated to the table and wwatched you move around the kitchen, suddenly very glad he got drunk.

[weatheredfailnot]

Azem’s shard of the Fifth: Aelle, one of Hydaelyn’s Chosen. Although he was blessed with the echo, he was merely a close friend to the person who eventually became the Fifth’s Warrior of Light.

When Aelle was found by Emet-Selch, he was selected by him to fill Azem’s seat despite Lahabrea and Elidibus’ dissent because of Azem’s refusal to join their cause before the Great Sundering. At the time, Emet-Selch was still optimistic of the sundered’s potential and would entrust Azem’s crystal that he had secretly created to Aelle, hoping to prove the futility of fighting against the Great Rejoining and show him the glory of the unsundered world. Aelle would accept the crystal; he continued his work as a court bard to the throne of his kingdom, finding ways to work his influence within the royal court.

When the rejoining of the Fifth approached, Aelle turned on the Ascians, revealing that he had remained in contact with the Warrior of Light and had become an Ascian to gather information for them. While Emet-Selch and Lahabrea fought against the Warrior of Light, Aelle attempted to use the mysterious crystal (known as white auracite on the Source) given to him by the Warrior of Light against Elidibus in the void, but Elidibus had long seen through his deceit and easily warded off his attack. He killed Aelle without hesitation and would later report his death to Emet-Selch, admonishing him for his naivety in a shard of Azem’s presence. These events were enough to disillusion Emet-Selch and to view the sundered as feeble and distorted reflections of the people he once knew.

[dumpywrites]

Locked! - Min Yoongi / Suga

Prompt: Your friends locked you together for an hour so you can make up. 

Prompt request: HERE

Genre/tags: Slight angst, fluff, boyfriend Yoongi/established relationship

Pairing: Yoongi x she/her reader

a/n: imagining the atmosphere of BTS in the soop helps with the mood! :)

“Jin! Get me out!!!”

“Sorry, I’m only following orders!” 

Two hours before this, you were in your bedroom, contemplating whether you should really go to this short trip your friends had been planning for weeks. The idea sounded great in your mind until the very last week. 

You had been fighting with your boyfriend for a week now. In the eight months of dating him, this was by far the longest you had fight with each other. Yoongi was mostly, if not every time, the most caring and chill person you knew. The thing was, he was so chill to the point he would let a random woman touch his face freely, caressing his cheek like he did not belong to you. 

Sure, he was tipsy, at least that was his first excuse. But he was sober enough to see that his girlfriend was standing not too far away from him. Adding more to the fuel, apparently they used to work together and you had never even heard any of that nonsense. 

That night you refuse both to go home with him and his offer to take you home. Your dramatic self almost called a cab if not for Jungkook dragging you to his car, basically volunteering to go home early just to safe the situation. 

Must be the ego of the man, because Yoongi did not reach out to you after that. While he apologized right at the venue, you wanted him to come and comfort you, talk just the two of you to sort things out. But you two were alike after all, because just like him, your ego forbid you to even just text him. In your defense, he was at fault. 

And that was how you ended up in Namjoon’s private villa, where you were supposed to have fun with your friends. The sour expression was not leaving you anytime soon, not when Yoongi was also there in the room with you. 

Jin suggested a dance off on his switch. Man had not shut up ever since he got the latest copy of Just Dance in his console. Obviously you were not having it, so instead you just stood behind, watching Namjoon and Jungkook dance off to Rain on Me by Lady Gaga. 

“Hey, uh, Y/N? Can you get my joycon strap? They’re my room…”

You got up lazily and walked to the said room, completely unaware of the fact someone was already sleeping inside. 

And that was how you got into this whole situation. 

“Jin!!!” 

You yelled again, but this time there was no more response came from the older guy, only the sound of the boys changing the song to play next. Clearly, they were not planning on getting both of you out very soon. 

The yelling and banging at door awoken the other person in the room. You both stare at each other for a few seconds, before you broke the eye contact. You moved quietly to sit down on a chair, facing your back to him. 

“They locked us up.” You said while pretending to browse your phone, busying yourself on nothing. 

The guy just straighten himself up on the bed, sitting down and grabbed his phone and started scrolling without answering to your words. 

“You’re not gonna say anything?” You snapped. You were not having his silent treatment. 

Yoongi put down his phone and sighed heavily. “What do you want me to say?”

“Whatever.” 

You groaned, standing up from your seat, you headed to the other bed just next to his. You laid down and put the blanket to cover yourself wholly. If he could just go to sleep and run away from his problems, then so could you. 

Maybe it was the tiredness from the trip, but eventually you fell asleep in just a few minutes. But the sleep only took you for a couple of minutes before the cool weather woke you up, made you shiver. You tossed and turned on the bed, hugging yourself close. 

“Are you cold?” 

You heard the voice said. The ego within you refused to react, so you stayed unmoved inside the bedcover. 

His voice called for your name again for the second time, but still, you refused to move. It was the hint of gentleness and loving in his tone, or maybe just the fact that you missed him so much, you just started tearing up silently. 

“Can you stop being childish?” 

You heard him again, but this time the source of his voice sounded very near, as if he was just right behind you. 

And you were right. He peeled the cover just until your waist, exposing yourself from underneath. You were still hugging yourself, folding your wrists together under your chin, eyes all covered. 

He sighed loudly, before your eyes jolted open at the feeling the other side of the bed dipped in with the weight of his body. 

“Don’t.” 

You stopped him. Clearly at this point he was aware of you crying but you did not care. All you knew was that you would instantly melt the moment he touch you and you didn’t want him to win you back over that easily. 

“At least let me cuddle you, I don’t want you to get sick.”

“Just turn off the aircon.”

“The remote is in the living room. The one they have outside isn’t working.” 

You groaned. The universe really wasn’t on your side this time. 

“Ugh, whatever I’ll yell at them to get us out…”

“Okay, stop.” 

You looked at his direction and saw the frustration distinctly written on his face. 

“What do you want?!” You folded your arms at him. “You clearly didn’t want to talk with me before.” 

“I…” He found it hard to make out his words. “Look, I just—“

“Do you wanna break up?” 

It was an impulsive thing for you to say. You did not actually mean it of course. You loved him, you loved him a lot that you could barely handle not being close with him for a week. You could not imagine how you would handle an actual breakup with him. 

“Jesus, no.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Let’s talk this through…” 

You saw how he stretched his arm, like he was about to hold yours, but stopped in his tracks. 

“Who is she?” You suddenly asked.

Yoongi looked to your eyes and went silent. He seemed to be in deep thoughts. It took him a few moments before he opened his mouth. 

“Her name’s Yujin. We used to work together last year before she resigned. Also used to be somewhat close until I found out she only wanted to get close to me because of my position…” He sighed. “Heard it myself, it was her words not mine. I overheard her talking with someone at our company dinner.”

“I didn’t know…” You said, looking at him sympathetically. “Why haven’t I heard about any of this? Aren’t we friends way long before all of this?”

“I kinda don’t want you to know about how dumb I was.” He raised his eyebrows and huffed. 

“But that night…”

“I know.” He looked at you directly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to do. Everyone was staring and if I just push her or do anything rude it’d be much worse. As much as I despise her, I didn’t want to embarrass her in the public eye like that.” 

“But I don’t like seeing other people touch you like that…” You looked away as you felt your eyes getting glassy again. 

“Come here.” He took you by your wrist and you landed in his embrace. “I’m sorry.” He said as stroked your hair gently. 

“I miss you…” You said between sniffles. 

“I know, I guess I was angry because you just left and refused to listen to me.”

“I’m sorry too, I was just really jealous.” You hugged him tighter and you could hear him chuckle a little bit. 

“Are we good now?” 

He let go off you to take a good look at your face. His thumb swiped the remaining tears from your eyes and you broke into a smile, nodding at him. He smiled back, showing the gummy smile you loved so much. 

“What do we do with the cold now? Clearly they’re not getting us out until dinner…” He eyed you playfully. 

“You pervert!” You giggled. “But I’m interested…”

Suddenly the man went down from the bed and stood up. You looked at him in utter confusion. Just seconds later, he scooped you and lifted you up in his arms. You yelped loudly in surprise. 

You looked down to see him smiling with eyes full of lust—

“Yo… I think they’re fucking!!!” You heard Hoseok exclaimed. 

“Oh my gosh they are!” Jimin squealed giddily. 

“We still need their help to prepare dinner though…” You heard Namjoon protested in the background. 

“We can hear you, assholes!” Yoongi shouted back.

You heard a mixture of Jungkook and Hoseok’s laughter before the door clicked open. 

“Ayy!” Taehyung teased upon seeing you still in Yoongi’s arms. He had put you down but still had his arms around you. “Now that’s a sight we love to see!”

“Where the hell is Jin?!” You said, storming out the room. 

The oldest laughed at the sight of you looking pissed. “It was Namjoon’s idea!” He pointed at the other guy.

“I couldn’t stand the two of you fighting I like that.” He shrugged. “Plus, if you’re not fighting that means I get to sleep in my room alone cause Yoongi’s gonna sleep in yours.” 

“See? Everyone happy.” Jin laughed and clapped. “Now, go get the meat, we need to prepare for the barbecue!” 

You shook your head and smiled, seeing the silly guys. Yoongi walked from behind you and quickly gave you a kiss on the cheek before joining the chaos in front of you. 

You wouldn’t trade this for the world. 

Thank you for reading! 🍃

Prompt request: HERE

[httpsjeonglvr]

tsukishima. k x fem reader

chapter warning: pregnancy,angst,freaky tsukishima,let me know if there’s anything else. I also might’ve mixed up the characters because im stupid

After your families figured out the two of you were expecting, both of you quickly got a private home away from them. This definitely had gotten to Tsukishima’s head, but he did forget that not only were you both expecting, but another little thing had decided to be with you both every step of the way.

“Are they kicking yet? Shouldn’t they be kicking?” Hyori bounces around you as you eat, the child’s words making you more anxious then they should have.

That was the problem, they should be kicking by now. Kei had been gone every day from sunup to sundown, barely able to escape work since it was getting closer for him and his team to start playing agains You knew he was going extra tough on him because he was your fiancé ,but the fact you both barely had time to spend with each other alone made you more emotional than your pregnancy hormones.

You inhale shakily, biting into your food as Hyori pauses, sitting next to you. “It will be okay, Y/N! The babies will be here soon!”

It was a guess that you were having twins, your tummy was bigger than both Hinata’s wife pregnancy was with their children. You didn’t know if you were having twins, you couldn’t even feel them, and it terrified you.

“I hope they do, Hyori,” you giggle half heartedly, stroking her hair with a sigh. “I truly hope.”

Her face scrunched as she looked up at you in confusion. “Why would you hope? They’ll come, I promise! And then you will have two babies!”

You laugh sadly, looking away from her to wipe your eyes from the onsetting tears. You were doing everything you could to believe her, but something felt wrong, and you couldn’t think if it was truly because something was wrong or you were making yourself feel that something was wrong.

“Why are you crying?” She whispers, trying to console you as much as she could as she hugged you. “Don’t cry, Daddy will be back soon!”

“I am not crying! Do not worry, I am fine,” you continue to rub your eyes, sniffling lightly as Hyori pouts. “Besides, your dad should be here soon, so it would be time for you to go to bed.”

“I don’t want to go bed, I want to stay up with you!” Hyori pulls away, sitting down with a pout before she gets picked up, yelping as Kei pulls her over his shoulder.

“What if mommy wants to sleep? You never let her sleep peacefully, you are going to bed,” Kei walks out of the living room , Hyori fighting him by banging on his back. “Say good night to mommy!”

“No! I don’t want to leave, mommy!” She calls to you for help, but you giggle lightly and wave at her disappearing form.

When they’re finally out of view, your smile falls quickly as you start picking up your area, putting up your food before moving to your room. You inhale deeply, letting your fingers trail over your stomach softly before sitting down on your bed. You lay back, closing your eyes as you let your fingers shape your tummy, feeling and trying to find some sort of sign of your baby, or babies, moving.

You didn’t hear Kei walk in, slowly coming behind your form to sit near your head, stroking your face. You open your eyes, sighing shakily as you lean into his large palm before he leaned down, pressing a kiss to your forehead. “Is there something wrong?”

“They are not kicking,” you whispered to him, moving one of your hands to grab his. “My mother said they should be kicking by now. It makes me worried.”

Kei shakes his head, leaning down to press a kiss to your forehead. “You need not to worry. There are plenty of reasons for a child not to kick, especially with a mother as stubborn as you.”

You cracked a smile at that as he leaned down, placing a hand on yours before letting his fingers dance along your stretched belly. “They will be so active when they come out of you. That is what they are saving for.”

Your eyes water as you lean into him, shaking your head with a shaky breath, whimpering softly. “I hope so, Kei. This… this does not feel right, nothing feels right anymore.”

Kei moves to go over you, kneeling over your calves as he shaped his hands over your stomach, pressing soft kisses from your throat, over your necklace to down between your chest before kissing firmly against your belly button. You let your hands intertwine with his, sighing heavily as he lets his tongue trail over your stretch marks.

“You need to make some movements for your mommy,” he mumbles, nuzzling his nose against your pale blue skin. “She is scared that you are a little sleepy in there. I get it, she’s all tight and warm-”

“Kei.”

“I wanted to be inside of her every day too but-”

“You better stop talking like that to our children, Kei.”

“But you gotta give your mommy some signs. You gotta give us a little bit of movement,” he pressed a kiss to your rib, mumbling something only he could hear. “Come on baby, just give us a sign. Just give us some signs, please.”

His voice was breaking as your fingers went to his head, your head tilting back as tears filled your eyes. He exhaled heavily against your skin, a gasp escaping your lips as something slams into your side. You yelped, Kei shooting up as two pains pressed into each side of your ribs.

“Kei! Kei, they are kicking!” You take his hands, moving them to each place where they kick again. You whimper as they push into your muscles, Kei laughing as he massages your sides.

“There we go, darling, they’re there. I promise you, they’re there,” he kissed your jaw as he rises, pecking your lips softly. “I think they like it when their daddy talks to them.”

His hand trails to your side, their kicks following as you hiss, the children obviously excited with their fathers touch. “I think they just like their daddy, Kei,” you whisper as he smiles, pressing his lips onto yours all over again as you wrap your arms around his neck. You wince, pulling away when they kick the center of your stomach at the same time, almost trying to push Kei away from you. “Or they do not like you touching me.”

Kei rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “I am going to believe that they like me.”

“They’re monsters,” Kageyama says, child in his arms as Akaashi bobs the other up and down slightly, your oldest son already asleep. “That one specifically!”

He points at your youngest, the other young boy sitting peacefully as Hinata plays with the middle child, bouncing him and down. “He just does not like your ugly face.”

It was almost on cue when he got slapped in the face, Akaashi laughing as Hinata sits in front of your youngest, offering him a small stick.

“Hinata, what are you doing?”

“I want to see what he does with it,” he explains, taking his own stick and offering it. Your child is confused for a second, Kei watching from behind you, stirring the tea he had prepared to ease the headache you had. He sits down behind you, slowly placing the warm cup into your hands before your youngest softly poked Hinata’s nose. The older man makes a face before the child drags it up to his forehead, slapping his skin softly. “That was… odd.”

“Maybe he just likes Hinata,” Yachi explains, sitting next to her friend to take the child Kageyama was fixing to throw hands with. “And that one does not like Kageyama.”

“Let me see that one!” Kageyama points at Akaashi who flips him off, holding Jin closer to his form.

“No, find another one!”

Yachi yelps as Nico begins to cry in her arms, Kei quickly standing to scoop up the child. “I’m sorry! I do not know what I did!”

Kei shakes his head, laughing lightly. “You have no need to worry. He is most likely just tired.”

He gives you your child, watching as he calms down immediately and nuzzles into your chest. Your youngest, Taro, continues to hit Hinata’s stick, Hinata blocking his attacks so that they wouldn’t hit his face. “He’s going to be good with defense,” you tell Kei who nods, laughing as your child slaps Hinata in the cheek. “Very good with defense”

Hinata hissed in pain, the child’s eyes widening and tears filling his eyes before a loud cry filled the room. It was like a chorus, the sobs that followed afterwards from your two other sons, Akaashi gasping in surprise from the previously calm child. Hinata curses as he scoops up the baby, and Akaashi quickly brings your child to Kei as Hinata bounced him up and down. You lean back, kissing the child’s temple as Hinata quickly calms down Nico who begins to laugh.

“You little faker!” Kageyama screeches.

“I will see you later. Coach wanted to send me to the court to get a special sort of technique for the game tonight,” he squeezed your shoulder as he flicked the child’s head lovingly. “Have you both come up with names?”

Kei nods, smiling. “We have.”

“And?”

You push him away by his forehead, Hinata walking over to hand you Nico. “I will be going with him. We will see you both later, good luck.”

You smile, nodding with a giggle as Hinata grins at you, Kageyama cursing. “I guess I’m going with them so I don’t seem like I do not want to help.”

He leans down, pressing his palm to your forehead as you push him away. “You are as much help as all of them. Thank you.”

“See, Y/N thinks I help,” he sticks his tongue out at his friend who pressed a kiss to your shoulder.

“She doesn’t see you fooling around when we play,” your partner responds as you giggle, the rest of them saying their goodbyes as you lean back against him, sighing heavily at the children in your arms.

“Did you like my name suggestions?” He whispers into your ear, his fingers running up and down your arms. “I thought Tamaki was a pretty good one.”

“Oh, thank God you did not get your father’s naming skills,” you mock him as he rolled his eyes playfully. “No, I did take some inspiration. Would you like to know?”

“Am I allowed to know before the game?” He whispers against your temple. “I want to know if one of my names made it on the list.”

“They did not but,” you look back and smile. “Their names are Shota, Taro, and Nico. Is that okay?”

His eyes widened, watering as he leaned into your neck. “They’re lovely. Beautiful, so so beautiful my darling girl. And boys.”

“I love you, Kei.”

“I love you too, Y/N.”

With those few words, everything else was set. He pressed a kiss to your lips, shifting Shota, cupping your face as he leans over your body. His thumb parts your lips, holding your chin as he slowly pushes himself up, standing. He pulls away, smiling at you before taking the Nico from you, arranging the children to grab Taro.

“Let me go lay these boys down and then I can give you a nice gift before the game, hm?”

You giggled as he walked off, slowly standing as you walked to your shared room, Kei laying the children down in their own shared room before coming in. He slowly kneeled next to your body, pressing a firm kiss to your tummy as you lean your head back, holding his head. “I want to put another baby in you.”

“Let’s wait a little while you horn dog” Kei hummed kissing you tummy again before pulling the covers on you two.

I didn’t know how to end it 🤷🏾‍♀️

Haikyuu TAGLIST:

@pelicanpizza

[frenchkisstheabyss]

♡ Being Poly w/ Stray Kids {Summer Vacation D1} ♡

♡ I got a request for some poly fluff where you get to see how your boyfriends take care of you. I figured there's no better time than your first summer vacation together to experience it ♡

♡ Reader is a chubby babe ♡

♡ Felix ♡

the one you wake up to because he's been cuddling you all night, only really moving to go to the bathroom

has the morning voice of a demon but is a total angel, giving you kisses while asking about your dreams/how you slept

comes with you to do your morning skin routines together, cracking jokes to make you smile when you start feeling grumpy about being up so early

stays behind to straighten up the bathroom because he has to make sure his love eats breakfast before she starts the day

♡ Bang Chan ♡

fell asleep 2 hours ago but set his alarm to wake up and make you all of your favorite breakfast foods from back home

has a list of things to do/sights to see during this trip that he thought you might like. it took him weeks to put it together but you're worth the effort

set the room he's sharing with bini up just the way you like it so that you can come sleep with them tonight

massages your legs while you eat your food because being curled up in a cuddle ball for eight hours has left you a little tight

♡ Changbin ♡

picks out a pair of comfy clothes for you to wear and helps put your hair up into a cute, albeit messy, ponytail♡ changbin salon ♡

fills his backpack with ice water and whatever you want so you have everything you need for the run along the beach he's taking you on

puts aside his typically strict approach to fitness to turn the "run" into a playful game of tag that finally wakes you up for the day

gives you a piggyback ride when you get tired and pauses every time you hint that you see something you might be interested in

♡ Hyunjin♡

has the shower running for you when you get back to the house. he joins you if you'd like him to or hangs around outside talking about the most random things with you

already picked out an outfit for you to wear today so that the two of you match and encourages you to take your time with makeup

brings you with him to browse through cute shops on the boardwalk, buying you little souvenirs to take home

convinces you to pose for pictures for him and surprises you with them in a scrapbook down the line

♡ Lee Know ♡

steals you away to take you on a car ride to a super secret destination. also maintains his self control when Han and I.N insist on coming

said secret destination ends up being the kitty cafe you've been talking about every day since it popped up in your Insta feed

spends a good amount of money renting out a private room where you can stay as long as you want. you even get to name a cat

comforts you when you get a little teary eyed because you don't want to leave those sweet babies behind

♡ Han ♡

sees an arcade and immediately thinks it's the perfect thing to take your mind off of the fact that you, unfortunately, can't have 30 fur babies

goes super hard at every game he plays to make sure he wins enough tickets to get you the plushie that you want

distracts the other two completely and totally on accident when you're playing against them so that you never lose

keeps asking if you need anything/if everything's okay when the arcade starts to fill up more since he wants you to be comfortable

♡ I.N ♡

rides in the backseat with you, controlling the aux to shuffle through the playlist he made for you

has zero hesitation when it comes to singing along to songs with you, screaming the lyrics at the top of his lungs. he loves a good duet

rolls the windows down so that you can feel the ocean air and fixes your hair when the wind blows it all over

lets you take a nap on him if you get a little sleepy, quietly nagging Lino not to hit any bumps or make any sharp turns because he wants you to sleep peacefully

♡ Seungmin ♡

builds a fort out of pillows and blankets for the two of you to hide out in while the others bicker about what to do for the rest of the day

has you bring your plushie/souvenirs with you into said adorable fort because he wants to hear every little detail about your day so far

goes outside to get the grill started for dinner, knowing that the collective fear of him burning the place down will bring the other guys together

keeps you on his lap even when the others whine about it, sheilding you from the chaos of a stray kids dinner even if it means occasionally becoming the chaos himself

[justpoliteconversations]

Of A Feather [Legend x Winged!Reader]

Birds of a feather and all that nonsense.

One of the fic requests from this Post. It grows.

Masterlist

TW: None.

Disclaimer: Don't own The Legend of Zelda franchise. Linked Universe is the fan creation of jojo56830.

---

Hidden in the joists above the common room, you gaze upon your lover with keen interest from the darkened ceiling supports. Watching closely as he stripped from his outer armor and protective clothing at the doorway of your shared (with Ravio too, but he had snuck out earlier that morning, leaving you with the morning chores the jerk) home. Taking in, with the greatest appreciation and spine tingling delight, the elegant arch of his lithe back muscles, the hard flex of his thighs and calves as he bent over to take his boots off.

Even more appreciatively though, you watched as his nimble, ringed fingers went through the motions, each polished, glimmering stone drawing you in like a moth to flame. You drew slow, controlled breaths as the leather cord of a necklace (several, in fact) was revealed across his nape, teasing you with the promise of the elaborate nest of precious stones you knew lay at your love's chest.

Hn. Maybe you'd forgive Ravio for abandoning you this morning. You'd accept a little light work as payment for this moment of private (because Ravio always had something to say, the fucker), unabashed ogling. The bastard was rather intelligent and liked you well enough most days, so he'd probably done it on purpose (he had, because he was getting bored of your constant whining while Legend was gone. and because he hated dusting day).

Link snorted, quite unattractively at that, and cast a sly glance over his shoulder to your hiding place. You caught a glimpse of something shining at his collarbones and your heart nearly arrested. "You gonna come down and greet your man or just stare all day?" He snarked, teasingly, a barely contained smile forced into the visual of a smirk.

You saw through it all though. Your Link had always been such a needy bunny when he first got home from one of his advantures. Just one little peck on the cheek or wrist, and he'd putty in your hands.

That wasn't fun though. First, you needed to play the game.

"My man?" You snarked back, leaning over the joist so he could see your glinting eyes in the darkness. Unnerving to most, but you could see the way red crept up the collar of his tunic, under the straps of leather promise. "My man wouldn't come home without bringing back something good. As an apology for leaving his poor beloved all alone in this big, empty (Link snorted, because empty? really?) house."

Link's smirk twitched, resisting the urge to drop into a fond smile at your poor excuse of a hook and reel. He bit anyway, because how could you not when you seemed so proud of your little comeback.

"My apologies, most beloved in all the land." That you rolled your eyes at. "Let this humble knight make amends to his Angel." The words rolled so smoothly off his tongue as he fell back on his little used mannerisms.

Turning to face you fully, he beckoned you to him with a single raised hand (the one with the red jeweled ring you adored so much), keeping the other at the small of his back. He was bent slightly at the waist, staring up at you with amused, smoldering eyes framed by attractively tussled pink-blonde bangs. Displaying the thick tangle of beauty hanging in a dazzling curtain from his neck, at his collarbone. A choker hidden just at the base of his throat, lined with richly colored gemstones.

How could you refuse a siren's call.

You fell from the supports with careless ease, and with a brief snap of motion, glided on great, gleaming black wings to the floor below. Loose papers flutter at the gentle swish of wind left in your wake, the soft sway of tapestries, pictures and maps a quiet symphony to your passing.

You saw the way his sharp eyes took you in with covetous admiration, locked on the carefully (purposeful) arranged constellation of colorful stars dotted against your perfectly preened feathers and skin. A welcome home gift and a punishment all at once, delicate chains of gold and silver binding many of his most prized treasures close to your skin, your wondrous wings.

You landed before him with the delicate chime of jewels and chains, rearing to your full height in a blatant show of presentation. Raising your neck to display the gorgeous necklaces (his necklaces, his prizes, hard won and kept in the darkest of dungeons) and flicking your ears to rattle the intricate, dangling earrings (collected over a lifetime, by his scarred battle-worn hands) caressing against your neck.

Upon your forehead you could feel the silky sway of your hair ornaments resting in artful waves, lines of thin bands woven into the strains of your locks. The subtle weight of glittering temptation rested upon your wings with confident poise, a masterpiece of flesh and stone.

You held out your left hand to the man (waiting, anticipating). Revealing a thin, polished band upon a singular finger, painstakingly crafted metal so luminescent it glowed even in the daylight. Perfect, but for the warped edge you so adored to run your thumb across on those long, lonely nights (crafted by the hands of the man you love, and offered on one knee with an open, willing heart).

"Well, my knight." You said, smiling around far too many teeth. Hiding the way your heart thundered at the sight of his haggard, sleep deprived but dearly missed face. "Make your amends."

He leaned forward and placed a kiss, slow and lingering, upon the hand of his greatest treasure (having naught the strength to deny himself his longing any longer with his heart's desire so close). "Of course, my most beloved." His placed his forehead to the ring, falling to one knee with a tender smile across his lips. "Whatever you command of me."

And you smiled back, dropping to your knees as well to swoop him into your arms, wings circled around you both in a flutter of constellations. Kissing him on the nose, the game lost before it'd even begun. "Take a bath. You stink."

"Huh!?"

---

Some miles away.

"So. This buisness partner he's talking to." Twilight began (again), trying and failing to stare down the strangely dressed man Legend had summarily dumped them on (again). "Are they really as ruthless as you say?"

Ravio threw his head back, hands on his hips and back straight as he squeaked obnoxiously (mischievously). "The most ruthless I've ever met! The first to ever put Mr. Hero soundly on his knees!" At the other Hero's widened eyes, the merchant waved a dismissive hand. "Fear not though! Mr. Hero is experienced with their cunning ways! He won't be taken advantage of so easily a second time!"

"Still-" Twilight started, only to be stopped by a large, assuring hand on his shoulder.

"He's got this Rancher." Time said, an impish gleam in his eye that went unnoticed by the twilight hero. "He's Legend, after all."

After a brief, silent stare Twilight eventually conceded with a small, teasing smile. "You're right. He probably doesn't want us to see him getting bested in his own time, is all."

"Yeah." Time hummed agreeably as he cast a knowing smirk at the hooded merchant. "That's what it is." He winked, or blinked (or maybe he did nothing at all). Hard to tell with only one eye.

Behind the hood, Ravio rolled his own eyes, exasperated.

'You owe me so many rupees when I get back, Crow!'

"Hey? Where's Hyrule?"

"Wasn't he with you?"

"No! Wild had him!"

"Had Who?"

'If I ever get back!'

---

Back to the shadows to rest my weary mind.

[stevenbasic]

Growing into the Job, Post 360: That was Then, This is Now, p12

What remained of the upstairs apartment door swings open and crashes into the wall with a sharp >bang< as the two Others enter, say hello to the two receptionists who are with him.

“Bianca, Sammi hi he-“

“Crikey Aubs what the fuck?”

“Y-yeah someone broke in and-”

“And Jesus are you leaking?”

“N-no, uh, that’s just his, uh-”

“Thanks Aubrey we’ll take it from here.”

“b-but-“

“It’s okay, really.”

“Yeah, Olivia sent us. So piss off.”

“She wanted us to come up and take care of him…”

Lights are flickering overhead.

“We’ve got tits, too. See?”

“…and she’s the boss, right?”

The red haired woman’s voice is full of something powerful.

“R-right.”

“You should probably go too, Nadia.”

“Right.”

Two young women exit, leaving two behind with him. A door closes. 

They crouch down, one on either side. They study his face, his eyes moving in dream behind half-closed lids. The redhead reaches out, holds them open, gazes deep into him….

“Do you see what’s happening in there?”

“It’s, like, some kind of wonky protective charm.”

“Yep. But we can fix that.”

The redhead’s two hands go to his temples. Lights flicker anew as she begins to tap his skull with her fingernails: <clickety-clickety-click> The whites of his eyes change color as something fuchsin runs through their veins. 

"You saw what was happening in there? That was then. Let’s show him now."

“Haha bonkers. But Emily said-“

“Shut up. Now give him a kiss...”

…

I felt an immediate chill. The room, everything around me suddenly felt strange, a little different, certainly a little colder as my front desk girl, Aubrey, abruptly released me from her comforting embrace. I blushed, having just been held to her full young bosom, and noticed that the shadows in the office seemed deeper, and longer. Static crackled over the big band tunes coming from my new RCA desktop radio, and I saw there was a crack in one of my office windows…and it was growing. The girls, my medical assistants, had checked me out, making sure I hadn’t hurt myself moving that vending machine. Now that I think about it, how on earth had I done that? 

Lakshmi, Josie, Amelia - and is that Marisela? She’s wearing so much makeup - surrounded me. Someone was pouring me a whisky from my servette and another was now playing with the radio unit, changing channels, looking for the news. 

Something was about to happen.  Knock knock sweetie..! called a familiar voice from the door. Bodies around me shifted, away, and I looked to see-

Melissa!

Haha w-wow look at you! I said from behind the small crowd of women, someone less assured than I would have blushed from hearing the shaking in my voice. I was sure it was nothing to worry about. Always dressed to the nines for the office, Melissa naturally drew all eyes to her. She took my breath away, actually. You look like the b-bee’s knees! I said. 

Oh thank you sweetie! she sang, feigning a blush at my compliment as she stood in the doorway of the room. My girlfriend - how long had we been seeing one another? - was a real looker. A tall drink of water, for sure - almost as tall as me! And the figure on her? The knockers and those gams? Wow! She wore high heels and had my coffee, my morning joe, steaming hot and hopefully just as I liked it: black! 

She came in, the <click-clack-click> of her high heels echoing strangely loud, staccato against the new linoleum of my office floor. Is that a new dress, doll? I asked as I stood for the lady, obviously impressed with her appearance. Who wouldn’t be? 

<clickety-click-click> Really loud. Weird. When she reached me we were eye-to-eye; in fact haha in those heels she was a bit taller. You look like a m-million bucks. 

Take a picture, dreamboat, she purred in a private whisper, reaching to straighten my tie, her sparkling eyes on mine and a curl to her smile, it’ll last longer. 

I couldn’t help it, my eyes dropped down to her tits. Cleavage bulged above the neckline of her blue, polka-dot dress and I got a whiff of her Chanel N-…Huh. No…was she wearing something new? Whatever it was, the flowery scent gave me an immediate boner! That, and it reminded me of, wow, what we’d been doing in bed together recently. Those words she’d started using with me when we were alone, in the dark: ‘good boy’, ‘my little man’, ‘mama’s baby’…

Wow, she was really sumpthin’ else...

Eyes up here, tiger, she giggled softly, and took a step back to let me watch her set her shoulders, making sure to keep my interest. Here’s your coffee, boss, she continued, interrupting my reverie and sudden lapse of composure. Now the whole room was watching us. I put a little milk in it this morning for you, to help the tummy, she told me.

Oh, um, thanks, I replied, looking around awkwardly as the girls around me giggled. Something strange was happening.

Now, I heard something about you being very brave. Is that right? Melissa cooed, taking a step forward back towards me. Instinctively, for some reason, I took a step back.

Oh yes, Marisela chimed in, an acerbic edge to her voice I hadn’t heard earlier, You should have seen it. Dr. Jay pulled a vending machine right off of Mr. Kowalczyk. Had Marisela always been this <gulp> busty? Her black blouse had…wow, someone should tell her…popped a button. Or maybe three...

He was brave, very brave, Lakshmi cooed. Oh my gosh the way she swung her hips.

You would have been so proud, chimed in Josie.

Oh I am proud, I am so proud of our big, strong man, Melissa crowed indulgently, our brave boy.

Our knight in shining armor! Aubrey offered.  So brave, Lakshmi cooed.

The girls crept closer to me, surrounding me from all sides. They were praising me, but it didn't feel like praise. It felt like…something else.

So fucking brave, drawled Amelia.

This was weird, right? Something was slipping away from me, and it felt like my authority. I was the man here! I had to take control! And I couldn’t let that lapse in office propriety go. 

P-Please watch your language? I spoke to Amelia, wincing when I heard my voice crack, unsettled by the lack of conviction I heard in it. Amelia’s breasts seemed larger as well, larger than I remembered. Looking at them made me feel somehow smaller, and like I shouldn’t have dared to discipline her. 

Her long nails began to tap in rhythm on the desk. <clickety-clickety-click> <clickety-clickety-click>

Melissa had stepped up to me, and now grabbed me by the tie. She pulled me in for a kiss - wow, what a kiss! - that sent electric shocks all the way down to my toes. It even made the lights in the room hum and flicker! My eyes rolled in my head as her tongue took over my mouth. Someone had made sure my desk chair was right behind me and good thing because when Melissa released me my legs gave out and I fell backwards into it. 

The girls had begun to clap, again. <clap clap clap!> Why? What?

<clap clap clap!>

From my chair I looked up at Melissa.

Do I look taller from down there? she asked. 

Wh-what?

<clickety-clickety-click>

I know you like tall girls, she pressed, and I asked: do I look taller from way…down…there?

She inched forward a bit, peering down her nose at me. She’d begun to take hold of the hem of her short skirt. S-something strange was happening.

<clap clap clap!>

<clickety-clickety-click!>

Taller? Melissa continued, Bigger?

<clap clap clap!> wh-where is that coming from?

She began to turn around…

Let me show you how big I’ve gotten, sweetie, she purred, slowly lifting her skirts and bending over at the waist, how big I am now, back here…

M-Melissa w-w-wait! I sputtered, what are you d-???

My voice froze and I gasped as it came into view. Fucking Jesus Christ what’s happened?!? It was huge!

<clap clap clap clap clap clap>

<clickety-clickety-click>

I heard Melissa giggle and she put her hands down on the desk, cocked her mountainous hips up, towards me. Her frilly skirt was bundled about her waist. She was not wearing panties. 

Stand up. Show us how much of a man you are. 

<clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap…>

=====================================

[nuna-adelie]

SKZ when you fall asleep on their lap.

Bang Chan / Christopher:

As soon as Jisung had gotten up from the couch to go to the bathroom, Chan had rushed to take his seat, almost tripping over his own feet. He could already see the writing on the wall: The way your eyes had been fluttering, and the way your body had slightly been slumping over, he knew you were going to fall asleep soon. This wasn’t the first time you had dozed off on the couch, but it was the first time he was going to offer himself as a pillow to rest your head on. 

Chan had thought about it many times before; almost every time he had seen you against one of the guys’ shoulders. The way your eyes would close, the way your chest would move, he wanted to experience it from up close. 

As you slumped over for the umphteenth time, he softly caught you, guided your head towards his lap, and positioned your legs on the couch. The man motioned to Felix, who was sitting on one of the chairs, to toss him a blanket, which he swiftly used to cover you up. 

“There,” he whispered to nobody but himself. “That should feel a lot better than Changbin’s shoulder.”

Chan had intended for your head to be resting on his thighs, but he wasn’t complaining about the fact that you had shifted a bit higher. The weight of your head felt really good on his rapidly hardening cock. 

Within a minute or so, the man could hear whining from across the room, but there was no way he was going to give in. Jisung looked at him with jealous eyes, crossing his arms as he stood in front of Chan. 

“That’s my spot,” he huffed. “That should be my lap.”

The older man raised an eyebrow and slightly cocked his head. 

“If you try to ruin this for me, so help me Jisung. Go sit somewhere else.”

A few more huffs could be heard before Jisung sat down on one of the chairs, staring at his leader with great discontent. He had the same idea tonight and felt robbed. At this moment, Chan didn’t care, though. 

As you slightly shifted your position again, he let his mind wander; thinking of what he would have done if you two had been alone. How he would have woken you up, your voice probably groggy and raspy; just the thought of it made more blood rush towards his already hard cock. He would have picked you up and taken you to his room, only to throw you on the bed and have his way with you. 

Feeling the eyes of the room on him, Chan tried to calm himself down, taking a mental cold shower as his fingers played with your hair. 

Fuck, y/n. I can’t wait until we can be in this position in a more private setting. I will make you feel so good if you’ll let me. I’m sure you would make me feel good too. 

Lee Know / Minho:

You’d been sleepy all day. During dinner, you had left the table early, wanting to get some rest. The guys were going out tonight, and so you had decided to sleep on the couch; finding comfort in the sound of the TV to help you fall asleep. You were slowly drifting off as you heard them all pass by you in the living room, the door closing a few times as they all left in small groups. 

Thinking you were completely alone, you allowed yourself to fully fall asleep. The blissful moment did not last long, however. 

You shot up when you felt weight on the couch, slightly denting the cushions next to your head. Looking up, you found Minho’s eyes glued to your frame, bottom lip slightly between his teeth. 

“You don’t have a pillow, dear,” he teased. “Let me get one for you.”

You had expected him to get back up, maybe even grab a pillow from your room. The dent in the couch cushions did not disappear though. 

“Aren’t you going out?” You said, your voice giving away your exhaustion. 

“I’m too tired,” the man lied. He had actually been looking forward to going out for the night, but this opportunity did not come around often and Minho wanted to make the most of it. He turned the tv down slightly, wanting to make sure you could properly fall asleep. Swiftly, he lifted you by your shoulders and moved you closer to him, until your head rested on his lap. 

“There,” he said sternly. “That’s better.” He could feel your smile against his thighs, pleased with his actions. 

“Thanks, Minho,” you said softly, eyes already feeling heavy again. 

“You know,” he began, contemplating whether he was going to finish his sentence or not. After a few seconds, he decided to push through. “I’m being really nice to you. Will I be getting a reward?”

You turned around on his lap, eyes still closed; your face getting really close to his crotch. 

“A reward?”

“Hmm,” the man hummed as his hand caressed your forehead. 

You sighed softly, causing Minho to flinch. Your warm breath this close to his cock made him think of picking you up, carrying you to his room, and fucking you senseless. He was so lost in his thoughts, that he didn’t realize you had opened your eyes and were staring at him. Only after a minute or so did he catch your squinting eyes.

“What kind of reward?” You sounded wary, yet loving. The man tried his best to regulate his breath and sound as indifferent as he could at this moment. 

“Next time, let me fall asleep on your lap.”

“Fine.” You were too tired to argue. 

With that, you turned back around, head resting on his thighs again. Minho had hoped you would have fallen asleep the other way around, but he wasn’t going to ask you outright. 

Next time, I might do a lot more than just fall asleep on your lap, y/n. My fingers might find their way between your legs when I do. Be warned. 

Changbin:

You had both finished your workout and had taken turns in the shower afterwards. Now, you just felt exhaustion; muscles sore and mind completely blank. It was enough for you to slump over in the chair you were sitting in.

“You’re going to get back problems sitting like that, y/n” Changbin entered the living room and sat on the couch. His sweatpants were hugging his figure nicely, to say nothing of his white shirt. 

“Too tired,” you mumbled, now almost falling over. 

Changbin chuckled and stood up, slowly walking over to you. You gasped when he picked you up and carried you to the couch, laying you down and putting a blanket over you. You had expected him to leave the room, or to maybe take a seat on the chair you had been sitting in, but instead, you felt him lift up your head and put it on his lap.

“That should feel better,” he said quietly, not sure if you even heard him or not.

“It does,” you replied sleepily. “Are you comfortable too?” 

Hell yeah he was comfortable. Looking down at your frame resting on his thighs, he wished the two of you had been laying in bed instead. The images of you working out were still fresh in his mind and between that and the way you were laying down right now, he had trouble calming himself down. 

“Bin?” You turned your head to look at him, making him even more hot and bothered. “What are you thinking about?”

No matter how much he wanted to, Changbin wasn’t going to share with you what he was currently thinking. He figured that ‘I want to pick you up, pin you against the wall, and fuck you until you can’t walk’ wasn’t a great reply to that question. 

So, he decided to point at the TV in front of you in response, hoping you wouldn’t notice that it wasn’t even on in the first place. You smiled at him and turned back, closing your eyes once more. 

The man could feel himself getting harder by the second and let his hand wander down your arm, to your back; only stopping himself when he almost got to your ass. He tried to think of whatever he could to calm down, but his mind was clouded with images of you. You, who would be squirming as he hovered over you. You, who would make the prettiest sounds as he explored your body with his tongue. 

“Y/n?” He called out, voice much whinier and needier than he had intended to. When you didn’t reply, he quietly added: “You can fall asleep in my bed next time. I can make you feel even more comfortable.”

I’ll make you feel so good next time, y/n. I will make sure you are so fucked out that you’ll sleep for 24-hours straight; maybe even longer.

Hyunjin:

“Oi, y/n,” Seungmin walked past the couch you were laying on, head resting on the only pillow around. The man yanked it away from under you, making your head fall on the cushions. “I need that. You’re taking up the whole couch.”

Brat.

You had almost drifted off, but now tried to get up. As you got halfway there, a strong arm pushed you back softly and your head landed on something harder than the pillow you had previously been laying on. You looked up and saw Hyunjin who had taken the only available spot left on the couch. 

“Go somewhere else,” he said to Seungmin. His voice sounded almost angry, but you were way too tired to get involved; you opted to just listen to them with your eyes half-shut.

“But hyung..!” the younger man whined. Hyunjin shot him a dirty look and finally, the puppy trailed off. Your head was still resting on the man’s thighs and he let his fingers move around your hair, putting it softly behind your ear. 

“y/n?” he said quietly, giving you a few seconds to respond. When you didn’t, he moved slightly, making himself more comfortable. He could feel your warm breath on his thighs and your head brushing against his cock. 

“I like this look on you,” he mumbled. “Very pretty.” 

Slowly but surely, with each small movement your head made, he could feel his cock pushing against his sweatpants. Hyunjin was usually the type to keep his cool, but you made it extremely difficult for him. 

“I’m glad you’re resting your head on me, and not on Seungmin,” he said softly to no one but himself. The second you shifted your head again, he let out a small groan. “You’re making it really hard for me to control myself, y/n.”

He froze for a moment as you lifted your head and rubbed your eyes. 

“Did you say something?” You asked.

“N-no. Nope, nothing.” The man stumbled over his words. “Go back to sleep,” he managed to add. You nodded and put your head back down. Instead of his thighs, though, you repositioned yourself a little higher, completely unaware of the effect you had on him and his now completely hard cock.   

He had told himself that it was wrong to take advantage of you, he really hadn’t meant to. Still, he couldn’t help but rest his hand on your head, pushing it down just a little bit. His soft groans continued under the weight of your head as you drifted off.

God, I don’t know if I have the strength to stay like this for long, y/n. I wish you would turn around so that I could feel your breathing there instead of on my thigh. 

Han Jisung:

“Please y/n?”

Initially, you had wanted to say no, thinking it had been the fever talking. However, the way Jisung was sitting on the couch, face flushed and begging eyes piercing yours, made you relent eventually. 

“Fine,” you said, sitting on the couch next to him. The man had been sick for two days now and you had tried your best to take care of him. Last night, you had been up for most of the night, watching over him and putting cold washcloths on his forehead. He had asked you yesterday to come lay next to him, but you had ignored his request, not wanting to take advantage of a sick man. 

He lifted up the blanket to let you in and you let yourself lay down on the couch; head resting on his lap. Jisung had been thinking about this for a long time now, wanting to have physical contact with you. He would be lying to himself if he said this had been all he had been thinking about, though. If it were up to him, he would have crawled on top of you, leaving butterfly kisses all over your body. He would have hurriedly taken your clothes off, wanting to please you in every way he could. 

“Jisung?” As his name left your lips, the man was torn away from his dirty thoughts, immediately focussed on you. He hummed to let you know he had heard you. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” You asked. “Your lap feels really hot.”

You wanted to lift your head to look at him, but as soon as you tried to move, his hand gently pushed you back down. 

“I’m good,” he breathed, not letting his hand leave your head. “This feels really nice, y/n.”

You smiled against his sweatpants and let your hands wander along his knees. You had been tired all day because of last night and you could feel your eyelids getting heavy. As you slowly drifted off, Jisung’s hand moved from your head to your shoulder and then to your wrist, repeating the motion many times. It was such a calming feeling that you soon fell asleep. 

“Thank you so much for taking care of me,” the man said quietly, his voice almost turning into a whisper. When he didn’t get a response he smiled to himself. He had noticed your exhaustion all day and had wanted nothing more than to help you get the rest you deserved. 

“I hope you’re having sweet dreams,” he mumbled. “Maybe you’ll even dream of me the way I dream of you.”

As soon as you moved, Jisung completely froze, praying you hadn’t heard him. He stayed as still as possible for a few seconds, waiting to see if you would awake or not. When you didn’t, he let out a sigh of relief. The last thing he wanted to do was to cut this moment short. 

Once I’m better I will ask you properly, y/n. I really hope you’ll spend the night in my bed sometime soon. I need to repay you for all this care after all. 

Lee Felix / Yongbok:

As another episode came to an end, you got up. As soon as you did, you were met with heckles from the men around you: Boos and thumbs down all around.

“Come on,” Jisung whined, puffing his cheeks. “We can’t stop now, y/n. One more episode; it just got interesting!”

You sighed, softly rubbing your eyes.

“No, I’m tired,” you said, hoping that your reply would be enough. Of course, it wasn’t. 

“Just fall asleep here,” Jeongin said. “Here.”

Before you could reply, the man pushed you away from him, your head landing on Felix’ lap, who was sitting next to you. Jeongin, who sat on your other side, lifted your legs and let your calves rest on his own lap. Though you didn’t see it, Felix shot the youngest a glare; the panic in his eyes was clearly visible to everyone but you. 

As the next episode started, you could feel Felix’ shift under your head. He tried his best to sit still, but his nerves got the better of him. Here you were, head resting on his lap, exactly the way he had envisioned. Immediately, indecent thoughts started to mess with his head, earning him teasing looks from all the men around him. 

“Are you comfortable, y/n?” Jeongin was nowhere near finished with his teasing and completely ignored Felix’ piercing gaze. “Does Felix make for a good pillow?”

You hummed in response, eyes already half-closed. The vibrations of your humming went straight from the man’s thighs to his already hard cock. He had thought about this so many times: You, laying on his lap like this, him stroking your hair and slowly letting his hands wander all over your body. He wanted to listen to the sounds you would produce under his touch. The man silently wished that the rest would just piss off and go to bed so that he could fulfill that fantasy.  

“Felix, are you okay?” Changbin’s smirk caused the man’s cheeks to turn even redder than they already were. “You look like you’re hot.” 

Your eyes opened and you turned to look at him, putting your hand softly on his forehead and cheeks. 

“Hm, he’s right, you do feel a bit hot,” you said, clearly concerned. “Would you like me to move?”

Felix wanted to reply with words, but none left his mouth. All he did was vehemently shake his head, earning him a chuckle from the men around him. 

“I-I’m good, y/n,” he said quietly enough so that only you heard him. “Please don’t move.”

You smiled at his honesty and gave him a quick kiss on his thigh. As the tv continued to blast sounds, you slowly let your eyes close completely, letting Felix’ warm lap take you to a serene place while he lovingly stroked your head. 

I will kick them all out next time, y/n. We should do this again in private; I want you to feel my touch and I desperately want you to touch me too. 

Seungmin:

Seungmin hadn’t meant to get home this early, but at this moment, he was incredibly happy he had. He quickly walked towards the bathroom to grab something to help with his headache, only to immediately make his way back to the living room. The moment he had found you, asleep on the couch, his brain started working overtime. He immediately started to think of all the things he wanted to do to you; of how angelic you had looked, blissfully asleep. Boy, did this little devil want to ravage that angel.

He squeezed in the half seat that was left on the length of the couch, noticing the uncomfortable way you were laying down. Even though he did not really want to wake you, he also did not want to take advantage of you. Against his desire, he gently shook you awake. 

“You’re gonna wake up with neck pain if you continue to lay like this,” he said, waiting for you to open your eyes. 

“Oh, hi Seungmin,” you replied, voice groggy. “Where’s everyone?”

“Out.” He didn’t want you to talk about the other men in the house, he only wanted you to talk about him. “Come here, let me fix your posture.”

You didn’t have the energy to say much more and let the man softly lift your head. He made himself comfortable on the couch and put your head back down, now resting on his thighs.

“That’s better. Go back to sleep.” 

Though he sounded sweet, it had the undertone of a command. Seungmin looked down at you, at the way your chest was slowly moving; listening to the small sounds that left your mouth. Immediately, the thoughts came flooding back. The man wanted to let his hands run all over your body, maybe even play with your more sensitive parts as you were half-asleep. He would make you feel so good. The thought of the sounds you would make for him made all his blood surge towards his cock. The fact that you had slightly shifted your position and were now softly brushing against it didn’t help either. 

“Oh, y/n,” he said quietly. “I wish you would let me play with you. You seem like a very fun toy.”

Even though he was slightly embarrassed, he almost wished that you had heard him. It would have given him the opportunity to tease you, to watch your cheeks turn red. The idea of you agreeing to let him play with you made his cock press more and more against his jeans. Would you notice? It didn’t seem like it, he remarked. 

Trying to calm himself down, Seungmin petted your head and took a few deep breaths. For now, he would have to settle for this: your head on his lap. 

I guess this time it’ll do, y/n. Next time I find you like this, though, I can’t make any promises. You’re making it too difficult for me, angel.

I.N. / Jeongin:

You had both agreed to watch a movie late at night. While you had initially said yes, you could feel your eyes getting heavier by the minute. Before the first act of the movie was over, your eyes were already half-closed. Trying to be subtle, you put your head on Jeongin’s shoulder, hoping he wouldn’t mind. 

“You good, y/n?” He asked softly, his hand stroking your hair lovingly. 

“Hmm,” you hummed in response. “Yeah, just trying to get comfortable.”

Within the next five minutes, your eyes were completely closed and your mouth was ever so slightly agape. Jeongin continued to let his fingers play with your hair, trying his best to focus on the movie instead of you. 

A few more minutes passed and he tried to check on you once more, but when he called out your name, you gave no response. Your head was slowly slipping away from his shoulder, no matter how many times he tried to put it back. Eventually, you slumped over, sleepily repositioning yourself. 

Jeongin had wanted to get some more snacks to last him until the end of the movie, but there was no way in hell that he was going to move now. He looked down at you, comfortably resting your head on his lap; body stretched out on the couch, covered by a small blanket. 

For a moment, he felt content, but that content was quickly taken over by horniness as you slightly moved around on his lap, the back of your head softly brushing against his cock. He tried to stay calm, but the movement in combination with the soft moans that left your mouth made it almost impossible to do so.

“Shit,” he whispered to himself, praying that you wouldn’t notice him getting hard. As his fingers moved from your hair to your cheek, he thought about all the things he wanted to do to you. He couldn’t stop them surging through his head. 

“You look so cute,” he said softly. “I bet you have no idea what you’re doing to me right now.” He shifted his thighs a bit, giving your neck the bit of support it seemed to need.

“Sorry,” you mumbled, half awoken by his movement. Slowly, you raised your head and looked at him; eyes half shut and a bit of saliva in the corner of your mouth. It took everything in the man not to crash his lips on yours then and there. To lick the bit of saliva and explore you with his tongue. 

Pulling himself away from his thoughts, Jeongin’s eyes shot open and he cleared his throat, hoping you wouldn’t remember what he had said when you would wake up the next morning. 

“I’ll move,” you continued. You made an attempt to get up, but your body only made it a quarter of the way. 

“I-It’s okay!” He hoped he hadn’t sounded too eager. Softly, he guided your head back towards his lap. “I’m very comfortable, y/n; don’t worry about it.” With that, you positioned yourself on his thighs again and soon, you had completely fallen asleep. Jeongin’s hand rested on your shoulder as he tried once more to focus on the movie. He was unsuccessful. 

I can’t wait until I can carry you to bed later, y/n. Hopefully you’ll wake up and let me lay next to you so we can fall asleep together; or do some other stuff. 

Masterlist

[literaryconneseiur]

SOCIAL PATH ANALYSIS TIME!!!!

I'm always doing this when I want something to do that'll occupy my mind. There's a lot of it, and none of it may be accurate. Art exists for interpretation, though, right? So I'll see what I can offer. Be warned, my thoughts will be haphazard because it's past two in the morning and I have a headache.

Now let's start with the obvious. I think we've all clocked that Social Path is a play for the word Sociopath. Stray Kids do that a lot, right? Bend words to wrap around themselves because maybe they feel imprisoned by what the original word represents? Maybe they feel it is a label, and if they must carry one of those, they'd rather design it themselves.

The opening is "gave up my youth for my future"😭😭

An alien (foreigner) in the town.

All the hate, all the broken lines. All the anger and the resolve.

Oh my God, there are so many layers to this song😭🫠.

Their voices meld so well together. Not to mention the instrumentals, which sound genius, yes, but a bit light and excited too. The lyrics though—

It makes so much sense, at least from the perspective I'm looking at. Them being adrift, like comets, with the possibility of crashing or continuing to float.

Being lost in a sea of bodies, just giving up. Hands and words and chains reaching for them, people telling them to give up, trying to hold them down.

I don't know if it goes this deep, but felix has only one wing, the pain it must've taken to loose the other but still hold on to that one side. Did it get ripped out? Did he stumble and decide to "rise up stronger"?

And in the end, they stand as if they have won a battle, Bruised perhaps, but they've victorious. And a war still awaits.

There's more people...

A different line of thought, I'm thinking the part Lee Know is on his bed, a place that should be one of comfort and rest and privacy for him, and hands are frantically reaching for him despite how much he's curling into himself might have something to do with fans and their mega obsessions and lack of respect for their private lives.

Not to mention the same faceless people made bang chan feel choked, and he never did escape them in the video. But then there's a part where they stand and lift him up, till he's floating.

I don't know. There is so much hyper-symbolism in everything that I'm getting wrapped up in it, too.

If we begin breaking down the MV scene by scene them you will get to see the full picture and not fragments of the message they trying to pass on

The M/V fits the lyrics totally.

The scene where Han was chained??

Where the chains fear?

Was it doubt? Was it pain? Was it the endless dread of the future?

And the fact that he was chained alone, in a fortress where he saw nothing but himself. Was that a way of showing how he kept all the pain, the negative emotions locked away inside of him, how he projected it onto himself?

Life isn't easy, neither is any of this simple, and they showed it in rock and roll😌🫠 how amazing is that!!!!!!

When everyone ignored I.N? Why?

Others debuted but not BangChan....it was like he wasn't seen,he wasn't heard...in the midst of everyone,he stood alone with no one to hold

Then them pushing through all those throes of faceless people that signify not just people but every single hurdle they have had to overcome and come out stronger just to keep this dream alive.

I cannot even begin to unpack all this. Making them laugh while they feel empty? It echoes, it's loud. Having to appeal to a world that barely even wants them. And the line "meant to be my dream". I'm sure no one expected dreams to hurt this much, especially not people who were barely more than children, reaching for something they could never imagine having. Like I said, their life in a nutshell. They said, "It was supposed to be their dream," not something to expand their worries.

And I feel like that space simulation is a safe space, the chorus happens there, maybe its each other.

That scene was a lot. The m/v was so intense that at first glance, one would assume it was nothing but chaos, but isn't that what life looks like from the outside? There is so much to unpack about it and it's so easy to judge another.

There's more everyone but I feel I should save it for another day.

Before I stop though, I'll have to mention the theory I keep seeing from other people on tiktok and Instagram. They say each scene depicts a members fear, Here it goes:

Changbin: Nightmares.

Lee Know: Fear of Heights

Felix: Overthinking

Seungmin: Fear of small spaces I.e Claustrophobia

I.N: Fear of being ignored

Han: it think ita fear if being forgotten/ Anxiety.

Hyunjin: Fear of being alone.

Bang Chan: I think its him loosing his voice.

There's the whole Lisa aspect. Does she represent their dream? Is she a villainous character in the M/V? Am I just a crazy human? Yes.

[duckgirl92]

Rockstar!Eddie x Steve

Ao3: Duckgirl_92

NSFW

 

Multicolored beams of light flashed across the bar. They were performing at a bar in Indianapolis; It was packed with people, most of them being drunk and confused. Steve was focused on Eddie, who was on stage performing with his band, Corroded Coffin. 

 He was wearing some of the tightest (leather) pants that Steve had ever seen and had his battle vest draped over a chest harness strapped across his chest in the shape of a star.

 The pants were laced up on the sides, hugging his legs and ass firmly, accentuating the dips and curves of his build. The leather harness was secured over his torso, digging lightly into his chest. 

 He had beads of sweat rolling down his face and neck, dampening his bangs and letting them stick to his forehead.  He was panting heavily, just having finished a song. And he looked good. Like, really good .

  Steve was in the audience, watching as Eddie played and sang, observing him. He was wearing some black jeans with a dark red polo, and a ring with the letters E.M engraved into the inside of it. 

 Now, Corroded Coffin's songs weren't sexual, not all of them. But the ones that were, God, they were- they did something to Steve. It might have been the lustful lyrics or the moaning in the background. Or maybe it was the fact that the moans were the audio of an actual video taken by them while doing some rather private activities.

 This specific song that he was singing though, had about a minute of just lewd noises. Short gasps and shaky moans ringed throughout the room. Eddie was on his knees with his legs spread slightly, leaning backwards to sit on the soles of his feet. He was shifting himself up and down, flexing his thighs and arching his back. All while running his hands down his body smoothly.

 There were so many people yet when Eddie sang, he looked directly at Steve. He was even winking and fluttering his eyelashes. 

 

  Have Steve's jeans always been this tight?

 

The whole situation was just sinful .

 I'd be fine if there weren't so many fucking people in the audience wanting to be in the same spot Steve was in. Or when Eddie would do something and others tried to gain his attention too. It was annoying, to say the least.  

 Even though there were people now openly flirting with him, Steve definitely did not get jealous, and maybe even a little angry.

 Not even when a random man came up to him and asked him for his number after the concert.

 

***

 

Which is totally why now he had Eddie on his back underneath him, getting fucked within an inch of his life.

  "What would all those people think if they saw you all fucked out like this? What would they say? Such a slut for me, baby." 

 Eddie whimpered. 

 He clutched at the bed sheets beneath him. "Don't care, Stevie. Just want you." Eddie managed out, biting his lip out of embarrassment.

 Steve grabbed Eddie's legs and raised them to bite Eddies calf gently, barely leaving a mark. He thrusted his hips forward again, this time earning a keen gasp from Eddie. 

 He stretched his arm out to cup Eddie's jaw, running his thumb over his lips before leaning down to place a gentle kiss on them.

 His lips were slick with saliva, drool running down the sides of his mouth. Whimpers and pleads fell from his mouth. He tried to cover his face with his arms, already blushing at the humiliation.

  Steve didn't like that.

 "Where'd all that confidence go? Don't get all shy on me now." Steve mocked and ran his hands all over Eddie's body, the pads of his fingertips barely touching him. Steve grabbed his hands and pinned them above his head with one of his.

 Eddie's cock bounced with every thrust, red and ignored. " It's embarrassing, Stevie." Eddie spoke. His voice was small and sheepish. 

 Curls of dark hair surrounded his face, creating a halo above his rosy face. His eyes were blown out and wide, looking at Steve through dark lashes. Smudged eyeliner and mascara coated his eyelids, coming down in streaks with his tears.

 "You're so pretty." Steve murmured.

 His body was splayed out for Steve, arching off of the bed. He pushed himself further onto Steve's cock, syncing their hips in a steady rhythm. His skin was on fire, burning and radiating heat. 

 Steve let go of Eddie's hands and instead placed them into his hair. He kissed Eddie again, this time driven by desire and lust, contrasting to how softly he had kissed him earlier. 

 Their tongues danced alongside each other, teeth clashing occasionally. Steve licked hotly into Eddie's mouth and bit his lower lip, just hard enough to draw blood. He flicked his tongue over the small bite and licked up the drop of blood surfacing there. 

 He swallowed every little sound that Eddie let out. He let out guttural noises, some of them coming straight from his throat; breathless and raw

 Steve rose up once more and re-angled his thrusts just right . With every snap of his hips, he hit Eddie's prostate repeatedly.

 He released Eddie's wrists and moved his hands down. He traced his fingers over Eddie's nipples, flicking and pulling at them slightly. They had found that his nipples were sensitive and Eddie was really vocal when they were toyed with. 

 He let out little whines and unsteady noises. His breathing was harsh, gasping for air between all the sounds. Steve bent down and took one of his nipples into his mouth. He nipped at it and swirled his tongue around the buds, making them red and perky. He twisted at the other one, as he felt Eddie squirm below him.

 "Please, Steve. Please." Eddie sobbed out. 

 Steve rose up and fisted at some of Eddie's hair, tugging at it.  "Please what?" Steve retorted. " Please let me come."  

 He shifted down slightly and grabbed the base of Eddie's cock and gave it a light squeeze. "Yeah? Want me to get you off like a little bitch?" 

 Eddie gave a weak 'yes please' and Steve obeyed. It was suddenly all too much. The hand in his hair and on his cock as well as Steve being deep inside of him was too much. His senses were being overloaded in the best way possible. His vision blurred as he felt a wave of pleasure wash over him. Ropes of white substance lined his torso and Steve's hand. Eddie came with a quiet, open-mouthed moan. 

 "Fuck, yes. I'm close too, just a little more." Steve grunted out. Eddie clenched around him in overstimulation, letting out a low, choked out whine.

 Steve finished inside of him, stopping his hips from moving. Eddie let out a groan as Steve pulled out slowly, regulating his ragged breath.

 He sat up and pulled off the condom, tossing it into the nearest trash can. "You okay?" Steve asked, looking at Eddie, still laying down. 

 "I feel great ," Eddie dragged out. "Just tired." He scrambled onto his knees and crawled towards the edge of the bed when Steve was. He leaned toward Steve, placing his head on top of Steve's shoulder.

 "Let's go shower now." Steve said and kissed the top of Eddie's head.

                                            ***

[auxiliarydetective]

Cora: Tailor, Pirate, Sweetheart

▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄✼▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄

When Sanji reached the host’s podium, he was greeted with a beautiful sight. In front of him was maybe one of the prettiest women he had ever met. For a moment, he deliberated whether she was prettier than the redhead at table three, but he quickly settled for the fact that they were beautiful in a different way. The redhead was feisty and headstrong, whereas this lady appeared soft and kindhearted. She wore a white dress with a black top over it, black heels and stockings up until over her knees, a rapier with an ornate hilt at one side, a pouch on the other. Her brown hair fell in slight waves down to her shoulders, her lips were painted a rosy color and her large brown eyes were warm and inviting. Something about her tugged at the back of Sanji’s brain but he ignored it over the beating of his heart.

The moment she saw him, she took in a quick, panicked breath. Her posture went rigid, and her face turned pale with fear. Sanji looked at her worriedly, but the moment she locked eyes with him, she softened up again and her eyes came alight. Her perfectly shaped lips turned upwards into a smile. A smile that Sanji reciprocated.

“Table six,” the host told him.

“Table six,” Sanji echoed with a smirk. “Right this way, madam.”

He gestured down the stairs, putting a hand on her back as he led her. Immediately, a jolt went through her body, causing him to pull his hand back again.

“I feel like I know you from somewhere,” the girl said, looking right at him with a playful smile as she let the handrail guide her down the stairs. Was she… flirting with him? This was too good to be true!

“I don’t think so,” Sanji replied. “I don’t get around much and I’d remember a beauty like you.”

The girl’s smile widened. “No, I definitely know you. I’d recognize those blue eyes anywhere.”

The tug at the back of Sanji’s mind got stronger. He found himself studying her face even more closely now. They stepped off the staircase, onto the main dining floor. “I’m flattered. But blue eyes aren’t that rare,” he tried to defend himself.

“Oh, come on, Sanji, don’t play dumb with me,” she said, coming to a halt. She locked gazes with him as if trying to telepathically dig into his mind, making Sanji’s heart beat even faster, banging against his ribcage. To top it off, his brain was doing somersaults in his skull. “You have your mother’s eyes.”

Now, it was Sanji’s turn to gasp. Memories swept over him like a tidal wave at those words. Within the blink of an eye, he knew exactly who was standing in front of him. To think he hadn’t recognized her before… It had to be because he had suppressed everything so well.

“Cora?!” he breathed, staring at her as if she were a ghost. “I’m sorry, I didn’t- How?!”

“Well, what am I supposed to say?” she scoffed. “Last thing I know you were-“

“Can we discuss this in private?” he quickly cut in. “Short story now, long story after dinner?”

“Sounds nice. You’ll be cooking for me, won’t you?”

“I’d love to, but the old man banned me from the line,” Sanji chuckled. “Doesn’t mean I can’t find a way to sneak you some dessert.”

▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄✼▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄

E Coraline piange

Coraline ha l'ansia

Coraline vuole il mare ma ha paura dell'acqua

E forse il mare è dentro di lei

-

And Coraline cries

Coraline has anxiety

Coraline is longing for the sea, but is afraid of the water

And maybe the sea is inside her

▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄✼▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄

Zoro looked around the restaurant. It was a fancy place, he had to hand them that. Most of the guests were wearing suits or dresses to match the establishment and the others had probably bought or otherwise forced their way in.

“You think any of the big names come here?” he asked, throwing a glance at Nami, Usopp and Luffy. Luffy, who had cleared the plate of buns the waiter had brought within seconds and was now happily sipping his milk.

“Who, like Beppy?” Luffy threw back.

“No, the really big ones. Warlords, people like that.”

“Could be,” Nami murmured. “Usopp, you looked at the reservation book, right? Any names you recognized?”

“Nah, I didn’t really read it,” Usopp shrugged, beer bottle at his lips. Then, he put it down. “But there was one name that was marked. Akaito, I think.”

“Akaito?” Nami echoed, a sudden spark in her eyes and voice.

“Why does that sound familiar?” Zoro mumbled. Ever since the Kuro situation, he had told himself he was going to be extra careful with anything he recognized.

“Because it was on the tag of the shirt I gave you at Kaya’s,” Nami declared. “The Akaito Clan. Does that ring a bell?”

“No,” Luffy said, wide eyes on Nami. “Who are they? Some assassins’ guild?”

“No! Didn’t you listen to what I just said about the shirt tag?” Nami readjusted herself in her seat, leaning slightly forwards. Usopp and Luffy followed her head, huddling closer together. Zoro, however, stayed in place. This was just silly. “The Akaito Clan used to be a famous and influential tailor family. They were known for the superior quality of their clothing and the fact that each of their pieces was unique. Even if they made a uniform for any organization, they made sure it was customizable and each set came embroidered with the name of the person that would be wearing it. Everything was hand-stitched and custom-made with exact measurements. They made clothes for royalty, for commoners, for Marines, for pirates – they say Gold Roger’s famous coat was made by an Akaito tailor.”

“Wow,” Luffy gasped. “I wanna meet one of them, maybe they can make something for me!”

“Well, here’s the problem,” Nami continued. “About fifteen years ago, they all vanished without a trace. Completely wiped out. People went looking for them all over the world, but, from one day to the next, it was like they had never existed in the first place. Their hometown in the North Blue was completely burned down and all of their ships were nowhere to be found. Starting that day, their fame skyrocketed even further, and their products exploded in worth. – That shirt you wore, Zoro, was probably worth a fortune. You should’ve taken it.”

“Maybe I should’ve,” Zoro murmured. That still didn’t fully explain why he recognized the name. There was something else to it.

“Of course, since then, people have been trying to sell knockoffs of the real Akaito works and some people even dared to adopt the Akaito name, but they were always revealed to be fakes because they couldn’t pass the test.”

“What test?” Usopp asked.

“What,” Nami chuckled, “were you gonna try and get into the business? Can you even sew?”

“Of course, I can! The Great Captain Usopp is a man of many talents.”

“Whatever you say,” Nami scoffed. “You can tell a true Akaito by two things. First of all, they have a sewing needle pierced through their left ear. Second of all, and that’s the important part, they can accurately tell a person’s measurements just by looking at them. Every. Single. Time.”

That was when Zoro remembered just why he knew the name. “I heard they dye their fabric with blood,” he mumbled. “One of them at least, she’s been going around the East Blue.”

“Woah,” Luffy murmured, exchanging glances with Usopp. “That’s creepy.”

Nami just shook her head. “Remember what I said about their fame getting out of hand after they disappeared? That’s how you end up with rumors like that. If there’s even an Akaito still alive, they definitely don’t do things like that. Also: I’m pretty sure that’s not how blood or dye works.”

Zoro just turned away and took another swig of his beer. Maybe Nami was right, but if there was a chance that this Akaito girl was really all the rumors made her out to be, he wanted to meet her – and fight her. That was when he spotted that dumb waiter in his suit again.

“Hey, Nami, your boyfriend’s cheating on you.”

The waiter was walking beside a young, brown-haired woman, a bottle of champagne and two glasses in hand, both of them smiling brightly. He led her to one of the smaller tables and pulled her chair back for her before pouring her a glass of the golden liquid.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Nami retorted, “and he can flirt with whoever he wants. If she’s stupid enough to fall for him, good for them.”

The waiter continued to pour a second glass and momentarily sat down opposite the girl, unbuttoning his blazer. He picked up the glass as she mirrored him, the two glasses inaudibly clicking together in a toast.

“I guess,” Zoro grumbled, returning to his beer.

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Tagging @bravelittleflower @endless-oc-creations and @daughter-of-melpomene as well as any One Piece Live Action or general One Piece enthusiasts

[jelazakazone]

Liminal spaces in ep 7

Thanks so much to @barrows-teeth​ for the gifs and comments. All mistakes are mine. Find the master post here. 

“Bully” starts with “Bang, Bang” playing and Charlie looking in the mirror in his room, so we’ve got a mix of moods: upbeat song, but insecure Charlie, which is reinforced when he flashes back to a bad moment with Ben after Tori asks him if Nick is his “boyfriend.” Interestingly, Charlie is framed by open closet doors behind him.

As his dad drops him off and tells him to call if any of the boys does anything nasty, Charlie reassures him with a big smile that “NIck’s going to be there. [He’s] going to be fine.”  Nick is waiting for him outside, in fact, and gives him a big hug in the wide open air where no one else is. 

As they ride down the escalator, they are being a little flirty and Nick reassures Charlie that his friends will be fine — “Ben and Harry aren’t coming.” But the first hint of things going awry happens when they step off the escalator and see both Ben and Harry. I think this is the first time their private bubble had been burst. We’ve seen Charlie look worried before, but I think this might be the first time we’ve seen Nick look this nervous in front of his friends.

As they walk through the pink/blue/purple lit corridor with words like Super Hero and Horror and Scifi written on the wall, Nick tries to draw Charlie away from the group, to reassure him that he didn’t set him up to be hurt. They do seem to manage to resurrect their little bubble. Nick touches Charlie’s elbow and calls him “Char” before he pulls away and they end up laughing together. Their body language is very close even if they don’t actually continue touching each other.

In the theater, we realize they are at a horror film. We are led to believe the horror is on screen and they can walk out, free and clear. In fact it is once they leave that the horror unfolds — Harry starts badgering Charlie. When Harry suggests that Charlie has a crush on Nick, Charlie denies it, so as to protect Nick, and Nick looks like he could cry. He’s clearly upset with himself that Charlie’s doing all the heavy lifting and Nick is just standing by, silently. For the first time, we see Nick’s private little bubble burst. He may not be experiencing the bullying/homophobia first hand, but his movie date definitely did not go to plan.

Outside, on the parking deck, Nick apologizes for his so-called friends. I think this is another first for Nick — actually voicing disdain for the people he hangs out with, even though we saw him say in ep 5 that he wasn’t sure he fit in with them any more. Out in the open, with a wall between him and his friends, this realization is growing teeth. Nick chases after Charlie, to apologize for what happened. Charlie assures Nick that “it’s ok [he’s] honestly used to it by now”. Nick has a sad and horrified look on his face as Charlie turns away.  Charlie having to lie to keep them a secret and watching Harry bully Charlie acts as a catalyst and Nick boils over. 

Then, in the parking lot, after Nick goes back in, Ben Hope just has to have one more dig at Charlie. He pops up, almost like a “jump scare”, and tries to get Charlie to out Nick. When Charlie resists, Ben has to poke a little further with “let bullies walk all over you” as he bullies Charlie.  “I never liked you. I’m not even gay. I just felt really sorry for you.” Ben has to know how much damage this comment will do to Charlie. This time Charlie is not honest with his dad and acts like nothing happened. The real horrors Nick and Charlie have to face are some of their past choices. 

We see two very different interactions in the same space. Charlie is used to the comments, yes, but it doesn’t mean they don’t still hurt. 

Meanwhile, Nick is so very not used to the comments and he is on FIRE. He charges back in through the doorway, backlit in glorious, bi-colored lighting (similar to the lighting at Harry’s party and the bowling alley), and confronts Harry. As at the party, Harry is flanked by all the lads, but Nick doesn’t care. He is leading with his whole heart now and that means standing up for Charlie, consequences be damned. Nick is realizing the tenuousness of the private bubble and he doesn’t like it. He isn’t used to being disrespected and doesn’t think he needs to just put up with it. 

In the car, on the way home, Sarah Nelson asks Nick what happened. Like most teens, he responds with “There’s not really anything to tell.” Sarah is clearly frustrated with this answer, which makes me wonder if Nick had had problems getting into fights before he met Charlie. Nick rubs Nellie’s ears and then tells his mum what happened. He ends with, “I’m just so angry at myself for not seeing that all my friends suck.”  Sarah says “fighting’s not the answer” and Nick replies “I know. He just used a really bad word,” and Sarah says “Charlie’s a really special friend, isn’t he?”  Nick takes a moment before agreeing “Yeah. He is.” He is sorting out his past choices with his current self in the comfort and security of the car with his mom driving. 

The next morning, Charlie seems subdued, both as he wakes up in his bedroom and on the bus on the way to school. As he passes the school gates, he notices Harry’s bloody lip and asks what happened. “Ask Nick Nelson, he’s got some serious anger issues.” Nick is missing, though. The public space of the picnic tables, where he previously started every school day, has changed for Nick. He is clearly no longer comfortable there. 

Charlie walks down the corridor to the classroom, shaken. This is not the giddy Charlie we saw in episode 4 after The Kiss. He slides into his chair and Nick turns and says “Hi”. Charlie brushes right past this greeting (maybe the first time ever?) and jumps right to “What happened?”, pointing at Nick’s black eye. The private little bubble in the classroom seems to be holding up just fine. Charlie is concerned that Nick got in a fight because of him; Nick doesn’t see it that way at all. Charlie shouldn’t “have to be (used to it) People shouldn’t be saying stuff about him at all.” Charlie tries to apologize. Nick won’t accept it. And he says “I don’t even want to be friends with those people any more. … I’m tired of all of them.” And then he lays his head on Charlie’s shoulder for comfort (and we all melt, again). How no one else notices this is only explained by their little bubble. 

Charlie heads to the art room for lunch. Mr Ajayi is absent. The art room is empty. Charlie sits on the floor on his favorite tree, which has blossomed, just like Nick and Charlie’s relationship. Charlie takes his lunch out and puts it away without even attempting to eat it. Charlie is miserable and oblivious. 

Meanwhile, Elle (sitting next to a not-so-subtle rainbow umbrella) and Tao are sitting on a park bench talking about the problem with Harry and Charlie.  Tao thinks it’s his fault for provoking Harry. Elle tells Tao that Harry was in her maths class last year and that he sometimes made comments to her. “Surprise, he’s transphobic as well.”  And then she spills the beans, “I’m not surprised Nick started a fight with him, if Harry was being a dick to Charlie.” Tao asks her outright if something is going on between Nick and Charlie and she says “yes”.  Interesting that this news about Nick and Charlie is coming out in the open air and not through text or whispered behind closed doors. But Tao is hurt and angry to find out indirectly through Elle and that he’s the last of the group to know. (My one comment on whether or not it was right for Elle to tell Tao about Nick and Charlie is that teens, as well as adults, fuck up sometimes. It was a mistake. Let’s hope everyone learned from it.)

At the end of this long day, in bed, Charlie texts Nick that he wants to talk at lunch the next day. It takes Charlie several tries to get the right words. I wonder if it feels more heartbreaking to us because this should be the place he feels most secure, in his bed with his stuffed animal next to him, and yet he’s (over)thinking about his relationship with Nick and how he must be the cause of everyone’s suffering.

Elle pops by Tao’s with a container of cookies and proposes they watch a movie. It is a way for them to connect after the conversation in the park. Tao’s mom tells him to leave the door open a smidge, because moms have to embarrass their kids in front of their friends. But also, could this be the first time that Tao admits to himself that he really does have a crush on Elle? 

In his bedroom, Elle fixes Tao’s “potato” drawing and Tao says he’ll “treasure it always.” Then he says, “sorry about earlier, I know it’s not your fault [Charlie] hasn’t told me.” “I think I know why he hasn’t told me.” Then he goes on a rant about how Charlie is worried that Tao will out Nick and how Charlie doesn’t care about Tao any more because Charlie’s in a relationship now. Tao admits that he doesn’t know why he’s so scared about being alone and Elle reassures him that she felt that way at the beginning of her first term at Higgs, but everything has turned out ok. We’ve seen the two of them have heartfelt conversations in Tao’s bedroom before, so I’m not surprised this one happens here. 

At the end of Episode 7, we have two scenes happening concurrently. One is Tao sitting alone outside at the picnic tables and the other is Nick and Charlie in the lunchroom. This creates a tension between the two situations, but also, it reflects the inner conflicts Nick, Charlie, and Tao are having. Charlie is trying to break up with Nick (thinking this will protect Nick from bullying and/or Charlie ruining his life), Tao and Charlie have hit a roadblock in their friendship, and Nick is struggling with coming out. The cafeteria is a heteronormative environment where it’s hard for Nick to be his authentic self. 

Tao reaches out to Charlie to join him for lunch since Isaac has lunch duty, but Charlie had already agreed to talk to Nick. Tao gets mad and says “Don’t bother. We’re barely friends anymore.” 

Nick finally shows up at the cafeteria table and asks Charlie what’s up. 

Then we flip back to Harry provoking Tao. “Not in the mood for that fight?” “Only if it’s in the form of a board game or a cake eating contest.”  Harry is really in the mood for a fight. He grabs Tao’s “shoe potato” drawing and walks away with it.  Harry invading Tao’s space outside is the last straw for Tao. Tao pushes him down, grabs the drawing, and then throws apple juice on Harry. 

The mood is tense from the eruption of the fight when we go back to Nick and Charlie. Charlie is clearly nervous. “So, I’ve been thinking. About me and you… I’ve been making your life really difficult … so I’ve been thinking, maybe it would be better if we just ….” 

They are interrupted by a kid announcing that Harry Greene is fighting some year 10 by the picnic tables. Nick and Charlie immediately know who he’s fighting and race outside. Nick pulls Harry off Tao and would have happily stepped into Tao’s place, but a teacher pulls Harry away. Tao and Charlie go in a different direction. 

Charlie asks Tao what happened and Tao loudly says “Why didn’t you tell me you and Nick were together? I thought we were friends, but I guess you’ve just forgotten about me. This is all your fault. Just leave me alone.” Tao is clearly quite hurt and he’s throwing the worst barbs because he knows it will hurt Charlie, which we can see when Charlie says “What?” Again, this had to happen outside, where the air could be cleared, so to speak. And it has reinforced Charlie’s perception that he’s ruining everyone’s life. 

[mortemoppetere]

TIMING: june 25th PARTIES: @honeysmokedham, @chasseurdeloup, & @mortemoppetere LOCATION: the wicked's rest zoo SUMMARY: when an innocent man is framed for murder, axis investigations is on the case! hey, wait, what's animal control doing here? CONTENT WARNINGS: none!

"Wake up." Nora burst into Emilio's bedroom, door banging against the wall, Perro barking at her heels. "We've got a case." Nora scanned the ground of his bedroom. Neither of the Axis employees could claim to be neat in their lifestyles. Nora picked up two of the less aggressive-smelling articles of clothing and tossed them at the sleeping figure. "It's urgent, come on." Nora also dropped the three-legged dog onto the bed, hoping the little guy would go right for Emilio's face and force him to wake up. Nora slammed the door behind her as she left his room. While she waited for her boss to get it together, she paced a trail in the office space. Back and forth, hands shoved in her pockets. 

Nora had been in the office late that night. It wasn't for work. Sometimes she came in when Emilio wasn't home to use a working bathroom. She was pretty sure he knew but never said anything. Nora liked that arrangement. Nora loved her crypt and the freedom it represented, but she missed the utility of running water. Now that she had added a training routine to her night that left her covered in sweat from pushing herself with exercise, access to a shower was life-changing. Since Nora was playing a game of pretending not to need help, she kept a rotation of places she went to shower. Sometimes it was Van's, Thea's, Metzli's. A gym membership would probably help but the ten dollars a month needed to come from a bank account which she didn't have access to. 

Anyway, she'd been about to leave when a man knocked at the door. He'd been older and looked nervous to be there. "You're the private investigator?" He'd asked upon seeing her, Nora could tell from the look in his eye he didn't believe it. Probably because she looked like a child and knew it. Instead of answering the man, Nora had pointed to the cheap Private Investigator sign on the desk. The man must have been desperate enough to need help because he went right into the story. 

As soon as Emilio came out Nora went into recounting the story. "There's been a murder." Nora kept pacing while she spoke. "They think they know who did it, but our client wants to prove it wasn't who they think it was." Nora started stating the facts she knew. The body was discovered three days ago in the morning when the zoo opened. The cameras were down that night, so there was no video footage. "We won't be able to talk to the suspect. He's a polar bear." Nora stopped her pacing to look at Emilio. This was where she thought the grouchy old man might say no. But, despite her own hatred for her own bear, Nora had a deep fondness for bears. Especially the polar kind. Nora grabbed a file she'd prepared for Emilio off the desk and tossed it to him. "That's everything I know and found on Google." She'd gone to the library to print it off this morning. "Our client is a keeper at the zoo. He says he knows for certain the bear didn't do it." 

Blood on the floorboards, in the dirt, on the walls. The stench of it was overpowering, all iron and rust. He was running, but the ground under his feet was moving in the opposite direction so no step he took actually projected him forward. But he could see her ahead, anyway — dark hair tangled in every direction, tiny body curled into a ball, blood pooling all around her. He’d get there too late, because he always did, but he could see her. He was so close, he just needed to —

A voice cut through the silence of the bedroom, and Emilio started awake, eyes wide and wild. His heart was pounding in his chest as he shifted on the mattress, not yet sitting up but far from sleep. He probably ought to thank Nora for waking him; he’d only been asleep an hour or so, but the nightmares only ever got worse the longer he let himself stay in them. More than an hour of sleep and he woke up screaming his throat raw, shouting out names of long-dead ghosts that had never found him worth haunting. 

Nora was saying something about a case, and then there were clothes being tossed at him, and then a dog. Perro licked his nose once, a very intentional kind of move, as if he, too, was urging Emilio to wake up and listen to Nora. The detective grumbled, pulling on the dirty shirt and sweatpants she’d tossed his way as she exited the bedroom. It took him a moment to get off the mattress; it always did. His knee was stiff, hurting more than usual after the ‘rest’ he’d granted it. He did his best to ignore it as he limped into the living room.

“Do you live here now?” It was only half a joke. Inviting her to move in and forgetting about it wasn’t entirely outside the realm of possibility to Emilio. Nora accepting such an offer, however, seemed entirely unlikely. He moved into the kitchen as she spoke, starting the process of making a cup of coffee in his ancient, moldy coffee maker. 

Murder wasn’t Axis’s usual fare. That kind of thing was better left to the police, if only because Emilio attempting to take on such a thing seemed like a short walk to a prison cell for him. But apparently, the police hadn’t done their job. He listened as Nora told the story, finding it entirely unsurprising that the cops had the wrong man behind bars for this one. The police liked easy answers, most of the time. They tended to go with whatever suspect looked the best without digging into the evidence. Sometimes, that meant the wrong person got caught up in things. And sometimes, that wrong person had the funds and determination to hire Axis to help them. Not the worst case, really. It was nice of Nora to take it for him, nice of her to…

Wait. 

“Did you say a polar bear?” He caught the file she threw his way, looking down at the printout of some webpage about a polar bear. “A bugbear? It’s a bugbear, right? We can get them to transform and talk to them then?” He wanted, so badly, for the answer to be yes. The more Nora spoke, however, the less likely that seemed to be. “It’s a bear.”

"Live here? In this sty?" Nora rolled her eyes. "Never." It wasn't that Nora hated Axis. It was the opposite. Nora loved Axis. Nora loved how the noire feel of the office space made her feel like a star in a detective movie. She loved that blocked off from prying eyes was Emilio's home, a place where she was welcome to traverse, making her feel welcomed and like she belonged somewhere. There was joy in being able to come in, wake up Mimi, and get to work. No harsh words, no yelling. No demands to keep to a schedule. Axis was the easy and simple life she loved and always wanted. 

But the Crypt was everything to Nora. The Crypt was the symbol of freedom that she'd fought tooth and nail for. An oasis unto herself where no one could tell her what to do, how to exist, and what to be. There was nothing in that Crypt that demanded she twisted herself into different shapes to fit a box that wasn't designed to fit her. The Crypt was someplace she couldn't see herself giving up ever. She knew Emilio hated the Crypt. All of his mentions of the place came with reminders that there were creatures there that wanted to kill her. He was convinced that one day something would claw its way out of death and attack her down there. He was probably right, but her freedom was something she'd discovered she'd die for. 

Nora wasn't done pacing. Her boots slammed a steady beat against the worn wood floor. "A bugbear? It’s a bugbear, right? We can get them to transform and talk to them then?" Those words came with a sting of pain. Nora kept her eyes fixed on the ground in front of her, one boot in front of the other. The hope that it could be a fellow bugbear had crossed her mind when she first heard about the case, but further research into the bear had revealed that the bear was born and raised in captivity. The true sting came from the knowledge that even if it was a bugbear, Nora would have no clue how to tell. As far as she was aware, she was the only bugbear in existence at this current time. Despite her efforts to find others, there had only been one in her life. Her. It was blatantly apparent to her that she lacked something. Something to tell her where the other bugbears were. Something that could answer a question like "It's a bugbear, right?" 

"A bear." Nora repeated. Her voice and face remained as impassive as ever. "It can't defend itself. Someone has to do it." As Nora spoke her hands started fumbling through her pockets. Change. Ham. Snake. Some string. Finally, they came across what she was looking for. Nora pulled out two all-access zoo passes, tossing one at Emilio. "He gave us a way in." Not only did he give them a way in, but the man had also said these would be good all season. Unlimited zoo trips. Nora wasn't going to admit it to Mimi, but she was stoked. She was going to use this pass to try and free all the animals. Sometime. Not now. Right now they had a murder to solve. 

"He said we'd be able to use this to get into where they are holding the bear too." Nora stopped pacing, turning to look at Emilio. "He's sure the bear didn't do it. The bear doesn't have a history of violence. He was originally supposed to be picked up for rehabilitation and then release, but after she was healed her caretakers declared she was too dependent on humans that they didn't think she would survive in the wild." 

“It’s better than your place,” Emilio huffed, though he wasn’t entirely sure that was true. Axis and the Crypt were probably equally terrible for different reasons. Sure, the Crypt was in a graveyard that was potentially full of undead, but Axis was in a building of potentially dangerous people. The guy across the hall had come at Emilio with a switchblade more than once, and it was a lot harder to fight off crazy neighbors than it was to kill spawn vampires. Spawns were easy. You hit them in the chest with a stake and they turned to dust. But people were complicated. You kill one, even in self defense, and you’ve got a world of shit coming down on you. Especially if you were Emilio, he suspected. An undocumented Mexican murdering his neighbor probably wasn’t going to be given any kind of benefit of the doubt. People not turning to dust after dying was, frankly, a little rude of them when you threw that into consideration. 

Still, Emilio was a stubborn bastard. He’d die before he admitted that Nora might have a point about the Crypt being a step above Axis. He’d also never try to convince her to leave it. For whatever reason, she seemed to genuinely like being there. And Nora wasn’t the kind of person who seemed to genuinely like many things at all, so Emilio figured he ought to let her keep whatever she could find. He thought she might do the same for him. 

The coffee machine finished, and Emilio poured the liquid into a reasonably clean mug he pulled out of the sink, pulling a bottle of whiskey down from the cabinet to add a bit of that into the mix as well. With both the cup and the bottle in hand, he walked over to his desk and settled into the rickety chair, leaning back to watch Nora pace.

She was worked up about this. That much was obvious from the way she moved, stress coming off her in waves. It reminded him a little of Rosa when she got herself wrapped up in something, the way she’d walk and talk while making gestures with her hands, frustration clear in her expression. (He and Edgar used to make bets on who she’d take a swing at first. The bets were stupid. It was always Emilio. As the youngest brother, it was his God-given right to be the more annoying of the two.) 

But while Rosa often got worked up over things Emilio could relate to, Nora’s reaction seemed a little more foreign. If it was a bugbear, he’d get it. Even with his disconnect from the life, he’d still feel some sympathy for a slayer wrongfully accused of something and suffering the consequences of it unjustly. But a bear? Nora had admitted that she hadn’t even spent a large amount of time in that form, using it only when she needed to. Did she really feel such a connection to this animal? 

He thought, unwillingly, of Teddy and the way they’d spoken to the animals Joy had trapped away, the anguish in their face when they’d saved Emilio’s life at the cost of letting the baukbear die. He thought of Perro, of the anger he’d felt when he’d seen the condition the dog had been living under in the home of the vampire he’d taken him from. Maybe Nora’s frustration wasn’t as perplexing as he’d first thought. It was just a bear, but it was still something. Something that couldn’t look out for itself, something that needed someone on its side. Emilio bit back a groan. 

Reaching out, he caught the lanyard she threw his way, making a face at it. A zoo pass? Christ, he’d never even been to a zoo. He could only imagine how overwhelming it would be for a man who disliked crowds and had trouble maintaining a strong hold on his own mind. But this was clearly important to Nora, and she’d done plenty for him without protest, so he wrapped the string around his wrist and held the little piece of plastic in his hand. “Okay,” he agreed. “We’ll go in, and we’ll find out what happened. But if we find out the bear did do it, kid, I don’t know what we can do.” It seemed unfair, punishing a bear for doing what bears did. It wasn’t like the vampires Emilio took out who killed with intent; it was a fucking animal. It shouldn’t be punished for that. But how could they stop it? They couldn’t exactly sneak a bear through town and release it into the woods. Emilio didn’t even think polar bears lived in Maine. 

If they had to, he guessed, they could go to Teddy about it. The very thought filled him with irritation, but Teddy had proven to be useful when it came to animals. They’d probably know what to do with a polar bear. With a backup plan that he desperately hoped they could forgo, Emilio forced himself to his feet. “I know someone we can call if we have to,” he said, “but I’d rather we not have to. So tell me everything you know about the murder, and why they think the bear did it. We’ll start there.”

Emilio’s face was a carousel of emotion. With each passing bit of information Nora imparted his face contorted into different shades of what the fuck. “The bear didn’t do it.” The bear probably did it, but Emilio didn’t need to know about Nora’s internal monologue over this case. Nora wanted the bear to be guilt-free, and if it wasn’t well, “If the bear did do it, we can break him out.” Nora always had a straight face; it was part of the emotionless exterior she wore on a day-to-day basis. But this time? She meant it. She wanted it said with a straight face because if the bear did do it, then she would break out the bear. Like for fucks sake, it was a bear not a badly behaved human. Of course, it didn’t know better than to eat a human. “He can live in the crypt with me and Babs.” Nora continued. “We have the space.”

Babadook was taller than Nora while standing on hind legs, and the bear would be taller than Babs and together they would be raising the bar. Ha. That was an old commercial, why did she even think of that? “Who do you know? Mimi, do you…” Nora lowered her voice, as if what she was about to say was the most sacrilegious thing that came out of her mouth today. “Do you have a friend? I’m impressed, Mimi. I was starting to worry that you sat around wallowing by yourself when I’m not around to kick you into gear.” A tease. Her mentor may have the attitude of an ostrich, but he was a good guy. Anyone would be lucky to be his friend.

“Come on, I’ll tell you about the case in the car. I got us a ride.” Neither of them had a car. Nora walked everywhere, and she wasn’t sure how Emilio got anywhere. She wasn’t going to ask him to walk, not with that limp. That’s why she arranged for Mrs. Penelope to drive them. Nora knew basically nothing about the woman except she was very easy to scare. In fact, for the last three months she’d been showing up to Mrs. Penelope’s house at three am on the 18th of every month. Recently she’d approached the woman and told her she knew all about her little monster problem. “I want to help,” Nora had told the woman, “But the only way I can help you is if you drive me and my friend to the zoo.” The fact that it worked was truly a testament to the stupidity of humans.

Nora slid open the soccer van’s door, holding it for Emilio to get in, before following in and slamming the door after them. Mrs. P was a shivering shaking mess in the front seat. Her mascara stained her face, and her hands couldn’t keep a straight grip on the road. “To the zoo, Mrs. P!” Nora announced, slapping a hand against her shoulder. The woman practically jumped out of her seat at the contact, but at least she listened. The car slid out of its parallel parked spot, and they were on their way.

Mrs. P had five kids which meant there were snacks somewhere in this van. Nora rummaged around until she pulled out fruit snack baggies. She threw one at Emilio. He didn’t eat enough. “The bear’s name is Nanook.” Dumb name for a polar bear, considering it was polar bear in Inuit. Almost as dumb as someone naming their dog Perro. “The body was discovered three days ago, but they think he was killed four days ago around midnight. There was an electrical malfunction causing the cameras to go down.” Nora popped fruit snacks in her mouth and kept talking. “The guy killed was the polar bear trainer. He’s been working with that bear since it was born at the zoo.”

Nora had been doing extensive research about the polar bear all night, but what was the information that Emilio would find useful? Nora tapped her foot against the driver’s seat as she thought. Mrs. P let out a startled yelp, increasing the speed of the minivan. “No one saw it happen, and no one knows why he would have been there that late. It was after hours, he should have been home by then. Oh, the dude is married. She’s alive. Maybe she did it.” Wasn’t that what they said on crime shows? The spouse was always the one who did it? Nora figured the chances of being killed by your spouse were probably higher than being killed by a polar bear.

More fruit snacks down the hatch as Nora tried to dig some more information out of her brain. “The man loved his polar bear, and from the articles I’ve read the polar bear liked him.” That was the real shame about Nanook, he could have been so much more terrifying. “The body’s cause of death was assumed to be a bear attack because it was super shredded. Like the kind of shredded that if something else was the cause of death no one would know.” At least that’s what the zoo director had told her when he’d hired them for the case. "That's it, I think." Nora looked over to Emilio. "Do you think we should steal the body to do our own examination?" Nora had never stolen a dead body before, but if she had to guess that would be her greatest triumph yet. Body thief would sound so good on her resume of accomplishments.

This had to have been the stupidest case he’d ever agreed to take on. Stupider than the otter trapper, stupider than the cases that weren’t cases at all, stupider than the line of divorce lawyers who wanted him to help their clients come out on top. Polar bear wrongfully accused of murder really took the fucking cake here, but what could he do? Nora wanted this case solved, and Emilio wouldn’t deny her that. 

But… he wasn’t sure he could allow her to keep a polar bear in her crypt. Especially not a polar bear that might or might not kill people. “What would you feed it?” As if that was the biggest question here. “Look, if we break it out, the guy I’m thinking of probably has some way to get it to… wherever polar bears live.” It seemed like the kind of thing Teddy would know. Asshole. “But they’re not my friend. I have friends. Just not this guy.” Teddy had said as much themself. Do you think we could have been friends in another life meant that they weren’t friends in this one, meant that they never could be. And that was fine, because they were annoying. But he didn’t want Nora… worrying that he didn’t have friends. She had other things to worry about.

She had a ride? Emilio tried to decide whether or not he wanted to question that. It felt like the kind of thing he should probably be concerned about — either they were about to catch a ride from one of Nora’s friends, who would probably be another kid, or they’d catch a ride with someone she’d met and coerced on her way here, which would mean someone from Worm Row. Neither option was entirely appealing. He was about to suggest they just steal Jeff’s car instead, but Nora was already on her way down the hall. Great. Her ride it was, then. 

It wasn’t what he’d been expecting, in any case. The minivan was at least easy to get into, with enough room for him to stretch his leg out in the backseat. The woman driving it looked terrified, which did answer some questions. He nodded to her as he settled into the seat, inspecting her carefully to determine that she wasn’t a threat before saying, “Appreciate the ride, señora.” She didn’t acknowledge him. He slid back against the headrest, shooting Nora a half-amused glance. 

The ride to the zoo was uneventful, with Emilio listening as Nora filled him in on the case. He caught the baggie she threw his way, glancing down at the packaging and making a face, but opening it anyway and popping one of the candies into his mouth. It tasted far too sweet, and he held it back out towards Nora with a shake of his head. She needed it more than he did, anyway, and she certainly seemed to enjoy it more. “Maybe she did,” he agreed when hearing about the wife, nodding his head. Wives and husbands killed each other all the time. As someone who’d been married once, Emilio couldn’t quite understand it. He and Juliana fought sometimes, but he’d never had the urge to feed her to a polar bear. Maybe she’d felt differently about him, though. Who knew? “Anybody talk to the wife? Maybe she can at least tell us why he was there so late. Think that’ll be important to know.”

Despite the outlandish nature of the case, he found himself being sucked in by the evidence all the same. A man, a zoo, a polar bear. If the bear knew him, why would it have attacked him? It had never attacked him before, and he’d presumably been in the enclosure plenty of times. What were the odds that it would only choose to break that pattern when the cameras were down and no one could confirm it? It wasn’t as if the bear would have seen the need to hide the nature of the man’s death from anyone; it was a bear. Stuffing the body in the enclosure would have been a smart move, too, had the killer been of the non-bear variety. When authorities found a corpse in a bear enclosure torn to shreds, they didn’t tend to ask any questions beyond that. They let the obvious answer be the thing they believed, even if it wasn’t true. Which it very well might be — despite Nora’s evidence, which was compelling, Emilio wasn’t entirely sure that this wasn’t just a case of a hungry bear taking a bite out of the wrong meal. 

But Nora was right, he figured. Even if the bear had eaten its trainer, it didn’t really deserve to die. Not if it could be placed somewhere where it wouldn’t be a threat to anyone instead. If they could get it back to its natural habitat, or to some sanctuary somewhere where no humans would bother it, that was what they were going to do. 

As they pulled into the zoo, he considered Nora’s question. “I don’t know how to examine a body,” he admitted. “And if I call the ME, she’s going to be pissed at me.” If Regan found out he’d stolen a body, she’d definitely turn him in. He had no question about that. “Better to just… look at the things we know how to. Like the polar bear’s, uh…” He struggled for the word. “Home. Cage? Where it lived. Can your contact get us in there?” Mrs. P parked the car, still trembling. Emilio glanced between her and Nora before deciding, “You can wait in the car. Only got two passes.” She looked relieved. Emilio decided not to ask.

There had been a time in Nora’s childhood where her life was filled with research of Polar Bears. Each new fact she collected on her Polar Bear board went into her plan to run away one day to the Artic so she could meet her birth family of Polar Bears and ask what went wrong. It was a funny memory, now that Nora knew she wasn’t actually a polar bear. But her fondness for the creatures persisted. “Food.” Nora answered Emilio’s question as if it was the dumbest thing, he could ask her. Like what? Was she going to feed a polar bear trash? What kind of animal did Emilio think she was? “We’ve got a lot of honey at Axis.” Nora commented. They had a lot of honey at Axis because she kept filling Emilio’s kitchen with it.

Emilio was going on about how he knew a person, a person that wasn’t his friend, but could probably help. Also, that Emilio had friends. Nora side-eyed Emilio as she let himself talk his way through that one. “Whatever, sure. You have friends.” Nora rolled her eyes. An exaggerated movement made for Emilio’s benefit. “Just not that friend. At least this not friend can help.”

“Did anyone talk to the wife?” Nora repeated back at Emilio, shooting him a look. He was making a disgusted face over the fruit snacks. God. That man had absolutely no taste when it came to anything. Nora accepted the bag and ate his share of fruit snacks as well. “You think the cops did anything that wasn’t blaming Nanook?” That was a big assumption. The zoo wanted to do something, and they did, by hiring Axis. Talking to the wife was going to be their job. Everything was going to be their job. Humans hated animals. Nora shifted in her seat, her feet slapping against the back of Mrs. P’s seat causing the woman to scream again in absolute horror. “Chill Mrs. P. I’m just moving.” Nora found herself rolling her eyes again. Perhaps it was time to stop scaring the lady so much. She looked like she hadn’t slept in years.

"What do you mean you can't examine a body?” Nora had seen two dead bodies in her life, and she knew how both of them died since one was killed in front of her and the other, she’d killed herself. “You just look at it.” She was also filled with the endless confidence of youth that told her there was nothing in this world she couldn’t do. “You know the ME?” Nora had pulled out her phone and was lounging in the chair scrolling through some social media website as the ride dragged on. This got her to look up from her phone. “Is she one of those friends you keep telling me you have?” Nora went back to scrolling. “Maybe if she’s a good friend of yours she can examine the body for you and tell you what she finds.”

“Habitat.” Nora supplied the word while not looking up from the phone. “Cage works, but I think they want the enclosures to feel like a house and not a jail.” Nora stopped replying long enough to leave a long and scathing comment on something Elias had posted. She knew she was probably still blocked by him, but for some reason Elias liked to unblock her every now and then to see what she was up to. Those were the moments those reviews were for. With that done Nora shoved her phone back into her pocket. “That’s what our passes are for. He said it’ll get us wherever we want to go.” Nora hoped he hadn’t been lying. “He said he’ll meet us behind the polar bear exhibit, or send someone to meet us. I don’t remember.” Nora had to get better at listening when people were giving her direction.

As soon as the car was parked, Nora was slamming the door open and jumping into the nice morning breeze. Normally Nora wasn’t a morning person. They were the worst times to be awake. This morning was different based on the intent. Today Nora would free an innocent Polar Bear. Emilio was saying something to Mrs. P, and taking his sweet ass time about it. “Come on.” Nora called, joining the crowd headed to the gates. Nora made sure to not get too far ahead of Emilio, tracking him by scent in the crowd instead of turning around to look.

At the gates Nora presented her pass and was given a map and ushered in. Nora unfurled the map as she waited for Emilio to finally catch up. The arctic wasn’t that far from where they were. “We can stop by and see penguins on our way there.” Nora told him, pointing out the location on the map. Nora worked very hard on keeping up her tough cool girl exterior. When people saw her, she wanted them to have no doubt in their minds that she was cool, calm and collected. Unfortunately for her, there was something about animals that made her want to lose control and scream for joy like a fucking child. Nora wanted to see those penguins so badly.

The walk through the crowds made their proceedings slower, but they got to the polar bear exhibit eventually. The arctic area was a collection of motifs all designed to look like they were in a snowy paradise. Years of use had caused the once white snow mounds and igloos to turn a shade of gray from wear. A sign hung on the polar bear exhibit that said the animal was currently unavailable. Nora spotted the employees only access tucked away and led them back there. The door was unlocked, and no one was there to stop them. In the center of the employee only area was a polar bear, locked in a cage too small, obviously under supervision from cameras pointed at it. 

“I don’t think polar bears eat honey.” Though, really, what did he know? It wasn’t as if anyone had ever taught Emilio the ins and outs of nonsupernatural wildlife, especially when it came to creatures no one imagined he’d ever come face to face with. Why did a hunter growing up in Mexico need to know anything about a polar bear? His mother certainly never would have guessed that he’d be trying to clear one from a murder charge one day. If she had, maybe she would have added a fact or two into the curriculum. 

Then again, she’d always known he’d be dealing with people, and she’d never taught him much of anything about those, either. If she had, maybe he’d be a little better at understanding friendship, and what did and didn’t qualify as such. “I think they can probably help. They’re good with animals. And they care about them.” And they were a demon, which would probably come in handy somewhere. Maybe Teddy could open some kind of a demon portal to the bear’s natural habitat and let it go there. Or shrink the bear so it would be easier for Nora to keep in her crypt. Whatever.

All right, so Nora probably had a point. Cops, as a whole, were lazy. When they found an answer they liked, they didn’t spend a lot of time looking for alternatives. Even if their answer was wrong. It was why there were prisons full of innocent people… and why guys like Emilio tended to wind up picking up the slack with the ones who got away scot free. The police had decided the bear was to blame, so they wouldn’t talk to the wife. That’d be Axis’s job. And Emilio hated that. Talking to spouses, in cases like this one, was second only to talking to parents on the list of things he couldn’t stand. There was a chance the wife had done it, sure. But if she hadn’t? Then she was someone preparing to bury the person she’d thought she’d spend the rest of her life with. And Emilio could relate to that a lot more than he wished he could.

“I mean I don’t know how to examine a body,” Emilio replied dryly. “There are going to be a lot of wounds on it. I don’t know how to tell if those were there before he died, or if they happened after. And I have a…” He trailed off, trying to think of the right word. “Working relationship with the ME. We’re not friends. She doesn’t like me. But she helps me out when I find a body. I don’t think she’ll help us with this one. She’s weird about corpses.” He tried not to think about it, because if he thought about it, he was going to start trying to figure out what Kavanagh was. A hunter’s mind was a hard thing to shake, even when you were a shitty hunter. He didn’t want to be a man who went around having conversations with people and spending the whole damn time trying to figure out what kind of beast they might be. 

He nodded as Nora provided the correct term, filing it away for later. And he liked the way she did it; casual, without looking. Not like he was stupid, not like he should have known. English was a slippery thing, and there were times when Emilio couldn’t grip it quite right, despite his best efforts. Some people would make you feel stupid in those moments, but Nora didn’t. For all that she liked to poke at people, she never seemed to actively try to hit the buttons that would really hurt. Not with him, at least. “Maybe the bear had a pass,” he said dryly, flipping the little piece of plastic between his fingers absently. 

It was clear that Nora was in a hurry, so Emilio didn’t waste too much time conversing with their reluctant driver before following the kid towards the entrance. She seemed to know where she was going, and he trailed along as quickly as he could without setting himself up for a day of discomfort. They’d probably be on their feet for a while as they trekked through the zoo, so he needed to make sure he didn’t overexert his damn leg. This case was clearly far more important to Nora than she’d admit, and he wasn’t going to risk dropping the ball on it. 

Getting in was easy enough, though he’d figured it would be. Nora had clearly done her due diligence here. It was the first time she’d gotten this involved in a case, though Emilio knew better than to get used to it. This case was special. Raising a brow at her request, he nodded. “All right,” he said. “Never seen a penguin before. Those are birds, right?” Maybe he was playing up his ignorance a little bit, but he figured Nora’d probably get a kick out of it. Maybe she’d like to make fun of him and look at penguins. That seemed right up her alley. 

By the time they finally made their way to the arctic exhibit, Emilio’s leg was aching a little more than he’d like to admit. He trailed a little ways behind Nora, jaw clenched a little as they slipped into the employee’s only section. The sight of the bear caged in the center of the room did fill him with more anger than he’d like to admit, but he was careful not to let it show too much. They’d need to keep a level head here. As much as he’d like to just open the bear’s cage and let it loose, it wasn’t feasible with the crowds outside. “What, they think it’s gonna do a jailbreak?” He scoffed, glancing up at the cameras. “Seems like a little much.” He walked over to the cage carefully, stopping just before he got to the bars. The bear only watched, looking incredibly docile all things considered. It certainly didn’t look like the kind of bear that had killed someone. “Not violent,” he observed. Carefully, he grabbed one of the bars with his hand. The bear still made no move towards it. “What do you think, kid?”

Texting on her phone in the car, body positioned in a way that car seats were not supposed to hold human bodies, Nora dropped her phone as Emilio said something odd about the ME. Nora looked up, turning to face him. “What do you mean she’s weird about corpses? Weird how?” Thoughts were racing, none of them good. Nora swiveled back, resuming her optimal phone position. “I’ve thought about it, and I don’t want to. She’s not your friend, she’s friends with the corpses. Got it.” This had a lot of implications, and all these implications were being saved for a day Nora wasn’t busy trying to save a polar bear’s life.

It was unfortunate that they hadn’t gotten a look at the penguins, but Nora’s one-track mind had forgotten to lead her boring mentor there. What kind of man had never seen penguins before? Was this his first time at the zoo? If Nora could retain any thoughts that didn’t revolve around saving Nanooks life, she would try to remember to take him around to see all the animals. She could tell him that she wanted to show him her favorites, but her favorites were all of them. Besides, Nora had never been to this particular zoo.

Nora had been to a lot of zoos. Nora had made a point of visiting the polar bears every single time she went to zoos. But that didn’t change the feeling she got every time she saw one. The feeling of wonder and longing and confusion all bundled into a tight package presented with a bow. This time it had something new, it had the knowledge that she wasn’t a polar bear but a bugbear, but the old feelings still remained. Nora followed Emilio’s approach to the cage and watched as his hand touched the bars and did nothing. “I told you he didn’t kill anyone.” Nora shoved her own hand through the bars, palm forward hand outstretched. The polar bear sniffed in her direction. Could he smell the sameness on them? That in a different life their roles could have been reversed?

For a brief moment, Nora considered transforming. Maybe if she was a bear then she could talk to a bear. A glance around the room reminded her that was a bad idea. Too many cameras. First, she’d have to take off her clothes, and transform, and then that would turn into a viral sensation, and then she’d be found out as still alive. Better to not tempt YouTube fame over a bear to bear she didn’t know would work. Instead, Nora moved Emilio, positioning him so his back was blacking a camera and then moved herself so her back was blocking another. Reaching inside herself she found that thread of power within her and tapped it.

An illusion bloomed in front of the bear, the perfect image of the man who he’d killed. The bear did nothing. The illusion shifted, showing Nora turning into a bear and the two of them hugging because she wanted the bear to know they were friends and honestly didn’t know how to convey that in bear terms. The bear did nothing. “I don’t know how to talk bear.” It sounded frustrated, even in her monotone voice. Once more she was lacking at something she felt she ought to be able to do. Nora was having the illusion of the bears shake hands when the door swung open, and a familiar scent filled her nose.

Nora flipped around, dropping her illusion, but she was aware that if the man had been paying attention there was no way he would have missed it. “Well, if it’s not my ex-lover.” Because Nora was nothing if not confident that this man wasn’t paying attention. Everything always worked out for her, after all. “You’re a lot shorter than I remembered.” Nora pointed over at Emilio. “This is inspector gadget, John Brown, world renown private investigator and bear fanatic. We’ve been hired by the zoo to clear this bear of all charges. Why are you here?” 

When Kaden heard the talk going around the station about the case where a bear killed its handler, he knew something sounded a little off about all of it. There’s no way someone who worked with this bear day in, day out would be stupid enough to get himself killed by it, not without anyone seeing it. And he wasn’t even mauled? There were too many fucking weird things about it all for him to ignore it. Thankfully, the detective on the case was fine with his suggestion to have animal control go give an inspection of the situation and report back. Probably because there were so many other bullshit cases on his plate for him to want to babysit the glorified dog catcher. Which was fine by Kaden.

That was, until he remembered where the polar bear was located. And what happened the last time he’d been to the zoo. 

Putain de merde. For once in his goddamn life, he opted to wear his uniform. Maybe no one would recognize him as the idiot who fought a mascot with an umbrella if he looked moderately professional. He also made sure to park by the back and use the employee entrance, hoping to avoid as many people as he could manage. When he explained why he was there, the guard let him in and took him to the back office where the coordinators and managers were. “Officer Langley,” he said when he approached the coordinator. “I’m with Animal Control. I’m here to look into the polar bear for Detective Peterson.”

A knowing smirk was spread across the coordinator’s face when he looked up at Kaden. “Here to fight another one of my mascots?” he asked.

Putain. He could feel his cheeks getting red. “I’m, uh, not sure what you’re talking about. But if you could just point me in the right direction, I’ll get to work.”

The zoo employee was clearly not fooled by his attempt at subterfuge and raised a brow. Still, he decided to let it go, nodding towards the direction of the door. “The bear’s being held behind the exhibit. We already have a team of PI’s looking into it. I’m not sure if they’re here yet, but one of the zookeepers can lead the way if you insist. Just so long as you’re not armed with an umbrella, it should be fine.”

Kaden didn’t have to be told twice and rushed out the door and towards the polar bear exhibit. When he reached it and was let into the back, he’d hoped to be alone in the room, just him and the bear. Only when he entered, careful to be quiet and not startle the animal, he saw two figures standing by the cage. Must be the private investigators. He opened his mouth to say something, but shut it closed when he felt the hair on his arms all stand on edge – a shifter was in the room. Beyond that, he recognized both the man and the young woman there. It took everything he had not to curse aloud right then and there. These were the PI’s hired by the zoo? He refrained from cursing and stood back to watch what the fuck Emilio and Nora were doing when they thought no one was watching. 

The hunter thought he was imagining things, slightly worried he’d been hit with some ballybog toxin again when he saw the illusions conjured in the cage with the polar bear. He thought he had a lot of questions before he walked into the room and now they’d all but tripled. He was about to speak up when the kid turned on her heel to face him and had to fucking remind him about the incident at the coffee shop.

Wait. His brows knit together. Did she just call him short? “Putain de merde, first off I’m not your ex-lover or lover of any kind so don’t fucking start with that shit. Second,” he turned to Emilio, “What are you doing here with her?” Kaden crossed his arms against his chest. “And I’m here because I’m animal control, part of the WRPD. Trying to examine the case, report on the bear.” He hoped that sounded convincing since, while he was there on the job, it was hardly at anyone’s request. “I take it you’re the crack team of PI’s they hired. You, I should have guessed,” he nodded to Emilio. “You,” he said, looking at Nora, “not so much. And both of you, get your hands away from the bear, for fucks sake.” 

Whatever conclusions Nora seemed to have jumped to, Emilio wouldn’t correct her. Regan would probably prefer it if Nora thought she was weird enough to avoid, anyway, given how weird she got online any time anyone even suggested friendship in her general direction. They had bigger fish to fry right now, anyway. Or… bigger bears to fry. Or not fry. Bigger bears to free?

This was stupid.

But it wasn’t stupid in the kind of sense that made him think Nora’s insistence that the bear was innocent was wrong. The more time he spent by the cage, the more he figured the kid was onto something. He watched as she made illusions appear, marveling at how different these were than the last ones he’d seen her put up. In the graveyard, that first day they’d met, she’d been trying to scare him. It was clear that her intentions were different now. There was some attempt at communication, but Emilio didn’t know enough about bugbears to know if it would be successful or not. Emilio’s marriage to Juliana meant he knew more about shifters than the average slayer might, but hunters didn’t tend to know much more about what they hunted than they had to. He didn’t know if bugbears could talk to bears; neither did Nora. They were both just taking guesses here. 

“That’s all right,” he told her lowly. “I don’t know how to speak bear, either. We’ll figure out another way, okay?” He could tell she was frustrated, even if she wasn’t one to admit to something. Emilio had spent enough time with the bugbear to read her blank expressions, to notice the minute differences between one and the next. Despite what people tended to assume about him, he was a half decent detective. It was one of the only things he was really good at. Other things, he thought, were much harder to accomplish.

For example… this. The door behind them opened, and Emilio spun around so quickly that he ached with the movement. He was expecting some zoo employee to tell them to keep their hands out of the damn cage, which probably would have been fair. Instead, there was a familiar face in an unfamiliar uniform. And Emilio had a thousand thoughts at once.

Kaden was a ranger. He’d be able to sense a shifter in the room. Kaden knew Emilio was a hunter. He wouldn’t mistake the slayer for the beast that was making his hair stand up on end. Emilio had asked him enough about bugbears to make him at least a little suspicious. Nora had been positioned to hide her illusions from the camera, but not from the door. It didn’t take a half decent detective to string all those things together and realize that Kaden probably had enough to know what Nora was now, and it didn’t take a man as paranoid as Emilio to fear for what that might mean.

His eyes darted between the two, listening as Nora spoke. They’d met each other before. Kaden must have known she was a shifter from the start. Was he planning on targeting her? He wasn’t here for her now — the uniform said he was probably here on official business — but did that mean she was safe later? Andy said that she and Alex didn’t hunt anymore, but Kaden said he killed ‘dangerous shifters.’ How much weight did that qualifier carry? Was Nora dangerous in the eyes of a ranger who seemed to think not everything was? 

He was tense as Kaden turned to him, trying and failing to school his expression into something neutral. “She was hired by the bear,” he replied dryly, a hint of something like a threat in his tone. “I thought the police were finished with this one. We were told you weren’t coming for the bear yet.” They were supposed to have time to actually look at this case before wrenches were thrown into it. But a ranger stumbling into the room with Emilio and his bugbear assistant? That was one hell of a wrench. 

You're not supposed to speak bear, I am. Nora had wanted to snap out the words. Lash out for her own failings. Instead, the words choked in her throat, swallowed down by her own feelings of self loathing. "Fine. Yeah." Nora reluctantly agreed. But wouldn't it have been easier if Nora could figure out how to work the bear part of Bugbear? Fuck. She didn't even know if speaking to bears was something that bugbears could do. Could werewolves talk to wolves? It was another one of those 'fuck you birth parents why couldn't you've given me to another bugbear so I could at least understand something basic about myself.' moments. 

Some people were experts at reading a room. They could look at people's body language and parse out exactly what was happening. Those people could react accordingly to keep tensions at bay. Nora was not one of those people. It slipped by her completely that Emilio had become tense with recognition the moment Kaden entered the room. Nora was too busy caught in the mirth of meeting the man that was the target of so many funny rumors. "Don't start with that shit?" Nora lay a hand over her mouth in mockery of someone who might actually be offended. "Kaden, don't tell me you're here because you're continuing your crusade as the zoo's most invasive species." Nora's eyes raked up Kaden's body. "At least you're wearing clothes today." 

Seeing Kaden there was the perfect redirection for her frustration from moments before. There were many quips and jabs Nora wanted to toss at the man. He was funny. There was something about him that made people want to lie. She'd noticed it online. How did he create such an interesting conundrum he kept putting himself into. Oh, Nora wanted to scare him. Her fingers itched and twitched at the thought. There was a second where she almost reached into the power deep within her and unleashed it, creating a massive creature coming at him. Nora took a deep breath and composed herself. Because she was mature, and this wasn't about her and her love of tormenting Kaden. This was about a polar bear named Nanook and his right to live a long and happy life. 

Because Nora, at this point, and if she was being honest with herself, probably at any point of time, would back up anything Emilio wanted to say to fuck with Kaden. Nora may not have been the proudest of bugbears, it was taking work for her to even become on, but she was a proud fan of bears! They were large, scary and, well, scary! They deserved to eat people if they wanted to. Nora particularly didn't like the way Kaden called them the crack team, or the tone he took with Emilio. Nora could take all the smoke Kaden wanted to throw at her, but Emilio was a good man and a good detective who was here helping her. Nora hadn't believed it at first that he was a good detective, and he'd already proved Nora wrong. Since revealing that he'd known who she was this whole time and had just been keeping it quiet cause he'd detected she didn't want to talk about it, Nora believed the man could solve anything. He didn't deserve Kaden's insults.

Kaden seemed mad that they weren't supposed to be here and it took everything in Nora's trembling body to not make fun of him for being bad at his job. But she refrained. Because she was here to help Nanook. It was a herculean task, holding back the barrage she had for him. Nora forced herself to turn away from Kaden's stupid face and to look at Nanook. The polar bear caught her eye. He looked so sad in the small little cage instead of being in his large habitat, allowed to walk around as he wanted. Nora took a deep breath, centering herself. "If you don't believe us, you can always call the zoo director." Nora tugged at the pass around her neck. "He's the one who gave us these to investigate." Clasping her hands behind her back, she turned herself back towards animal control. “We’re going to prove he’s innocent. You can’t take him.”

Nora's body trembled as she kept back the rage within her. The tongue that wanted to lash out every single insult and rumor she knew about this man. The way she wanted to see his sad and pathetic life made fun of in that moment. He'd go 'stop please I'm so old and tired and I didn't actually want to fight' just like the last time he'd engaged her online and thought he could play her game.  But she refrained. Because she was here to help Nanook. It was a herculean task, holding back the barrage she had for him. Nora forced herself to turn away from Kaden's stupid face and to look at Nanook. The polar bear caught her eye. He looked so sad in the small little cage instead of being in his large habitat, allowed to walk around as he wanted. Nora took a deep breath, centering herself. 

With a quick glance at Kaden, Nora stuck her arm further into the bear cage. "We know he's not a man eater, is that what you're trying to cover up, cop?" Nora asked, a tone of accusation melded into her monotone. It had just been the way he'd added get your hands away from the bear for fuck sakes. Like he, on the team condemning the bear, knew better than them, the heroes of the story. "You're just jealous because if you stuck your hand in here, he'd bite you and it'd be deserved." Nora looked back at Nanook. "It'd be self defense, right buddy?" 

Hired by the bear. Hired by the fucking bear? “Putain de merde,” Kaden muttered to himself. This was going to be a long fucking day. “I’m not coming for the bear. I’m here to investigate, alright.” Alright, sure, he came because he didn’t really believe the reports. Detective Peterson might have thought this was an open and shut case, but Kaden didn’t buy it. Animals in captivity sometimes exhibit aggressive behaviors to their handlers, but rarely was it out of nowhere with no history. And if anything it would be out of boredom or frustration and that would be the fault of the zoo, not the goddamn polar bear. 

“Very fucking funny,” he said, rolling his eyes. “You know I was never naked here in the first place.” Not that it would matter to her one way or the other. He hadn't been sure that Nora was the shifter in the room when they met in the cafe; it was nearly impossible to narrow down in that sort of crowded space, but now there was no mistaking it. And the illusions. Hired by the bear. 

Ah. Bugbear. Had to be.

Wait. Kaden side-eyed Emilio, the guy who had been asking a whole lot of questions about bugbears. And his “apprentice” (if that was even the truth he couldn’t tell with these two) was a bug bear. Was he asking because he was planning to kill her? Seemed like a lot of wasted effort for that. Did that mean he was helping her? Or using her? Strange. He’d taken the man to be the kind to stab first, ask questions later. That still didn’t make him comfortable with the idea of him hanging around Alex. Last time that he’d talked to her, it sounded like Emilio didn’t know what she was. He didn’t plan on changing that anytime soon. But he sure had a lot more questions for the other hunter now. He’d have to figure out when to ask them because here and now wasn’t the place or the time.

“I’m not trying to cover up shit.” Kaden sighed and got closer to the polar bear, keeping his eyes on that seemingly docile predator. His cage was way smaller than it should be – the enclosure was barely large enough and that was far larger. And even so, the bear was calm as ever, even with all these strangers staring at him and sticking their hands in his cage. He tried to look for any signs that the bear might have been sedated, any signs of tranq darts, dilated eyes, anything. There was nothing like that he could see. It was funny that the last time he’d been here, he thought the damn golf cart was a polar bear and he was petting it and now he could practically reach out and touch the creature for real. No illusions. Not anymore, at least. 

It was stupid, but her last jab that the bear would bite him hurt a little. He didn’t care about a lot of things and he wasn’t good at a whole lot of shit, either, but he was good with animals. Someone accusing him otherwise always stung. The other shit she said, about being her lover or being naked at the zoo, that was frustrating, sure, but it didn’t hit quite the same way this had. “I don’t think he’d bite anyone, kid,” he said, unwilling to meet her gaze lest she caught sight of the hurt that might be lingering in his own. “If he’s this calm with no stimulation, I don’t buy that he did anything to the handler.” Kaden crouched down to get a better look at the bear’s paws and legs. “I don’t see any blood stains, either. I would expect those would still be there even if they cleaned him.” 

Kaden rubbed his face with his palms as he stood back up. He had no fucking clue what to do here, he doubted the detective wanted to hear from him, the animal control officer, that he’d fucked up or at the very least had gotten lazy. “So what’s your plan for clearing the bear?”

It was clear that she was frustrated, even if she was trying to hide it. There was a large part of Emilio that wanted to offer her comfort, somehow, wanted to put a hand on her shoulder or share some sage words to help her accept that these things took time or whatever, but he didn’t have much of a chance because there was a ranger in the room staring at them both like they had two heads a piece and Nora was talking to him like he wasn’t built to kill her. It was probably just as well, anyway; Emilio would have been shit at the ‘words of wisdom’ thing, anyway. Losing his daughter was never going to make him a better father, and he’d already been a pretty shit one.

But that didn’t mean he’d repeat all the same mistakes. He might not know how to comfort Nora about her inability to communicate with the bear, but he knew how to protect her from Kaden if he had to. Subtly, he positioned himself with his shoulder between the hunter and the bear, ready to step in if Kaden made a move. He probably wouldn’t do anything here — his reputation at the zoo was already bad enough — but Emilio wouldn’t bet Nora’s life on a logical hunch.

“Nora,” he said quietly as she began mocking Kaden, “not now.” She’d probably have questions about that later, he knew, because it was uncharacteristic of him to stop her. Typically when she went in on someone, Emilio was content to watch and allow himself to be entertained. He doubted she’d assume it was because they were on a case, given the fact that he tended to let her do whatever while they were working, and he wouldn’t have lied to her, anyway. When they got out of here and she asked, he’d tell her. Outing a fellow hunter felt wrong in a way that made his insides twist, but Nora deserved to know this. Especially given how much she seemed to enjoy driving Kaden out of his mind.

Speaking of which… Emilio glanced down to see Nora’s fingers twitching, and he could practically feel how much she wanted to craft some illusion or another against the ranger. In all honesty, Emilio didn’t even know if it would work. Were rangers immune from bugbears’ illusions? He was kicking himself now for all the things he’d never asked Juliana about, though given the fact that she hadn’t tended to hunt bugbears, he wasn’t sure even she would have known. And it wasn’t as if he could ask Kaden now — he’d already made the other hunter suspicious with his questions regarding bugbears the last time they’d had a conversation about it.

In a subtle attempt to communicate to Nora that she should not, under any circumstances, try to scare Kaden right now, the hunter knocked his wrist against hers. He wasn’t sure if the lack of illusions was because his message got across or if she really was so focused on saving the bear that she decided to forgo her usual level of shenanigans, but he was glad for it either way. Less glad that she seemed unwilling to forgo all shenanigans, but she wouldn’t be Nora if she didn’t cause at least a little bit of trouble.

Even without the bugbear of it all, he expected Kaden to argue with them. If he really was here on police business — and given his last experience at the zoo, Emilio couldn’t imagine anything else that would drive him to return — then he shouldn’t be on Axis’s side here. The police had already decided the outcome of this case; it was the zoo that wanted a different answer. Emilio was expecting Kaden to insist that the police’s official stance was the correct one, that the bear had killed the handler and would be put down as a result. Instead, he took a surprising turn, and… agreed with Nora? Emilio blinked, trying not to let his surprise show.

“No shit he didn’t bite anyone,” he replied, though the words weren’t as harsh as they normally might have been. “Look at him. I’ve got clients I’d be more worried about taking a bite out of me than him.” Throughout it all, the bear remained calm behind them. 

Emilio tensed as Kaden approached, but all the ranger did was crouch beside the cage to inspect the bear further. The lack of blood was an important enough observation, though it hardly cleared the bear of any wrongdoing. The presence of blood wouldn’t have condemned him, either, given the fact that the body had been in the bear’s original enclosure. It was a tough case to prove in either direction; without cameras, and with the only ‘witness’ to the case being a bear they couldn’t talk to, there was really only one solution. “Only thing we can do is find out who actually did it,” he replied with a shrug. “Clear the bear by finding the actual killer. The one the police aren’t looking for.”

Two hunters and two bears enter a room. There was a punchline here, but Nora didn't know it probably because she was unaware of the joke's existence, with Kaden firmly remaining a frail and easily targetable human in her mind's eye. The only thing Nora knew was Emilio acting weird. Her favorite thing about the man who'd taken to helping her was his proclivity to play along. "Tell Gael, if you speak to him, that I broke your kneecaps." "Let me scare the shit out of that suspect so he talks." and not even questioning why Mrs. P was crying the whole way here. So why was this a not not situation? It wasn't just a no mocking situation, it was a no illusions situation, his wrist knocking against her as if to say 'knock it off.' Fine. Nora could play the human. 

Kaden wasn't making it easy. Didn't she know he was never naked there? God. The words stung her lips as her teeth bit down to try and keep from retorting 'Oh yeah? Is that what the orangutan said?' Her eyes shifted to the side to Emilio, as if to gauge how serious he was. How far could she push this? The answer was she couldn't. Emilio had already won her steadfast and unwavering loyalty. If there was a reason for this good behavior, it was probably good. Once again she was reminded that her biggest curse in Wicked's Rest was knowing that this sad sad man was basically always right. Nora swallowed back her other retort of 'Oh, was that why you're here today? To strip off for the bear and set the record straight?' This was some shit character development. It would be much more fun to bully the French Canadian. 

As Kaden called Nora kid, she let her normal mask of indifference slip into a death glare. It was an easy step. Instead of looking bored, her eyes burrowed into Kaden. He didn’t get to call her that. “My name is Penny, not kid.” Nora informed him, using the identity of Inspector Gadget’s niece. Not that he expected any of the men to know who that was, or remember that Nora had introduced Emilio under the Inspector’s name. It was disappointing that they’d already known each other. What was the point of fake identities if they already knew the real ones. This was ruining her noir detective experience. 

As the two discussed what they were going to do, and to keep her mind off the burning need to bare her teeth and dig them deep into Kaden's metaphorical hide, Nora turned her attention fully to the bear. The bear looked back at her. They looked at each other. Then the bear stepped forward close to Nora's hand and sniffed her hand. Did it smell the bear on her? Did it smell that they were comrades? The bear rubbed its head against her hand and Nora found her heart shattering into ten million pieces before repairing itself into the face of Nanook. If anything happened to this bear she would burn down the whole town. "Jailbreak the bear." Nora told them. "Come on. We won't need to solve anything, and he'll be free to return to the wild." Or Nora's crypt. Either one. 

Nora reached into her pocket and pulled out a bit of the ham she was saving for later and gave it to the bear. Building trust started like this, right? Giving up what she loved for something she suddenly found herself loving more. "Or we could go talk to his wife." Nora mumbled, knowing already that breaking the bear out was supposed to be their last option. It was worth the try with 'I'm on your side', bootlicker animal control Kaden here.

Either way there was no point in remaining here. Except to talk to the bear. Which Nora still hadn't figured out. "I'll be back for you, I promise." Nora whispered to the bears, in a hushed voice that she hoped the two men couldn't hear. They didn't need to know how invested Nora was in this case. Not that she hadn't made it glaringly obvious already. Nora turned away from the bear, and pointed at Kaden. "You've been no help. At least you know you're playing for the wrong team." Not the cease fire she’d been instructed in, but like Hoobastank’s hit song “The Reason”, Nora was not a perfect person.  Her finger moved to Emilio. "Back to Mrs. P? I've got a home address in the file." 

Kaden tried not to turn his head or furrow his brows or make any sort of visible reaction when he heard the slayer whisper to the kid. Had to wonder if Emilio forgot that rangers had super hearing. Or if he just didn’t care one way or the other if Kaden heard him tell Nora (was that her name?) ‘not now.’ There were too many possibilities as to what that could mean considering that Kaden still didn’t understand the dynamic here. It almost felt like he was being protective of the kid. But from what? Wait, from him? Kaden couldn’t help it, his brows knit together at the thought alone. He had to be wrong about that, there was no way that was what was happening here. He knew he was playing by a different set of hunter codes than most but he didn’t expect anyone else to. There was no way a slayer was knowingly protecting a bugbear. It was weird enough that there were two rangers in town living with a werewolf. 

“Penny?” he asked, looking at the kid. “Here I thought it was Nora.” Probably wasn’t the best idea potentially clueing in Emilio that he’d heard the man before but Kaden couldn’t help himself. “But fine, I won’t call you kid, connasse. That better?” He didn’t know what the fuck he’d done to make himself her target but he was fucking sick of it. Fucking baffling that she was nice to Emilio, maybe even respected him, and all Kaden got was insults and coffee thrown at him. Just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He sighed and crossed his arms, watching Nora interact with the polar bear. A smile found its way onto his face even though he tried to keep his countenance flat. “No jailbreaking the bear,” he told her. “None of us have anywhere to put it and no way to feed it.” That said, if the worst came to worst, well… he didn’t have any better ideas. And he would volunteer to help.

Kaden rolled his eyes as the kid pointed at him. Why was she so fucking obnoxious to him in particular? “Putain, I’m not playing for any team, alright. Other than the bear’s. And I’d rather not have to help you two find it a new habitat if you fuck up the investigation and have to jailbreak the goddamn bear.” He looked back at the polar bear in his cage, as calm and quiet as he had been the whole time. There was no way Kaden was letting anything happen to that bear, whether or not the other two in the room believed him on that front. 

“Anyway, you better figure it out quick. Best I can do is put in my report about the bear and let Detective Peterson know the behavior profile doesn’t match up with the assessment of the crime. But I doubt he’s going to put a whole lot of weight on the dog-catcher cop’s word.” It probably wasn’t wise to clue Nora in on the fact that his job wasn’t exactly respected at the station, but it didn’t seem like it was worth it to hide the reality of things. It didn’t bother him much, to be honest, he knew that if any of those idiots had to work half a day in his job, most of them wouldn’t survive it. They fucking knew it, too, even if they acted like their jobs were more important. The last thing Kaden needed was to be respected as a cop so that was fine by him. The only time it was a problem was in the rare situations like this where he needed the WRPD to listen to him for once. “Hopefully I can help stall things long enough for you to do the rest.” Emilio better be as good a detective as he said he was. He really didn’t want to have to help jailbreak a bear if it came down to that.

 Emilio bristled as Kaden responded with Nora’s name, kicking himself internally. Of course he knew that rangers had enhanced hearing — he’d been married to one for years. He couldn’t grab a beer from the fridge without Juliana hearing him from across the house and asking him to get her one, too, and he couldn’t whisper Nora’s name without Kaden hearing it and taking advantage. He shot his assistant a look that was half an apology and half a promise to explain everything just as soon as they were out of Kaden’s very impressive earshot. 

But first, they had to deal with this. “I told you,” he said at the same time as Kaden’s protest, “that is the last option.” Maybe not the best thing to admit to a cop, even if he was just a cop for animals, but Kaden didn’t seem to disagree. Emilio still didn’t trust the ranger around Nora, but he thought he might trust him around the other bear in the room. “We have a plan for that,” he told Kaden, eyeing him carefully. “We won’t be telling you.” Wasn’t plausible deniability a good thing? They were doing Kaden a favor by keeping him in the dark. If it did come down to breaking the bear out of the zoo and convincing Teddy to help them transport it to wherever it needed to be, Kaden could lose his job for knowing about it. And as much as Emilio distrusted the guy, he didn’t particularly want to be responsible for that. Finding another job that he was similarly suited for would be difficult at best, impossible at worst. 

With a faint smile, he nodded at Nora. “First we talk to the wife,” he agreed. She was either going to be a prime suspect or a potential witness to the discrepancies of the story and, as much as Emilio disliked the process of dealing with other people’s grief, he was good at telling when that grief was genuine. If the wife was lying, he’d be able to sniff it out. She’d be easier to read than Kaden, in any case. And as an added bonus, there was no way the animal control officer would insist on joining them on that leg of their journey considering there were no animals. 

Looking back to Kaden, Emilio tilted his head a little. Dog catcher cop. And here he thought the ranger was still trying to sell his ‘I’m a respected member of the police force’ lie. He’d have to remember this the next time Kaden threatened to arrest him for something. “We’ll let you know what we find out… probably,” he told Kaden with a brief shrug, looking amused. To Nora, he added, “I’ll take the lead with the wife. You can snoop around her house while we’re talking. See if you can find where she keeps her food or something.” The instruction was half in hopes of distracting her from pissing off a ranger… and half genuine. Nora snooping around the house really would come in handy. He began ushering the bugbear out of the room, turning on his heel to offer Kaden a lazy half-salute. “Officer.” 

Kaden said her name, her real name, causing Nora’s eyes to narrow in a glare that attempted to strike Kaden dead on the spot. Had this man recognized her? Did he know? Nora missed the Emilio was giving her as she contemplated Kaden like she could cause him to spontaneously combust if she focused hard enough. What did connasse even mean? Nora made a mental note to google it when they got back to the car.

Emilio often let Nora take point on interrogations because he knew she enjoyed it. He knew she loved scaring people until they told them the truth. But telling her he was going to take the interrogation part so she could snoop also wasn’t odd, because he knew she loved snooping through their houses. Especially the part where she got to eat their food. Her stomach let out a loud grumble just thinking of her next meal. Honestly? Maybe Nora was born to be a private investigator. This work was very conducive to her hobbies. Anyways, those words had been enough to distract Nora for a moment, but then Emilio was shuffling her out the door and Nora realized it was her last chance to bully Kaden.

Looking over her shoulder, Nora winked at Kaden. “Officer.” Her tone oozed with mocking disrespect. “I’m sure they respect you as much as I do.” Nora added, flashing the ACAB badge sewn into her jacket. Before Emilio could weirdly tell her to stop again, Nora walked herself out the door. At least the bear was safe for now. Even if it came from an unlikely ally.

[72blankspaces]

Overload

Chapter 2

After finishing breakfast and making sure Leo was in his room, Mikey and Raph approached Donnie, who had retreated back into his lab. Mikey knocked on the door. "Leon, I'm too busy to play chess with you right now," Donnie's voice sounds through the door. "I told you that there is an opening in my schedule tomo-." Donnie stops short when he sees Mikey and Raph. "We need to talk." Raph says, making Donnie cower.

"This wouldn't be about the amount of sleep I got last night, would it?" Donnie questions fearfully. "No, you lucked out this time," Mikey says. Donnie breathes a sigh of relief before letting his brothers into his lab and closing the door behind them.

"So, what brings you to my lab at 9:06 in the morning?" Donnie asks, sitting down at his desk and returning to whatever he was working on. "Something's going on with Leo and we want to know if you know what's going on," Raph says. "Why don't you just ask Leo?" Donnie deadpans. "Because we all know Leo will lie about it!" Mikey exclaims. "He never tells us anything, and when he does, he only tells you. So, do you know what's going on with him?"

"Sigh," Donnie sighs, not looking up from his work. It's easier to not look at his brothers. "I don't know." Mikey and Raph give him skeptical looks. Donnie understands why, since he was known as a terrible liar, and his last sentence wasn't very convincing. But, Donnie would never break the twin pact. So he's reduced to lying. "I really really, that's two reallys, don't know. Several times the past few weeks Leo has come in and played chess with me, or watched me work, but he hasn't told me anything, I swear. He just comes in, asks me what I'm doing, and sips his tea."

"Can you at least tell us what time he got up this morning?" Raph asks, disappointment laced in his voice. "Somwhere around 3:30 I believe," Donnie replies. "I heard a bang from that side of the lair, and after checking the security system, deduced it was Leo tripping over something in that 'organized' mess of his." Donnie puts finger quotes around organized due to the fact that Leo has had a hard time keeping his room clean lately.

"He was up that early?" Mikey asks. "Yeah," Donnie answers. "Actually, that's fairly late compared to when he normally gets up." "I'm afraid to ask what time he normally gets up at," Mikey states. "He normally gets up between 1:30 and 2:30 in morning," Donnie explains, a little too nonchalantly. Donnie looks up to see Mikey and Raph a little too shocked for his liking. 'I thought they knew about Leo's sleeping habits,' he thinks to himself. 'He's not exactly that quiet.'

Raph and Mikey silently soak in this new information, while Donnie takes the silence as a chance for him to continue his work. "Donnie, can you set up security cameras in Leo's room?" Raph asks after a while. This question forces Donnie to look up. Knowing just how much Leo values his privacy, the fact that Raph even thought of it angers Donnie.

Donnie is a very private person. He hates people all up in his lab, touching his stuff without his permission, looking through his computer and files. Hell, Donnie hates it when someone even leans on the door to his lab in fear of them invading his workspace. But compared to Leo, Donnie is an open book. Because of Donnie's autism and Leo's ADHD, the twins never liked sharing. On rare occasions, they wouldn't even share with each other. But over the years, Leo learned to mask a little too well and Donnie hid in his lab.

"I will not put camera's in Leo's room and that's final," Donnie stated, furious. "Now get out." Raph looked at Donnie in shock. He'd never seen Donnie like this before. Donatello was never one to let his emotions talk, but the only things in his voice were outrage and frustration. "Come on Raph, let's go," Mikey says, taking Raph's arm and leading him out the door. When the lab closes and his brothers are gone, Donnie sighs and sinks into his chair. He would never, ever let them do that to Leo. And he would never, ever tell them why.

Meanwhile, Leo was in his room, thinking over everything that had happened in the early hours of the morning. After about ten minutes of thinking, Leo gives up and falls face first into his pillow. 'I guess I have telekinesis now,' Leo thinks to himself. 'But I thought only Mikey had telekinetic abilities. Why would I have them?'

Leo sits up and opens his phone. He opens Google and thouroughly researches telekinesis and what abilities can come with it. He also looks up how to measure mystic power. He's not sure he'll find anything on that since he is using a human-made search engine, but he's willing to try anything at this point.

As he's scrolling through his phone he suddenly gets a feeling that something is not right with Donnie. There's no better way for him to describe this feeling other than odd. Leo stands up and opens the door to his train car bedroom, just enough to peek outside. He sees Mikey pulling a shaken Raph away from Donnie's lab. As soon as Raph and Mikey are out of sight, he heads over to Donnie's lab and knocks on the door.

To Leo's surprise, S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. answers the door. "Sorry dude, but Donnie needs some alone time," he says. "Alright," Leo replies before walking back to his room. He quietly shuts the door and plops down on his bed. 'Well that was weird,' he thinks. 'Donnie always answers the door, especially when it's me.' To say Leo was very worried was an understatement. Raph looked like Donnie had just shouted in his face that he wished they weren't brothers or that he'd never known Raph, and Donnie wouldn't even answer the door for him.

Donnie hasn't not talked to Leo when something was wrong in a very long time. The last time this happened, the twins were 5 years old and Leo had accidentally broken Donnie's remote control car that he'd built from scratch. Leo hadn't even realised he'd broke, so when Donnie came and asked why he broke trhe car, he told Donnie that he didn't know what he was talking about. Then Donnie stormed off and holed himself up in his room for two days before realizing that Leo hadn't broke it on purpose. They both apologized to each and Leo even helped Donnie fix it.

"I wish life was simple," Leo muttered to himself. He decided that he would give all his brothers some space for a day or two and things would sort themselves out. And, oh boy, was he wrong.

[coldflasher]

you know i have to ask about coldwest for the ship thing

hmmm yeah, this one isn't for me really :/ not my cup of tea

jokes, can you imagine haha. i am the captain of coldwest. yo ho ho and a bottle of why-the-fuck-didn't-they-get-more-screentime

What made you ship it?

Honestly I had never even thought about shipping them until Redhead's fic "Needs Must, As the Devil Drives" got me super into Coldwestallen, and from there I spent a lot more time thinking about the Coldwest side of that dynamic and what a fun and complicated relationship that would be... then the rest, ngl, was largely built from my own headcanons and bits of dozens of fics that hopefully, one day, I will actually finish...

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

So many things!! I think the first thing that comes to mind is that I feel like Coldwest offers a great opportunity to put Iris out there in the field. The show kind of tends to keep Iris out of the action a lot. Like she is a hugely important member of the team, obviously, but she's generally sitting in S.T.A.R Labs running tech support, and aside from occasionally getting temporary speed powers or occasionally aiming a gun at a threat, she often takes a back seat to the action. Barry in particular has this tendency to want to get Iris as far away from a fight as possible, and while I get it, I love seeing Iris kick ass. We know she can shoot, throw a punch, whatever, but she rarely gets the opportunity to get out there as much, and whenever she does, it's panic button time and she gets whisked to safety. I feel like Len, with his tendency to get into trouble, his love of adrenaline and a fight, and the thrill he clearly gets while fighting, would love to have Iris on his side in that kind of situation, and he wouldn't hesitate to get her involved. He'd actually encourage it, if anything. Which also provides fun conflict with Joe, who would already be seething that this criminal is dating his daughter, but now he's encouraging her to put her life at risk and possibly commit crimes? Oh, the drama >:) I love writing Coldwest team-ups where Iris gets to use her skills as a reporter while Len uses his skills as a thief, and they kind of play off one another... with lots of back and forth arguing and snark, of course.

I also personally like that, in my view, Iris would have a better handle on Len than anyone else. Like he's more willing to let her boss him around than he would be with another partner. As mentioned, she doesn't take his shit, she's not as amused by him and she will tell him to cut the crap if he's being a dick. In contrast, though, I also feel like he'd be softer than her than he would with another partner. Sure, he'll pull her pigtails and make mean, sly comments, he wouldn't be Len if he didn't... but he also admires and respects her, he's a fan of her work, and I think that Iris is just such a kind and gentle person that I think being around her would soften him. He'd never admit it, but in my head, he's so gone for her, and while it might take a while for him to let his guard down, if you'll excuse the terrible ice pun, he'd melt for her. Like. That small smile he gives to show he's proud of his sister---that kind of moment, all this affection and pride that he keeps private and only lets out when no one's looking, but when they're alone, he lets her see it. Just a little. Sigh.

Also, I kind of like that it's such unchartered territory wrt canon. Like GOD my kingdom for more coldwest scenes, but also, the fact that we get to see so little of them together on screen means that there is so much to explore there, and canon cannot tell me no (like it would stop me anyway haha). It really does give me free reign to think about how they would interact and what kind of scenarios they'd get involved in.

Oh yeah, and I also think they're both extremely hot and I wanna see them bang seven ways to Sunday, so there's that

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I don't really know. It's such a small ship, I don't really know what opinions are out there haha. Hm... I guess maybe that I think Iris would call him babe. Cos generally Len is NOT a petname person and I think if anyone else tried to call him babe, he would make them regret it, but with Iris, he's like a cat being pet and secretly liking it but pretending not to... he's like "I'll allow it. Maybe." but secretly smug like yes. I am babe

Send me a ship and I'll answer three questions based on whether I ship it or not

[getyourdirtyhandsoffme]

D-RIDING?! PART ONE

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE

GENDER: FTM READER

SUMMARY: You are quite a popular YouTuber who makes random content for your fans to enjoy until one day you got drunk and "accidentally" posted a tweet in your official account making it go viral for not only the world to see, but even a certain idol you had a crush since 2019.

GENRE(S): Comedy, Fluff, A bit explicit (in part one), hurt/comfort a bit

WARNING(S): Didn't really proof read it or use a Grammer site to fix anything. If I got anything wrong well..ill fix it when I'm not tired (or not). If you haven't seen any BuzzFeed's thirst tweets, you have been warned. The reader is going through every stage of grief. Mentions of drinking, you being drunk, mentions of "Dick Riding", a few of thirsty comments. You're getting called "Pretty Boy." Explicit comments but nothing action, yet. You are a bottom (sorry y'all!) Kinda cringe. You fanboying non-stop.

CAREER: Idol-Bang Chan (26) + Youtuber-Y/N (25)

OTHER(S): all edited by me. Chan has a private channel but he did reveal his YouTube account in this story. Ethan, Antione and SanaVana are your best friends.

Some mistakes on the edits as well but wtv

Please reblog, like or/and comment!

(We are going to pretend this is around SKZ LALALA Era, thank you very much! Not restarting the edits!)

You couldn't believe your eyes when you opened Twitter (Or X...) As you see thousands of notifications of a certain post you made when you were drunk with your friends at a birthday party.

You felt yourself wanting to scream but all you could do is stare in shock, having your mouth hanging a bit while reading the comments stating that your idol, Bang Chan from StrayKids, read your tweet.

Not in private, but apparently he finally accepted an interview with BuzzFeed to read Thirst Tweets.

Since when did he have the balls to do that?

You groaned as you even saw the hashtags that were trending: #YnnityD-RIDE #BangChanThirstTweets #BuzzFeedBangChan #YnnityMoment

You honestly wanted to cry because you didn't know how to face your fans when you make a live stream later. You promised the fans that you were going to play that one horror game that your fans have been requesting.

At this point, you thought about just cancelling it while disappearing. Dramatic but you couldn't help it.

The Bang Chan read your tweet.

Well, you never saw the video and honestly you didn't want to. You found out that your tweet was not only read but even edited into the thumbnail with Bang Chan fine ass self beside it from a friend's screenshot.

You were mentally regretting this while weeping but you didn't want to disappoint your fans from a promise you made so you calmed yourself as you got ready to Go Live.

You place your mouse pad down and then connect a few wires into your computer. You went to your channel as you Go Live, with a title going by "Gaming and reacting to a certain video."

Just by that title, everyone immediately clicked the live.

You sat there, nervously biting your lip out of habit while fixing yourself in front of the camera.

You even waved to everyone while trying not to seem like you about to trust fall on top of a building.

"As you may see from this title, you probably know what certain video I'm going to watch, yes?"

Everyone commented "yes" while a few sent question marks but other than that they are curious of what the video is and my reaction.

"I didn't see the video yet but I immediately clicked on the app, saw my notifications, saw what's trending and even a screenshot from my friend. I am crazy embarrassed. I was drunk and the fact that she saw me tweeted this is the most crazy part. I knew she was my enemy since DAY ONE!" You shouted a bit at the end, joking but honestly not really as you make a dramatic 'number one' finger in front of the camera.

"Anyways, I already got it set up, just let me know if you guys can hear it or not..."

You mentally screamed as you tried to click on the video but you were so hesitant that the fans called you out on it.

"Y'all, we got it! Hold up, I'm just scared of how he is going to react! Ahhh!" You grabbed your forehead as you finally clicked on it.

You watched as Chan nervously laughed at the camera while introducing himself with his hot Australian accent. You felt yourself smiling as you tried not to fanboy just by his introduction.

"Ah, Hello everyone and my lovely stays! My name is Bang Chan, the leader of StrayKids, you can even call me Chris, and today...I'm finally reading your crazy thirst tweets. I don't know how I mentally agreed to this but I am curious so let's get started shall we, BuzzFeed?"

Chan chuckles nervously as he holds a plastic container full of thirst tweets.

You commented how cute he was while admiring him, ignoring slightly at your fans chat box, even not noticing a certain someone has joined your live stream and even commenting as well making the chat go crazy as they try to grab for your attention.

You continue on watching, make a few comments on the thirst tweets, stating that you agreed with half of the tweets he was reading while cooed on his blushing face:

"I want to ride his big nose"

"I wonder what else is big besides his nose, feet and butt if you know what I'm saying"

"I want that man to manhandle me so bad, it's not funny anymore."

"I want him to fuck me so bad! Uhhh PLEASE DADDY!"

You couldn't help help but laugh at a few, almost forgetting that your tweet was in this video until finally, almost at the end of the video, he pulls the last strip of paper and reads:

"Dick Riding? Yes I am. I'm jumping, hopping, creaming, screaming and latching...onto this man dick until we can't anymore. And in parentheses. We not stopping."

Chan covers his face while laughing as he re-reads the tweet again.

"Jeez, this person really must have that much energy to be going in several rounds. Not only that, this person is verified...how confident you are to send this in your official account. Not gonna lie, I feel like I know who this is..."

He squints as he tries to remember.

"I'll probably figure it out later but thank you! I don't think I have enough energy for that but we can try, yeah? Haha!"

Your eyes wide as you literally scream, jumping around and running around the room then stop running as you walk back, rewatching that clip again.

"Wait, he knows me? HE RECOGNIZES MY ACCOUNT- WAIT WHOA!" That's when you sat down on your gaming chair, literally looking like you were about to sink into the floor as you make your eyes focus on the chat that seems to be spamming non-stop.

You lean in, reading the chat as you questioned them what's wrong until you notice a channel you recognized. Of course who wouldn't recognize it, you literally have a crush on him.

The one and only Bang Chan was watching your live.

At this point, you just accepted your fate as you face palmed yourself as more comments started laughing at you.

"Om my goodness, this cannot be real. Ain't no way you are watching this stream..." You nervously said as you see him commented how cute you were.

You smiled as you started to fanboy again.

"This is so embarrassing you guys!"

Time went by as you ended your live stream. You immediately grabbed your phone and laid down on your bed as you opened Twitter (X) to see Bangchan following you.

You followed him back immediately which I guess it got his attention as he immediately texted you.

CB97: Hey, Y/N! It's nice to finally meet you, well through text that is, haha!

Ynnity: I can't believe you not only read my tweet and joined my live, you even FOLLOWED ME IN HERE!? You must be crazy!

CB97: Of course, I even have you subscribed and followed your Instagram on a private account!

CB97: And crazy? Aren't you the crazy one who sent a tweet on your official account stating you wanted to, and I quote, "Jump, hop, cream, scream, and latch onto my dick non-stop" pretty boy?

Ynnity: HELLO?

CB97: Haha, I'm just saying. Plus, you're funny so why not become friends. I'm quite a big fan of you!

You stared at his text, mostly the part when he called you a "Pretty boy" made you roll around the bed, giggling like a damn school girl. Even surprised that he was a big fan, making even more embarrassed since you always mentioned him in certain videos.

Ynnity: Sure!

Ynnity: hope you don't mind how awkward I'm going to be for a bit..I'm still embarrassed.

CB97: That's fine! I don't mind and there isn't anything to be embarrassed about baby, it's cute how you reacted

CB97: You really do love me, huh? Hahaha

You rolled your eyes as you typed your response.

Ynnity: yeah yeah whatever

CB97: Acting like that even though I literally watched your live stream and saw you admiring and commenting my every move

CB97: Anyways, I read a few of your tweets and one caught my eye

CB97: well, besides that thirst tweet, that's my fav-

CB97: That you are going to see our concert, yeah?

All you did was send a 'thumbs up' emoji, indicating that it was true that you saved up money to be in front row seats to see SKZ performance on the 3rd day.

CB97: Cool! Can't wait to see you in person! However, I need to get back to work, I'll talk to you...well you text me when you are up! Bye bye, pretty boy!

YNNITY: don't overwork yourself old man and yes bye bye to you as well!

You laughed when Chan sent a 'thumbs down' emoji as you turned off your phone, smiling again at the ceiling. You couldn't believe it, you can't wait to go to their concert in three days.

Two days have already passed as you already got dressed up for this concert.

Today is the 3rd and last day of their performance.

You are wearing a black waist coat where your belly and other skin is showing along with a leather black jacket, baggy black pants with a nice star belt around It, a spikey silver necklace and black shoes.

You brought a coat just in case it gets cold as you took pics and uploaded it onto Twitter (X), feeling cute.

You rolled your eyes at your friend's immediate response to your tweet as you walked out of your house, stepped into your car as you get ready to pick up the three dorks.

While driving to their destination, you couldn't help but think about what Chan texted you yesterday.

He is excited to see YOU.

You were biting your lip as you tried to not show a smile when you picked up Antione and apparently Ethan who were standing outside of Antione house, waiting.

They both ran inside, Antione taking the front row while Ethan sit in the back.

You then drove off again to pick up Savannah while the two teased you non-stop about getting noticed by your so called 'Future Husband' which they did stop after you threatened them that you will crash this car if they don't shut up.

You finally picked up Savannah who was excited to see StrayKids, mostly seeing all the pretty lady fans as she comments about wanting to see this one girl that she has been texting the last 5 months.

You laughed with your friends, easing your anxiety down. You all couldn't wait to go while singing, well trying to sing, the songs on the radio.

You all made it into the concert, immediately at the front seat, waiting for the concert to start. Antione had his banner ready, holding a sign that says "Changbin, date me!"

Ethan holds up a LeeBit Plushie, shaking it around while holding a picture of Lee Know next to it.

Savannah holds a sign that just says "The Lesbians (Me) loves you!"

You did think about bringing a sign but all you brought was yourself and friends along with a small Wolfchan keychain hanging around your belt area.

A bunch of fans have showed up—some recognized you as they asked to take pictures, which of course you said yes, taking a few while waving them goodbye. Even Savannah gets to meet the woman that she was talking about, laughing and flirting a bit.

As all of you continue on chattering while the whole stadium gets filled with a bunch of fans, the screens turn on showing a special StrayKids clip, showing all the members walking and posing.

Everyone screams along with you and your friends as well as you see them rising up from below the stage, into positions, ready to perform Megaverse.

You smiled, jumping a bit as the loud music started playing along with fans chanting.

You took out your phone as you started to record while singing some of the lines.

Throughout the whole concert, you and Chan were flirting around when he found you while performing Blind Spot.

He couldn't help but smile in your direction while giving you small hearts. He even goes up to you sometimes, singing a few lines—teasing you—as he walks off.

Even your friends teased you about it, again.

The concert was about to end, your whole body was practically tired from all the screaming and standing up for too long but it was worth it.

All the members lined up as they all said their thankful speech, waving all of them goodbye and couldn't wait to see their fans again next time.

You and your friends left as you forced Ethan to drive since you were so tired.

You were sitting in the front row while Antione and Savannah talked amongst themselves, sometimes Ethan joining in. While that was happening, you open Twitter to see a bunch of notifications again.

Some @ you, showing pictures with your fans along with pictures or videos of you having a moment with Chan.

You smiled as you liked all of them until you got a text from Chan, you clicked the message notification and read what he has sent you.

CB97: Hey, did you enjoy the concert?

CB97: Also you look very handsome with that outfit, very alluring.

You giggled quietly as you quickly replied to him.

Ynnity: of course I enjoyed the concert and thank you! I did say I was trying to attract people in my tweets~

CB97: You did.

CB97: You even got me as well, that one comment from your friend made me laugh that you wanted to be in my Dingie Doom Dum haha!

Ynnity: Well, what if I do? What you going to do about it hm?

Not sure where all that bravery came from but you did it. You waited for him to respond as you did see him trying to type something.

CB97: Well aren't you a brave one.

CB97: why don't you find out. I'll come to you unless you are just trying to flirt. I don't mind as long as you don't mind, love

CB97: I can make that thirst tweet into reality~

You froze as Ethan made it to his house. Seems like you were the only one left as you both stepped out, hugged each other and left.

You stepped back into your car, turning it on and drove off. You wanted to respond, but you didn't want to drive while text so you kinda drove home as fast as you can, feeling yourself getting too excited.

When you made it home, you quickly parked as you stepped out of the car and ran to the front door of your house, unlocking it.

You took out your phone again and responded to him.

Ynnity: Sorry, I was driving

You hesitated for a bit even though you were the one who started it until you finally typed out what you wanted to say.

Ynnity: I don't mind, but how are you supposed to get here? You rented a car?

You took off your shoes, placing them on a shoe rack as you take off your clothes while walking to your bedroom.

You dumped your clothes in a laundry bag, opening the closet to grab your pajamas then walked to the bathroom to take a shower.

Your phone buzzed. You grab and see what he has said.

CB97: I did actually.

CB97: Send me your location, I will be there after I take a shower

You bit your lip as you sent your location, turning your phone off after that.

You step inside the shower, feeling the nice warmth of water hitting your skin as you fantasize about Chan kissing you and touching you.

You wanted this and the fact it's with your idol crush turns you on. You couldn't wait as you continued on taking a shower.

TO BE CONTINUED...

PART ONE -> PART TWO

I never wrote smut before 🐺 this sht gonna be crazy. I'm about to fight for my life.