#but hey at least we’re getting some more Lance flexing (I guess??)

[orykorioart]

Mr. Recoil over here with his nth recoil TM :-/

[actress4him]

Whumptober 2020 - Day 4

Another hopeful ending today! Also featuring a bit of Pidge whump. As always, please check the tags and let me know if I missed any. And if anyone wants to comment on/reblog any of my Whumptober fics so far that would make a fantastic birthday gift! 😉

Read on AO3

Read on FFN

Day 4 - Collapsed Building

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Warnings: claustrophobia, impaling, blood, internal bleeding, broken bones, overuse of the word quiznak

“All the royals and diplomats are clear. What’s everyone’s status?”

“Just coming down the stairs,” Lance puffed. “Hunk’s with me. Be out in a tick.”

“Keith? Pidge?”

“On our way.” Keith skirted around a table and shattered vase that had fallen when the ground started shaking, and kept running. “We’re on the lowest level, but not sure...” He glimpsed a familiar room through an open door. “Wait. I think that was the dining hall we just passed.”

“It was!” Pidge confirmed from a few feet ahead.

“Okay. You guys need to hurry. The rebels could be back with more bombs any minute, and I’m not sure how much more the palace can stand. Allura and I are gonna get everyone underground; you all head to your Lions as soon as you’re out.”

“Roger.” 

“Headed that way now!” Hunk replied.

"Quiznak." 

Keith nearly ran into Pidge, who had skidded to a halt in front of him and was messing with her gauntlet. “What is it?”

“The way we came in earlier is blocked. Looks like it took a direct hit.” She pulled up a glowing schematic of the palace as Keith took in the piles of beams and stone in the hallway to the left. “We’ll have to go this way. It’s longer, but it’s our only choice.”

He let her lead the way once more, not only because she had the map but because he wanted her to set the pace. He could easily outrun her, he knew, but there was no way he was leaving her behind. They’d make it out. They had to. Maybe the rebels were done. Maybe there wouldn’t be any more - 

His thoughts were interrupted by another ear-splitting explosion and the floor rocking beneath them. Pidge stumbled, but Keith caught her by the arm and quickly righted her. 

“Go, go!” 

She picked up the pace, and Keith tried to ignore how wide and fearful her eyes had been. He didn’t have time to worry about that, anyway. Shiro was yelling in his ear, wanting to know if they had made it out yet, and somewhere high above them ships were droning and another bomb was whistling. And getting louder. In fact, it was louder than any of the others he had heard so far, and for the first time, he heard the actual impact on the roof before the explosion. 

His heart in his throat, he leapt forward without fully realizing what he was doing. “Pidge!”

Then there was pain.

And darkness.

The next thing that Keith was aware of was a far off voice calling his name, over and over again. Parting his superbly dry lips, he attempted to answer, but all that came out was a groan. Why did he feel so heavy? It was as if every single muscle in his body weighed three times as much as it should. He blinked open his eyes, but the darkness barely retreated. There was only a faint glow, like that of the insignias on their armor.

“Keith?” The voice came again, and this time he was fairly certain of its owner, though he was unsure of why he couldn’t see her when she sounded so close.

“P-Pidge?”

“Oh, thank quiznak.” Pidge drew in a shuddering breath, sounding close to tears. “I was so scared you weren’t gonna wake up.”

Had he been asleep? He ran his tongue over his lips, but it was just as dry as they were. “What...I don’t...”

Pidge’s voice softened. “The rebels, remember? They dropped one of their bombs right over us, and you...”

He had jumped on top of her. The memory hit at the same time as the pain, and Keith screamed.

“Keith! It’s okay, it’s okay! Ugh, I mean, I know it’s not okay, but...” Pidge floundered for words. “Can you...can you tell me where it hurts?”

Everywhere. “M-my leg.” That was the worst, at least.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure my leg’s broken. Like, I think there’s maybe like a rock or something sitting on top of it.” She sounded so nonchalant about it, but that was Pidge, he supposed. Analyzing the situation and relaying the information was what she did best. “Do you think...is that kinda what yours feels like?”

“No.” He attempted to flex his foot and had to clamp his teeth together to keep from screaming again. “It, uh...it feels more like it was stabbed.”

“The fact that you know the difference between a broken bone and a stab wound just by pain is concerning to me,” she deadpanned. “Okay, anything else?”

Keith tried to focus past the searing pain in his leg to take stock of the rest of his body. He still felt heavy, though he now knew that was probably because of the three stories worth of debris on top of him, and everything felt like one giant bruise. “Pretty sure some ribs are broken. Can’t...really feel my arms...” 

“I’m just glad you can feel your legs. I was afraid your back might be broken. Since it’s not, I’m gonna try to scoot out from under you and see if I can get a look at your leg.”

It took Keith a moment longer than it should have to process that statement. “Wh-...wait, are you...under me?”

The explosive reaction from Pidge was not what he was expecting. “Well, yeah, since you tackled me like a frickin’ idiot! I swear, you and Lance and your stupid, frickin’ self-sacrificing tendencies...”

If his normal social skills weren’t bad enough, right now he hurt way too much to be able to come up with a proper response to that. “Uh...sorry? I guess? I just...wanted...”

“You just wanted to keep me from getting hurt, I know. I got it.” Though her tone was still angry, he thought he heard it waver with another emotion.

“But...you still did. Get hurt.” And he hated that fact more than he hated his own pain.

“It’s not nearly as bad as it could have been.” Not nearly as bad as you, she didn’t say, but he heard it anyway. She sighed. “Thanks, I guess. I mean, I don’t like you sacrificing yourself for me, but...at least this way we’re together, right?”

“Yeah. Being alone right now would -“ his words caught in his throat as his leg gave a particularly intense throb -“would suck.”

“Yeah.” Silence fell for a moment, then he could hear her draw in a deep breath. “Okay. Gonna start wiggling out to the left now. Still not sure how you didn’t know you were laying on top of me.”

Once she started moving, Keith was able to free his left hand and reach out blindly until he found something to brace it on, leveraging himself up slightly to give her more space. The movement made that one particularly sore spot near his kidney flare up dramatically, and he swallowed back a gasp. That was...probably not good. No need to worry Pidge about it, though, when there was nothing she could do.

“I assumed...y-you were debris.”

“Gee, thanks.”

He managed a small smirk. “No offense to you. It’s...probably the...armor.”

By then, Pidge had managed to wriggle her way out far enough that he could actually see her face through her helmet. She gave him a tiny smile before twisting and craning her head back to look at his leg. “Quiznak. That’s...quiznak.”

“Yeah, kinda...kinda feels that way.”

She dropped back down so that they were face to face. “So, bad news is, there’s a reason you feel like you were stabbed. Best I can tell, there’s like, an entire beam going through the middle of your thigh.”

The mental image combined with the pain made his stomach roll, but he swallowed it back. “What’s...what’s the good news?”

“Uh...the good news?” The stumped look on Pidge’s face made it clear that there really hadn’t been any. “The good news is...Shiro made us wear our helmets, so neither one of us have major head injuries?”

Keith huffed, regretting it when his ribs protested. “Yeah. Point for Shiro, there.” Before coming to the dinner and meeting tonight there had been a whole argument between him and Allura on whether the helmets were necessary for a diplomatic event. “I assume the...comms are out, though?”

Pidge nodded. “At least our end is, though I doubt they can hear us, either. I...went ahead and said where we were a couple of times while you were out, though. Just in case.”

He wanted to say something to reassure her, despite not being too optimistic about their outlook, himself, but found himself suddenly unable to draw in a breath. Something gurgled in the back of his throat. It exploded outward with a violent cough that spattered on the inside of his face shield and left him whining pitifully and wanting to curl in on himself.

“Yikes, that couldn’t have felt good on broken ribs.” Her eyes widened. “Wait. Why are you coughing? Your helmet’s sealed, there shouldn’t be dust.” Leaning in, she cupped the side of his helmet with her hand and let the light from her armor illuminate the pinkish liquid. “Please don’t tell me that’s blood. Quiznak, that’s blood, isn’t it? You’re bleeding internally. That’s not good. That’s not good at all.”

“Hey.” Keith grimaced, already feeling more blood crawling up into his throat. “It’s okay. Don’t...don’t freak out.”

Pidge almost looked ready to throttle him. “How can I not freak out? We’re trapped under a crap ton of debris and nobody knows where we are and you are coughing up blood, Keith! It was bad enough that you were losing blood from your leg, but now you’re losing it somewhere inside, too!”

“Yeah, I know.” He was starting to feel the effects of it, too. Losing every few words that she said, his vision occasionally blinking out altogether. He coughed again, unable to hold it back any longer. “It’s...it’s ‘kay, though. Sh’ro...Sh’ro’ll fin’ me. Sh’ro...always fin’s me. He’s good...at that.”

“Whoa. Keith. No, come on, buddy, you gotta stay awake. Look at me.”

He pried his eyes open, unaware that he had even closed them. “‘m ‘wake.”

“Okay, good.” Pidge patted the side of his helmet. “You need to stay that way. Tell me...tell me something about yourself. Tell me about living in the shack, out in the desert.”

Keith scrunched up his nose, wondering why she would want to hear about that. “The shack? The shack was...borin’. Was lonely. Nobody...nobody out there...’cept me. Me an’ Blue.” He huffed a laugh, and wondered why doing so hurt. “Thought I was...goin’ crazy. Losin’ my mind. She wouldn’t...stop callin’ me, though. Kept me goin’. Needed...needed somethin’ to keep livin’ for, so...might ‘s well be...a voice ‘n my head.” He coughed again. “Owww. That hurts.”

“I know, bud.” If he wasn’t mistaken, which was a very real possibility considering the fuzziness of his head, those were tears reflecting in her eyes. He wanted to ask her why she was sad, but she was still talking. “I know it does. You just gotta keep hanging on for a little while longer, okay? Then Shiro will come and get us.”

“‘Kay. I like Sh’ro. He’s a good...good guy.” Keith let his eyes slip shut again. The darkness felt nice on his tired brain. It was almost as nice as Pidge. She was really nice.

“Nope, don’t close your eyes.” When he didn’t respond right away, she grabbed his shoulder and shook it slightly. “Keith, come on.” Her voice sounded choked.

Begrudgingly, he opened his eyes. “I’m tired,” he whined. “Need to sleep.”

“You can’t sleep until we’re back at the Castle. Then I promise you can sleep for a long time, okay?”

He sighed. It kinda seemed like something had been hurting pretty bad earlier, but now everything felt pleasantly numb. It was good for sleeping, but Pidge seemed really adamant about him staying awake. “I like th’ Castle. Th’ Castle’s nice. ‘S like...’s like home. Never...never really had a home...b’fore.”

Pidge nodded, her lower lip trembling. “Yeah. It is like home. I’m glad...I’m glad you found a home, Keith. You just stay awake and keep talking to me, and then the others will come and take us home.”

“Don’t...know if...I...can.” His eyelids were so heavy. 

“Keith. Keith!” There was the shaking on his shoulder again. “Come on, Keith, don’t do this to me!” She was definitely crying, now, but he couldn’t seem to make himself look to see why. “Keith!”

Everything was slipping further and further away, his body feeling as if it could just melt into the floor and disappear. He’d be okay with that. He was more than ready for it. It was only a shift somewhere above him that brought a jolt of pain and a gasp from Pidge that brought him back around, his eyes fluttering open once more.

Pidge caught his gaze and smiled through the tears that streaked her cheeks. “Look, Keith, look!” She cut her eyes up and he did the same. A shaft of light was piercing through their dark little hole, and up above the familiar groan of a Lion’s joints could be heard.

“They’re here, Keith. I told you they would come. We’re gonna go home.”

[otterknowbynow]

Will Break for Food

Hunk and Lance go on a post-curfew kitchen excursion that leads to some eating and some thinking and some talking. 

also on ao3

It’s a terrible idea, sneaking into the kitchens. Cadets aren’t allowed to just have free access to the food stores, let alone industrial-size appliances, which -- if Lance is honest with himself -- feels reasonable, considering the caliber of kids he’s met here already. Platt and Harper would have a field day, and he’s not sure much of anything would survive if Griffin stopped flexing long enough to try to light a stove. Hunk would at least -- probably -- know what he was doing, but it’s still a terrible idea. 

“What if we get caught? I’m not getting chewed out by Iverson just because you wanted to make a sandwich!” 

“Sandwiches are obviously not on the menu for the homesick and decent-meal-deprived,” Hunk says dismissively. 

“Well, then what are we making?” He can’t resist asking. The answer won’t make a difference, he’s decided. It shouldn’t make a difference. It doesn’t matter that asking made Hunk’s entire face light up. He’s not breaking the fundamental rule of being a decent cadet his third week. He’s not doing it. That’s one way to guarantee he’ll never be a fighter pilot -- he’ll be stuck in cargo for life. But he won’t pretend he’s not curious, and he’s even more curious when Hunk ducks under his bed and pulls out a plastic container, the lid of which he whips off with a flourish. 

“We’re making ramen!” His expression is positively giddy; Lance can hardly stand it.

“Ramen? That’s your brilliant idea for a meal that’s better than what they throw us in the mess?” 

“Real ramen, Lance, not with those mysterious flavor powders you get in the little plastic-wrapped blocks.” Lance looks in the tupperware and has to admit this looks a lot more complicated than the packets he generally associates with the word. It doesn’t matter. This isn’t happening. 

“I’m not sneaking out after curfew, breaking into the kitchen of all places, and risking being yelled at, suspended, thrown off the waitlist for fighter track --” 

“--Now, come on, they wouldn’t do that.” Hunk interrupts, his face softening. “Is that what you’re worried about?” 

“I’m not worried,” Lance says, sarcasm creeping into his voice and settling in like a cat jumping into a familiar lap. “I’m being realistic. They’re not just gonna say, ‘oh, good job boys, that’s some choice ramen!’” 

“You don’t technically know that; my culinary skills are incredible.” 

“According to who exactly?” 

“Well, my mom, at least.” Hunk grabs the back of his neck self-consciously. “But, the point stands! She has excellent taste.” 

“Hunk --” Lance starts again, but Hunk cuts him off. 

“Please?” he asks, his eyes going wide. Lance suddenly finds himself unable to meet them, and looks down instead, ignoring the swooping feeling in his stomach. Maybe he’s hungrier than he thought he was. 

“I just don’t think we should be breaking rules when we’ve just gotten here,” he mumbles at the floor.

“Lance, I miss cooking. I miss my family. I miss home.” The pleading in his voice cuts straight into his heart, and Lance feels his resolve break all at once.

“Fine,” he says, throwing up his hands in exasperation. “But only because I just realized I’m starving. And if we get caught, I’m telling Iverson you hypnotized me.” It doesn’t even feel like a lie. 

--

“I can’t believe they don’t bother locking the doors,” Lance whispers, following Hunk through as the entrance slides open. The doors lead to easily the largest kitchen he’s ever seen, and his family’s kitchen back home is no slouch, full of butcher-block counters and a massive farmhouse table. There’s a lot less wood in here -- everything is gleaming stainless steel -- which makes it feel remarkably cold. Lance is suddenly glad this plan involves soup. 

“What? Of course they lock them,” Hunk says incredulously. “Why did you think I brought this?” He holds up something that looks a lot like a graphing calculator. 

“Uh...because you’re a nerd?” Lance offers, raising his eyebrows.

“No --” Hunk stops suddenly and frowns. “I mean, well, yes, technically, but the kind of nerd that knows how to make a door...unlocked.”  

"How long have you been planning this?" 

"Since like last Thursday," he says, shrugging.

"Hang on --" Lance holds up a hand, feeling his eyebrows stretch up to his hairline. "-- you've been homesick enough to consider midnight kitchen escapades for a week already? Hunk, that was after like...two weeks of being away from home!" 

"I know," Hunk says, his shoulders slumping a little. "Seems like it doesn't take that much, I just...love my family, y'know?"

Lance swallows a sarcastic "that's one way of putting it, I guess," and lets the breath he'd taken in for it come out as a sigh. 

"I do know," he says instead, the sarcasm cat apparently leaving him to embarrass himself. He's looking at the floor again -- tiles this time, as opposed to the carpet in their dorm room. "My family's close, too -- emotionally, I mean. I miss the fields, too, and the animals...deserts are cool, and all, I guess, but nothing normal grows here." He clamps his mouth shut, his lips together extra tight to keep the words from escaping any more. He did not sneak out after curfew with a kid he's known less than a month to get made fun of for talking about feelings. 

"It only took me a week before I cried the first time," Hunk says quietly, and Lance looks up at him, surprised. This time he doesn’t even think of a sarcastic response; the sincerity is too jarring.

“Huh?” It’s all he can muster, but it’s enough that Hunk goes on. 

“It’s not being away from them a week, like, obviously I’ve been away from my family for a week before, but it’s just -- thinking about all of it. Like, how home will always be home, but how it also never really will be again.” He shrugs, and Lance nods absently, but a moment later what Hunk’s just said hits him and he breathes in sharply. 

“Oh, wow, I hadn’t thought about it that way,” he says, suddenly very aware of his heartbeat, which seems a bit too quick for standing still in the middle of a dark kitchen, even with the adrenaline of rule-breaking and risk. It never really will be again. Of course the farm is still home, to an extent, and his avuela’s little house in Varadero is still home, to an extent, but the main thing that’s always defined home for him is wherever his family is. When his older siblings went off to visit Dad in the summers and he was left behind with Mama, it never felt quite like home until they were back. When the others moved out and Marco and Luis started their own families, it was weird, but they were still nearby, and they came over more evenings than they didn’t. If he thinks about it, the weirdest was definitely when Veronica left and was suddenly missing from Shabbat dinners, except when she was home on breaks. That’s him now, he realizes. No wonder he was willing to break into the kitchens with Hunk on a Friday night. 

“Lance, buddy, you okay?” Hunk’s voice pulls him out of his thoughts, and he nods, probably a few times too many. 

“I’m good, I’m good,” he says, still nodding a bit. “Let’s -- let’s make some ramen.” Hunk grins at him and moves to put the container he brought from their room on the enormous stainless steel island in the middle of the room. 

“Alright, now I know we can’t do a stock from scratch, but the stock cubes my mom gets are the best, and I slipped a few into my bag before I left home -- you never know when you’ll need a burst of flavor, right? Especially with cafeteria food. They’re chicken; don’t worry. All the rest of this okay for you?” He’s moving rapidly, setting out different smaller containers that were inside the one big one he brought. There’s a tupperware of tiny foil-wrapped cubes, a couple packages of noodles, and a bag of paper-thin, pink-tinged flakes of some kind. Lance isn’t sure what those last things are, but there’s a hechsher on the corner of the bag, so he shrugs. 

“Sure.” 

“Excellent,” Hunk says. “Hey -- can you check the fridge and see what they have in the way of veggies? We’re gonna have to improvise a bit.”

“You don’t think they’ll notice if we take all the onions?” Lance asks, feeling the panic rise a bit in him again. 

“We’re not going to take all of them,” Hunk says reassuringly, pulling a cutting board and a knife from the counter next to the sink and bringing them over to the island where he seems to be setting up a prep station. “Just, like, one. See if there are any green onions or carrots or -- you know, whatever looks good.” Lance shakes his head and moves to the line of big industrial fridges, bracing himself for the noise of the seal releasing when he moves the lever on the first one to open it. Any noise the fridge makes is completely overshadowed by a series of incredibly loud clanging sounds from behind him, though, and he whips around to see Hunk holding a giant stock pot and looking a bit sheepish. 

“It was on the bottom,” he says apologetically.

“Shit, Hunk, we don’t need the entire building to know we’re in here!” Lance remembers to keep his voice to a whisper, but it’s a close thing. He holds up a hand so Hunk won’t move and listens carefully, but all he can hear is the hum of the fridges and his own breathing, which has sped up to what strikes him as a totally unnecessary rate. He forces it to slow down and lowers his hand slowly.

“Sorry,” Hunk mouths at him silently, and starts to move toward the stove. Lance takes a deep breath and turns back to the fridge, hoping there’s something there that makes this worth the trouble. 

--

Twenty minutes later, they’ve managed to assemble what smells -- to Lance at least -- like an absolutely delicious soup. His stomach is growling loudly enough that he’s pretty sure it may wake some of the instructors on its own, never mind the avalanche of pots earlier or Hunk ripping open the noodles now. 

“Grab us a couple bowls?” Hunk says, dropping the noodles into the pot gently and grabbing the paddle he’s been using to stir them in. Lance nods and scans the back wall to try to figure out where the dishes must be. He’s settled on a likely-seeming alcove when he hears someone laugh loudly and freezes. 

“Did you --” he starts, and Hunk nods emphatically, eyes wide, his arm still stirring the pot automatically, though he seems to have forgotten that’s what he’s doing. Lance gulps. Now that he’s listening more carefully, he can hear the murmur of voices from somewhere nearby. He moves softly toward the door back to the hallway, ears as alert as they’ve ever been. There’s a sudden burst of laughter again, shared between at least two people. It’s cut off suddenly by a loud shushing sound, and the voices are near enough now that Lance can make out what they’re saying. 

“Do you want Iverson to catch us? God, Griff.” Oh, man, Lance thinks, if James Griffin is really out there, now would be a chance to get in good with him, convince him he’s a worthwhile guy to get to know. He wishes he weren’t so tired and so hungry -- he probably doesn’t have the brainpower right now to manage anything nearing cool, considering sarcasm has thoroughly abandoned him already. 

“Come on, what’s he going to do? Kick us out? Hate to break it to you, but I’ve got the top GPA in this place. They’re not gonna touch me.” That’s Griffin’s voice, alright. Lance raises his eyebrows and turns to look at Hunk, who has put the paddle down and turned the heat off on the stove, wiping his hands on a towel he has tucked into his belt. Hunk frowns, shakes his head slightly, as if to say “not worth it.” Lance turns back to the door and sighs, realizing as he does that he’s been holding his breath for what must’ve been nearly a minute, listening. 

“Hey, what’s that smell?” That’s Harper, Lance is sure, which means it’s probably all three of them, getting up to some midnight trio shenanigans. Weirdly, he doesn’t envy them nearly as much as he would have a week ago, before he got to know Hunk, and certainly before they broke into the kitchen in the middle of the night to make ramen, which, he realizes now, is exactly what Harper’s smelling. He bites back a yelp at this realization and sets his jaw. Hopefully they’ll all just...move on. 

“I don’t know, Harp, Kogane’s grandma’s house?” And yep, there she is. Platt's presence also confirmed. 

“What? You know Kogane doesn’t know his grandma.” All three of them dissolve into snickers at that, and Lance blanches. Keith Kogane might be arrogant and snobby as hell, but he doesn't deserve that. He's glad on a certain level, though, that they seem to have dropped the idea of investigating. Their laughter and voices fade away as they continue down the hall toward the cadets' quarters, and Lance feels his heart rate start to return to normal. Hunk, behind him, clears his throat, and Lance turns around. 

"You know, I really don't understand why you even try to hang out with them," Hunk says softly. 

"What, you think I'm not good enough for them?" he hears his own voice snap angrily before he can stop himself. So much for late-night lack of filters being maybe a good thing. Now Hunk is telling him he doesn't deserve to be respected and looked up to like those three? He can feel his eyes burning and tells himself it's because he's tired. "Like, I know I'm not --"

"What? No." Hunk looks absolutely baffled. "Good enough for Griffin? For Griffin?" He seems to have forgotten they're breaking at least four different rules and curfew, his voice rising. "Lance, that's the most absurd thing I've ever heard you say, and you manage to pack them in, buddy." This is the first time Lance has heard anything like bitterness in Hunk's voice, and it throws him. 

"What do you mean?" he asks, the anger draining out of him. 

"I mean," Hunk says, deliberately, crossing the room so they're standing eye to eye and lowering his voice again. "They're not worth it. Like, sure, they're popular, and they’ve got top marks, or whatever, but they're assholes. You want to be an asshole? Is that what you want? Because getting in good with assholes is how you turn into an asshole." 

Hunk's right, of course. They are assholes, all three of them, but the relative kindness of a person has never really been part of his criteria. His survival strategy has been the same since he was thrown into a new country as a ten-year-old with nothing going for him but decent swimming skills and a tourist industry English vocabulary. 

“Maybe I already am an asshole,” he says, more sincerely than he means to.

“I mean, sometimes!” Hunk says, throwing his hands wide. “We all are, sometimes, but that’s no reason to just lean into it.” 

“You’re never an asshole,” he says sullenly, back to staring at the floor.

“I’m -- that’s not true, but we don’t have to get into that right now.”

“I just want people to like me,” he mutters, still not looking up. He can feel tears pricking the back of his eyes, and it’s easier if he doesn’t have to see Hunk’s face. It’s such a simple want, after all, and yet one he's had to work so hard to try to fulfill. Join team sports, crack the jokes, keep an air of detached irony at all times, and maybe -- just maybe -- people will fold him in as one of the cool kids, not notice that he’s dragging behind in class. He's starting to think that's not the same thing as liking him, though.

“Maybe try listening to people who aren’t assholes, then?” He looks up to see Hunk smiling ruefully at him. 

“That's a thought," Lance admits, and his vision blurs. He blinks rapidly. He will not cry in the mess kitchen at one in the morning. He will not -- before he can finish the thought a second time, Hunk closes the distance between them and hugs him, really hugs him, not like the perfunctory hugs he gives to his tias when they're in for a visit over the high holidays. He breathes in sharply and feels his whole body tense, startled, and Hunk lets go of him immediately. 

"Sorry," he says, hunching his shoulders a bit. "I didn't mean to --"

"No, that's okay," Lance says, a bit surprised that it is, actually. He laughs, which is kind of a relief since he much prefers it to crying. "I'm just not, uh, used to it. You should warn me when you're going off-script like that." 

"You're not used to hugs? Or not used to hugs from me? Because I totally get not wanting to hug a stranger -- not that we're strangers, but you know, you've only known me a couple weeks, might be weird, you know --" Hunk trails off helplessly, his hand gripping the back of his neck, eyes looking somewhere over Lance’s shoulder. 

“Uh, in general,” Lance says, and it’s his turn to hunch his shoulders, sticking his hands in his pockets for lack of a better place to put them. “My mom’s the only hugger in my family, really, and I haven’t seen her in awhile, so.” He doesn’t mean for that to come out nearly as bitterly as it does. He winces, looks back at Hunk to see him standing with his arms open. 

“Buddy, if you need one -- oof.” Hugs are nice, he realizes, when they’re not being demanded by relatives you hardly see, whose primary purpose in visiting seems to be to comment about how tall you’ve grown, “and yet still so skinny! Are you feeding him enough, Marlinda?” Oh, thinking about his mom right now is not a good call if he wants to keep the tears from coming back, he realizes, and steps back out of Hunk’s arms, dashing the sleeve of his jacket across his eyes before Hunk can say anything about it. 

“So how about that ramen?” He manages casual as a tone, which is not bad, all things considered. 

“Oh, yeah! Bowls?” Hunk walks back over to the pot and Lance meets him there with two bowls from the back alcove. They’re a bit shallow, in that weird shape of cafeteria bowls everywhere that’s somehow not great for cereal and soup or for pasta, but they’ll get the job done. Hunk ladles noodles and broth into both, with some onion and a bit of wilted spinach they were pretty sure no one would miss. He tops each bowl with half an egg he boiled earlier and offers one to Lance, who looks down at it and frowns. 

“Uh, Hunk? How are we supposed to eat this? I’m pretty sure the caf doesn’t have chopsticks.” 

“Oh, it doesn’t,” Hunk says lightly. “But I do.” He goes back to the container on the counter and pulls out two pairs, handing one to Lance.

“Wow, you are a nerd,” he says, laughing. There’s nowhere to eat but the floor, and Lance is suddenly glad for all the cleaning details cadets get put on, since it’s probably been bleached in the last six hours or so. The two of them settle with their backs against the counter, and for a couple of minutes the kitchen is silent apart from the slurping of noodles and the clinking of chopsticks against bowls. 

The ramen is cool enough by now that Lance can eat it quickly, and it’s absolutely bananas how delicious it is. He guesses he shouldn’t be surprised that packages don’t measure up to the real thing, but the real thing isn’t usually an option.  

“Wow, Hunk,” he says when he can stop to take a breath. “This is something else.” 

“It’s taking you on a journey, huh,” Hunk says, nodding. “Best food does.” 

“A journey to deliciousville,” he says. “To tasty town, to flavor planet --” 

“-- Alright, buddy, I get it.” He’s laughing now, a little bit, but Lance needs to be sure he understands. 

“I don’t know if you do? But if I keep trying to explain, that’s going to keep me from eating it, and that is...Unacceptable.” He looks over at Hunk as he goes back to his bowl to see his roommate smiling down at his own food, his whole face almost glowing with pride. “I mean that,” he adds quietly. “This is, like, really good.” 

“Thanks.” 

It’s gone in minutes, and the empty bowls make him feel almost wistful, but he realizes as he carries them over to the sink to wash them that he’s also horrendously thirsty. 

“Hey, Hunk --” He turns, only to see there’s already a glass of water being offered to him. “Oh, thanks.” Hunk nods, drinking his own water before they both move to clean up. The good news is Hunk at least has been assigned enough cleaning details that he’s mercilessly efficient. It seems like it comes with the territory of having an often-turbulent stomach. Although if he’s used to food like this, Lance thinks, it makes a bit more sense that the commissary stuff doesn’t exactly treat him right. 

--

“I can’t believe you have a homemade mac and cheese recipe and you didn’t go with that for this whole stunt,” Lance whispers, trying to keep from laughing as they sneak back toward their quarters. Hunk’s container is full of leftover ramen now, and Lance is just hoping it’ll fit in their mini-fridge without a problem. 

“I mean, would you have been nearly as impressed if I’d made something that simple?” Hunk asks him with a grin, nudging their door open with his shoulder. 

“Honestly? I’m a simple man, Hunk,” He grabs Hunks shoulder and throws his other arm wide gesturing at their room as a whole. “Show me a big bowl of carbs and cheese, and I’m happy.” 

“We can always make it next Friday,” Hunk says, shrugging. Lance laughs and shakes his head, dropping his arm. 

“Right, sure, we’re definitely doing this again.” The sarcasm cat is back, thankfully, and he can’t resist adding -- “because we didn’t come close enough to giving us both full-blown panic attacks already.” 

But despite his claims, it becomes something of a ritual before long, to the point where Lance will come back from service on Friday night, change into jeans instead of pajamas, and read comics for maybe five minutes before Hunk looks over at him. 

“Still homesick?” He asks, every time, without fail. 

“I mean, kind of,” Lance says, frowning. “Not like, really homesick, I’m not a baby about it or anything.” 

But Hunk gives him that look, eyes wide, pointedly hopeful, and he knows that even if he wanted to say no, he’s not entirely sure he could. And every time he sees it he sighs, puts down whatever issue he’s reading. 

“If Iverson catches us, I’m blaming you.” 

[dust2dust34]

It’s Always Been You (2/6, Olicity AU, T)

Summary: It’s reunion time and Felicity is freaking out.

A/N: Sequel to this ficlet. This was supposed to be a cute little follow-up, but I was having too much fun and it spiraled into a couple more chapters. This is unbeta'd and basically a stream of fanfiction madness coming straight from my brain that I'm using to cope. Please forgive any mistakes. I will be updating once a day until it is finished. Enjoy!

(read on AO3)

*

“Oh boy. Didn’t think this through. Not at all. Nope.”

Felicity Smoak ran her hands down her dress once. Twice. Three times. A couple dozen more times. But no matter what she did her palms were still damp and now her right one felt weird from hitting the zipper on her side over and over again. The very sexy zipper that had been a huge selling point for the beautiful red dress. It wound around her back and ended on the other side in a slit that showed off how many squats she did every day. Per Curtis, it “screamed sexpot,” and two days ago, that had been an amazing idea. Not so much now. Because now she wasn’t wearing it for her very-gay-and-in-a-very-committed-relationship-slash-roommate fake boyfriend, but for…

Oliver Queen.

“Oh boy.”

Felicity walked in quick, tight circles, her heels hitting the ground with decisive echoes of ‘shouldn’t be doing this shouldn’t be doing this shouldn’t be doing this.’ She scrubbed her hands over her hip bones. Her heart pounded so hard she was positive it was going to burst right out of her chest and splatter all over the yellowing tile of Starling City High School. Chatter and thumping music reverberated down the hallway from the gym entrance.

Maybe if she stayed hidden here, nobody would even know she was there.

“Felicity?”

Or not.

“Yes?” She spun to the voice, plastering on a smile. It faltered when she saw the elegant, willowy form approaching her. “Laurel. Hi.”

“So that was you,” the other woman said as she approached. She wore a beautiful black and silver sheath of a dress that somehow made her a hundred feet taller. A smile was on her lips, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Especially when Felicity just stared at her uncomprehendingly. “At the coffee shop. You know, where you were kissing Oliver. So, are you two together now? How, uh… how long has that been going on?”

Questions. Too many seemingly polite questions in that Laurel Lance tone that Felicity knew was anything but. Felicity opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She was suddenly hot and cold at once, her nerves fritzing as her mind went blank.

Not good.

Laurel lifted an eyebrow.

“There you are.”

Over Laurel’s shoulder, Oliver appeared.

He was a sight for sore eyes and Felicity’s chest physically ached as she took him in. He looked amazing in a simple suit and tie with a shirt that was well-tailored and did nothing to hide all the muscle he most definitely had not had before. His scruff was delicious, that very grabbable hair of his perfectly-coiffed, his blue eyes striking, and those lips…

Lips he had used to kiss her a few hours ago.

Oh boy.

He stepped up behind Laurel.

For a split second, it was high school all over again. Felicity was positive she was going to see what she had seen dozens of times - Oliver wrapping his arms around Laurel from behind as he pressed a kiss to her cheek before resting his chin on her shoulder. Felicity’s heart stopped when he touched Laurel’s back, when Laurel turned to him…

But then he passed her and came to Felicity.

“Hi,” he said, a warm smile on his face. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into his side before pressing a kiss to her temple. Her heart sputtered. The spot where his lips touched tingled and when she looked up at him, when their gazes met, when she saw the way he looked at her as he gently slid his hand up her back…

She almost thought this was real.

But it wasn’t. Fake, remember? Fake.

Felicity swallowed hard. “Hi.”

“Hi,” he repeated, his smile widening. His eyes drifted down to her dress. “You look amazing.”

Her heart tripped all over itself again and she forgot how to breathe.

Oh boy.

“I was just asking Felicity how this happened,” Laurel interrupted. Loudly. Felicity jumped and as one they looked back at her. That same smile was on her face. “I mean, I see you all the time, Oliver, and you never thought to mention it?”

Right.

“Well, I’m always working,” Felicity said, “so it’s not like I’ve been around. I mean, I’m around him. All the time. We’re together all the time. Like a… like a couple is. I can’t get enough of this guy, you know. We’re always together. We’re practically engaged.” She blanched and slapped Oliver’s chest. Really hard considering how he grimaced and looked down at her with what could only be described as a ‘shut the hell up’ look. It didn’t work, though, because she kept going. “And by practically engaged, I mean not engaged at all. Because we’re not. That’s fast. Like, really fast. Right? But I mean, anything can happen. Eventually. In, like, years. Or another… galaxy.”

Oliver’s eyes were wide, his lips pressed together tightly.

“I’m just… saying?” Felicity added lamely.

“I had a laptop,” Oliver offered with a furrowed brow at her before raising an eyebrow.

“Right. A laptop. His laptop.”

“I spilled a latte on it,” Oliver continued. “Totally fried it.”

“He did. Ruined it.”

“And Walter recommended I go to her because she’s the best.”

“Because my company works with Queen Consolidated. And I couldn’t not help because it physically pains me to think of any piece of tech being subjected to an attack like that-”

“I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Maybe not, but that doesn’t change that it happened. And I know the lecture I gave him about not drinking or eating near any computer stuck because now he doesn’t do it anymore. Right?”

The corner of his mouth ticked up and she realized how stern she sounded. Felicity made an apologetic face at him, but he shook his head, his hand drifting back down her spine. “That’s right. It’s the least I can do since she saved me.”

It couldn’t be healthy that her heart kept stuttering like this, right?

“You give me too much credit,” Felicity told him.

He rubbed circles against her back as he gazed at her. “I don’t give you enough.”

Oh boy.

“Besides,” Oliver finally said, his eyes lingering on Felicity before he looked back at Laurel. Right. Laurel. Felicity looked at the other woman and found her staring at them with an inscrutable look. “When I do see you, it’s usually just me and Tommy talking about work.”

“Right,” Laurel said. “Speaking of, where is our esteemed principal?”

“Tommy’s the principal?” Felicity said with a chortle before she could stop herself. Oliver’s fingers dug into her waist and she started. “Which I knew. I knew that. Because Oliver told me. It just sounded weird coming from someone who isn’t Oliver. That’s all. I knew that.”

“Smooth,” Oliver said under his breath and she flushed, shooting him a look. It looked like he was fighting a smile as he told Laurel, “I haven’t seen him yet.”

“Guess I’ll go look for him then.” Laurel’s bland smile didn’t move as she looked between them. “This is just so interesting. Maybe not all that surprising, though. You guys did spend a lot of time together in high school…. right?”

Oliver stiffened, his hand freezing where he’d started sliding it back up Felicity’s back. It was interesting how comfortable she already was with it. That, and how much she missed it when his hand fell away.

“That didn’t happen,” he said.

Felicity frowned.

“Oh,” Laurel replied. “Well. That’s good to know.” Her smile was saccharine sweet as she looked back at Felicity. “Good to see you, Felicity. I like the new look.” None of them missed the change in inflection when she said, “Oliver,” before walking away.

“Uh, did I miss something?” Felicity asked. “Because I remember lots of afternoons-”

“She didn’t mean that,” Oliver said. He stepped away and it was only then that Felicity realized she’d wound her arm around his back at some point. Her hand lingered in the air between them, feeling oddly empty before she lowered it. She flexed her fingers. It was stupid to miss something that she’d never had in the first place. Oliver cleared his throat. “I wasn’t the best boyfriend to her.”

“Oh. Oh. So… all those rumors about you and… people who weren’t Laurel…”

He clenched his jaw, his cheeks flushing as he ducked his head. He seemed to catch himself, though, because he closed his eyes briefly, took a deep breath, and then made himself look up again.

The smile he gave her was tight.

“Well, I can confirm that you are definitely a good boyfriend to me,” Felicity said. “Fake boyfriend, that is. You’re doing great. A-plus all around. Or, should I say fiance, because apparently we’re almost engaged.” A genuine smile broke through and it felt like the sun coming out for the first time in days, making her smile in return. At least her babbles were good for something. “I should probably apologize for the rest of the night, because my foot-in-mouth syndrome seems to be on steroids right now.”

“It’s actually refreshing.”

“Oh, you say that now. But then in ten minutes when we’re talking to someone else and oh hey, we’re celebrating our ten year anniversary, and oh, did you know we just got back from Disneyland with the kids? Crazy how time flies, am I right!”

Oliver stared at her with a weird look on his face and her stomach pitched.

“See, I’m doing it even when we’re not around other people.” The look didn’t change and Felicity winced. “I’m sorry. This is a horrible idea, isn’t it? You know what, nobody else has seen us. We can go tell Laurel that this was just a, uh… an accident. A fling, and that it’s over because we both realized how insane it was. Because you and I, it’s… it’s unthinkable. And then you can have your reunion night back from the crazy lady who hijacked it from you.”

Oliver tilted his head. The look on his face… softened, was the only way to describe it.

And then he started closing the distance between them.

She thought her heart had been beating fast earlier?

“You don’t have to do this,” Felicity said. Why was her voice breathy like that? She swallowed hard, but then Oliver was standing before her and all she had left in her brain were the denials ready to go, falling out of her in a rush. “No obligation. No reason, really-”

“I’m pretty sure I was the one who volunteered to do this,” Oliver said quietly.

“Yes, but under duress-”

“Felicity.”

“And I’m the one who lied in the first place,” she continued. “I’ll go tell Laurel right now that I’m a lying liar and you were an innocent bystander who doesn’t deserve whatever this is-”

“Felicity,” he repeated.

He reached out and took her hand in his.

And laced his fingers through hers.

Her words tumbled out even faster. “Because you are a good person, Oliver, and you shouldn’t have to do this. And yeah, you made some bad choices, but who hasn’t, right? I did. A few weeks ago, and then earlier today, and right now. Lying is bad. I lied about having a date, and that actually makes all of this super ironic since you just got reamed for having too many dates, and I have to lie about having one because I’m-”

“Felicity.”

His finger landed on her lips.

She froze.

He lingered, for a moment, before letting his hand fall away. But not before his fingertip brushed over her cheek, and then her shoulder, down her arm.

“I want to do this for you,” he said.

“Why?”

That look was back on his face. He parted his lips, taking a slow breath. His other hand was still wrapped up in hers. His thumb drifted up her index finger. She held her breath, waiting for what he was going to say, because what if…

No. That was ridiculous. Right?

“You know what, you don’t have to answer that,” Felicity said quickly. “You don’t owe me anything. In fact, I’m going to owe you, so when this already very long night is over, you have a huge favor coming your way.”

His gaze never wavered. “You promise?”

Felicity struggled to think. To remind herself what this was. To act like a normal human being.

But it was really hard when he looked at her like that.

He stared at her, waiting.

Felicity finally nodded with a whispered, “I-I promise.”

*

Thank you for reading! More coming tomorrow! Reviews literally feed the soul and muse.

[musicanddancingthroughlife]

Langst/Klance -- Pierrot

Okay guys, I know I forgot to upload something last week but this is like. My longest chapter yet, I guess. It is Klance, which I haven’t written in a while, and it’s probably super rough cause I hate myself and won’t go back and edit, but hey, have. Other than that, I hate myself and that sums up a lot of aspects of my life right now.

------------------------------- 

“Hunk? Hunk, where’d you go? All right, so Coran isn’t as good of a cook as you are, but I think by now we should be used to that, there’s no need to run from it.”

              Lance stopped short when he heard loud sobs and that too quick breathing that signaled Hunk’s anxiety attacks. Lance didn’t hesitate, though. “Hey, Hunk? Can I touch you, buddy?” His friend shifted under his mess of blankets, shivering and shaking. Lance swept him up into a hug, holding close for a few minutes before he grasped one of Hunks’ larger hands in one of his own. He settled their joined hands on Lance’s chest, Hunk instantly using lance’s heartbeat to steady his gasping breath.

              It took several minutes, but Lance sat patiently, whispering reassurance and comfort in both English and Spanish. Once he was sure Hunk was calmed down, he pulled back into a tight hug, letting Hunk weep into his neck, uncaring of how the tears were dampening his clothes and making him uncomfortable. “Wanna talk?” Hunk nodded, but it was still a while before he said anything. And when he did, Lance felt his heart stop.

              “Lance, what am I doing here? I’m not a pilot like you guys; I don’t even like flying. How can I save the universe if I can’t even do basic flight exercises like today’s?” And with that, he burst into a fresh wave of tears.

              Lance contented himself with rubbing Hunk’s back, letting him cry out his insecurities and frustration, but he didn’t let that stop him from trying to assuage those fears. “Come on, man, you’re one of the two smartest people on our team! 50% of our brain power! Maybe something like 33% if we’re really gonna count Coran, but let’s also keep in mind that you’re the reason we’re not dying of starvation or too much exposure to goo, so at the very least, you deserve more credit than that. And you’ve come so far! Yellow is lucky to have you as her pilot! And you’ve got some of the top skills in the training rooms, don’t you? You’re just behind Shiro and Keith!

              “And come on, it’s not like you’re the only making mistakes! Remember last week when I accidentally used those weird pellet gun things and shot Shiro in the ass? And what about when I was racing Keith and wound up making both of us crash into the ground? Was that stupid, or what?” Lance belted out a laugh, cringing inwardly when it sounded just a little too loud, but thankfully Hunk didn’t seem to notice. He just let out a weak giggle, but Lance could see that there were still tears in his eyes. That was fine. He had plenty of stories to entertain Hunk with.

              Keith was annoyed. Why was he always the one having to track down Lance when he wandered off? It’s not like Keith was his keeper or anything. Hell, he didn’t even like Lance!

              …Okay, maybe that was a lie, because what wasn’t to like? Honestly, Keith was just as infatuated as he was irritated, even at that moment, which was impressive because at that moment, Keith felt more horrified at what he was hearing. First, the very idea that Hunk was doubting his worth on the team, was ridiculous, and he wished that he knew what to say in order to make him feel better, but at least Lance was handling that okay. Keith just wished it wasn’t at Lance’s own expense.

              At first, he was just surprised at hearing Lance recount those stories, stories which made Lance look like an idiot who can’t do anything right. He was pleased to hear that Hunk was seeming to cheer up, but he also knew that Lance’s laughter wasn’t completely honest. There was a tinge of pain to it. Lance normally tried to avoid reminders of those moments, and here he was, voluntarily sharing them, just to help a friend.

              More laughter spilled from the room, and Keith bit his lip. Lance’s laughter was sounding more and more broken as he continued sharing stories. Thankfully he had begun reminding Hunk of all the good he had done, both before and after Voltron, but the tears in Lance’s voice were starting to hurt him. Thankfully, it was really only a couple minutes later when Hunk and Lance stepped out of Hunk’s room, arms slung over each other’s shoulders. Keith felt a pang in his chest.

              “Keith!” Hunk’s eyes were rimmed with red, but the beaming smile he gave Keith told him that Lance had succeeded in making his friend feel better. “Did you need something?”

              “Coran and Allura wanted me to tell you guys that we’re ready to have dinner, if you want to join us.” His eyes drifted over to Lance, and found himself amazed by how Lance was able to mask the pain in his eyes. Sure, Keith could still tell, because he was actively looking for it, but no one else would have any idea. How did he do that? Why would he do that?

              Hunk quickly ducked under Lance’s arm to clasp a large hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Well, let’s get to it, man, I’m starving!” And Hunk began to drag Keith away, leaving Lance behind to follow. Keith glanced back, but when he did, he just saw Lance flash a wide grin at him, and then Hunk was pulling him around a corner.

              The next time he saw Lance was a few minutes after he and Hunk had seated themselves, when he quietly slipped into the dining hall. He was just a little too quiet while they ate, but nobody else seemed to notice, and that’s when Keith resolved to keep a closer eye on his sharpshooter.

                “Lance! You’re not nearly fast enough!” Lance’s concentration broken, Pidge managed to catch his foot with her katar. Startled at the unexpected catch, she accidentally shocked him, and Lance yelped in pain, crashing to the ground.

              “Oh my god, Lance, I am so sorry!” Pidge started to rush over, but Allura stopped her before she could.

              “Lance!” she snapped impatiently, “get up, now, and try again!” Lance was amazed. She wanted him to what? He just got shocked with who knows how much electricity! Hunk and Keith stared in shock, first looking at Allura in disbelief, then at Lance, still on the ground, trying to breathe through the pain coursing through him, and finally at Shiro, begging him to do something. He stepped forward.

              “Allura, come on, we’ve all been training for hours. We’re exhausted.”

              “You guys are fine. Go get some rest. Lance still has a lot of work he needs to do, and he’s never going to improve if he doesn’t stop wasting our time!” These last words were focused on Lance, who squeezed his eyes shut, shooting hand rhythmically flexing and relaxing. He felt a stab of shame in his chest. Of course, she was right. He was the weak link. He was behind everybody else in hand-to-hand, hell, even Pidge just took him down! They were never going to get anywhere with him being such a baby about training.

              “Allura—” Shiro began, but Lance cut him off.

              “No, she’s right.” Lance shakily got to his feet, small gasps and grunts escaping him as he forced his wobbly legs to support his weight. “I can do better, just let me go again.”

              Shiro looked less than impressed. “Lance, you can barely stand. Let’s just call it a day and we can hit it hard in the morning.” And hell, Lance wanted nothing more than to be able to take a break. He wasn’t positive how long they had been going so far, but he knew it was at least a couple of hours – usually they train hand-to-hand for two, taking turn so everyone could rest, and so that they could each practice with varying styles and techniques. Then they would take an extra hour in the shooting range, and then move on to team building exercises before finishing for the day. Briefly, he wondered how long Allura wanted him to continue practicing.

              “There, you see? He gets it, at least.” Oh, he got it all right. He was a failure, as usual, and he needed to work harder to catch up, to not bring his friends down. People could die if he wasn’t good enough. Lance gritted his teeth, preparing himself to go again. “Come on, Pidge, I won’t make it as easy on you this time.”

              “Actually, I believe Coran needed both Pidge and Hunk for a project today, so if you two would go get showered and then meet with him, that would be fantastic.” Allura’s face was set, decisive. Pidge and Hunk were done for the day. Lance blinked.

              “Okay… Shiro, will you run through it with me again? I know I can get it.” He really didn’t, but he wasn’t going to stop until he did, so it wasn’t like he had any other choice.

              “Lance, I need Shiro so we can plan our next course of action. Got that, Shiro?” Her voice was hard and unforgiving, but still, Shiro hesitated, looking back at Lance almost questioningly. Lance shook his head. “It’s fine, Shiro, I’m sure Keith will help me?” Keith stepped forward, but Allura spoke up again.

              “Honestly, Lance! Keith spends too much time training as is. You are the only one who needs the extra practice, stop trying to guilt the others into staying behind to help you. Keith, I don’t want to see you anywhere near the training room until tomorrow, when we are in fact scheduled to train.” The look in her eyes dared Keith to argue, and Lance knew him well enough to know that he needed to step in.

              “Don’t worry, Princess, I can do it on my own. More fun to have company, but you’re right. Keith deserves a break.” Lance couldn’t look them in the eye. Not only was he going to struggle with the training itself, but now he was going to be isolated from his friends for who knows how long. What a day.

                Keith clenched his fists, anger rushing through him. Lance was trying just as hard as any of them! In fact, he was trying harder than most of them! This was ridiculous, and he had no idea why Allura was acting the way she was. Like Lance needed a punishment or something! But with Lance agreeing with her, Keith couldn’t see how he could stay behind to help him with the combination.

              “Lance, if you need to see the combo again – though you really shouldn’t, seeing as Shiro and Keith demonstrated it numerous times for you and you would have it if you had been paying attention – you can recall it on the databases here in the training room. You will practice until you get the combo, and until either Shiro or myself can confirm that you know it.” And without another word, she swept out of the room, calling to the other paladins on her way out.

              Slowly, hesitantly, Pidge and Hunk wished Lance good luck, before they left to find Coran. Shiro look sympathetic, but ultimately, there wasn’t much they could do. Especially where Lance was willing to just put in the extra time. Already, he was gulping down some water, shuffling and shifting to allow his feet to find the beginning stance. Keith wanted nothing more than to stay behind, to offer some help or advice or dammit, even just some company! Lance needed people, and to cut him off from everyone like this was unnecessarily cruel. But before he could even offer any encouraging words, Lance was moving his way through the combination, slowly mapping out each step. Keith sighed, but then he followed the rest of their friends out of the training room.

              Hopefully Lance would be okay.

              Of course, none of them saw Lance again until way after dinner. The other paladins had long since headed to bed, but Keith had been unable to sleep and was in the middle of debating whether it was safe to go to the training room or not when Lance came stumbling out of it. Trailing behind Allura, he looked beaten and exhausted. His hair and clothes were soaked through with sweat and Keith suspected he was favoring his leg. Meanwhile Allura looked smug, pleased with the knowledge that her slowest paladin was improving, that they were that much closer to defeating Zarkon. Lance slowly shuffled towards the kitchen, but Allura stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

              “What are you doing?” she questioned.

              Lance frowned. “I haven’t eaten yet…”

              “It’s far too late to be making another mess in the kitchen,” she looked at him disapprovingly, and Keith felt anger rising to the surface. “It’d be best if you slept instead. Eat in the morning.” Keith gaped at her, but he was unnoticed by the two of them. Really, that just meant that once Allura had turned Lance towards the direction of their bedrooms, Keith was in the perfect position to see the pained resignation cross Lance’s face.

              Before he even realized it, Keith had retrieved some light food from the kitchen and was knocking on Lance’s door. He left the foot on the floor, where Lance would hopefully see it, and then scurried around the corner as quickly and quietly as he could. He heard the door open, there was a few seconds of silence and then some rustling before the door shut again. When Keith peeked around the corner, the food was gone.

                Only a couple days later, and Keith was again frustrated about Lance. It looked like he still hadn’t recovered fully from that long night in the training room, and he couldn’t understand why. Shiro had been really careful in making sure that nothing like that happened again, but that didn’t stop Allura from pushing Lance’s limits as hard as she could get away with when Shiro wasn’t looking. But despite this, Lance still looked so tired all the time.

              That night, at dinner, Keith kept a close eye on Lance. He seemed normal, though tired, and it wasn’t until after dinner that he realized Lance wasn’t retiring to his room like most of the rest of the paladins were. Instead, he headed to the training room. Keith camped out outside, bored out of his mind, but more determined to find out if Lance was really okay or not. Lance logged a good three hours before he finally came out of the locker room exit. He was breathing heavily, gasping for air, and muscles loose and trembling, but otherwise seemed unharmed. Keith forced himself to relax as he followed Lance down the hallway from a distance. Lance gulped down a water pouch, and then set off to the Lion Hangar, where Pidge was still absorbed in her latest project.

              “Pidge.” It was quiet, and the reaction was slight, but Keith still recognized how Pidge flinched and her shoulders shot up to her ears. “When are you going to go to bed?”

              “None of your business!” Pidge spat, and Keith was more than surprised at the venom in the girl’s voice. Lance only sighed.

              “Pidge. You need to sleep. Please.” Was this why he was so tired? He was trying to make sure Pidge was getting to bed? Keith looked at Pidge critically. If that was the case, he really wasn’t doing a good job. But, he realized with a pang, that wasn’t his fault. No one else was trying to get Pidge to sleep at all, and it was obvious she desperately needed the rest.

              “Fuck off, Lance, I don’t need a babysitter.” Lance flinched, but refused to back down. “Come on, just one night. You haven’t slept more than a couple of hours in who knows how many days.”

              Pidge narrowed her eyes. “Have you been keeping tabs on me?”

              “I’m worried about you.”

              “Well no one else is and the only people who really care are who knows where and I’m trying to find them, so leave me alone.”

              There were a few moments of silence where Keith wondered if he should intervene. Before he could, Lance spoke up again. “I know you have nightmares, Pidge.” Pidge froze. “Come on, did you really think I wouldn’t notice, kid? You’re pushing yourself too far. Keep it up and you won’t control when you collapse from exhaustion. You’ve gotta sleep at some point. At least this way, you’ll have more control over when and how.”

              Pidge shook her head, but even Keith could tell that her eyes were glazing with tears. “Pidge, come on. I’ll stay with you. You don’t have to worry about nightmares. I chase nightmares for my siblings all the time.” Lance’s hands fisted briefly, then relaxed again. Pidge looked up at Lance pleadingly. “Would you really stay?” she asked hesitantly.

              Lance bent down without another word, scooping her up into his arms. “Of course I will. If Matt can’t be here to do it for you, then I’ll gladly fill in for him until he can, don’t worry.”

              When Keith saw them the next morning, Lance looked even more exhausted than before, but Pidge was obviously more relaxed and clearheaded.

              Everyone expressed their joy at Pidge getting rest, and they praised her for finally taking some time to herself.

              She didn’t mention a single word about how Lance basically had to force her to finally get some sleep, or that he was the whole reason she felt comfortable for doing so in the first place.

              And no one else seemed to notice how Lance was so tired he could barely keep a handle on his emotions during training that day.

                In fact, Keith suspects it was because of that loose grip on his emotions that the disaster that was training really occurred.

              “Lance, come on, really try here! Everyone else is working so hard, and they’re doing great, just try a little harder for us! We’re a team, and we can’t be that if we have to drag you along on missions.”

              Keith knew, okay, he knew that Shiro was under a lot of stress. He was still young, only a little older than them, and he’d suffered a lot of trauma that no one should ever have to go through. But, really? Lance was so tired, and he was trying so hard, and he was doing so much for all of them. He didn’t deserve this.

              Lance, though, merely looked up at Shiro from where he was laying on the floor, eyes bleary and unfocused. Shiro clenched his jaw, visibly willing himself to dredge up some of that incredible patience he’s always preaching at Keith about. “Lance, if you won’t take this seriously, then we have no reason to keep you on as a paladin. I’ve been trying to defend you from Allura, but honestly? She’s right. You need to work harder and take this more seriously, and if you can’t even do that then I don’t know why you’re bothering to stick around.”

              Keith glanced around for help from Pidge and Hunk, but they were far on the other side of the training room, and hadn’t noticed what was happening yet. Keith slowly stepped forward. “Shiro, maybe we should…” Shiro barely glanced at him when he walked past, all but racing out of the training room, leaving Lance an overtired and emotional mess on the floor. At first, they both just sat there in silence, but then Lance visibly steeled himself, taking a deep breath and choking back tears. And when he finally staggered to his feet, wiping his eyes clear of any moisture, Keith felt like his heart might break.

              “He’s right, it’s fine. I’m going to go take a breather, and I’ll come back to try again after dinner, I think. I need to get this right.” For a moment, Keith couldn’t breathe, his heart and soul ached so much for this sad, lost boy in front of him, but before he could gather his thoughts enough to speak, Lance had taken off.

              He didn’t see him again until very late in the night, or early in the morning, depending on your perspective. Keith had been heading to the kitchen to get a water pouch, but instead barely managed to stop himself from walking into Shiro having a panic attack. Keith was more surprised by that than by the fact Lance was talking him down from it. He had Shiro’s hand clutched against his own chest, helping him to time his breaths, and he was gently chattering away about his family, joking with Shiro as if it wasn’t a one-sided conversation during which the other participant was having a full-scale attack. It was impressive, but when you looked closely, it wasn’t hard to see that Lance’s hands were trembling, and there were tears in his eyes.

              Some time later, it was evident that Shiro was too tired to notice any of those things, as he instead broke down into tears once he’d calmed down enough. Lance stayed with him the entire time, and Keith kept a silent vigil over his friend. The two of them didn’t retire until the day castle had begun shifting into its day cycle. And if anyone else noticed that Lance was starting to look a little less vibrant, a little less happy, a little less excited about life, they didn’t say anything. Lance appeared to wish to just brush it off, and Keith was content to bide his time.

                But that wasn’t going to last too long.

                “I don’t know how to help you, okay!” The quiet that followed that outburst was just as loud. Keith couldn’t bear it. Lance should never look this depressed, this dejected. “Lance.”

              There was silence, Lance refused to glance up and acknowledge Keith, so he tried again.

              “Lance. Please. Look at me.” Another few seconds of silence before Lance shook his head weakly. Feeling the pain in his chest tighten, Keith tried again. He had a vision of Lance comforting and coaching Hunk through a panic attack, Lance running himself ragged training for Allura’s peace of mind, Lance’s willingness to sacrifice his own sleep to ensure Pidge slept, the trust and faith he placed in Shiro, despite consistently feeling that Shiro didn’t even like him, forget about trusting him.

              “Just.  Please. I just want you to be honest. Be you. Please, just be selfish for a few minutes. I promise, I’ll still be here. I don’t… I don’t need you to be anything but yourself. Please.” Still silence. “You’ve done so much for all of us, and I need you to know that even if you didn’t stretch yourself so thin for all of us, we would all still love you. We would still value you. You’re our friend. None of us knew what we were getting into, but we do all know that none of us would be here without you. We wouldn’t have even found Blue, we would’ve give up, I don’t know what exactly, I just know that we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you, and that we can’t do this without you!” Keith’s voice went soft, and Lance stood frozen, looking back at Keith with a shocked expression. “I can’t do this without you, Lance, and I can’t stand to watch you push yourself so hard and get no credit or appreciation or even a thank you. You’re worth more than that to me, and I know you’re worth more than that to the others, too.”

              Lance’s lower lip trembled. “I can’t not help them, Keith.”

              Keith stepped forward, placed gentle hands on Lance’s shoulders, carefully pulled him into a hug. “I know, Lance, I know,” This close, he knew to keep his voice quiet, murmuring directly into Lance’s ear. “I love you for that, but you can’t push too hard too fast. You deserve better, and we want more than that for you. I promise. Just talk to us, we can be there for you, just like you’re there for us. I’ll be there for you, if you’ll let me.” Keith felt his face flush, but he forced himself to stay put. Lance needed him more, right then.

              They stood there for several minutes, no sound save for Lance’s quiet sobs and Keith’s hushed reassurances and promises.

              “I’ll try.”

[daughterofposeidon25]

DaughterOfPoseidon Favorites #3

My hero academia-Kiribaku

🔴 = NSFW

Please read at your own risk. Carefully read tags and enjoy!

When The GC Blows Up by PurplePersnickety

Katsuki squinted at his phone.

CONVERSATION WITH RED RIOT

[6:25pm] Red Riot hey

-> You have been invited to the groupchat 'Pinkamina's Party' by Red Riot. Join?

[6:25pm] Red Riot Baaaaakuuuuugoooouuuuuu ☝️☝️☝️

And We're On Fire by TimetotheTimeless

Twin flames aren't just soulmates; they're a soul split into two bodies. Some people get lucky enough to meet theirs and the connection in undeniable. Bakugou and Kirishima get to find out first hand what it's like to be set ablaze by each other.

To Sound For Another by HarteofPierce  🔴

Kirishima Eijirou learns that his boyfriend has a kink he didn’t know about. He isn’t certain it’s a kink for him too but he’ll try anything for the man he loves. Even when it sounds unreal.

Guillotine by milkofthepoppy

As UA’s classes start learning how to finely control their secondary gender in their third year, a lovestruck Kirishima starts to suspect Bakugou is hiding far more than he's letting on. And Midoriya knows his secrets.

“Holy shit,” Kaminari breathed, and then gave a sharp laugh. “Could you imagine the damage if Bakugou was an Omega?!”

Take a Chance on Me by Fanficismything 🔴

In a world where Omegas can't be heroes, Bakugo calls bullshit and finds his own way to help people, joining other omegas in becoming vigilantes.

Enter Chemical X.

Being a popular hero is Kirishima's dream but it means nothing when you're in love with the illegal vigilante you have to stop.

Enter Red Riot.

Flighting turns to flirting and flirting turns to action. Sooner or later, people are going to find out...

(Love is) An Open Door by EnchantedEmmeline

Bakugou Katsuki had no intention of ever introducing himself to his neighbours. But he also never intended on breaking into their flat either. There was no one to blame but himself, but that wouldn't stop Bakugou from trying to take everyone else down with him.

Part 1 of No one writes songs about the one's that come easy

Here Comes The Bride by Obsessed_As_A_Coping_Mechanism 🔴

Kirishima is a vampire. Bakugou is a human bartender. Shenanigans ensue.

Tiny Truths by Quirk Archivist (OneHitWondersAnonymous) for Maplefudge

“The wedding,” Bakugou repeats, though it sounds like he’s annoyed. “Everybody knows you get married when you make a hero agency, stupid. Why else would you get married?”

-

Bakugou gets hit with a de-aging quirk which shrinks him down to a four year old. Class 1A panics, but Kirishima steps up to the plate to help his best friend (and secret crush) feel safe in a scary situation. Rated T only for language; this is pure fluff through and through!

An Alpha Elite by Obsessed_As_A_Coping_Mechanism 🔴

WANNA MAKE SOME QUICK CASH?!

ARE YOU AN UNMATED OMEGA OR AN ALPHA?

HAVE YOU EVER WANTED TO PURSUE A CAREER IN FILM?

Kirishima and Bakugou agree to do a porn together and fall in love along the way.

In Which Kirishima is Manly by TheBrokaryotes

Kirishima is a living contradiction. He walks around spouting how much he wants to be manly, but he spends about 80% of his free time with his endless amount of sisters (when he’s not dragging Bakugo around places), is perfectly comfortable talking to the girls in Class 1-A, and doesn’t seem to have a mean bone in his body. Bakugo is beginning to wonder what exactly Kirishima thinks “manliness” is.

AKA a 5+1 fic… 5 kirishima-centric instances and +1 bakushima kiss ;)

the color of warmth, the scent of smoke by arxaris

Bakugou really needs some WiFi.

He finds it in a coffee shop with a fireplace and a name that feels like an inside joke, just for him. Only problem is, he ends up finding more than he’s looking for, and he doesn’t just mean the snow falling outside or the abomination that is whipped cream on top of hot cider.

Love.

It makes him want to do crazy things. Like kissing. Like trying to get better instead of just running away.

SnapBackChat by arxaris, Mslead 🔴

It wasn’t that Kirishima was some giant creep who sent unsolicited dick pics to his crush, okay. Well - only the first time, but he’d been drunk and had just thought he was being funny. But after that - after that Bakugou had technically been asking for them.

Not directly, of course. Bakugou would never. No, every time Kirishima did this, Bakugou would respond with curses and insults and (thus far baseless) threats, ranging from him ending their friendship to blocking his number to straight up calling the cops.

But regardless of his extreme reactions, Kirishima knew Bakugou wanted the pictures, knew Bakugou wanted him.

Because Bakugou - his best friend, favorite nerd, and probably future husband once Kirishima decided to settle down - knew a lot of things, the smart fucker, but how to work Snapchat wasn’t one of them.

Kirishima’s phone lit up.

Bakugou Katsuki took a screenshot.

-

Or, Kirishima's a frat boy who likes to play with his food before he eats it.

ghosts beneath ink wash stars by cityboys

Eijirou's evolution from Bakugou's delivery boy to kind of, possibly, someone to come home to.

dusk and dawn by bigstupidjellyfish for SybLaTortue 🔴

sex pollen, again, yea

Wild by lore_shark for arxaris, queenkatsuki, Diesel2311 🔴

Eijirou was fucking radiant, framed in helicopter spotlights and swirling clouds of cement dust, skin sharp, nearing unbreakable, as he wrangled a fourth irate villain onto his shoulder. A shot of liquid heat lanced through Katsuki’s gut as Riot turned and sauntered off towards the waiting police; the planes of his back were damned unfair, all shimmery with sweat and soot and raw power. He knew firsthand what those muscles felt like, shifting and flexing beneath hot palms, the barely restrained ferocity leaking through. His neck flushed with a burn wholly unrelated to the adrenaline and excitement of hero work.

Broken, but Still Good by deviance

“He’s just too combative. I know he was recovered from an illegal Alpha fighting ring and we can’t do much for that, but he’s not receptive to any of our attempts to help. He instantly starts fights with any Alphas that try to reach out to him, even if they aren’t posturing, and if we try to send in an Omega to keep him calm he somehow manages to freak out even more.”

“All we can do it be patient and provide him a safe environment to heal. We don’t know how long he was held captive nor what sort of things he’s had to do to survive.”

“But if no one can get close to him, how are we supposed to help?”

“Have we tried sending in a Beta? If we have one that would be capable of withstanding his quirk, it may be the best middle ground.”

“Red Riot, one of my previous students might be able to. Kirishima’s quirk is hardening and should be strong enough to withstand the Alpha’s explosions. Plus his personality tends to let him make friends with just about everyone. He was on the infiltration team too, so he’s at least minimally aware of the situation. He’d have to be briefed on the specifications, of course.”

“He sounds like the best chance we’ve got."

“Can’t hurt to try, I guess."

Sweetness by MissPlacemat 🔴

“Hey, it’s okay! This kind of thing just happens to people our age, it’s not like we can control what our bodies do when we’re asleep, you know?”

“Dumbass,” Bakugou groaned.

“I know, I know, but it’s -”

“This happened after I woke up,” he stated firmly, finally looking Eijirou in the eye. “Okay?”

-

In which a night of Twilight Zone reruns turns into a morning of kisses, cuddles and confessions.

No Shirt, No Problem by let_me_wander 🔴

Since Kirishima is a dragon, he's able to regulate his temperature using his own fire when it gets cold.

Since Bakugou is a human, he just shivers and gets goosebumps. And his nipples get hard.

Kirishima notices. Misunderstandings ensue.

Spice, Not Sugar by KTG  🔴

Bakugou was fired from his last job for having a "poor fucking attitude".

What the fuck ever.

Unfortunately, he needs money to eat, and to get money, he needs a job, /stat/.

After getting hired at RIOT, the agency own and run by the number-twelve pro hero Red Riot, Bakugou quickly learns that his boss isn't an average hero--or an average sugar daddy.

Twitter link to finished fic: https://twitter.com/KtgWrites/status/1125866205338726400?s=19&fbclid=IwAR0HIsWreGOBclLJVtfmJAYIPawdOwu3gA8X6sUcLV8d3CZCWSu-cXbXmwg

The Mountain Spirit 🔴

https://twitter.com/lore_shark/status/1197657487513665538

The price for murder was death. They’d chanted it at him for hours, “Death, death, kill him!”, “Die!”,“Child killer!”,“Murderer!”,“Burn him!”. Katsuki bit his tongue and stared resolutely forward.

Especially You, Kirishima by pisceskeith 🔴

Bakugou Katsuki hasn't seen his best friend in about two years, but a certain member of the Bakusquad thought it would be a good idea to host a reunion for Christmas Break. Katsuki thought he could control himself, but something about that shitty-haired idiot made his vision red.

GroundRiot's Biggest Fan by FoolishFortuna for Obsessed_As_A_Coping_Mechanism, Emikumaa 🔴

The first time he’d stumbled across a fanfic had been a complete accident. Katsuki could barely even remember what he’d typed in, but he’d been looking for a break down of one of his and Kirishima’s more spectacular villain take-downs, to go through the moves they used and see how they could improve.

The damned thing had even started like a news report! And he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t impressed with how it was written. Maybe the details should have tipped him off, but by the time he was half way through, he’d already been invested...

Rattling Chests by chezka

Kirishima had been draped on one of the couches in the common room and laughing at Kaminari’s exaggerated recounting of his Christmas dinner with his family, Bakugou’s heat pressing blissfully all along his side and easily grounding in him the feeling of truly being back in his second home, when Ashido had taken a long breath in, tilted her head back, and sneezed loud and violent.

[...]He was just about to offer making her a warm cup of tea, when he noticed the impossible stillness Bakugou’s body had adopted by his side.

Quietly by chezka

“We’ve been taking the same way to and from school for weeks,” Kirishima grinned, and then when Bakugou frowned at him he put on an affected pout, tilted his head so that he was looking at him through his thick, long lashes, “you never noticed? Am I that easy to miss?”

He could barely finish the sentence before a laugh escaped his lips, and Bakugou rolled his eyes, hit him with a shoulder a little more violently than necessary.

“You stick out like a sore thumb, broom-head,” he grumbled, promptly ignoring Kirishima's whining about his hairstyle when it started coming, “I didn’t notice ‘cause I didn’t care.”

“And now you do?”

Practical Talks by JustAVerySmolPotato (SouthernVices)

“What’s holding you back then?” Kaminari smiled, trying for encouragement, “What happened to being manly about things? Taking a chance on the one you love sounds like one of the manliest things you could do!”

To his credit, the comment caused Kirishima to give a little smile.

“Point taken,” the redhead said quietly, “But there’s more to it than that. I think part of it, for me at least, is all the lectures we’ve been getting lately.”

Oh.

Now it makes sense.

When a practical crafted by Aizawa-sensei forces Kirishima and Bakugou to face a terrible reality, it’s made obvious it’s time for a talk.

The fact that they destroyed the kitchen in the process is just par for the course.

Eijiro Is the Best Medicine by quirkle

Katsuki had only gotten a faded reflection in a train window to see how bad he looked, and that had only given so much insight, but he knew for a fact that he was shivering, teeth chattering, and him and his costume sopping wet and producing a puddle of muddy rain water on the wooden floors. He didn’t exactly blame Eijiro for being worried.

Friends With Dragons by ForbiddenRapture

The young boy reached the massive head of the dragon, which was twice the size of a draft horse's head. He grimaced when he realized the dragon's golden amber eyes were wide open, glazed over and staring off into the forest. Katsuki would have thought it was looking for something, with the way its neck was angled and eye ridge was drawn up.

He reached forward to pat the dragon's jaw, then followed it's dead gaze passed his shoulder with his own crimson eyes. His brow furrowed when he snapped his attention back on the dragon.

"Don't worry. I'll find it for you."

Seized Embers by Emers_Writes

“Look at you, chained and gemmed, like some sort of fucking prize to be won. I’m going to get you out, I promise.” he croaks, voice failing to mask his heartache.

or

Kirishima gets captured and is being chained up and held captive. Bakugou has to go save his boyfriend, and gets help to do so.

Series

Part 1 of *✩ King & King ✩*

These Words Are Ours by deviance  🔴

Your Words were meant to be something special, something you didn't see coming, a pleasant surprise that brought you the realization that you'd met your soulmate.

Bakugou had facepalmed the day he met Kirishima Eijirou. He wasn't really sure how or when, but if ever there was an idiot in this world who was going to say his Words, it would be this one.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. You weren't supposed to know who would say your Words. It was all supposed to be organic, a surprise.

But if there was another idiot in the world who would dare utter the absolute embarrassment of a babble Kirishima was apparently destined to say to him, Bakugou would eat the redhead's wretched crocs. The only reason he hadn't made an effort to scold him for even having such a thought, let alone voicing it, was because apparently the atrocious phrase is supposed to be what made Bakugou fall head over heels for the guy.

Rip Tide by Emers_Writes

“You i-idiot, you can’t just do a flip off the board. You’ll end up with face scars like Kiri!” Ashio attempts to yell, but it's interrupted by her fits of laughter. Sero’s no better, clutching his stomach as he paddles out to the next wave off balance.

“Hey! I’ll have you know my scars look cool! They’re little lightning bolts!” Denki, ungracefully, crawls onto his surfboard during his remark. He lifts up a leg and points adamantly, showing off his well known box jelly scars.

“How about you guys stop bitching and surf.” Katsuki calls.

or

Bakusquad enters a local surf competition and feelings get messy along the way.

No, I Don’t Come Here Often. In Fact, I’m Never Coming Here Again. by itswritteninblood

Katsuki had been against this shit from the beginning, and now, sitting across from sunshine himself, he knew why.

Speed dating. What could go wrong?

(Un)Tangled by itswritteninblood for quirkless_loser

"This is the story of my goddamn demise."

Eijirou has dreamt of leaving his tower and breaking his curse since the day his parents exiled him, but only an explosive intruder has what it takes to finally get him out the door.

Remedy by arxaris

DJ Ground Zero’s fame was soaring higher than ever. Bakugou himself, though, was falling, struggling to stay afloat.

The darkness of the year was interrupted by a single light, though. A blinding red one, dancing and laughing in the front row of every Osaka show. The city became his anchor, that smile his lifeline. He was a ray of hope, a promise that things could get better. One day.

Maybe Bakugou was going crazy.

Maybe he was falling in love.

At times, it felt like both.

Bakugou is a Big Softie and Loves His Students: An Essay by minaashidoismywife

Bakugou stares at the door in front of him, nostalgia filling his mind. He can still remember how it felt to stand in front of this very door for the first time 26 years ago. It’s a strange feeling, knowing Aizawa won’t be standing at the desk when he walks through the door. Knowing that desk now belongs to him.

Biting Down by deviance 🔴

Bakugou grinned, curling his hand around the base of Kirishima's tail, digging his nails into the hard scales and watching Kirishima's eyes flare with delight.

"After we eat," Bakugou rumbled lowly, leaning closer, "you're going to fuck me until I can't walk. Got it?"

When you need me by sunflowerstorm

Rule 72A was for ensuring that pro heroes didn’t suffer from the occasionally extreme mental load of their work by allowing emergency responders to assign a 24hour watch over heroes they believed ‘at risk’.

When this rule is applied to Bakugo after a run in with a villain with a Nightmare quirk, he is not at all pleased, all he wanted was to go home by himself and try and forget everything that'd happened. But turns out when that rule means having Kirishima with him, it is exactly what he needs.

Rumors (Keep My Name Out Your Mouth) by deviance

Rumors are rarely true and even rarer are they kind. Still, all it takes is a hint of credibility, just a moment of belief, for a rumor to spread like wildfire, destroying friendships and leaving those hurt left behind to try and make something of the ashes.

astrum by popcap

If his soulmate doesn’t like him, they can get fucked. He doesn’t need to find his other half. He’s enough on his own. Sometimes he’s too much on his own.

Life goes on. Katsuki doesn’t talk to his mother about soulmates anymore.

Hell’s Kitchen by arxaris for Diesel2311 🔴

Apparently bad things really did come in threes, Bakugou thought wryly, as the firefighter closed the distance between them.

Tall, tan, and jacked as hell, he was a strong contender for the single hottest person Bakugou had ever seen in his life. He was covered in soot and sweat that contoured his ridiculous muscles, making them look even more defined, and his clinging black tank top didn’t do much to hide the rest of him, either. His strong cheekbones and jaw had smears of black on them too, and Bakugou had the absurd thought that he wanted to lick them clean.

Bakugou didn’t think it was possible, but he felt himself turning even redder. He would barely have been able to talk to someone as attractive as him on a good day, and he was about to have to explain to him that he’d tried to burn down his fucking house because he was being petty on Twitter.

Super.

Just a Parting Kiss by cherryredriots for lemxnbitxh

Eijirou and Katsuki's first kiss isn't something either of them were prepared for.

Insight by cherryredriots

While taking down a big-time gang, Katsuki faces a villain with a quirk that allows him to look at a person and see the one thing they love most in the world. For Katsuki, that's Eijirou.

Our Lips Set the Sun by Sacramental_Wine 🔴

When he would look at the little mark on the underside of his left arm at night, he would know that somewhere out there someone else had the exact same shape in the exact same place on their body. But he didn’t try to imagine them. He didn’t imagine a face or a name or a personality. When his friends would talk about it he wouldn’t contribute.

Because in his heart he had a feeling that his soulmate would outclass every expectation he could possibly have.

Northwest of Babylon by Sacramental_Wine 🔴

Bakugou didn’t know what compelled him to start working in fucking marble but here he was, staring at the big chunk of rock in his studio with a scowl. Sure, there had been a deal on the material but he never fucking worked in it before. He was more the type to make statues in wood or softer materials.

But here he fucking was, staring at this damned chunk of rock.

Like a Paperback Novel by let_me_wander 🔴

To be clear, Bakugou was a writer. He was a writer of cheap, trashy, paperback romance novels filled with too many heaving bosoms and windswept hair, with whimpering, doe-eyed omegas just waiting for a strong, dashing alpha to sweep them off their feet. When he had set out to pursue his dream of becoming an writer, this wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind. In fact, this was basically the complete opposite of what he’d had in mind.

AKA Bakugou reluctantly needs some inspiration.

It Started with a Prank by KTG for SpaceRanger88  🔴

WHAP!

The slap on his arm was followed by a giggle, and Katsuki shoved the person away. “The fuck is wrong with you?”

Teniki Michi laughed as he stumbled backward, arms crossed over his gut. He was a tall, lanky man with short black hair and brilliant green eyes. His quirk was pretty unusual: He could swap people’s genders temporarily. The swap usually resulted in the affected person’s quirk changing slightly, too, which made it harder for villains to escape, since they didn’t have time to adjust to the changes.

“S-sorry, boss! I had to, though! Chargebolt dared me!”

“He fucking what?” he snarled.

“Dared me to change the gender of the first person who walked in!”

Katsuki was about two seconds from blowing the idiot up when his words sank in and he realized he was shorter than he used to be. He lifted his hand. The fingers were slim and feminine, still covered in callouses and a little knotted from the hard work he’d put into training, but they were smaller than usual.

He was smaller than usual.

He was a goddamn girl!

My First One And Only by BlackBarBooks, Quirkless-One (BlackBarBooks) 🔴

When Kirishima accidentally confesses to Bakugo, they are both faced with the fact that they have NO idea how to date.

An Explosive Tale of Love and Ships by JustThatObsession

Legends say that the king once kept a powerful weapon locked away in a tower. Bakugou Katsuki wants that weapon, except, once he gets it he soon realizes that sometimes you don't always get exactly what you bargained for.

Just A Touch (Too Much) by Grimmseye 🔴

Prompt from the Kink Meme: Kirishima gets oversensitive after using his quirk too much, and somebody (Bakugou) fucks him until he's so overstimulated that he cries

They Brought us Together by aheartbeatlikehurricanes  🔴

Bakugou was suffering. Like the entire ocean would never be able to quench his thirst suffering and he hated himself, Kirishima, and the entire God damn planet for putting him through it all.

A Dragon's Wants by Obsessed_As_A_Coping_Mechanism   🔴

Kirishima wants nothing more to have babies with his strong mate. But as much as he tries, nothing is working.

Is it him? Is he... not right for Katsuki?

Or is there something else at play?

How Goth Am I? by Obsessed_As_A_Coping_Mechanism 🔴

Kirishima is a good guy. He's the star athlete at school, helps out the elderly, and always buys his mom's flowers for their birthday.

He does have one secret though.

He's obsessed with the goth boy that catcalls him in the cemetery on his nightly runs.

In the Dark of the Night by arxaris for queenkatsuki 🔴

Chanting sounded through the Colosseum. “Red Riot! Red Riot! Red Riot!”

Red Riot?

“Sero,” Bakugou snapped at the Head of his Council, seated a few meters to his right in the Emperor’s box. “What the fuck is a Red Riot?”

Sero nodded his head to the pit and Bakugou followed his gaze, watching as another gladiator walked out of the gate and towards the center. “New gladiator prodigy. He’s only eighteen, but he hasn’t even come close to losing a fight since he started a couple months ago.” Then, Sero smirked. “I think you’re gonna like him.”

-

Or, all's fair in love and war.

What just fucking happened? by Dadzawa for ThatFunkyOpossum 🔴

Baku patches up Kiri and there's hella gay feels

Overworked & Underfucked by Kumikirin 🔴

“It’s just not manly to leave your bro like this, after knowing he can’t do anything about it, you know?” Kirishima blabbers some kind of bullshit excuse, and the worst part is that it looks like he’s totally convinced of it. “It’s just a— handjob,” he stumbles over the word, the weight of what he’s proposing hitting him all at once, but he doesn’t stop. “—but if you're not into it we can pretend I didn't just say that.”

Bakugou has to restrain himself from saying that he’s very much into it. Like, a lot, really.

a.k.a Kirishima learns the reason behind Bakugou's grumpiest days, and he offers to help because that's what best bros do.

King of Cooking by IronicVeghead

Bakugou Katsuki here, also known as Pro-Hero Ground Zero. I'm writing this blog to get my so-called friends off my back about my recipes. Read them and fuck off. [Blog posts from King of Cooking: Recipe Blog written by Bakugou Katsuki, with edits and additions by his roommate Kirishima Eijirou. Each chapter will be a blog post.]

cold in the hands that you left me by poetic_leopard

Bakugou forces his gaze level with Kirishima’s eyes—and he’s never been looked at so softly. Bakugou is not soft. If anything, he’s blood spat on concrete.

[or: it's been a month since bakugou's kidnapping & consecutive rescue, but he's still having nightmares. a series of 5 anxiety-peppered, surreal nights where kirishima's the only thing bakugou can allow himself to hold onto].

Achromatopsia by PurplePersnickety

They lifted Bakugou up, Eijirou’s breath sliced into his lungs for a moment, and colour splashed across his vision. But the cavalry battle was about to begin. There was no time to consider it, or laugh, or talk, or do anything but meet Bakugou’s red eyes, red framed by yellow-gold-pale hair, and bare his teeth in readiness.

____

Until you meet your soulmate, you only see one colour. When you touch your soulmate for the first time, the true colours of the world appear.

Unless, perhaps, you're colour-blind.

4 in the morning by efemerald

The memory of the underground raid, despite having been over a month ago, was still painfully fresh in Bakugou's mind: Eijirou, head-to-toe in bandages, barely able to move.

Now, with the same moron heading out on a second mission so soon, Bakugou can't help the rising paranoia that this could be their last meeting. And if it's their last meeting, it means it's his last chance to tell Kirishima how he feels, however he possibly can.

Friendly Reminder by arxaris for queenkatsuki 🔴

“So, let me get this straight,” Uraraka said, looking at Bakugou like he was crazy. “You keep a stockpile of nudes on your phone, and you send them to Kirishima when you get jealous?”

“Correct,” Bakugou said through clenched teeth.

“Even when you’re together, like, out in public and stuff?” He nodded, and Uraraka’s eyes grew impossibly wider. “That’s your ‘system’ to deal with you being overly-possessive? Sexting?”

“It’s not sexting!” Bakugou hissed, blushing harder. “They’re just… reminders,” he mumbled the last word.

“Reminders of what, exactly? That you’re insane?”

‘No,' Bakugou thought. 'That I’m the only one he should be fucking looking at.’

risk & reward by Dreaming_of_Fairys for Koboni 🔴

Kirishima wakes Bakugou up in the middle of the night to end a week long drought of no sex despite the risk of being caught.

oh shit, i'm the grown up. by antheiabelle

Looking back, Bakugou’s life as a hero was nothing like he’d ever imagined it to be.

And yet, he wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Be Gentle by deviance

"So listen. I've never--" Bakugou cut himself off, grinding his teeth and groaning, face reddening, "had a friend like you," he finally finished, obviously stressed by that much admission. "So whatever, I'm not the greatest at social stuff. Not a surprise. Like I fucking care. I say what I want and do what I want."

Kirishima had to fight to keep from whispering 'So manly' in reaction to Bakugou's honesty, despite everything.

"So I might not be the best at, like, reading signs or whatever," Bakugou waved off. "I'm the best at everything else so it's fine."

Kirishima blinked. "What are you trying to say, man?"

"I mean," he growled, "that I didn't realize you were into me like that. And that I'm not fucking against it. But I don't know shit about dating."

It took Kirishima an embarrassingly long amount of time to process that.

"So...are you saying you like me like that too?" He finally asked.

All I Ask of You by Hejter for ThatFunkyOpossum

Bakugou is scared of thunder, Kirishima sings him a tune from one of the musicals they watch together to help him calm down. Fluff abound.

safe & sound by Authoress

“I don’t need a friendly face,” Bakugou says, purposefully sitting in the seat furthest from Kirishima.

“Okay, maybe not,” Kirishima says. He smiles. “But I made tea.”

No Shoes, No Shirt, No Homo by SummerBummin

The shirtless man passed the stick from hand to hand, then spun it around his abdomen so it was back in front of him. He lifted the stick up, one end pointed directly at his mouth, and swallowed the flame.

“Holy shit.” Katsuki whispered. Then the man opened his mouth wide, and blew out fire like a fucking dragon. Katsuki’s jaw hit the floor as he watched the flames billow out, red, orange, gold, and a hint of electric blue.

Katsuki unconsciously took a step forwards, through the leaf cover and into the clearing. “Motherfucker, that’s badass! How the hell did you do that?!”

The shirtless man shrieked and fumbled the burning stick in his giant hands. The stick slipped through his thick fingers and landed right on his bare foot. He jumped up again, hopping on one foot and swearing up a storm. Katsuki had to slap a hand over his mouth to keep his laughter in.

-

The Bakugous go on a summer vacation to a gorgeous island and drag their son, Katsuki with them. Bakugou Katsuki is determined that he will not have any fun on this god awful trip... that is until he runs into fire dancer Kirishima, who is very hot— because of the fire of course!

Studded by KTG 🔴

Katsuki's second gender pisses him off. He's just presented as an omega, and if he doesn't get studded--turned into an alpha--before the end of his first heat, he's gonna be an omega for-fucking-ever. Problem is, he needs a willing omega to stud him, and his best friend, Kirishima Eijirou, presented as an alpha.

Or, at least, he smells like one.

All Katsuki knows is that he needs to get studded, and fucking soon.

a tenderness you can't let go by punchmonk

When Katsuki is fifteen, Kirishima Eijirou hands him an orange with a bright smile and zero expectations. It is all downhill from there.

help me get out of my head by popcap

“Don’t let go." "Deal."

Burning by mr_todoroki

Bakugou Katsuki was sent on a mission to eliminate a dragon threatening the citizens in the kingdom. Instead he meets Kirishima Eijirou, an obnoxiously useless traveller who has something he's hiding.

Out of Control by arxaris 🔴

The story of how Bakugou Katsuki accidentally got a new quirk and a new boyfriend in exchange for his favorite sex toy and the security deposit on his apartment.

Sonder by Maplefudge

A collection of snippets surrounding Bakugou and Kirishima's "totally platonic" relationship from the perspective of Class 1-A.

If you want to... by Treeclimbr 🔴

Bakugou interrupts Kirishima's "alone time" in the showers. Things get awkward, Kirishima is oblivious, and our boys dance around each other a little while they figure things out.

take your time with me by Shadow_sensei 🔴

And then Katsuki steps away, breaking away from Eijirou’s body, as if he’s been shocked, because it’s so much, all at once, and it’s overwhelming and his mind is drifting and it’s almost terrifying, to be so fast to lose his composure, just from a simple touch. Is it a sign of weakness, that he can be pulled into Eijirou’s control so quickly?

No, thinks Katsuki. It’s a sign of trust.

oh, the places you'll go by a box of rocks (abundleoftwigs)

Bakugou Katsuki is hopelessly, helplessly, and obviously in love with Kirishima Eijirou.

Too bad the only person who hasn't figured that out yet seems to be Bakugou himself.

(A retrospective on Bakugou and Kirishima's relationship as seen through the eyes of a childhood friend)

Series

Part 1 of oh, the places you'll go

How to Make Bakugou Katsuki a Decent Human Being by drifloon

A how-to by Kirishima Eijirou.

(Kirishima decides to make Bakugou the guy Kirishima knows he can be. Everything else snowballs from there.)

Slow to Start (But Quick to Burn) by mousapelli 🔴

Bakugou is loud, abrasive, and way too strong to be a "good" omega, and he doesn't give half a damn if that's what everybody else thinks. The good news is that Kirishima is 100% into him just the way he is. The bad news is he might be 150% into Kirishima.

Partners by disastergays

In a small village protected from the outside world exists a sort of sanctuary for humans and monsters alike. It has always been said that to every human, there is a monster that shared their soul. Two halves of the same whole. Finding one's other half was a sort of coming of age ceremony, and as children were encouraged to seek out their other half.

Bakugou was the only one that couldn't form a bond with any monster, no matter how hard he tried. Rage boiled beneath the surface as Bakugou shunned not only the village, but the monsters and humans that had come to call it home; running away from the protection of the mountains.

10 years passed since then, and the world-renowned hunter, The King of Beasts, was called to a farming village to deal with a dangerous Riot Dragon.

The meeting soon to follow would change his life forever.

Blood Stains Red by SummerBummin

Kirishima was hunched over the sink, his back to Bakugou. Water ran in a steady stream from the faucet, the silver metal flecked with blotches of red. Kirishima looked up at the sound of the door opening. His eyes locked with Bakugou's through the mirror in front of him and his mouth fell open. It was full of blood.

"Kirishima?" Bakugou's headphones were shoved off his ears and his book bag slipped off his shoulder, falling onto the bathroom floor with a thump.

"Oh, hi Bakugou." Kirishima turned to greet him over his shoulder, a wavering, dumbass smile on his dumb fucking face, his bloody fucking face.

His lips were red and shiny as a cherry, lines of red ran down his chin like a tiger's stripes, and his teeth, god his teeth. They were coated in blood and clumps of who the fuck knows what.

Kirishima's trademark had always been the color red. The bright hue of his hair was something Bakugou sought out everyday, but he never imagined seeing Kirishima red like this, never like this.

-

Aka Kirishima’s teeth are weird and Bakugou rushes to conclusions (he’s protective, okay?)

Trigger warning for blood description.

Boys Are Stupid by deviance

“Sorry, bro, I'm not going to make it to our study session tonight."

“Why?”

“Ah,” Kirishima grinned almost shyly, “I've got a date.”

Bakugou froze, chest feeling like he'd just been pierced with a lance.

“A...date,” Bakugou repeated, admittedly dumbstruck.

Kirishima smiled. “Yeah, so I'll see you later,” Kirishima said, waving before leaving the room.

So this is what heartbreak felt like. He hated it.

Perfect Fit by deviance

Kirishima had broken up with him with just about every cliche in the book. It wasn't him, it was Kirishima. He wanted them to still be friends. Blah blah blah. Filler, really, as far as Bakugou was concerned. And sure, Kirishima probably meant all those things, but Bakugou hadn't wanted to hear it, considering he'd been too focused on the sound of his heart breaking.

This was why he didn't let people in

Be Patient by deviance

Kaminari groaned. “Why are you two like this?” He demanded, pointing at where Bakugou was stretched out over the couch with his feet in Kirishima's lap. “Why don't you just date already?”

Kirishima sighed. “One day, guys. We will one day.”

Under the stars by popinjayuploads 🔴

Bakugou is obviously stressed out, but refuses to talk about it. Kirishima decides that a weekend camping trip is the perfect thing to relax him. So he tosses a mattress in the bed of his truck and they head out.

Kirishima soon finds out Bakugou needs more than a hike to work out his stress. Luckily, he's more than willing to help out.

Fucking Feelings by Equinurmae

Bakugou isn't great with feelings. Midoriya is slightly better, but the two of them have always had an unusual relationship - even more so when Bakugou bursts into Midoriya's room one night with something important to say. (Hint: he's gay.)

Six Page Spread by indigonow

They're 22 and Bakugou's finally gotten control over his public image. Think more..."bad boy" and less "explosive asshole".

Kirishima is weak (though he always has been).

domestic life was never quite my style by Slumber

Five times Bakugou cooked for Kirishima, and one time Kirishima cooked for Bakugou, as told by their classmates.

it's pouring out here by shizuumi151

With phone, money, and keys in his pocket, Kirishima wandered around the city for an age. With his legs on auto-pilot his mind wandered too. To the new movie that peppered the streets in posters and trailers, a new move he wanted to practise for another basketball play, wondering about how the current arcs for his favourite manga would turn out in the next issue of Jump.

And, of course, he thought about how many of those things he could see and do with Bakugou.

An Obvious Patch by SweetScentences for ComparedFever

In which Kirishima is hurt, Bakugo is stressed, and everything is going to be okay.

Series

Part 1 of Adventures of the Almost Agency

cotton candy hands by chonideno for gabzillaz, Siij

Studying to become a hero requires knowing how to take care of yourself. Sometimes you might need help on the way so if your crush offers to do your hair for you or to give you a well-deserved back rub, it'd be stupid to say no.

A series of soft vignettes in which a love-struck Kirishima and a touch-starved Bakugou care for each other and it's definitely not making their hearts jump through hoops, they’re never this close to kissing, no, they're totally best friends bro

You Have a New Admirer! by Esselle for Ellessey 🔴

'His profile states that his name is Bakugou Katsuki, he's twenty-two and still in college. He likes hiking in the mountains, old cars, and advanced trigonometry. His first date would ideally involve little to no small talk, and very spicy food.

For some reason there is one person, apparently, who admires all that about him.'

--

When Katsuki is convinced (read: bribed) to try out a friend's glitchy dating app, he's expecting the whole experience to be a resounding failure. Instead he ends up meeting Kirishima, who turns out to be the perfect combination of sexy, sweet, and way too freakin' earnest, all rolled into one easy-to-fall-for package.

one to ten by crunchrapsupreme

Kirishima attempts to climb the ladder of success and weasel his way into Bakugou Katsuki's explosive little heart.

Step one? He has to get to level ten.

Talk Too Much by QuirklessWonder (SouthernSmartAss)

“You talk too fucking much - I’ve also been your best fucking friend for years, chill the fuck out,” Bakugou said. He grabbed another piece of bread, glancing at Kirishima from under his eyelashes. “Also, I fucking agreed to this didn’t I? Clearly I like you too, you dumbass.”

Kirishima managed to swallow down the bread, and then he grinned widely at Bakugou. “You like me?”

“God, you are a dumbass,” Bakugou said, snorting again. “Fucking obviously I like you.”

cultivating something so divine by redriotinggg

"The only people that get to work here are those who can keep up with me. And you’re going to have to prove that you’re one of those people. You understand me?”

Kirishima nods and finds that he can’t stop the smirk that comes on his face. He was never good at backing down to a challenge. It’s terrifying and exciting all at once. “Yes, sir.”

(Bakugou's a world famous vet and Kirishima is his humble, gay new employee.)

parted, and never parted by Authoress

Before going into battle, it’s only proper to make an offering to the god of war. But Kirishima’s run out of things to give.

Kitsune's Pride by kytrin, Mslead 🔴

Bakugo didn't believe in fairy tales, magic or love. All they did was tell stories to entertain those willing to listen to the lies promising a happy ending. His life was one unending disaster of one failed relationship after another, so he didn't put much stock in magic, or in love. Not until a strange oni comes spilling out of his receipe box with a dark secret and an even darker past.

[ambivalentangst]

Everything as It Should Be

Mhmm yeah okay so there’s something I gotta say,,, , I love @voldsomt-sor with all of my big, mushy heart and it’s their birthday!!!! UwU!!!!! As a result I’ve prepared a lil post-season seven birthday gift for you using number thirty on this list and platonic shance, as requested. I hope you like it—happy birthday babe!!!!!

Shiro finds Lance in the Garrison cafeteria at approximately three thirty in the morning. This is concerning for a number of reasons, the most prevalent to Shiro at the moment being that Lance insists on getting as much sleep as possible. At times, Shiro gets frustrated with Lance—when a joke goes too far, when his flirtatious grin makes an appearance at an inopportune time, but he never really wants him to change. If it was a fluke, simply one sleepless night, Shiro would be less worried. If Lance didn’t have purple bags smudged under his eyes, if his normally radiant complexion didn’t look a little grey, it would be fine. As it is, he edges his way into the kitchen with purposeful, loud steps to announce his entrance.

Lance startles, head swiveling side to side before landing on Shiro, who pretends he can’t see the flash of light indicative of a bayard’s presence. His memories of when he wasn’t around are hazy and don’t lend him any answers when his mind races, wondering when Lance took on that kind of hypervigilance. Lance smiles, lips stretched unnaturally thin over his pearly teeth.

Shiro waves, though the action is uncertain, faltering. He’d come for some instant noodles after skipping dinner in favor of meetings with Garrison personnel, and his stomach was demanding to be filled. “Hey, Lance. What are you doing here?”

It’s just the two of them. The isolation, once so common in the sprawling grounds of the castle, bothers Shiro like a cat having its fur rubbed the wrong way.

Lance shrugs. “Couldn’t sleep. Needed to walk a little. Got tired of that, and ended up here.” Despite the clipped sentences, he’s forcing warmth into the explanation, doing his best to keep whatever is bothering him away from Shiro.

At least he doesn’t appear to be lying. Shiro makes himself think of that as a positive. He abandons his original quest, coming to sit across the table from Lance. “I get that. You doing okay?”

Lance starts in flippantly. “Nah, just couldn’t sleep like I—”

“Lance, you know that’s not what I asked.”

Lance’s mouth screws up, eyes darting back and forth in a frantic search for an escape. Shiro doesn’t like the feeling it gives him, knowing Lance doesn’t want to talk with him. When had that happened? Lance talks and talks and talks even when he shouldn’t, so why now is he stalling?

“Look, I know things aren’t the same, I’m not your black paladin anymore, but we’re still friends, aren’t we? You can trust me.”

Lance’s stare is quick to flit to Shiro, full of warning and a little bit of pain he doesn’t understand. Just as soon, it settles back on the table, a finger tracing a scuff in the metal of it. “Things just haven’t been sitting well with me, recently. It’s all been so much.”

Shiro nods. Okay, overexertion. That’s simple enough. “You know you can take a few days off, right? Go see your family, really be with them. We’re okay right now—none of us will blame you.”

Lance’s hands grip the table, stopping their fidgeting. One of the bulbs overhead is flickering a little. Shiro is way past thinking the effect it gives is ominous. Rather, the shadows it casts on Lance’s face just make him look sad.

“It’s not that kind of much.”

The words are spat at Shiro, tickets from an arcade game he hadn’t expected to do so well on. He fumbles for a moment, scooping them up from the floor. When they’re safely tucked in his pocket, he tries again. “Okay.” He thinks and decides that last time, he rushed into things. He goes slower, tries harder to understand. “Okay,” he repeats. “Then what kind of much is it?” Lance doesn’t usually talk like this, using phrases that dance around the mind and one has to consider the weight of. Shiro’s concern grows.

“I could handle it, was handling it. I mean, your—whatever it was, I guess—didn’t like me much, but I could handle that. Now, it’s just—”

A sound of frustration, hands flexing with it. “It’s not right. I know I’m where I’m supposed to be, but, I don’t think Keith really thinks so.” There’s an ashamed, almost fearful look that follows the admission like he’s waiting to be told off, to have Shiro not take his side.

Shiro and Keith have never tried to hide their closeness, and he hides a wince at how that’s coming back to bite him. “Go on,” Shiro encourages softly, wishing he was on Lance’s side of the table to comfort him physically.

“I know he’s stressed. He doesn’t like Earth much and he misses Krolia. Being the black paladin is a lot, anyway, but he—I don’t know. It’s probably stupid but it’s like—like, what? You think you’re the only one suffering? Before he left with the blades we talked,” Lance doesn’t say about what, “and I thought we were cool, but now he’s different. We’re supposed to be a team, and it’s not working like it used to. He’s not as nice, and I wish things could back to how they were.”

Lance looks up at Shiro, bracing himself to be told he’s wrong, that he’s exaggerating. Shiro can see it in the strain of his shoulders, that Lance has convinced himself it’s dumb. He mulls over what’s been said, allows it for a split second. He’s glad Keith has grown and, truthfully, he doesn’t know any of what’s been going on with him and Lance. He’s been gone. This gap in his knowledge, the lack of direction he’s left with, hurts more than he thought it would. He would like to think that Keith isn’t doing it on purpose. No matter what’s an accident and what’s not though, Lance is hurting. Shiro may not be the leader anymore, but he can’t allow that either.

He reaches forward, ignoring the painful jab of the table into his stomach to take Lance by the shoulders. “It’s not stupid, Lance. Anything that has you feeling like this needs to be addressed. How long has this been bothering you?”

Lance shrugs. Shiro doesn’t pry, just tries to sort out what to do. He’ll have to have Keith and Lance talk, definitely, and oh godwhat a mess that’ll be. He’ll have to ask the others if they’ve noticed anything strange there, but first and foremost, Lance. He’s sitting in front of him baring his vulnerabilities, expecting to be shot down. It’s a good thing Shiro’s always been good at defying expectations.

He forgoes actually getting up and going around the table between them, sliding over it to sit next to Lance in one smooth motion. Shiro can physically feel the stress leave Lance’s body as he slumps against him, head pressed into his chest.

“It’s not stupid,” he tells him again. They’ve never been all that close in the scheme of things, but that’s not going to stop Shiro from giving Lance the comfort he needs. He’s his teammate, his friend, his family.

Lance doesn’t end up saying anything more.

Maybe it’s because he’s afraid the little sniffles he’s making into Shiro’s shirt will carry through to his voice, maybe after confessing something he was so scared of he’s truly run out of words. It doesn’t really matter. The grip he holds on Shiro expresses his thanks in a way they’re both on the same page about. That, if nothing else, settles into its proper place.

[thestarmaptoyou]

I’m actually, finally slogging my way through s7---wait, no. I take that back.

I’ve finally put s7 on in the background while I write, I’ve got about three episodes left, and honestly? It’s such a shit show.

While I was in my shower today, I literally started fantasizing about all the scenes I would change to make things better. I just meant to do a bullet list of them, but then I got carried away and wrote out the two that were standing out the most (right now) in my head. This got longer than I anticipated (oh well).

First, this should have been there from the get-go, but make Hunk a girl. We get one (1) beefy lady in the show, and she’s on the “bad” side. Keep everything about Hunk the same (except far less food jokes.... please), but now a girl. This takes away from Pidge feeling like the “token” female Paladin, which is ridiculous anyway. This also makes her “reveal” in s1 less about being a girl and more about... well...

“I haven’t been entirely honest with you guys,” Pidge said, not meeting any of their eyes. “I’m... not really a boy.”

Keith’s eyebrows went up, but he seemed utterly unsurprised by this statement. “So? Hunk’s not a boy, either.”

“Yeah,” Hunk said, beaming and flexing one arm. “There’s nothing wrong at all with being a girl. Where would you all be without the stability and homeyness I bring to the team?”

Finally, Pidge looked up and looked at them, face screwed up with a tangle of emotions. “I---I don’t think I’m a girl, either.”

Coran and Allura exchanged a glance. The princess turned a knowing look back to Pidge, mouth tugging up on one side in a smile. “You know, the universe isn’t a binary place; it’s not just one or the other. Why, the Zubluan species alone has five sexes and at least seventeen genders, and if you told the people of Ansoii that they had to choose only one gender to be, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t get invited to any of their parties.” At the confused looks, she added with a shrug, “The Ansoii fluctuate their genders based on personal and partner preferences.”

“But,” Pidge objected, bringing all their attentions back, “I’m not a Zubluan or an Ansoii. I don’t... I’m not sure what I am.”

“Well, I do.”

Surprised, Pidge whirled to look at Lance, leaning his hip against the table and with his arms folded across his chest.

Shiro cleared his throat to indicate they were all waiting for him to continue. “You’re Pidge, Paladin of the Green Lion,” Lance explained.

“Lance is right,” Shiro said, his face softening into a small smile. “You’re a part of this team, regardless of anything else, and we wouldn’t trade you for anyone else.”

“That’s right,” Coran agreed. “Voltron wouldn’t be able to be formed without you.”

Hunk rolled her eyes. “I mean, that’s important and all, but it goes even beyond that. We’ve traveled who knows how many lightyears away from Earth together. That’s saying something.” She closed the distance between herself and Pidge and swept the smaller Paladin up into a bear hug. “Family is family, no matter what, and we’re all family.”

Which then connects with Keith having his little “pep talk” or whatever with hunk in s7, where we get to see some more about Hunk’s family:

“Damn it!” Hunk hissed as engine lubricant splashed onto her face. She closed her eyes just in time to protect them, then patted around for a cloth. She should have been paying more attention to what bolt she was loosening, not lost in worry over her mama.

When they’d finally reached the Garrison, there’d been an impromptu reunion with the Paladins and their families. Pidge’s was missing Matt, of course, but it seemed like an entire branch of Lance’s had come out. Even Shiro’s parents and aunt were there. It seemed like everyone who had family on earth still had theirs all intact as it was when they left. But, only Hunk’s mom and dad had shown up. Her uncle and his two kids were missing, as was her mama. Her mom had told Hunk that Galra troops swept through every city, and while she’d pleaded with her wife to join them, Sefina had run off to help try and hide some others as soon as she and their husband were securely in the Resistance’s rover. The strapped in two of Hunk’s parents had tried to unbuckle themselves to go after Sefina, but the rover had to go or risk everyone on it being captured.

“Is everything okay in here?” Keith’s voice came from behind her, dragging her out of her thoughts.

She wiped off her face and glanced back. He was standing in the door frame, leaning against it with what she assumed he thought was nonchalance, though it seemed to be more awkward than anything else.

“Yeah,” Hunk said, though her voice sounded about as unconvincing as Keith’s posture.

“Look,” Keith went on, and Hunk knew that he saw through her as well. “I’m not really good at talking with people, and I don’t expect you to open up to me, but...” he paused. “If there’s ever anything on your mind...”

That was all Hunk needed. Keith tended to forget from time to time that others don’t try and bottle everything up like he did. “This situation stinks!” she said, bunching up the soiled cloth in one hand, then slamming it down on the workbench before her. “I can’t believe we finally get back to Earth and it’s taken over by Galra.”

She glared at Keith, then turned her back to him.

“I... guess there is something on your mind, then,” he said, subdued. The sound of his boots against the floor warned her he was joining her at the workbench.

Hunk leaned against the solidness of the bench. Though the engine part she’d been tinkering with to try and occupy her mind was before her, she didn’t really see it as she stared down at it. “I... I know it seems silly, but I used to daydream about coming home to a peaceful Earth. But there are so many people dead and gone, so many people still missing, so many people captured by the Galra---”

She gritted her teeth for a moment, fighting to not let anxiety overcome her. Keith remained quiet all the while, waiting for her to go on. When it passed, she continued. “And, I---I’m happy Pidge and Lance got to see their families again, I really am, but the rest of mine is still out there, and there has to be something I can do to get them back.”

“Hey,” Keith said, as gently as she’s ever heard him say anything, and it caught her attention. She looked up, only to find he wasn’t looking at her anymore.

“I... I don’t think I’ve ever said this, but... of all the Paladins... you’re the one I’ve admired the most since we, well, since we became Paladins. You’ve always just...” He fumbled a bit here, as if searching for the right words to convey what he was trying to say to her. “You’ve always kept us really together. Even when we’ve all been real jerks to one another, you never...” Keith shook his head, folding his arms across his chest. “What you said about us being a family, all that time ago, you really meant it. Mean it. You know how to make people feel like they’re really part of a family, and I... That really means a lot.”

He gathered himself a bit with a breath, then lifted his eyes to meet hers. “Hunk, you’ll find the rest of your family.” There was a confidence in his voice that weaseled its way through her fears. “Of everyone I know, I believe the most that you’ll be able to bring your family back together again. It’s just... what you do.” He gave her a shrug and an awkward smile.

Tears stung at the corners of Hunk’s eyes, and her mouth split into a watery smile. Of all the people she knew, she hadn’t expected Keith to be the one to not only try and cheer her up, but admit he... admired her. Instead of saying anything, she swept up Keith in a tight hug. He remained stiff for a moment, then relaxed, but didn’t return the hug. She didn’t mind.

“Thanks,” she said.

“No problem.”

[writekindofwrong-blog]

Green is not your colour - Shiro x Reader

 Anon requested: Can I have 18 and 57 on the prompt list for Shiro x Reader. 18: “Would you quit moving around?” “It’s not my fault we’re tied up together!”57: “Wait a second.. are you jealous?”

A/N: Sorry this took a while to get out, work has been a nightmare lately :/ So I made this a fic where Shiro and the reader aren’t actually dating yet but clearly have feelings for each other, it just ended up working better that way, hopefully that’s alright, and hopefully it was worth the wait, thanks for the request :D

******

“I hope you know CPR, because you take my breath away!“ Lance said, waggling his eyebrows at Y/N.

“Nope not working” Y/N replied, they were lounging on the sofas with the rest of the Paladins and Lance had taken it upon himself to try out some of his pickup lines on Y/N. It wasn’t having the desired effect and increasingly loud groans were being emitted from the other Paladins.

“Your hand looks heavy. Let me hold it for you”

“If you’re gonna be corny at least be original about it Lance”

“Do you believe in love at first sight, or should I walk by again?”

“Seriously Lance? Do any of these ever work?”

“None of these are doing it for you huh?” Lance asked looking slightly disappointed.

“Nope, you’re gonna have to do better than that to win my heart Lance” Y/N said jokingly.

Lance appeared to think deeply for a minute then snapped his fingers.

“If I had a star for every time you brightened my day, I'd have a galaxy in my hand”

“That...Actually wasn’t half bad, it was kinda sweet” Y/N conceded and Lance gave an arm pump of triumph.

The other Paladins murmured their agreement.

“I think that was the only pickup line I’ve ever heard you use that might actually have a chance at working” Pidge remarked, looking over to the side “Although Shiro doesn’t seem very impressed”.

Y/N chanced a glance over at him and sure enough Shiro was looking over at Lance with a furrowed brow, clearly not approving of Lance’s actions, but on realising everyone’s eyes were on him, he arranged his features into a more neutral expression.

“I still think that line was really cheesy” Shiro said shrugging off his annoyance as a joke.

“Pssht, well I’m sure you don’t need pick up lines Shiro you probably just need to flex your muscles and girls are falling all over you. Lance said rolling his eyes.

Not too far off. Y/N thought. Okay, so maybe she had a bit of a crush on Shiro...Alright so it was a little more serious than that, if she was honest with herself. But who could blame her? He was handsome, kind, brave and funny;  Plus the pair of them got on really well, they often sparred together and whenever they had to split into groups or pairs for a mission Y/N always found herself with Shiro. She’d sometimes wondered if maybe he felt the same way, but she knew how ridiculous that was.

Pidge opened her mouth to make another comment but was interrupted by Allura entering the room.

“Paladins we have received a request of aid, get to your Lion’s I’ll brief you on route” Allura announced urgently, the whole group jumped to their feet and made their way to their respective Lion’s, Y/N following Shiro and joining him in Black as was standard.

*********

By the time the Lion’s arrived on the planet they had missed the main battle, there were dozens of wounded aliens scattered around their landing site.

The aliens in question were surprisingly humanoid, except for their skin, which was varying shades of blue or purple and their glowing yellow eyes.

An alien whom Y/N presumed to be their leader stepped up to the group and bowed her head.

“Paladins of Voltron, my name is Teela” her gaze flicked to each of them but settled on Shiro. She held his gaze for a moment longer than was necessary before continuing and Y/N could have sworn that her eyes glowed a little brighter. “It is an honour to meet you, the stories do not do you justice” this last part was directed at Shiro and a small smile appeared on Teela’s lips as she stared at him intently, Y/N felt a wave of dislike for the woman.

Shiro coughed awkwardly “Yes...Well, we’re here to help, tell us what happened”

“We were taken by surprise by the Galra but we managed to hold them off, they eventually fled into the forest, but as you can see we have suffered great losses in the process” Teela stated sadly, gesturing to the wounded surrounding her.

“Not to worry, Y/N here is an incredibly gifted medic, she can help treat your wounded” Shiro announced gesturing to Y/N, she felt a swell of joy in her gut at the pride in his voice.

Teela reluctantly tore her gaze from Shiro to address Y/N “That would be much appreciated”

Y/N got the distinct impression that Teela was trying to get rid of her. However, as much as she didn’t like the thought of leaving Shiro with Teela, she liked the thought of leaving the wounded in pain even less. So, she grabbed up her medical kit and headed over to a nearby alien who was slumped on the floor clutching a rag to an arm wound.

Although Y/N was not as familiar with alien physiology as she would like, these aliens did indeed seem to be very humanoid in their anatomy, and Y/N had plenty of experience dealing with wounds from Galra weaponry. As such she was able to dress their wounds with a fair amount of ease, whilst the rest of the team, along with Teela pored over a map of the nearby forest where the remaining Galra forces had retreated.

Y/N was treating a shoulder wound when she glanced over at the group and immediately regretted it. Teela had chosen that moment to move closer to Shiro and lean across him to point at something on the map. Y/N felt a wave of annoyance wash over her, not to mention an overwhelming desire to march over there and make out with Shiro right in front of Teela’s face.

It was only the grunt of pain from her patient that made Y/N turn away and realise that she had been gripping tightly on his arm. She quickly apologised and went back to work.

It was five minutes later when Shiro and the rest of the team came over to explain the plan. The long and short of it was that Hunk and Keith would go with Teela and her remaining forces to the east part if the forest where they believed the main bulk of the Galra forces were. Meanwhile, Pidge, Lance and Shiro would go to the west part of the forest to take out a smaller group of Galra scouts.

“So what am I supposed to do?” Y/N asked, noticing that she hadn’t been mentioned in the plan.

“Well Teela seemed to think you’d be needed here” Shiro explained.

“Of course she did” Y/N murmured under her breath irritably before she picked up the remainder of her medical kit and the pistol that she used as a weapon. “Not a chance, I’m going with you, the other medics can handle the rest of the injuries, I’ve left them some of my supplies”.

One of the alien medics nodded in agreement “Y/N has been a great help, but we can handle it from here”

“Y/N I still think-” Shiro started but Y/N interrupted him.

“And what are you going to do if you get shot by a Galra? You're useless at dealing with wounds and Pidge and Lance aren’t much better. Admit it, you need me”

“She has a point Shiro” Pidge piped up.

Shiro relented and Y/N went with him, Lance and Pidge into the Forest.

******

About thirty minutes passed before they reached the Galra camp but when they did it was completely deserted, but there were signs of a struggle.

“Looks like the local wildlife got to them before we did” Lance commented.

Teela had warned the group that there were some nasty creatures living in the forest. They were usually fairly docile but if attacked or threatened they could be deadly. Y/N had wondered what sort of creatures these were, but then decided she didn’t want to find out.

“Let’s take a look around but be careful there may be survivors or traps” Shiro instructed.

They all cautiously picked through the camp but found nothing but some Galra bodies and equipment (which Pidge had to be forcibly dragged away from).

Shiro decided that their best course of action was to head towards the other group and help them mop up any remaining Galra forces.

“Perhaps we should split up and do a sweep for any Galra in the vicinity as we go” Pidge suggested.

“Good idea Pidge, you and Lance stick together, Y/N you’re with me, make sure to keep in radio contact”

“Oh and watch out for traps, Teela said that they lay down some in the forest to capture food” Pidge warned as the two groups split up and went deeper into the forest.

The next ten minutes passed in awkward silence as Y/N and Shiro made their way across the terrain. Normally she would have relished in the opportunity to have some time with Shiro, away from the rest of the Paladin’s, but this time the conversation just didn’t flow and the air between them felt tense and Y/N wasn’t really sure why.

Mercifully the tension was broken by their comm buzzing to life with Lance’s voice who could barely talk through his laughter and Y/N swore that she could hear Pidge’s disgruntled voice in the background.

“Oh my god you guys, you’ll never guess what happened”

“Lance? Are you and Pidge alright?” Shiro asked worriedly

“Yeah I’m fine, Pidge is...well...a little tied up”  Pidges voice grew louder and angrier in the background.

“Lance what are you going on about?” Y/N asked, curious what had the Paladin laughing so hard.

“Well you know those traps that Pidge specifically warned us about avoiding? Well she found one, and is currently hanging from a tree in a net”

“Is she alright?” Y/N asked concerned

“Hey Pidge Y/N wants to know if you’re alright” Lance called to Pidge and Y/N heard Pidge shouting in the background, something about killing Lance.

Y/N saw Shiro shake his head and smile in amusement before adopting a serious tone “Okay Lance get Pidge down from there, and Pidge don’t kill Lance, and both of you...be more careful okay?”.

“Sure thing oh fearless leader” Y/N heard the noise of Lance shooting down the net and Pidge thumping onto the floor. “Oh and Y/N?”

“Yes Lance?”

“You may fall from the sky, you may fall from a tree, but the best way to fall... is in love with me” Lance replied in what Y/N assumed was supposed to be a seductive tone of voice.

Y/N couldn’t help but laugh “That’s actually pretty good, your lines are getting better Lance”

”Lance, maybe you should focus less on flirting and more on helping Pidge” Shiro chastised, the smile was gone from his face, replaced by a frown of irritation.

Y/N sent Shiro a questioning look as the made their way deeper into the forest, but he just looked away and instead focused on the small GPS unit on his wrist.

In fact both of them were so focused on other things that they failed to notice the trap ahead of them.

They both cried out as they hurtled upwards, and a second later they were both huddled together, wrapped in a net and hanging from a tree.

”Um Lance” Y/N radioed Lance, preparing herself for an onslaught of laughter. “We may need a little help, we um...found one of those traps”

Sure enough Lance’s laughter could be heard over the comms before Pidge cut in, clearly feeling more sympathy for their situation.

”I’ve got your location, we’ll be with you in ten minutes or so”

”Thank you Pidge” Shiro said sincerely, clearly relieved one of them was taking this seriously.

When the other Paladins had gone radio silent the awkward silence descended upon Y/N and Shiro yet again, made even more awkward by the fact that she was practically sitting in Shiro’s lap.

After about a minute Y/N had had enough, she twisted and wriggled, attempting to get into a more comfortable position.

“Would you quit moving around?” Shiro said irritably, gritting his teeth.

“It’s no good snapping at me, it’s not my fault we’re tied up together!” Y/N declared and resumed her maneuvering until she was facing Shiro, their legs were still entangled but it was a little more comfortable. And she could now see Shiro’s face, not that it made much difference since Shiro seemed desperate to look anywhere but at Y/N.

”So...Nice weather we’re having” Y/N commented, hoping to break the silence, this comment, however, only earned a snort of amusement from Shiro, who was still determined to avoid any eye contact.

”Seriously Shiro what is the matter with you?”

”What? what do you mean?” Shiro replied in a shocked tone.

”I mean what’s the matter with you? You’re all grumpy and you won’t look at me”

“There’s nothing wrong Y/N,  I’m looking at you right now aren’t I?” Shiro said in an slightly panicked tone taking that moment to directly look at Y/N for the first time in at least five minutes.

Y/N immediately noticed a faint pink flush colouring Shiro’s cheeks and couldn’t help but think that he looked really attractive like that. She blinked and shook her head, she definitely didn’t want to start letting her thoughts wander like that when the object of her affections was almost nose to nose with her.

“There is something wrong Shiro you were fine but then Lance said that pick up line and you just went all...weird”

“No...No I didn’t, I mean maybe I did a bit but y’know Lance was being unprofessional and he needed to focus” Shiro was talking fast and the colour on his cheeks was slowly turning darker.

Y/N snorted “That’s a bit hypocritical coming from you isn’t it?”

“What? What are you taking about?” Shiro spluttered out, startled.

“Teela?” When Shiro didn’t reply she coughed lightly then continued in her best imitation of Teela’s sing song voice “The stories do not do you justice“ then raised an eyebrow at Shiro expectantly.

“She was just complimenting the team” Shiro replied, although he didn’t sound completely sure of that.

“No, she was complimenting you, hell she was practically drooling all over you and you weren’t exactly pushing her away were you?” Y/N said, unable to keep the venom from her voice. and a blush from rising on her cheeks.

Shiro looked at Y/N curiously for a moment, as though a lightbulb had come on in his head.

“Wait a second.. are you jealous?” Shiro asked incredulously.

“What? No! Why would I be jealous of someone flirting with you? That’d be ridiculous... I mean it’s not like I like you or anything” Y/N shut her mouth with a snap, and twisted her head away, realising she had probably said too much already.

“I was jealous” Shiro said softly after a moment.

“What?” Y/N asked, turning to look at Shiro curiously.

“I was jealous, that’s why I got all weird whenever Lance was flirting with you”

“But why would you care if Lance was-” Y/N stopped abruptly realising two things simultaneously:

First; she was an idiot, Shiro had been jealous of Lance flirting with her for the exact reason Y/N had hated when Teela had flirted with Shiro.

Second; Shiro’s face was now very, very close to hers. She could see flecks of green in his brown eyes, she could also feel his hot breath on her lips.

She wanted to say something, something romantic, tell him how much she liked him; but her words just wouldn’t come out.

The pair stayed like that for what felt like an eternity, both waiting for the other to make the first move. Eventually Shiro reached up and gently took hold of her chin and closed the short distance between them, crashing his lips against hers.

And despite all of the times Y/N had imagined this moment, somehow the real thing was ten times better, Shiro hummed appreciatively as Y/N ran her hands through his hair and pressed her body against his. His hand moving from her chin to the back of her neck, his other one resting on her hip.

“Y/N! Fear not your brave rescuer has arrived to release you from-”

The sound of Lance’s voice startled the pair into breaking apart and looking around, true enough their rescue had arrived: Lance, staring in open mouthed disbelief at the pair in the net and Pidge with a smug smile on her face.

“Should we cut you down now or do you want a few more minutes?”

[parzivalleknight]

Cold (Legends of Tomorrow Character Stuff)

@coldwaveclods

Warnings: Swearing, Spoilers for season 1 of legends of tomorrow, violence

-Mariam’s POV-

The Oculus could only be stopped, destroyed, if only it is held in place, and who else to save our skins then Leonard Snart. The man who I loved most after… After my first lover died around these same people, just not yet. I strode in, body shaking as Alex sat me down, Sara, how dare she even sit near me in this moment.

-Flash back-

She did it, she finally made the first move in ‘public’. It was only a few of us who made to this main base of the Oculus. Sara went up to him first, she kissed him first. As I watched her spit swap with him my heart burned, but with what?

Hate? Heart Break? Guilt?

The first two sound about right, the third, not so much. The feeling of Sara pulling me with her broke me from my heart broken trance. “Mariam we need to go-” I did what I haven’t done in 15 years. I called out in a panic out of the feeling of my heart snapping with every second i saw them standing there. “LEONARD!” Tears flooded to my eyes I screamed in fear, I started to run for him but Sara’s arm snatched me and began tugging me away. His head turned to look at me, his normal stern look softened as he looked at me, sorrow for once easily readable on his face. “Mariam!” Sara shouted, dragging me, actually dragging me, away and back to the Waverider. Soon I know he couldn’t hear me, I went limp, silence coating me suddenly as I ripped myself from Sara’s grip, storming into the time ship. I would have used my shield but, it was re charging, only coming back to life once we lifted off.

I promised never to lose someone, let alone someone I love. But here I am, with-out him now as we fly away in a vortex of some weird green time! With none other than the woman who just broke my heart without even thinking. I sat here, Alex softly rubbing my arm as I sat where I remember Leonard sitting often, the stairs to Rip’s mini museum. Soon blondie started softly weeping, muttering words of ‘how she loved him’. With every sniffle, every word, every syllable she spoke from her mouth I felt my arm flex a bit, my hand clenching and unclenching.

As she stood up, she spoke ‘But we must move on’. That was it, I slammed my hands down on the stairs, all eyes on me. “You think, you actually THINK, everyone here can move on like you? Like Leonard wasn’t someone who was a part of this team, this family!” I strode over to her, fists finally resting in a clenched form. “Mariam, think- think before you act here-” “Oh shut up Hunter!” I snapped my head at the brit, he looked at me as if I had three heads, I’m not surprised, I’ve never yelled like that at him. I brought my attention to the assassin in front of me currently. “You don’t think this hurts me Byers? Maybe you could have actually gotten a chance with him if you went for him firs-”

I punched her. Right in the mouth, she stumbled back clutching the dumpster of a mouth she has. “You think I liked standing aside Lance!? Watching the one person since my late-husband who could actually make me stay awake at night because for ONCE in my miserable life I had someone who… Who.. Who actually made me feel I can do something with that miserable God damned LIFE!” With those last words I punched her down to the ground, Stein stood and went to walk to me but I flew a shield up over me and Lance. I was sitting on her stomach as I began punching as hard as I could, two smaller shield bubbles holding her hands in place so she wouldn’t be able to actually kill me. “I loved him more than my own life, Lance! And you fucking DARE say you loved him!” I punched harder with each sentence, my knuckles bleeding, both her blood and mine on my hand and on her face.  “If you truly loved him, you would have done something, anything in your power to swap your God damn places!” I slammed my fist down once more on her as I saw my shield around us break down into dust, Jax, well, FireStorm, had shifted the atoms or whatever, He grabbed me, restraining me, I didn’t fight back, it’s good they tore me off of her, I probably would have killed her if they hadn’t.

Lance stumbled up as Rip helped her up, “Oh yeah? Then why didn’t you take his place Byers?” She spit some blood out with the venom that came with those words. “YOU DARE FUCKING LIE TO THEM, TO OUR GOD DAMN FAMILY, YOU KNOW I TRIED TO RUN TO HIM, TO TAKE HIS FUCKIN’ PLACE, BUT YOU STOPPED ME!” “I was talking about your watch id-” “IT WAS DEAD LANCE, DEAD!” I screamed out in Firestorms arms, tears pouring out like I was a waterfall.

Lance had no response to these shouts from Mariam. Mick looked between Alex and the scene happening, to say the least, she was very… Surprised. Mariam has only lost it a little bit when people on the ship were being stupid, but she never got this bad, only slaps to Rip a few times. And once Hawk-Girl but that was reasonable.  But never punching, only slaps. Not to mention yelling like this, it was, obscure. Mick was basically the same, though internally rooting for the shortsack.

Mariam breathed heavily for a moment the turned her head to Rip Hunter. “Hunter, put me in a confinement chamber, now. A punching bag would also be a nice accessory.” Mariam became limp in Firestorms arm, her head hanging low, but no doubt, a scowl still printed across her half burned face.

After hours and hours of Mariam non-stop punching a pillow they hanged up for her, she finally succumbed to the call of sleep. Tears drying on her cheeks, hair a mess, body slumped on the glass near the door. For once after being on this ship she felt that the only safe place was her dreams again.

Then something woke her up, a soft knock at the door. Mariam glanced up, the memories flooding back, rage once again filling her heart and mind. “Mar?” Alex softly spoke, “Mind if I come in?” Mariam grunted, turning away from her companion's face. Alex stepped inside. “Hey uh, do, do you wanna talk about what happened. You really went to town on Lan-” “Shut up.” “W-what?” “Don’t talk about her. I’m fucking done with this ship and everything about it, I thought it might have been worth it, that I could have saved everyone, but I failed West. I failed.” Alex crouched down to Mariam’s height, which wasn’t very tall due to being curled up on a wall. She slowly reached out, “Mariam you should let this ou-OW!” Mariam had suddenly stood, punching Alex in the chin, causing her to fall on her back. “I SAID I DIDN’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!” Alex rubbed the area where Mar socked her, “Byers, you don’t want to do this.” Alex shoved herself back onto her feet, glaring down at the small woman.

“Do what!? This?” Mariam socked Alex once again, this time in the stomach. Alex growled, grabbing mariam and slamming her on the wall. “Bad move Byers!” Alex and Mariam began to brawl it out, both landing heavy hits. Finally Mariam was able to get on Alex and start wailing on her, nothing at full punch but still enough for it to bruise a shit ton. “Alex- ALEX!” Mick walked in, panic on his face as soon as he saw what was happening. As fast as lightning he was tearing Mariam off of Alex, throwing her into the steel wall in the back of the cell.

This knocked Mariam out, she let out a soft groan as she slipped into unconsciousness. Alex stumbled to her feet, Mick lightly holding her by the sides to steady her. “What happened?! Jesus Christ I leave you for a minute and you’re beating up your best friend!” Alex wiped some blood from her lip, “Doesn’t matter, lets just. Lets just go Mick.” Alex sighed as she stepped out of the cell, locking it once Mick had stepped out after her.

The next morning Mariam woke up with a splitting headache, she gasped as she felt twinges of pain almost everywhere. She sighed, remembering everything, Leonard, Lance, Alex… “God damn it.” She sighed and sat, thoughts pacing back and forth in her mind. Soon she realized she not only lost someone she loved, but also may have lost one of the best people she knows.

Mariams eyes swelled with tears once again, now she was just crying full on because of sorrow and worry. Then a little voice in the back of her head said, “What if Len could see you right now, he’d probably say something about you being so ‘tough skinned’.” A small smile tugged at her face at the thought. What if that was just a nightmare? It had to be right? Leonard couldn’t actually be dead. He was too smart for death to finally catch up to him. She must just be in here because she was thrashing about too much in her sleep! But the sad reality hit her like a truck as Mick glomped his way into the cell area. His face painted with sadness. He didn’t say anything, he just sat down next to the glass. “Hey kid, remember when...Remember when I was Chronos, and you sat here, just like I am now, and you just… Kept talking to me, until you fell asleep. You’d talk about how everyone was worried about me?”

Mick slightly turned to Mariam who sat staring at him, obviously on the brink of crying again. “I guess I’m here to return the favor. Now I can’t say blondie is worried about you but, I think i speak for everyone when i say we’re worried about you. Really scared us when you lashed out like that. Not to mention you beat the hell out of West, of which I’m not forgetting, got it?” Micks voice became stern near the end of his speech, but Mariam slowly nodded. “M...Mick I’m sorry. I honestly am.” Mariam’s shoulders slumped as she twiddled her fingers together. “I acted irrationally and-” “Save it for Alex, you didn’t hurt me, only Alex and Sara.”

After a second of silence, Mick sighed and stood up, turning to Mariam. “I think you’re stable enough, come on then.” The doors slid open at a wave of his damn hand, Mariam softly sighed and stood up. “Thanks Mick.”

Mariam softly walked out to the bridge, the room falling silent instantly as she was noticed. She sighed as she took a step forward, “I..I suppose I owe all of you-” Mariam’s eyes rested on Sara’s, her face bruised badly, lip split, along with her eyebrow. “Most of you, an apology, especially to Alex, I shouldn’t have been like that. You had only good intentions.” Mariam rubbed her shoulder a bit.

The first to move was Alex, she quickly walked over to Mariam. She stood there for a second before hugging Mariam. “Don’t you dare ever scare me like that again!” Mariam softly laughed, Alex withdrew her hug and sniffled a bit. She was pretty bruised up too, guilt sank into Mariam instantly at the sight.

“Just don’t do that again Byers, got it?” Rip sighed out, tapping the arm of his chair. Mariam nodded furiously, “Y-yes sir!” And with that she quickly sped back to her room. Sitting down quietly on the white blankets. Once she knew no one was coming she swiftly opened a box labeled “Past Present and Future”, the twine that was holding it shut falling to the cold floor. Mariam shuffled herself back into her bed, picking up a few ‘Polaroid’ pictures that were neatly stacked in the box next to an assortment of things, including her engagement ring and wedding ring.

Silent tears fell as she placed the pictures down. “Birthday with criminals” was a picture of them all smiling as cop cars were obviously racing after them. This was for Alex’s birthday ‘party’, they stole so many things, most dealing with black colours. Oh and a shit load of lighters.

“Best friends” was a picture of Mick and Len monopoly, Mick had lost easily, a triumphant grin on Len’s face.

Then her favorites, the blanks. These were mainly taken secretly, not creepily just, for photogenic sake. Quietly mariam flipped through them, Alex sleeping on Mick’s shoulder, who is just was just as tired as her. Alex, Mick, and Leonard walking ahead of her together, though this was labeled “Look at my little hero’s” she still considered it a blank.

After shuffling through twenty or more pictures, some just of one person, others of bunches of men and women standing together in riots.

She came down to her favorite, a picture of Len when they were stuck in 1958 for a while. He was just staring out the hull of the waverider, relaxing in the white light of the wintery scene. Mariam’s heart hurt so much at this sight. What if she had asked him to play with her in the snow, what if they got into a snowball fight? Soon her mind was filled with what if’s so much she didn’t even notice the tears falling down her once dry cheeks.

“Mariam?” Jax spoke up from the door, Mariam jumped, collected her photos and placed them into the box, slammed it shut and turned from the entrance. “Mar?” Jax stepped in. Mariam wiped her tears away and turned around slightly, “Y-yes Jax?” a faux smile beaming at him. “Just wanted to check up on you. I have uh, beer. Mick said you’d probably like some.” He handed the small woman the beer of which she happy opened, sipping on it happily.

With a sigh she set the bottle down, “Thank you Jax… Listen I’m sorry about you having to literally rip me off Lance I was pissed and-” “Don’t worry about it Mariam, honestly was just trying to keep Lance alive. Didn’t need two people dead.” Mariam frowned, “I know, I’m… Sorry…” She softly pushed the box under her pillow. “If I may ask, what is that?” Mariam looked up at the young man. “Oh uh, it’s a memory box. I have a LOT of stuff to just, keep ya know? Um. Don’t look in it if you don’t mind…”

Jax nodded, “Nah I wouldn’t pry, don’t worry.” Mariam softly smiled, “Thanks. Hey uh, wanna watch some TV? I have the second season of Steven Universe and Alex probably would just be babying me all throughout it…” Jax chuckled, “Sure, I could go for a happy go lucky show right now honestly.”