#but bugs are my SpIn so i went off here hehe

[disabled-queen-hc-blog]

autistic brian getting very very excited when he finds bugs in the house because he loves bugs and putting them back outside makes him super happy

Yes!!

He thinks all lives are worthy of respect, even the very small and creepy crawly variety.

So whenever he finds a buggy in his house, he always takes time to admire it before doing what is appropriate!

Some bugs actually evolved to live in our houses, like spiders, silverfish and house centipedes. When he finds these, he simply looks at them and maybe has a little chat with them before leaving them alone. 

“Oh, you are a very handsome centipede! Where are you off too? Eating mosquitoes, I reckon!”

He tends to leave spiders alone, because spiders are actually terrified of humans! He’d feel so bad seeing a spider make such a lovely web and then take it all down and move away because he bothered it. Hyper empathy for animals anyone…

Moths, bees, flies, dragonflies, etc, do get released back outside though. And with a lot of care as to not damage their fragile legs and wings! He has a bug catching cup just for these situations. Some of these buggys are quite fast, so you can imagine gangly Brian running all over his house, cooing to a wasp that he’s not here to hurt them.

And there isn’t a prettier sight than the bug taking off back outside where it belongs.

Bugs aren’t a special interest of his, but he does appreciate their role in the environment and is adamant on treating them with the same love and decency as a furry critter. They’re great listeners too…better than badgers and cats. That’s for sure..

[denkamis]

hi!! could i get double chocolate and cherry with kaminari, shinsou and midoriya please?❤️

idk if i did this right so im sorry if i didnt!

to anon: hey anon, no worries! you did it perfectly :)) aww i love the characters you chose for this prompt, this is adorable. enjoy some fluffy times with these sleep deprived boys from a very sleep deprived writer <3

warnings: none! just some swearing and some bad sleeping habits lmao. reader is gn!

prompt: denki kaminari, hitoshi shinsou, izuku midoriya scenarios + “it’s okay, i couldn’t sleep anyways.”

denki kaminari

denki stays up late playing osu and minecraft

what can i say, he’s just a gamer man

so he’s honestly pretty reliable when it comes to you knocking on his door at late hours of the night

always the biggest cuddle bug, really happy that you go to him first out of everyone

literally drops everything for you hehe

lots of sleepy kisses too

“fuck! goddammit,” denki grumbled, shaking out his wrist as he had just failed the six star version of the intro of blend-s on osu. he had gotten rather addicted to the circle clicking game. this further resulted in denki staying up late on school nights, despite kirishima’s warnings of him potentially falling asleep in class the next day. it was fine, he could always borrow notes from you or jirou anyways!

as he went to restart the map again, a soft knock came at the door to his dorm room. spinning off his computer room chair, he prepared himself to be lectured by aizawa for the fifth time this week about breaking curfew. “aizawa-sensei, i know that i’ve been loud lately but i swear this time it won’t happen- y/n?” he stopped mid-sentence as he saw you standing on the other side of the door. “what are you doing up so late?”

you shook your head, immediately hugging his torso instead. you were clearly a bit distraught about something, but denki wasn’t a mind reader. he figured that from the way you were clinging onto him, it must have been a bad dream of some kind. “hey, hey, easy there! nearly knocked me over, huh,” denki laughed lightly, pressing a soft kiss to the side of your head before closing the door behind you. you clung onto him, face buried in the crook of his neck. it made a small blush dust across his cheeks, a warm feeling spreading through his arms as he held you close. “i hope i’m not bothering you,” you mumbled, to which denki hummed. “you never bother me, babe. it’s okay, i couldn’t really sleep anyways.”

the two of you stayed like that for a long while, denki swaying the two of you back and forth. you could feel gentle lips peppering the crown of your head with kisses. as your heart rate slowed, denki piped up. “wanna stay here for the night? my bed’s missing out on some action! and by some action, i mean sleep. i really can’t sleep.”

you snorted at his words, your eyes flicking up to his goofy yet endearing smile, his eyes bright yet a bit tired from late night gaming. he poked his tongue out at you, making you roll your eyes with a tiny smile of your own gracing your features.

“how could i say no to that?”

hitoshi shinsou

we already know he’s up at these unholy hours

not for any particular reason, just because he can’t really sleep

quite the insomniac that one

and the fact that he can’t sleep properly or well unless you’re with him

you smell like lavender in the morning too bc he puts it in his pillow to help him sleep, thank you

shinsou lay awake in bed, eyes trained on the ceiling as he waited for himself to fall asleep. it was no secret that he barely got any rest, so it was simply easier to just sit and wait until his body exhausted itself to the point where he simply fell asleep. staying as still as he could, he kept counting the amount of times he breathed in and out. it made him acutely aware of his surroundings. the crickets outside his room, the way the moonlight streamed through his blinds, the miscellaneous creaking sounds of the dorms. yeah, he definitely wasn’t sleeping tonight.

he didn’t flinch as the door to his room opened, blinking slowly as his eyes adjusted to the light spilling into his room along with a new figure. “y/n?” he asked, not bothering to sit up. “hey, are you up? sorry toshi, i couldn’t sleep,” you explained softly, allowing the door to close behind you as you tiptoed across his dorm room. his hair was sprawled across his pillow, deep violet locks hiding his hands situated behind his head comfortably. it showed off his arms that were built from training for when, not if, he ever got into the hero course.

a lazy smile crossed his lips at your words, his heartstrings being played by you so seamlessly. “it’s okay, i couldn’t sleep anyways,” he replied with a tilt of his head towards you. he moved over a bit in his bed as to give you space to lay down next to him. you crawled beneath his comforters, inhaling the scent of lavender as you did. apparently shinsou had said that the smell helped him fall asleep easier. strong arms wrapped around your waist, encasing you in a protective embrace as your head rested comfortably against his chest. the comforter was thrown over the two of you. you felt so much safer already.

his large hands were placed on your lower back, his thumbs drawing lazy circles on your skin as his breathing began to relax noticeably. hiding your smile, you cuddled closer to him. to this day, you had never seen shinsou fall asleep so quickly since that night.

izuku midoriya

baby is up studying for a test that’s in like 2 weeks

either that or he’s on an all might video spree on youtube and no that is not the first time this has happened, it is certainly not the last

he has so many stuffed animals in his room probably, like he just has them stuffed in his closet

the all might plushies stay on the bed tho

his cuddles are unmatched tho, change my mind

izuku was pacing around his room, vocabulary words spinning about his mind as he counted them on his fingers. he was mumbling definitions to himself, going over all of them in his head before referencing his notebook to make sure nothing went wrong. amidst his ramblings, a knock at the door made him jump to attention. “come in?” he called out, watching intently as he saw you come into view. his face showed relief, grateful to know it wasn’t aizawa or kacchan complaining about his incessant pacing.

“would it be alright if i sleep here tonight? i’m worrying about my grades and stuff again,” you rubbed the back of your neck with a small smile, trying to play off your question as relaxed as you could. it wasn’t exactly a secret that you had a crush on the boy in front of you. he was kind and humble, wanting to help as many people as he could despite all the circumstances that had the world against him. it was admirable. even now, he looked so concerned from the clear lack of sleep you’ve been getting these past few days. “of course you can sleep here. ah, wait! i have to, ah,” he stumbled over his words as you looked to the bed to see not one, not even two, but four all might stuffed toys on his bed.

“oh.”

midoriya’s face erupted with crimson, shoving the plushies into his closet as he sputtered out various excuses as to why they were there in the first place. when he turned back to you, you were giggling. not at him, but because of the entire situation in general. “you’re adorable, izu,” you told him gently. a light feeling bloomed in his chest upon seeing the smile you held for him. you looked so undeniably beautiful to him, the way your hair was a bit messy and how you stood in your pyjamas. while others, including yourself, would find that you looked completely normal, midoriya loved seeing you be so casual, so comfortable around him.

“you’re sure i’m not interrupting you, though?”

midoriya returned your smile with his own, stepping forward to intertwined his scarred fingers with your delicate ones. “it’s okay,” he murmured softly, holding your hand as if you were the most precious thing in the world to him, “i couldn’t really sleep anyways.”

all works © denkamis 2021.

tags:

@meilbox @honeykami @httpfirx @strawberrysalwa @hey-i-really-miss-you @smexy-goose @satis-kei

want to be on the taglist? see this post!

[i-am-totally-a-human-being]

Danganronpa V4: A New Ending

Chapter 1: Part 2

<—previous part_____next part—>

Your story continues under the cut

There he was. Once again.

Following me.

He never stopped following me, he was like a lost puppy who dubbed me as his owner. It was annoying, and frankly, creepy.

I knew the rumors, I knew who he was. And, although I hated to admit it, I was both frightened and intrigued.

The Ultimate 尺̵̡̰̠̳͚̤̪̯̘̖͇͍̭̩͊̿͒͌̑͐乇̴̢̗̭̺̯͇̗̍̏́̋́͗͆̅̀̀̎͂̇̿̈́̉̔͋̇̈́̌̔̓͐̂͋̑̉̈̑͗̀̌̕͝͝͝ᗪ̷͍̺͓̤̤͆̂̀̎̓͒̑͊̈́̎̒̊̒̊͂̾̓̓̔̚͜卂̸̨̛̲̦̙̣̹̰̗̣͔͙͆̽̃̑̀͋̉̃̒́̃̒̿̉̿͛̕͜͜͠ͅͅ匚̴̢̡͈̟̗̞̮̖̬̃̑̋́̍́̿͑̅̅̓͗̊̔̀͘͘͝ㄒ̴̡̢̢̢̢̙̠͓̥̻̘̪͎̺͉̙̯̼̲̻̘̩̲̀͗͌͑̿̃̋͆̎̓̊̅̾̌͊̊͗̈̈́̆̈̇̽̒̒̆͊̋͛̚̕̕̚͠͠͠͠乇̶̛̛̹̿͋̏̔̇͊͛͗̈́̀̅̂̊̕ᗪ̷̢̬͈̮̲̭͚̦͎̜͇͓̣͍̞̮̎̌͌̂̓̌̀́̑͗̐͑͛́͛͋̃̑̈́̽͆̾̚̕̚͘͜͜͝͝͝ ̸̨̢̧̥̯͗̌̂̔̃̋̊̕?

A terrifying yet interesting Ultimate, to say the least. Still, no matter how interesting he was to me, it scared me that I seemed to be his newest target.

But… he wouldn’t do anything with the school cameras… right?

Taking a deep breath to gather what little confidence I actually had in myself, I spun around to face him. He looked back at me with a blank stare, just like he always did.

“If you’re the Ultimate 尺̵̡̰̠̳͚̤̪̯̘̖͇͍̭̩͊̿͒͌̑͐乇̴̢̗̭̺̯͇̗̍̏́̋́͗͆̅̀̀̎͂̇̿̈́̉̔͋̇̈́̌̔̓͐̂͋̑̉̈̑͗̀̌̕͝͝͝ᗪ̷͍̺͓̤̤͆̂̀̎̓͒̑͊̈́̎̒̊̒̊͂̾̓̓̔̚͜卂̸̨̛̲̦̙̣̹̰̗̣͔͙͆̽̃̑̀͋̉̃̒́̃̒̿̉̿͛̕͜͜͠ͅͅ匚̴̢̡͈̟̗̞̮̖̬̃̑̋́̍́̿͑̅̅̓͗̊̔̀͘͘͝ㄒ̴̡̢̢̢̢̙̠͓̥̻̘̪͎̺͉̙̯̼̲̻̘̩̲̀͗͌͑̿̃̋͆̎̓̊̅̾̌͊̊͗̈̈́̆̈̇̽̒̒̆͊̋͛̚̕̕̚͠͠͠͠乇̶̛̛̹̿͋̏̔̇͊͛͗̈́̀̅̂̊̕ᗪ̷̢̬͈̮̲̭͚̦͎̜͇͓̣͍̞̮̎̌͌̂̓̌̀́̑͗̐͑͛́͛͋̃̑̈́̽͆̾̚̕̚͘͜͜͝͝͝ ̸̨̢̧̥̯͗̌̂̔̃̋̊̕, then you can tell I’m pissed, yeah?!”

“…yes.”

“Then you know why I’m pissed! So,” I swallowed, hoping my nerves wouldn’t get the better of me as I stomped over to him, “take the hint and quit being so weird!!”

“…..” he made no facial expression, no movement, nothing, to indicate how he felt for my remarks. I grunted in frustration, turning around and walking to the library. I went there every day after class, and he always came with and sat across from me. I could only hope that he’d catch the hint after I told him off.

He didn’t.

I heard the footsteps start following again almost immediately, him keeping a bit of distance as always. I was hoping he’d take the hint, but clearly that didn’t happen. I huffed, spinning around again and clenching my fists.

“And stop following me!!!”

~~~~~

“Hey there, you ok?” I opened my eyes to see a boy standing over me, bright green hair shaping his face.

“....Where’s… Hajime? Is he ok?”

“Hajime? You mean this guy?” He helped me sit up, pointing to Hajime unconscious beside me.

“H-Hajime! Is he alright?!”

“He’s ok, I was gonna wake him up after I brought you to your senses,” he helped me stand, “my name is Rantaro Amami. You?”

“Y/N. Y/N L/N. Are you a freshman too?”

“You know it. Come on, help me pick him up.” I nodded and helped Rantaro position Hajime over his shoulder, following him down the hallway.

“Where are we going?”

“To the home room class. It’s where everyone else is.”

“Everyone else? So there’s others!”

“Yeah. Not counting us three here, there’s 13.”

“So enough for one class. Interesting.”

“So what’s your ultimate?”

“Ultimate Forensic Scientist. You?”

“Ultimate Adventurer. So you process crime scenes, yeah?”

“That is my strong suit, yes. Until we figure out where we are and why, I’m going to treat this whole island like one.”

“Smart. Well, in case you were wondering, none of us know why we're here either.”

“I assume you and the others have already gotten acquainted?”

“Yep. We heard the front door opening open since a little alarm plays when it does, so they sent me to investigate. Then I found you two. Why were you passed out, by the way?”

“Not sure. We walked through the door, and I woke up to you.” It wasn’t… the worst face to wake up to, if I was being honest with myself. He was rather attractive, giving off a bit of a… playboy vibe in a way.

“That’s odd. None of us had that kind of experience,” we stopped outside a door, him turning to look at me, “We’ve got an Ultimate Nurse here, so she’ll be able to check up on our friend here, and you as well. That way we can make sure you two are alright.”

“I’m perfectly healthy, thank you.”

“You were unconscious.”

“So was Hajime.”

“Exactly,” he smiled, “so you both are gonna get checked out.” It was no use arguing with him. I sighed in defeat, nodding and looking forward.

“So everyone is in there?”

“Yep.”

“Ok… let’s go.”

“Hey, two more- uh… is he ok?” A short boy with light brown hair paused after seeing Hajime on Rantaro’s shoulders.

“O-Oh dear!! I-Is he alright?!” A girl with unevenly cut dark purple hair ran over, tripping in the process and ending up in a…. Revealing position to say the least.

I quickly averted my eyes as a few others went to help her up. Rantaro looked at me, smiling.

“That’s our Ultimate Nurse, Mikan Tsumiki.”

“Her,” I whispered, questioning him, “she just-“

“Yeah. She’s… clumsy, to say the least.”

“I-I-I’m so sorry!! Please f-forgive me!!” She cried out as she was helped to her feet, carefully walking over and grabbing Hajime’s limp wrist, “h-he’s alive! How d-did he…?”

“We woke up together on the beach,” I turned to her, relieved to hear that an Ultimate Nurse said he was ok, “we made our way to the building, and both went unconscious the second we walked through the door.”

“Interesting,” a girl with short black hair nodded, “so I assume you have no idea what is happening, like the rest of us?”

“Right,” I nodded, “I’m Y/N L/N, by the way. The Ultimate Forensic Scientist. This is Hajime Hinata, he has amnesia and can’t remember his ultimate.”

“Interesting,” a tall boy with blonde hair looked at him, “Or perhaps, he has a dangerous ultimate and does not want us to know.” I immediately shook my head, shutting down his accusations.

“Hajime is no killer or anything dangerous.”

“And you know this… how? Is he your boooooyfrieeeend??” A short boy with messy purple hair laughed, but I was very much not amused.

“Are you a child?”

“Wha- What is that suppose to mean?!”

“It means I asked if you’re a child. Because you look and act like one.”

“….You really dare say that to Kokichi Ouma, The Ultimate Supreme Leader?!”

“Your Ultimate and name does not answer my question.”

“….YOU’RE SO MEAN!!” He burst into tears, making me jump and step back. What on earth…

“Don’t cry, Kokichi,” a tall boy looked at him, “Gonta know! Gonta find you bug to cheer you up!!”

“I don’t want I stupid bug, Gonta!! I want Y/N to apologize!!” He kept crying, everyone in the room looking miserable.

I made brief eye contact with a boy who’s hat covered one eye, who gave me a look of “it’ll be better for all of us if you just say sorry.”

“Ok,” I sighed, “I’m sorry, Kokichi.”

“Alright,” the tears immediately stopped, “I feel a lot better now.”

“What…” I sighed, looking around the room once more. There were still so many people I hadn’t formally met yet… I wasn’t a fan of meeting new people….

Introductions could wait. I wanted to avoid them as long as I could, so I followed Mikan and Rantaro to the infirmary to check on Hajime.

“H-He has no u-underlying me-medical issues,” she looked at us as she took his blood pressure, “w-we should be able to wake him u-up with no issue.”

“Thank you, Mikan,” I smiled at her, “I’m glad you’re here to help out.”

“O-Of course, hehe!!” She giggled to herself as she stepped back for me to see Hajime better.

“You said I can wake him up?”

“Yes, h-he should wake up if you try to.”

“Right. Thanks,” I grabbed his shoulder and shook him lightly, “Hajime? You there?”

“Hnng,” he groaned, his eyes fluttering open, “Y/N? Where… Where are we?!” He sat up the second he saw Rantaro and Mikan, looking at me in confusion.

“Rantaro Amami,” Rantaro extended his hand, “I found you two after you passed out. She made sure you were ok.” He nodded to Mikan.

“M-My name is… M-Mikan Tsumiki. I-It’s nice to meet you!” She smiled, waving.

“…..we passed out?”

“Yeah,” I nodded, “There’s other students, waiting for us to come back. Can you walk?”

“Yeah… Yeah, I think so,” he stood, rubbing his head, “gosh… everything hurts.”

“I-I can get you some pain killers!” Mikan offered, but Hajime shook his head.

“Not sure I want to take anything from this place until I learn what it actually is and why we’re here. Thank you, though.”

“I-I understand!!”

We made our way back to the classroom, Rantaro and Mikan walking ahead with me and Hajime trailing behind.

“Hey,” he whispered, “you’re good at reading into crime scenes, yeah?”

“I… guess so, yes.”

“Think you can read them,” he nodded to the pair walking in front of us, “Do you think they’re safe?”

“Well Rantaro found us unconscious and didn’t do anything but help wake us up, and Mikan seemed really worried about you before even knowing who you were. So yes, I think they’re safe.”

“Sorry… that was a stupid question.”

“No, it wasn’t. We don’t know these people, it’s smart to be cautious.”

We got to the classroom again, Hajime pausing before going in. Rantaro turned to him.

“You alright?”

“Y-Yeah… I just,” he sighed, “I’m not sure why I just… I’m really nervous about meeting ultimates.”

“Why? You are one, aren’t you?”

“I mean… I’ve got to be, right? So why am I so… nervous?”

“It’ll be ok,” I smiled, putting my hand on his shoulder, “I’ll be here.”

“Right… thank you.”

Sixteen students remain

[kyber-crystal]

Always Close By

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Words: ~3.1k hehe kinda long

Summary: In which even the mightiest of superheroes aren’t immune to sickness, and when Steve falls ill, you end up babysitting him. 

Warnings: none, just steve being a big baby ahaha 

Sleep had never really come easily to you. Your insomnia had been a consistent issue since before you first joined the Avengers, so days like these in which you mindlessly wandered around the compound downing two or three cups of coffee and eating granola bars weren't uncommon.

You hadn't gotten a wink of sleep all night yet for some reason, weren't feeling drowsy like you usually did when you stayed up. This time Sam and Bucky were also awake with you, and the three of you switched between playing Mario Kart and Animal Crossing to kill time.

One by one the rest of the team began to wake up and you and Wanda decided to start preparing breakfast. After everyone had finished eating you'd noticed Steve still hadn't come out, and decided to go check up on him.

"Steve?" you knocked carefully on his bedroom door as to not disturb him. "It's time for breakfast."

You didn't get a proper reply but heard a light groan in response, deciding to go inside after several more attempts.

He was buried under his covers, forehead glistening with a cold sweat and his dirty-blonde hair disheveled. When he looked up to meet your gaze you noticed his cheeks were flushed a bright red from heat, and were immediately concerned at the sight.

"Hey," you said softly, carefully approaching him. "You okay?"

Steve just shivered and shook his head.

"What happened?"

"Don't know."

You brought a palm up to his forehead and were alarmed by how hot it felt, hissing at his feverishness as you pulled your hand back. "You're burning up."

"I'll be fine, don't worry," he chuckled, but his laugh turned into a coughing fit. "I'm, just, fine."

"You're coming down with a fever," you stated. "I thought you couldn't get sick."

"Apparently, I can," he coughed, "But it's just a simple flu. I'll be back to normal before you know it. We have our weekly sparring showdown tonight, right? I can't miss out on that."

Despite the calm tone in his voice, you still weren't convinced. The thermometer read a whopping 105.6 degrees and from what you knew, that meant you had to get medical help right away.

"No, you're not. Your body temperature is abnormally high. You're staying in bed," you ordered, then sighed. It was hard not to go soft at those puppy dog eyes, but you knew denying him from being able to do any strenuous physical activity was for the best.

"Can you please speak more quietly," Steve whispered, "I have a migraine."

"I'm sorry," you were quick to lower your voice, "hey...how did this even happen to you? Did you eat anything weird?"

"Food poisoning?"

"No, that can't be. We all ate takeout together for dinner last...shit, shawarma." Your eyes widened in realization. "Dammit, it is."

"Language," he said weakly.

"You're staying in bed for today, alright?" you gave him a stern look.

"I'm not completely disabled, I can stand. Just let me go get some breakfast and afterwards I'll come right back to bed."

"Fine."

You gripped his forearm to help him stand up and his arm immediately went around your waist. You weren't sure whether the heat radiating off him was from his fever or from the way he generally made you feel. Brushing the thought off, you helped him to the kitchen.

"Damn, Cap. What happened?" Sam raised a brow at his friend's appearance.

"I think Tony poisoned him," you shot the billionaire a death glare. "I knew something was up with that shawarma place."

"Then how come none of us are sick?" Tony questioned. "We all had the same thing."

"No, we didn't. Steve and I were the only ones who specifically ordered the chicken shawarma. You guys took kebabs."

"Then why aren't you sick?"

"I don't know."

Steve pulled up a chair to the kitchen island, immediately laying his head on the cool marble counter and closing his eyes.

"Hey, Cap, you think you can try and stomach this? You need to eat or your condition will get worse," Pepper urged as she pushed a plate of scrambled eggs and French toast towards the super-soldier. He pulled himself back up into a sitting position and took a bite out of his toast, but quickly set it down after a wave of nausea washed over his body and he bit back a gag.

He tried to stand up and stumbled, but you and Bruce were quick to catch him by his shoulders.

"Cap? Are you okay?" the scientist asked gently. "Steve."

He shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut and grasping your waist tightly as he grew lightheaded, the world around him beginning to spin rapidly.

You lowered his head onto your lap as Wanda gave you a cold towel, and you pressed it to his sweaty forehead as you ran your other hand through his hair.

"We should get him back to his room, then I'll go get the treatments," Bruce explained as you tried to pull him back up, which was a lot harder than it seemed. "Then we'll figure it out from there."

"Jeez, how heavy are you," you said as you tried helping him to his feet. "I swear you're twice my weight..."

"172," he replied plainly.

"Feels a lot heavier than that. Thought you were at least 200 with all that broad muscle," you grunted as Bucky came forward to help you, and Steve slung his arms around both your shoulders.

Once you led him to his room, Steve lazily crawled back into bed and you pulled the covers over him. It didn't take long before he fell asleep, breathing steadier than before though it still sounded somewhat plugged.

“You sure you’re okay staying here with him?” Bucky raised an eyebrow at you. “If you’re tired too, I can step in if you want.”

“It’s fine, I can handle it. But thanks,” you yawned, waving him off. “Now go and...kick Sam’s ass in Mario Kart so I can face off against you later.”

“You got it,” he ruffled your hair before leaving the room. 

You pulled out your phone to check the time, and sighed. 9:17.

I know I had a workout video scheduled to be posted, guys, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to have it up today, you typed out a quick message to your Twitter. Steve’s sick and I’m having to take care of him. Hope you all understand <3

Almost immediately, the replies came flooding in. 

Awww we love a supportive teammate/gf

Couple goals uwu

Get better soon, Cap!

You smiled to yourself, setting your phone on Steve’s nightstand and running your hand through his hair again. He did look rather peaceful while asleep - and not to mention, flawless, with a face looking like it was sculpted by the Greek gods themselves. Times in which you saw him in a state like this were extremely rare, so you treasured every little moment you got. Between co-commanding missions with you, filing reports, and countless meetings with SHIELD officials (you let him doodle on your hand as he half-listened to the lectures), he was restless. 

You didn’t know when or how you fell asleep, but when you woke up streams of bright light were filtering in through the windows, the sun high in the sky. You groaned and pushed yourself out of bed, gently laying Steve’s head against his pillow before standing up and shuffling down the hall to the kitchen.

“What time is it?” you rubbed your eyes with your sweater’s sleeve. “How long was I out for?”

“1:45. You want lunch? You hardly ate in the morning,” Rhodey pushed a plate towards you. “You’ve been asleep for roughly four hours, Y/N.”

You pulled your phone out again - the weather outside was apparently a breezy 68 degrees. The fact that it wasn’t even hot outside, but Steve was sweating profusely, made you concerned. 

You let out a satisfied sigh as you bit into the sandwich (courtesy of Vision’s cooking), practically inhaling it in just a couple of bites. “Did any of you guys come down with symptoms...?”

“No, but you’ve been exposed so I’d advise that you take this,” Bruce handed you a small, blue pill. “It should keep you from catching Steve’s bug.”

You nodded and swallowed the pill down without even bothering to drink anything. “Alright.”

Just five minutes passed before your phone buzzed on the table. You were quick to answer, holding it up to your ear.

“Y/NNNN.”

“Steve? What do you need? Are you okay? When did you wake up?”

“A few minutes ago...I threw up and then went back to bed, but I couldn’t fall back asleep-”

“Oh, god. Hold on a second, I’ll be right there,” you promptly ended the call and got out of your seat, pushing the chair in before rushing down the hall to his room. 

The super-soldier was sitting up in bed when you arrived, sweat streaming down his forehead as he leaned against the headboard, cheeks flushed a bright red. “Y/N-”

“Hey hey hey, it’s okay, I’m here, what do you need? Water? Ice?”

“I feel horrible.”

You brought your hand up to his forehead again, and immediately jerked it away. “You’re still running a really high f...dammit, have you taken any medicine?”

“No...”

“Stay right here, I’ll go get some-”

“Don’t leave me,” he begged hoarsely as he reached out to grab your wrist. You felt a twinge in your chest at that damn pleading look in his eyes. “Please don’t leave me.”

You let out a sigh of defeat. “...I’ll have Bucky bring the medicine then, okay?”

“Mhmmm.”

It turned out, taking care of a sick super-soldier was a lot more difficult than it seemed. You initially thought that with the serum in his veins, that Steve couldn’t get sick - but for some reason it only amplified his symptoms. Damn that shawarma.

After alerting FRIDAY, Bucky appeared holding a glass of ice water in his metal hand and a small bottle of some medication in the other. 

“How ya feelin’, punk?” 

“Hey, jerk...” Steve said weakly, “Why is there two of you standing in front of me?”

“He’s getting worse, Y/N...” he looked genuinely worried, his gaze flickering between you and Steve. “...I gotta go now so I won’t get sick...but Y/N will take care of you. Got it?”

“Mhmm.”

As soon as Bucky left you popped open the bottle. “Hey. Drink this.”

“It smells disgusting,” Steve scrunched his nose up in distaste. 

“You need to  or you’ll only get worse. Now come on,” you urged. He turned his head away to avoid drinking the strong-smelling liquid. “Stop acting like such a big baby. For Odin’s sake, just drink it.”

“No.”

“Do you want to keep feeling like this?”

“No.”

“Then drink the medicine! It’s not that hard.”

“No.”

“Steven Grant Rogers,” you said sternly. “Drink. It. I’m not going to repeat myself again.”

Your sudden firm tone of voice took him by surprise. “Fiiiine.”

He took the bottle from your hands and tilted his head back, gulping it down within seconds. As soon as he finished he made a face. 

“There. That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“It was.”

You pulled your chair closer to his bedside, propping your hand on your chin as you observed him. “Still feeling nauseous?”

“Mhmmm.”

“If you throw up, you’re gonna have to take this all over again. You don’t want that to happen, do you?”

“No..I don’t wike it.”

You chuckled lightly. “I know. It’s for your own good, you know that, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s wait for a bit, and if you’re feeling well enough, I can make some onion soup for you, okay? How does that sound?”

“Amazing. I love your soup. Why don’t you cook more often?”

“Just never really considered it,” you shrugged. 

Steve rubbed his eyes, subconsciously reaching over to grab your hand, his thumb gently brushing over your knuckles. You felt your breath hitch in your throat. He then lifted your hand up to his face and pressed your palm to his flushed cheek, leaning into your touch. 

You swallowed hard as you allowed yourself to stare again at his messy-haired, exhausted figure. Your chest ached. The things you were willing to do for him... god, you loved him so much...

“...Why are you staring?” he mumbled, glancing over to meet your worried eyes. “What’s that look on your face? Y/N...are you okay?”

You inhaled sharply. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

His brows furrowed together and he gave you a look that told you he didn’t believe what you said at all. “Sure you are.”

“I’m just worried about you.”

“You’re acting like these are my final moments and that I’m going to die soon. Stop worrying so much.”

“This is coming from the person who waited eight hours straight for me to undergo surgery after that Belarus case?”

“Uh huh.”

Several moments passed in silence before he spoke up again. “Thanks for taking care of me...I’m sorry for being a big baby. I didn’t want to burden you.”

“It’s alright,” you reassured him, “you’re not a burden at all.”

You ended up watching The Empire Strikes Back that afternoon, his head in your lap and you running your fingers through his soft hair. At one point in the movie he began to drift off, and you carefully slid yourself out of bed.

He stirred awake again, reaching for you. “Y/NNNN.”

“I’m gonna go make the soup for you. Rest up and if you’re feeling well enough, then shower and come out to the kitchen, okay?”

“Alright.”

“He doin’ better?” Rhodey raised an eyebrow at you. 

“Fever’s gone down a bit but the nausea’s still there,” you exhaled as you began grabbing the necessary ingredients, “hey, uh, Pietro, can you go down to the cellar and grab some white wine?”

The speedster nodded and in a flash, he had the bottle in his hands. “Here.”

“Thank you.”

“Where’s Cap right now?” Sam questioned.

You heard the water running and replied, “Taking a shower. He’s been sweating like the Amazon.”

With Pietro’s help and your additional powers, you finished up the soup that was supposed to take an hour in just twenty-five minutes. By the time you were setting the bowl along with some bread onto a plate, Steve was hobbling into the kitchen, hair wet and messy with a towel hung around his neck. The tight T-shirt he changed into showed off his toned figure, and you almost dropped your glass of water at the sight. 

His eyes immediately lit up upon seeing the food, and he leaned over to kiss your forehead. “I love you. You’re the best.”

“I know.” You winked and took a seat next to him. The team smirked at the flirty exchange.

Surprisingly enough, he had the entire thing finished under five minutes so that you had to give him a second serving, which he basically inhaled in two giant gulps. 

“You were hungry, huh.”

“After throwing up yesterday’s dinner, yeah.”

You shot Tony a pointed glare. “Thanks a lot, Stark.”

“I’m sorry!” he exclaimed, and held his phone up. “Look, I called them earlier while you were asleep and they gave us a full refund.”

“Fine. Apology accepted.”

Steve’s migraines started acting up again and you were forced to help him back into bed (with Bucky’s assistance, of course). After spending all day hovering over him, you fell asleep as well, a mere thirty seconds after he did.

...

When you came to the next morning, you felt an arm tighten around your waist and a sleepy groan coming from right next to you. You slowly opened your eyes and realized you were curled up against him with a hand resting against his chest, your legs intertwined together as he held you tightly to him. A breath of relief escaped your lips when his face no longer looked alarmingly pale and his cheeks weren’t bright red.

Steve woke up a few seconds later, giving you a sleepy smile as his grip around you tightened.

"Mornin', doll," he said in a husky voice that made you almost swoon. But then he too, realized what was going on and quickly snapped out of it. "What- oh my God, I’m sorry-”

“Are y’all fully dressed in there? Wanda made her famous French toast feast for breakfast so if you don’t get yo asses out here I’m eating your food!” Sam yelled as he pounded on the door. 

"Just a minute!” you shouted back in reply as you and Steve sprung apart, and swung your legs over the edge of the bed and grabbed a pair of clothes before heading to the bathroom to change. 

“What the hell, Y/N, you actually slept for sixteen consecutive hours? I’ve never seen you do that before?”

“Huh? What time is it?”

“8:07. And why are you wearing Steve’s shirt?”

“What do you mean? I’m not...” you trailed off on your sentence and looked down to see that you were in fact, wearing one of Steve’s shirts. “...Oh.”

“Did you two...”

“No!” 

“Cute,” you heard someone chuckle lowly from behind you and turned around to see a smirking Steve with his arms crossed over his chest. 

“So I see now that you’re okay, you’re acting all cocky again, hm?” you raised an eyebrow at the super-soldier. “Guess those meds finally wore off.”

He just chuckled in response and pulled him towards you, engulfing you in a tight, hug. 

“Let me go!” you squealed, squirming against his tight grip as the team watched in amusement. “I need to eat breakfast! Let me go!”

“Only if you say the words, sweetheart.”

“Let me go right this instant! I’m serious!” you began laughing uncontrollably. “Steve! Let me go!”

“Not until you say it.”

“Fine! I love you and you’re my favorite Avenger!” He released you from his arms and you brushed your shirt off. “There, happy?”

Steve laughed again, that same damn smirk on his face. “I didn’t know you could get flustered, Y/N.”

“I’m not flustered,” you muttered. 

“Your face is like a tomato!” Peter exclaimed. “You wouldn’t look like that if you weren’t. Mr. Stark, looks like I owe you twenty.”

“Peter, did you make a bet with Tony again?” You frowned. 

“Yep! We bet when we’d finally figure out you liked Cap and he bet within the next week, while I said three weeks.”

“Oh my god.”

[tslasvegas]

Episode 12: “I’ve been awakened.” - Xavier

Well that vote went exactly how I had hoped it would... and then the super idol came out! I'm glad that it's out of the game now once and for all, but I guarantee that Liv is going to find something else along the way. It's so hard for me to summarize everything that I'm doing around here because I feel like I'm doing a lot. Maybe that's going to come bite me in the ass this coming vote but idk, I'm not mad about it. I definitely limited myself a lot by really not going for the money shot and convincing Jeff to use his vote steal on Joey to get Joey the hell out of here, but maybe in some weird way it works. Because now I have John's 8 chips and I'm going to need as many as I can get to somehow beat Livingston. I definitely think that snubbing this vote is going to be my biggest detriment only bc it provides the opportunity for Livingston to ascend higher as a threat, but also avoid getting voted out at our next convenience. I still really want Kailyn to go, but I think the goal for everyone else is to get rid of Livingston or myself (maybe Joey) at the next tribal council. Ugh. Heh... I never would've thought that I could pull off that kind of a move and have it not fully work out in my favor. It was a cool feeling regardless and I'm not crushed if it means I played myself out of the game. I give myself credit where it's due, I'm going to continue fighting as always and hopefully I come out on top :~)

Last Luxor standing 

Whelp, there goes the Super Idol. Jaiden is a snakey little snake snake. Pat and Jeff are naïve as all hell. I'm not 100% sure I believe Jaiden now, but apparently Joey's plan was to cut me at like final 6 or something. And people are so convinced that Livingston and I are a duo. I mean we are, but like maybe if anyone would ACTUALLY FUCKING TALK TO ME AND TRY TO WORK WITH ME, we wouldn't be??? Like don't whine and bitch that Livingston and I are a duo who are going to stick together and not turn against each other if you can't even be bothered to respond to a single fucking message of mine. I have no issues voting out whoever is necessary for me to get farther in the game. But when only a limited number of people express in interest in going farther with me? You better fucking bet I'm working with those people. Anyways, can't wait to vote out Jaiden, Kailyn and Xavier. xoxo Gossip Girl 

Waiting on Immunity Results, but whatever happens the 5 of us need to vote together, and be smart about it! We know that liv, Keegan and Joey will vote together. Probably for me next. So Jeff Pat need to stick with us. We need to split the votes 3-2, and use a vote steal, cancel or extra to get it to 3-3 just in case of idols. We need to be smart about this. Going all out and proposing this once results are in. I am going to the Jury next anyway, go out guns blazing.

...five seconds later

OMG I WON IMMUNITY! Finally something good! I figured most people gave their correct numbers, and if not, just chose a number close to theirs. OR they didn't coordinate so well, so some gave a higher number and others gave a lower one, so it cancelled out. Also helps that I knew Liv and Pat's numbers with the advantage. Pat gave mine accidentally so I knew his was in the 40s as well. Phew. Now to figure out whether to use the Steal a Vote now or not.

I came so close to winning immunity but it was rudely snatched away from me by Xavier. On the plus side, Livingston found the hidden immunity idol on the idol board! Heck yeah! As long as there isn’t a full blindside we should be good now! 

(originally written 11/23, night after super idol) Anyways what rly bugs me is that Jeff is actually mad at me now for the fact that he wasted his vote on Joey and I tried to get rid of Livingston instead... and I think I put myself into a spot where I need to apologize to him and make him feel good about me again. Tbh no I don’t. Jeff said to me that he’s got to play his own game first and mine second. So why am I playing some other people’s games first? Because it benefits me to play everyone’s hand for them, yes, but also I’ve been caught trying to run the entire table a little too early. So maybe now it’s time for me to do something a little different - play my game first. It’s now fully Jeff’s fault that Joey didn’t leave. I told Jeff precisely what he needed to do to ensure Joey went home. He needed to play the vote steal and send Joey on packing... and he didn’t. So now when Pat and I finally talk tomorrow and he tells me what’s up, I’m not gonna hold back. I’m going to throw Jeff under that bus so fucking hard his head will spin. Pat doesn’t know about the vote steal and I think I’ll hold that piece of information over Jeff’s head a little bit longer - I know something no one else knows about you, keep me safe or it’s coming out and everyone’s going to come after you. So tomorrow I will blame Jeff to Pat. Sure I was the person who made the move, but it’s my game and I’m playing it now. If Pat doesn’t like my apology, then kiss my ass and take eighth place. Bye!

...five seconds later

I'm pessimistic as FUCK so I'm fully expecting to go home tonight and I'm writing this confessional against better judgment because I need to rly focus on letting my mental state get back to normal rather than Survivor mode before I get voted out lmfao. Anyways, tonight is FINALLY the night where I'm making my last move against Joey, one way or another. This is the decision that will either determine oops sorry as I was writing that, I just realized something else... this is ME making yet another move that makes Jeff think I'm controlling the whole entire game I love that for me hehe. Should I convince the entire tribe to vote out Jeff instead??? Let's go fully with the chaos mode. DRAW ROCKS BITCHES!!!! Jk Jk Back to my original point - this is the vote that determines whether I was worth being brought back for this game or not. I'm not trying to be this like crazy strategist who has all these cracked plans to take out Joey but that's where we're at rn. One side of me like, trusts Jeff but the other side of me doesn't. So I told Jeff about Joey's legacy advantage and now it's like, getting Jeff to want to turn on Joey. Even though Joey told me he wanted to get rid of Jeff it seems like Jeff is not as stressed about it. I'm pretty sure Jeff turned votes against me instead, it is what it is. It's the game. However, Jeff would be really stupid to not vote out Joey now while he has the chance... it's probably going to come down to Jeff winning this whole entire thing if he makes the correct move tonight because I'm certainly not going to turn my back on him if he follows through. But, crazy things have happened tonight. And it's about to get a whole lot crazier. :) Although I'm like, CERTAIN I'm going home tonight or at least getting votes. OK IM TRYING SO HARD TO WRITE THIS CONFESSIONAL BUT SO MUCH IS HAPPENING AHHHH IM STRESSING OUT BUT I KNOW THERES A GOOD PLAN OUT THERE FOR ME TO MAKE AND HOPEFULLY IM NOT SCREWING MYSELF OVER 

...five seconds later

OKAY I think I'm gonna be ok but I'm taking a HUGE risk rn!!! Basically putting my vote onto Liv with Joey and hoping Joey 1) doesnt have an idol and 2) gets the rest of the votes. But my logic for voting Liv is simple. If Joey actually has an idol he's been hiding, he plays it and reveals I voted for him again if I don't do it. It also prevents me/Kailyn from going home 2-1-0 since Keegan and Liv seem to be locked in on one of us (likely me). If somehow Jeff/Pat are lying and are part of split, it'll go 2-2-2-2 which is not only insane but it also gives me a PERFECT platform to light people up, namely Jeff and his vote steal advantage. But we'll see! I'm predicting to go home tonight :) But at least I made a move when I could. Good luck to me <3

[aalissy]

Gasping for Air

This chapter starts out a little more seriously than most of my Lukanette February fics but I still hope you like it <3!! I do get to the fluff later on hehe because I loveee itt! Lemme know what you think! 

AO3

They were in the park when it happened. Her only warning was Luka managing to give a mangled shout of her name before it hit them. The rush of water raced fiercely over the two as their heads were dragged down under. The shock caused Marinette’s eyes to pop open widely, watching Luka get swept away along with her purse. The water garbled her shout and she couldn’t stop herself from sucking in a breath only to be met with a lungful of water. She gasped in surprise and even more water rushed in before she was kicking, fighting to reach the surface. Finally breaching fresh air, Marinette coughed and spluttered, choking out the water that was stuck in her lungs. 

“Luka!” she screamed, searching wildly for the boy that was no longer with her. She ducked her head back under the waves, opening her eyes against the harsh sting of the water as she looked for him. She couldn’t find him and each time she went up to gasp in another breath of air she grew more and more desperate.

“Marinette!” Tikki’s voice broke through her haze as she surfaced for the fourth time, her arms beating against the water, “You need to calm down! It’s an akuma and the only way for you to save Luka is to transform and capture it!”

The girl shook her head, her eyes wide in panic as she looked around wildly, “You don’t understand, Tikki! I lost my purse! I can’t feed you the macaron that lets me breathe underwater and Luka is in trouble! I have to find him!”

“Don’t forget, Marinette, you can breathe for a short while with your yo-yo. The faster you defeat the akuma, the faster you can find Luka!” her kwami placated her, watching as the girl struggled against the waves.

Marinette took a deep, calming breath, “You’re right... I’m really sorry Tikki. Akuma first then Luka.”

 The small, bug-like creature sighed in relief as the designer finally stopped struggling and turned to her with determined eyes, “You can do this, Marinette. You just need to stay calm and keep a level head.”

“Yeah, yeah, I can do that,” she chuckled nervously, eyes already turning back to the water, to scan the area once again for Luka before calling on her transformation, “Tikki, spots on!”

Transforming half-underwater felt weird. She was unable to spin like she usually did and the transformation seemed quicker than usual. The power and energy still raced through her bones though, making her more alert and less panicked. Ladybug’s eyes darted around, spotting a building whose rooftop was still above the raging waves. She quickly threw her yo-yo, wrapping it around the corner of one of the ledges and gave a fierce tug, letting it pull her out of the water. Once she got up above the waves, she strained her ears for any explosions and quickly dialed Chat Noir on her yo-yo. When he picked up, Ladybug quickly followed him to the source of the akuma. The rest of the battle was a blur, she could remember Chat telling her where the akuma was located but most of her thoughts were focused on the lost musician. Luckily, even in her distracted state, she managed to figure out what to do with her lucky charm and stopped the villain. 

Giving a brief smile and wave to the superhero next to her, Ladybug quickly swung her way over to an abandoned alley nearby the park. Letting go of her transformation, she reached for her purse to call Luka and give Tikki a macaron when she realized that she still didn’t have it. Letting out a muffled curse, she gave her kwami a weak smile, “I’m so sorry, Tikki. I don’t have any cookies on me right now. I’ll give you a ton as soon as I get home!”

“That’s alright, Marinette,” she grinned tiredly, “Take your time.”

The designer’s eyes softened with worry before she was undoing her pigtails, letting her hair fall over her shoulders, “Here, hide in the hair on my shoulder for now until I can get you safely inside my purse.”

“Thank you,” Tikki replied quietly before slowly floating over to land on her shoulder.

 Marinette stared down at her kwami who managed to give her another exhausted grin before she was running out of the alley and back towards her bakery. Bursting through the doors, she ran straight into someone and felt her air escape her in a woosh. Not even looking up at the boy in front of her, she darted around him to grab a cookie, “Sorry! So sorry!” just as she was about to grab the food source, she was yanked back and looked up into his eyes offendedly, “Excus-,”

Marinette was cut off as Luka pulled her into a warm embrace. Her eyes widened before she was clutching him to her desperately. He whispered to her as he buried his face in her neck, “I was so worried. I came straight here after Ladybug saved everything and you weren’t here.”

“I went looking for you,” her words came out in a quiet murmur. His nose grew closer to her hair and she felt Tikki shuffle backward nervously, tangling herself deeper into the girl’s dark tresses. Clearing her throat awkwardly, Marinette stepped back, eyes darting around as she thought how she was going to get her kwami food. Holding a finger up, she took a few steps back to her stairs, “Give me a second! I have to check something really quickly.”

“Okay...” Luka’s voice trailed off before she was racing up the stairs as fast as she could. 

Once she was in the safety of her room, she grabbed a cookie from her source, kissing Tikki softly on the head, “I’m so sorry it took so long! Rest up here and I’ll be back in a moment.”

“Thank you, Marinette,” her kwami smiled happily as she nibbled on the delicious treat.

Giving Tikki a grateful grin, the designer rushed straight back to the downstairs bakery, tackling Luka in a hug, “I’m so glad you’re okay!”

The boy in her arms chuckled before lifting her up and spinning her around much to her amusement, “I’m glad you’re okay! Do you have any idea how worried I was when your parents said they hadn’t seen you yet!”

Marinette giggled before he set her back down, “I’m sorry for frightening you. I just went out looking for you and when I realized I didn’t have my phone I came back as fast as I could!”

Luka held up her purse with sparkling eyes, “Could your phone possibly be in here?”

“Yes, yes!” she gasped, taking it from him in shock as she hugged it to her chest, “Thank you so so much! How did you even find it?!”

“Luckily it got swept away with me and I managed to keep it with me until Ladybug was with me,” he grinned down at her before twirling a piece of her hair around his finger, “That reminds me, what happened to your hair?”

“Oh,” Marinette reached up to run her hands through hair, “Um, the water must have swept them away.”

Luka’s blue eyes looked down at her in wonder as he murmured, “You should leave it like this more often. It looks beautiful.”

“Thank you,” she ducked her head down, her cheeks turning a light red. She glanced up at him from beneath her lashes shyly, “Did you want to go watch a movie upstairs? Our park date got kind of ruined,” Marinette giggled.

“You know I won’t say no to spending more time with you,” he chuckled, slinging an arm around her shoulder as the two teens walked up to her upstairs living room.

[ecotone99]

[RF] Vomit - a short story about a descent into a rabbit hole of drugs

(a repost after bot-moderator removed the original post on the spurious grounds that the story was less than 500 words, and cut out 2nd half of the story)

Theo returned from work at seven in the evening. It was still sunny. The heat was warm and caressed his skin as he sat on the porch of his parents’ house. It was no longer the oppressive heat of the midday. It was Friday evening, the beginning of weekend. The construction work that week had been gruelling, and Theo was going out as he did every weekend, to seek powerful stimuli that will make him forget about his mind-numbing daily reality.

He got a text message from Darius, a coworker whom he suspected of being on the psychopathic spectrum. That man is best avoided, thought Theo, but earlier that day he had a violent confrontation at work, and Darius had his back. They needed to discuss what happened. Darius was coming to pick him up in fifteen minutes.

Theo walked back into the house to put on his party clothes. He put on his gold chain, styled his hair, and put on his cologne. His parents were yelling at each other as usual, and his young siblings were screaming around the house. His mother asked him where he was going and he said “out”, and rushed out the door.

There was an old Mercedes waiting for him in front of the driveway. Darius sat and smiled in the passenger seat, and Theo got in the back.

- This is my cousin Marco, Darius introduced the driver.

Creepy looks seemed to run in their family. Marco was even paler and more bug-eyed than Darius. Darius always looked somewhat sweaty and oily, and showed a small range of emotions on his face. It was proof that he was subject to physiological processes of ordinary humans. His cousin Marco on the other hand looked like a vampire. His face was deathly pale, and dry, and it showed no emotion whatsoever.

- Marco’s got a sweet condo downtown. Want to join us there and party? said Darius. He’s got a DJ set and everything.

- Sounds good man, said Theo.

Darius then produced a massive bag of marijuana and started to roll a joint. He passed the bag to Theo so he can roll his own. It was a day of plenty. Darius also produced a tub of hemp oil. Theo had never seen such a thing before.

- That’s going to give you a massive kick, said Darius. You smudge some on the zigzags.

Sure enough the weed was powerful. The three men took the long route and drove slowly towards downtown. The sun was setting and Marco was playing reggae, which matched and enhanced the high of marijuana.

- So what do you do for a living, Marco? asked Theo.

- I’m a property manager, answered Marco.

- And his hobby is marijuana, as you can see, hehe, said Darius. He’s got some sweet connections, don’t you cousin?

- Let’s just say I know some very important people, said Marco.

- Cool, which properties? asked Theo again.

- Several high rises downtown.

- We are actually making a quick detour to one of them, said Darius, then we will head back to Spaulding Avenue to the condo.

- Oh, you got some work to do man? said Theo, just drop us off at the club district.

- It’s a quick drop-off, don’t worry, explained Darius.

At some point Marco got a call from his girlfriend. Theo was surprised that Marco had a girlfriend, or that he was capable of any form of intimacy whatsoever. The woman seemed to complain about losing her keys, or some other household item. Marco remained cold as ice, but his words were incredibly abusive.

- Well honey, you are such a damned retard. What exactly is the use of having you in the house? You never clean the house. You live like a pig. It’s always cluttered, and there’s no wonder you lose stuff all the time. Maybe don’t be such a stupid pig next time.

They pulled up to a run down condominium for the drop off. They were in the middle of the projects. A young man in a sports hoodie walked over to the car and leaned into the passenger window. He seemed restless, as he was constantly rocking back and forth. Darius pulled a plastic-wrapped rectangular package out of the glove compartment and handed it to the man, who quickly slipped it under his grey hoodie and disappeared.

As they drove off, Marco finally initiated a conversation.

- Darius told me you had a scuffle with Larry today. That was hilarious. I can just imagine Larry’s face when he saw that kid all bloodied up. And the dead dog, haha.

- Wait, you know the plaza owner? The guy with the ponytail? asked Theo.

- Oh, of course. I manage half his properties. Listen, you guys got nothing to worry about. The matter has already been resolved. Larry stepped over the line. He is like that, he will test you and try to squeeze you as much as he can. But if he sees that you can’t be squeezed, he’s reasonable.

- Good to know! said Theo. He was surprised and he began to piece it all together.

- Yeah man, said Darius, we got bikers on our side, thanks to Marco. Larry won’t do a thing.

They finally arrived to the condo. It was in a high-end building. They arrived to an empty apartment with a beautiful balcony view. But the apartment was empty inside, except a large mattress on the floor and a DJ set with two speakers size of chairs. There were already people inside. Two guys were sprawled on the mattress, dysfunctionally high. A third man was spinning on the DJ set and listening to the music on headphones.

The new arrivals settled in and Marco took over the DJ set. He started blasting reggae on the speakers so loud that Theo could hardly talk to anyone.

- It’s a sick system, someone told Marco.

- It is, but the stupid neighbours complain about it all the time.

- You have to play reggae loud in order to properly enjoy it, said Darius, smiling.

At some point Marco approached Theo and started a conversation with him. He didn’t really make eye contact, and he talked slow.

- Darius told me what you did today. You got balls, and you got brains. That’s rare.

- Thanks.

- I don’t know why you do that job with that grouchy grandpa, what’s his name? It’s a gutter job, and you have a gutter boss. You are too good for that.

- I hate that job, man, said Theo. Thinking of his past experiences on the job, and imagining the prospect of it going on indefinitely, his stoned mind filled with terror.

- If you want to make some real money, you talk to me. I can get you in the property management, you know what I mean?

- I know what you mean.

- Think about it. You don’t want to be on the bottom of the system.

Marco then went on a tangent about the system. Speaking from his personal experience, he explained how all the judges are corrupt and hypocritical. He ended up in some legal trouble for doing what he does, and they took him down just so they can have their own people do the same thing. There is no justice out there. There is no right and wrong. There is only loyalty.

Suddenly, one of the recreational drug users began to convulse on the mattress. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he started foaming at his mouth. His lips turned blue.

- He swallowed his tongue, pull his tongue out, said Marco. The music was still blaring.

Marco knelt next to the guy and stuck his fingers in his throat. He pulled out the man’s tongue, and the man vomited on the carpet immediately after.

- Give him some water! said Marco. Someone brought a glass from the kitchen.

In about five minutes the man had regained his wits. Once it was clear that he would not die, Marco worked himself up into a rage.

- You damned junky! Don’t you have any self-control? Last thing I need right now is a dead body in my goddamn apartment. Who brought this asshole? Lawrence, did you bring this bitch?

Lawrence said nothing. Marco slapped the junky on the back of the head.

- Hello? What’s your name? What did you take?

- I’m sorry man, I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened there.

- Sorry? You better get your ass up and clean that pile of puke off my carpet! Before we all start barfing from the stink.

The junky said he’d do it. He got up to find some rags in the kitchen, but suddenly rushed towards the exit door, grabbed his shoes in his hands, and tried to get out. The door was locked and he couldn’t figure out how to open it on time. Marco caught up to him, threw him on the ground and began kicking him and cursing. The junky had no choice, he went back to the kitchen slowly this time and found a rug and a roll of pepper towels and a bucket, and begun cleaning his mess.

Everyone’s buzz was beginning to clear off. Theo’s phone started ringing. It was his mom. He went out onto the balcony.

- Honey, where are you? Are you going to come back soon? Please come back soon, okay?

Theo hung up and went back inside. He said bye to everyone and went back home by public transport. As he sat in the back of an empty bus and looked on outside, he had one thought that came back to him over and over again.

- I need to get out of here. I need to go back to school, or something, anything, but I need to get out of here.

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