#and yes this is directed at Neon

[spotlightstudios]

Shout-out to artists who use pose references. I adore y'all!

[imaginationblur]

Threes

[lovebugism]

“don’t you dare touch him” eddie x shy!reader

idk i need a situation where reader never really speaks up but she finally does when it comes to eddie because she loves him sm😭

thanks so much for your request! hope you like it!! — the one where eddie melts when his quiet gf sticks up for him in front of jason (shy!reader, fluff, 2.4k)

bug's summer fic fest ♡

The drive from Forest Hills to the arcade is spent with Lucas and Dustin bickering in the backseat and Eddie’s hand on your thigh.

“It’s been two years, and you still can’t beat my high score, Dusty Bun,” the former boy taunts. The nickname spills like venom from his smiling face. “Just give it up, okay? It’s not happening.”

Dustin grins back at him. It’s more so mischievous than it is taunting. His deep blue eyes narrow in a challenging squint. “You are so gonna be eating your words by the end of the night. When we leave, Princess Daphne is gonna be mine, alright? For good.”

Their arguing becomes background noise. With your cheek lolled against the hand you’ve got propped against the window, you’re pulled into the wispy lilac cloud your gaze is so heavily fixated upon. The sky billows lavender against a sea of pink and golden orange — a summer sunset so vivid you can taste it.

The only thing keeping you grounded is Eddie’s palm on your knee, wide and warm and all-consuming. His thumb rubs against your skin so softly you think it must be absentminded. It feels like static shock, anyway. He laughs quietly to himself, and his fingers tremble gently against you. This time they squeeze you with a newfound intention as he brings you back to him.

“What do you think, babe?” Eddie asks, pink mouth spread in a pearly white grin. His chocolate eyes glimmer with the golden hour sun as his gaze flits between yours and the road. “Think Dusty Bun has a chance here?”

You nod, scrunched nose and squinted eyes, silent in your support for the curly-headed boy who’s still yelling over Lucas in the back of the van.

“What about me?” he presses. And because he knows better than to give his quiet girl anything other than a yes or no answer, he follows quickly, “You think today’s the day I finally beat your Space Invaders high score?”

A beat passes. The momentary silence is filled with arguing boys, old tires on older asphalt, and Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” spilling softly from the radio. A quiet smile tugs at the corners of your mouth. You purse the mischievous expression to the side as you turn away from him again.

Your non-answer makes him laugh. It sounds exactly like the colors of the sunset.

His beat-up van jerks when he puts it into park. The door on the side squeaks as the kids file out of it. Eddie’s does too, but you can’t hear it over him telling you to “sit tight.” 

You wait patiently in the passenger seat like you always do, smiling to yourself as the boy rushes around the hood to open the door for you. The hinges screech in protest. His wild curls billow in the wind as he smiles. “C’mon, sunshine. Our palace awaits.”

The group of you stand beneath the spinning neon sign he parked next to — glowing orange and white beneath a setting sun. Someone calls from across the parking lot, “Well, well, well. Look who it is.”

Your heads snap in the direction of the painfully familiar voice. 

Jason and the rest of his abnormally tall goons stand outside the new gym that just opened on the strip. The dark, vacant building wedged between The Palace and Family Video was no longer as scary as it used to be now that it was occupied. You were just hoping it’d be something more exciting. Forcing arcade nerds and gym bros into one spot feels like a crime.

“And they brought little miss wallflower, too,” Jason lilts with his pretty smile and straight teeth. His blonde hair is a darker shade of brown, damp with half-dried sweat. His lean form is unnaturally built underneath his white tank top and basketball shorts. 

It isn’t any wonder why he turned out to be such a raging douchebag. 

Someone so perfect needed at least one flaw.

“The gang’s all here, huh?” one of his other friends — Andy, you think — concurs from behind him, always in the boy’s shadow.

“Like what you see, fellas?” Eddie calls out from across the slab of pavement separating the group of you. He’ll never turn down an opportunity to take the piss out of the so-called jocks, all muscle and no brain. 

“What do we do when those assholes give us hell?” he’d often ask when you’ve had a particularly shitty day with them. “We give ‘em hell right back.”

Jason’s thin lips curl into a more mischievous smirk. His blue eyes are lighter in the golden sunlight, and they twinkle beneath the neon signs as he looks you up and down. “Yeah, actually,” he hums with his unabashed ogling. “I do.”

Mike’s lanky legs sidestep to stand ahead of you. He does it so swiftly, so instinctually, you don’t think he even really meant to do it. Despite the raven-haired boy halfway covering you, you cross your arms over your torso in a further attempt to keep yourself hidden. 

You feel so suddenly exposed in your frilly floral sundress — especially considering the only thing you wear to school is baggy jeans and baggier sweaters. You feel like you might as well be naked standing in front of them just now.

The younger boys stand on high alert as Eddie walks the short distance to Jason. The brief journey is made quicker when the blonde boy strides to meet him halfway. It’s a high school sort of standoff — neither particularly wanting to get physical because the real-life repercussions aren’t worth it. They just want to see who can piss each other off the most.

“She is pretty, isn’t she?” Eddie concedes with a grin, flashing you a brief glance over his shoulder. He turns away quickly at the sight of your wide, pleading eyes. He scrunches his nose in feigned sympathy. “I bet you’re real jealous, huh? Especially now that you’ve got nothing but your right hand keeping you company ever since Chrissy dumped your ass.”

“Watch it,” Jason warns through gritted teeth.

“I think I saw her riding around last week with Harrington, actually.”

The blonde boy’s sneakers scuff against the concrete as he takes a daring step closer. His piercing stare never wavers. “Don’t talk about Chrissy.”

“Don’t talk about my girl, and I won’t talk about yours,” Eddie retorts in lilt. And then, because he can’t help but twist the knife, he tilts his head to his shoulder and continues. “Well, I guess she’s not really yours anymore, is she?”

“I said don’t talk about Chrissy!” Jason repeats, louder than before, when he lets his anger get the best of him. One hand shoots up to shove at Eddie’s chest, using only enough force to make the boy stumble slightly back. 

While Dustin, Lucas, and Mike gear up for a fight, Eddie only laughs in response — big, boisterous, and boyish.

You don’t even realize you’re stepping in front of the group until you’re already doing it. The words seem to fly from your mouth without you even thinking about them. “Don’t touch him!” you shout. 

And even though it wasn’t particularly loud, it quiets in the mindless bickering all at once. Everyone turns to gape at you — Jason, Andy, Dustin, Eddie. Everyone is equally surprised by your outburst. Because you don’t speak. Ever. At least, not if you can help it. 

And it’s not because you don’t have anything to say, because you do. It’s just that your brain works too much, and your mouth can’t keep up with it sometimes. It’s easier just to be silent.

That’s what you’ve been known for ever since you were little. You went through all of it — the bullying, the sad eyes, the talks with teachers, the ‘is everything alright at home’s. Everything was fine, for the most part. Your childhood was equally as middling as everyone else’s. You just had a harder time being human than most people.

Jason smiles again, amused by your warning. “What was that, sweetheart?”

You swallow through a tightening throat. Your sweaty hands clench into balls at your sides. The words come out quieter than before, but no less meaningful. “I said… Don’t touch him.”

“Oh, so she does speak. Here I thought no one ever taught you how to,” the blonde boy laughs. You feel disgusting when his attention settles solely upon you. The lingering sick feeling is eclipsed by your gratitude that Eddie’s no longer in his line of fire. “I’m gonna be honest… I thought you were cuter when you were quiet.”

You don’t know what he means by that. You can’t tell if he’s being genuine, or if he thinks you care enough about what he thinks to slink back into your shell.

“Leave Eddie alone,” you retort drily.

He snorts. “Yeah? Or what?”

There’s a thousand words you want to say. You open your mouth to spit all of them at the boy across from you, but nothing comes out.

“Yeah,” Jason laughs at your silence. “That’s what I thought.”

You stand your ground when he walks towards you. His strides are slow and menacing, like he’s expecting you to back away. You might’ve if you were anywhere else — if Eddie wasn’t a couple feet away and the rest of your friends weren’t crowding behind you. You’re made somehow braver by their presence.

“This is a really cute dress, though, sweetheart,” the blonde boy compliments with a thin smirk. “You should dress like this more often. You know what? You’d really fit in at the strip club downtown— what’s it called?”

“Pink Paradise,” Andy answers without missing a beat.

Jason smacks his lips against his teeth. “That’s the one.”

“Is that the one your mom works at?” you wonder with your arms crossed over your chest. Your head tilts to your shoulder as you squint at him. “Is she still giving those two-for-one discounts?” 

Jason’s confidence stutters at your biting reply — even more so by the choked-back laughter accompanying it. Your boys don’t bother to hide their humored giggles, though the basketball team covers theirs by coughing into their fists.

“Ooh. I didn’t know you had such a much on you,” the blonde lilts as his blue eyes narrow. “I’m like… fifty percent more attracted to you now.”

“Leave Eddie alone,” you deadpan once more. “And go be a douchebag somewhere else.”

One of his friends breaks free from the pack. He’s tall, thin, and toned. He’s got the same haircut as Lucas: compact curls, squared off on the sides. You know him — Patrick McKinney. He’s the only one of Jason’s friends that was actually nice to you. Or, at the very least, he wasn’t a total asshole.

“Let’s go, man,” the boy ushers, nudging at Jason’s bicep. “Let’s go shoot some hoops or something. This isn’t worth it.”

You scoff out a laugh. “Oh, please— the only shooting Jason Carver does is into a kleenex. It’s why you were benched all last season.”

“I twisted my ankle!” the blonde boy defends, sounding weak and pathetic beneath the chorus of laughter as Patrick drags him away.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” you mutter, perhaps too quiet for him to hear, as Lucas pulls at your forearm to guide you in the other direction. His touch is still gentle — it would be uncharacteristic of him to be rough with you. It would also be a terrible idea with Eddie just a few paces behind the both of you.

The walk to The Palace is a silent one. There’s too much to say, and everyone’s just a little too amazed to say it. Eddie, however, never had a hard time killing a quiet. He rushes on long legs to match your quick strides, reaching you rather easily. 

“Hey, hey, hey— you okay, babe?” the worried boy wonders. He takes a gentle hold of your wrists when you reach the awning beneath the arcade. His chocolate gaze flits attentively over your form, nowhere near as leering as Jason had been. 

He can tell by your heaving chest and glassy eyes that you’re a little overwhelmed. When he takes your face in his hands, he finds that your cheeks are burning, too.

You nod into his warm palms in silent reply, back in the comfort of your shell all over again.

“What’d you do that for, huh?” Eddie singsongs with a quiet laugh. His thumb dances over your cheekbones as he grins at you. “You know I don’t like you getting involved with those assholes.”

“They don’t get to talk to you like that… Or put their hands on you,” you mutter. Despite your soft tone, Eddie can see the fury flashing in your eyes, getting angry about it all over again.

His smile widens — proud and hopelessly in love with you. “No. They don’t. Especially not with my girl around, huh?”

“Nope,” you murmur, popping the p. A sheepish grin pulls at your mouth, equally as proud and in love.

Eddie leans down to kiss you, guiding your mouth to his with the hands cupping your jaw. It’s innocuously chaste, being that you’re still standing in a public parking lot. You could never quite stomach the attention of PDA, anyway. His pink lips lock with yours in a fleeting peck, and his arms wrap around you a second later.

He smothers you into his chest, and you revel in every second of it. He smells like cigarette smoke and the cologne he tried to cover it up with. He smells like a home you could live in forever. 

You smile into the thrifted Blondie tee you got him — which he happily accepted because he loves you (even though he hates Blondie). He presses a kiss into your hair and smushes his nose into the crown of it as he laughs.

“‘Is that the one your mom works at?’” Eddie repeats with a soft chuckle, chest swelling with pride once more. “God, babe. That’s good.”

“Shut up…” you murmur.

“I’m serious! I didn’t know you were such a good smack-talker! I think you might be a genius, actually.”

“Don’t,” you grouse with a lighthearted scowl. You pull away from him only slightly — enough for him to put your face back in his hands again. You feel safest there, even if you are pouting up at him.

“You’re so cute,” the boy muses with a beam. His eyes glimmer like a sea of chocolate syrup, melting with all the love he has for you. “You’re like a cinnamon roll. A cinnamon roll that could bite people.”

“That’s exactly what I am,” you monotone and try your best not to smile.

Eddie couldn’t hide his grin if he tried. “And that’s exactly why I love you.”

[sh1-n0bu]

✿ 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙩 ✿

characters: self aware!acheron x isekai!gn!reader, slight dan heng x reader to the end

warnings: fluff, poor attempt at humor, consumption of alcohol, lying (from dan heng), brief appearance of playable characters, description of acheron test run, reader is isekaid into the hsr world and is just trying to live their life, reader is referred to as aeon of life and your excellency

notes: just had a shower thought and remembered acheron interaction from the cosmodessy event and BOOM! part 2 of dragon fic is on the work i swEAR PLS DONT EAT ME the divider is from @/rookthornesartistry

“hmm…”

what a tricky situation. acheron had been wandering through the dreams of penacony to find out about the truth of the oak family. or at least, finding some hint and cases that has been silenced by the family. but on the way…

“i seem to be lost”

yes, the amnesiac galaxy ranger had found herself lost once more. she had briefly agreed with the astral express to meet them later at the clockie statue of golden hour, but the poor woman was now wondering which way is which and which direction she should be heading towards. oh well, she’ll figure it out later. right now, she needed to know where she was or attempt to find a familiar face.

looking around herself, acheron could hear the faint sound of jazz playing further down one of the halls. there also seem to be other people there as she could make out laughter and murmuring of people alongside the scent of alcohol wafting through the air.

a bar, perhaps?

quietly, she makes her way to the end of the hall, opening the double doors and coming to what she guessed was a bar. it did indeed seem like it, though just maybe a bit smaller than the usual grand and bright neon sign filled ones at the golden hour. briefly, the woman takes a moment to look around, hoping to find a familiar face. there was a bartender behind the bar, a halovian mixing a drink. perhaps she could ask her—?

a familiar colored hair catches acheron’s attention just as she was about to make her way over to the bartender. there, far away from the crowd of people at one of the seats sat the aeon of life. their back turned to others, seemingly running away from attention as they hunch over their table. acheron had never personally met the aeon of life before but she had felt their warmth, heard some snippets about them through the trailblazer and during an odd battle she was forced to fight in and have seen glimpses of their visage through the screen that the trailblazer allowed her to.

when acheron was first teleported to some theme park of penacony, she wondered if someone had kidnapped her. but when the ranger tried to move herself, she had found it impossible. until she did. someone or something was controlling her body, making her draw her blade and fight, yet she found it hard to hate the puppeteer. it felt… warm. to the lone galaxy ranger, this odd puppeteer of hers gave her a warm feeling, like being gently cradled by the sun. gentle and kind as the puppeteer moves her around, muffled gasps of awe and words of admiration falling onto her ears. this puppeteer of hers’ voice sounded gentle, soothing her heart, filling the loneliness of her soul. as quickly as it came, it disappeared and she was back in her room at the reality of the hotel.

when she briefly mentioned of this incident when she met welt of the astral express, he simply smiled with a knowing expression. the older man had told her about the aeon of life — or at least their reborn mortal self — and how they would sometimes guide some people to help them solve their problem or to bless them with more strength. most of the times though, these people were pathstriders, he told her.

and now here she was, in the flesh, being able to see the aeon of life themself.

quietly, the ranger makes her way towards the hunched over aeon. they seem to have had some glasses of drinks, the ice in them melting inside the glass as they lay their head on their arms, one hand wrapped around the glass of their next drink.

meanwhile, you try to fight back some sleep. drowsiness falling over you due to all sorts of drinks you’ve consumed. though, most were alcohol free, they still managed to knock you down a peg. must be the secret of being penacony dreamscape drinks or something. or maybe it was just siobhan’s specialty. she seemed very skilled in the art of free mixing.

the faint sound of heels clacking catches your attention though, making you stop and take a moment to listen carefully. not so soon after, the sound stops right behind you, along with a faint presence behind your back. you try to play asleep, hoping the person would just buy the act and leave you alone. ever since you were isekaid into the star rail world, people have been clamoring for your attention left and right. you came to penacony with the express in hopes of blending within the bright lights and dazzling signs of the dream world for people to ignore you and give you some time to breathe.

though, the presence continues to stay. lingering just behind you.

gulping, remembering an iconic meme back from your world, you slowly get up from your laying position and turn your head around to see who it was.

“YAAGHH—!” you yelp out loud, nearly shrieking as you jump from your seat when you saw acheron just silently staring at you, a bit closer than what you would prefer. the woman blinks, eyeing you carefully as she takes in your appearance. meanwhile, you hold a hand over your heart to calm the rapid beating of it.

breathing in and out, you eventually manage to calm yourself down. keeping an awkward eye contact with the ranger, you reach out to your unfinished glass of drink, taking a long sip from it. all the while, acheron continues to hold this somewhat awkward stare down.

“a-acheron, what are you doing here? you scared the shit out of me” you say, now finally calm after that last gulp of your drink. the woman’s exposed purple eye widens slightly, as if she was surprised by the fact you knew her. ah right, you two haven’t officially met each other in the flesh. so of course it will come off as weird to the galaxy ranger.

“i appear to be lost, your excellency” she replies, noting the unusual hue of your eye. it had a ring of gold in it, making you look otherworldly. but in this life where people can easily travel from one world to the other, that wasn’t exactly a compliment enough to say that you looked beautiful.

right, you remembered now that acheron had a tendency to forget things very easily and she would continue to be amnesiac until she draws her blade.

“well… where do you need to go then?”

the two of you have made your way out of siobhan’s bar, out of the dreamscape reverie hotel and towards the golden hour as she had said. but first you made little detours in your walk, stopping a few memory zone memes that has become unstable — during the whole time, acheron had told you to stay behind her so you would be safe — taking your time to admire the scenery of the dreamscapes before you two finally made it to the golden hour. it was buzzing, bustling with people from all over the galaxy and street vendors raising their voices to catch someone’s attention.

seeing a floating ice cream at the other end of the street, acheron steps onto the road without looking.

“ache, watch out!” you quickly reach out, holding her hand and yanking her back to yourself as a speeding car nearly runs her over. warm. you felt warm to the touch, gentle in the way you handled her as if she was made of glass. tender, almost, like a lover would hug another to their heart. she liked the way you hugged her, even though it was one born out of protective instinct.

“are you okay?” you ask, squeezing her bicep gently to take her attention. acheron turns her head to look at you, nodding her head that she was fine. everyone would be fine if they were in your protection after all. warm, safely tucked into your loving embrace.

“ache” she spoke suddenly, taking your attention back to herself. “you called me ache, your excellency. do you like the nickname?” the ranger asks, having never received any nicknames from others. this was her first time, having lost everyone she was close to and being forced to walk a lonely road until she caught the gaze of nothingness itself. even if she did indeed had gained nicknames from others before, she had long forgotten them. so this newfound form of kinship in you, in being given something intimate to be referred to by someone, brought a feeling of joy to the lonely ranger.

“i mean… do you like it?” you ask, looking at her face if she would give away any indication that she disliked it. to which you saw nothing. only the faint smile growing on her face. you liked that look on her face. the brooding, sad, melancholic look that she usually wears never fitted her. but when she did that, had a small smile on her face with a face of contentment, it seemed to suit her much better.

“mhm” acheron simply nods, an odd feeling of childish glee in her heart at the thought of having earned an intimate nickname. not from just anyone, but from you — the aeon of life, the very first living being that came to existence and decided to bless other lifeless things into meaningful ones. the aeon of life whose love and care held no bounds, reaching all over galaxies and world — even to ones that were distant and lone — embracing them in your love and care.

acheron liked the nickname “ache”. a heron liked to enjoy her time beside you. with you.

holding hands, eating floating ice creams and magical popcorns, the two of your take your sweet time during your detour to the clockie statue in golden hour. some people stopped you to ask for your autograph or a selfie together. it had become a common thing for you to experience ever since you got isekaid into this world.

the way you stopped to laugh at acheron’s face, where she had undoubtedly made a mess when eating her newly favorite peach flavored ice cream, the way you took out a napkin, wiping away the mess from her lips in such a tender manner caught the attention of a certain bloodhound. gallagher watched, jealous and other unknown bitter feelings swirling inside him as he watches your “date” with acheron from a bit away. he didn’t understand why he was so jealous. he was already in your grace, having come home to you many times while the ranger hadn’t came home to you even once.

but coming home, being in your grace and going on dates with you and holding hands were two completely different things. maybe he should invite you to come over at siobhan’s bar more.

finally, the pair of you made it to the clockie statue. when nearing to your destination, you felt the metal clawed hand of acheron tightening around yours. she seemed sad over the fact she had to let you go. it was nice to be beside you. holding hands, making jokes, feeling of belonging and comfort easily sweeping over her in waves that she never felt before. and yet she had to let go now. the express members were looking at you two weirdly.

“it’s alright, ache. we’ll go on more walks together later, okay? you have my phone number after all. you can text me if you want” your soothing voice graces her ears, filling the empty void of her heart. the woman remembers now. you gave her your number on the way here.

nodding, very reluctantly, acheron’s hands lets go of yours. immediately she wanted to reach out to hold your hand again, to feel the warmth of the sun from your skin again. but she holds herself back, afraid that she might scare you off with how forward she may come off as.

“see you later!”

“aaah… hopefully, today won’t be filled with creepy stalkers or annoying fans running after me…” you groan out, slumped over on one of the seats at the theme park. there wasn’t much people around, even if there were, the people here were too immersed in the exhilarating experience of the theme park. this place really was the world of dreams, huh…

“good afternoon, everyone. this is the ipc broadcast, coming back with news from all over the galaxy” one of the radios that was placed around the theme park speaks up, the familiar voices of the two npc’s coming through to catch some gossip loving folks’ attention.

“yesterday, at the world of dreams penacony, many people have reported to seeing their excellency, the aeon of life, going on a date with a certain mysterious purple haired woman” oh fuck no. no more gossip regarding the most basic things you do. please, no more scandals.

“some reports have stated that their excellency was sighted holding hands and going around one of the most famous dreamscapes of penacony — the golden hour — in a seemingly intimate date with the woman” it wasn’t a date! besides, people were too damn invested into your life.

groaning and silently spewing curses under your breath, you tune out the rest of the news broadcast, instead focusing on the taste of soulglad in your hand. at least there weren’t anyone around to bother you today. or anyone to spook you by just silently standing behind you. breathing down your neck, quietly standing there as if waiting for you to slowly turn around with “it’s behind me, isn’t it?”.

wait that’s too specific.

“your excellen—“

“whAT THE FUCK?!” safe to say, you jumped out of your seat when the familiar soothing voice of dan heng reached your ears. some people around turned to give you a weird or concerned stare.

“dan heng?! the hell are you doing here? aren’t you supposed to be back at the express?” you choke out, thankfully having not thrown your glass of soulglad in your fright. in return, the quiet dragon only tilts his head slightly, a sheepish look on his face. he lowkey reminded you of a puppy with that face…

“i came here to check on the other express members. they weren’t replying to me in the group chat. and now—“

“— and now you’re lost” you finish for him, waiting, keeping an eye contact to see if he would deny or agree. to which he simply nodded his head as slight pink hue spread over his cheeks.

“alright where do you need to go?”

“the golden hour, clockie statue”

“alright, alright. jeez, what’s up with you guys always meeting up at the statue?”

“uhm… your excellency?”

“yeah?”

“can we… hold hands?”

tomorrow, another hit news was broadcasted by the ipc broadcast, speaking of how the aeon of life was spotted going on another date with a young, handsome man from the astral express.

[fuctacles]

Hearing is important

For @steddiemicrofic "plug" | 437 | no cw | musician Eddie, crushes, pre-relationship | thanks @blasvemous for the idea 🥰

"Soundcheck in five! where the fuck is Eddie?!"

Eddie Munson was everywhere. Because somewhere in this fucking venue, there had to be a spare set of earplugs. He kept asking around, everyone had their own noise-canceling headphones on, but someone told him about spare cheap foam plugs in the green room.

He burst in there, grabbed a handful, and was now running around leaving a trail of neon foam pieces behind, searching for something better. He inevitably runs face-first into Chrissy's clipboard. 

"Eddie!" She grabs his shoulder in a vice-tight grip, her manicured nails surely leaving a bruised indent in his skin. "We need you for sound check!"

"Well, I need ear protection for Steve, because he's being stupid!" he huffs back, and her glare softens. 

Her eyebrows crease together while she holds his vibrating form anchored to their plane of existence.

"Did you check the green room?"

"Yes!" He waves the fistful of earplugs, and it's a good thing they're best friends, because he'd get decked otherwise. 

"Try the security room, I'll check with roadies."

He nods, and they move in separate directions, each with their own quest.

"Do the sound check without Eddie, something came up but he'll be there asap," Eddie hears Chrissy's voice in his ear. Sometimes, he wishes they didn't have unfortunate homosexual crushes on their friends so that they could become the perfect unproblematic heterosexual power couple. But alas. Steve and Robin existed and were fucking hot. 

Eddie was about to interrupt the broad men clicking through camera footage when he heard someone yell:

"Sir! Mr. Munson!"

And he turned his head to see a green-haired guy waving at him. He wears the same walkie and ear equipment as the rest of the staff so he takes a step back to look at him inquisitively. The guy waves a pair of headphones in the air and Eddie perks up with hope. 

"Heard you were looking for some ear muffs. I carry them around in case of panic attacks," he says once they reach each other. Eddie hesitates. 

"Are you sure it's okay?"

The man shrugs. 

"Just give them back to me at some point. I'm CJ, the staff knows me." He pushes the earmuffs into his hands. 

"Okay, shit, thank you so much!" Eddie grins, squeezing his arm in thanks. "I'll make sure they get back to you!"

And then he's off to find Steve. 

Steve, the lovely dumbass who said he doesn't need earplugs, he'll just take his hearing aid off. 

But Eddie needs him to hear the 'I love you' he's going to say once he grows a pair. 

[str4ngr]

7 minutes in heaven with yuuji please?

long time waiting.

y. itadori. | my drug, my addiction.

cw: suggestive, foul language, mutual pining, pre-relationship, college a.u., party setting, gn! reader. wc: 542. notes: hes such a cutie. dont drink under age guys. not proofread

"Your turn!"

It was a voice you were unfamiliar with, but most voices were at such a crowded party. You sighed, taking the empty liquor bottle and spinning it. You had your eyes on someone.

Taking a deep breath, a prayer and desperate plea for the opening of the bottle to point a specific someone, you hold the center and send the bottle spinning. Cheering roars around you, the sharp noise of the glass spinning on the tile floor as each second passes, the rotation slowing down. slowing down. Slowing down. Stop. Your eyes blow wide as you look up, to your left, the pink-haired boy grinning at you foolishly.

"Itadori!"

⋆

Fuck. Yes. Itadori was so excited to come to this party when Kugisaki told him you would be there. Boy, did that excitement skyrocket when she dragged him to play spin the bottle, smirking as she cocked her head in your direction. He bolted to sit near you, not beside you because the idea of being that close to you would really not help him hide the already forming tightness in his pants.

His eyes bore into your face, the smooth curves of your cheek, how the neon lights scattered throughout house perfectly glittered through your irises.

"If you're whipped, just admit it,"

Kugisaki snickered into his ear, her hot breath not helping his overwhelming fantasy of you. He shot her a glare, immediately forgetting everything about her teasing when he hears your sheepish laugh. Itadori couldn't look at anything but you, your slightly loopy smile, your hand reaching out to—

"Spin the bottle!"

⋆

Itadori didn't even know the word hesitation as he eagerly grinned at you, dragging you too your feet as the two of your drunkenly stumble into a closet meant to fit only one of you.

Was he always this tall? Were his muscles always this evident? Oh, my god, was he---

"Fuck, I've been waiting for this,"

He sighs into your jaw, his hands cradling your head, desperate eyes gleaming down at yours as his head tilts to the side, tail wagging between his legs,

"please."

How could you say no?

It was so hot, and it was so over seven minutes. His lips left you no space to breathe, neither did the musky smell of booze and his cologne. It was utterly intoxicating, the skillful dance between your tongues, the way his fingertips desperately teased the hem of your top, rough paddings tapping against your blazing skin.

His lips, his touch, it all made you forget your own name as you called his, so close together there was nothing else you could do but kiss. Finally opening your eyes, you saw only the upper half of his face, the way his brows pinched to the center of his forehead, his pales skin, rippling around his eyes as they were screwed shut.

"Focus on me,"

Itadori whispered. He was possessive, making your mind buzz from how well he toyed with you to keep your head thumping with the thought of him. You were--- are. Your eyes fluttered closed again, only wiggly, chaotic lines linger on the back of your eyelids the only sight you had as every other sense became overwhelmed.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆

"They're not coming out, are they?"

notes: erm.... might fatten this baby out another time...

[lunamugetsu]

House Husband Danny

(Remember this post I made: Danny is a househusband. Well I decided to make it into a story) Crossposted from AO3. Here's a link

Location: Unknown, Date: Unknown

Three figures emerged from a glowing pit of green water, gasping for air as they dragged themselves out.

A man with dark skin was breathing heavily and went to shake the pale man with dark hair that was still unconscious. He paused as another hand was raised motioning for him to stop. He looked over at the women with long black hair.

“He’s tired, let him rest.” She said

“What are we going to do?” the woman merely smiled as she turned to fix the damp hair that was covering the unconscious man’s face.

“Simple… Danny will rest and heal…and we will live like the rulers we are.” She turned to look at her other partner.

“Yes… we will,” he confirmed as they both smiled while looking at their love.

Present Day

Danny hummed as he put away the newly washed dishes from dinner.

Ah, how nice it was to be in a home where the food didn’t come alive and try to declare war on him.

One less thing to worry about.

Now that dinner was eaten and leftovers were put away. He could focus on the package that came in the mail, he had been waiting for it for weeks.

Tucker and Sam had called ahead to say that they were working late.

What a shame.

Danny sat down in the living room and turned on the tv while cracking open the package.

“This is Lois Lane reporting for the Daily Planet! Breaking news as the Justice League members Superman and Wonder Woman are fighting off villains in Metropolis! They have been identified as the new villains: Upload and Nightshade. They made their first appearance known to the world a couple months ago- JIMMY LOOK OUT!”

The camera shook for a moment before stabilizing showing Superman was holding onto Lois Lane and Wonder Woman was holding onto the cameraman.

“It’s not safe here, please evacuate to a safer area.” Superman said before speeding off with Wonder Woman following close behind.

“Jimmy get a shot! That’s Nightshade!” the reporter said pointing to a large plant-like monster made of vines and thorns that was the size of a skyscraper. The cameraman zoomed in on the figure that was currently sitting on the monster’s shoulder. A woman with long black hair that appeared as if it was almost floating in an ethereal manner. She was a pale woman wearing a black skintight bodysuit with matching thigh high boots, black bandages were wrapped around her forearms while her hands lit up with a neon green energy along with her eyes. Nightshade smiled, turning to look straight into the direction of the camera before saying some words that the camera couldn’t pick up before humongous vines started filling up the camera’s screen, the sound of screaming could be heard before the feed was cut.

“That doesn’t look good,” Danny commented before turning back to the open package.

Ooh, that fabric did feel as soft as it was advertised! He better try it on to see it fit. He knew he checked the measurements before placing the order but still, mistakes always happened. He was also still a little hungry, perhaps some fruit from the fridge would be good.

It was a couple of minutes before the for the news to come back on. Danny sat down on the couch, sporting a plate of fruit with a side of whipped cream to dip it in. He plopped one into his mouth as the tv started airing the news again.

The camera lens managed to stay undamaged as the camera man and the reporter were taking cover behind the corner of a building focusing on the figure that was currently standing in front of a fallen Superman that was grimacing as the green light from the glowing rock in the figure’s gloved hand seemed to intensify. It also didn’t help that there appeared to be a set of special cuffs that were encasing the superheroes hands, forcing them together.

“And here I was thinking that defeating you couldn’t be that easy… well then again. Can’t expect a superhero to just not react to their greatest weakness. Kryptonite wasn’t really hard to track down who had a stash of these, it was even easier to take it. ” The figure was a man with dark skin with long dreadlocks and was wearing a visor that covered hi eyes from view. He wore a long coat with short sleeves letting people see the robotic gloves that went up all the way up his arms. The camera picked up a hum emanating from the robotic arms and crack of electricity.

“Why? Why are you doing this, Upload?” Superman said as he made to force himself to stand despite his bound hands.

“Hmm, wealth, fame, power, pettiness, destroying all the buildings I want without needing to pay for it, or maybe I just don’t like people who call themselves heroes,” Upload said as he moved to the side as Wonder Woman was thrown into a building.

“Truly, I thought they’d give more of a challenge,” Nightshade commented as the plant-monster then slammed a hand down onto Wonder Woman encasing the superhero in vines  making it practically impossible for the woman to rip out of.

Danny hummed as he looked at the news.

He should probably help… he stuck a strawberry into his mouth.

“How do you think we should do this, Nightshade? Slowly and methodical, or fast and exciting?” Upload turned to look at Nightshade.

“Obviously, something with mo-“

RING! RING! RING!

The two supervillains looked towards each other. Upload taking out a phone from his pocket while Nightshade motioned for the plant monster to give her, her bag so she could take out her phone.

“Hello/Hello.” Thy said answering their phone in unison.

“You’re hungry?” Nightshade asked.

“We did say we were working late, you’re welcome to eat out if you want- huh? I mean, what are you wearing?” Upload said

The two paused and looked at each other.

“The thing you ordered a couple weeks ago?” Upload said, “the red one?”

“That’s made with silk?” Nightshade hands were clenching down onto her phone.

“And you’re eating,” Upload looked over at Nightshade.

“Strawberries and whipped cream,” She said.

Ding! Ding!

The two turned to their phone at having received a message. The villains looked at their phone  and then to each other.

“We’ll be there in ten!” they said in unison before putting away their phones.

It happened quickly.

With a wave her hand, all of the plants started retreating back away from the superheroes while saying some words that the camera couldn ’t pick up and a portal opened right next to her.

Meanwhile Upload placed the kryptonite into a contain while hitting some buttons that were on his gloves and the cuffs that were on Superman unlocked and fell off the man ’s wrists.

Nightshade motioned for the now human-sized plant monster to walk through the portal while Upload was walking up to her.

“Wait! Where do you think you’re goin-” Wonder Woman and Superman held their ears as a loud sound echoed out a tool that Upload threw on the ground.

“Oh no! How dare you heroes foil our evil plan!” Nightshade said in a dead tone before grabbing Upload by his collar, “c’mon we gotta go!”

The two ran into the portal, disappearing out of sight, leaving nothing but the aftermath of the destruction of the fight they had with the two heroes.

“I’m sorry, what the heck just happened?!” Lois Lane said, turning to look at the camera.

Danny hummed as he turned off the tv and took his plate of food with him as he got off the couch.

He needed to get upstairs, after all, Sam and Tucker weren’t going to be working late after all.

The man sat himself into the master bedroom, it had a bed that was an Alaskan King size. Largest size of bed they could find, could easily fit a whole family of four on it. He didn’t even know beds came in that size.

Danny continued humming as he settled himself down in the middle of the bed. The sheets were made of Egyptian cotton. Ethically sourced, of course. Sam wouldn’t stand sleeping on something that was made by a company that destroyed the environment while simultaneously overworking and underpaying their employees. Tucker had come to the rescue, buying a set of sheets on his last trip from Egypt. They had to custom order it especially since their bed didn’t fit the common dimensions that mass production usually went by.

But he wasn’t complaining, the bed was really… nice.

He laid back against the pillows, wearing nothing but the little red number that came in the mail that day.

He dipped a strawberry into the whipped cream and took a bite out of it. Giving a hum as he enjoyed the taste. It was so nice not to have to worry about anything. No ghosts trying to kill him, no government agency trying to track him down to vivisect and kill him, no parents trying to shoot, vivisect, and kill him- Danny wondered if that was a normal amount of people to have to want to kill him.

Whatever, it didn’t matter anymore.

He smiled as he heard the sound of the front door being slammed open and shut followed by a furious pattering sound of feet going up the stairs. He hoped they’d taken their shoes off when they got in. He just vacuumed the house that afternoon.

The door to the bedroom opened with a bang as he saw Sam and Tucker, wearing their civilian clothing that they had clearly just thrown on with no thought of whether or not they should straighten out any of the clothes or at least to check if they put on their shirt inside out. It was a rule though, never bring work home, it always brought trouble. They had enough trouble dealing with ghosts to last a lifetime, let alone the afterlife.

“I’m hungry,” Danny said while taking  a bite of a strawberry and licking off cream that caught on his lip. He could see them already looking at his mouth and trailing their eyes across the new article of clothing he was wearing.. The man curled his finger to motion for them to come closer.

“Come and feed me.” He smiled as his partners joined him in bed.

Ah, it was so nice when his partners didn’t work late nights.

[dilatorywriting]

Pity Party

Gender Neutral Reader x Malleus Draconia Word Count: 3.3k

Summary: 'I'm going to do it,' you thought triumphantly. 'I'm going to invite Malleus Draconia to the next Unbirthday Party as my date.' And naturally, the Universe in all its infinite omnipotence, went 'lol bet.'

A/N: A very fun commission for the lovely @toast-tales

“Heartslaybul is having another one of their Unbirthday Parties this Friday,” you said, a bit stilted but enthusiastic nevertheless. “And I was thinking—well, it was just a thought! But! Maybe it’d be nice if we, y’know, went together?” You finished, looking up from beneath your lashes at the looming figure before you.

The Gargoyle, naturally, did not respond. A sound rejection if ever there was one.

But! That attempt had sounded really good, hadn’t it? Totally natural and everything! Not a single stutter, fainting episode, or bought of nervous vomiting to be seen!

“Okay,” you muttered, pacing back and forth as you diligently fought the urge to ring your hands. “Okay, okay, okay. I can do this. It’s just, like, two sentences—Three? Was that three?—Doesn’t matter! Focus! It’s not that hard!”

You circled and circled around the alcove. It was a familiar little corner, for all that you’d only ever seen it in the dark of the evening. This was where you’d meet up with Malleus for your nighttime rendezvous. Normally you didn’t bother popping by for at least another hour, but you needed all the practice you could get. And while, yes, the stone carvings overhead were hardly the best conversational partners, it was easier to practice your totally smooth pickup skills on their emotionless faces than, like, Grim. Or God forbid, Ace and Deuce. 

It was only Malleus, you reassured yourself yet again—your kindly, awkward, fey friend with the social awareness of a two-centuries-old potato. It was one thing to know, or at least assume, that he’d be sweet enough to take your offer in stride. It was another entirely to imagine the Briar Prince’s blank ass face saying something genuinely well-intentioned but harsh like ‘that doesn’t sound like a particularly riveting way to spend my afternoon,’ and immediately crushing your soul into itty bitty bite-sized pieces. It was an all too easy scene to picture, as you’d done at least a hundred times since your heart had set itself on its intentions.

You just—maybe just a bit more time. Yes. One more round of practice (perhaps two), and then you’d be ready. Like the Overblots, or whatever. Those hardly phased you at all anymore! It only took repetitive, mind rending, exposure therapy. That would do it. You just needed the teeniest bit more time to—

“Ah—Child of Man. I wasn’t expecting to see you here so earl—”

You jolted back with a truly heinous squawk and wheeled gracelessly into the stone pillar at your rear. You weren’t exactly a force of nature or anything, but the column hadn’t looked all that stable to begin with. So your frantic flailing took its toll, and the great, rock, beam creaked and fell. The Gargoyle perched atop it (the very one you’d been propositioning for the past half hour or so) crashed to the ground with an echoing BOOM and a cloud of debris fit to choke an elephant.

The poor thing lay in the dirt in pieces, its regal countenance split right down the middle. And Malleus Draconia, noted aficionado of all things carved from stone, looked two steps away from having an actual aneurism. So you hurriedly buried your invitation back in the depths of your brain and quickly went about carrying out the inanimate-object-equivalent of CPR.

“I think I have some super glue back in Ramshackle,” you offered. Even though you knew well enough that he could probably wave his hand and undo the entire thing. But it was the thought that counted, right?

“Supered Glue?” Malleus parroted, his neon eyes darting back and forth between you and the shattered gargoyle like you’d just offered him some mystical panacea. You nodded along and scuttled off in the direction of your dilapidated dorm.

‘Tomorrow,’ you promised yourself, as you rifled through your miscellaneous utilities drawer, tossing around rolls of tape and wads of too-thin elastic bands. ‘Tomorrow I’ll ask him.’

.

.

The next morning, you sat in Potion’s Class with the tacky remnants of last night’s nonsense dried along your fingertips. You sneezed and something ground unpleasantly behind your ear. You reached up to pluck a stray bit of gravel from your hair and flicked it aside.

Normally you tried to give Crewel’s lectures the entirety of your focus, primarily because you respected the man and wanted him to like you. And also, y’know, from the very rational standpoint of not wanting to lose your eyebrows or dignity when an incorrectly brewed potion exploded in your face. But today you were stuck in the clouds, replaying scenario after scenario and wondering what your next step in the whole ‘Ask The Crowned Prince of An Entire Nation Out to Lunch’ situation should be.

Your neck was itching again, and you scrubbed around mindlessly before pulling out another bit of gargoyle debris and tossing it. It bounced harmlessly off Jack’s shoulder.

“Did you get all that?” Your beastman friend asked, beginning the tedious process of organizing your group workstation for the day.

“Oh? Yes. Of course,” you nodded, not having heard a single word of what was going on. You grabbed your little instructions pamphlet for the day and made your way towards your own stool.

Jack turned and narrowed his yellow eyes at you in a way that clearly let you know that that superhuman schnoz of his had sniffed out your bullshit a mile away, but you generally had a better track record than the rest of the first years, so thankfully he let it slide.

Without further ado, you went about heating, and mixing, and tempering. And by the end, the pair of you had a lovely, silver, concoction that popped and fizzled like cola. Professor Crewel paused in his rounds of the rows to stare into your cauldron with an impassive sort of look that could have meant anything from ‘Content’ to ‘Outright Murder.’ Your eyes hastily flickered around the room, but everyone else’s potions looked liked Mercury Sprite too, so you couldn’t have been in too much trouble. You dipped the testing spoon into one of the bubbliest bits and brought it to your mouth to take a teeny sip. It tasted alright, and you smacked your lips as you tried to identify the flavor.

“Well?” The professor droned, crossing his arms over his chest in a fashion that looked entirely unimpressed. “How is it?”

You opened your mouth to reply and nothing came out but static. Literal static. Like you were some overloaded, old, plug—spitting sparks and whiny, high-pitched, nonsense that was most definitely an indication of some sort of fire risk.

Crewel hummed in that self-satisfied sort of way of his—the sort that was only mastered by those who were in the habit of being proven right during every, single, catastrophe.

“The Tickled Tongue recipe is fairly straightforward, you see,” he explained, stepping closer with a languid swishswish of his large overcoat. “It’s difficult to alter without any remarkable change or err. However,” he droned, “it is incredibly similar to the Stone Tongued Elixir. Do you know what the one, unique, ingredient in that brew is in comparison to our assigned project today, Prefect?”

You sighed fuzz.

“Stone,” he said, reaching out to pluck another bit of gravel from your hair.

Crewel brushed his hands against his vest and you debated if it’d be worth it to try jumping out of the window and escape while you still had at least some face.

“I’ve been kind enough to look the other way when you break curfew so that you may continue your… nightly excursions with a certain upperclassman,” he droned, and that open window was looking even more tempting. “But please at least give me the courtesy of cleaning up the evidence before attending my class in the mornings, yes?”

“Yes, sir,” you tried to say, but it just sounded like a busted landline.

.

.

“Hello, Child of Man,” Malleus beamed, his lips curling pleasantly at the corners. His usual trio were flanking his hind, all watching with varying degrees of interest that ranged from sharp curiosity (Lilia) to outright hostility (Sebek).  “Would you care to accompany me for lunch?”

You opened your mouth and all that came out was the fucking AOL dial tone.

Lilia doubled over laughing and Malleus tilted his head at you like a dog listening to a whistle tone.

“Pardon?” He blinked.

“BZZZZZZ,” you said, miserable, and Lilia just laughed harder.

.

.

‘Two days left,’ you reminded yourself miserably. You had just under forty-eight wretched hours to not only complete your initial Date Objective, but also somehow do that whole thing while making up for the ego-crushing failures of your first two failures.  

There was a Spelldrive match after classes today—another attempt for Leona to try and get one up on Malleus’s ‘Hall of Fame Worthy’ record before the pair of them aged out of the competition. And maybe that would be perfect! That was always sort of a Thing in teen movies, right? The big, heart wrenching, confession delivered on the field of whatever sport was in season. The fated couple lit all prettily beneath the glaring overhead lights and artfully drenched in a very timely shower of rain. This whole situation was practically writing itself.

So you tucked yourself into a warm, cozy, sweater fit for the breezy day and inevitable aesthetic downpour, and went to sit out in the stands. Which was your first mistake, because the match was being held on Savanaclaw’s practice field. So immediately you could feel sweat pooling along your lower back and along your brow as the magical, overhead, sunshine did its best to seer the flesh right off your bones. Malleus moved to step out onto the field and you went to wave at him enthusiastically, only to catch sight of the giant pit stains steeped into your stupid sweater. The dark spots opened up like the gaping maw on a beast, determined to derive its entire sustenance from your embarrassment alone. You clamped your arms back down to your sides and immediately began questioning the universe at large. Were you a murderer in a past life? Someone who scammed old ladies out of their pensions? What other reason could there be for the entire fucking cosmos to just perpetually go ‘hey, how about we make things worse.’

The game was probably going well or something, but you were swimming in so much swampy body heat at this point that you were starting to get dizzy.

With a sigh, you pulled the cute, wool, deathtrap over your head and tossed it aside—ruffling your sweat sticky hair for good measure to try and get some airflow going. It wasn’t the most dignified look or whatever, sitting there in only the thin cotton undershirt of your uniform and half drowned in your own secretions, but at least you weren’t in imminent danger of dying of heat stroke anymore. You leaned back on your elbows with another much more contented sigh and gave yourself a moment to let the last of that hot nausea settle.

“Oi! You horned bastard! Watch where you’re—”

There was a swirl of spitting green sparks and you looked back out onto the field just in time to get absolutely decimated by a Spelldrive disc to the face.

.

.

“He really didn’t mean it,” Lilia said, but he was laughing so hard into his fist that it was hard to make out anything beyond merry gurgling. “In fact, he’s really very upset about the whole thing.”

You stared blankly at the off-white walls of the infirmary, wondering how it was possible for one person’s luck to be this bad.

“Where is he?” you asked. Your tongue felt thick and sluggish.

“I don’t think he would appreciate me saying that he was off hiding—pouting, even,” the fey tutted, floating up to sit cross-legged at your eyelevel. “But I don’t believe there’s a much more accurate way of putting it.”

“Why would he be hiding?” you trudged forward again, mouth still entirely uncooperative. “I wanted to ask him something,” you admitted, chronically dejected and acutely brain damaged.

“Did you now?” Lilia grinned, something mischievous and far too knowing lighting his wine-red eyes.

You nodded. You could feel the tug of the bandages around your forehead.

“Well, I’ll ask that you be patient with him,” he sighed fondly, reaching out to pat your cheek. “For all his years, our Prince is still a bit stunted.”

“Oh, please! He’s six and a half feet tall!” you complained.

Lilia laughed again, doubling over in the air and doing a full roll about—like a pill bug.

“Oh, dear,” he snickered, wiping a tear from his eye as he straightened back out to lounge upside down by one of the rafters. “You do deserve each other.”

.

.

This was it. The final countdown. Friday.

The Unbirthday Party was this afternoon, and with God and the Heavens as your witness, you would be dragging Malleus Draconia there with you if it was the last thing you did.

‘The hardest part is supposed to be the rejection,’ you thought bitterly. ‘Not that crap leading up to it. This is bullshit. I want a refund.’

But no, if the Universe was going to be so cruel to you, then you were just going to have to be needlessly paranoid and prepared in advance. You set aside two spare sets of clothing and an umbrella. You packed an entire feast’s worth of provisions in case a fucking hole decided to open up in the ground or something and trap you in a cave for a week. You scribbled a little ‘Would you please go with me to the Unbirthday Party today’ on not one, or two, but three separate notes. Each in a different pocket. And laminated. And, perhaps most daring of all, you walked up to Ace and Deuce that morning with a stiff upper lip and an even stiffer spine.

“I’m going to ask Tsunotarou to come to the Unbirthday Party today,” you told them, fighting the urge to twist your hands into your jacket sleeves.

“What?” Ace choked, just as Deuce stepped in to clobber him over the back of the head and tell you very sweetly that he was sure that the House Warden would appreciate that very much.

“You must like him a lot,” your blue haired friend said, polite but clearly also at least a little unnerved.

“Yeah,” you sighed miserably, thinking of each and every horrible failure as the world at large fought your stupid affections at every turn. “I guess I do.”

So you went about your day like a soldier trudging through a warzone—always at the ready for something unknowable to fuck you over yet again. You looked twice around every corner, always let someone else walk through a doorway first, immediately spritzed Azul in the face with a spray bottle when he tried to start a conversation. It wasn’t paranoia when you knew the universe was out to get you.

The school day was coming to an end and so far you’d managed to avoid any catastrophes. When you caught sight Malleus off in the distance, you had to fight down the sudden swell of dueling panic and hope that blocked off your throat. You made eye contact with the fey prince from across the near empty corridor and he seemed to straighten. You took a deep breath and took one step forward, then another.

“Tsunotarou!” you called cheerfully. “I was wondering if you—”

“FIRE!” Crowley wailed, careening around the corner with all the urgency of someone who very much genuinely cared about the safety of their school and all its inhabitants. Which was outright ridiculous. His glowing, golden, eyes locked on you like you’d been the target of this caterwauling all along, and you wanted to scream. “Ah! My most darling and favorite of Prefects! You have to help! There’s a fire in—”

“No,” you snarled, like some great monster of old. And you watched the Headmaster pale beneath his bird mask. You reached out to pat his shoulder with a pleasantly threatening thump. thump. thump. “I’m sure you’ll find a way to sort it out on your own, sir. Have a lovely afternoon!”

And before you could chicken out, or something else could happen—like a tornado ripping the entire school up at its base and flinging you into Oz—you rushed forward and latched onto Malleus’s sleeve with a wide, panicked, sort of look in your eyes. Hisown eyes went round and wide, but he didn’t pull away, so step one complete.

“Please come to Heartslaybul’s Unbirthday Party with me!” You entreated. “As my date! With me! Together!” you word vomited, clutching at his sleeve even tighter.

“Oh,” Malleus breathed—those sharp, reptilian, pupils of his jumping into something soft and huge that swallowed the green of his irises in a sea of black. A pale, rose, pink crept along the tips of his pointed ears and you could feel your own cheeks blazing like a bonfire.

“Yup,” you nodded lamely, realizing you were still clutching his hand like a starving leper.

“Lilia had mentioned that you might…” he trailed off, gaze sliding to your fingers tangled beside his. “I hadn’t thought that—well…” He cleared his throat and stood to his full height with a puff that almost looked prideful. “Nevertheless,” he grinned, almost shy, and offered you his arm. “Shall we?”

You were going to die. Keel over. That would be the cosmos’s final strike against you. But though your heart beat like a rapid drum in your chest, you didn’t actually collapse in cardiac arrest. Your blood felt warm, but not with fever. It was… You’d actually done it!

You fought the urge to squeal and instead ducked excitedly against Malleus’s side with a secret little fist bump. His arm wound snuggly through yours and you were still too high on the thrill of victory to even consider being embarrassed about it.

“It may surprise you to know,” he said as you walked together towards the Queen of Heart’s Dormitory. “That I actually was attempting to ask something similar of you for this past week as well.”

“Really?” you gaped.

He nodded. “But it seemed as though fate itself was conspiring against me. The first evening went poorly, and then the next day you’d been cursed into silence. And you even ended up injured during one of my attempts.”

“The Spelldrive disc?” you blinked.

“Unfortunately,” Malleus sighed, leading you towards the familiar rose gardens. Which were lovely as always, and perfectly well painted for the afternoon’s festivities, and—

And… also on fire.

“Well what do you know…” you mumbled as you watched a furious Riddle chase a screeching Ace through the flaming fields. Trey had his head in his hands. Cater was filming the whole thing with an artful smear of ash drawn across his cheek.

Malleus made a low rumble of discontentment and you immediately swung the pair of you around to start heading back towards the Mirror Chamber.

“Not to worry!” you beamed, pointedly jostling the full picnic lunch in your bag. Sure, it hadn’t ended up being a gaping hole that had dragged you straight into the bowels of the abyss, but hey. Hellfire was hellfire. “I came prepared.”

“So did I,” Malleus smirked, the points of his canines peaking out of his lower lip. He twisted his fingers and the pair of you were surrounded in puffs of floating, sparkling, green lights.

And despite the Universe technically, yet again, having come out on top and flipped you and your date the proverbial middle finger, you couldn’t find it in yourself to be too upset at all.

.

.

[little-annie]

It's in the kitchen of their shitty little 1.5 bedroom apartment that Eddie Munson continues to bemoan his roommates request for him to watch the 2024 Olympic Games with her this evening.

“Christine Henrietta Cunningham,” he starts with a sigh, wiping the reminentes of yet another YooHoo from his upper lip, leaning a narrow hip against the countertop's edge, “there is no way in hell you are getting me to watch the Olympics.”

Already wearing her team USA sweater, Chrissy tries to protest. Just as she did last night and the night before. For some reason thinking it's such a dire thing that Eddie watches the Olympics this year.

“First of all, not my middle name. Second-”

“You would literally have to glue my eyeballs open.”

“Second-” she tries again, voice stern, pointing a yellowed spoon in Eddie's direction as she dishes up a bowl of Kraft Dinner for them both.

“There is not now, nor will there ever be, any reason for me to watch juiced up jocks prance around and play any form of sportsball.”

There's so many reasons. Christ. Fuck. So many. But he's not telling Chrissy that. He'll watch the reruns when she's not home. He couldn't possibly be caught dead after last time.

“What about the swim-”

“Not even Gandalf himself,” Eddie interrupts, “-could convince me to waste my precious campaign planning time on such a thing.”

Following Chrissy to the living room, bowl of macaroni in hand, Eddie refuses to sit down next to her on the couch. He's not going to watch. Nope. Maybe sneak a peak in passing? Sure. But not watch. Are you kidding me?

“What a about To-”

The metal spoon that was once in Eddie's hand chatters to the floor as he mock gasps. Neon yellow noodles on the tile that the cat comes running over to clean up, Eddie stands in abject horror. She wouldn't dare.

“Don't you dare say what I think you're about to say, Christine. My 2020 not obsession with Tom Daley shan't be spoken of. It was merely a blip in the system. A glitch in the matrix.”

He still thinks Tom Daley can get it. But that's neither here nor there. And what is there, is simply between Eddie and the well used bottle of lotion next to his bed.

Chrissy rolls her eyes, now sitting with her legs crossed on their ugly ass thrifted couch, patting the cushion next to her as if Eddie's a dog. “Eddie you literally watched every one of his ra-”

Races?

“I did not.”

Okay maybe we wanted to. Who wouldn't? But it's not like he obsessively watched every one of the man's races.

“... I missed two.” He admits Inna whisper.

And what a sheer travesty that'd had been

“Oh yeah. You missed two. Oh Edward, how could I forget?” After patting the cushion mindlessly next to her again and eating a spoonful of macaroni she faux whines, “‘Oh Chrissy, would you record the race for me? I don't want to miss it.’”

He doesn't sound like that.

“I do not sound lik-”

All pathetic and whiney? Eddie Munson doesn't sound like that.

“As if I would believe you actually gave two shits about the races you giant homo.” Chrissy rolls her eyes so hard Eddie's surprised she doesn't hurt her neck, “You just liked seeing those boys in spandex.”

Well…. She's not wrong. Sports are dumb. People playing sports for money is dumb. What the Olympics does to those cities in the aftermath of the event is dumb.

But she's not wrong.

Spandex

“…. I hate you”

“No you don't.” She smiles, blowing Eddie a kiss.

“Um. Yes I do.”

As if he could ever hate Chrissy.

Avoiding making eye contact with her as she continues to pat the cushion next to her and turning heel towards the hall, Eddie decides maybe it's just best to eat his supper in his room. Away from jockey spandex and its temptations, “Anyways. As I was saying. Fuck you and your jocky hobbies Chrissy.” Eddie yells from the hall, “My time is far too valuable to be wasted mindlessly drooling over arrogant jocks and their-”

In a sing-songy voice Eddie hears Chrissy call from behind him, “You're gonna want to watch this!”

He groans, turning back around from the journey he'd just started in the direction of his room, “I would rather di-” only to be caught short when a familiar mole dotted, spandex covered ass makes its way across his TV screen.

He'd recognize that ass anywhere.

Went to every goddamn swim meet at the stupid community pool to see that beautiful ass in motion for years.

He fawned over it in the halls of Hawkins High.

Drooled over it on the odd days he actually attended gym class. Tried to solely avoid eye contact with it when he found it bare and within reach in the change rooms only an hour later.

Fuck.

Eddie's knees feel weak and before he knows it he's climbing over the back of the couch, bowl of macaroni in his lap and mirroring Chrissy's position. Legs crossed. Eyes glued to the TV. Mindlessly eating chemicals that some big corporation somehow manages to pass off as macaroni and cheese.

“Is that Steve Harrington?”

Oh look at those moles.

Beautiful.

Those pecs?

Fucking hell.

“Christine!?” Eddie screeches from his position on the couch when Chrissy doesn't answer, just simply shrugs and smirks at him. The little devil. “Did I just see Harrington?”

“Told you, you'd want to see this.”

[spotlightstudios]

I miss him...

*dreamy sigh*

[dinodaweeb]

Saving You Again | one-shot

Miguel O’Hara X M!Reader

Summary: You’re a scientist who’s always in the wrong situation at the wrong time. Lucky your neighborhood (grumpy) spider-man is here to save the day.

Nueva York, 2099.

The towering skyscrapers and neon lights painted a vibrant picture of the future, but inside the sleek halls of Alchemax, things were as chaotic as ever.

“Not again,” Miguel muttered to himself as alarms blared through the building. He raced down the corridors, already knowing who was responsible.

You.

As he reached the lab, he found you surrounded by an enormous pile of ash and smoke, frantically trying to shut down an overloading machine.

“Move!” Miguel barked, shoving you aside with surprising gentleness before his hands flew over the controls, quickly stabilizing the system.

You looked up at him with a sheepish grin. “Thanks, Spider-man! Luckily you are bigger nerd than me.”

Miguel sighed, giving you a glare. “That’s not what matters.”

Despite his stern words, there was a softness in his eyes. This wasn’t the first time he’d had to save you from one of your own experiments. In fact, it had become a regular occurrence.

A bit too regular.

“Seriously, [Name],” Miguel continued, his tone exasperated yet affectionate. You got in trouble enough times Spider-man knew your name! (Or maybe it was on your name tag.)

“One of these days, you’re going to blow up the entire lab.”

You laughed, scratching the back of your head. “But then you wouldn’t have anything to do.”

Miguel rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t help the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Let’s just move you to a safer position.”

As he escorted you out of the lab, you slapped his shoulder with enthusiasm. Despite his gruff exterior, Spider-man always seemed to be there for you, protecting you from your own recklessness.

“Yo, Spidey! Next time we meet if you save me again we should go out to eat.”

The masked man stared at you, shook his head, and pinched the bridge of his nose. You thought that meant no but his reply was a tiny whisper.

“Sure.”

.—🕷️—.

The second time it happened, you were in the middle of recalibrating a plasma conduit. One wrong move sent the entire system into overdrive, and the containment field started to fail.

“Ahh! Fucking run guys!” you screamed, dodging a burst of energy.

The other scientists on your lab team dashed out of the room, exiting the building. You turned to leave but then spotted your manga comic you had been reading and didn’t finish.

You’re not wasting a good ten bucks of illustration and hot men!

A blast of power was hit in your direction but something grabbed your waist pulling backwards. You watched your manga obliterate right in front of your eyes.

Damn.

Spider-man appeared almost instantly, his enhanced reflexes allowing him to shut down the conduit before it could explode. He turned to you, a mix of frustration and relief in his eyes.

At least, you thought so. He kinda had a masked on.

“Seriously?” he huffed, his tone tired, like he just wanted to flop down on the couch on Young Sheldon or something. “How do you keep getting into these situations?”

You cracked a nervous smile. “Luck? I mean I’m a scientist, c’mon!”

He sighed, shaking his head. “You need to be more careful.”

This dude seemed to sigh a lot around you.

You looked up at him, your eyes meeting his. “Wanna grab an early dinner now?”

Miguel hesitated, his mask concealing his expression but not the uncertainty in his body language. After a brief pause, he nodded. “Alright, fine..but understand that you don’t need to repay me. This is my job.”

Your eyes lit up, and you couldn’t help but grin. “I know a great place that sells empanadas just a few blocks from here. And hey, can’t I just take you somewhere and call it a date?”

Spider-man chuckled softly, the sound muffled by his mask. (But you sure it was a laugh.) “Yes, I suppose? Let’s get the carne ones though.”

The fact that you were walking next to a superhero, it felt like a fever dream. You chatted about trivial things, from your favorite manga series to the latest advancements in tech.

(Not sure, if it’s allowed to be leaked but since it’s Spider-Man it’s okay.)

When you finally reached the restaurant. Spider-Man removed his mask just enough to eat, revealing a sharp jawline and striking features. It was a rare sight, one that made you appreciate the man behind the Spider-man persona even more.

Woah. Was that fangs? ᡣ𐭩

Hot.

“Wow, you look…ho— cool!” you spoke, giving him a feral grin.

He rolled his eyes but couldn’t suppress a smile. “Yeah, well, don’t get used to it.”

As you both dug into your food, the conversation flowed effortlessly. Despite his gruff exterior, Miguel had a dry sense of humor that you found endearing. He told you stories of his past escapades, and you shared some of your own, albeit less heroic, adventures.

Like the time you ate cookies that had marijuana by accident and thought you were going to die.

After finishing your meal, the two of you walked back towards Alchemax, the city lights reflecting off the sleek surfaces of the buildings. There was a comfortable silence between you, a mutual understanding that didn’t require words.

“Thanks for dinner,” Miguel said, his tone softer than usual. “And seriously, try to stay out of trouble.”

You nodded, giving him a playful salute. “Yes, sir. No more exploding labs.” A small grin forming on your lips. “No promises though.”

He gave you a lingering look, as if trying to gauge your sincerity, before finally nodding.

“Take care.”

[luv4ikeuu]

Coaster Crush - Jake Sim

— ೄྀ࿐summary: your friends convince you to ride the disco pang pang. not only do you face your fear, but you see a cute boy in the process. ˊˎ-

word count: 1.7k

warnings: nothing really, if there is smth lmk!

note: if you don't know what the disco pang pang is maybe search it up before reading so you can kinda understand what's going on

The fresh nightly breeze nipped at your skin as you walked through the crowds of people in the amusement park. The bright, flashing lights of the different rides beckoned from every direction, promising an evening full of fun. The sweet, sugary scent of cotton candy and the savory aroma of pretzels wafted through the air, mixed with the sounds of excited screaming, loud pop music, and laughter.

"Guys!" Hanni exclaimed, her voice full of enthusiasm. "How about the Disco Pang Pang?" Danielle's eyes lit up, squealing with excitement. "Oh my god! Yes, let's do it!"

You hesitated. You've always been a bit of a scaredy cat when it came to rides. Never going near the ones you deemed unsafe, the Disco Pang Pang being no exception. With its lack of seatbelts, and only a lousy rail and your own strength (or lack there of) to keep you grounded, the idea didn't seem too thrilling for you. "I don't know, guys." You muttered. Your voice laced with uncertainty as you eyed the spinning contraption.

Hanni and Danielle let out a groan. "Don't be such a buzzkill, Y/nnie!" Hanni teased, her tone light and playful. She's right, you'd hate to ruin the night for them, but.. just look at the thing!

"I'm not!" You protested. "It's just.. it doesn't exactly look the safest." Danielle rolled her eyes before pulling you towards the rides entrance.

You anxiously waited in line, observing the riders as their bodies jerked and jumped in every direction. You watched as a girl went stumbling around in the middle, looking for her seat. The operators cheeky comments only added to your uneasiness. "C'mon someone help her!" He shouted.

Poor girl.

"Maybe I'll sit this one out." You suggested, your voice slightly trembling. "Absolutely not!" Hanni declined. Her arms folded on her chest. "You have to get on it. It won't be fun without you!" Danielle chimed in with a pout to her lips. "Besides, maybe you'll find your soulmate." Hanni added with a sly smirk and a shimmy to her shoulders. You laughed, your face flushing with embarrassment. "Oh shut up!" You smiled.

You've seen the viral videos, the operator maneuvers the poor girl into the handsome strangers arms. The outcome? Well, it's usually awkward. Fun, but very, very awkward.

The ride came to a stop, the previous riders stumbled off, dizzy and giggling. "Our turn!" Danielle squealed, her eyes shining with excitement. She hastily boarded the ride, pulling you along with her.

There was no chickening out now.

As you sat down, your mind flooded with worst-case scenarios. What if you end up hurting someone? What if you fall and crack your head open? What if you fly out!? So many things could go wrong, you couldn't believe you let your friends talk you into this so easily!

Your worries momentarily faded as a group of three attractive men stepped onto the ride. The one in the back caught your attention first, with his thick eyebrows and sharp nose, his pale skin radiant under the bright neon lights. The middle one flashed a charming smile, his eyes big like a bambi. While both men were undeniably handsome, your gaze kept drifting to the boy in the front. He had boyish grin that spread ear to ear. Sparkling eyes that held a playful charm, similar to one of a mischievous puppy.

"Oh they're cute!" Hanni whispered, nudging you with her elbow. "Hanni stop!" You whispered back, trying to hide your own fascination.

The trio scanned their surrounding, looking for an empty spot big enough to fit the three of them. Finally, they settled on the other side of the disc, directly across from you.

Your eyes met his, and for a brief moment, you felt the world around you disappear. The rides music and the peoples laughter turned into background noise as you locked eyes, you exchanged a small bow before forcing yourself to look away.

"Cute!" Hanni whispers, snatching you out of your thoughts, "Oh, he's so your type!" Danielle adds, her voice barely audible over the loud music. You were quick to hush them, your face flushing with embarrassment.

Well.. they're definitely not wrong.

The rides music swelled, signaling the start of your ride. Just then, the operators voice boomed through the speakers, his enthusiastic demeanor infectious. "Alright everyone, you ready?" He asked, his tone playful. The crowd responded with a few murmurs, to which he chuckled. "Oh, tough crowd tonight." The laughter that followed calmed your nerves a bit as you found yourself smiling along with everyone else.

The operator continued, "Welcome aboard the Disco Pang Pang! As you can see, there are no seatbelts, but we do have railing for you to hold onto. So make sure you're holding on tight!" He lowered his tone dramatically, "I won't be going easy on you." His voice was full of mischief, and you couldn't help but wonder if he was being serious, or just being funny.

The operators pointing finger caught you off guard, your eyes widening in surprise when he looked you directly in the eyes. "You!" He exclaimed.

"What's your name?" He asked with a warm smile, easing your nerves.

"Y/n!"

"A beautiful name for a beautiful girl." He said with a wink. "And how old are you, Ms. Y/n?" He asked, his smile saying he had a plan up his sleeve.

Before you could answer Danielle jumped to your defense, "Hey, don't you think it's a bit rude to ask a lady her age?" The crowd snickered at her cheeky comment. "Oh, very sorry ma'am." He chuckled, his smile unwavering.

Your voice was barely audible over the music when you finally replied, "I just turned twenty!" The operators eyes lit up, "Well, happy late birthday!" He exclaimed, his smile wide and genuine. "I'm guessing those are your friends, correct?" He asked as he gestured towards Hanni and Danielle. You nodded, laughing.

"Are you single ma'am?" Hanni's bubbly voice jumped in. "Single and ready to mingle!" The crowd hollered a whooped at Hanni's remark, the operator chuckled along. "That's what I like to hear!"

With a mischievous glint in his eye, the operator searched for his next victim, his gaze scanning the ride until it landed on a new target. "And you, sir? What's your name?" he asked, his brow raised with curiosity. You followed his gaze, and you found yourself looking at the same handsome stranger who had caught your attention earlier.

He responded swiftly, voice calm and confident. "I'm Jake!" He shouted back. Is that an accent on him?

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-one!" Jake replied, his charming smile on full display. The operators smirk grew wider. "Single?" He asked, his tone cheeky. Jake only nodded with a sheepish smile.

"Well would you look at that? Looks like I've found my victims!" His smirk infectious, yet slightly menacing, hinting at the chaos that was yet to come. With the flick of a switch the ride roared to life. The music swelled, drowning out the chatter and nervous laughter.

As the ride began to spin, you felt a sense of ease, the gentle spin lulled you into a false sense of security. But before you knew it, it span faster, the lights around you blurred into vibrant streaks. Your hair whipped around your face, the wind swooshing in your ears. The rides jerky movements sent your body bouncing up and down, your stomach getting that weird feeling with each jolt. Hanni's laughter and Danielle's shrieks of delight mingled with the music, creating a chaotic symphony.

Your hair whipped around is every direction, covering your vision, so you instinctively lifted your a hand from the railing to brush it aside. But in that split second, the ride lurched forward, making you lose your grip on the railing. Sending you stumbling toward the middle of the floor.

Now you're the poor girl.

Your attempts to get back to your seat were useless due to the operator expertly controlling the ride to prevent you from going anywhere. With every wobbly step you took, he'd only jerked the ride again, sending you stumbling around like a chicken without its head.

"Go towards the handsome fella! He'll help you!" He teased, his voice cutting through the sounds of screams and laughter. Jake held an arm out, ready to catch you, "Come on! I've got you!"

You shook your head no. Your shyness held you back, unwilling to go to the arms of the handsome stranger in front of you.

"Ah don't be shy! He won't bite.. not unless you want him to" The operator chuckled. With that, he tilted the ride with violent jolts, sending you tumbling towards Jake, your body colliding with his.

Your attempts to scoot away from him were useless, every lurch of the ride making you fall right back into his embrace. His strong arm wrapped around your waist.

You both laughed nervously, your face inches apart, your hearts racing in perfect sync. The rides merciless jolts threatened to break Jake's grip, and you felt yourself slipping away, stomach lurching with each jump. "You're not holding her tight enough, Jake! She's slipping away!"

The ride spun faster, and Jake's grip tightened. You felt a rush of excitement mixed with embarrassment as the operator continued to taunt you. "Look at that! You're so cute together!"

Your heart raced with adrenaline, your laughter filling the air as you thought about the absurdity of it all. Jake's chuckle was warm and gentle, his breath caressing your skin as he held you securely against his body, his embrace surprisingly comforting despite being a stranger.

The rides chaotic motions eventually slowed down, the ride finally coming to a stop. The silence was palpable, the only sound being your ragged breaths and Jake's gentle laughter.

"That's a wrap folks!" The operator announced, cutting through the silence. "It looks like we've got a new couple on our hands." The crowd erupted into cheers and applause. You could hear Hanni's and Danielle's hollering, and even Jake's friends whistling.

Jake's eyes locked onto yours, a shy smile spreading across his face. His gaze making you feel like you were the only two people on earth. "Nice to meet you," he said, his voice low and husky, his words barely above a whisper.

Your heart skipped a beat as you smiled back, feeling a sense of comfort.

"Nice to meet you too."

[boozenboze]

Take A Sip But Don’t Spill It TF 141 x Male reader Summary:After joining the Military at 16, and becoming an irreplaceable hacker, M/n ended up leaving the Military after an incident with his old team. 4 years had passed since then and the man had acquired a job at a well known bar in a downtown area. During the 141’s mission, they were in need of a hacker due to the new mission they had been called to. After a lot of digging, Laswell was able to find the location of the once known soldier who went by Tech.

Fun fact: M/n (you) joined the Military at the same age and time as Gaz :)

Females She/Her and She/They DNI

“Hey can I get another shot over here!” A voice rang through the bar as the bartender approached. His fancy attire made his e/c eyes pop under the mood lights throughout the bar. The man poured the shot before returning to the main area where he would greet people. The man wiped of a few tables when a woman walked in, she had blonde hair and blue eyes. The h/c haired male then went to the front and stood inside the cocktail lounge.

“Hello what can I do for you today?” The man asked as he grabbed a glass.

“Yeah can I get a shot of whiskey and vodka mixed together?” The blonde asked as the h/c haired man looked at her confused

“Ma’am I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” The server said looking the woman in the eye. “Mixing a dark and a clear liquor together will make you feel s-“

“Just give me the drink.” The woman cut the server off looking annoyed

The server was heavily annoyed but went ahead and made the drink. He gave the drink and the woman put her payment on a tab. She walked away and went by a group of girls who seemed to be her friends. The server sighed while preparing some more glasses to be put to use.

////

“You said that he’d be here Laswell.” Price questions, skeptical if they had come to the right place. Soap and Gaz looked at the fancy looking building with sparkles in their eyes. Laswell and the 141 had been searching for a certain someone. M/n 'Tech' L/n, ex hacker and very skilled man. He was the best in his time, being the same age as Gaz when he joined the Military. He gained his code name because of his skills, and his fast working coding. That's the purpose of the 141 and Laswell being where they are now. After a lot of digging, Laswell learnt that Tech had a job at a popular bar.

“To say this guy was in the military, it’s quite shocking that he works at a place like this.” Gaz said as Soap chuckled

“Maybe he’d give us a discount.” The Scot replies playfully as Ghost sighed at their antics.

“Listen up, we came here for one thing, we convince this guy to help us, get into those bastards system and go our separate ways. Clear?” Price said as he looked at everyone with a serious demeanor.

“Yes sir.” The men and Laswell then made their way inside. The place had a nice interior and exterior design, you wouldn’t have thought it was a bar.

“This place looks fancy…” Gaz said as he looked at all the neon lights that’s changed color every so often. The smell of liquor and beer was the most prominent scent and it gave them all an itch to have a drink.

“Ok let’s split up, I’ll go by myself, Gaz and Price you two stay together. Ghost and Soap, same to you.” Laswell said as she looked at them all.

“Yes ma’am.” Soap said sarcastically as he began walking in another direction, Ghost followed close behind him. Gaz and Price moved to where some of the seats were before sitting down. They tried to look like any regular guests, not wanting to foil their current task.

Laswell approached the bar, seeing at least 2-3 bartenders at work. She was looking for a specific man, with h/c hair and e/c eyes. She approached a stool and sat down, waiting to see who would serve her. A good 8 minutes went by before a well dressed bartender approached. His suit looked fresh and crisp, having no wrinkles whatsoever. His h/c hair was well kept, and looked neat as well.

“Welcome to ******* I will be your server for today.” The man asked as he wiped off the inside of a glass before placing it down. He didn’t look at her until he placed the glass down and looked up. A look of surprise could be seen on his face upon seeing Laswell.

“Um…what can I get for you..?” The man said, shock still on his face as he approached the bottles.

“Just a beer would do.” Laswell said as she watched the h/c haired male prepare the beer. He looked pretty calm to say the least, but shock was still clear on his face.

“How’ve ya been M/n?” Laswell questions as she took a sip of the beer. Her eyes locking with M/n's e/c eyes, as he let out a chuckle.

"Alright...for the most part, people here can be quite shitty. But hey, I digress, how have you been Kate?" M/n asked as he looked at the dirty blonde woman. Laswell smiled at him but her facial expression turned full blown serious as she looked at the ex-soldier.

"I'd be fine...if the enemy wasn't stealing information from the Military's data base." Laswell said while looking M/n dead in the eye. M/n looked at her in shock and confusion, if that was happening right now why was she at the bar. Shouldn't she be working on finding the fuckers who were stealing their intel?

"Kate...shouldn't you be working on finding the bastards, and not be drinking at the pub?" M/n asked as he took Laswell's finished glass of beer before setting it aside and crossing his arms. The veins in his arms and hands were visible and those who were close enough to see were drooling over him.

"I have located them..., but we need a guy who has had experience with coding and well, hacking." Laswell said as she looked M/n in the eye. The e/c eyed man looked nervous now, was she trying to recruit him into the mission?

"I-uh Laswell i'm not in the military anymore.." M/n said as he walked to the employees only room. Laswell followed close behind him and grabbed him by the shoulder, making him turn around.

"You can be, plus M/n there's a 50% chance that this mission won't go smoothly without you, I know you've been off the field for 4 years but that doesn't change the fact that you used to be a soldier. A great one at that." Laswell said to M/n trying to convince him, "I know that somewhere in that stubborn head of yours Tech is still there, and that your skills are something you of all people could never lose."

"Laswell I-" M/n was cut off by Laswell saying

"We need you M/n."

M/n looked at her for a few moments before going inside of the employees only room. Laswell stood there, now hearing some approaching footsteps behind her. The rest of the group were now standing behind her, wanting to know what was happening.

"So..what'd he say?" Soap asked as he looked at Laswell, his gaze occasionally shifting to the door that M/n had walked through.

"Nothing, i'm just waiting to see if he'll consider helping us.” Laswell said as she stared at the door with hope in her eyes. M/n walked out the room with a bag that contained his laptop and a few other gadgets.

“Alright, hurry up so we can get this done…” M/n’s voice dragged when he saw the 4 men behind Laswell

“I-Uh…who are they?” M/n asked as his gaze shifted between the men and Laswell. He was quite interested and also intimidated by the me.(Mainly Ghost)

“Task Force 141, but you can introduce yourselves later we have a mission to do.” Laswell said as she looked between M/n and the others. She could see the way Soap was staring at Tech’s attire, and even the others had to admit that the s/c skinned male looked good.

/////

“Eye’s on the target, get in position.” Price said as he looked through the scope on his sniper. He had his eyes on the main man that they were after, the same guy who had been stealing their intel. Gaz and Soap were inside, hiding and making their way through the building. They took down any enemies that would possibly get in their way as they kept moving. Ghost and Tech were on the rooftop, Tech doing what he did best as Ghost sat their sniping down any enemies that were getting to close to Soap and Gaz.

The sound of typing could be heard as Tech hacked into the buildings systems. He shut the lights off in the lower half of the building and short circuited the automatic doors. Tech worked fairly quickly as he began messing with the computer bases that the enemy was using. Every time Tech hacked into the enemies devices they would get flashed by a bright light that stunned them for a period of time.

“You seem pretty good at that Tech.” Gaz said over his radio as he did a takedown move on an enemy.

“I’m in the zone right now don’t disturb me.” Tech said as his fast typing remained the same. Ghost glanced over at the other man who was still nicely dressed. Tech had insisted that he’d be alright without any proper gear, considering that he wouldn’t be getting close enough for the enemy to be able to shoot and try and attack him.

Something that had immediately attracted Ghost to Tech was his hands. Tech may not have been taller than Ghost himself but the veins in Tech’s fast moving hands were something Ghost failed to not look at.

The mission was coming to an end, Soap and Gaz had cornered the main man behind all the stolen info, and they were now detaining him.

“Nice job sergeant.” Ghost said as he looked over at Tech who had shut down his computer. The man stretched his arms and cracked his knuckles, his veins popping out more as he did.

Ghost found himself staring at Tech’s hands for far to long before saying.

“You work out a lot?” Ghost asked as he and Tech made their way down the building that they had set up on.

“I do, not that much though. I usually just do it to stay toned ya know?” Tech said as he and Ghost descended the buildings stairs. Ghost hummed, realizing that he usually didn’t make small talk with people he didn’t know. Tech must have been different from most if he somehow got Ghost wanting to talk to him.

The two then stuck to silence as they went to regroup with the others.

///////

“You did good out there M/n, great job.” Laswell complimented as she walked to M/n’s side.

“Heh, thanks….Laswell.” M/n responded nervously as he sat in the back of the truck that they had arrived in. Gaz was driving, listening in on Tech and Laswell’s conversation.

“Imagine how this thing would’ve ended if we didn’t have your help mate.” Gaz said as he looked at Tech through the rear view mirror.

“What made you quit anyway?” Soap jumped in, looking at Tech with curiosity in his face and tone.

Tech was now quiet, as if he had been sworn to silence as to way he drafted from the Military. The tension in the truck was high, so…thick to the point that it could be cut with a knife. Price cleared his throat, attempting to break the silence as he glanced over at Tech who was now holding his pistol. He seemed to be relishing how he used to always use the gun before his sudden departure.

“So uhh….would you like to join again? The Task Force I mean.” Price questions, his voice holding a serious tone while he continued to look at the road before them. The sound of the ac and the tires were again the loudest thing.

“I mean…I don’t know. I’ve been off the field for 4 years now…” Tech said as he glanced outside of the window. He recalled the day of the incident in full detail. Having endured 5 gunshot wounds, and still having the spirit to finish hacking the enemies lockdown system so he and his team could escape. You could have imagined how betrayed and hurt he was when he heard his team talk and execute on the plan of leaving him behind. That was something that stuck in the back of his mind since he left, and the fact that Price was trying to offer him a spot in the Task Force scared him a bit.

“You’d be a great addition to the team, and, look I don’t know what happened back then that made you quit but guess what.” Price said as he sat up and glanced at everyone in the truck, all of them besides Tech knowing what he was about to say.

“No one fights alone.” Price concluded, earning a nod from everyone in the truck besides Tech. The words seemed to have struck something in Tech as his eyes lit up for a moment.

Even if the words were or weren’t true, they did instill some type of hope in Tech’s spirit. He now had a choice to make.

Join the Task Force 141 or Don’t

A/n-Heyy…. How y’all doin? Expect to see more of me again 😁😅. Also HAPPY PRIDE MONTH BITCHES 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️⚧🦗🦟🦗🦟🦗

[cosmicluvcore]

To be human part 3

Rottmnt Leo x reader, gender neutral, friends to lovers, meet cute, apologetic Leo

Part 1, part 2

Summary: Leo has the biggest crush on you but he's afraid that you'd never date a mutant, so with the help of a clooking broach he plans to become your perfect human boyfriend!

☆

Really struggled with this chapter I'm so so sorry if it's bad!!

Tag list!!

@lunaflyer @wings-of-sapphire @ssak-i @nessarolla-in-constant-flux @envyjmoney @leonardo-dabitchy @wookiesmiles-blog @sloppy-syrup

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

Leo had never actually been to this basketball court before, he knew of it, had maybe seen it in passing a few times but it was always too busy.

Too risky.

But today that wasn't an issue, he didn't have to worry about getting confused glances from others, today he was one of them. He had the cloaching brooch safely tucked under his hoodie, fidgeting with it from time to time from a mix of anxiousness and excitement.

He knew this was a pretty popular park for teens his age, it was mostly students who hung out here and it didn't take much for him to start making a friend or two. His basketball skills were flawless, using his best moves to win over a couple kids at the park was definitely helping his ego.

Though he made sure to keep an eye out for Y/N, knowing that they hung around here sometimes, they'd have to show up some time soon.

Meanwhile he could just keep embracing being a cool ass human. Lev was the name he'd given himself, it would've been insanely obvious if he'd kept his own name, he wasn't that stupid. It had felt weird at first, introducing himself as someone he wasn't. But he couldn't deny that it was beginning to grow on him as he heard other people use it.

Leo, or rather, Lev let out a satisfied huff as he confidently passed the ball, still riding this confidence boost. He looked amazing and his charms were working on everyone! Just wait until Y/N sees him now.

"Ow!"

A basketball in the face.

That was the cherry on top of Y/N's crappy day.

As if they hadn't already regrettably slept through their alarm that morning, which made them miss their school bus and forget their lunch. Then once they had finally arrived to class, their teacher had decided to give them a surprise test that they knew they'd flunked. Now they had to suffer the embarrassment of a basketball being thrown their direction.

Unlucky.

They cringed at the pain bringing their hands up to their face. The stray ball had hit them hard, but luckily no blood stained their hands.

"Oh mi gosh! I'm so so sorry- Are you okay?" A voice asked, from afar.

"Yeah... I'm okay just a bit-" Y/N hesitated as they finally met the concerned strangers gaze, "-dizzy..."

As they looked up to him he was giving them a sense of deja vú. His apologetic expression gave off a sort of familiarity but they couldn't exactly place it. Maybe it was the dizziness they were feeling from the impact of the ball, but the soft look of concern across his face made their heart flutter a little.

"Hey? Hello? Still with me?" He asked anxiously.

Y/N blinked realising they'd just been staring blankly up at the worried stranger, his voice snapping them back to reality.

"Yes- yep- I'm still here." They assured sheepishly in reply, glancing away.

He let out a relived sigh before chuckling softly, "Lost you for a second there huh? I don't blame you, that was a hell of a hit," His voice was calm with a friendly air to it, weirdly comforting though again that may have been due to the head trauma.

"You sure you're okay?" He asked again.

"I'm alright," They assured, the dizzy sensation leaving them for now, "Only thing bruised is my ego."

He let out a small chuckle, glad to hear them sounding alright.

"I'm sure your ego will recover soon enough," he smiled, "Luckily, I don't see a scratch. Phew, wouldn't want to hurt such a pretty face."

They blinked at the sudden compliment, the words echoing in their still slightly dizzy head, unsure if he was being serious or not.

"Pfft- are you trying to make me forget that you just almost gave me a concussion?"

"Me? I would never..." He hesitates, glancing away sheepishly as they call him out, "But, if I was... would it work?"

They roll their eyes in a playful manner and shrug, "Maybe try starting with an apology."

He chuckled, as they playfully chastised him.

"Right, right,"

He smiled sincerely, a mix of embarrassed and genuinely sorry, jokingly getting onto his knees.

"I humbly apologise to..." He glanced up to them, prompting for their name.

"Y/N."

"I humbly apologise to Y/N, for accidentally launching a basketball into your pretty face," He finished, his tone light-hearted, though they could tell there was a hint of sincerity behind his humor.

"Seriously though, I am sorry, I'm not really used to playing basketball with such a large audience." He admitted gesturing to the court, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck as he stood up straight.

"Don't worry about it," They replied calmly, pretty charmed by his playful attitude.

As they looked back to him, something about his face felt weird. Like they'd met before, however as much as they tried Y/N just couldn't place him.

"You know... I don't think I've seen you around here before, what's your name?"

He looked surprised for a moment, a flicker of panic crossing his face before he quickly schooled his expression into a casual smile.

"Lev, I'm Lev."

"It's weird, I feel like I kn-" Y/N's words were immediately interrupted by a sudden hit of pain, apparently this concussion decided to have a delay, "Ow- ow!" They winced, clutching their head.

Lev immediately took notice of Y/N winced in pain, his concern growing tenfold. "Hey, take it easy. You took a pretty hard hit."

He gently placed a hand on their shoulder, trying to steady them, "Are you okay? Should I go grab ice?"

Y/N bit their lip as they tried to deal with the pain. The world around them started to seem a little too bright and they squeezed their eyes shut.

"Y-yeah, yeah I'm fine-" They murmured, their voice shaking slightly, "Ice would be good."

Lev nodded, quickly standing up his mind racing as he did. What a way to make a first impression, 'Hey Y/N here's a bonk on the head, wanna go out with me?' he was such an idiot! He instinctively went to grab his odachi but paused as he realized it wasn't there.

Right.

Leo had the odachi, he wasn't Leo right now he was Lev.

~

Lev had offered to walk them home during the commotion, he figured it was just a headache from the impact but he wanted to be completely sure they were okay.

As well as take the opportunity to talk with them.

Y/N was steadying their breath, pressing cold bags of store bought ice against their forehead. The pain was slowly numbing while the pair took a seat on the steps outside their apartment block.

Y/N didn't understand why but Lev clicked so easily with them, they were always on the same page.

It was refreshing to actually relate to someone for once.

"And after all that, she decides to throw a surprise test at us! Last time I checked, surprises are supposed to be fun," They huffed angrily, "Ugh, I'm sorry for throwing all this your way."

"Hey, don't worry about it. Sometimes you just need to let it all out, y'know?" Lev offered, a gentle smile across his face, "Besides, I threw a basketball at you, you're just returning the favour."

"Pfft, I didn't think of it like that." They admitted with a chuckle.

A warm smile slowly started to form on their lips, this stranger had made them laugh today even after everything else that had happened.

Who knew that all it took was getting hit in the head with a basketball?

"You know, I'm honestly kind of surprised that you've been this patient." They noted with a light chuckle, "Most people don't like listening to whining."

"Well..." Lev hummed, hesitating a little before he finished his sentence, "I'm not like most people."

Y/N lifted an eyebrow, a curious look spreading across their face, "Oh? And how's that?" They asked, their curiosity piqued, "Are you a vampire or something, stranger?"

"Pssh, first of all vampires are a total scam," He replied with a laugh, "What's the point of being sexy for all eternity without being able to see your reflection?"

Y/N grinned, a laugh escaping as his response, "Sounds like someone talking from experience."

He simply rolled his eyes softly, "And second, stop calling me stranger my name is Lev you know."

"Well, you are technically a stranger."

"Come on, we're at 'basketball bonking' levels of friendship." He retorted with a playful tone.

"Ooh, nice alliteration." They teased smugly in reply.

Lev's expression brightened, smiling hopefully back at them, "Nice enough for me to be a friend?"

Y/N pretended to consider it for a moment, they hummed thoughtfully before finally shrugging and nodding,

"An acquaintance." They answered with a smirk.

"Ahh, there's no winning with you." Lev sighed in mock offence.

"What can I say," They grinned teasingly "I'm hard to please."

A bit of water began to drip down Y/N's face, the ice was melting quickly.

"Doesn't seem like that ice is going to last a while."

Y/N frowned as they noticed some of the cold water trickle down their face. They let out a slight huff, knowing that their source of comfort was quickly melting.

"Yeah, I guess not."

Another drop landed on their nose, and Lev couldn't help but chuckle at the way it made them blink in surprise.

"I should probably head inside."

"Right, you can get some ice that isn't melting." Lev nodded casually in an attempt to hide the wave of disappointment that crossed his face.

He genuinely wanted to talk to them, that was... cute.

"Exactly," They smiled in reply as they stood up from their seat and Lev followed, "Thanks for taking care of me."

"I mean... it was kinda my fault in the first place." He mumbled, the regret evident in his voice.

"Hey stop beating yourself up about that," Y/N scolded in a gentle tone, "I know it was an accident." They assured.

"Besides, I really enjoyed talking with you." They added honestly.

Lev's eyes lit up at that, their confession making a warm smile spread across his face.

"Really?" He asked, trying to bite back the eagerness in his tone, though it seeped through easily.

Y/N chuckled and nodded in reply, "Yeah, I'll see you around right?"

Lev nodded brightly, "I promise no basketballs will be involved next time." He grinned.

"Noted." They said with a small laugh, turning to open the doors to their apartment complex.

They gave him another soft smile, their eyes holding his gaze for a moment.

Lev smiled back at them, a twinge of relief and a hint of flattery on his face as he watched them turn to leave.

A part of them didn't want him to leave, they just wanted to stay and chat for a bit longer.

But another part was reminded of the pain in their head, yeah it was time to go inside.

They gave a small wave to their newly found friend as they entered the building.

"Bye Lev."

"Bye."

[tothosewholisten]

Forever Healed | TUA insert

Chapter: 01

<<previous chapter | next chapter>>

Masterlist

…

The next morning I woke up in disbelief of what I saw the previous night. I always thought Reginald’s grip on me was too tight for him to let go. I believed that he would live forever, that he would lecture me in his overpriced mansion when I failed at becoming my own person.

I didn’t know if I should feel sad or not, after all, it’s not like he would feel the same if it was me who died that man had the emotional intelligence of a zoo animal. At least that's what I tried to tell myself. But I did want to go back to my old home, just to see if this was a huge prank played on me and he would be there to finally give me what I wanted for years now.

No, this was reality and I knew that because at my front door was a letter, it was addressed from Pogo. The “man” who practically raised me instead of the parent I was supposed to have. How he knows where I live, I had no idea, but it felt good to hear from him after all this time. He told me to come back to the house for the service and I couldn’t just ignore him.

Since this was a funeral I should wear black or maybe some bright neon-colored outfit for the last F you to the big man. But after looking in my closet I realize I only own sad mundane clothes.

“Black it is..” I whisper to myself.

..

The taxi ride was silent, after telling the driver where I wanted to go I think she knew exactly who I was. I fixed my hair several times and thought about the other adopted children who also experienced hell living there. From time to time I do like to check up on how they're doing, never face to face though.

Like Allison and her latest celeb drama, or Diego still acting like a superhero only now he’s almost 30 and lives in someone else’s storage closet. I'm not sure that adult life has been kind to any of my siblings but I wish the ones who weren't here could’ve still experienced it.

We had come to a stop and I could see the house in all its glory, it gave me shivers that crawled down my spine. I stepped out of the taxi and just stared up at the tall building, If I was about to go in I needed to majorly hype myself up.

After standing there shaking, my shaky hand had finally started to open the intricate umbrella engraved glass doors. This reminded me of the first time I showed up to this place just as terrified of the unknown, but this time instead of crying on the doorstep the unknown opened the door for me. If the unknown was a small monkey man with glasses and a wooden walking stick named Pogo.

“Miss Y/n, please do come in.” Pogo expressed with a warm smile on his monkey face. “I believe you are one of the first to arrive, just right after Master Luther and Klaus. Luther is in your father's room and Klaus is in his study if you’d like to visit them.”

I wasn't paying attention to Pogo’s words, instead I was taking a look around. It took me a while to come up with the right words, it’s like I forgot how to speak. The inside of this place looked like it hadn't changed since I moved out, not one piece out of place.

“Maybe later.” I croaked out, “I'd like to take a look around for a bit.” We walked into the main lounge of the home. I forgot how much there was to see, the space was decorated very well in my opinion.

“As you wish Miss Y/n, let me know if you need anything else.” He called out as he started to walk in the opposite direction. I called back out to him in a small panic.

“Pogo wait,” I said and he turned back around to look at me.

“Yes-“ It only took me a few steps to reach him as I opened up my arms for a hug and he caught on. I embraced the smaller “man”, it felt so familiar, so comforting it almost made me feel good to be back. We stood like that for what could’ve been all my life and I wouldn't care before I pulled back thinking it was too much. “It’s so good to see you, my girl. Welcome home.” I immediately felt back at ease when he spoke those words.

Pogo was a prominent figure in my adolescence to the point where I didn't even question how a monkey could talk. I'd like to think of him as one of my saving graces for getting past the years that I could never forget.

“It feels strange to be back,” I said walking back over to the lounge area. On the wall, I could see a bunch of familiar items like our Umbrella Academy comics, some of our news articles and-

“How long has it been since Five disappeared?” A voice cut in, my eyes searched the room looking for that voice. I set my sights on a small scrawny woman with brown hair pulled into a bun.

It was Vanya, she’s changed since I last saw her but that comes with age I guess, she still shares the same mannerisms as her younger self.

“Miss Vanya! I'm glad to see you as well.” Pogo exclaimed, turning to her but then went back to the portrait of Five on the wall. Made just before he ran away but hung up after as a sign to remember him by our father. I don't think it was out of love for his son but more of a warning for us to not end up like him. “But to answer your question, it's been sixteen years, four months, and fourteen days. Your father insisted I keep track.”

I gave Vanya a little smile and she spoke again. “You wanna know something stupid? I always used to leave the lights on for him.” Pogo and I looked at her sympathetically. “I was scared that he would come back, it would be late, and the house would be dark and he wouldn't be able to find us, so he’d leave again.”

I don’t know if it was childish or hopeful for her to think he would just one day return to us and all would be forgiven but it was true that she never lost hope.

“So, every night I'd make a little snack and make sure all the lights were on.” She finished.

Pogo sighed at her words. “Oh, I remember your snacks. I'm pretty sure I stepped in half those peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches.” Yes, it was a sad memory but I think all three of us took comfort in the fact that they had these little things they did. To cope with the fact that a part of us was lost the day he left.”Your father always believed that Number Fiver was still out there somewhere. He never lost hope.” He continued.

Vanya frowned, “And look where that got him.”

..

Alison and Luther made their way to us in the lounge room along with Diego and Klaus following soon behind them, but I had already sat on a couch next to Vanya.

This was an odd event since everyone was so quiet and sticking to themselves or their drinks. And Pogo had left a few minutes ago so any conversations that he sparked no longer existed and it was back to complete silence.

I twiddled with a loose string on my cardigan, trying to shake at least some of the anxiety that brewed from the room. You’d think because we were together almost for half of our lives we would know how to ask each other how life’s been but I guess not. I'd have to talk to Alison sometime soon and also Klaus, out of everyone I've been the most excited to talk to him.

Luther stood up from one of the large couches and cleared his throat. “Uhm, I guess we should get this started. So, I figured we could have some sort of memorial service. In the courtyard at sundown.” He paused. “Say a few words, just at Dad’s favorite spot.”

“Dad had a favorite spot?” Alison questioned.

Luther replied, “You know, under the oak tree.” And I honestly doubt anyone knew or cared but him. He was always more attached to Dad anyway.

“We used to sit out there all the time. None of you ever did that?” Of course not...

Klaus chimed in walking over to the group, a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other. “Will there be refreshments? Tea? Scones? Cucumber sandwiches are always a winner.”

“What? No. And put that out. You know Dad didn't allow smoking in here.” Luther argued.

“Well he is dead so does it matter” I said while rubbing my forehead. I'm already getting a headache from Luther and it's been five seconds. He throws me a look and I just shut up. Arguing with him also reminds me of a zoo animal and it's not just his new physique..

Alison points to Klaus’s interesting new outfit and says. “Is that my skirt?” And I'm reminded of our teenage years all over again.

“What? Oh! Yeah, this. I found it in your room.” Klaus says. “It’s a little dated, I know, but it's very breathy on the bits-“

Luther cuts in with a stern voice. “Listen up. Still, some important things that we need to discuss, all right?”

“Like what?” Diego asks and finally looks up at us.

“Like the way he died.”

“And here we go..” Diego remarks.

Vanya stares at Luther confused. “I don’t understand. I thought they said it was a heart attack?”

“Yeah, according to the coroner..”

“Well, wouldn't they know” I say?

“Theoretically”

“Theoretically?” Alison raises a brow at Luther's strange words.

“I'm just saying, at the very least, something happened. The last time I talked to Dad, he sounded strange.” He adds on.

Klaus starts gurgling his alcohol and with a strange noise, he says. “Oh, quelle surprise!” Whatever that means..

“Strange how?” I try to continue.

“He sounded on edge. Told me I should be careful who to trust.”

“I don’t think that’s anything out of the ordinary, like at all.” I shrug.

Diego stands from his chair. “Luther, he was a paranoid, bitter old man who was starting to lose what was left of his marbles.”

“No. He must have known something was gonna happen.” I roll my eyes at Luther's statement. “Look, I know you don’t like to do it, but I need you to talk to Dad.” He finishes by looking at Klaus. The only one of us with those capabilities, Klaus looked panicked by his words.

“I can’t just call Dad in the afterlife and be like, Dad could you just.. stop playing tennis with Hitler for a moment and take this quick call” Klaus states exaggerating the words with hand movements.

“Since when? That’s your thing.”

“I'm not in the right.. frame of mind.”

“You’re high?” Alison turns to look at Klaus.

“Yeah!” he chuckles, still holding his drink and cigarette while sitting “Yeah! I mean how are you not listening to this nonsense?”

“Well sober up, this is important,” says Luther and Klaus groans.”Then there’s the issue of the missing monocle.”

“Who gives a shit about a stupid monocle?” Diego cuts in, which I would have to agree with.

“Exactly, it's worthless. So whoever took it, I think it was personal.” Everyone stares at Luther like he is delusional and at this point, me included. “Someone close to him. Someone with a grudge.”

“Where are you going with this? You lost me at Dad's favorite spot” I ask Luther directly.

Diego stares up at Luther and gets out of his chair to get closer to him. “Oh, isn’t it obvious, Y/n? He thinks one of us killed Dad.” I know everyone knew that was what he was saying but hearing it come from Diego’s mouth hit everyone.

“You do?” Says Klaus. “How could you think that?” Vanya added.

“Great job, Luther. Way to lead.” Diego walks out of the lounge room.

“That’s not what I'm saying,” Luther grunts.

Klaus gets up too not before saying this on his way out. “You’re crazy, man. You’re crazy. Crazy”

“I've not finished” Luther tries to tell us to sit back down.

“Sorry, I'm just gonna go murder, Mom. Be right back” I say with a smile.

“That’s not what I was saying. I didn't-“ Luther sighs as Vanya walks out too. Leaving Allison the last one in the room with a pleading Luther. “Alison. Jeez..” He says trying to call out to her. But unfortunately for him, she also walks away leaving him to mutter to himself alone. “That went well.”

..

“Hey,” I whispered to Vanya as she was sitting on the stairs deep in thought. “That was.. intense right?” Out of everyone she was the easiest to talk to, she always was there for me.

But I do have to admit I could’ve been there for her more and I'm not sure what she thinks about me after all these years. By her silence she confirmed what I thought, she hates me. After sitting for a second in the silence I wanted to run away and retreat to my room. But she raised her head and looked me in the eyes.

“Yeah it was, Luther was way off.” She says.

I could hug her right now, I'm so happy hearing her voice. I hummed in response but I couldn’t think of anything to say, we just ended up looking at each other waiting for the other to bring up our next topic. “Uhm you're still playing the violin, right? How’s that going.” I ask.

Vanya gives me an awkward smile “It's going pretty okay, I play for an orchestra near my apartment. I also give lessons to kids when I have the time.”

“That’s amazing Vanya.” I smile back. “What chair are you?” That is the extent of my orchestra knowledge, I always liked hearing her play but didn't have any knacks for instruments myself. And it's not like Dad would’ve given me any time to learn, always on to the next mission or session with him.

“Third” she frowns, “for the last couple of years now I guess.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that. I didn't want her to think that was bad because I'm sure she is trying her best so we were back to silence again. As I stare off into the distance.

But then I look up to hear a loud muffled noise, like a song? It was coming from upstairs. I wasn't going crazy because Vanya heard it too. I remember listening to this song as a teenager and my only conclusion is that this was playing from Luther's record player. The song still played as I told her who I thought was playing this, and we both started laughing before Vanya stood up and held her hand out to me and pulled me up too.

I kept laughing as she started to sway back and forth to the music, she looked so carefree so I joined her. I'm no star dancer myself but being with her made me feel like I could do anything and that's what I did. We bounced around as the chorus started, grabbing each other's hands and mouthing the lyrics.

“I think we’re alone now,” I started.

“Doesn’t seem to be anyone around” Vanya continues.

“I think we're alone now”

“The beating of our hearts is the only sound” This was an out-of-character moment for both of us but we didn't care, we were simply enjoying ourselves and I wondered if anyone else was dancing too.

The music skips as thunder cuts the song off and we stop. The whole house starts to rumble and Vanya grabs on to me as we look around at all the flying items that are coming off shelves and tables.

I was confused, nowhere did the forecast mention thunder and lighting at all and looking outside I didn't see anything, only a blue glowing ball forming in the sky near the back of the house.

Luther and Alison run from upstairs towards us and they tell us we need to go outside, where we run into Diego. He must have seen the glowing too.

..

“Oh shit“ I plug my ears, the lighting whips and thunder got louder as we reached the door. Diego was the first of us out there, and then we all followed. We were horrified at the sight ahead of us. No longer was this a blue ball but more like a large translucent blue ripple in the sky.

“What is it?” Vanya yells out.

Alison pushes Luther slightly back with her hand “Don’t get too close” she says.

“Yeah, no shit” Diego interjects.

Luther points it out. “Looks like some sort of temporal anomaly. Either that or a miniature black hole. One of the two.” For a moment I forgot that he spent all that time and space, he was more knowledgeable than us.

“Pretty big difference there, Paul Bunyan!” Diego exclaims. Hearing all of their voices I slowly realized who was missing..

“Out of the way!” Klaus yells from inside.

He starts to run up to us with something in his hand “What are you doing?!” I called out. He then runs up to the “black hole” and throws a fire extinguisher into it? I'm worried for Klaus if his response to strange situations is to throw something at it.

Alison gave him a puzzled look “What is that going to do?” She said,

“I don’t know, do you have a better idea?” He replies with exasperation. His frustration seemed to somewhat affect the glowing thing because it suddenly got bigger, and flashed strong blue light at him. Klaus lets out a shriek and runs behind me.

“Woah woah get behind me,” Luther says addressing us. Diego decides to chime in, of course, to upstage him and says that we should get behind him instead.

“I vote for running c’mon!” Klaus tries to grab my arm but I stay still, if I was scared of anything anymore I would've run but I was dying to see how this played out.

All of us just kind of stood there, some probably accepted their fate that this blob of color was gonna swallow them whole. I look down to see Alison and Luther hand and hand.

But that's not the only thing I see, because something was coming out of the light. A man? A boy? I was so confused. He lets out a terrible screech, like coming through that “portal” was ripping him apart.

All of us take a closer look at the now clearer image because whatever was in the portal dropped down onto the mud-covered floor. And the blue light disappears above him.

“Oh my god,” I said, I finally recognized what was standing right in front of me. All of us took a couple of steps closer to him.

“Does anyone else see little Number Five, or is that just me?” Klaus asked.

Five looks down at himself and for the first time in close to 17 years I hear him speak.

“Shit.”

…

Aug 14 update:

If you'd like to be added to the tag list for rest of the series (starts at chapter 10) say taglist in the comments!

[markrosewater]

Hi Mark. I have been giving a lot of thought to the themes of standard Magic sets this year and I realized that none of them have been swords and sorcery fantasy worlds. Instead the whole year has been closer to Universes Beyond sets -- in that they are exploring worlds I would not normally expect to see in Magic. Looking at the 2025 schedule I see that at least two of the upcoming sets are likely to follow this pattern (and given the most recent Ravnica set, I'm not are that the others are not as well). This seems like a huge change from decades of precedent.

So my question is -- Is the concept of Magic the Gathering being primarily a magic-driven warriors-and-monsters fantasy themed game with the occasional outlier a thing of the past? And maybe more to the point, why abandon that premise entirely?

We want fantasy to play a role in all our sets, but the idea that fantasy can only be represented by what is called “high fantasy” with a very prescriptive take on the trappings of medieval life plus magical spells and fantastical monsters is old-fashioned and pretty limiting.

Magic will always be core to our settings. It’s literally the name of the game and its core concept. We will always have fantastical monsters, although what that constitutes can change. We’ll even do “high fantasy” from time to time. Bloomburrow, for instance, was that for this year.

Magic, since its early days, has been pushing the boundaries on what fantasy can be. A lot of what have become our core worlds, things like Ravnica and Innistrad, were questioned when we first presented them. Were they really fantasy? We believed they were and the audience came to agree (well, the majority at least).

We’ve continued to push boundaries, with things like Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, to huge success. We’re not surrendering what fantasy has been and we will still visit worlds where high fantasy reins supreme, but Magic, and fantasy, is more than just that, and we plan to keep pushing boundaries.

Nothing I’m saying is new. This isn’t a change of course or anything. Yes, the pendulum of 2024 pushed in a certain direction, but that’s the nature of change. We try to hit a wide variety of different types of fantasy, so everyone can find the type of fantasy they most enjoy. We will continue to do that, which yes, includes more high fantasy.