#but i want to at least have the experience so. yeah! | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

rueclfer · 1 day ago

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everything is embarrassing // izuku midoriya

when he doesn't know how to take control of his life

a/n: 6k+ words lmao i feel crazzzzzy ok bye

19-year-old izuku doesn't have the privilege of hopping around college parties on the weekends or enjoy the “college experience” like his friends do.

he can barely catch a break to breathe.

monday through friday he's in classes from 8:00am to 4:00pm, and for more than half of the week from 6:00pm to 12:00am, he's working at the campus library- simultaneously shelving returns, organizing files, and scrambling to finish his homework. on the weekends, he'll be at his part time job at the local cafe just down the street from his dorm building.

it hasn't been an easy semester for izuku. he's a year behind his friends and he wants nothing more than to be able to walk across that stage with them by the end of their fourth year, but nothing comes easy when you’ve been out of school for a year, no money, have a scholarship on the line, and a single mother at home to make proud.

he's watching the time go by. his eyes darting back and forth between the ticking needle on the analog clock and you sitting at your usual table with your headphones on, attention glued to your textbook, and the tapping of your pencil growing louder by the second.

occasionally, he'd let himself clock out and lock up about 5-10 minutes early if there was no one lingering around on his floor, and all of the day's work had been completed. no one stays as late in the library as you do. it annoys him.

5-10 minutes is crucial to izuku.

he could get a head-start on his commute back to his dorm. if he walks quickly enough, he'd be back before 12:15am, be ready for bed by 12:35am, and he'd be able to get at least 6 hours of sleep.

if he's lucky.

but you. you were always there until the very last minute- sometimes even past closing.

it's 12:05am. how could anyone be so careless to not keep an eye on the time? can’t you see that it’s only you two left on this floor? did you not hear the 10 minute closing warning on the intercom?

if he wasn't running on a couple hour of sleep, a poor excuse for dinner, and 6 hours worth of brain numbing work, he wouldn't have the nerves to approach you so casually. he'd be replaying what he wanted to say in his head, stumbling over his words, and hope you wouldn't take offense to it.

"the library's closed." he bluntly says, still maintaining a few feet of distance.

you don't hear him or notice his presence at all. you're lost in that textbook and your mind is fumbling through these terms and definitions staring back at you.

izuku blinks once. then twice.

"hey." he starts again, taking a step closer and setting a hand down on the table right above your textbook.

you look up and catch the library worker’s tired eyes. your gaze immediately flickers to the analog clock hung on the wall past his shoulder.

12:12am

“oh shit!” you exclaim, ripping off your headphones. “i’m sorry. i’m so sorry, i lost track of time.”

you slam your textbook shut, rubbing your eyes against the back of your hand. how long had you been at it like this? studying the hours away in your own corner of the library?

“yeah.” izuku breathily chuckles, a sense of relief washing over him as he watches you haphazardly shove your books and papers in your bag. “sorry, i hate to interrupt a good study session, but i’m kinda tired, and if i stay here for another minute, the shelves might start talking to me.”

“god, don’t be sorry. i get it.” you laugh, slinging your bag over your shoulder. “i’m here, like, everyday. i’m sure everyone who works here is sick of me by now.”.

“yeah, me too.” he sheepishly rubs the back of his neck as you two make your way towards the exit. “here everyday, that is.” he quips, nervously running a hand through his tousled hair.

“look at us, so scholarly.” your voice dripping in sarcasm. you turn your head over your shoulder to meet his eye. “paying so much money for this university to drain us of all joy in life.”

“well, i’m on a scholarship.” izuku mutters. “so i guess i still have some joy left?

“yeah? well that’s actually even worse.”

“is it?” he cocks an eyebrow.

“you have much more to lose.”

the next time you two see each other, he’s knelt over an open filing cabinet, digging through dividers for some sort of paperwork.

since that night you’ve met, university life has felt a bit less lonely- something about taking a 20 minute walk to your dorm buildings, which happens to be right next to each other, complaining about how terrible of time you’re having adjusting to university life really brings people together.

“hey.” you cough.

izuku looks up to see you sporting a coffee cup in each hand.

“oh. it’s you. hey.”

you hold one out to him, waiting for him to take it, but all he does is give you a blank stare as his eyes flicker between your own and the cup outreached towards him.

“take it.” you chuckle. “i brought it for you. you looked like shit last time i saw you, so...”

the corners of his mouth quirks up into a smile, gingerly accepting the hot cup of coffee.

“...so this is your apology for staying past closing the other night?” he teases.

“oh definitely not.” you scoff. “i’ll be doing it again tonight too, don’t you worry.”

he nods his head, taking a deep swig of the bittersweet coffee. “see you at midnight, then.”

“see you at midnight.” you confirm, sending him a smile as you pull your headphones over your ear and head towards the back of the library where your designated table was waiting for you.

at 21-years-old, izuku goes to his first house party. it takes you about a week to convince him to give you one of his saturday nights that he’d usually reserve for studying or catching up on sleep.

“please.” you beg once more. “what are you going to say to your future students? how are you going to say you had the college experience without going to a single party?”

“with a degree?” he chuckles, slinging a rag over his shoulder. “you’re also distracting me. i’m on the clock, and my boss can come back anytime, you know.”

“oh, please.” you roll your eyes. “if toshinori was here, he’d be telling you to put your big boy pants on and get drunk with his favorite customer tonight. and if you agreed the first time i asked, i wouldn’t have to follow you to your second place of employment.”

“i’m sorry, i can’t. maybe next time?”

“please, izuku, just one party. i’ll help you get ready after your shift. we’ll leave anytime you want, but i can guarantee you’ll have so much fun. i promise i’ll never ask you again if you really do end up hating it.”

he can imagine it now- if someone asked him about his college experience, he wouldn’t mention the parties, the professors, or the time spent away from home. he’d talk about you.

izuku has a hard time balancing his life between keeping up with the workload and trying to not let his days blend into a muddy gray, but you had perfectly fit somewhere in between all of the chaos like a fresh breath of air.

izuku was tired, and you were a shot of espresso. how can he say no to you?

“fine.” he sighs in defeat, sliding a cup of coffee across the counter towards you. “but i can’t be out that late, okay? i have to be back here in the morning.”

“what the fuck happened?” you slam the door shut behind you, muffling out chatter of the crowd and heavy bass shaking through the walls.

you twist a wad of toilet paper into a cone before plugging the stream of blood gushing from his nose.

“sorry, sorry, sorry!” he repeats, holding the toilet paper in place with a bewildered look in his eyes.

“i don’t know what happened,” he starts in a nasally tone “maybe it’s all the smoke in the air or something. i heard that second hand smoke can be really drying for your nasal passages, especially if there’s not a lot of ventilation like in this apartment, i also haven’t been drinking a lot of water today and-”

“aht!” you interrupt, nudging him over with your elbow to rinse your hands off from the bloody residue. “my theory is that your body is shutting down on itself from the lack of proper sleep and nutrition. thoughts?”

izuku pouts. “stop it. i had a protein shake before we came, remember?”

“of course, how could i forget about the most rancid concoction you managed to blend together?” you mutter, wetting a wad of toilet paper and dabbing away the dried blood that had fallen onto his chin and t-shirt.

he cocks an eyebrow at you, holding up the red solo cup containing a questionable blue liquid that you shoved in his hands to hold when his nose started dripping blood.

“wow, since when were you a chem major? since you know so much about ‘rancid concoctions,’ huh?” he deadpans.

“izuku midoriya, are you getting sassy with me?” you scoff, grabbing the cup back from his hands.

“maybe i am.” he presses his lips together to suppress a smirk. “or maybe i’m just making an observation.”

izuku had finally started learning how to bite back. somewhere within the last year, the skittish library worker who you enjoyed pestering had grown the confidence to return your relentless teasing.

you weren’t sure how to take it- how giddy it made you feel and how much more of it you wanted to draw out of him.

to him, it was all a front. he perfected the line delivery with ease, but at the cost of his chest tightening and stomach turning over the sight of your amused smile and lit up eyes. this made him anxious.

you have much more to lose

everytime he sees you, he’s reminded of your very first conversation together when you were first years. he’s acutely aware of how much he has to lose, but if there’s one thing izuku could not bear to risk losing during the worst few years of his life, it was you.

“uh, why are you looking at me like that?” he nervously chuckles, his ears growing hot from trailing your eyes as they glaze over his face.

“i love you.” you smile, the alcohol finally making its way to your head. “a lot.”

izuku’s breathing stops for a moment. his eyes widen, and the nervous giggles continue pouring out as his facade from minutes earlier crumbles completely.

“why are you laughing?” you chuckle, taking a sip from your cup, choking back a grimace.

“i…i don’t know.” he bites his bottom lip, suddenly aware of his nervous habit. “you’re just being a silly drunk right now."

“what? because i said i love you?” you cock your head with a lazy smile “the L-word got your panties in a twist?”

“don’t know what you mean.” he turns his attention back to the mirror, subtly swiping his sweaty palms on his thighs before unplugging the tissue from his nose.

for the first time in his life, he’s simultaneously grateful and regretful for alcohol. grateful for the red sheen over his face to mask his blush. regretful for the carelessness it caused you with your words.

he doesn’t have the time or energy to entertain it. that is the one thing he’s certain of. he wouldn’t be good for you- wouldn’t give you the time and attention you deserved. he loves you too. he loves you enough to not say it back.

“it stopped bleeding. i think i’ll have to leave soon, so let’s get back out there, yeah? i’ll make you a better drink, too.”

he shoots you a forced grin before grabbing you by the shoulders and ushering you two back to the party where you reunite with your roommates and mutual friends. you leave your drink in the bathroom.

on the day izuku turns 22-years-old, he finds out that he’s on track to graduate with you and his friends. after stepping out for a quick phone call with his academic advisor, he drunkenly cries into your shoulder mid-birthday party (that his boss at the cafe forced him to take the time off to have).

all of the hard work and courses he packed on during his first two years at university finally paid off. though, that doesn't mean he’s gotten any easier on himself.

he quits his job at the library and starts student teaching part time at the local middle school for college credit.

you barely see him now-a-days. more often than not, your texts go unanswered.

izuku is a busy guy.

you miss him. you didn't realize how lonely it felt to walk back to your dorm from the library at midnight by yourself- you haven't felt this way for a while, not since you met izuku.

you wished he made it easier for you. your feelings for him never subsides, but instead grows into a longing ache. it’ll be like this until graduation. the occasional text message, running into each other in the halls with quick hello and goodbye, coming into his weekend job just to see him for a few reassuring moments- you know you both needed it.

he talks about you to his students a lot- “my best friend,” “someone important to me,” “my support system,” and etc. he’s always referring to you.

he missed seeing you all the time, but it’s all been so hectic for him he hates to admit that you barely cross his mind when he’s in the midst of a busy day. on top of his regular grueling school work, he has to lesson-plan for the days he’s teaching, grade papers, as well as check in with his professors and mentors.

he doesn’t know how he does it.

working in that library was excruciating, but he missed nothing more than the last half hour of his shifts where it’d just be you two, sending shy glances at one another until it hit midnight. he doesn’t even mind the rest of the 6 hour shift where you’re just sitting in the same spot that you always gravitate towards, head in the textbook for him to look up at every now and then.

you tell him you love him for the second time at the end of your graduation party when all of the guests have cleared out of your half empty apartment.

“what?” his eyes go wide, exactly like they did a year ago.

“i love you, izuku.” you ball the sides of your graduation gown, wrinkling the fabric in your hands.

you’re sober this time, which makes it infinitely more painful to say out loud.

his mouth gapes open as if he’s a fish gasping for water. he doesn’t know what to say.

“i have for years.” you fill in the silence, fidgeting with the silky material. “ever since you kicked me out of that fucking library, i think. i don’t know. maybe i’m being stupid, but i can’t help it. i love you, and i need you to know before… you know.”

it’s been three years, and you’ve waited until this night to pour it all out because you knew that in less than 24 hours, you’d be going your separate ways.

in a perfect situation, izuku would tell you that he feels the same. he’d run through an airport to stop you from leaving and beg you to stay with him. you wouldn’t have to go back home. you’d share an apartment. live in the city. start your entry jobs. you’d have time together.

“i’m sorry.” is all he says. “i’m sorry.” he repeats.

tears well in his eyes, and he grabs you by the shoulders to pull you into his chest.

“sheesh, you’re such a crybaby.” you choke out a half chuckle, your eyes running hot now. “don’t be sorry, okay? i get it. i know.”

your arms tightly wrap around izuku’s waist as you two silently sob into one another. his hand runs through your hair, stopping at the nape of your neck to pull you closer.

there’s something much more painful behind this confession to cry about. you’re leaving the city, and you have no reason to stay. for the first time in three years, izuku won’t be within arm’s reach and you’re left with the cold reality of navigating your future without your best friend by your side.

“you know, i..” he begins, pulling you back to look at your face, searching for the right words, or an answer. “it’s not that i don’t feel the same, okay?”

his cheeks lightly dust over pink. it’s the first time he’s admitted that out loud.

“i know.” you sadly smile, your hand reaching up to wipe away the stray tears left on his cheeks. “we’ll be okay. we worked hard for this, izuku.”

izuku felt like throwing up. he had spent the last three years working himself into the ground with endless all-nighters, black coffees, and missed events to get everything he’s ever wanted for his future, so why does it feel like his world is slipping from between his fingers?

yes, he worked hard, but he wondered if it was all enough?

“i’m going to miss you.” he mutters, connecting your foreheads together. “i already do. you’re everything to me.”

“me more. i’ll miss you more.”

after that night, you don’t see izuku again for a long time.

izuku jumps into his new position at the local high school in the same school district as the middle school he worked at during his last year of university. he feels a sense of relief everytime he walks into his school building- something that he couldn’t ever say during his years as a student.

you move back home and land an entry job at a startup tech company. it’s boring work, but at least it’s remote and your days don’t mesh into one- you made sure you would never have to go through that again.

you try to stay connected, but work is busy, and you’re both trying to figure out what life is supposed to look like post-grad. occasionally, you’ll send each other a meaningless “thinking of you” message, but you eventually lose contact after a couple of years of trying to plan visits and meet ups- there is just no time. there never was.

at 27-years-old, izuku is spending his late afternoon sitting in his empty classroom with one of his students. it’s half an hour past their scheduled parent-teacher conference time, and he’s wondering if he should just reschedule.

“are you sure your mom is coming? did you tell her the right time and date?” izuku sighs, resting his head on a propped elbow.

“duh. what kind of student do you think i am?” they scoff, glancing up at him from their phone.

“judging by your grades, i know exactly the kind of student you are.” he mumbles.

izuku’s trying to not panic, the kid clearly isn’t, but he’s wondering how far back this sets his schedule. he should be starting on the stack of papers to grade by now. he still needs to write out a lesson plan for tomorrow. maybe the kids deserve a movie day? maybe he deserves a movie day.

“don’t freak out.” izuku hears from outside of his door “you’re fine. it’s okay. seriously, chill the fuck out you weren’t interrupting anything, i needed a break anyways. i’m walking in right now. yeah, i’ll let you know how it goes.”

finally.

izuku straightens up, and tightens his tie. he whips open his laptop and pulls up the tabs of grades and assignments to discuss.

“i’m so sorry-” the voice falters at the end as it enters the classroom.

“don’t be, i was just-” izuku glances up from his screen and his throat suddenly closes shut.

5 years later, and the universe leads you back to one another. here. in his classroom.

“izuku midoriya?” you cough out.

for the first time in his life, he doesn’t like the way his name sounds coming out of your mouth. it’s hesitant. it sounds foreign. it makes him question himself for a moment.

yes? that’s me, right? it’s me, izuku. your izuku.

“what are…uh.. you…here?” he stammers, unable to get the words out.

you take a step forward into the classroom. you could pass out at the sight of him. he still seemed as boyish as ever. maybe a bit broader, and taller, but his hair is still just as wild as it was in university. you can’t help but feel a twinge of insecurity as you wonder if you looked any different as well.

“uh…where’s mom?” your nephew glances back and forth between you two starstrucked at the sight of one another. “we have to look over my grades and stuff, you know.”

“right!” you exclaim. “your mom got caught up at work, so she asked me to come in.” you awkwardly shift in your position, your eyes never leaving izuku’s.

izuku’s face flares up in heat, snapping back into the present as his eyes flicker back towards his student.

“you know what? let’s reschedule that. you can go and i’ll see you tomorrow?” he quickly stands up, knocking over his chair and hitting his knee against his desk in the process.

“really?” they cock an eyebrow at the shift in behavior from the two adults in the room.

“yup! we’re running late and i have a meeting right now, so i’ll just email your mom to reschedule.” he forces a reassuring grin, making his way around his desk. “don’t forget to read over the syllabus to see what’s due, alright?”

“alright, i guess. see you tomorrow then, sensei” they shoot you a questioning side glance as they sling their backpack over their shoulder. “are you taking me home?”

“no.” you say, almost a bit too quickly. “uh, i have some errands to run before your mom gets back home, so you go on ahead i’ll see you at home.”

once your nephew leaves, unsuspecting of the thick line of tension running between his aunt and teacher, izuku quickly rushes over and shuts his door.

“whatareyoudoinghere?” the sentence leaves his mouth in an incoherent string of words. he grabs you by the shoulders and lets his eyes take in your face. every curve, every mark, every wrinkle, old and new.

you feel 19 again. you guess the urge to kiss izuku midoroya never leaves you, after all.

“my sister just got a new job, so i’m living with her and helping her out with the kids while she adjusts.” you breathlessly stare at him. “i didn’t know you were still in the city.”

of course he’s still here- exactly where you left him after all these years. his grip on your shoulders tightens as a response. he’s scared that if he lets go, you’ll be gone for good, or at least for another 5 years.

“we should catch up.” you smile, grabbing onto his forearms as a warmth crawls up your next “when are you free? i mean, you’re probably really busy, but even a phone call-”

“tonight? how about tonight?” he blurts out. “we can go somewhere?”

izuku reassures himself that it’s fine. the kids can have a movie day, and he’ll spend that time grading papers and catching up on work. the only thing he needs is right in front of him.

seeing your face light up makes him feel nothing but nostalgic euphoria. he never wants to lose this feeling again.

“i’ll text you, then? you still have my number?”

he almost laughs in your face. your text conversation has been pinned to the top since the day you exchanged phone numbers.

“by heart.”

“tech? like you work in IT?” izuku’s face scrunches in disgust. he almost spits his drink out. “why the hell would you do that to yourself?”

“shut up!” you rub your face in your hands, snorting out a laugh. “it’s easy, i’m in a senior position, it pays well, and it’s remote. that’s all i care about for now.”

you two meet at a nearby bar. outside of his suit and tie, he looked much younger. he looks like the izuku you knew half a decade ago with his perpetual pink cheeks, slightly too large graphic tee, and red sneakers.

“so you’re now living with your sister… in the city.” he begins, looking into your eyes with a hopeful gleam. “for how long?”

“i’m not sure.” you shrug. “i’m still figuring it out, but my lease back home is up at the end of next month, so either way, i have to see what i want to do by then.”

“you should stay in the city.” the words slipped out of his mouth before he could process them.

“i mean- it’s just, you know, your sister is here, and her kids, and there’s more opportunities and stuff, and your work is remote anyways, and uh-” he stammers, words flowing out in an unstoppable stream.

“-and you’re here?” you tease.

his face flushes red.

“it is a possibility.” you sigh, shooting him a subtle smirk and saving him the embarrassment of coming up with a response. “i don’t know though. my sister wants me to stay too, but it’s a lot to think about.”

“i get it. my mom moved to the city to be near. it was hard for her.” he takes a sip of his drink. “not with me, though! she’s got a townhouse in the outskirts.” he quips.

you laugh. he definitely hasn't changed.

“speaking of, do you want to come back to my apartment? right now?” he shyly asks, avoiding your gaze for a moment.

“right now?” you look down and check the time displayed on your phone.

11:00pm.

“it’s a school night isn’t it?” you cock your head to the side. "i'm surprised you even wanted to meet up this late. thought i'd have to book office hours with you weeks in advance to catch up." you tease

izuku mentally curses at himself for being so forgetful, and so predictable. he doesn’t want this night with you to end, but that 7:00am alarm set for tomorrow morning is inching closer and closer.

“you’re right.” his confidence deflates. “i guess we should get going.”

you two pay your tab and make your way to the exit. you stand facing each other at the corner of the street, taking in each other’s presence once more.

there’s a faint buzzing in your ear from the lamppost hanging above you and your breaths come out in shallow puffs. you don’t know why you’re so nervous all of the sudden. you wish you didn’t have to leave again.

“so, can we do this again? can i see you again?” he asks, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“you think i’d get to see izuku midoriya from beyond the grave and let you get away? for the second time?”

he feels like he could cry right now, so he pulls you in for a hug instead. you haven’t changed at all- not in the ways that matter anyways. his hand falls against the nape of your neck as he presses his cheek against your forehead.

“i missed you.” he mutters into your hair.

“me more.”

before you go your separate ways, i love you sits at the tip of his tongue. he wants to tell you. to finally say back after all of these years, but it somehow doesn’t feel right- not yet at least.

a few weeks later, you find yourself sitting in one of izuku’s classroom desks. the top button of his shirt is undone, his sleeves rolled up, and the soft late afternoon sunlight streaming through his window bathes him in gold.

from over your laptop screen, you see izuku mumbling to himself as he reads through essays while twirling a red pen between his fingers. the look of concentration had been plastered to his face since you were students- dark furrowed brows, unblinking eyes, a twinge of anxiety, and tightly pressed lips.

“you’re staring.” he mutters in between his incoherent mumbles.

his eyes snap up to meet yours.

“no i’m not.” you shrug, suppressing a satisfied smile as your eyes return to your own screen.

“I think i’ve gotten pretty good at noticing after spending all those years with you in that library.” he returns the smile, leaning back in his seat. “you don’t stare often, but when you do, you stare loud.”

“says you.” you roll your eyes. “you don’t think i ever noticed the thousand glances every hour?”

his face scrunches in embarrassment.

“not like i could help myself.” he mutters, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck.

“ditto.” you halfway close your laptop and rest your head on a propped elbow. “but you knew that.”

the air in the room thickens between you two. you’ve been itching to have a conversation with izuku about your last moments before you left the city 5 years ago, but there hasn’t been a good time to bring it up. you weren’t even sure if you should at all.

“i don’t think i ever noticed.”

“noticed what?”

“that you liked me.” he pressed his lips together, nervous to bring up the past. “like that at least. i didn’t have a clue before you took me to that party.”

“how could you?” you breathe out a chuckle. “you were drowning in your work and studies, there was no time to even sleep let alone have anything romantic.”

a beat of silence passes.

“sorry.” he mutters.

“don’t be.” you shrug. "i loved you enough for the both of us. you were my best friend, and i wouldn’t change anything. maybe i would’ve forced you to take more naps, though.” you chuckle.

he doesn’t like the past tense termage of this conversation. it makes him feel a bit nauseous thinking that he really did lose it all, even with you here in front of him.

“i told you i felt the same, didn’t i?”

“mmm.. i guess so.” you mutter. “but it’s different. it was a goodbye.”

“i’m sorry.” he says again, with a pout this time.

“stop that.” you launch your pen in his direction, bouncing off of the chalk board behind him. “i’m here now. you’re here. you’re still my best friend. everything’s the same, except we’re a little bit older and have 5 years to catch up on. isn’t that enough?”

you two danced around the conversation for a few more minutes before returning to your work in silence. there was no clear answer as to where your feelings for each other stand now, but he feels just as sick as he did the day of the grad party.

but isn’t that enough? to just have you here now?

on a saturday night in his apartment, just days before you have to go home and sort out your living situation, izuku tells you he loves you for the first time.

you’re staring at him, unsure if maybe you heard him wrong or if it was the television in the background.

“huh?” your mouth gapes open. “what’d you say?”

“i..i love you.” his voice shakes as the words leave his mouth. “i love you, okay?”

for a split second, there’s a sequence of images that flash through his mind. his body would learn to wake up at 6:55am every morning despite his alarm being set for 7:00am. he sees you peacefully sleeping next to him, and he can’t bring himself to let that alarm go off and disturb you.

he’d start the coffee pot- enough for two, obviously. maybe he’d leave a nice note for you to start your day off with. maybe a grocery list if you’re up for the trip, but you’d insist that you go to the market together on the weekend. you’re very distracting, and he knows this, but you’d somehow always meet at the dining room table or his classroom to do work together.

he’d come home to you softly singing in the kitchen while making dinner. every now and then, he’d surprise you with flowers when he comes home from work, but he’ll brush it off and say it’s “for the apartment” just out of pure nerves. movie nights. falling asleep on the couch together. waking up in the afternoon with a split second of panic- but it’s the weekend and he doesn’t have a class to get to. he’d see the sunlight pool against your face as you slowly wake up from your slumber with fluttering eyelashes. he’d kiss you in that unsuspecting moment. he’d say he loves you with every breath leaving his lungs. he’d always have time for you.

“izuku.” you sadly smile, turning over to the stove and extinguishing the flame. “you don’t have to do this, you know?”

his heart sinks to his stomach.

“i know- no it’s not like that.” he stammers. “it’s because.. i’m saying it because…”

he makes his way around the kitchen island to you, firmly gripping your shoulders. he wants to make sure you hear this from him properly. after all of these years.

“because i love you, and i think i alway have.” he bites his bottom lip. “and i think i always will, and you’re here, and i’m here, and i know it’s hard because i kind of really messed things up in university, but to be honest, i regret everything because yeah i love my job and i’m doing okay now, but i lost you for 5 years and thought i’d never get to see you again and i should've-”

he stops himself when he sees his reflection in your eyes. he’s doing it again- the rambling.

“sorry.” he mutters. “but do you…do you understand?” he almost pleads.

“i understand.” you nod your head, a long exhale following your reply.

for a moment, you’re 22 again, and the tears in his eyes threatening to spill over are no longer apologetic, but now hopeful.

you can’t help but pull him into a hug, running your hand up and down his back as he sniffs back his tears.

“always such a crybaby, izuku.” you muffle into his shoulder. “i love you, too. you know that.”

“i feel so stupid.” he chokes out. “5 years is so long, and i feel like i blacked out for the entirety of that time and now that you’re back, i’m alive and can't do it without you again.”

he pulls away, looking back at you with furrowed brows and tear stained cheeks.

“please stay in the city. please.”

your eyes widen at the request- the same request you wished left his lips all those years ago.

“you want me to stay?”

“selfishly, yes.” he bites down on his bottom lip. “here. with me.”

you take a moment and let your eyes wander around the apartment. you eye the half cooked dinner on the stove, the pile of unopened mail sitting on the counter, the row of dead plants lining the living room window.

izuku follows your eyes. he knows you’d settle in nicely, almost like the final piece in a puzzle. he feels it in his gut. he also feels the panic bubbling in his stomach the longer your gaze lingers at the chaos behind him.

“is that too fast?” he breaks the silence. “sorry. i don’t mean to jump from ‘i love you’ to ‘move in with me’ in the same night.” he awkwardly laughs, releasing you from his grip. “uh, maybe we’ll talk more about that after dinner.”

his face burns into a bright red- snapping out of his love dazed state and back into the reality where he just confessed to his best friend on a random night in.

“maybe after dinner, you can give me a proper tour of the place?”

for the first time in izuku's life, he feels content knowing that time passes and the world continues to turn.

with you, it feels a bit gentler.

with you, it's worth it.

bonus ssrryy i have to be indulgent lmao:

the first time izuku kisses you, you're on your way back from a late night outing from the bars with his coworkers where he introduces you as his partner for the first time.

"you sure you're okay?" he laughs as you rub your hand against the back of his neck from the passenger seat.

"super peachy, zuku." you hiccup, twirling a green curl between your fingers. "a few drinks got nothing on me."

izuku presses his lip into a wobbly smile.

from his peripheral, he feels your stare burning into his side profile, only making him more nervous by the second. he thinks about teasing you and calling it out for a moment, but he remains silent for the rest of the drive back home.

izuku parks the car, shutting off the engine and letting the overhead light dimly illuminated the space between you two.

he leans over to meet your eyes and rests his elbow over the center console, taking a second to silently debrief from the night's social outing.

"thanks for coming out with me." he whispers, reaching down and shyly interlocking his index finger with yours.

"i love a good excuse to drink." you laugh, leaning in and letting your foreheads connect.

izuku only had a single drink several hours ago, but he suddenly blacks out. with his other hands, he reaches up and tips your chin up and lock his lips with yours.

it takes you off guard, but you don't hesitate to reach up and rest your hand on the side of his neck.

when izuku pulls away, his breathing is heavy and face grows red. your finger remains interlocked.

"um. i love you." he coughs, briefly meeting your gaze before darting away. "uh, sorry i should have asked" he sheepishly rubs the back of his neck.

"i love you, izuku midoriya." you say in a teasing tone, leaning further over the center console and into the driver's seat.

izuku leans away until his back hits the soft interior of the car door.

"uh, we should.. we should go in? right?" he starts, eyes widening as you inch closer.

you reach over and grab the collar of his shirt, pulling him into you.

"yeah, we should." you say before crashing your lips into his, feeling him accept the defeat with a nervous laugh as he lets his hands find the soft skin of your cheek and warmth of your neck.

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dduane · 12 hours ago

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I just read the part where Kirk experiences the Enterprise's point of view in The Wounded Sky to someone else, where she sees the crew as children she is training up to the Great Desire of exploration for exploration's sake, especially Jim. His reaction, essentially: "That was really pretty. ....And then he blows her up."

I hadn't thought about that before! I checked the copyright date, and it looks like The Wounded Sky came out a year before The Search for Spock, so you were writing without knowing that sacrifice would eventually happen.

How did you feel about that? Do you wish that writing decision had been made differently? (If, as a Trek writer, you're allowed to comment on other Trek writers' choices!)

You know, I tend not to think a whole lot about such issues. First of all, because (in the long run) it gets you nowhere in particular that's useful. And secondly, because it's not a thing that, as a Trek writer in any medium except film, you have the slightest power to change.

Now, at this end of time I think we can safely say that no one's going to hire me on to write a Trek film. And also that no one at that end of the creative spectrum is going to pay the slightest attention to anything I say, either. Both of those situations are just What's So, and neither of them bothers me. (Since I have universes of my own to manage at the moment, and that's where my attention properly lies.) So as regards my opinions about other writers' work, I'm pretty much off the hook.

If I had been on screenwriting duty for that film, would there be things I'd have wanted to do differently? Hell yeah. From the premise up. But the important thing here is: would those things necessarily have worked better on the screen / with the audience? Impossible to tell. And speaking as someone repeatedly given permission to work in someone's universe, the main thing to be aware of is the expectation that your chief responsibility is to do what best serves the characters and the IP of which they're part. (There's a post over at Out of Ambit with a lot more of my thoughts on the subject:)

The other thing to remember is that, though I've worn the Canonical Hat in my time, novel work is by definition non-canonical. Doing it, you are at all times working with the understanding that the licensor rarely views your work as anything better than a corporate side hustle—a way for the IP to make some cash on the side—and will ignore you and the stuff you've created unless given pressing reasons to do otherwise. (Such as when they might make some unexpected money off it... at which point you remind yourself as forcibly as necessary that what you did is Work For Hire; they own it, lock, stock and barrel, and you should not realistically expect to be given any credit.)

And, if you understand the rules and enjoy the work enough, all of this is okay. The reward is not in making a lot of money doing it, or even in having aspects of your work openly assumed into canon. The reward lies in being allowed to contribute to a given universe in public (and, yeah, getting paid for it by the licensor). It's not payback: it's payforward. And you're left an astonishing amount of freedom to bring your vision to that universe. (Sometimes... as one colleague has McCoy say... you have to be "very, very careful" to get away with it. But it can be done.)

The truth is that even in the 1980s, I was sharing this level of playing-in-a-universe with a goodish cohort of editors and writers: a big roomful at least. Now I'm sharing it (retroactively speaking) with hundreds of them. With the best will in the world, even in the 80's the licensors (as regarded film) couldn't have realistically polled/listened to all of us regarding our creative opinions about the screenplay end of things. As for what that'd look like nowadays... I'll leave you to your own deductions. 😏

Anyway, thanks for the question. It's always nice to know that there are people who want to know what you think. 😊

#Star Trek #Star Trek novels #Star Trek: The Search for Spock #canonicity #screenwriting

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fablepaint · 2 days ago

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hey just wanted to know what your opinion on negative criticism videos on the Lackadaisy pilot is? And do you and team listen to the criticism?

I've seen some. They're usually not saying anything I'm not already aware of, or have a disagreement with approach that I wouldn't change anyway.

There's nothing that's not a conscious choice in the production. Sometimes the choices work out as intended, other times you realize that a tweak earlier on would've been better for your goals. But you can't do anything about the work once it's out there. At best, you just keep it in mind for future production.

But also there's some critique that you can't or shouldn't follow. There's crit that intends to turn the story into something else entirely, to suit their personal taste. There's crit that would undermine the message or arc you are going for. There's crit that assumes everything has to be wrapped up in a neat bow, explained on the spot, and without time to develop or evolve over the course of a longer story.

And this is assuming no bad faith intention on the part of the critic. It's usually sincere advice! But as an artist, you have to tack to a path and stick to it and not suddenly change direction out of fear of challenging people's sensibilities (especially when you're deliberately setting out to make a challenging work). That might not be what that group wants, but you'll have a work that at least represents a cohesive whole.

And besides, there's nobody who's as harsh a critic on my work as myself. I'm used to tearing apart and chucking babies in the garbage; iterating until I solve whatever puzzle I'm grappling with. And that's where crit best serves me. In the planning phases, before I subject my team to a sudden juke left or right. I find people who are good at expressing their thoughts and who can view the in-progress work and trust that I can handle a negative word. People from across a spectrum of experience so I'm not just getting a cloistered artist's POV. If there's a rough edge I didn't anticipate, they'll find it.

Past that point, it's more just observing the audience's reaction on the whole. What people responded to, what they noticed. What they didn't. Did it have the emotional impact I wanted? You won't get everyone feeling the same way (that's impossible, just look at Rotten Tomatoes scores), but if I'm seeing what I wanted and expected, then I achieved my goal.

So yeah, I've seen them. But they're only so useful for me personally.

#lackadaisy #question #answer

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maybeitsalivescribbles · 2 days ago

Text

Guess who's back. (semi-back, I'm going to take it slow for a while)

Now, Detective was quite sure he had locked his office.

He stopped dead in his tracks, watching the door that was slightly opened. The last time this had happened, he’d found himself in front of two guns. The time before that, he’d found himself against a Villain, who didn’t need a gun. His own weapon was of course safe and locked in a drawer somewhere. He rolled his eyes at himself and listened intently. There wasn’t a sound. He threw a glance by the opening, ready to jump back and run.

His place looked blissfully intact, but now that he was closer, he heard it. Someone was breathing unevenly. He stepped forward. A head popped from behind his desk.

Well, well, well. Wasn’t this new. Detective let out a sigh half of relief, half of annoyance, and snapped:

“This isn’t a nursery, kid.”

He went round the desk to find a skinny teen huddled on the ground, their arms around their knees. They were wearing one of these stupid red capes that told everyone in the city they were special with powers, ooooh, aaaah. From the traces of tears on their face, they didn’t seem to feel especially happy about it.

Detective leaned over them, frowning. He’d already met that child. He snapped his fingers in an attempt to remember:

“You are, you are- oh, you’re that Sidekick kid, right? The sidekick of this hero, the one with the stupid boots.”

They nodded.

“So what’s the problem?”

“I don’t want-” Sidekick sniffed. They took a handkerchief from the desk, blew their nose, and kept on: “I don’t want to do this anymore.”

Detective was opening his mouth to ask why this would be his problem, but Sidekick added quickly:

“ I thought I could...hide here for a little while? Hero won’t find me here. I didn’t steal anything, honest.”

“Except the handkerchief.”

“You can have it back.”

“Thank you, I’ll live with that loss.”

He sighed:

“Tell you what, what about I phone your Hero and tell them what you’ve decided, so you can sort it out with them?”

The teen froze, looking at him like a deer in the headlights. Detective raised an eyebrow:

“That bad, uh?”

Sidekick nodded once, avoiding his gaze.

“Did you already tell them?”

“Yeah…”

“And they said?”

“That if I tried to leave, I’d be found dead on the road.”

Detective paused.

“Ew.”

Yes, that was what he’d said. An eloquent man, Detective. In his defense, that was short to the point at least, not to say accurate. Child abuse was icky.

He didn’t ask anything else, mostly because he wasn’t particularly surprised. Once or twice he had to deal with clients Hero had “saved”, and it hadn’t been a pleasant experience. Hero was the kind of person that didn’t mind saving the day if they were the one saving it, so they could reap the benefits after, no matter what happened to the others. If the kid shattered the illusion that they were perfect, well. This kind of people was willing to go very far to protect their image, especially when they could blame on any villain passing on the streets.

Sidekick, knotting their hands together, whispered:

“I thought you could...maybe hide me for a little while?”

Detective blinked. He asked with a mild voice:

“Tell me if I’m wrong, but isn’t your Hero the one who makes the ground shakes just by walking?”

“Yes?”

“The one who can crush people with a pinch?”

“Yes.”

“The one who can punch buildings?”

“Yes…”

Detective looked thoughtfully at his fists and his gun, all that he had – when the gun wasn’t forgotten in his office. He shrugged:

“No worries then. Just checking.”

Sidekick bit their lip, looking at him like a kicked puppy. Detective scratched his head, embarrassed. The silence was lingering for too long. He patted his pockets to look for something, anything, but there were just a pair of handcuffs and some old receipts. As a last resort, he generously held out his flask to them:

“Take a drink, kid. You’ll feel better.”

Sidekick looked at it with a wary look:

“I’m fourteen.”

“Eh, there’s no age.”

The teen took a little sip and yelped in surprise:

“It’s...cocoa?”

“Yep.”

Sidekick drunk a little more, then held it back to him:

“ I thought it was whiskey or something.”

“Psch, as if! With people shooting lasers with their eyes or whatever, I don’t need to get plastered. I need something stronger than booze to get through the day.”

Detective crossed his arms and sighed:

“Okay kid, you’ve won. Let’s find a place for you to sleep.”

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tiredofthehumanlife · 1 day ago

Text

Exquisite dancing and a loving married couple

Part one

Barbie dolls: husband! president!Coriolanus Snow x gn! Reader

Word: 5.3k

Summary: your joints are shit and you Coryo go to a gala and you guys are freaking cute

Warning: mentions of cream be mature it's like icy hot cream ok the brand is made up don't go looking for this magical blue flower joint cream, you like ceramics, you know that sound that goes okokokokokok and lalalala yeah that's y'all, you yap and coryo listens, you think you're a hassle and Coriolanus is like 😡hey shut up 💗, ypu have chronic pain/disability its mostly vague but your joints hurt, coriolanus is a lil ooc bc I wrote this before I finished the book and movie, his job is a lil vague but it's insinuated he's president, also speaking of president if you're American please go vote every vote counts plz, a man tries to flirt with you I didn't want it to be like traumatic but he is gross so he's like comically creepy, you're a smidgen oblivious but consider it in the autistic way not the "oh I'm a ditsy innocent Virgin reader I wear Velcro shoes and lace panties always what's body hair" way, old lady bothers yall, you kinda ignore what's going on and let coriolanus handle all the social interactions, mentions of sex and mildly nsfw, its kissy and light touching, you don't drink alcohol or at least not at this specific gala, yea that's it

With the warm dinner in your shared bed still feesh on his mind, Coriolanus decided he wanted to get closer to you. If you would grant him the friend title, he'd accept it. If he could choose, you'd both use kisses as greetings and know everything about each other.

Truly he worried more about how much pain you went through in your day-to-day life. Coriolanus decided there were going to be changes in how people treated you. Mavvy was going to be your right-hand-maid, ready to jump into action if you ever needed it. If he even caught a whiff of someone making an off-handed comment about you, he planned to leave his precious gem cuff links in your hands and start swinging. On the topic of him, he decided he was going to spend every minute of his free time worshiping you if it meant you'd be more comfortable.

One evening after work he stopped by a local cornerstone with racks upon racks of simple medical supplies. Coriolanus followed the clerk around as he spit possibly thousands of words all about the best ways to help with joint pain.

Coriolanus came home with bags so stocked full of supplies he stumbled through the sunroom door, almost dropping them all. After you swallowed your shock, you two started experimenting with all the new supplies. Some of them helped, some of them didn't, but your favorite was the cream that had a blue flower on the bottle.

For one Coriolanus was adamant on not letting you do it yourself. He just had to rub it in for you. After the third time, you didn't mind it at all. You liked him massaging your joints. You felt like it was the only way they felt any better. The cream helped definitely, his hands were just a bonus.

Just like that, your relationship started to shift. After the bath situation, you had more good days than bad in your body. Some days you would rest more than you truly wanted but for the most part, you were doing pretty good.

Though sometimes you mentioned the pain to Coriolanus even if it wasn’t all that bad just so he’d rub your joints and muscles. He got so used to it, that he started to do it absentmindedly. Coriolanus rubbed the muscles in your hand as you two were settling into bed. He rubbed the back of your calves when he massaged the cream into your knees. He rubbed your shoulders every time he pulled your coat on or off.

His dresser became more and more cluttered with your creations as time went by. You laid in bed longer in the mornings so you could compliment him on his clothes before he left.

Coriolanus sometimes even changed outside of his closet. Every time he looked up, you’d be watching him. It made his chest puff out. It gave him so much confidence he thought about always undressing and redressing in front of you. You talked almost constantly around him, he loved every word of it. You didn’t stop talking and ask him about himself, you just talked. He listened and when the conversation floated back to him, you listened to every bit.

Soon enough you became friends that happened to be married. You both secretly thought there were some simmering romantic feelings that grew with every touch and laugh. You didn’t sleep on other sides of the bed now, you actually scooted into the center to hold onto one another. You always used the ruse of hurting arms that just needed to be wrapped around someone. Coriolanus saw through you like glass but played along. He held you just as tight as you held him. He thought if he could choose where he got to die it would be right there in your arms.

Months flew by with you just inching closer and closer. You both became comfortable with each other. Dinners were one of your favorite times of the day. You got to talk with Coriolanus and laugh over good food. Halfway through your rant about the difference between Earthenware and Porcelain, Coriolanus touched the back of your hand to silently ask you to pause for a second. You paused your sentence, looking away from the food you had been pushing around. Coriolanus wiped the corners of his mouth with his napkin before setting it back in his lap.

“This weekend there is a gala I need to go to for work,” Coriolanus said, hoping you caught on to where he was heading. You smiled and set your fork down.

“Okay, I hope you have fun. I can handle the house on my own for one night, no problem.” Your tone was so bright he felt like you might be more excited to stay home. Coriolanus shook his head. He gripped onto your hand, making sure his seriousness was received.

“I’d like you to go with me.” He clarified, watching your expression closely. You stared at him like you didn’t understand why and looked at your plate instead. “You’re not being forced to go. I just want you to be there. I know I would have a much better time if you were there. I think you would enjoy yourself.” Coriolanus waited for you to look back to him. You peeled your eyes away from your plate. Your other hand came to rest on top of his, making a sandwich with your hands.

“Are you sure you want me to go? I might just end up being a hassle. If it’s a work thing I want you to be able to meander about. I’d just weigh you down.” You said, staring into his eyes so sincerely it hurt. He shook his head at you, upset you could even think those words about yourself.

“You’re not a hassle. I want you to come with me. I want to spend the night with you. Also, I’m forced to go, so taking you with me would make the night enjoyable.” Coriolanus’ hand was warming from yours. He wanted to flip his hand over and hold onto your other one but he was trapped. You finally nodded.

“I’ll go.” You whispered. Coriolanus let you continue your speech on clay types, returning to his food.

The rest of the week flew by and before you knew it, you were getting ready with Mavvy next to you. You took a bath and there she was, clipping her nails while sitting on the bathroom sink. Mavvy helped you dress, smiling at you when she finished. You hated to have favorites when it came to people but you liked Mavvy much more than any of the maids or butlers. Mavvy walked with you as you made it downstairs. Mavvy lead you to the Library. Coriolanus heard your footsteps and stood from the chair he was sitting in. He paused when he looked you up and down. He smiled and nodded at you, holding his arm out for you. Coriolanus muttered compliments as you walked into the venue.

It was stunning, the decorations made you want to inspect them and dissect them to find out what they were made of. You held onto Coriolanus’ arm and tuned out his words. He pulled you towards a wall but you didn’t watch where you were going, staring at what looked like fake dragonflies and butterflies dance around in the air.

There was soft music playing from the wall across from the entrance. There was an orchestra whispering out tunes towards the chattering crowd. It wasn’t packed but there were definitely plenty of people. Against the wall Coriolanus was dragging you towards was food and drinks, plenty of glittering small foods and dishes.

Around the floor were round tables that could sit eight at maximum. Towards the orchestra was an empty space of floor that had a few people casually dancing on. You decided you and Coriolanus would be dancing at some point tonight. On the opposing wall from the food, was another row of long tables, though you couldn’t make out what was on those. Coriolanus’ fingers brushed against your cheek, dragging your chin back towards him. You understood and focused on where you were heading instead of the room.

Coriolanus walked towards a group of maybe six people. They all greeted him warmly. He introduced you, you gave them a short smile and nod. He listed off their names and you committed none of them to memory but pretended you did.

Coriolanus wandered around the room, greeting plenty of people and talking plenty of business with them. You got bored quickly, slipping away from his side with a kiss on his cheek. You headed straight for the table with beverages, at least you’d have something to hold onto. You wandered around the table, holding your hand up to cover the card that had the name of the food on it, guessing and revealing the answer to yourself. You had gotten 7 right out of the 10 you tried but it was more entertaining than listening to Coriolanus yammer about business.

A man came and stood next to you, picking up a Meat Stick Thingamabobber, as you had named them. You moved on to the next item, guessing Brie and learning it was actually some other fancy cheese you didn’t know how to pronounce. The man moved with you, scooting over one. You moved over two, staring down at the Rosemary Crackers you had no interest in eating. The man finally greeted you, still following after you and scooting down the table.

“Vinal. Richardson.” He stuck his hand out towards you, a crystal plate stacked with Meat Stick Thingamabobbers in the other. You could not want to shake someone’s hand less. You still shook it though, giving him a quick smile. You gave him your first name, looking back at the stupid Rosemary Crackers.

“Do you work here? I’ve never seen you in the Office?” He asked. When he said here you assumed he meant do you work in Coriolanus’ office. You shook your head.

“Oh no, I’m a plus one. I very much could not work in the Office.” You chuckled, thinking of the way you felt incomplete without looking or making art at some point during the day. Like just today you walked into your sunroom, realized how much work it would be to paint, and left. How could you live without that joy in your life? Vinal chuckled like he was inside on the joke. Which he was not. You glanced over his shoulder, trying to spot Coriolanus without looking like you were looking.

“Guess not. You’re too pretty to sit in the office all day.” Vinal said. You moved towards the end of the table, picking up a drink. You already tried one and they were quite enjoyable. They had a fruity taste to them and even though they weren’t alcoholic they made you less nervous. You had a reason to be quiet while you were sipping.

“Well I don’t know, I know at least one very pretty person who works in an office.” You countered, thinking of Coriolanus getting dressed in the morning. He didn’t know it but the sun always peaked out from the curtains and caught in his hair while he buttoned his shirt. He might think you liked to watch him dress for more lewd reasons. Though maybe he wasn’t completely wrong, you liked watching his gears turn. Watching him get ready for the day always felt so domestic you might even think your wedding was sparked by love. You knew he thought of all the words you told him in the morning so you planned them out as he pulled his outfit together piece by piece. As you looked up from your drink, the smile on Vinal’s face set you on edge.

“Aren’t you a little tease? Well, where do you work then?” You furrowed your eyebrows at Vinal. What did that have to do with being a tease? You weren’t sure how you should answer his question. You didn’t really work.

“I make art. Mostly I stay at home.” You gave Vinal a half-shrug. He oooed.

“You make art? What kind? My mother is actually a painter. I’m sure she’d love you.” You took a sip from your glass, glancing around the room like you were lulling his question over. You still hadn’t caught Coriolanus. Damn your husband for wearing neutral colors. Why could he not where bright neon orange, at least you’d find him when you needed him.

“I do all sorts of things.” You finally answered. Vinal nodded.

“I’m sure you do. Where’s your friend? You’re a plus one right, I wanna meet your friends.” Vinal asked, glancing around the room with you. You shrugged.

“I’m not sure actually.” You whispered into your drink. Vinal reached out for your face, turning your head to face his again.

“Or we could just get out of here…go somewhere quiet?” Your skin crawled and you realized just how extremely happy you were married off to Coriolanus instead of some freak like Vinal. You sucked in a harsh breath, that he probably considered a good sign. You looked away from him, begging for Coriolanus to appear.

He must’ve heard your thoughts because he took a step back from the group he was talking to, smiling and taking a step forward again to join the conversation again. You shoved your drink into Vinal’s hands and stepped away from him. You moved as quickly as you could from him, hoping he didn’t follow. You glanced over your shoulder, glad to see he stayed in his spot. You swerved around the people moving about the tables.

You felt your anxieties slightly ease when Coriolanus was close enough you could hear his voice. You dipped into Coriolanus’ group, joining him at his side. You pressed your hand into the small of his back.

Coriolanus kept his eyes on the coworker he was speaking to, nodding with whatever they were saying. He still showed you he recognized your existence, pulling his arm around you and tucking you into his side.

You glanced over at Vinal to find him still standing at the table with your plate in his hands and staring at you upset. You reached up to tuck a stray hair behind Coriolauns’ ear. You pressed your knuckle against his cheek for a second longer than you normally would. You were silently telling him you needed his attention. Coriolanus’ brows pinched but he still stared at the person talking. When his coworker finished talking and a new coworker started he turned to face you.

“Do you know a Vinal Richardson?” You whispered. Coriolanus gave you a confused look.

“Yes, he’s a vile little worm, why?” He answered, keeping his tone low. You held onto Coriolanus’ back tighter.

“I think he just tried to get me to go sleep with him. And meet his mother. I think I accidentally flirted with him, but I really didn’t mean to it just came out wrong. I was talking about something else but he must’ve taken it to mean I was talking about him. Now he’s all upset because I ditched him and every time I look over my shoulder he’s staring-“ Coriolanus tugged you forward into a hug, using it to comfort you and look over your shoulder. There he was, Vile Vinal. Pouting away and glaring at Coriolanus. Coriolanus pulled you back and knocked his nose with yours. He gently kissed the corner of your mouth and rubbed your back.

“Don’t worry about him. How is your body feeling?” Coriolanus asked. You pressed your nose against Coriolanus’ collar, breathing in the scent you started to associate with your home.

“I need to rest soon. I feel hot.” You whispered into his clothes. Coriolanus pressed a kiss to your forehead. He gave his coworkers a goodbye and a promise of later returning. He gently pulled you away from your hug and held onto your elbow.

He moved you towards a nearby table and pulled out a chair for you. You slumped into it, fanning your face with your hands. Coriolanus picked up a piece of very thick paper that held the details of the reason and funding for the gala. Special thanks and all that. He fanned you with it. It helped greatly, the soft breeze cooling the burning under your skin. His hand slipped over your shoulder, rubbing the tension from it as he fanned you. You hummed and leaned your cheek against his forearm. You heard the chair next to you drag across the floor. You didn’t worry about it, focusing on Coriolanus fanning you. The voice you assumed from an older woman asked Coriolanus if you were alright.

“Just fine, Ma’am. A little hot, that's all.” Coriolanus answered, you could hear his smile. His hand traveled up your shoulder and neck. He gently tilted your head back against his abdomen, fanning your neck and chest. The old woman started rattling off about how much she loved watching newlywed couples interact, it reminded her of her last husband. You peeked an eye open at that, tilting your head to the side, much to Coriolanus’ disapproval, making eye contact with the old lady.

“Are we still considered newlyweds if it’s been months?” You asked. Coriolanus kept fanning you. His other hand resting on your cheek and rubbing his thumb in soothing circles. The old woman raised an eyebrow.

“I suppose not, keeping the love young then. You two still have the Glow.” You quirked an eyebrow, confusion lacing your face. Coriolanus trailed his fingers up to your brow line, massaging away the wrinkle. You closed your eyes, not caring again, and leaned your head back against him.

“You just have the look of young and new love. Must be the honeymooning, that always keeps the stress and anxiety of marriage sedated.” The old woman muttered. You furrowed your brows again, turning your head away from the woman in disgust. Coriolanus rested his hand on the side of your neck, reminding you he was still right there with you. Like you could forget that amazing makeshift fan of his, oh is that a cooler brush of air than last time?

“Trust me, Ma’am. The love of ours is something much more pure. Honeymooning can only get you so far. Care and trust is what takes you to the finish line.” Coriolanus defended. Was it even really defending? You supposed so, this old woman just said you two only worked because you fucked. Which was falsities at best. You reached up and held onto Coriolanus’ wrist. He kept the fan going with his other hand. He twisted his hand in a strange way to release your grip and intertwine your finger instead. The woman smacked her lips.

“Well, I suppose that’s true. You don’t hear that often from young birds like you two. All the yougins think about honeymoons.” She said. You sat up straighter, feeling like you could handle another hour or two before you needed to go. Coriolanus ignores the woman, putting his focus on you again.

“How are you feeling?” He asked, slowing his fanning. You clenched your teeth. You could lie and say you were fine but that’s exactly how you ended up stuck in the bathtub.

“I could probably power through another hour or two.” You answered. Coriolanus dropped the paper onto the table.

“That’s not what I asked, How are you feeling?” Coriolanus repeated. You felt too tired to be scolded.

“Tired and my legs hurt. I know you have more to do though so I can wait here and we can stay for longer.” You said, trying to cover up how badly you just wanted to go home and go to sleep. Coriolanus clicked his tongue. The old woman nodded in understanding.

“Ready to skip town and get back that honeymoon bed?” She asked. She must’ve felt like a genius detective coming up with that one.

“Chronic pain.” You answered, tired of her blabbering in your ear.

“No,” Coriolanus said in sync with your words. He sent a look over toward the old woman, if you didn’t know him you’d think it was just a confused look. You did know him and you knew he was beyond annoyed with her.

“I think I’m actually feeling exhausted, all that classical music tuckered me out. What do you think, Darling?” Coriolanus asked. You stood from your chair, leaning into Coriolanus.

“I think, we ought to get you home. You must be running a fever, sweetheart.” You pressed the back of your hand to his forehead and yanked it back. You shook it out sucking in a breath. ”Oh you’re burning up, we must take you home immediately.” Coriolanus smiled at you joining in on the ruse, sticking his arm out for you to hold onto.

Your driver made quick work of getting you two home. In the car, you leaned against Coriolanus and felt your heart soar when he wrapped both his arms around you.

In no time Coriolanus was pulling you through the bedroom door. Mavvy followed both of you inside, trying to help you out of your clothes. She had placed your shoes back on the rack, moving back to you. By the time Mavvy had finally started the process of getting your first piece of clothing off, Coriolanus was taking over her responsibilities. He was already half undressed, his pajama pants on and his matching shirt waiting on the edge of the bed. Mavvy seemed hesitant letting him take the reins. When you smiled at her and rubbed her hand soothingly, she left the room.

Coriolanus was much slower than Mavvy. Mavvy was destination-focused. She was just trying to get you into your pajamas as fast as possible. She wanted you in bed and her shift over as quickly as possible. You tried to tell her she could go to bed already and you could undress yourself, you were an adult after all. Yet she waved your hands off and continued.

Coriolanus was path-based, moving his hands terribly slowly. He took plenty of time just pulling your clothes down to the floor. His fingertips dragged across your skin, making you shiver. He rested his hands on your hips as he moved behind you to work the rest of your clothes off of you.

You waited for his hands to move, but they were frozen on your hips. They ran up your back, making you stand straighter, before dipping over your shoulders. He ran them down your arms and stopped at your hands. He fiddled with your fingers, running his fingers against your fingertips. He moved his hands around to the back of yours. He felt the way your knuckles flexed with your finger twitched, felt the underside of your wrists, and felt the wish of your hands always being on him get caught behind his teeth. You tilted your head to the side, trying to meet his eyes. Coriolanus turned his body slightly so you could see him staring into your soul eyes.

“I think I like this better when you do it than Mavvy.” You whispered. You wanted to mention the differences in pacing, how his fingers made your skin burn, how much you wanted him to just spend the next hour running his hands over your body. Coriolanus’ face stayed neutral. It scared you slightly, maybe you spoke out of turn. Maybe you should’ve stayed silent entirely. His eyebrows twitched up and the smallest, tiniest, most minuscule grin pulled at his lips.

“Why thank you, I like this more too.” He thought of all that was running through his mind. Romance was something you two hadn't even tried to approach, it was all about reaching friendship so you could withstand each other.

Npow the electrics that ran through your fingers when you touched his skin, the way your eyes pulled him closer, and just the way you two moved with each other physically and mentally, he could feel something stirring. It was so easy for you to catch what he was thinking without even a word, you both could communicate with nothing but a touch, and oh man the way your compliments sent waves across his body.

He could hear the storm approaching. The relationship was about to take a massive hit and change for better or for worse. Whether he liked it or not, the friendship you two had just built was about to come raining down on the both of you. Coriolanus hoped it would be used to blossom a gorgeous flower that would allow him to kiss you with a thousand unspoken words. There was always the chance that it could start a flood and you two would be whisked away from each other and end up on opposite sides of the bed again.

As you stared at him, he was certain you could read minds because you spoke again. You nudged him towards the storm and he was almost entirely certain you knew what you were doing.

“You know, I wanted to dance with you tonight. Too much happened before we could do that though.” You said, facing the front again. Coriolanus would’ve stayed silent but a crack of metaphorical thunder pushed the words out of his mouth before he could stop them.

“I planned on asking you for a dance before we left as well. Great minds, I suppose.” Coriolanus ran his hands down your arms again, intertwining your fingers. You leaned back against him and pulled his arms to cross over your body.

“Wish we brought our dancing shoes home, then.” You muttered. You tilted your head at a strange angle to catch a glimpse of him, hoping he caught on to what you were hinting at. Coriolanus smiled and dipped his nose to your temple. No, he caught it. He tightened his arms around you.

“Think you could manage just one dance?” He whispered, pressing his lips to your cheekbone. You nodded. You turned around in his hold, pressing your chest to his. You slipped your arms around his waist, knocking your nose with his for a second.

“As long as it’s slow and gentle. Think you can handle that, Mr. Snow?” You said, a smile still pulling at your lips. Coriolanus pulled one of your hands from his back, intertwining your fingers. He held up your hand, slippingll into the dancing position. He rested his other hand on your back, just as yours was on his. He started to slowly sway with you, tipping you around the carpeted floor of your shared bedroom. He leaned towards your ear.

“Coryo. Please, darling.” Coriolanus whispered.

”How many more times are you going to change your name?” You joked, enjoying the swaying pace he started. Coriolanus shook his head. He gave you a light shrug and continued your dancing. You were terribly happy he had already made it halfway into his pajama set. His fancy shoes definitely would’ve hurt if there was a misstep. It was just the two of you, half-naked, socked feet moving in sync, and absolutely no music. Probably would’ve been better if he started some tunes but you didn’t seem to care at all, grinning up at him.

You tried to imagine how this dance would’ve been if you actually did dance at the gala. Coriolanus would’ve been uptight. He moved differently with his coworkers than he did with you. His back was straighter, his smile was tighter, and every word was calculated. You imagined how he would’ve danced with you in the way he was taught to as a child. Not like he was now.

You liked this much more. It was just a simple way that rocked you back and forth. Coriolanus was relaxed, pressing his skin against yours. He was humming in your ear like he could hear music you couldn’t. His hand was gentle rubbing your back, keeping you close to him. You enjoyed this much more than the dance that could’ve been at the gala.

Coriolanus’ hand slipped down from the small of your back to the top hem of your underwear. You cocked your head to the side, asking him what he thinks he’s doing with your look. Coriolanus peeled his eyes away from the space over your shoulder he was staring at to meet your eyes. As you two slowed your moves in your swaying circle with connected eyes, his fingertips under the band of your underwear. It wasn’t traveling just dipping in to test you, your feelings, to test it all.

Coriolanus raised an eyebrow at you, asking you what you thought about his move. Your hand on his back shifted to his chest, trailing up to his neck. He tilted his chin up as you ran your fingers over the side of his throat. He pressed his fingertips into your skin, begging you for more.

You held onto the back of his head. You pulled his face closer to yours, knocking your noses together. Coriolanus slowed your sway, pulling you into a standpoint. He brought your intertwined hands to his shoulder, dropping your palm onto it. His now free hand found your cheek. He glanced between your eyes and lips. A question was laced in his flickering gaze, were you ready to step into the rain with him?

A small grin reached your lips. That was all the answer he needed, leaning closer to you. He was taking his sweet time inching his lips closer and closer to yours. All of his tailing fingertips the past few weeks made you impatient. You lurched forward and pressed your lips against his.

After getting married, all you could think about was how intimidating your husband was. How were you supposed to grow closer to him if you couldn’t even look him in the eye? He just set you on edge so you tried to avoid interacting with him. You wrote to him instead of speaking because it was easier. All you could think about in those first months was staying away from Coriolanus.

Now all you could think about was how to get closer. He moved his lips against yours in perfect harmony with your movements. Coriolanus left a buzzing against your skin. Even with his mouth on yours and hands pressing into your flesh you couldn’t think of anything but more more more more and more. You pulled back enough to suck in a breath, your lungs straining under your ribs. Coriolanus dipped his mouth down, kissing under your chin. You breathed hard, your skin pressing into Coriolanus’.

You pulled his mouth away from your neck by the back of his head. You pressed your lips against him before he could complain. Coriolanus must’ve felt the same way you did about him needing to be closer because his hands started to dig into your back again. Coriolanus’ fingers rested on the edge of your underwear and slipped further inside, pressing his palm against your ass. He tugged you closer to him, pressing your body fully against his. He hummed into your lips like he was finally happy with your proximity.

As much as you wanted to kiss him until you both decayed into swaying skeletons, your lungs needed substance and your knees were hurting again. You slowly pulled back. Coriolanus was clearly not agreeing with this move, chasing after your lips by pressing his lips back to yours in brief kisses and trying to draw you back in. You tapped his shoulder, telling him to pull away. He pulled back, finally giving you time to breathe.

That night he rubbed the cream into the joints of your legs and kissed you again before slipping into the covers. You two had never slept so close in that bed. Your legs were tangled. He was holding onto you like you were his lifeline. You were actually incredibly glad you married Coriolanus. Coriolanus added a new flower on top of your dresser in the morning. He couldn’t be more thankful for the very not real and incredibly metaphorical thunderstorm that pushed the two of you together.

#the thunderstorm was metaphorical btw if you couldn't tell #coriolanus fanfiction #coriolanus snow x reader #coriolanus snow #coriolanus x reader #tbosas #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #tbosas fandom #tbosas fanfiction

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taldigi · 1 day ago

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In my heart Yosuke and Chie are both bi but still would be horrified at the idea of getting together. Like no dude, that's the guy I immediately latched onto as a brother/sister figure to bully (affectionate). It's like Ryuji and Ann if Ann wasn't a lesbian. Yosuke and Chie could at most date and kiss ONCE and immediately go "ewww no gross" and make a mutual pact to never speak of it again.

oh yeah absolutely. They kiss once and it's the worst experience they've ever had. Drinking vinegar and chewing on sand levels of urrgh. Besides? They arent even each other's types? Like... Saki and Yu were established as their "types" canonically so there's that.

tho Ann/Ryuji feels like they could easily date for like, a month or two before they realize that they aren't clicking and then break up amicably about it. Any clicking between Yosk and Chie is the sound of a lighter during a gas leak.

In general i'm sick of the "oh they bicker like a married couple they're meant for each other" as if being in a constant state of friction and antagonism is "goals" for a relationship- and unfortunately, I feel like they're slightly angled in that direction. They have plenty of moments where that eases up and there's soft or empathetic sentiments, but to interpret that empathy or sympathy as "actually they're in love" is a huge disservice to their dynamic and to them as characters and.. ugh!!

(But, to be fair- for every shuffle they take in a possible Chie/Yosk direction, they immediately turn around and start sprinting in a Souyo and Yukichie direction. )

Angling them as sibling coded, tho- Is sort of oversimplifying it? I think their relationship is more layered than to simply use that label (siblings) on them. The implication for that uh.. I think... "I want to see them have trust and affection that transcends bickering (because that bickering comes knowing that trust cannot be implicitly broken) and without risk of it being interpreted as romantic" Folk can and- often do have relationships that transcend that of average friendships, and operate without risk of it becoming anything other than platonic.

Chie and Yosuke are openly disrespectful of each other, yet probably trust each other more than most the other (non souyo, non yukichie, non-yu) IT dynamics do. They know each other well enough to know what buttons to push... but also know how and when to push those buttons in order to challenge each other in ways that make them grow (or at least divert whatever energy is causing the other to spiral)

They're really good friends, best friends, even!! They'll show up the second the other's in distress with a six-pack and convenience store bentos in order to sit and call each other stupid for an hour because it works better and is cheaper then therepy.

but idk, thats how I read it.

#Anonymous #Whatever they have is interesting #and even good because it adds to the flavor to the IT.#they're supposed to be an echo of Junpei and Yukari and they pull it off better because it comes from *mutual antagonism* and no true hatre

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alexandraisyes · 2 days ago

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hi, same anon that asked if your symptoms go away or not. no clue why I worded it like that, but I meant if you experience it worse in intervals (obviously the symptoms are always there but get more noticeable at certain times). since you've answered my (horribly worded) question already, though, I raise another question: are there any resources that aren't horrifically ableist, where I can look further into ASPD, its symptoms and how they interact with things such as autism and other cluster B disorders? I ask so I don't keep asking you circular questions like you're equipped to diagnose a stranger with a personality disorder.

Resources are far and few to come by. A lot of what I know has been through extensive interpersonal study (talking to other people with the disorder). The fact of the matter is that most people with the disorder don’t freely talk about the disorder. You can look in online forum spaces if you want, or just get lucky and meet someone with the disorder in real life or happen to get super lucky and they’re already in your friend group. I have a sociopath and a malignant narcissist in my current friend group.

Understanding neurology would also help you in understanding any disorder, because there’s plenty of research on the neurological side of ASPD. Just not a lot of the psychological side. But if you understand neurology you understand psychology (most psychologists don’t fully understand neurology, they’re two different types of medicine with far different fields).

If you’re looking for how it interacts with other cluster b disorders, you can probably find at the very least one, maybe up to ten different “influencers” who are malignant narcissists (ASPD + NPD) who talk about the disorder on varying platforms. As stereotyped as it is, narcissists do actually love to talk about themselves.

As far as how it interacts with other neurodivergencies? Just ask someone with ASPD if they have comorbid neurodivergent disorders and what it’s like. However you aren’t going to find anything on having comorbid ASPD and autism. The two physically cannot coexist on a neurological level. (Trust me, I tried, I had a misdiagnosis of autism and was trying to wrap my head around it too).

So if someone with ASPD tells you they’re also autistic they’re wrong. They either don’t have ASPD or they don’t have autism. It’s always one or the other.

This is because ASPD and ASD are both largely caused by the amygdala. In ASD the amygdala is enlarged, growing abnormally quick between 6 and 12 months old. So you aren’t actually born autistic, but you may as well be. The faster the amygdala grows during that time the more severe the symptoms are presenting and the younger the symptoms will be noticeable.

ASPD on the other handle is caused by a reduced amygdala. Deformed sounds harsh but yeah it’s basically deformed. It’s smaller than normal, with an extremely regressed growth rate.

I could potentially go into the specifics but that’s a whole other post.

And I can’t diagnose anyone, online or off, so I will never try to. However, I am a reliable resource for understanding ASPD since it quite literally plagues me. So I can at the very least answer questions about something I’m unreasonably specialized in. Especially when the majority people in the psychiatric field of medicine aren’t specialized in it at all and there’s not enough genuine research for them to fake it either. And unfortunately most people aren’t willing to have compassion for things they don’t understand.

#answered ask #alex answers #thanks for the ask!#ASPD #actually aspd #aspd safe #psychology #asd #autism #I am not autistic

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cl-0v3r · 2 days ago

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What if Mel took her mothers side as to know what her true plans are? What if Mel "foxed" her way in to know why, who, how, everything? What if Mel doesn't KNOW what she is, or at least what "blessed" blood she has running in her veins, but something happens that leaves her questioning??

What if she didn't even know her gold was actually "armor" and thats when she decided she needed to jab more information?

What would Ambessas reaction be towards this information? If this is a sudden change, will she have doubts? (Probably), will she accept this flip of character? Is she the one that initiated this change after the problems happening finally got to her daughter?

What if Ambessa kept denying telling her the truth for the sake of protecting her, which could lead them to truly part and become enemies? Which means Mel would be further from finding the truth, so instead, she agrees to go back to Noxus with Ambessa, so she could find not only ways to take her mother down (as in break her course of plans set for everything in the timeline) but also to gain knowledge over everything related about THEM (including kino) ??

We don't know if Mel is aware of her abilities or not yet, so if she didn't, is she willing to go that far to know? Would she go to that extent to strengthen herself against her mothers weaknesses? To be fair, thats what Medardas do, do they not?

Im so desperate to know why Mel would wear similar to her mother, which is noxian war attire, we know Mel wants to part ways from her family, or at least part from their ideals and paths, so why would she suddenly change her course of action and head for that road?

I feel like she wouldn't do such a thing for the sake of going back, but has an intention to use it against Ambessa or against an enemy of hers/theirs.

Makes me curious too, as stretchy as this is, did she meet with Kindred??? Was she at a near-death experience like how Ambessa was?

If she's truly going back to Noxus, would she be a dictator like Ambessa?

I still HEAVILY believe that Black Rose/LeBlanc is the main enemy for the Medardas in s2, and we know that she can transform into ANYONE, right? What if that isn't even Mel, but LeBlanc? What if LeBlanc SPOKE to Mel as leverage to get to Ambessa? And Mel being probably vulnerable at that moment, allows herself to follow along?

Or, what if Mel knew about LeBlanc (in the timeline of season 2) , or has an idea of what her intentions are, and manipulates her way through, and kills two birds with one stone? LeBlanc is a master manipulator, but is Mel really that weak?

Mel, from my understanding, is not the type of character to make quick decisions and changes (like Jayce for example/non-neg). She thinks, about the present and the future, but when it comes to her family, the past always lingers in her mind, which is why it takes her so long to decide what to do. She tried endlessly to find a way around violence & war, past memories of such still haunt her, I don't think Mel would want to be a fighter, or one to accept a fight in such way.

That would be the final resort to something with no other solution. But there is always a CATCH to that.

In s1, Mel recommended the creation of hextech weaponry as an act of self defense, a final resort incase something happens, but is that REALLY just for protection against inner attacks? Elora mentioned to Mel that piltover looked vulnerable before that, do you think its ONLY their friends abroad who noticed? And immediately after she'd handed her the letter. Its safe to say Mel wasn't just preparing for Zauns bite, but the bites from outer threats. "I wanted to protect the city from people like you." Yeah, THAT was the catch, a stronger reason.

so if Mel went back to Noxus, or took Ambessas place, or just stood by her side, is it REALLY for her? Or is there some other thing affecting her descisions? Again, I don't think Mel would take off the ring, cover the painting of home with her color, go through this major character arc/development just to go sit in her mothers lap and let her caress her head because "nothing worked". That's genuinely not Mel, neither how it works ESPECIALLY in artistic fiction such as this.

Those things have SO many meanings, them being "erased" feels like poor writing, thats not what arcane does.

Mel is strong, she'd pushed and pushed and pushed so far for her ideals, her hopes and dreams, all of this is what makes her Mel. Even though she'd faced never-ending problems trying to find solutions, she still pushed herself so far. Is she willing to sacrifice herself after reaching such a point? Is the sacrifice worth it in the end? Will it benefit what she wants for her city and people? I don't think that's something she'd do UNLESS there's a catch to it that counters the effects.

To choose the Medardas path feels as if she weakened/gave up herself, shattered like glass, OR, she'd made herself stronger by being weak at the beginning, and gaining strength by the end to bend the rules, to understand the space to shift it. Which is why I don't think its permanent long-lasting decision, it's more of a "let it bleed until it stops, then bandage everything together well" sort of thing.

Mel is going suffer with her weaknesses in s2 like all of them will, that is important, but what really matters is that will she LEARN from her mistakes? Is she going to act upon said weaknesses?

They could quite literally make Mel end the Medarda problem without raising a hand if they wanted, or they could have her suffering in abseloute agony down in the basement (I hope not) 24/7, and there's still a space in between too.

Mel is probably the last heir of the Medarda clan, will she be able to break the cycle? Its all down in her hands, what is she going to do? What is she planning?

I still have so many questions, they never end, they're all ALLOVER the place, I literally can't even think straight, one minute I think of something, the other i think of something else. Its that crazy 😭

Part of me doesn't want to see Mel change, well, at least not a lot. change is very inevitable in the show and even the writers stated that in s2, the characters will be in the dark depths, but seeing the possible change of currents, drifting away from her core which made me love her so much is a little upsetting, but I will forever love her nonetheless, whatever she partakes in the future is for me to follow !!!!

Truth is, im scared, anxious, worried as all hells, all the characters are going through various changes, we already know how viktor is going to change, going against his previous dreams. Him slowly coming to an acceptance with death, only to become something that isn't even close to a living being at all. His dream to help the undercity lead him to do harsh things to them, which is unfortunately the only way he knows to help. Mel, who parallels Viktor, is she ought to fall into the same fate? Or is the parallel going to be opposite of what he has become? If he is going back to Zaun, his homeland, doing all of these things, will she go back to her own? And do something similar? Or will she stay in piltover and continue to pursue the approach of Mercy and peace?

How will this affect her relationship with others? What would Jayce think? Elora? The remaining council? Most of all, Ambessa?

I don't want all of the answers to these questions, but I just hope some of them get answered, I have high hopes for s2, i can't wait to see if anyone's theories turn out correct or close to cannon!

#arcane #mel medarda #mel arcane #ambessa medarda #arcane s2 #arcane league of legends #ambessa arcane #arcane theory #arcane season 2 #Theory #This is all nonsense #Im so sorry 😭#viktor league of legends #arcane viktor #viktor #viktor arcane #machine herald #viktor machine herald

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overnightheartbeats · 1 day ago

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“It matters to me. When I’m being told I’m doing this for fun, I kind of like to know why.” Her frown was in clear display. Why wouldn’t it matter? Well, at least he wasn’t telling her to go away, so she took a seat next to him and turned to face him. This could go either way, and if this was where everything went to shit, she wanted to make sure she got everything.

Hearing his level tone was new, especially when she was used to bigger displays of anger or just silence altogether. "You keep saying I had my fun? I don't," she paused, shaking her head. "Do you think I'm so shallow that I use my free time to flirt and mess with guys? Okay true, I did seek you out and maybe that was a little too forward, but I didn't do all of that just because I was bored and needed a..pet project." Listening to him recount what happened had her experience a wave of emotions - stunned, confused, and just generally lost. He described Jenny in a way she had never heard before. It wasn’t landing in her mind, but as he spoke, her mind was already working through it. He had no reason to lie, right? Clearly, he had no issue saying what he thought. But if he did, where would he even get all of this? "Jenny told you I'm playing you?" That sounded outrageous, but why else would he be so upset towards her. “That doesn’t sound like her, but I guess, yeah.” He had no reason to lie to her, did he? She couldn’t quite place it, but there was a part of her that did trust him. Even if her mind was clouded with doubt. Her mind was running at one hundred miles per hour, but it all came to a halt with his latest mention of fun and their kiss. Laurel was upset about many things right now, but their moment being tainted like this was the most irritating (even above him thinking the worst of her). "I didn't kiss you because of some game or to have fun, stop saying that. I did it because I wanted to, and I liked you," she blurted out, exasperated by the conversation and confusion drowning her.

The silence was killing her. It was her worst nightmare, she rather go back to him telling her the different ways she was playing him and how her friend was this big bully. Laurel and silence never really got along, it made her uneasy. She pulled her knees close to her chest, a sense of defeat washing over her. This was done, wasn't it? So much for Juju's optimistic outlook, and that first date. If this situation didn't indicate the end, his comment on girlfriends certainly did. No one being worth the fucking effort, noted. Laurel shook her head once more, "sorry. I..I just thought that you were running off for a girlfriend, and then what you said in class about wanting to stay. I just thought that..well, it doesn't matter." She thought he was like the typical college guys, yeah. "I assumed, my mistake, but that's also why I asked. Because, like I said, not a game to me. It felt that way, and I don’t want to misread something. I didn’t have any other context, just you running off and being gone for however long. Then what you said earlier…well, yeah.” Whether intentional or not, he was drawing lines. Ones she had quickly ran past the last time around. "I am glad that your family holds so much value, I confused that. I’m sorry, you’re right. We just met and I’m not entitled to your personal life.” Even with all of this, he still said bullies - her included? There was no changing this. The annoyance in his tone was clear, even if she wanted to ask anything else, it was not very inviting. “I don’t know, are you up for answering? Or we’re still strangers?”

Jenny knew Laurel’s schedule, being roommates and all. After messing with Eli, she went to grab a quick bite and grabbed something for Laurel after class. She figured if she showed up with lunch, plans would be decided for her. Walking down the empty hallway, she was surprised to see Laurel outside of class but soon it made sense. There he was with her too. Rolling her eyes once, she willed her best smile and walked right towards them. “Hey guys! Ugh, you guys look so cute - right out of a movie! No class today? I came to meet you for lunch, but didn’t think you’d be out so early! You could join us!” She directed at Eli, though she knew that was unlikely.

Despite himself he moved the books and made room for her next to him. "Does it matter?" It seemed laurel wasn't going to let it go so he sighed. "The bully brigade. Your friend Jenny is the leader. She made it seem like you knew and have just been playing a game with me because you're bored. Which if that's the case, I want no part of it. Just leave me alone. I'm not a pet project."

"I called her what I did because that's what she is. I don't tend to say something I don't fucking mean." The rage against Jenny was strong but he kept his even tempered tone. "She's made it her personal hobby to keep badgering me just because we keep hanging out. You must like me better than her might be going around in her head. I don't want trouble. I can see my way out of this equation just do me a favor and leave me out of it. You've had your fun. Had your kiss. Let me go back to obscurity. You can go back to her. Since she's so scared to lose you to a nobody. Her words not mine."

He sat there in silence too exhausted to get up and walk away. The flight had him wired enough not to sleep and he was paying for it now. His eyebrows knitted together as their conversation came to mind. "Why on earth would you think I'd kiss you if I had someone back home? What kind of asshole do you take me for." Girlfriend made him snicker. "Doing this much for a girlfriend," he shook his head. "No one is worth this much fucking effort. I didn't run away from you because I wanted you to think I was playing. I'm sorry but we've just met. There's no questions or hesitation when my family calls. Least of all my little sister. Could I have been more straight forward , sure but no one is entitled to my personal life. Especially bullies. It's earned."

Setting his arms over his knees he watched the empty hallways. "Anything else you need to know?" He had been annoyed but he also wanted to be left alone. If this was a trick then he'd rather have Laurel pull the bandaid off.

#hahaha evil hq has meticulous notes!!#you made me sad again 😭😭😭 send us to time out #She’s over here trying to defend herself but idk if it’s doing much

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thatnonameuser · 10 hours ago

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Hi, happy 20th birthday. I hope you spent your birthday in good company. And how will yandere react to darling, who has a disease called "Anhidrosis", and he does not feel pain in principle, because of which he acts recklessly and silently strives for death in the hope of feeling at least some pain. And when he finds the most painful way to die, he is sincerely happy. He studies the concept of pain and death and strives to feel it. And honestly says that he is ready to give his life just to feel at least something. (google translator)

Anhidrosis(lack of sweat)confused me for a second but that was Google Translate's fault.

A darling with anhydrosis. And wants nothing more than to experience it, and wants to die a painful death….

This is a half imagine because I'm probably adding another part to this. A smut one.

CW: Dead Dove: Do not Eat if you are triggered by self-harm, voluntary FGM(a mention nothing graphic) or suicide, don't read. I might be breaking my own rules but this idea was very interesting.

At age three you realized that you could never feel pain.

You'd badly skinned your knee, gained from a nasty slip and fall of the swing set, but after you'd fallen all you did was sit and stare at the blood dripping from your knee.

You remember poking it, and feeling only the warm blood stick to your skin, and nothing else. So you kept playing, not caring about the blood running down your legs.

It was only after someone noticed did you realize how bad your injury was. At first, everyone thought you just had a high pain tolerance, or were just being a brave kid. Which you wore with a badge of honor.

But when everyone can experience something you can't, you start to wonder.

What was it like? Would it be good or bad?

You had to find out.

So you started to get hurt on purpose. Jumping from higher ledges, ‘slipping’ down stairs, poking yourself with sewing needles and cutting yourself with scissors.

You did whatever you could to feel pain, but when you got cuts and bruises you didn't get any new feelings.There was no tears, or crying , or the need to complain about how much it hurt.

And you hated it. Every failed attempt drove you to do more harm to yourself, placing your palms into fire, riding bikes super fast without protective gear and crashing, provoking dogs so they would bite you, but..

You never felt pain. You couldn't feel pain.

At first, the people around you thought your acts of self harm were attention seeking, but after you purposely beat your arm with a hammer till your fingers went numb, you were forced to go to a doctor and you got diagnosed.

You were sick, yeah mentally, but physically you were unable to register pain no matter how hard you tried.

And that made you depressed knowing that this foreign sensation was barred from you forever. So you harmed even more. Cutting yourself with blunt knives, pressing hot irons to your skin,every twisted thought you could come up with.

But after your diagnosis, your life was spent being coddled. Knives and tools locked in drawers. The house you-proofed. Teachers and friends made to watch you constantly.

You could never get the opportunity to hurt yourself, and that made you want to die even more. All you wanted was to feel what pain was, and now you couldn't do that either. Your desperation to feed that addiction got worse and worse, it became all you thought about, finding that pain, that total, consuming, and endless pain.

You lost whatever survival instinct was stopping you, and you began to harm with intent to kill. To die. You researched your methods thoroughly, got thrown into a psych ward for your troubles. But regardless, you preserved, learning how to attack the spots that cause the most debilitating pain.

Still nothing.

But you kept pushing, kept planning. Scars cover you now. Everywhere in every place, even what would have been your most delicate and sensitive regions….thought they were hardly sensitive given your attempts.

All you wanted….was to die. Slowly, miserably and as painfully as possible

But then a wrench came into your plans, a carriage to a whole new world. You were a little excited to wake up in a place that was outside the laws of your normal boring society, one that worked completely different, on the jaws of what one person calls crazy, but hey, you weren’t any saner.

Where love is obsessive and smothering, and murder is allowed within Sage Island’s borders.

But you were a darling. And people like you don’t get to be seen as anything more than delicate. You managed to hide it the best you could, not wanting to repeat a life of over-protection and smothering, bu you got caught.

It was an accident really, you forgot to lock the door to your bathroom, and Ace and Deuce found you while looking for you. You were halfway through your bi-weekly cutting when they found you.

They freaked out and the rumors flew fast. Soon everyone knew.

And they all freaked out.

Spells of protection to keep you from hurting yourself, potions keeping you too sedated to think straight. Malleus even put you into a dream world again to prevent you from harming and killing yourself, but you still tried in your dreams.

You started to hate them.

They were no better than the people back home like you were a porcelain doll on a shelf. If you were a doll, you wanted to shatter into pieces so small that you could never be put back together. Wouldn’t that be nice, being broken so badly and so painfully living would be impossible. But they would just lock you up in a padded cell and leave you there to ‘love’ you.

You only wanted ‘love’ if it was torture. Agony. A pain to breathe and to exist where a painful death is the happily ever after.

But two of them loved you the way you wanted, like you were something to break.

The Leech Twins.

The way they loved you was torture. And you loved it.

Floyd, the outwardly violent one, had squeezed you so tightly before that he broke your ribs. You loved watching him attack other students and the bloody messes that would be left when he was done excited you. You treasured the messy, jagged bites he’d give, grateful that he wouldn’t treat you like you were precious. You loved him angry, and the way he hurt you when he was.

And then there was Jade. If Floyd was violent, Jade was completely sadistic. And you loved that too. The complete nonchalance and calm that he’d normally show, mixing with the mirth in his eyes when he poisoned you and watched what it did to you. You didn’t feel anything new, but the way you writhed made you feel the closest to that sensation that you’d craved all your life.

Those two were capable of destroying you and in the Coral Sea they could get away with it.

You would despise being controlled and coddled by the others, but you’d love being finally breaking past that barrier to pain with one, or both you’re not picky, of those two. After all, they were the only ones that could do it.

Besides, life and love weren't a fairy tale. It's ending is death. For you, and it's a happy, painful one.

#ask #minors dni #yandere #tw self destruction #tw sui implied #yandereverse au #yandere twisted wonderland #i love asks

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piperlivingdeliberately · 1 day ago

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PHONE SEX WITH HAZEL I NEEEED IT

WARNINGS: smut! MDNI, established relationship, reader has female anatomy, use of feminine labels, reader and hazel are in college together, swearing, phone sex, reader is a bit of a tease, more dom!hazel, nudity mentioned

WC: 1076

You hadn't intended to start a fire or anything, or at least that's what you had claimed when your girlfriend called you four times in a row in the middle of her class.

"Hi, honey," you purred into the phone. You figured you'd be nice by actually answering her fifth call.

"Are you serious?" Hazel almost shrieked. "'Hi, honey'? That's how you answer the phone after sending me that fucking picture?"

"What picture?" You could feel her clenching her fists on the other line at your innocent act.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," she sighed, more impatient than exasperated. You knew what feeling was really behind her tone. "The picture of you in bed."

You tapped at your chin, forgetting she couldn't actually see you. "Hmm, that doesn't ring a bell. Maybe you could describe it more?"

"Your tits were out and your hands were in your panties," she blurted, sick of playing your game. "And now I'm getting in my car so I can come get in bed with you and replace your fingers with mine."

It was so hard to pretend that last sentence didn't make you throb with desire. You almost felt bad for starting all this teasing now. "Too bad I'm not there." Her silence at the realization was deafening.

"Fuck," she huffed. "You went home for the weekend early, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did, babe." You fiddled with the sheets on the corner of your childhood bed. The two hour drive to spend time with your family was usually worth it, but now you were beginning to regret leaving Hazel at school.

The sigh she let out was careful, but patient. “Then I guess we’re doing this over the phone, huh?”

“What?” Your surprise was genuine this time.

“You’re going to finger yourself while I talk you through it. Sounds good?” she asked. Your jaw fell open, and for the first time on this call you were thankful she couldn’t actually see you. Your silence began to startle her. “You still there, baby?”

“Yeah, Haze, sorry, I–” You shook your head to snap back into reality. “I didn’t think you would like the picture that much.”

You both laughed, the sound so familiar you almost forgot the dirty context. “So, you want to or not? ‘Cause I’m walking into my apartment right now and I’ll be fucking myself to that picture with or without you, sweetheart.”

You found yourself speechless for the second time that day. After a few moments of listening to Hazel fumbling with her keys, you developed a response. “I’m not gonna stop you, especially when that makes me want to fuck myself even more.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Oh, she was getting cocky now. Normally you would have shot a clever retort at her for that comment, but this new experience had you feeling unusually nervous. Before you had time to even come up with your next line, your phone chimed. When you opened the image from Hazel, you audibly gasped. You heard her laugh at your reaction on the other end of the call.

The camera was angled up from between her legs, a spot you wished you were in at that moment. Her tank top was pulled up over her chest, exposing her boobs and toned stomach with flexed, veiny hands framing them.

“Jesus, Haze,” you laughed, trying to keep cool. “You just can’t wait to get naked for me even when we aren’t in the same house, can you?”

Her laugh was always a wonderful sound, but it had never turned you on this much before. “More like I know you can’t wait to see me naked.” Her voice was breathier than usual. You wondered for a moment if she was already touching herself, but you were pretty certain of the answer.

“You’re not wrong about that,” you sighed, snaking your free hand under the waistband of your underwear. The feeling of your fingers on your clit gave you enough confidence to start talking dirty like you usually do. “Fuck, Hazel. I wish you were the one touching me right now.”

“Shit,” she huffed, the horny frustration an interesting combination. “Me too, baby. I can’t even describe the things I would do to you right now if I could.”

“Try it,” you commanded.

You began to think her dominant facade was fading slowly until she spoke up again. “I would lay you on the bed and pin you down even though I love seeing you squirm. I’d kiss you until you begged me for more.”

“Fuck,” you whimpered. You were growing wetter by the minute. “Then what?”

“I know how much you love when I suck on those tits, so I’d pay extra attention to them. I wouldn’t stop until they were covered in purple. I could have your boobs in my mouth for days, honey.”

Her voice was dripping in arousal, making you arch your back at the thought of her mouth on your breasts. “Yes, please, Hazel.”

“I would kiss down to your sweet pussy and take those pretty panties off nice and slowly. You’d have to wait for it. I’d start by licking all around your lips before getting where you really want me to go.”

You were almost embarrassed by how horny this simple imaginative story was making you. Almost. Your core began to tighten and you had given up on trying to respond to her with actual words. You just moaned into the speaker, waiting for her to keep talking.

“Then I’d eat you out while you squeeze those sexy thighs around my head. I’d have you screaming while you came. Then it would be my turn, and I’d grind on you to get myself off. Would you be a good girl for me while I fuck myself on your pussy?”

“Fuck, yes, Hazel. I’d be so good.”

“God, babe, I'm ready to cum just talking about it,” she huffed.

Your fingers curled inside of yourself, hitting the spot Hazel always found so easily. You were tiptoeing on the edge now. “I’m going to– Fuck, I’m gonna cum.”

“Me too, baby. Come on, cum for me,” Hazel groaned. No more words were spoken for the next few seconds as the phone was filled with your combined sounds of pleasure. Your highs washed over you simultaneously and you couldn’t help but giggle together afterward. It seemed that this wouldn’t be the last time you had phone sex.

#hazel callahan x reader #hazel callahan smut #hazel bottoms #hazel callahan #bottoms 2023 #bottoms movie #ruby cruz

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iridescentmirrorsgenshin · 2 days ago

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HI HELLO I LOVE YOUR STUFF

i was wondering, for a person who has obviously thought abt them extremely in depth and drawn wonderful conclusions, how would you describe haikaveh in 3 songs?

Hiya!!!! AHHH thank you so much!! :''') I'm glad you enjoy my brainrot omg <3 ohhhh that's such an interesting question?? i've been thinking about this ask for the past few days so i'm sorry this has taken some time to get to! 3 songs is EVIL!!! i feel every song i listen to i try to relate it to Them, but i can give you my most listened to! plus an extra one (IM CHEATING!!!!)

mitski - the star (the idea of love changing with time, them acting like 'fools' when they first met because of this nonreplicable connection, them falling apart but that light still burning? them travelling very far, further apart, and then back together, always connected by what they share?? and IM CHEATING IDC!! the frost by mitski is also incredibly relevant here??? there's an incredible art of it that makes me lose my mind. mitski is haikaveh coded fr)

2. bad omens - just pretend (very evidently alhaitham's pov, the miscommunication and the misunderstandings between them wearing away at him on the inside, the idea of not being ready at first, being too different, but having the knowledge that they'll come together once more when these differences are accepted, the willingness to wait (for YEARS!!), and the slight insecurity that comes from this, it's just such a lovely song, an experience to listen to, and it really makes me think about the emotional aspect of alhaitham when he and and kaveh were apart)

3. the stiff dylans - ultraviolet (i didn't just want to offer angst, and since this is meant to describe haikaveh i wanted to at least give one upbeat option! this song is so v fun, i see this from both perspectives, just them being perpetually intrigued by the other, constantly drawn into each other's orbit, being a necessary light to each other, just yeah <3)

+1 the devil wears prada - the thread (this is my personal ult haikaveh song <333 when i first got into haikaveh, this song was on repeat, for those who like heavier music i really recommend it! i was so invested that i broke the lyrics down to relate it to haikaveh (which i did here), this song really has a chokehold on me so it's the song i'm cheating with hehe)

#kavetham #haikaveh #alhaitham #kaveh #THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASK OP!! THIS WAS SO FUN!!#honestly i think all songs i listen to remind me of Them but the angstier ones always hit harder for me #i guess angst comes naturally to me hence why im drawn to their dynamic #i also listen to these types of songs when im writing fic so perhaps that also influences the angstier parts of my writing..?#THANK YOU AGAIN!!!! <333333

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zayray030 · 2 days ago

Text

my flame

Summary: What happens when you take a hyperactive tsundere and a passive tsundere? You get something surprisingly cute. Now what happens when passive tsundere visits hyperactive tsundere at his school?

Ace and Rollo are dating. Rollo comes to visit Ace at NRC. You already know where this is going

Notes: I think I had this draft since like last year??????????? Like girl it was so long ago but all i know is that i saw an opportunity for Ace to get together with this deeply troubled man and i took it.

Gift for @mikariin

Also thank you to mika for writing all these ace fics <3 I thought i would forever be in a drought.

Ace wouldn’t say he felt left out. Neither would he admit it whether he thought so.

The truth was however, that sometimes he couldn’t help but feel slightly hurt and ever so outcasted from the group when they talked.

A few examples would be the third years from other dorms. Whilst the others had their ‘own’ senpai of sorts Ace sort of just hung around, none of third years that weren’t Cater or Trey willing to talk or deal with him. And that was cool sure, he didn’t give them much of a chance to like him. But seeing his friends get their hair ruffled and actively cared for by them, just kinda stung.

Another example would be how often he got paired up with them. For some reason it seemed as if everytime there was an event of some kind he was never with them fully. Meanwhile, they almost always had each other which sorta made it awkward to talk about shared experiences.

And like yeah, he could open up to them about his life and what not but the unsquashed down fear put a stop to it. For example, how was he supposed to introduce to them his boyfriend. And like, how was he supposed to know if they were still going to like him or not? Ace might like to act aloof and above it all but losing these friends. They were special.

Ace sighed again as he flopped onto his bed. He was the only one in the dorm. Deuce having gone on a run with Jack, Sebek and Epel. Ortho had also agreed to come to track their vitals when they ran. Ace sighed again, this time slightly annoyed. Why couldn’t at least one of them be interested in fashion, it would make all their sports talk more intriguing, but unfortunately, they all seemed to be more into the activity than the clothes to do the activity.

“Degenerates.” Ace pouted as he turned on his stomach and unlocked his phone, his home screening facing him. It was a picture of them all, smiling happily, all holding ice creams, with the exception of Ortho who had opted to throw a peace sign. He smiled sadly at the image before going on the messenger app and finding his boyfriend at the top of his contacts.

He smiled when he clicked on him their messages from last night showing that they’ve been talking about the reasons of their favourite ice creams/ Whilst Ace insisted that Cherry was clearly superior, his boyfriend (the cookies and creams traitor) had argued that cherry flavour was not good in every format and that Ace just had an addiction. He heavily refuted that statement, despite the many cherry related things he had eaten throughout the year.

You: I’m bored!!!

It was within seconds that his boyfriend responded to him and Ace let a smile appear on his face.

Old man: What do you need from me darling?

Ace freely let out a giggle as he squirmed in delight without an audience to see his embarrassing reaction to his boyfriends pet name for him.

You: For you to be in my bed.

As sexual as it sounded Ace had genuinely wanted his boyfriend to come over to NRC and be with him for the comfort. To see him, to cuddle with him, to kiss him…and yeah also for some sexual reasons but that was beside the point. Ace sighed dreamily imagining being able to bump into his boyfriend on his way to class, exchanging hurried kisses in the rush to get to the next class, make outs in the hallways, cuddling whist studying, the constant reassurances. Yeah, it would be nice to have his boyfriend near him again. The summer they had spent previously feeling all too much like a dream for comfort.

Old man: Well lucky for you I am.

Ace blinked at the text before jumping up and furiously typing back a reply.

You: WAIT WHAT?!

Old man: Yes. My school is coming over in 2 weeks. I had assumed your

headmaster had already informed you but I guess not. Can’t wait to see you, my love.

And in the privacy of his dorm room where no one was there to hear or see him, Ace let out the happiest scream of excitement and happiness ever.

You: I LOVE YOU!

Old man: Love you too princess. Now, as much as I hate to, I still need to finish packing some last minute things. Talk to you soon.

You: love you! bye!

Ace threw his phone on the bed before getting up to jump on said bed in happiness. His boyfriend was coming! After being unable to see him except for the occasional face time since the winter holidays, he was finally coming over!

Ace collapsed back onto his bed, giggling still as he panted. Immediately, however, he sat back up and grabbed his phone from the edge of the bed where it had been dangling due to the prior jumping. He then opened the clothes store and began browsing.

Time to shop!

However, elsewhere, a certain 11 students all shivered, looking over their shoulder in confusion. For some reason, they sensed a looming disaster coming.

Why?

Because the dear boyfriend was Rollo Flamm.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“And just what the hell is taking Crowley so long.” Grouched Leona as the rest of the house wardens, with the exception of Malleus stood. In his stead was Lilia instead.

“All you youngsters are too impatient.” Lilia chided teasingly but judging by the number of teeth in his smile then it meant that he was also getting irritated by how long it was taking Crowley to respond.

“Yes well, some of us have duties and responsibilities to get to now.” Reminded an annoyed Vil, hand on his hip as he stared at the door of Crowley’s office in anger.

“Maybe something happened to him.” Voiced a worried Kalim, much to the endearment of Lilia but the annoyance of the others.

“All the better.” Whispered Azul under his breath and Riddle, the only one close enough to hear him, privately agreed. Out loud Azul said “Well, then if that had happened maybe we should now consider who to elect as the new headmaster.”

“Morbid.” Called out Idia from his tablet.

“One of these days I’m going to drag you to this meeting properly, Idia-senpai.” Declared Riddle with a polite smile before knocking on the door to the office, “And one of these days I’m going to kick this door down.” He got out through a smile. Azul subtly inched away from him as Idia’s tablet whizzed to hid behind Lilia.

“Allow me.” Smiled Lilia. Just as he raised his foot to kick the door down and shake Crowley for an answer as to why they had to wait so long the door opened and out emerged a smiling, giggling red head. Said redhead was wearing a white headband that has two bits sticking out. He also wore a white halter top with a red and white bomber jacket, ending the look with a mini leather skirt and high-top boots. In his ears were two little cherry earrings and around his neck there was a matching cherry chocker.

“Hma hm” hummed Ace happily as he held some papers to his chest, a wide smile (yes smile Riddle blinked the sparkles away) and waved at the senpai. “Oh, hi senpai! Crowley’s in there if you want to talk to him.” And without another word he skipped (yes skipped) off to his dorm, taking out his phone from his bomber jacket pocket.

The house wardens stared at him, blinking slightly, still trying to get rid of the effects of the sparkles out. When they finally did, Leona raised one arm and pointed at the direction where the younger boy had skipped away. “What.” He started, turning to stare at Riddle as if his head had turned into a tea pot. “The fuck. Was that?”

“I have no idea.” It took a moment for Riddle to form his answer, still in shock by what he saw.

“That was Ace-san, correct?” Azul asked, taking off his glasses to inspect them for smudges,

“Yup.” Kalim answered the affirmative, head tilting in happy confusion. Whilst yes it excited him when he saw others happy, he couldn’t help but feel confused in Ace’s case. From what Jamil had told him, Ace seemed only happy when he had pulled off a prank or had gotten out of work, and that was almost always accompanied by a smirk and a gleam in his eyes. Currently Kalim couldn’t see any of that. All he saw was pure and utter joy in the boy’s face as he skipped off…okay yeah and maybe a little deviousness as well, but it was only a little!

“And I thought the only one who could smile like that was Kalim.” Lilia chuckled slightly, tilting his head as he stared at where Ace had just been. “Interesting.” He smirked. Maybe that little first year had more to him than just a penchant for mischief,

“Thank god my DEF was through the roof and I wasn’t there to see it IRL.” Commented Idia.

“One of these days I’m going to get you to speak properly.”

“Classist ahem.” Coughed Leona, as if he wasn’t royalty but semantics. When Vil turned to glare at him he merely smirked and made his way to Crowley’s office.

“I wonder if Ace-san finally finished Crowley off for us.” Azul said out loud, hand on his chin as thoughts off taking advantage of the situation made their way through his head.

“So help me I’m going to collar him if he’s done something…” threatened Riddle as he reopened the door to Crowley/s office only to trail off when he saw the man face down in despair. “Headmaster!”

The others filed in after him, circling Crowley’s office, a mixture of expressions of their faces. Mainly glee.

“Headmaster Crowley! Are you okay?” Kalim asked sweetly, looking over the other worried. In fact, he was the only one who showed some time of worry. The rest looked either bored or gleeful. “You look like you’ve realised your actual age!” continued Kalim, ignoring Azul who squinted his eyes at him. Okay, so maybe Kalim was also a little petty.

“Ah, yes!” Crowley bounced up, smiling happily at his students as tears ran down his face.

“Stop lying!”. Leona and Vil looked at each other in disgust when they realised they’d said that in sync.

“What did Ace-shi do? You look like you just spent all night farming to get the limited edition card you’ve wanted since day one only to get a duplicate for another card and then a card from the general starter collection.”

“Ace-kun is most…persistent.” Crowley struggled to find a word to describe the redhead that wouldn’t cause a lawsuit, accepting the tissue that Kalim had handed over to him. “In any case, Riddle-kun I’m going to need a…favour of you.” It was as if someone had poured over his acid and then added salt from the way he had said those words.

“A favour? From me??” for once Riddle was dumbfounded.

“Yes, and not from me?” Azul ignored the look of utter disgust radiating from Leona and Lilia and glared at Crowley.

“Well since none of your first years are important enough to get themselves roped into half the things Ace-kun does, no I’m not doing a deal with you.”

Leona, Vil and Lilia hid their smirks behind their hands whilst Idia openly smirked in the safety of his own room. Kalim just soothingly rubbed Azul’s shoulder in consolation whilst the other looked like he was either plotting to murder Crowley or to sign up a first year to befriend the first year group.

“Okay. So, what is this favour?” asked Riddle, seemingly over his little existential crisis, and was determined to fill out whatever Crowley wanted him to do.

“I need you to not collar Ace-kun for the next week.”

“No.” surprisingly enough, the same vigour that went into accepting the favour was used when rejecting it.

Leona snorted whilst Lilia let out a giggle. Vil hid his own amusement behind a poorly concealed cough. Meanwhile, Idia was laughing whilst on mute and Azul was still trying to get over his own crisis with Kalim aiding him.

“Yes.” Crowley responded, already looking like he wanted to end his life.

“No” repeated Riddle

“What are you, a sadist?” asked Crowley, mildly disturbed by how unwilling one of his students was to not take away someone magic. He shook his head and stood up moving to the window. “Anyways, yes you are. I refuse to deal with him and his family .” declared crowley

“Who?” but Riddle never got his answer. Mainly because Crowley had transformed into a crow and flew out the open window.

“How did he end up being headmaster?” Lilia asked himself, rubbing his chin in confusion.

“Who knows, who cares.” Leona yawned as he walked out, the others hot on his heel. “Good luck Rosehearts, try not to screw this up. I would so hate for you to be expelled in front of my very eyes.” But the smirk he sent the other said something different.

“Move it.” Voil roughly elbowed past him

Riddle ignored the squabbling behind and focused on what he was going to do about his own first year. How was he supposed to not collar him? He made it so hard!

“Don’t worry Riddle! I trust you!” smiled Kalim and for a moment Riddle was blinded before he gave Kalim a small smile back and nodded.

Riddle very much doubted it.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Turns out Riddle had no reason to be so worried. Ace had been a perfect angel throughout the week. Ace hadn’t complained about or broken a single rule. Even at the most absurd ones, he had complied and did it to perfection, even putting Riddle to shame once or twice. Had smiled politely and addressed him, Cater and Trey politely and had even stopped antagonizing Deuce as much. He’d even helped him with his homework.

The entire dorm was afraid. Hell, scratch that, the entire school was terrified.

He’d witnessed Ace smile beautifully at other dorms including Savanaclaw, Igihide and Diasmonia students. The house wardens for said dorms had approached him, inquiring (okay that was a nice word for what those three had done but semantics) about what was up with Ace.

Riddle could only shrug and answer that he had no idea.

He had attempted to send a couple of people to figure out what was wrong with Ace but nobody was willing to talk about the redhead. Saying his name resulted in to kinds of reactions these days. One was a love sick puppy face were they started reciting his every perfection. The other had been running for the hills and screaming.

Now, Riddle could have gone to Ace and asked him what was going on. Hell, he should have asked what was going on from the start. However, when he had gone to confront Ace, he had turned to stare at the widest, most glittering eyes he had seen and when he had blinked he’d realised that those eyes belonged to Ace. Pride, burned and crumbled, he had hightailed his way away from Ace and prayed that whatever the hell was going on, would end.

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“Do you think this is an actual meeting or did Crowley hold it for shits and giggled?” Leona growled as he stared at the still closed door. He looked around and was confused to find housewarden, vices and those who went to the city of flowers trip all crowded around the room. Of course, Crowley wasn’t even there but the lizard was?

“Yeah? Why am i here? I have a shift in like 20 minutes!” huffed Ruggie from beside him. Leona made a mental reminder to himself to give Ruggie more for cleaning his clothes later on.

“Maybe he wanted us to talk about a new trip and he invited those from the other trip so they could share what they liked!” Kalim, ever the optimist suggested.

“And the vices are here because?” asked Jamil, raising an eyebrow at the suggestion.

“All people, no matter their station in life can have valuable insights!” Kalim sweetly smiled and Jamil returned the smile, with just as much poison. Leona curled his lips at the display and mentally congratulated the two at finally gaining their own set of claws.

“Okay I’m gonna le-” stood up Ruggie.

“STUDENTS I AM HERE!” Came a loud voice and they all winced at the sheer volume of the man's voice. When Leona turned to glare and yell back at the volume, he stopped short.

Crowley was covered in head to toe in what looked like Styx-issued protective gear, was holding his magic cane and whip in both hands and had placed a barrier around himself.

There was a second before the third- and second-years in the room out their magic items out and glared at Crowley with a look that said, ‘spill or you will be spilled.’

“What did you do?” demanded Vil, his voice cold as ice as he stared at the headmaster in disgust.

“You see,” started Crowley, already itching back and away from the possible blood bath. “NBCarecomingovertomorrowokaybye!” and with that he ran outside the room, getting chased by a few spells as he did.

“What did he say?” Kalim tilted his head in confusion.

“The embassy is coming tomorrow?”

“To check up on how shit the school is?”

“You never know! Maybe they want to recruit some people from the school!

“No one who’s smart is recruiting anyone from this school.”

Whilst everyone who did not go to the City of Flowers was arguing about what Crowley said, the ones who did go stilled as the realisation about the disaster show that was going to happen.

Because do you know who’s part of the NBC school? Rollo Flamm.

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“…and make sure to show our school off and make us proud!” droned on Rollo’s professor.

In front of the Night Raven college gates stood Rollo’s school in all their glory, shock evident on their face at the sheer size of the school before them

“Magnifique.” A student beside Rollo muttered slowly, gawking at the building as if it was the answer to their prayers.

Rollo refrained from scoffing, finding the entire thing to be tacky and old. Quite frankly the only good thing about the damned place was that Ace was there.

“WELCOME STUDENTS!” Came a loud voice and when Rollo turned there stood Dire Crowley, in all his feathered glory.

“Good lord that thing is ugly.” Hissed Rollo under his breath, bringing his handkerchief to his mouth in disgust. A few students that heard him nodded along with his comment, but also mildly fascinated at how extra one man is.

“We hope you will enjoy our school like we enjoyed yours.” Came a voice from behind Crowley and there Rollo could see was Mozus Trein.

“I’m sure we will. As long as there are no flaming flowers.” coughed professor Trein behind a gloved fist. There was some awkward laugher before Crowley took control of the conversation again

“As always, I am so happy to welcome more students to our great school, which has stood here for a century! Please we, come into Night Raven College!” Crowley spread his arms dramatically, showcasing the schools grand stature.

‘I just want to see Ace.’

And those seemed to be the magic words as he saw familiar red hair. There was his boyfriend.

“Rollo!” the younger yelled in excitement and he could see Crowley flinch away in fear at the voice He held in a cackle about what his boyfriend could have possibly done to a grown man before spreading his arms just in the nick of time to catch his boyfriend in his arms.

Time seemed to stop. There was no one else in that moment except for the two of them, the others just being insignificant weeds who had no attention or drive. There was an awkward cough behind them but they paid them no attention. Their focus was on each other.

Ace finally pulled back and giggled, before grabbing his hand and leading him forwards. “C’mon let me show you around!”

The two took off ahead, leaving the rest of the students and faculty behind. Distantly he could hear Crowley crying as the teachers surrounding him looked upon him with nothing but disgust.

“Let me show you to my dorm first!” Ace pulled him back to him and Rollo nodded.

“Of course, my love.” he placed a gentle kiss to their conjoined hands and savoured Ace’s shy giggle.

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“So, this is Heartslabyul!” Ace announced, pointing to a large red building, surrounded by a rose bush maze and heart shaped rose trees that the students seemed to be painting.

“Very red.” Rollo noted “Also, a lot of rose bushes.”

“Yup! They’re a homeage to the original queen of hearts who was obsessed with roses back in the day.”

Ace then took him on a tour around the dorm gardens, pointing out where the hedgehogs were, where the flamingos they used as sticks were and so and so forth. Rollo merely nodded again, having to fight back down the urge to take a picture of Ace cuddling the hedgehogs.

Eventually all good things came to an end when they bumped into Trey, Cater, Riddle and Deuce. Oh, this should be good.

“HI everyone!” Ace greeted happily, wrapping his arms around Roll’s and nuzzling up to him. “This is my boyfriend, Rollo!” Ace introduced happily, even though he knew the shit fest that was going to happen.

See, he already knew what his boyfriend did. How could he not? After he had bullied the information out of Sebek, Epel and Deuce he had personally gone to the city of Flowers to bully Rollo for what he had done. But things had escalated and shifted and once poisonous conversations had turned teasing and loving. Glares to concerned and shy glances, cheeks puffed up in frustration where now adorned with a blush.

He would just have to explain that to everyone.

“Deuce come with me. Rollo stay here and talk to my upperclassmen.” he gave his boyfriend a peck on the cheek and then grabbed deuces arm and dragged him into a quiet corner.

It was time...to talk about...feelings.

UGH.

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“Listen here you rat.” hissed Riddle, pointing his staff at Rollo, much to the surprise of the two from his dorm who had jumped at the tone of his voice. “You will undo whatever dark magic you have placed my card soldier under or so help me i-”

“You truly believe I would use something as primitive and worthless as...magic?” the man sounded disgusted at the mere thought.

Trey and Cater raised an eyebrow at the other and looked at each other and then back at him. “Not to be captain obvi, but aren’t you...” Cater gestures to all of Rollo, trying to gesture what he means.

“Trust me I am well aware of the curse that runs through my veins, as much as I hate it, I cannot do anything about it.”

“Not like you didn’t try.” Rollo and Riddle glared at each other, before Rollo continued on.

“Listen here, Rosehearts. Whatever contempt I might feel for magic, doesn’t overshadow my feelings for Ace. I intend to treat him right and a person. Unlike you, I have stopped viewing people as possessions.” he sneered at Riddle behind his handkerchief that he had taken out. “I would suggest you start focusing on making Ace feel wanted within his own dorm, then worrying about those who truly care for him.”

“Why you-!”

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“And he’s treating your right?” asked Deuce, for the nth time since Ace had dragged him over to the corner to talk about...feelings.

“Yes.” Ace replied, trying, for once, to keep the annoyance out of his voice. He knew that Deuce was trying to be supportive and protective in his own way and he also understood that dating somebody with Rollo’s....history was also incredibly questionable so he could deal with the prodding and the questioning. What he can’t deal with is Deuce trying ad trying to hug him. Absolutely not.

“...So, you bullied him when you first met him?” Deuce raised an eyebrow, smirk in place as Ace mirrored with his own.

“Oh, so much, you’d actually support me for it.” they both laughed as Ace explained the pranks, the pointed words and the glares that he had subjected Rollo to when his family had decided to vacation there briefly for spring.

“Well, as long as he knows his place and where he stands, I’m happy for you Ace. Really.” Deuce tried to pull Ace in for a hug which Ace reluctantly accepted.

What?! So maybe he was feeling happy that Deuce accepted his relationship with Rollo? So damn what?

“We should probably head back before they think you killed me.” Ace tried to extract himself from the hug without seeming insensitive.

“Huh? Why would I kill you?” Deuce tilted his head and Ace sighed.

“Sometimes, I truly do worry about you loosey Deucey.” Ace threw an arm over the youngers shoulder before dragging him back to their senpai, ignoring Deuce’s squawk of irritation.

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When Ace and Deuce finally got back to where they had originally left their upperclassmen, Ace isn’t going to lie, he had excepted a battleground or a warzone to have taken place. Instead, the place was still clean and tidy, as if it didn’t know the word battle, and everyone was unharmed, even if Housewarden Riddle looked like he was very much read to punch Rollo in the face.

“So, you all talked?”

“It was a very... enlighting conversation.” Riddle got out through forced teeth, unable to stop himself from glaring at Rollo.

Truthfully, the conversation had been enlighting. Whilst Trey and Cater restrained him Rollo had spent the 20 minutes that Ace was away beating Riddle for his treatment off the redhead which had caused Riddle to have a few existential crisis, and from the looks of it Deuce had had a couple as well.

“Hey Acey!” Cater waved,

“Hi senpai!” Ace waved back before trotting over to his boyfriend and wrapping an arm around his arm and pulling him down so he could press a kiss on his cheek, “What did you guys talk about?”

“A conversation for another time, my flower.” Rollo pressed a tender kiss on the side of his head, amused by the flush on Ace’s cheek at such a gesture. “Now, you were going to show me around?”

Ace finished off the rest of the tour, merely citing where the bathroom, kitchens and living spaces where (also a few, ahem, secret rooms for later)

The tours around the rest of the dorms where much shorter. He would only pop in to say hello to a first year (Who, apart from Jack and Ortho, all looked like they wanted to slaughter Rollo, Sebek most of all) and his basketball teammates. Overall, despite the fact that Diasmonia tried to roast his boyfriend alive over what happened on their trip, everything worked out fine.

They even bumped into Crowley a few times, and the man looked like he aged every time he saw the two of them, much to the amusement of literally everyone in attendance. Unfortunately, birdman gets his comeback later on at all the hushed snickering.

“I am making this announcement to inform you about a ball that will be hosted later tonight to welcome the students who have travelled out here today! Attendance in mandatory!”

So, whilst Pomefiore students were stressing out that they hadn’t done the appropriate skin care necessary or didn’t have the right dress or suit for the occasion, and whilst Savanaclaw stressed about having to attend a ball of all things and the mini fish mafia lamented over not being able to be the ones hosting the food, Ace hid his excited smile.

“Is there anything wrong, my flower?” Rollo asked, leaning down and cupping Ace’s cheek in concern when he had noticed his boyfriend go quiet.

“No, nothing!” Ace had reassured him, leaning up on his toes to get a kiss. “Just excited for tonight's ball!” he answered.

Rollo also leaned down, and the two of them shared a sweet, short kiss, mindful of the glares that they were receiving from above, below and side to side. “Can’t wait to see you in whatever you wear. I’m sure you’ll look exquisite.” he whispered the last statement into Ace's ears, pleased by the little shiver from the redhead and the slow reddening of his ears.

“Just make sure you wear something red.” Ace told him. “Now, I need to go get ready!”

“Already?”

“Yes! Go wait with your school, i don’t want anyone to attack you.” Ace urged protectively and Rollo had to restrain himself from squeezing his boyfriend due to how cute he was being.

“You worry too much.” Rollo coughed behind his handkerchief but was secretly pleased. “Now, i do hope all this time away from me will be worth it!” he whispered into Ace’s ears again and chuckled when Ace smacked his chest away, harumphed and walked away back to his dorm, blush spreading down to his neck.

Rollo took this time to go back to his own school and peers, just in the nick of time as he felt a spell wiz behind his ear. Behind him he could hear scuffling and someone being shoved with others insulting the person who had missed.

‘Ugh, magic’ Rollo rolled his eyes, ‘So primitive and crude.’

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One thing about Crowley, no matter how cheap he is, he’s also fancy. The grand hall was decorated with beautiful decorations, flowers were in every corner, the tables, covered with a dark purple cloth, were covered in eggs, ranging from eggs to chicken to cakes. Rollo would quite frankly prefer to observe all the decorations as he waited for his boyfriend but since when does he get what he wants?

“Rollo Flamm.” Malleus Draconia’s imposing figure towered over him menacingly with Azul Ashengrotto and Idia Shroud flanking him on either side. “Whatever curse you have placed on Trappola you will undo and you will-”

“Ace isn’t under a spell.” Deuce interrupted Malleus. He was holding a plate just full of devilled eggs. “He and I talked about it and even though Mr Flamm is clearly psychotic and needs to go to therapy, he makes Ace happy and isn’t mind controlling him.”

Rollo felt a vein throb as everyone snickered around him. “Thank you, Deuce Spade. Your words mean so much to me.” he thanked through gritted teeth

“You’re saying Ace-shi is willingly dating this dweeb?” Idia asked, pointing a thumb at Rollo. It was a large surprise to everyone that he had come to such a social event, without even needing Ortho to force him to do so.

“I agree!” Azul nodded, looking sad for the redhead. “I’m sure Ace-san can do better. I, ever so benevolent am willing to-”

“Absolutely not.” Rollo and Riddle snapped at the same time, before glaring at each other.

“What on earth is going on here?” asked a blonde in a purple, floor length gown. So, this must be the model Vil Schoenheit

“Ace is getting mind controlled by this shit eatin-”

“Epel Felmiere hold your tongue!” snapped Vil, looking horrified by Epel’s mouth.

“He isn’t wrong!” argued Sebek in Epel’s defence. “This disgrace to the magical community-”

“Listen. I absolutely hate all of you here, not a single one of you has earned my respect in anyway.” Jamil and Ruggie flipped him off with glares. “However, Ace, after subjecting me to numerous pranks, glares and many other things has made me fall in love with him-.”

“Are you a masochist?” asked Leona, raising an eyebrow.

“I can squeeze you if you’re into that.”

“-Anyways.” Rollo growled, glaring at the two who merely gave him nasty smiles. “Ace is easy and so hard to love. No matter how much contempt for magic I may have, Ace will always be at the centre of my world.”

“Excuse us for being concerned about out friend dating a psychopath.” huffed Epel, crossing his arms and pointing his tongue at Rollo, much to the annoyance of Vil and Rollo.

“Look, I don’t care what-”

“WOW.”

Everyone turned at what would cause such a commotion and Rollo felt his heart jump to his throat. He could feel his heart skip a beat. He could feel himself ascend to the heavens. Ace was Stunning

Ace was in a floor length gown, that trailed behind him. The gown was a deep wine red, a classic ace colour, and was in a sweetheart neckline, which has small little rubies encrusted on it. Th dress had angel sleeves which flowed around his arms beautifully and made him seem like a classical painting. His eyelashes were curled and were adorned with a small gem, and his eyes were painted with a beautiful maroon colour that made his red eyes pop. His lips were a pouty pink colour and many wanted to be the ones to kiss the colour off.

He looked incredible.

“Hi.” Ace waved shyly, much to everyone surprise, not used to seeing the usually arrogant first-year so docile. “How do I look?” he asked, gesturing to all of him.

Rollo didn’t answer his boyfriend straight away. Instead, he took in the site of the redhead some more before tipping the youngers chin and pulling him into a deep kiss, fully ignoring the sensation of angry hornets plotting their revenge from afar. “Exquisite.” he said after pulling away, delighting smugly in the way Ace blushed. “Now, will you join me for a dance, my flame?”

“Sure, why not.” Ace could have pulled being nonchalant had he actually looked up at his boyfriend and didn’t resemble a tomato.

Rollo held back from laughing or making any comments and instead took his boyfriend by the hand to the centre of the dance floor and let their bodies guide them.

The two danced away, ignoring the jealousy, confusion and anger coming from all around.

Tonight was about them.

22 notes · View notes

vanfleeter · 1 day ago

Text

Bound For Earth: Chapter 8

Characters: Jake Kiszka, Josh Kiszka, Marlie, Ivan. Warnings: 18+ || Language. Smut. Allusions to sex. Penetrative sex. Fluff. Tooth achingly sweet proposal. Brotherly banter. A/N: We are back with the sci-fi!

Bound For Earth Masterlist

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“Jake, what are you doing?” Marlie asks as I pull her through the corridors.

Today marks three months since Marlie and our family made the trip here to Mars. We’ve shown them just about everything. I took Sam out in one of the space cars and he absolutely fell in love with it. Danny fell right into rhythm helping out in the training modules. Apparently he’s big on fitness and helping to keep everyone in shape has been quite the joy for him. Mom and Dad fell back into work, Mom working from the command center and Dad went right back to working on the cruiser and fixing any problems with any of the space crafts if there were any problems. Josh and Ivan seemed to get even closer. I still sometimes see them sneaking in and out of each other’s cabins every now and then. As long as he’s happy, that’s all that matters.

Marlie and I have spent nearly every minute together, except for when I have to work. When I do, she’ll go off and help Josh in the agricultural side of the station. Apparently she too has a green thumb.

It has been an adjustment period and not everything has been exactly sunshine and rainbows. Living on the station is a lot different than living on Earth. You don’t have much freedom to do things and living in close quarters is not always easy, especially when you have a small bed that typically only fits one person.

Sex was easy when it didn't require having to turn over often, which we sometimes did. Listen.. I’m trying to experience sex in any way that I possibly can and any way that she’s comfortable with. But damn.. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve hit the floor. Forget having bruises from sex, I get bruises just from falling off the bed.

I sleep on the outer side of the bed to keep her from falling off the bed. I didn’t entirely think that through very well. Neither of us can sleep on our backs or our stomachs, so we have to sleep on our sides which tends to get highly uncomfortable after a while so turning over just adds even more difficulty. It got to the point that I got fed up once in the middle of night and ended up sleeping on the floor. Still not comfortable but at least I won’t keep falling off the bed. I had petitioned to build a bigger bed in the cabin but per usual, my request was denied. The only reasoning being that Marlie would be going back to Earth in three months so the head honcho felt that it would just be a waste. Whatever..

Sharing such close quarters was also not easy. Always having to squeeze past each other in the bathroom. Marlie tripped over my computer chair so many times. Trying to take a shower together proved difficult so that was eliminated almost immediately. Even trying to change at the same time resulted once in her swinging her elbow and nailing me in the throat. She was offered to stay in an empty cabin but that was clear on the other side of the station. She declined it gracefully whereas I may have used a few not so nice words. So living in the same tiny cabin will have to be done for the time being.

“I want to show you something.” I say as I unlock the doors to the dome. Inside it was filled with all different kinds of monitors and radars. A spiral staircase led upwards towards the top where a giant telescope sat and pointed outwards to look beyond the station. Dragging her up the steps, I stop in front of the telescope. “I think you’re going to like this.” I peer through the eyepiece of the telescope, adjusting it to the right position until I find what I’m looking for. “Here, take a look.”

She steps up to the telescope and peers into the eyepiece, “Woah.. Is that Saturn?”

“Yeah, we’re close enough to see Saturn in its orbit.”

“That’s so amazing. I never thought I’d see Saturn this close ever.”

“It’s quite the sight.”

She pulls away from the telescope, “Do you ever see Jupiter?”

“Every now and then, definitely more often than Saturn.”

She turns back to the telescope and looks into the eyepiece again. “Those rings are so gorgeous up close.”

“I had this crazy thought of what if it were possible to take one and give it to you..”

She scoffs with a giggle, “That is quite impossible.”

“Which is why I made you one.”

“What?” She pulls away and turns back around to face me.

“I was five years old when a group of astronauts made the trip from here to Saturn. They wanted to get as close as they could to observe the planet and its rings for better accuracy. Well, they got close enough to collect little pieces of the outer rings.” I dug into my pocket and pulled out a silver band that had a decent sized diamond on it. “I asked Patrick in the welding department if he could take some of the collected material from that trip and make a ring out of it.”

“Jake..”

“I know this is sudden and we haven't really talked about this..” I step up close to her and reach for her left hand. “I love you Marlie and I want to marry you, if you’ll have me.”

“Oh Jake..” She covers her mouth as her eyes fill with tears. “Of course I will.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah! Yes!” She exclaims, excitedly bouncing on the tips of her toes.

I slip the ring on her finger and she throws her arms around my neck, effectively pulling me in for a kiss. No one knew of our engagement, I made sure to keep it a secret considering how easily word can spread around here.

That night we made love like we’ve never done before. Quite frankly because we did it right there by the telescope. I think the reason it felt different was because we’re engaged but because it’s a bit public and the risk of someone walking in and finding us just makes it quite the thrill.

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The proposal wasn’t the only surprise I had in store for her. I kept up with my training and my progress was moving along very well. Living on Earth was still a goal for me. Though I’d be away from Josh, I didn’t want to take Marlie away from all of that and bring her up here to next to nothing. She keeps telling me that she loves it up here but I just know that after some time she’ll grow to not like living up here 24/7. So for now, I’ll keep training to grow my immunity to Earth’s gravity.

As I make my way down the corridors towards our cabin, I’m yanked from the hall and into Josh’s cabin. “What the hell?” I say as he pins me to the bed.

“How can you propose to Marlie and not say anything to me?” He says above me.

“What? How did you–”

“She wasn’t so quick to hide the ring when I saw her in the common area. You never even mentioned wanting to propose and then boom, suddenly you’re engaged?!”

“Shhh!” I clamp my hands over his mouth. “Shut up, loudmouth. Who all else knows?”

Josh pushes my hands away from his face and stands back up to his feet. “As far as I know, just me.” Josh says. “But if she can’t hide that thing properly, Mom’s definitely going to find out and she’s going way more pissed than I am that you didn’t say anything.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you–”

“I am your brother–your twin!” He exclaims, throwing his arms around in the air. “Out of everyone on this damn station, I should have been the first to know.”

“Are you finished being dramatic?” I say as I stand on my feet.

“Wah–Yes..” He huffs.

“And the reason I didn’t tell you was because I know how you are. Mom would have found out before I could even propose.”

“I would not have told her,” Josh says in defense of himself with his hands on his hips.

“Oh no?” I say, my eyebrows raising. “Then who was the one who told Mom that I took out the rover that very first time without supervision?”

“Well–”

“And the time that I snuck out to watch the sun rise from the canyons?”

“But–”

“Admit it, Josh. You would have blabbed.”

Josh rolls his eyes and folds his arms over his chest. He then peeks at me from the side. “Am I at least going to be your best man?”

“No, I was thinking maybe Sam–or Danny, he seems cool.”

“What?!”

I laugh and playfully shove him. “I’m kidding! Of course you’d be my best man! You’ve been by my side our whole lives–not like you had a choice–why would I choose someone over you?”

“Mmhmm…”

I chuckle and start heading for the door and I slide it open only to find Ivan on the other side with his fist raised to knock. “Oh.. Hi..” He awkwardly smiles. “I didn’t know-”

“No, you’re good!” I say with a smile. “I’m on my way out anyways.” We trade spots and I step out in the hall. “Have fun, be safe!”

Josh’s eyes grow wide. “Jake!”

I wink at him before closing the door and hurrying down the hall to our cabin. Sliding open the door, I hear Marlie gasp and I look up to see her covering her top half with one of my tshirts. She sighs in relief and sits down on the bed. “You scared me..” She says. I walk over with a smile on my face and I lean down to kiss her. “I haven’t seen you all day, how was it?”

“Good, actually,” I say as I sit beside her on the bed.

“You’ve been training a lot,” She says. “I like watching you.”

“You watch me?”

Marlie nods her head as she smiles. “You look so sexy when you’re all sweaty.”

“Do I?” I say as I lean in close to her, rubbing my nose against her.

“Mmhmm..”

“And I bet I’d look even sexier if I took all of my sweaty clothes off, hmm?”

“It’s possible.”

I smile against her lips and kiss her as I gently lay her back on the bed. She grabs the ends of my shirt and pulls it up my back. I lean back on my knees and pull off my shirt the rest of the way.

I whisper all of the sweet things into her ear as I slowly make love to her, savoring it all. I soak in all the places she touches me and I save all of her sounds in my head. All these years I have spent up here feeling trapped and as if I’d die up here without experiencing some kind of love.

But I found it, and I found her. Even though our short time spent on Earth didn't give me much, I still am grateful. I just hope all of this training pulls off.

When we both meet our ends, I go to pull out of her when she pulls me back and kisses me. “I love you.” She says. “I really do.”

“I love you too.” I say as I kiss her back.

–Four Months Later–

“I think you’re ready to go,” Ivan says with a proud smile on his face. “Both you and Josh have been shown a lot of progress since coming back.”

“You think?” Josh asks with a cock of his eyebrow.

Ivan chuckles. “I know,” He says as leans over to kiss Josh. “However, we still have to take precautions.”

“I knew it was too good to be true.” I grumble.

Ivan chuckled and I raised my head to look at him with a questionable look on my face. “Just for the first week or two, we’ll be monitoring the both of you. If anything should happen–”

“We’ll get shipped right back here..” I finished.

“Not exactly,” Ivan says, shaking his head. “Some of our engineers have been building a prototype of a lighter gravity chamber so in the event that something should happen–again–we’ll have a place to bring you instead of rushing you into outer space.”

“And it works?” Josh asks.

Ivan nods his head. “So… With all of that being said.. How about we head back to our cabins, pack up what all you want to bring back down with you, and get some rest. The cruiser leaves tomorrow afternoon.”

Sliding open the cabin door, I find Marlie sitting on the edge of the bed and chewing at her nail. A nervous habit she seems to have picked up. When she hears me, she looks up and drops her hand from her mouth.

“What’d he say?” She asks as she rushes up to me. “Are you cleared to go?” I nod my head and a smile breaks out on her face. “I have never been happier,” She says as she kisses me. “All the hard work that you’ve been put in and it’s paying off, I’m so proud of you.”

“I was determined to be with you on Earth,” I say as I wrap my arms around her. “Last thing I wanted to do was to subject you to life up here. It can get quite boring.”

“Well I’ve been having fun actually,” She says. “Plus you’re here so it definitely feels like home.” I smile and lean down to kiss her. “But I’ll be excited to finally be able to eat something other than pees.”

I can't help but to laugh. “Now you know how I’ve been feeling.” I say as I pick her up. She wraps her legs around my waist and I carry her over to the bed.

“Would you like to celebrate?” She says.

“I thought you’d never ask..”

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tag list is in my master list if you would like to join it!

@watchingover-hypegirl @losfacedevil @ignite-my-fire @ohgodthefeeling-gvf @writingcold @jaketlove @katiegvf @joshkiszkaenthusiast @takenbythemadness @jakekiszkasmommy @objectsinspvce @heckingfrick @bluemeadows77 @laneygvf @gvfpal @killerqueengvf @alwaysonthemend @hellowgoodbye @anythingforjtk @hi-hi-hello11 @anthemofgvf @gretasfallingsky @songbirds-sweet @wildbluesorbit @klarxtr @stardustsecret @sunandthemoontwinflames @everyglowinthetwilightknows @josh-iamyour-mama @dannys-dream @peaceloveunitygvf @hollyco @tinydancer40 @edgingthedarkness @i-love-gvf @thewritingbeforesunrise @katuschka @sammysstolenbirks @asendingtothestarsasone @fleetingjake @emojakekiszka @literal-dead-leaf @musicislove3389

#jake kiszka #greta van fleet #greta van fleet fic #greta van fleet fanfic #jake kiszka fanfic #jake kiszka fic #gvf #bound for earth #sci fi

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