#but they'll still have their phones and will be able to chat

[l1v1ngd3dgrrl]

Lovers in the Backseat [Daisuke x reader]

an: I initially started this yesterday after i couldn't sleep and decided to continue it(also because I can't sleep) because I'm blanking on the other thing I'm working on. Also if you caught the little reference I snuck in here Ily, it's so stupid but I giggled at the thought of it. Reader can be read as whatever gender you want!

Word count: 1,719

Cw(s) Not beta read, unprotected sex, sex in a car, quickie,semi-clothed sex reader is slightly tipsy (but is still able to consent!) Daisuke might be ooc here?

MDNI banner: cafekitsune

You've been at this party for hours now. Daisuke had insisted that the both of you attend his friend, Jackson's party. This dude was pretty well known for having some off the wall parties, must be the wealth of his family or something.

The loud EDM music was starting to give you a headache, and the alcohol you were sipping on wasn't making things any better. You've had your fun and you were ready to go home. You push your way past the hoards of people and out towards the back patio.

You found Daisuke sitting with his friends around a fire pit laughing and chatting about who knows what. You walked up behind him and bent down to peck his cheek. "Ready to go?" you murmured quietly.

Daisuke hummed in agreement and reached a hand up to caress the side of your face. "Yeah, lemme tell the boys we're heading out."

You stood back up and finished off the last bit of alcohol that was in your cup, making a face at the burn as it went down your throat.

Daisuke said his goodbyes to his friends and places his hand on the small of your back as the two of you walk to his car. You chuck your empty cup into a nearby trashcan on your way out.

"Enjoy the party?" He asked as he started the route to his house. "Yeah actually, your friend always has something crazy going on." Daisuke chuckles a bit, "A couple of his bandmates were there so the turn out was a lot more than usual."

He was right about that, the last few parties you went to weren't as crowded. The amount of people you had to wade through tonight was kinda crazy. Especially to get some alcohol, seemed like that was the spot where everyone and their mama wanted to gather.

Speaking of, the affects of the alcohol were really noticeable now that you weren't overwhelmed by hoards of people. The heaviness of your eyelids being the main affect. You yawned and closed your eyes, not sleeping just resting.

The two of you hadn't made it far down the road when the car jolted suddenly. The loud popping sound that followed caused you to snap awake and audibly swear, Daisuke swore from the driver's side and pulled over to the side of the road. "What happened?" you asked frantically.

"I think we got a flat." He sets the car in park and the both of you get out to go inspect it. You turn on the flashlight on your phone on and walk with him to see which tire it was. You reach the rear left tire and he swears again.

Yup, it's flat. From the looks l of it a nail or something punctured it. He popped the trunk and swears for a third time under his breath. He did have a spare luckily, but there was something missing.

"I forgot to put my tools back after I cleaned my car yesterday." He runs a hand through his hair and groans. "I can't call my parents because they'll be pissed." His dad was the one who hounded him about always keeping the spare AND tools in the car. No doubt if he called him up he'd give him an earful.

"I can call my co-worker to see if she can come pick us up?" You offer. Daisuke gives the flat tire one last glare before shaking his head. "Nah don't worry about it. I'll text one of the guys and see if they'll help me get the spare on."

Wordlessly the two of you get back in the car. Daisuke flicks on the emergency flashers and starts texting his friends.

Twenty minutes go by and he finally gets a response. Leo, one of his friends who had left the party earlier said he'd be on his way shortly. Daisuke closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh. "Leo says he'll be out here in like fifteen, twenty minutes-ish."

Both of you sat quietly, listening to the ticking of the emergency flashers and the occasional car driving past. Daisuke hummed in annoyance at the ticking and quickly grabbed his phone. The soft melody of some lo-fi filling the silence.

Eventually Leo shows up and honks his horn. "ah-he's here, you might wanna hop out with me." Daisuke says to you.

Both of you exit the car and walk over to the flat. The boys make quick work of getting the flat tire off, they ask you to hold the light so they can see what they're doing.

Something about seeing Daisuke in such a serious state-brows furrowed in concentration, his arms flexing as he fights with the bolts on the hubcap, maybe even the fact that he's pushing his hair out of his face every so often. It's hot.

After twenty five minuets or so the new tire is on and Daisuke is thanking Leo for helping. They fist bump and Leo gets in his car and leaves. "Now we can go home."

He pulls back onto the road, albeit with more caution this time. He says something else but you're too distracted to think.

Maybe it was hormones, or maybe it was the alcohol. Either way you needed him like, now.

"Babe?"

"Oh-sorry, yeah?"

"You're being quiet." He comments, turning down the volume of the music slightly. "M'sorry," You look him up and down "Just lost in thought."

"What's on your mind?" He asked glancing over at you briefly.

jumping your bones. "You."

"Oh yeah?" he asks with an amused tone. "What about me?"

You bite your lip slightly, fuck it might as well. "You looked really hot changing the tire."

He snorts and places one hand on your thigh and gives it a quick squeeze. You repress a groan.

He continues driving but keeps that hand on your thigh, every so often he moves it slightly closer to the inner part. You feel like your head is spinning.

"Daisuke-" You huff out finally "Quit teasing me!"

He giggles from the driver seat and pulls off into an empty parking lot. He turns the headlights off and turns his attention to you finally.

"So seeing me change a tire was hot to you?" he questions. You roll your eyes and cup the side of his face with one of your hands. "It's not the fact that you were changing a tire," you move your thumb over his beauty mark. "It was the fact that you looked really fucking good doing it."

Daisuke places his hand on top of yours and leans into your palm "Well, what's the move?"

"Hop in the backseat for me." you answer quickly.

Both of you awkwardly shuffle into the backseat. Daisuke sits in the middle, legs spread apart and motioning for your to come sit on his lap. You oblige instantly.

He looks up at you tenderly, eyes flittering all over your face. God he's gorgeous.

You make the first move and press a kiss to his lips, it's intense. Daisuke catches on quickly and matches your energy, he moves his hands to your waist, fingers sliding under your sweatshirt to caress your skin. You let out a contented groan into the kiss.

Beneath you, you could feel Daisuke's erection through his jeans. Guess you weren't the only one worked up.

You grind your hips against him briefly. He tightens his grip against your thighs and pulls you down against him again. Soon you're both grinding against each other frantically.

Daisuke pulls away from the kiss, huffing after every thrust of his hips. You still your hips and scoot yourself back. "Ready for the real thing?" he asks with a giggle.

You nod and start fishing around the middle console for the spare bottle of lube he kept in there.

If you ask Daisuke why he keeps it in here he'll just shrug and say it's just in case. You know this was a common occurrence so having this on hand was just the best option.

Triumphantly you hold the travel sized bottle in the air and hand it over to him. You made quick work of getting your pants off, struggling only slightly due to the limited space.

Once your bottom half was bare Daisuke coated his middle and ring fingers. He tried to let the liquid heat up a bit before he went to work on you.

You were back on his lap, hovering slightly. He starts working his fingers into your entrance, honing in on your gasps and moans every time his fingers curved in a way that you liked.

"Feeling good?" He purred, watching your face contort with pleasure.

"mmf-fuck yeah."

He starts to pick up the pace a bit causing you to let out a high pitched whine of his name. Once he felt you were properly warmed up he pulls his fingers out and gets to working on his own jeans. You help him shimmy his boxers down enough to let his cock free.

He coats the remaining lube on his fingers against it, a groan rumbling in his throat upon the contact. He strokes himself a few more times before lining it up against your entrance. "Ready?" you ask, bracing your hands on his shoulders.

"Fuck yeah."

You start to sink down on him, savoring the feeling of feeling full. Normally you'd give yourself a moment to adjust but you can't. You needed release now.

You start bouncing on his cock, rocking the car in the process. Daisuke hisses and moans your name, his hands finding purchase on your hips once more. You tilt your head back and allow the whines and moans to flow freely.

The windows by now are completely fogged up, and the car feels like a sauna. Both of you are sweating.

Soon Daisuke digs his fingers into your hips and gasps. "Oh fuck,I-I can't last much longer."

You move your hips faster, chasing your own orgasm. With a sharp whine of your name Daisuke cums, hips thrusting into yours the best he can from this angle. You soon follow suite, stilling as the waves wash over you.

After soaking in the after glow you two eventually get cleaned up and moved back into the front seats.

For the third time that night you made your way home. Maybe this time you'll actually make it there without any more distractions.

[irishhorse-blog]

https://x.com/satellitejikoo/status/1696455813488058590?s=46&t=1vpxCz-hcEUUJGzw7h18UQ

they say JK is flying to America so Jimin won’t be with him 😭🥲🥲 it’ll be sad if this is the year it’s all different idk:(

It's entirely possible that they celebrated early, since Jikook, Mingyu and Eun Woo were all in Busan together. It's also possible that (a) Jimin will be on the next flight, (b) they're flying together, or (c) it'll be what we suspected might happen this year, i.e., a JK Weverse live with Jimin in the comments.

Don't worry. Even if we don't see it, Jimin will be there for JK, either already having celebrated, going in person, or being there in spirit only. We know he won't miss it, and we don't have to see them interact to know that's true.

Remember, they have their own phones, texts, group chats, and other ways of contacting each other. When they contact each other where we can see it, it's because they want us to know what's going on. They're savvy that way. And don't think for a second that just because we don't see something it isn't actually happening.

But I wouldn't count Jimin out just yet.

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

Musician Age Gap AU pt 2

Kara blinks, suddenly dumbstruck. Esme's t-shirt didn't do the woman justice. Her eyes catch briefly on a sharp jawline before being captivated by warm green eyes.

"Uhm, sorry, I-- I didn't mean..." Kara struggles with her words in a way she hasn't in years. "Are you--?"

"Yup," Lena confirms with a drawl, but her smile doesn't leave her lips. "Do I need to call security?"

"What? No! No, of course not, I didn't mean to barge-- I swear I wasn't looking for you."

Lena accepts the blithering answer at face value. "Good. It would be to have you thrown out before the show."

Sure enough, underneath her gray zip up hoodie Kara spies a flash of a silver bedazzled dress.

"I mean. For the record, you should." As soon as she says it, Kara picks up steam, suddenly angry on the artist's behalf. "I shouldn't have been able to get anywhere close to you---"

"It's okay," Lena assures her. "You don't look the type to be looking for an autograph."

Kara huffs, but finds a small smile creeping over her face. "No," she confirms. "I got lost."

One of Lena's eyebrows lifts.

"Well, first I got locked in the stairwell. Which is against code, by the way. And *then* I got lost."

Lena smirks, picking up her phone and typing out a short message. "Security," she explains.

"Oh."

"They'll be able to help you find your way better than I can."

Relief floods Kara, and then a thrill of excitement when Lena's smile broadens to a grin.

"You here with someone?"

Kara nods. "My goddaughter, Esme. She, uh.... she loves you. Rather a lot, actually."

"Tell her hi for me."

"I will-- oh! Shit, you've got a signal down here!" Kara fumbles her phone and her ticket, and in her rush to fire off a note to Esme promising to be there soon, doesn't notice when the ticket slips from her palm.

"Sorry," Kara rambles. "Damn. She's probably eaten all the nachos by now."

At that, Lena laughs, just as a hulking figure appears in the doorway behind Kara. "Yes, ma'am?"

"Hi Ryan," Lena greets, voice still full of mirth. "Miss, uh..."

"Danvers. Kara Danvers," Kara blurts.

"Miss Kara Danvers here got a little turned around. Would you mind showing her to where she needs to go?"

"Of course, ma'am."

Lena nods approvingly. When her gaze returns to Kara, Kara can't help but notice the brief glance that flicks over her, and the consequent blush that blooms in the younger woman's cheeks.

"I've got fifteen until places," Lena tells her. Her voice is smooth and low, velvet in the cinderblock room. "I'm sorry we can't chat more, but I'm sure Esme is worried about you."

Kara nods, swallowing. "Right. Um... thank you."

"My pleasure." Lena's crinkle at the corners. "Lovely to meet you."

"You too," Kara issues, turning to follow Ryan out the door and into the hall. It's not until the door shuts behind them that Kara realizes how hard her heart is thumping, or the tremble in her fingers.

"Jesus," she mutters, giving her hand a shake.

"Which level, Miss Danvers?"

"Second mezzanine, restrooms near the food vendors."

Ryan escorts her until Kara spots Esme, at which point he departs with her thanks. Esme dashes towards her, eyes wide. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Kara promises, giving her a hug. "Just got turned around. Sorry for taking so long."

"Come on!" Esme urges, already moving on from the subject. "We've got to get to our seats!"

Kara trails closely behind her goddaughter as they move towards the stands, but her thoughts remain with the raven haired woman two flights below.

Maybe tonight would be special after all.

[kiankiwi]

Husband Jacob comforting hormonal pregnant reader 🩷

You had no ideas why you were crying. You just were. There was often no point to your tears at this point in your pregnancy so you often just had to feel your feelings until you calmed down and were able to go about your day.

Jacob was up and on set before you even got up so you were used to waking up alone. Because he didn't get to see you in the morning, he would facetime you to say good morning and have a little chat because he had missed out on his morning with you.

He just so happened to call when you were mid sob. "Baby? What's the matta?" (his R's sound like a/aw to me lol) He asked, his eyes filling with concern. "You just--" You continued to sob and Jacob put his hand up, "Breathe baby, you're okay, breathe with me." He helped guide you through a few deep breaths so you weren't choking and coughing as you cried anymore.

"Just give it a second and then tell me what's up okay? Do I need to come home?" You shook your head in silence as you put your sleeve over your hand and wiped your face. "Take a deep breath." He took a breath with you to calm you even more so you didn't feel as silly.

"It's stupid..." You chuckled, laying back down in bed. "No, no baby, your feelings are never stupid okay. Can you talk to me, tell me why you're so sad?" That made you chuckle again because you felt so silly. "I'm not even sad! I just... you didn't wake me up when you left so I didn't get a goodbye kiss and then when I went downstairs to make a bagel, we're out of cream cheese and I'm too tired to go to the store and the store feels too public anyway, I feel like everyone's gonna be staring at me with this huge bump and I just.... argh!" You screamed out your frustration into Jacob's pillow which of course smelled like him and that sent you into a new wave of crying.

"What baby, what?" "Argh, your pillow smells like you!" You yelled, frustrated still. Jacob couldn't help but smile at that.

"Here bub, I see your water bottle is behind you on the nightstand can you take a drink please?" You nodded, guiding the straw into your mouth and taking a long pull. "Good, good job, keep doing that today okay?" You nodded.

Jacob got closer to the camera of his phone, so close that you could only see his mouth and facial hair. You laughed. "You wanna know a secret?" He asked, looking off somewhere on set so now you could only see one of his eyes. You grabbed Jacob's pillow and cuddled it. "What?" "I did give you a kiss goodbye, I tried to wake you but I knew you were probably gonna be sick as soon as you woke up so I left you be. I still gave you a forehead kiss though, I promise." You nodded. He was right, you did puke as soon as you got up for the day. "Thank you. I was really tired, I was up late reading again." Jacob smiled. "Is the book good?" You nodded, grabbing the 800 page monstrosity off your nightstand and showed it to him where you had left off.

"Damn baby, you can kill someone with that thing?" You quirked your eyebrow. "Don't piss the pregnant lady off." Jacob nodded. "Here how about I send an uber eats out for the cream cheese and maybe some chocolate too and they'll drop it off so you don't have to go anywhere?" You nodded, wiping at your eyes again. The nice gesture caused your eyes to well up again. "I'd really like that, thank you."

"I'm happy to help baby, is there anything else you want?" "Nutella... and maybe some cheetos? The jalepeno ones..." Jacob expected some weird items to be added to his shopping list. "Got it bub. I gotta get back now but by the time I get home, I want you to have drank that whole water bottle okay?" You nodded and just to make him smile took another long drink from your straw.

"Thank you, I'll see you in a few hours okay? Go and get my Rugby sweater if that'll help too?" Your eyes lit up at the mention of his old sweater. He blew you a kiss "Love you baby! Give the bean my love."

"We love you too!"

***

I meant for this to be a ficlet but then I got inspiration and it was quite fun! I hope you liked this

@eee-lordy @mooodyblue

[libraryofloveletters]

Christmas With The Robertsons 

Trent Alexander Arnold x Fem!Reader

Warnings: mentions of sickness, built in babysitters, kids are so much work, you're chilling and trent isn't, you have baby fever, their kids are soooo cute.

Word Count: 704

Author's Note: now I don't know the names of andy's kids so I just called the two older ones the toddlers and then thy have a baby that I believe they had recently ? or are soon to have (I sweat I saw that rachel was pregnant at family day lol) but if I'm wrong, do forgive me lol

--

Andy and Rachel have a holiday date night and call their two favourite people in the world to come babysit for them; auntie y/n and uncle Trenty.

Their usual babysitter is sick, Rachel suggests that they should just cancel their date night but Andy is determined, he's going to find someone to watch the kids.

"Trent should be free," he says, grabbing his phone. "Don't bother him," Rachel tells her husband, the man had already dialled his friend and was awaiting an answer.

You hear Trent's phone ring, the man had left it on the couch while he was in the shower. Andy's name on the screen so you pick up.

"Hi Andy!" You smiled, the man seemed surprised to hear your voice. "Trent's in the shower, what's up?"

"Oh uh, see our usual babysitter is out with the flu and Rachel and I have a date night planned. We-" there's a smacking noise from his end, "ow! I," he corrects himself. "was wondering if you and Trent would be able to watch the kids for the evening."

"Of course!" You tell him, "we'll be over as soon as Trent's done in the shower. you know how long he takes."

Andy laughs, "yeah, sounds good. Thanks!"

Just as you hang up, the bathroom door opens. "Did my phone ring?" Trent shouts from upstairs.

"Yeah! It was Andy! We have to babysit!" You shout back, "so hurry up!"

Trent grumbles something and goes off to get ready before meeting you downstairs. It was a short drive over to the Robertsons'. Rachel opens the door, you and her chatting about the kids; their bedtimes, what they like to eat and do, normal things to go over.

Andy and Trent were in the living room with the kids, Andy was rocking the baby who was about to hang over to Trent. The vice captain looked scared; you weren't sure if it was because he was scared he'd drop the baby or if he was actually scared of the baby.

"I'll take my little munchkin," you tell him, Andy gently hands you the baby and you settle on the couch with the baby all wrapped up in their blanket.

"If you need anything-" Rachel starts but Andy cuts her off. "They'll call babe, let's go before we miss our reservation."

The first 2 hours were pretty chill, you and Trent played with the kids and watched shows. The two older ones put on a show for you two, something about a fireman and a doctor, you and Trent watched intently.

You caved and ordered pizza for dinner even though Rachel had left food for them, you, more so Trent, couldn't say no when they said "please uncle Trenty!" And gave him puppy eyes.

The 5 of you ended up watching the grinch, the cartoon version which was superior, until the kids started to get sleepy. You had settled Trent with the baby, you figured he could handle the feeding as it was a bottle while you took the kids to bed.

You settled them in, reading them a quick story before tucking them in and making your way back down.

"You okay babe?" you asked him, seeing Trent's distressed face.

"Baby's making a weird face." He tells you, unsure what to do. You hum, "did you try burping?"

"What?" He asks, clearly confused.

You put the cloth over your shoulder, taking the baby from him before holding the baby upright and patting their back softly until you hear a burp.

"See," you turn to show him the baby already settling. "Just needed to burp."

Trent seemed confused still but you shook your head never mind, cradling the little one as you sat next to your boyfriend.

It wasn't half an hour later that Rachel and Andy came in, the two of them giggling as they walked in. "Oh hi," Andy says, almost forgetting you two were there.

"Did they give you any trouble?" Rachel asks, walking over to the couch. You give the baby to Rachel, "they were perfect."

"So when are you expecting a little one from you two?" Andy notices the way you looked at their little one, all the affection in your eyes.

"Not anytime soon," Trent answers, "one night was enough."

"Oh hush," you smacked your boyfriend's arm lightly, "they were perfect, let us know if you need a babysitter anytime."

[heartfullofleeches]

Please make tobi tall<3 and then reader just casually mentioning they're not scared while ghosts hunting because they have tobi with them T_T

Chat always tries to psych you out on hunts like this.

"I hear the last person who visited that house found claws marks on their back when they got home."

"I heard that the owner of the house was killed in the master bedroom, and if you sit in the same chair they died in - you won't be able to get back up."

Historic sites with recordings of the paranormal and macabre deeoer than any you traversed before. You couldn't dispute the risk or danger of it all, but that's what made it exciting. Exploring the great beyond was bound to have some unforseen outcomes ranging from proof of its existence or an express ticket to that world - though you personally prefer the former. Besides, if you were ever in any danger, it wouldn't be for long.

From carrying you to the hospital after you sprained your ankle, to forcing his jacket on your shoulders when the weather was one degree lower than mentioned in reports - you were certain your dear companion and camera man could get you out of anything. On top of that, with their height and demeanor they were almost one to one with the creatures everyone warned you about. One look from them and any ghoul would clear the building.

" 'If you don't leave an offering, they'll take your soul instead.' Spooky. You don't mind sharing any of your snacks with the ghosts, do you, Tobi." You glance over at Tobi who shakes their head in dismissal. With their eyes focused on the road, you've been reading off the various facts and tidbits from members of your server as they drove. As always, they lended an ear with a proper head shake or nod to your questions. As their truck pulls to a stop Tobi reaches into their pocket and pulls out an energy bar. He hands it to you, crossing our the ghost printed on your shirt and pointing up at you. You'd hadn't eaten dinner before you left home and there was no way they'd let you film on an empty stomach.

"Fine." You peel back the wrapper and take a bite as you pop the door open. You continue to scroll through messages as Tobi grabs their equipment from the back. You tuck the wrapper into your pocket and smile for the camera as you start the livestream from your phone.

"Hey guys, me and Tobi have arrived. Took a while, but let's hope the luck that got us here continues inside."

The chat sends you luck and positive wishes beside their previous teasing - but one message sticks out in the form of a donation.

"If you go inside that house - you're going to die. Aren't you scared?"

You lower your phone. Tobi looks up, crawling over the back reach and reaching for the device. The sideview mirror cracks as their eyes reflect in its surface. You clutch your stomach.

"Pfft- haha, scared? Why would I ever be afraid when I have Tobi around?"

Their hand stops at your shoulder. Glancing back, you grin up at them through another giggle as their fingers tremble. "Isn't that right, Tobi?"

Tobi remains still.

"ah...ahh"

"Ow." You hold your forehead as your brain throbs in your skull. Regaining sense of their motor functions, Tobi pulls their cap over the entirely of their face and stumbles out of the truck as their foot catches on the strap of their bag. They pick it and themselves up, staring at you through the open back door before sprinting up the hill towards the abandoned house. You should ask if they're okay to fillm tonight. You've never seen their face that shade of purple before. Is that even a color a person can be. As you hop out to join them - a private message comes in from that same viewer.

"Of course, Y/n. Tobi will always be there to protect you....:')"

[shadowynn]

| the paradigm complex | three |

pairing: ot8 ateez x fem! reader

genre: yandere!vampire!cult!poly!ateez au

warnings: yandere behavior, some cursing, negative thoughts, cheating, toxic relationships, (like, um, things aren't really healthy here in anyone's relationship except for reader and felix. sorry.)

summary:

They'll do whatever you ask. Anything you need. Anything you want. It's yours. They'll fulfill your every desire and whim. Give you the life you had always dreamed about.

And in exchange, you wouldn't just give them your soul. Oh, no, They weren't demons. What good was your soul when your purpose was better served alive and well? Your soul was nice, sure, but it wasn't all they wanted. It wasn't all they needed. They needed your body, your mind. Your blood. You entirely. Every single fiber of your being would soon be theirs and theirs alone.

The moment you signed that contract, everything would change. For them and for you.

And there was nothing you could do about it.

word count: 8.3k

a/n: i'm sorry it took this long, but i think i finally got this where i want it to be. i'm also laughing at my past self for saying this wasn't going to be serious and not really a novel and more of a series of one-shots, and yet, here i am, writing a novel because apparently i can't write anything else. oops. but, seriously, i hope you all enjoy. and let me know if i missed anyone on the tags or if you want to be added/removed.

| two | three | four |

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You stared at the open trunk of your car, wondering just how the hell you were going to get either box up to your new apartment by yourself. When you had ordered the new mattress and bedframe for your new place, you had been counting on Felix to help you move things in, but then he had called earlier stating he was sick and leaving you by yourself for the day.

You couldn’t blame him. Not when you knew he had been looking forward to this day almost as much as you had, eager for an inside look at The Paradigm and a possible peek at your future coworkers. But the timing of it all couldn’t have been worse for you, having already picked up your new furniture from the store by the time he had called you to let you know. If your situation had been normal, you could have just left them in your car until the following weekend, but you knew that would only put you in a worse situation. One where you might be forced to kiss your new life goodbye before it had ever even started. 

Knowing there was an elevator did give you a slight boost in confidence, and you thought you could very possibly get the box that contained your bed frame up to your place. The mattress, however, was a different story. Perhaps you might have been able to do it if you dragged it, but even then, you risked making a commotion and you didn’t want to accidentally damage anything in the endeavor either. The last thing you needed was to make a worse impression than you already had; the fact you had been late to your lease signing still haunted your mind despite Seonghwa’s insistence it was fine.

The only other option you could think of was to ask one of your future coworkers for help. Since you had signed the lease last Monday, you had been added to a group chat with the eight of them, each who had been nothing short of sweet and welcoming to you. And though there had been multiple offers of help extended your way, you hadn’t actually expected to take any of them up on it. You didn’t want to bother them on a Saturday afternoon, especially with such a late notice, but your fear of keeping the boxes in your car for another week only to risk your boyfriend seeing them far outweighed your fear of asking for help.

Running a hand through your hair and doing your best to ignore the anxieties that popped up from the thought, you pulled your phone out of your back pocket and opened up the group chat. Your eyes briefly skimmed over the previous  messages, unable to keep your cheeks from tinting pink at their content, especially knowing the face behind each name.

They chatted often. Not enough to where your phone was always blowing up, but enough for you to see the clear bond between them, leading to many occasions of you feeling like you were an intruder, not quite familiar with many of their jokes or references. But just when you would begin to wonder if they had forgotten you were there, someone would direct the conversation your way, directly asking your opinion on the matter or apologizing on the behalf of someone else in the chat.

You scrolled past the messages that had come through on your drive over  as you hesitated - someone had borrowed one of Hongjoong’s jackets a few weeks ago and had yet to return it - fingers hovering over the screen for a few seconds as you wondered just how to word the message without sounding too needy. By the time you had come up with something and typed it out, you quickly deleted it before retyping something else before deleting and repeating the process all over a second time. This time however, you hit send before you could even think about talking yourself out of it and attempting to move in by yourself to avoid the anxiety asking for help always brought.

Your regret was immediate, and you quickly locked your phone up and slid it in your pocket to avoid seeing any responses the request might pull and wondering just what you were thinking. Your phone buzzed almost immediately, and you froze, wanting to pull it out, and yet, terrified all the same. When it buzzed once again a few seconds later, you slowly pulled it out, preparing yourself for the worst, but finding two acceptances instead. Jongho had been the first to respond with a short, but enthusiastic Me! while Mingi had followed a few seconds later, stating he was also free if an extra set of hands was needed.

There was relief in knowing you would be able to unpack your car this weekend, but the solution had come with its own set of problems. Not only did you still feel like an inconvenience for bothering them on the weekend, but you really didn’t know any of them at this point, and had yet to even meet either of the two who had offered to help you today face-to-face. From your previous experiences with each of them, you were confident you could get along well enough, but it would still be a while before you became comfortable enough around them that you didn’t always feel slightly on edge.

You sifted through a few of the other boxes and bags in your car as you waited for Jongho and Mingi to come, briefly checking your own appearance in your car’s rear view mirror. Now that you no longer needed your savings to rent a place of your own, you had been free to spend some of it on furnishing your new apartment and had spent the majority of the morning out shopping. Besides your clothing, books, and a few other belongings you couldn’t bear to part with, there was little you would be actually taking from your current place and you wanted this place to be as move-in ready as it could be by this time next week. And while you hadn’t gotten everything you needed, not quite having enough on hand to buy any other major furniture pieces besides a bed, you were able to snag some new towels, bedsheets, and enough dishware to get you started for the time being.

Your eyes glanced behind you every so often as you waited, looking out for the two who had stated they were on their way down once you had given them your location. You weren’t sure exactly what either boy looked like, but you did have a sneaking suspicion you would be able to spot them nonetheless. All you had to do was likely wait for the next two attractive strangers to leave the apartment building and you were sure to find them.

And though you did your best to not let your mind dwell there, you found yourself growing self-conscious of your own appearance, checking and straightening your hair up once more in the mirror. You had dressed simply for the occasion, putting your own comfort first, and merely pulling on a pair of joggers, cropped tee, and a jacket that you had since wrapped around your waist from the lingering summer heat. Before, you had at least tried to fit in with the higher class of the complex, but one brief look at the tenants who had just walked inside, and you were swiftly reminded of how much you stuck out here.

You didn’t have to wait too much longer. Just a few minutes later and you found you had been right in your earlier assessment. At the sound of the door opening behind you, you glanced back to find two men walking out, both equally as attractive as the others. The one on the left was tall, just as tall if not taller than Yunho had been, while the other was just a few inches taller than yourself. Something that had been said must have annoyed the shorter one, as he shoved the other as they made their way outside, but a smile was planted on each of their faces and the earlier action done playfully.

Upon seeing you standing by your car, both of their faces instantly lit up and the taller one was quick to wave. His smile was infectious, leaving you to follow suit with your own before returning his wave as well.

“You must be y/n.” It was the taller one who addressed you first as they drew close, holding out his hand for you to shake. “I’m Mingi.”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Mingi.” Now that you were close, you could see his hair was not black like you had originally thought, but a dark blue. that shone through in the fluorescent lights of the parking garage.

His smile nearly had you melting up close, instantly setting your nerves to rest as you took his hand. So, this was the other doctor who served at the complex, seemingly just as sweet and gentle as Yunho had been. And with his appearance just as young as the former, you wondered if the two had met in medical school. They definitely appeared around the same age as each other.

“I’m Jongho.” The other swiftly stole your attention, his smile just as endearing as the one before. All it took was one quick look and you were struck with the sudden urge to know just what it felt like to be hugged by him, all but craving to be wrapped up in his warm embrace.

“So, you needed some help moving things in?” Mingi asked, snapping the strange spell that had grabbed hold of you in that moment, a slight edge to his tone that surprised you. You turned your gaze back to him just in time to see the look he had given Jongho, not quite angry, nor was it quite frustrated either, but almost reprimanding. But a smile was quick to replace it when his gaze met yours once more, leaving you wondering if it hadn’t just been a trick of the light. 

“Yes,  sorry.” Your smile became bashful, once again embarrassed by having to ask for their help. “My friend was supposed to be here with me today to help, but then he came down with something and wasn’t able to make it, so thank you, truly, for your help. I really appreciate it.”

You ran your hand through your hair, wondering if you would ever feel completely at ease around any of them. You had no want for any sort of romantic relationship once you finally broke things off with your boyfriend the following week, but the strange attraction you felt towards each of them was enough to keep you on edge, leaving you flustered more often than not, all but craving to get in closer. 

“It shouldn’t take too long. I just needed some help with these two boxes,” you motioned to the two larger ones, inwardly cursing yourself. You had never had this problem before, not even with Haneul, who you had been silently crushing on since he had started working with you. “So, maybe just five or so minutes of your time and then you can return back to whatever it was you were doing beforehand.”

“Don’t worry about it. We’re both more than happy to help.” Jongho waved your concern away, moving past you to grab the heavier of the two boxes. “Neither of us were up to anything important. We were just hiding out at Wooyoung’s place while he started prepping for dinner tonight, which he said you are more than welcome to come to as well, by the way.”

“Careful, that’s-” You barely registered the invitation to dinner, more concerned about helping Jongho with the box he was pulling out, but he lifted it with ease, “...heavy.”

You found it impossible not to stare, watching it awe as he shifted the box onto his right shoulder to help support the weight, and unable to keep your eyes from wandering over the muscles on his arms. You had struggled to lift the box into your car earlier, and yet, he had made it look like it was nothing.

Just how much did this guy workout?

“Careful, Jongho,” Mingi’s voice held a similar tone from earlier, breaking you out from your thoughts once more. You were acutely aware you had been staring at Jongho in that moment, and shifted your gaze away, but not before Jongho had caught your wandering eyes out of the corner of his own.

“I’ve got it, I’ve got it.” He waved both of your concerns away, an innocent, yet almost smug smile on his face. 

Mingi didn’t seem nearly as amused, but his expression lightened when he turned to address you. “Don’t worry, I can get the other one if you don’t mind getting the doors.”

You nodded, watching in a similar awe as Mingi grabbed the box that contained your new bed frame with just as much ease as Jongho before. You knew you weren’t that strong, but you didn’t think you were that weak either. Sure, you didn’t go to the gym every day, or even every other day for that matter, but you liked to think you had some muscles from casually working out with Felix over the past few years when you had the time. 

It took you several seconds to comprehend Mingi’s request, body and mind not quite catching up to what was currently happening until Jongho called for you from further ahead. You shook your head, snapping yourself out of the daze and grabbing a few bags from your trunk before running up to grab the door for Jongho before he reached it.

You didn’t have to direct either of them to your unit. Upon reaching the elevator, Mingi had pressed the button for the sixth floor before you could even think to say something and guided you effortlessly down the hall to where the door to your apartment lay.

“Where would you like us to put them?” Mingi asked as he slid past the door you held open and into the main room. “Upstairs?”

“If it’s not too much trouble, that would be great.”

It felt strange coming back here, once again in complete awe of the space around you. It was more than you could ever dream of, and completely yours. A fact you didn’t think would ever settle completely in your head.

“Hey, y/n, this is your bed, right?” Jongho pulled you from your thoughts, leaning over the banister of the lofted area to address you. “You want us to put it together for you while we’re here?”

“Oh, no, that’s okay. I can get it myself later.” You shook your head, waving his offer away. “I’ve taken enough of your Saturday as it is.”

“Trust me, neither one of us minds. And if I’m being honest, you’re really doing us a favor. Hongjoong was trying to rope us into running a few errands for him since we were free and I did not feel like driving around town all afternoon.” Propping his elbows up against the edge, he rested his chin down into his hands. “So, we are now your humble servants for the rest of the afternoon, ready and willing to do whatever you need of us.”

He winked, and you hoped he couldn’t see the blush that tinted your cheeks as you turned your head away and used all your current brainpower to come up with a proper response.

“C’mon, while Jongho starts putting the bed frame together, why don’t you and I get the rest of the stuff from your car?” Mingi didn’t seem to have any reservations about Jongho’s former statement as he came back down the stairs, motioning with his head for the two of you to head back out. “And then we can help him finish when we’re done.”

He didn’t wait for you to agree, leaving you no choice but to follow after him and accept their offer of help.

“So, how long have you lived here?” You asked once the two of you had made it back down to your car, shuffling around some of the boxes to have a better grip.

“I’ve been here since The Paradigm opened,” Mingi replied, taking the heavier boxes from your hands and leaving you with just the new bedsheets and towels to carry. “Hongjoong and I have known each other for a long time, so when he introduced a new business venture he was interested in, I signed right up. The rent was free and it certainly beat the long shifts at the hospital.” He shrugged, closing your trunk for you now that it was empty. “What about you? Have you always lived in the city?”

You shook your head, readjusting the bags in your hands to open the door for the two of you. “I grew up in a pretty rural area up north, but moved down here for college, so I’ve only been in the city for about… three years now, I think.”

“And what do you think about it?”

“City life definitely has its pros and cons, and for the most part, I really do love living here, but I don’t know,” you shrugged, “sometimes it’s just a little overwhelming being in such a big place all on your own.”

“You’re by yourself?” Mingi’s head tilted, surprised by your words. “I’m sorry, I just assumed you had been living with someone else.”

“Well, you’d be right about that. I pretty much moved in with my boyfriend as soon as I arrived, but,” you paused, unsure how exactly to word your current situation, “I guess I've always felt like I was still all by myself.”

“Is that why you’re getting a new place?” 

You shook your head. “We’re actually breaking up, so I was in need of a new place to stay.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Thank you, but it’s really for the best.” It was hard to meet Mingi’s eyes as you waited for the elevator, fingers nervously fidgeting with the bags in your hands. “The two of us might have been fighting the inevitable for a while, but it’s really something that’s been coming for a long time now, and honestly, as terrified as it makes me being out on my own again, I’m also relieved to finally be able to get away.”

“And why’s that?” It was hard to place Mingi’s expression. He was empathetic towards your situation, that was obvious, but there was something else there. Something more than the vague curiosity he presented alongside it. 

You could feel your body freezing up on you, wondering if it was appropriate to dump all your past trauma on someone you had just met, but Mingi felt nothing but genuine next to you. His gentle nature all but encouraging you to tell him what was on your mind.

“Well, let’s just say the guy has never learned how to keep it in his pants.” The words rolled out with ease, prompting you to continue. “And I know, I’m an idiot for staying with him through it all this time, but each time I talked to him about it, he truly seemed sorry and willing to change, and it’s not like I had anywhere else to go.” 

Your words trailed off, feeling self-conscious over your past attempts. It was so easy to see how foolish you were now. To see how you should have left. To see how anyone in their right mind would have left, and yet, you hadn’t. You had allowed him to convince you to stay each and every time, fully believing everything would work out. 

You tugged the bags you were holding closer to your chest, suddenly feeling very small and insignificant in that moment. As much as you knew the problem lay with him and not yourself, you still fought against the lies that told you it was your fault, that if you had only been better, none of this would have ever happened. He would have never cheated on you; you would have never gotten yourself hurt.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to dump that all on you.”

“I don’t mind. After all, it’s not good to keep feelings all bottled up inside and if it makes you feel better, I can listen to you rant about him as long as you need.” Mingi’s shoulder bumped against your own as the elevator came to a stop, and you could see his smile reflecting in the doors as they opened, but it didn’t quite meet his eyes this time around. “But I can’t help but feel a little concerned over the fact you’re still living with him over this next week. Are you sure that’s safe?”

“It’s not ideal, sure, but it’s not like I have any other choice. I would have loved to move in as soon as I had signed the lease, but he knows where I work and he would have just come in one day and convinced me to change my mind. He can be very persuasive when he wants to be.” You could feel your body tensing, not quite comfortable with the direction the conversation had taken. It was uncomfortable to talk about this side of your past, embarrassing to see just how easily you had allowed him to manipulate you. “But it’s nothing to worry about. I’ve been with him for the past three  years, so I can do one more week as long as he doesn’t catch on that I’m leaving. And despite his cheating ways, he’s never done anything to hurt me. Well,” you frowned, instantly taking note of the lie you had just spoken, “not physically, at least.”

You drove the conversation to its end as you made it back to your apartment, motioning for Mingi to set his boxes on the kitchen counter for now. And while you made your way upstairs to check on Jongho and leave the conversation completely, Mingi excused himself out into the hallway to make a quick phone call once he remembered he had forgotten to list a few of the supplies he had needed Hongjoong to pick up during his time out.

“You want some help?” 

Jongho had made some progress in your absence, the majority of the pieces scattered around him in the relative shape of a bed, and you couldn’t help but feel partially guilty for leaving him to do the task for you when it was your bed frame. 

He nodded, motioning for you to come over. “If you could hold this together for me real quick, that would be great.”

“Of course.” 

You matched his smile as you settled down on the ground beside him to take hold of the pieces he was talking about, and it didn’t take long for you to become aware of how close the two of you were in that moment. Especially, when he leaned in closer to screw together the two pieces you were holding for him.

“Once again, thank you.” You spoke after a few minutes, hoping to alleviate some of the tension you felt from being so close to him, and hating how on edge he made you. It was the same way with the others, and yet, it was distinctly worse around some than others. Jongho’s presence fell towards the latter, and you had a much harder time keeping a grip on your thoughts and emotions around him than you had with Mingi, and yet, one look at both of them was enough for all your solid reasoning to leave your body. “I really appreciate your help.” 

“It’s no problem at all,” Jongho replied, arm brushing up against yours. “Like I said earlier, you’re really doing us a favor in return. We were looking for an excuse to be busy until dinner tonight.” 

“Oh, yeah, you mentioned Wooyoung was making dinner for you. That’s very sweet of him.” You thought Jongho might have mentioned Wooyoung had also extended an invitation towards you, but didn’t want to make any assumptions in case you had heard him wrong, distracted by the show of strength of the boy next to you.

“He’s just about the only one of us who’s actually any good at cooking. Well, Seonghwa’s pretty decent as well, but he doesn’t enjoy it the way Wooyoung does, nor is he as willing to share with the rest of us. Woo usually hosts a dinner once or twice a week, but you’ll definitely have to watch out for him,” Jongho continued. “Baking is pretty much that man’s love language and he’ll load you with more goods and sweets then you’ll know what to do with.”

“Oh, well, if that’s how he is, I guess it’s a good thing I have a sweet tooth.”

The words were out before you could stop them, and it took you a few seconds to realize just what you had said and how it might have sounded, especially the chuckle it had pulled out of Jongho. You hadn’t meant anything by it, but as you quickly ran through the words in your head once more, you began to question what exactly Jongho had meant by his statement and if it hadn’t been as innocent as you had first believed. Especially when he was quick to quip back, “You’re not the only one.” 

And was it your imagination, or had he shifted closer to you than necessary? Leaning forward into you as he reached around your body to tighten the piece he had you holding. 

Thankfully, you were saved from responding when Mingi came up the stairs behind you, though the way he cleared his voice to announce his presence didn’t make you feel any better from the position Jongho had taken around you.

“Fucking hell, Mingi.” Jongho’s string of curses was almost too low to hear, leaving you once again wondering what exactly was going on around you as Jongho straightened back up. His eyes rolled, agitation once again lining his features, or at least you thought it had. One blink and the look was gone, replaced with another innocent expression as he motioned to his left hand. “Sorry, cut myself.” His hand rose to his mouth, briefly sucking on the end of his middle finger to get rid of the blood that had begun pooling on the tip.

You averted your eyes, shaking your head in an attempt to clear it and wondering just what was up with you today. Perhaps you were simply coming down with whatever illness Felix had. You had seen him the day before, after all, so you very well could have caught it from him then; the beginning of a fever clouding your mind and judgment. And yet, your forehead felt cool to the touch when you brushed the back of your hand against it despite the heat that flooded you.

Things calmed down once Mingi joined the two of you, helping you finish putting the bed frame together. Once it was completed, you directed them to where you wanted it to lie before unboxing your mattress and allowing it time to air out before tugging on the set of sheets you had bought. 

By the time you were all done, it was nearly five and you were far more exhausted than you expected to be, especially knowing you had the opening shift tomorrow morning. You were supposed to be working it with Felix, but now you weren’t so sure since he had come down with something. You didn’t really have any qualms with the rest of your coworkers, nor with your managers, but working with Felix was always a lot less exhausting than working a shift with anyone else.

“Thank you again for helping me out,” you said as you made your way back downstairs, rolling out the kinks in your back. “I really appreciate all your help and I don’t mean to seem rude, but I should probably get ready to head back to my place soon.” 

“You’re not going to stay for dinner?” Jongho asked, seemingly disappointed as he reminded you of the offer he had extended towards you earlier in the day. 

“Oh, right.”

You had forgotten about the invitation until now, and quickly debated over what you should do. On one hand, you were exhausted and craved an evening to yourself, but on the other hand, you didn’t want to seem rude and turn down the offer either. It would be good to get to know them and the others a bit better, and if you wanted everything here to go smoothly as possible, it would be best to get on good terms with each of them.

“If you’re sure I wouldn’t be interrupting anything, I’d love to join you, but I probably can’t stay too long. I have work tomorrow morning and a fairly long drive back to my place.”

And with reassurances your presence was more than welcomed, you followed them out of your apartment and down to the floor beneath yours where Wooyoung’s own unit lay. The door was unlocked, and neither boy even bothered knocking and made their way inside as though it was their own apartment. You followed behind a bit more hesitantly, slipping off your shoes at the doorway and pushing them to the side. 

The layout to Wooyoung’s place was vastly different from yours, having actual bedrooms towards the back instead of a lofted studio like your own. A large kitchen was directly to your right, which then flowed directly into a small dining room with a view of the city behind it, while the living area was to your left. 

Wooyoung was busy in the kitchen upon your arrival, and you could faintly make out two figures sprawled out on the couch playing what looked to be Super Smash Bros. 

“Oh, y/n, you came!” 

Wooyoung was the first to notice your presence, but one mention of your name was all it took for the game on your left to pause and the two seated there to give you their attention as well. Now that their heads were turned towards you, you were able to see it was Yeosang and San seated there.

“Thanks for having me over, and for dinner too.” You returned his smile, shuffling awkwardly at everyone’s attention. “I’ve heard a lot about your cooking and can’t wait to try it.” And if it was anything like the cookies you had earlier in the week or the smell wafting from the kitchen, you knew it probably matched up to the hype.

“Well, unfortunately you’ll have to wait another hour or so before it’s ready and everyone else gets here,” Wooyoung turned as the timer on the oven went off, “but feel free to make yourself at home in the meantime and just let me know if you need anything.”

“Hey, y/n, we have plenty of controllers if you want to join.” Before you could thank Wooyoung, you were being waved over by San and Yeosang, the former waving a controller your way.

“Sure, I’d love to,” you politely excused yourself from Wooyoung as you were guided over to the living room by Mingi, “though I must warn you, I’m not very good. I never really got any of the combos down, so I’m usually just button mashing and hoping for the best.”

“Well, you wouldn’t be the only one,” San replied, motioning to the spot between him and Yeosang on the couch and handing you a controller when you had sat down. “Even the bots can beat Yeosang.”

“May I remind you that we only switched to this game because you got tired of me kicking your ass in Mario Kart.”

“Don’t feel too bad, I’m even worse at that game.” You giggled as Yeosang ended the game he and San had been playing, loading up a new preset for the rest of you to join. “Thankfully, though, I can always do pretty decent in Mario Party. Which is kind of sad, but I’ll take what I can get.” 

“Well, we have that too if you want to switch.” Yeosang replied, but you shook your head, not wanting to ruin their fun. 

“No, this is perfectly fine with me. I might be terrible at it, but I still enjoy playing.” You contemplated which character you were going to pick as you spoke. You had thought about starting with Link, but upon seeing Mingi get to him before you, you decided to just go with your other go-to for the first round.

“Sephiroth, huh?” Yeosang was the first to remark as you solidified your character.

“Mmhmm.” You shifted in your seat, pulling your legs up to your chest as you nodded. “Final Fantasy and Zelda were pretty much my childhood growing up, so I usually tend to orient towards those characters. Well, them and Joker. I never really got into the Persona games like my friend Felix, but I do love his aesthetic.”

It took you a few rounds to get back into the swing of things, having been several months since the last time you had played. You rotated between characters as you went, going from Shiek to Joker and then back to Sephiroth, but it was clear you were nowhere near the level of the others. Occasionally you would beat Yeosang, and even once managed to outlast Mingi, but on most occasions you would be the first one dead, proving your lack of skills for the game.

After a few more games, you decided to take a break, excusing yourself to go check on Wooyoung and feeling a little guilty from all the work he was doing by himself while you played. You weren’t much of a cook yourself, at least not on the level he was, but surely there was something you could do, even if it was just keeping him company for the time being.

He lounged against one of the counters, head buried into the phone he held. As his eyes scanned the small screen, a frown worked its way across his features and his fingers danced across the screen to form a reply to whatever had upset him.

“Can I help with anything?”

His head whipped up at your soft approach, and whatever had upset him was quickly replaced with a smile. With one last glance at his phone, he pocketed it and shook his head. “I don’t think so. Everything’s pretty much ready , so we’re really just waiting for the others to make it back. Hongjoong had some errands to run and it seems they had to make a few detours on their way back, so they’re running later than expected. Can I get you anything to drink in the meantime, though?”

“Water if you don’t mind.”

You took a seat at the island counter as Wooyoung fetched your drink, wondering if you would ever get used to living like this. If you would ever get used to living here at The Paradigm. Despite knowing you now had your very own place one level above, you couldn’t help but feel like it was all some hazy dream. That you would finally wake up and realize nothing had changed because you knew how crazy this whole situation was. It was just too good to be true, and yet, here you still were, seemingly still wide awake.

You chatted idly with Wooyoung as you waited, munching on a small snack he had given you when you had accidentally let it slip that you hadn’t eaten anything all day. You hadn’t meant to skip lunch, but it had just slipped your mind with everything else going on. Yeosang joined the two of you shortly after, giving video games a rest for the night after being severely beaten once more.

The others arrived shortly after, just as the sun was starting to set. You couldn’t help but grow slightly more on edge at their appearance, fully aware of Hongjoong’s and Seonghwa’s position above you in your new job, but it didn’t take long to ease back into a more relaxed state. Well, as relaxed as you could be around them.

Yeosang and Wooyoung kept their positions beside you, while Hongjoong took up the empty bar stool beside you. As you ate, you spoke of your childhood, your family, as well as your interests and how you had ended up in the city. You were aware of the way the attention seemed to be directed towards you, but any time you attempted to direct the conversation elsewhere and ask them about themselves, it didn’t take long for the conversation to drift its way back to you once more. You didn’t mind, not really, having nothing to hide about your past, but you couldn’t help but feel a little bad and hoped they didn’t think badly of the fact you were doing the majority of talking.

It didn’t take long for you to lose track of time, your phone laying forgotten beside you on the counter. It wasn’t until you looked outside and saw the sun had long set that you were suddenly reminded of the fact you still had a long drive back to your apartment. You grabbed your phone to check the time, barely recognizing it was much later than you had anticipated when you noticed several missed calls and a few texts from Felix alongside a message from your manager.

“Is everything alright?” Hongjoong was the first to take note of the confusion that crossed your features as you scanned over the text from your manager, the source of Felix’s concern.

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s good. It’s just…” Your words trailed off, trying to make sense of what she had sent you and understanding why Felix had now been trying to get a hold of you. “Do you mind if I go make a call real quick?” You excused yourself from the bar, making your way out of the apartment and out into the hallway for some privacy as you returned Felix’s call.

“Jesus, y/n, do you know how badly you just scared me?” Felix didn’t even bother with a greeting, leaving you cringing as you realized exactly what sort of state he was in. “Don’t tell me that fucking bastard found out you were moving.”

“No, no, nothing like that.” You frowned, understanding how it must have looked from his side, and yet just as lost as he was over the whole situation. “I’m sorry for scaring you, Lix, I really didn’t mean to, but to be honest, I’m just as confused as you are. For some reason Hana texted me an hour ago saying not to bother showing up to work for my last few shifts. I texted her back asking why or if I had done something, but all she’s said is that she just got someone else to cover me.” 

“Wait, so she just took you off the schedule and said not to bother finishing up?” 

“That’s what it looks like.” You took a screenshot of the conversation with your manager, sending it over to Felix to show him exactly what had been said. “I mean, I guess I don’t really mind. It’s not like I need the money now, but I just don’t understand why she did it without asking me first. You don’t think I did something do you? Something that might have made her mad?” 

You had never had any problems with Hana before. Sure, you had your shared frustrations towards the way she managed the store occasionally, but the two of you had always gotten along, at least you thought you had. She had always seemed to appreciate your work ethic and she had never expressed any concern towards you before. But what if something had happened? What if she had overheard one of your conversations with Felix about you wishing you could just finish up this job and move on with your life and had gotten upset over it?

“No way, you were Hana’s favorite, so maybe she just wanted to give you a break.” Felix replied, pushing back any anxieties that had popped up from it. “You’ve covered a lot of shifts for her in the past, so maybe she just wanted to repay the favor here in the end, especially knowing how excited you are.”

“I don’t know.” You leaned back against the wall behind you, still trying to run the situation over in your head. Because of the delicate position you were in, you had only simply told her and your other coworkers you were moving. The only one who knew exactly where was Felix. “Maybe.” 

“Well, regardless of what or how it happened, it looks like you now have the week off, so what are you going to do now?”

“I don’t know.” In all your confusion over what had happened with your schedule, you had yet to even think about what that meant for you or what you might be able to do with it. “I guess I could move in early now, but…” You paused, the weight of the situation hitting you. You had known all along what was happening, and yet, it had never quite hit you like it did now. 

“But, what? Don’t tell me you're getting second thoughts about it all again, because if you are, I will drive over to your place right now and drag your ass out of there whether you want me to or not.”

“No, no, it’s not that.” At least you didn’t think it was. You wanted to leave, you did, but why did it suddenly scare you so much? “And I’m not even there right now, so your drive would be wasted.”

“Don’t tell me you’re still unpacking, are you?” You could hear the pity in Felix’s voice, fully aware he still felt terrible for having to bail on you earlier in the day.

“Oh, no. I got some help from Mingi and Jongho and we finished up hours ago.” You quickly waved his concern away. “It’s just that I got invited to dinner and lost track of time.”

“Dinner?” You didn’t have to see Felix to know what expression had crossed his face, and you did your best to hide your blush  regardless of the fact you couldn’t see each other.

“No, it’s not like that at all. I guess Wooyoung hosts dinners occasionally, so I just got roped into going as well.” Your body shifted, growing uncomfortable by the inclination his voice had held and lowering your voice. “There’s absolutely nothing going on and they’re just being friendly, Lix. Just friends hanging out with friends, nothing more.” 

“Well, at least for now.”

“Oh, come on Felix, it’ll never come to that and you know it.” And despite the teasing tone his voice had taken, you could feel yourself beginning to sink into yourself, realizing how stupid it would be to ever think otherwise. “I don’t doubt that most of them are already in a relationship, and even if they’re not, they wouldn’t be interested in me. I mean, why the hell would they?” 

“Well, if you ask me, they’d be dumb not to be.” Felix’s voice softened. “I mean, if I swung that way, I’d snag you right up before anyone else could have a chance to steal you. You’re the ultimate package, n/n. You’re sweet, kind, smart-”

“You’re only saying that because you’re required to as my best friend.”

And he had to be, didn’t he? After all, how could you believe something like that when everything in life had told you otherwise? The only person to ever express an interest in you before had swiftly shown you weren’t worth it and continued to tell you so for years. He had proved  that there was something wrong with you, because otherwise, he would have cared enough about you to not break you completely.

“I know it might be hard to believe it at times, but you are worth it, y/n, truly. And one of these days you’ll finally meet someone who will help to teach you that, but for now, you’ll just have to take it from me. And I promise you, I’m not saying any of this because I’m required to, but rather because I believe it.”  

“Oh, Felix.” You wiped your eyes, brushing away the tears that had fallen and biting back the apology that fell at the tip of your tongue. You had had this conversation or similar ones enough in the past to know Felix would only immediately refute it, saying there was absolutely no need to apologize. “I don’t know what I would do without you.” You repeated the words you had said to him so often, truly wondering why he had ever decided to become your friend with all the baggage that came with you. In all the time you had known him, he had been a bright light in your life and a steady force that had gotten you through some of the roughest times in your life.

You talked for a minute longer to help lift your spirits back up, confirming with Felix that you were in a fit state to drive and would head back to your boyfriend’s place for the night and start packing up so that you were ready and gone before he came home tomorrow night. You strayed in the hallway for a bit longer once the call was over, attempting to get your emotions under control once more and prayed that your eyes weren’t red from crying. 

Taking one last breath and doing your best to compose yourself, you made your way back into Wooyoung’s apartment to thank him, Mingi, and Jongho one last time before heading back for the night. 

“Everything alright?” Hongjoong was the first to address you at your return, but you shook off his concern as best you could, fully hoping the smile you wore met your eyes.

“Yeah, it was just some stuff that came up with work.” Your hands fiddled with the end of your jacket’s sleeves, shuffling awkwardly at the eyes that watched you. “Apparently my manager found someone to take the rest of my shifts for the week and was just letting me know.”

“So, you’re now done?” Mingi asked, turning from his conversation at the table with Yunho to address you.

You nodded. “Yeah, I think so. I’ll still need to drop a few things off sometime this week, but I’ll probably do that sometime tomorrow after I’m done packing.” You paused for a moment before continuing, hoping you wouldn’t make things awkward by leaving directly after the phone call. “Which I have quite a bit to do now in a short amount of time, so I should probably go ahead and leave for the night-”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Hongjoong asked, stopping you from heading back to the door when he took hold of your wrist. “You did have quite a bit of wine earlier, and I don’t think it would be safe for you to drive.” 

“What are you talking…?” Your head tilted, confused as to what he was talking about. You hadn’t drank anything tonight because you had known you would be driving back home. You had made sure of it.

And yet, now that you thought about it, you weren’t so sure. You didn’t think you had drank anything, but then why was there an empty wine glass next to your plate alongside the faintest memories beginning to pop up of you drinking it. Hadn’t Wooyoung offered you a glass before dinner had begun, and you had accepted thinking it would be fine if you drank it early enough?

God, how could you have forgotten you had been drinking? Were you really that drunk that you had completely forgotten what you had been doing? And how could you, when you could so clearly feel the effects of the alcohol in your system now, leaving you unsteady on your feet. What had you been thinking earlier? You were in no state to be driving. Not when you were now struggling to stand on your own two feet.

“Right, um…” You struggled  to get your thoughts together, suddenly aware of how hot it was in there. 

“Woah, you okay there, pretty?” It was Yeosang behind you who spoke, grabbing hold of your shoulder to help steady you when you attempted to take your jacket back off, the action leaving you stumbling forward.

He, alongside Hongjoong, who still had a hold on your wrist, used their grip on you to guide you back down to your seat, leaving your vision racing momentarily. When your eyes managed to focus once more, you saw Hongjoong leaning over you, his close presence doing little to calm your racing thoughts, and only serving to scramble them more than ever. And as you looked up into his eyes, all your mind could focus on was how breathtakingly beautiful he was alongside the deep yearning to feel his lips pressed against your own.

“Why don’t I take you back to your room?” His hand brushed the hair out of your eyes, expression painstakingly sweet. “And then maybe we can go over and help you pack the rest of your stuff in the morning when you’re in a better mindset, yeah?” 

You didn’t hear exactly what he had said, your brain too scrambled to comprehend what exactly was going on, but you nodded your head in agreement anyways, ready and more than willing to do whatever it was he asked of you.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

taglists in reblogs :)

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Hello hello friendo! I was wondering if I could request a Wally x wolf puppet reader? the scenario being that the other neighbors are afraid of R (reader) no matter what due to them looking like a big 'bad' wolf, R's appearance is quite frightful; stitches in a few places along with big teeth and claws plus they are on the large size (roughly Barnaby's size, if not a bit shorter). While on the outside they look all mean they are actually really sweet and just want to make friends.

"Do you think I'm doing something wrong, Wally? 'cuz I feel...unwanted here."

"No, no. You've done nothing wrong, Neighbor! What made you think of such silly things?"

"...well everyone's still acting like I'm gonna eat them for breakfast."

"Breakfast?? Why, that's nonsense. Breakfast is composed of bacon, eggs, juice, and toast..not people!"

"Uh, that was just a....nevermind." Sighing, you shook your head as you gave up trying to explain the idiom to Wally. But having this conversation with him over the phone did manage to cheer you up a little.

How you wished it was this easy talking to the rest of the neighbors, though they were all absolutely terrified of you and would've hung up the second they heard your voice.

Fortunately, Wally had recently learned a valuable lesson from Barnaby, who told him that he should never "judge a book by its cover". And he lived by that philosophy every time a newcomer came to town, whether they stayed or left.

You were no exception despite being a rather frightening-looking wolf with large sharp teeth, untrimmed claws, and stitches all over your body that made you look like a zombie. Of course, your clothes covered most of them, yet they didn't fully hide all of the things your neighbors were afraid of.

Of course, it didn't help that you're the child of The Big Bad Wolf...but you're nothing like him! You're not deceptive or evil in any way; all you wanted to do was make new friends.

But that was tough to prove when someone screamed if you so much as smiled at them.

Poppy was understandable, given she was a bird who already had some anxiety issues to begin with. And Barnaby was alright since you're both tall canines (and even then, he was still the taller one). He tolerated your presence and can stand being in the same room as you.

As for Julie, Eddie, Frank, Sally, and Howdy....you unintentionally scared them out of their wits.

For instance, you visited Howdy's bugdega for the first time to get groceries, and he ducked behind the register as you approached. The poor guy sounded like he was in tears as he stuttered that everything was free of charge.

Back then you thought he was having a bad day..but even outside of work, he seldom talked to you out of fear.

How naïve were you..

At least you had Wally, though, considering he's able to have normal chats with you both on the phone and in person. He still kept his joyful tone when speaking to you, and when you left he'd turn around to scold the others for "overreacting".

Honestly, he was growing tired of them treating you this way and not taking his advice. No neighbor deserved to feel so unwelcomed.

You weren't scary at all! He'll prove it!

And now he finally got an idea that he believed would work.

"Say, [y/n]..whatdya think about coming with me to the park?" He suggested. "I'm organizing a little painting lesson, and at the end we're all gonna paint something we like! If everyone's there and sees us getting along, they'll finally see how nice you really are!"

"You think so?" Your ears perked up, a small smile forming on your face as your tail began lightly wagging, thumping against the furniture.

While you haven't done any art since settling into the community, this hangout seemed to be a good place to sharpen your skills and, hopefully, make some friends. If they saw you indulging in a passion, you'll be able to connect with them more.

"Yup! I think it'll work! So are you in or out?"

"I'm in."

"Great! See you in an hour!"

Your smile dropped. "Wait, it's toda-?"

However, you didn't get the chance to finish as you heard the 'click' on the other end, realizing he hung up. You sighed and hung up your phone, too.

The thought of seeing everybody at the park so soon had you feeling anxious all over again, but you tried shaking off your worries, not wanting them to deter you from going. You couldn't disappoint Wally after how hopeful he sounded.

So instead you focused on making lunch for yourself before packing some art supplies together, finding a canvas or sketchbook to bring with you.

And about an hour later, you were fully prepared.

'It'll be fine..Wally's gonna be there..' You told yourself, taking a few deeps breaths, heading out the door with your head held high.

Surely, the neighbors will finally change their mind about you once they see that you shared a similar hobby as them..

Right?

.......

It turns out you were wrong.

As Wally hosted his painting lesson in the park, going over how to paint different figures and scenes step-by-step...most of the gang could barely focus on what he was saying.

Instead, their eyes were anxiously fixated on you as you tried ignoring them and listened to his words. Whenever you made direct eye contact with any of them, they'd quickly look away and shudder, their hands shaking as they pretended to paint or draw.

They kept their canvases close to their chest, as though you were gonna pounce and tear it to shreds if they let their guard down.

Obviously, Wally took notice of this fast and would ask them questions about what he just said, his smile slowly turning into a frown as some stuttered out answers..while others just didn't catch it the first time around.

You only expected this, although you did manage to impress everybody with your scenery of a moonlit sky after accomplishing the final task of painting something you liked.

But it wasn't enough for Wally. They only complimented you because they were scared you'll get angry if they said the wrong thing...he could just tell by their shifty gazes.

They're just pretending.

After everybody eventually left for home, as the sun was going down, you stayed in the park with Wally. He was still sitting motionless on the same flat rock, having already put his supplies away.

You frowned as you approached him, not knowing what's gotten into him lately

Of course this hangout wasn't going to immediately make you everybody's best friend, but you didn't think he'd be this upset.

If anything it should have been you who was upset, though you believed things went quite well considering nobody ran away from you this time around.

Unfortunately, Wally begged to differ, given how he hasn't spoken a word to you since everyone else left.

"Wally?" Crouching down in front of him, you tilted your head. "What's wrong?"

"...I don't get it."

"..look, it's okay-" You went to place a comforting hand on his shoulder, only for him to suddenly look up at you with frustration in his wide eyes. Even his pupils seemed to tremble as he spoke.

"No, it's not okay. I-I..I know they can't help it but..I thought they trusted me, Neighbor. I planned all of this so they could stop being scared of you! And yet...they..." He trailed off, fingers trembling as they curled into his pants. "They're never gonna change...are they?"

"They can. They just need some more time." You tried to reason, yet he shook his head.

"But how much longer will it be until y--?" He started, but quickly stopped upon seeing the flashes of concern in your eyes, shrinking away.

"...until I what, Wally?"

"........"

"Are you...scared that I might leave one day?" You finally connected the dots. "Is that why you're so upset over all of this?"

Given his silence as he looked back down at the ground, that basically confirmed your answer.

Now it all made sense.

"Oh, buddy.." You hugged him close, feeling him flop against you as he rested his head on your fluffy chest. "You don't have to worry about that. It's gonna take a lot more than just a few skittish people to kick me out."

"But..you're so nice...and I don't know why they can't see that.." He mumbled, slowly hugging you back. "I swear I've tried everything-"

"You don't have to do anything more, Wally. I appreciate what you've done, but..you don't need to be stressed for my sake. I'm not going anywhere, okay? I'll even pinky promise it for ya."

After a long silence you felt him nod, and you smiled, relieved that he trusted you.

Soon you let each other go and made that pinky promise, sealing the deal. You could see that lifted a huge burden off his shoulders--one you didn't even realize he was trying to carry this whole time--as his own smile returned.

"C'mon. It's getting late. I'll walk ya back home." You suggesting, slinging your bag over your shoulder.

"Haha..that's usually my job, Neighbor." The blue-haired puppet chuckled as he fixed up his messy pompadour. "But thank you. I'll take up your kind offer!"

[nobadyasked]

First snow, hot choco

Pairing: non.idol!Niki × non.idol!reader

Genre: fluff

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

Oh it was cold. It was a snowy storm. White nothing was the only thing seen out of the classroom window.

- We have physics class today, right?- she asked turning to him.

- nope- he said not even looking in her eyes. Obviously it was something he did. How could they randomly cancel the class.

- we do actually- a guy from the back answered.

- why are you lying? - she asked with the gaze of a murderer.

- I'm not. WE I mean me and you. We're not going to that class toda- and that's when she interrupted him

- what do you mean? You never asked me if I wanted to skip the class? Is thi- she was stopped by him smashing his lips on hers

- can you shut up and listen for once?- he said pulling off- I talked to the teacher. We're going somewhere better.

Soon she was dragged out of the building. The cold air hitting her soft cheeks making them even more red. They walked to somewhere she didn't know.

- where are you taking me?- she said trying to move her hair away from her face

- I'm taking to a basement so no one can hear you while I chop your head off- he said with a loving smile and moved that strand of hair behind her ear.

- finally- she murmured

- I'm joking, let's go to the rooftop again

.....

-Don't mind him okay? -he assured her while cupping her rosy cold cheeks

- yeah, it would be great if we got to the rooftop- she sighed remembering how an old man scolded both of them- it's really cold tho- she complained again rubbing her hands together with the hope of getting a little warmer. Well it started to snow unexpectedly. And they weren't prepared.

- you know what?- he said after looking at his shoes for a while- let's get hot chocolate. How does that sound?

- I like it- she said smiling

- well then, catch me if you can Mrs. Shortie- he said and started running away From her

-and I'm in love with him- she mumbled to herself and started chasing him

Soon after they were at the cafe waiting for their order

- here, this is yours- he said handing her the paper cup. The smell had filled their lungs ( just like the love their hearts)

- let's go outside

She sipped her chocolate as he watched her with loving eyes. A little bit of chocolate was left on her upper lip. "Cute" he thought to himself. He didn't even tell her about that. He liked how messy she could be with him. He looked at her soft hair that now had tiny snowflakes. And that's when it hit him. It's the first snow if the year. That means they'll last forever.

- it's still cold- she started complaining again, not liking the sudden change of weather at all.

- let's go to the store while I catch you a taxi

- you really don't have to

- come onnn. Let me do my job- that was the moment when she realised he's her man. Her one and only. Only hers and no one elses. Those thoughts made her smile unconsciously.

- it's almost here. Now my treat- he said looking up from his phone

- what? - she made her iconic confused face. Oh how much he loved her small cute face that was able to show the emotions she'd never talk about.

- my treat

- you want... A kiss?

- yes please and faster the driver is waiting- he said as she tiptoed to connect their lips.

- now go- he slightly pushed he to the car. As the Gentleman he is he payed for her drive and now was waiting for her text

*chat*

You: I hate you

Niki: what's wrong pretty

You: there is a big choco stain on my upper lip, and you didn't even say a thing

Niki: you were too cute

You: you're no help you know?

Niki: but you still love me

You: thank you for today

Niki: of course, it was the first snow

You: I hate the snow

Niki: and I love you too

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

[lee-hakhyun]

um. side story

yjh tells lhh that they'll go to gwanghwamun in an hour, and lhh leaves and checks his phone. seems the app is shared over star relics too. dkos peeks at the app and figures out his skill. seems it really is only serialized while he's awake ... who is serializing it??? han sooyoung? lhh asks dkos. sure, she may have died in front of lhh but.. is she really gone? wouldn't kdj know, being the oldest dream? wait. if kim dokja was split up, and his sponsor is the 'demon king of salvation',... lhh asks what grade dkos is. myth grade, right?

dkos ignores the question, and tells lhh to use his free comment passes. not myth grade, then. the first two comments aren't anything substantial ("demon king of salvation! demon king of salvation! demon king of salvation!"), but the third one,

"that's not the demon king of salvation i knew."

kdj unexpectedly agrees. and starts talking about yjh in twsa. joonghyukie was softer in the ealier regressions, joonghyukie is still very loyal, etc etc until he asks if lhh is actually listening

checking the last comment, the commenter mentions they feel sorry for lhh being on the verge of death again. uh oh. lhh tells kdj that the latest chapter describes the near future, to which kdj compares the skill to anna croft's precognition. lhh confirms that the chapters' progression is pretty slow, so dkos says the danger probably wouldn't be related to a scenario then. so what's the problem this time?? lhh did avoid dying to yjh...

dkos asks if 'that' has started yet. ??? lhh asks him to elaborate but dkos tells him, you know, it's not easy for constellations to give out information—

the smartphone sparks, and an error in midday tryst occurs. hello?? there's no indirect messages either. dkos probably got hit by a probability aftermath, they were chatting in real time after all... and oh! shin yoosung!!

the last time lhh had seen sys, she definitely wasn't the 41st. but looking at her now, there's no golden glow in her eyes. if 3rd sys is gone, did something happen to kimcom..? lhh asks if sys remembers taming the ancient nagak, and she says she does. but that it wasn't her. ...she was aware? lhh asks her to elaborate, and after hesitating to figure out how to explain it she says it's like a [taming] bond with her from another world? does that make sense? lhh tells her he believes her. sys says then that the other her had said she could trust ahjussi, and that she wouldn't be able to come for a while...

lhh doesn't know what happened with sys, but until she left she had cared for lhh. sys asks one more question.

"who is kim dokja?"

ah? where did she hear about kdj? lhh starts to answer, but stumbles. sys grabs him but points to his neck. there's blood? no, it's... story fragments? lhh pushes sys away as sparks begin to fly throughout his body. the star stram has determined the grade of the story he got for defeating the outer god. his feat has given him a story, but. not all stories are beneficial to the owner.

lhh was given a story with a temporary judgment of semi-myth-grade, 'heir to the eternal name'.

what yoo hoseong of the island of reincarnators had said came to mind. those who could not control their story would end up being consumed by it. this story was too much for lee hakhyun.

「if y ou are sup pos ed to be 49%, then yo u shou ld al so ha ve th is」

lhh remembers what 49% was like. 49's story gradually broke down. lhh's body is suddenly unstable. this was his price for declaring that he would be 'kim dokja'.

system messages tell him that he is currently an incomplete 'kim dokja'. to survive, he had to collect additional kim dokja fragments. if he doesn't collect a new fragment in 50 minutes, he'll die.

dansu ahjussi, kyung sein, and killer king are seen rushing to him, but he couldn't greet them when his story was commanding him.

become the singular kim dokja, by eliminating all the other kim dokjas.

[time remaining until death: 49:51]

[thefatedthoughtofyou]

Sweet Music Playing In The Dark (Be Still, My Foolish Heart) [Part One]

I'm super excited about this "fic" and am so happy to finally start sharing it with you guys! It's really gonna be more of like... a "not-fic" and mostly me rambling on and on about this world I've got in my head.

Some things will probably be contradictory because i constantly think of new things and ways to do things as i ramble, but it's just a loosey goosey overview of the thing! That I'm posting cuz i hope you guys will enjoy it too!

It's all pretty much based on inspiration I've gotten from listening to Bring Me The Horizon so it's almost all gonna be their songs, if i get the links to post! And i hope you enjoy listening to the songs as well! I'll post the song that inspired each part on each part!

It's a friends to lovers au! There will be some Buckingham as well, because Chrissy and Robin are together and have a band together and are Eddie and Steve's besties! Steve is with Nancy at the beginning but there's really not gonna be much details about them aside from the breakup! Eddie also has a partner at the beginning (i haven't decided who yet shh shh shh shh), but there will also be a breakup. Or maybe I'll just have him not able to find the right person. We'll see what happens! But i hope y'all enjoy the ride with me!!!

{ Cute little bat banner is by @1-800-shedevil }

What if they know each other vaguely from robin and chrissy. They aren't close really, just see each other around. Passing in the studio sometimes. Or at events. They're each others besties friends. Besties in law maybe?They chat here and there.

And then covid happens. They're in lockdown. And chrissy and robin get tagged in some musical video challenge that's going around. So they do it, cuz they live together, and because they've been dying to see steve and eddie sing together, they tag them and pass it on. They have each others numbers because of chrissy and robin importance. So they'll both see it. And eddie sends steve a song name, some 80s song, he remembers them chatting about how they love 80s music at an event when they'd both run to hide in the bathroom to be away from the crowds for a bit. And steve text back,

"???" so eddie sends the post, and steve is like,

"oh!!! Oh my god yes let's do it!" So they do a little face time split video thing and its not a huge deal. Its goes a little crazy for a day or two and then calms. But then steve wakes up to robin calling him, and like 10 missed calls from her already. And he answers all groggy in the middle of the afternoon, lockdown, he can sleep when he wants damn it. And he's like,

"whats happened?" And she SHOUTS his name into the phone, he groans. But then she tells him to check Eddie's instagram, and then promptly hangs up on him. And he's like blinking himself awake still but he clicks it open and pulls up Eddie’s. It's actually the first thing that pops up on his feed cuz he really doesn't follow that many people... like... at all. He can see eddie, sitting on his bed, guitar in his lap and one of his little music machines next to him. Steve clicks it and feels himself blushing because of what Eddie's saying.

Basically, he starts of with,

"okay so normally i wouldn't comment or respond to like... assholes in the notes and comments but, I'm locked in my apartment and haven't talked to anyone face to face in like a fucking month an half and am just scrolling through all these stupid fucking comments so lets break this down." He shakes his hair out of his face, it's even longer than normal, his bangs are falling into his eyes. He settles back in, leans closer over his guitar, pointing into the camera.

"All you assholes. Calling Steve's music like... bland pop whatever blah blah blah. Have you listened to his stuff??? Cuz like, not to get TOO into it. Just... oh fucks sake hang on." He leans off the bed, making a weird strangled noise as he stretches. He manages to get hold of a hair band and shoved his hair up into a severely messy bun. Pushing his bangs to the sides he settles back in with his guitar and plays a bit of one of Steve's songs.

Steve feels his face getting hotter and hotter. He's still with nancy. But she's locked down at her own place and it's not even attraction making him blush. It's the fact that eddie munson, heavy metal rockstar man, is playing one of his songs, peice by peice, and laying down some serious music theory on his fans.

He plays it bit by bit until a small section of the song is playing out over his little recorder. And its acoustic and not electric like the actual song. But all the parts are there, and it sounds good. Steve can't stop watching. Barely blinking. Eddie stops playing and looks back into the camera, eyes a little wild, he's really been going at it for awhile. And he's like,

"steve might be, technically, a popstar, which, isn't really even THAT true. He jumps genres just like we do, but thats not the point. The point is, there are so many fucking... the fucking layers??? The goddamn depth of the composition of these songs he's making? He's a musical genius okay? Like... his songs are bonkers when you break them down okay?? So of i see one more of you cunts come into my comments and tell me to stop associating with popstars, which is a whole fucking OTHER topic im choosing to ignore. Dont fuckin tell me who to associate with you pretentious fucks. Anyway. Dont fuckin talk about his music until you fucking LISTEN to his music. The skill and precision it takes to make music like this? And in all the genres he ventures into, the skill level stays. Like...." eddie makes a wild flourishing motion.

"This dudes fuckin nuts okay? He's got fucking bars. He's got fucking talent. And he's my fuckin friend. So shut the fuck up. Mind your own business. Or get with the fucking program and go fucking listen to his shit. Fuck. Got me all fuckin heated now. Bunch'a dumbasses." He shakes his head. Clicks the music play back off, and sets his guitar down next to him. He pushes his bangs up off his head, breathes out a deep breath and rolls his eyes.

"Just... be nice. Or stay out of my comments. He's a friend. He's a fucking hard worker. And i dont take kindly to people calling themselves my "fans", he does the air quotes,

"and then showing up and shitting on steve just cuz he doesn't sing metal." Eddie lets his eyes move away, and then back, and then he smirks, reaches for the camera and says

"Not yet, anyway." He winks, and the video goes black.

Steve is so fucking flattered he has no words. And it only gets worse when he scrolls and sees chrissy and robin cheering eddie on. But THEN he sees Jeff, Andy, and Gareth in the comments too, saying stuff as well. Jeff leaves a trail of fire emojis and then says,

"yes!!! We use Steve's stuff at warm ups alllll the time!!! His shit will rock your world!"

And steve is just, so fucking flattered. He likes the post and tries to think of a way to respond. He thanks eddie in the comments. After checking his own and seeing some of HIS fans saying similar stuff about eddie and his band.

So he comments and doubles down,tell HIS fans he feels the same. He doesn't tolerate hate toward his friends. And then, he grabs the box from under his bed. Pulls out his stack of Corroded Coffin ticket stubs. He's been to.... several shows. Like a lot. Not always front row. He and robin love lawn seats. So they hang back there, and party with the kids and make a good space for themselves, dustin had started a lawn mosh three or four times. But he just makes a video, says,

"its come to my attention some of you think i couldn't possibly be a fan of Corroded Coffin. And i just woke up like an hour ago and im not generally good with words so im not gonna say anything. I'm just gonna do this." He holds up the stubs, all stacked together at first, and then he slides his thumb and the stubs fan out, he's got like... 15 to 25 of them.

He smiles. Fans himself a bit with them, holds them closer to the camera so people can see they're actually Corroded Coffin tickets and then pulls them back. He gives a little toothy smile and a peace sign and then turns the camera off. He goes to take a shower and comes back to a comment from eddie under his video thats just,

"YOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! FUCKIN WHAT!?!? OUR BIGGEST FAN YOU SAY?? 🤣😈🔥🔥🔥💋💋💋"

Cuz he's an emoji slut and had been up for... over 24 hours making that video and just losing his shit a little. But then he also gets a personal text from Eddie and he's like,

"holy shit. Have you really been to that many of our shows?" And steve is like,

"yup. More actually. Ive seen you a few times at festivals from backstage too" and they get to chatting.

Steve tells eddie about dustin starting the lawn moshing and eddie loses his shit again cuz that was so cool to him and the guys, that the lawn had been moshing like the pit. And thats how they start really talking and becoming actually friends and not just semi sort of adjacent friends. Robin and Chrissy add them both to the same group chat and it just blossoms from there.

They dont really post anymore videos, alone or together. But then, after lockdown, a music award show comes to them both and asks if they'd wanna perform a song together as a suprise for the show. And Steve's kind of hesitant. Cuz he doesn't know if he can pull off a Corroded Coffin song. But eddie just claps him on the back and is like,

"dont worry. We're gonna play one of yours" and steves like,

"shouldn't we talk about it a little?" And the band boys chime in that they've been DYING to perform one of his songs. And steve is just so flattered. But he's also like,

"i dont... know. How's my song work with you guys and your style? Im not exactly a heavy metal guru." Eddie smirks at the word, throws his arm over Steve's shoulder and says,

"oh steve. Lemme open your eyes. Lemme show you what you can really do." He widens his eyes cheekily and he and the boys take him to their studio to show him what they have in mind.

When they perform, it starts with just steve alone with his guitar, the stage behind him dark. He gets through the beginning and then the band kicks in with their heavy style and the crowd 'ooohs'. Steve finishes the first verse and then the lights come up, the band goes harder and Eddie comes out from behind Gareth and starts playing his guitar, walks up to the second mic and starts singing and everyone goes CRAZY.

Steve matches Eddie's energy for the whole performance. Eddie jumping and playing and sliding to his knees when he's not singing. Steve jumping to the beat and playing when its Eddie's time to sing. Both of them leaning in close to one mic to sing and play their guitars in unison a few time. The crowd screaming making them both smile.

The crowd screams loud again when Steve leans against Eddie's back as they play, head falling back to lay on his shoulder. And then Eddie is hard core screaming the end of the song. Steve bouncing on his toes as he plays the final notes and the light fall and the stage goes black.

The comments on the videos online are almost all about how GOOD it sounds. And how well their voice go together. And a ton of Corroded Coffin fans being like,

"look at the little popstar man go!!! He's a little rocker at heart!" Cuz steve had been jumping around, keeping up with eddie as he played his guitar and yelled into the mic with him. And Steve's fans are like,

"holy shit! I haven't seen him look that happy on stage in ages!! He's a rockstar!!!" Everyone coming together and agreeing that rock agrees with steve! Even if he doesn't go their on his own in the future, they're glad he's friends with eddie and can venture there if he wants too, when he wants too. Because eddie is always happy to have him. They hug super tight at the end, eddie grabbing Steve's hand and holding it over their head as he screams,

"make some fucking NOISE!! FOR STEVE. FUCKING. HARRINGTON!" and the crowd fucking loses it as they smile and walk off, Eddie's arm draped over Steve's neck, both of them sweaty and hot and beaming.

[maarriiii]

Simp (Part 9) | Wilbur Soot

A/N: More of a filler than anything else. Nothing really happens here since I don't know what to write honestly

Summary: You and Wilbur catch up after a couple of days

Pairing(s): CC!Wilbur Soot x gender neutral!reader, CC!Wilbur Soot x actor!reader

Warning(s): None.

my masterlist :))

~~

Call Me What You Like was out and Wilbur couldn't be more proud of himself and the band. It was a long journey trying to finish this one, almost getting scrapped and tucked away with other unfinished songs that would probably never see the light of the day. Wilbur was glad he stuck with it cause by the looks of things, everyone seemed have positive responses to it. Everyone was enthusiastic about Lovejoy's newest single. His friends, his fans, his family. But, secretly, he wanted to know about what you think of it.

Wilbur hadn't heard from you since almost two days ago—when you made a surprise appearance in his chat. He knew you were busy, promoting your film that he hope would be able to watch soon. So, he had been trying to distract himself with everything he could possibly do—preparing for tour, hanging out with his friends, etcetera. He didn't think of himself as a clingy person, someone in need of constant attention, but with the amount of times he checked his phone for any notification from you only to put it away when he found none would say otherwise.

Wilbur leaned his head back, pinching the bridge of his nose. "They'll talk to you if they have the time. Stop being clingy, man."

"Who's being clingy?"

Wilbur raised his head, seeing Tommy in the doorway. "It's nothing, Tommy."

"You sure?" Tommy asked, amusement in his voice. "Seems like it is something. A certain famous person, perhaps?"

He walked and sat next to Wilbur.

"Shut up, you little gremlin."

Tommy cackled, while Wilbur sat there unamused at his situation. "You're so bad at lying, Wil. I could see it in your face. What's wrong? Is y/n ignoring you?"

The blonde boy continued teasing him, making voices and all. Wilbur sat, taking in at all in, face flat until finally he headlock him.

"Ah! Phil!" Tommy cried out.

~~

You arrived in New York with a newfound spirit—albeit being tired and jet lagged. You haven't told Wilbur about the news due to you immediately passing out when the soft cushiony bed of your hotel suite touched you and the interviews that happened later that day. The first day of the press junket in New York was busy and packed, and with meeting the rest of the cast again, some of you wanted to catch up in the city. A lot of drinking, eating, and laughing occurred and you thought it was the best way to end the night.

When you finally arrived at the hotel, longing for the feel of your silky pajamas and cloud like king size bed, you tried very hard to fought off the sleep that came. You wanted to talk to wilbur even for just a little bit and also listen to his new song that just came out. You searched for the headphone you always bring everywhere, made yourself comfortable on the bed again, and searched the song on YouTube.

The sight of Wilbur on the screen brought a smile to your lips and you couldn't helped but nodding along to the beat of the song. You thought it was great—though maybe you're just bias—and grew even more excited at the thought of seeing him in one of his shows.

~~

Late in the night, Wilbur's phone buzzed on his desk and at the sight of your name, his face lit up. He didn't wait for a second longer to unlocked his phone and reply to you.

Hey wil Are u still up

hey there yes I am

Oh good I don't want to interrupt your sleep or anything Sooo I just heard the new song

He exhaled, slowly getting nervous.

what do you think?

I LOVE IT IT IS SO GOOD I'm going to annoy everyone with the amount of times I will play this.

Wilbur chuckled, his nerves eased. He never would've thought this crush towards you—one that exist only because he thought you were good looking and talented—would grow into something more, something genuine that pulled at his heartstring and made his heart just beat a tiny bit faster at the mention of you. It had been awhile since he felt like this about someone and there's a part of him that was scared because it was you, someone he could've never thought because it was just downright mental.

thanks y/n i'm glad that you like it

Also i have something to tell you too

okay shoot

It's about the shows

oh?

Unfortunately I didn't get any tickets Cause i was in the middle of the interview when the tickets went on sales

Wilbur immediately lost his spirit. He knew it was too good to be true. He wanted so badly for you to come to at least one of them. He wanted to see you; your eyes, your lips, your smile. He wanted to hear you; your laugh and your voice.

oh that's okay y/n you're busy and all

But...

but? but what?

You didn't reply immediately and it killed him seeing that three little dots disappearing and appearing.

come on y/n you're keeping me on edge here

Oh who am I kidding I DO HAVE TICKETS SAM GOT THEM FOR ME IM SEEING YOU IN A FEW MONTHS

Wilbur stood up from his bed ridiculously fast, eyes wide and very awake than he was before. He wanted to cheer like a school boy who just got accepted by a girl that he liked, but hold himself back for two reason; one, he didn't want to have a noise complaint from his neighbor and two, he was a 25-year-old man--though he was very much screaming and cheering internally.

y/n that's great!! i can't fucking wait to see you

Wilbur spent the late night talking to you until you had to go, but it prove to be hard to close his eyes and sleep when all he could think about was you coming to see him doing what he loves with a smile on his face, and unknown to him, you were doing just the same.

[albatmobile]

The Art of Rehabilitating Snowbirds Chapter 11

𓅪 After not hearing from Roy or Jason for five years, you suddenly find yourself taking in extra income as a babysitter for Roy and Jason's child.

𓅪 Rated: M | TW: panic attack | 8k includes: aftermath of bombing, cooking w jason and lian, hurt comfort, xbox w roy, jayroy smut, ANSWERS- FINALLY! (maybe ;p)

fem!Reader x Jason Todd x Roy Harper [masterlist]

Chapter 11: Bambi | ao3 - wattpad

A few days later, they get you everything you've asked for, along with your favorite ice cream and two bottles of Moscato. You roll your eyes when you see the latter, picking up the post-it-note attached to them that reads: ‘drink responsibly ;p’

Fucking Roy, you shake your head and close the fridge with your hip. 

At the very least, you're grateful you won’t have to go grocery shopping for them again.

The past few days, they'd been in and out with Damian, but either Jason or Roy would stay with you and Lian when the other left.

You hate and love being doted on like this, but mostly you just hate that you need this much protection. A bombing is a serious matter, after all. God, what kind of sentence is that? You snort humorlessly to yourself as you take in your odd predicament.

It seemed someone had bombed your apartment with the intention of killing you, but who'd want to do that? It's too targeted to be random; you know that much, but none of your digging has brought anything up so far.

It's you and Jason today. He's currently FaceTiming Roy with his headphones in, seemingly talking about possible leads on what happened. The police hadn’t even reached out for a report or anything, which was more disturbing and led you and everyone else to believe the cops had already been bribed off, but by who, exactly?

The cards are stacked against you and all you can do is sit by and watch.

“How long did it take the two of you to get through this shit?” You hold up the piece of paper you'd written for them toward the camera so Roy can see what you're talking about. You're seriously impressed they’d managed to get everything you need. 

Roy shoots you a Cheshire grin through the screen of Jason’s phone. “Babe, I’m flattered you think I got you that shit. If you let me loose in a store, do you really think I’d get anything remotely close to what you put on that list? No, ma’am, shit was all him,” he says pointing directly into the lens.

Roy then turns to the side with a smirk as he looks off-screen, giving you a drool-inducing view of his cutting jawline. Meanwhile, Jason blushes at being caught. 

“You still remember what ice cream I like?” It’s more of a statement than anything because you really can’t believe it. 

He looks at you, actually looks at you and it catches you completely off guard. “You practically lived with my family. Of course, I remember.” 

His deep green eyes meet your own, making it seem as if all the years have been torn away like wrapping paper. Aside from the one night in the dark of the moonlight, when was the last time you’d been able to look into them like this? No, you don’t want to remember how long it’s been. 

It's like a constant game of tug of war. 

One moment, you feel like you have a handle on the situation enough to understand what's going on, then they'll say something or do something that flips everything on its head.

You sleeping in their bed, the domesticity of the entire situation, Jason remembering your favorite shit… But there are still too many walls, too many unsaids and unanswered questions, coupled with the fact that you still somehow feel like an outsider.

Eventually, answers will have to surface. 

“If that’s all it takes to impress you, you might want to up your standards, babe.”

Always back to humor.

You give a light smile and focus back on Roy on the screen, who's squinting in the sun. You can tell he’s trying to shade the screen because his fingers keep accidentally blocking the camera. 

Jason and Roy go back to chatting about their days and Lian when a thought occurs to you.

“How are you guys going to fuck if I’m here?” you ask suddenly.

Jason spits out the coffee he’d just taken a sip of while Roy hacks similarly over the speaker. 

“Jesus, princess,” Roy wheezes and looks around, shaking the camera in the process.

“What? I’m quite literally sleeping between the two of you and I doubt you get much alone time as it is with a kid.” They're too busy staring dumbfounded at you to respond. “Seriously! It’s a genuine concern. I already feel so imposing.”

“Again, you’re not imposing,” Jason says and nudges you, forcing you to look up at him. “Seriously.”

You nod and look at Roy, who’s wearing a shit-eating grin. “What’s wrong with your face?” you ask.

“I’m just thinking about you thinking about us fucking,” Your face scrunches up in disgust at his admission but offer nothing further because, hell, that was what happened- how can you deny it? “Oh, this is good,” Roy snickers and you feel him looking directly at you as if he were in the room. “This is so good.”

“Can you just shut up for once?” you huff with a roll of your eyes. You look over at Jason when you feel him tense against you. “What?” A quick look at Roy shows he’s in the same flustered state. “What’d I say?”

“Nothing,” Jason manages and keeps his focus completely on Roy, whose shit-eating grin only continues to grow.

“What are you two about to get up to while I’m gone?” His fiery eyebrows wiggle up and down animatedly until Jason quite literally hangs up.

You throw your head back and laugh, “You’re such a fucking asshole to your boyfriend.” You watch together as Roy spams Jason’s phone with numerous failed FaceTime attempts on top of chains of crying and broken heart emojis. “Holy fuck, never mind. I understand now.”

It’s Jason’s turn to laugh as he shoots Roy a quick ‘love you’ text before silencing his phone.

Before he can hide it, you manage to catch a few of their previous messages and try to make sense of what you see. ’Two Face,’ ‘bomb’ and ‘organization’ stick out to you, but Jason’s quick to shield it from you as soon as he catches sight of you looking. 

You sheepishly glance up at him for being caught. “I take it you have some info?” you try.

“Like you haven’t already been doing your own research.” His eyes narrow slightly at you as he analyzes your reaction. 

You merely shrug. Of course you’ve been using your skills to look around for some kind of paper trail, but so far, nothing has come up.

“When the time comes, we might need your help.”

“What does that even mean, ‘when the time comes?’” you huff in annoyance. “You know, I’m getting pretty tired of this back and forth and vagueness. Do you have information or not?”

“No,” he lies easily. You turn away to prevent him from seeing the tears that begin to well up. Why does everything have to be so confusing? So forbidden, yet feels somehow obtainable at the same time. It's a constant game of tug of war in the cruel purgatory you've been trapped in with them for five years. Jason says your name, “Look at me,” he demands but you remain turned away. You try to move away, but your thighs still press against his on the couch. “Don’t be a fucking brat about this. It’s for your own good- for your safety,” he tries, no pleads, but you refuse to listen. 

“For my own good? Fuck you,” you spit, turning back around to shove your finger into his firm chest. “I’ve been doing shit on my own, by the way, for as long as I can remember. I don’t need to save me like some white fucking knight over shit that I know I can handle just as well.” It’s hard to miss the intensity of rage behind your eyes. “If anything, there’s no ‘might. You will need me.” 

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” your name is hollow on his tongue as it pierces you with a calculated coldness. “It has to be this way.”

You curse but allow him to turn your head easily. You stare into his tender gaze, leaving your stomach to swirl as your fucked up game of tug of war continues.

"You're no martyr, Jason." 

He ignores your jab, eyes searching yours for something you don’t know how to give him. “I can’t see you hurt again.”

It’s so simple and yet rings out deeply in your aching chest.

You frown, knowing exactly what he's referring to. Sure, the street thugs, coffee shop robbery and apartment bombing have all been scary, but the Wayne Gala with the Joker all those years ago is what he always seems stuck on.

He leans into you, tracing gently at your throat where the lunatic had carved your scar, his calloused fingers tickling you in their wake. Your eyes flutter into a half-lidded gaze as his eyes rise from the patchy inverted triangle to your lips. 

“There’s always some reason,” your voice is a whisper in the quiet of their living room as it trails off. 

The coffee machine bubbles and whirs as it brews, but aside from that, neither you nor Jason seems to know how to break the awkward silence that currently resounds.

“Some reason for what?” his low voice reverberates in a gravelly tone that has you shifting uncomfortably in arousal.

Some reason we can’t be together. 

Some reason we can’t be open with each other. 

“Nothing,” you shake your train of thought in lieu of leaning in further to test just how close he'll let you get, “it’s nothing.”

His eyes start to close as yours do. It helps you momentarily forget how fucked up this entire situation is for Roy as you both lean in.

You tilt your head first and he follows in a slow, meaningful dip that steals your breath away. Your heart pounds rapidly against your chest as you meet his approaching warmth with your own, allowing your eyes to slip shut just before your lips meet.

Are you dreaming?

“Tell me you want this,” his gruff voice fans temptingly across your mouth.

You keep your eyes shut, allowing your eyelashes to flutter against his cheeks before responding, “I never took you for an idiot, Jason.” 

“Oh, really?”

“How much more obvious could I be?” You open your eyes slightly, backing away, but he refuses to let you. He quickly pulls you back in, his gentle hands caressing the sides of your face as he gently rests his forehead against yours. “Hell, we’ve been like an Austen novel ever since you screamed at me all those years ago.”

“You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?” he chuckles lightly. “‘M sorry about that, babe.” 

“No, I know,” you reassure him as you search for something, anything, to stop you from finally closing the distance. 

It’s Lian’s loud whine, though, that ultimately pulls you away from each other as if you’ve both been simultaneously struck by lightning. 

“Mommy, I’m hungry,” she complains as she tramples over to the couch to plop down with crossed arms between the newly created space between you and Jason.

You nearly choke at the same time Jason says, “Woah.”

You look at each other as her words sink in, then quickly look away with burning cheeks that match Jason’s own. His eyes follow you as if waiting for a response, but how are you supposed to know how to do something like that? 

It isn’t like Jason's correcting her or anything. Is it your job to? 

You get up and go to the kitchen in lieu of a response to start searching for something to make, all while Jason’s large presence follows behind you like a shadow. 

“You’re actually going to cook for once?”

“Don’t make me regret it,” his voice is still low and thickly coated in arousal. You feel yourself clench around the steady supply of slickness that had accumulated from your intimate moment together on the couch.

You open their fridge and bend over slowly, accentuating your ass on purpose as you arch down towards the bottom drawer to pull out a shit ton of sauces and the fresh ginger and cilantro Jason had gotten for you. Meanwhile, he turns on the stove. 

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” 

Lian comes up to tug at your leggings. “Can I have pizza, please?”

“Lian, you’re killin’ my Thai vibes.”

“Was Thai?” She wrinkles her nose at the ingredients in your hands as you dump them on the kitchen island. “Is it good?”

You nod and lift her up onto the island to help you add the liquid ingredients into the stock pot, “Especially because you helped make it, right?” 

“Oh, yeah,” she boasts proudly to Jason as you hand her a spoonful of oyster sauce to add, “I’m a soup chef.”

“Sous chef,” you correct her gently.

“Yes, soup chef.” She looks at Jason with a seriousness no four-year-old should possess as she takes the lemon grass stocks next to her and dumps them into the pot. “It means I help cook.”

“You’re a very good soup chef, then.” Jason takes her tiny hand and places it under his bulky, scared one as he helps her scoot the ginger and onions he’d just cut in with the rest of the ingredients. “That’s a good girl.”

You inadvertently blush at his praise and turn around to focus on preparing the chicken, but you feel Jason’s heavy gaze on you. You have half a mind to turn around and flip him off, but think better of it if only for Lian. 

He knows exactly what he's doing.

“Thank you, daddy.” 

His deep chuckle reverberates as you refuse to meet his gaze and moves the pot from the kitchen island to the stovetop, sideling up right next to you. Much to your chagrin, it appears like he has no plans of letting your flustered state go unnoticed. You feel his body press against yours, relishing in the shared contact like the touch-deprived heathen you are. He looks down at you with a heated eyes as you press further into his immovable muscular form.

You’re both pushing into each other’s sides when the door clicks open and Roy walks in. 

“Oh damn.”

Both you and Jason look over to Roy at the door, but your mouth quickly drops at the sight of Roy in a tank top and low-hanging sweats.

It’s only as he sets down his duffle bag that you notice his towel strategically covering his prosthetic.

Why won’t he just show it to you already? 

Does he really think you're so shallow that you'll think differently of him?

He smirks. Instead of the usual cheeky one, it borders on wicked. 

He watches as you follow his every movement and lifts up the hem of his shirt to wipe at the sweat on his face to tease you. It seems that Jason’s annoyed ‘tch’ only spurs him on further because he then shoots a coy wink your way.

“Where were you at again?” It comes out breathier than you’d like, but holy shit is he putting on a show. 

“Gym?” he tries while you openly continue to eye up his glistening muscles. Eventually, Jason’s seen enough and flicks red curry paste on your nose.

“Hey!” you exclaim. You reluctantly rip your eyes from Roy to whip around and smack Jason across the face with a huge splash of soy sauce.

He snickers as he wipes at the remnants of your salty assault, “Fuck you, babe. That's for hitting on my boyfriend.”

“I was not!” you insist as you hurl the leftover ginger root at him, but he catches it easily and throws it back at you. “Ow!”

Jason looks you over smugly. “Never use a weapon against someone you wouldn’t want them using back on you,” he remarks smartly as Roy grabs Lian out of the line of fire with a wide grin.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” you lament at the same time Jason slips across the kitchen on leftover soy sauce. He uses this momentum, however, to trap you against the counter. “Next time, I’ll be sure to throw the cilantro instead- OOF!” you exclaim as he runs into you, practically knocking the wind out of you in the process.

He chuckles darkly, refusing to let you out of his grasp.

You know it’s Jason and that he’s just joking, but the laughter, coupled with the feeling of being trapped, causes panic to spill to the surface.

You try to laugh, but it comes out as a pained breath.

Jason quickly senses something is off and searches the depths of your eyes for confirmation that you’re not all there. You try to swallow the rising panic, but it traps painfully in your throat and only furthers the intensity of your shallow breathing.

“Sorry, little bird.”

You tense in his hold. His eyes narrow immediately as yours go out of focus and your uneven breaths increase.

That name. 

The last time he'd used that name on you had been all those years ago. You’ve definitely been caught off guard by it and it puts you back in a really vulnerable place.

Jason disappears from your frantic view as the past takes over the forefront of your vision. Unwanted memories of Joker’s scarred, bloody smile that showcased his vile teeth with every maniacal crack of his laughter slam into your skull. 

Your hands find their way to your head in a fruitless effort to stop the thoughts as you smack back into the counter ledge behind you.

Jason’s concerned hold around you dissolves into the deranged henchmen. You feel your eyes go wild as you struggle wildly to get out of their overbearing grasp. They're too close. Your throat tightens to the point it feels like you're drowning for air and your uneven, shallow breaths quickly turn into erratic gasps. 

Your hand absentmindedly raises between the little space between you to soothe the tingling ache that spreads from the top of your scar to the bottom of it. Jason follows the motion easily and removes his arms from around you, but it’s too late. Your vision is already closing in.

You panic after having staved off the nightmares for so many years by burying these memories deep down. 

Not deep enough, you guess.

Roy, having safely deposited Lian on the couch, runs back into the kitchen, completely oblivious to the shift in mood. The redhead uses both of your distracted states to grab the soy sauce and lemon juice to douse you both with a mischievous chuckle. 

“FOOD FIGHT!”

In your distorted state, it only adds to the horrors that are already bearing down upon you. 

The lemon stings your eyes and the raw skin on your throat where you’d been scratching. All the overwhelming sensations boil over until you’re screaming and falling to the floor with your head in your hands.

“Woah!” Roy exclaims, clearly taken aback, as he drops the bottles in an instant. They clatter to the floor as he rushes to your side, though the crash against the tile floors only spurs further hysteria. Your chest heaves as another wave of panic punches you square in the stomach.

You can’t breathe.

Somewhere in the haze of your perturbed thoughts, you hear Jason tell him to back up. It forces you to remember that, yes, this is Jason’s voice and yes, you're still in his and Roy’s kitchen and not in the confines of the manor’s cabinets.

You desperately suck in the scent of Jason and Roy, along with the fragrant soup on the stove and whatever shit Roy had spilled on you. After a few moments, you're finally able to come back to the present moment.

You’re hugging your legs to your chest as you pathetically cower against their island cabinets. Joker’s laughter fades from your head, leaving a resounding pounding in its wake until you’re left with the stark quiet of the real world.

The boiling pot and Lian’s worried coos are the only sounds that fill the room. Lian sounds closer than if she were still on the couch, but you can’t bring yourself to move any part of your body just yet to check.

“Hey, hey!”

You look up at Jason’s startled voice and feel Roy and Jason’s hands grabbing your own. You look up at them quizzically, only for your face to morph into terror at the sight of blood spilling from your fingernails. 

“I didn’t…” You shake your head worriedly and touch lightly at your neck to confirm that, yes, you’ve just scratched your scar raw. “I didn’t mean to do that.”

“It’s okay, you’re okay,” Jason insists, slowly reaching a hand out toward you. “It was my fault.” Your stomach clenches at the memory of what he called you. You visibly wince as you fight against the memories that threaten to come back. They back off again and you feel like crying, no, wait, you are crying. “Find your anchor.” At his words, you force your eyes to stay on his. When he sees you focus on him and brings a finger underneath your chin in a comforting manner. “That’s it, come back to me,” Jason says your name and you have to force yourself to regulate your breathing again.

All you can do is repeat sorry as tears splatter onto your huddled knees. 

Roy returns to your side. It's then that you notice Lian’s absence and cry even harder. She's probably traumatized and it’s all because of you. All you can do is repeat ‘sorry’ as they clutch you against their sturdy chests while you crumble to pieces. 

Jason murmurs against your right ear while Roy coos against your left, both rubbing light circles against your back. You allow Roy to pick you up and immediately nuzzle against his freckled, still sticky neck from remnants of his workout. Roy deposits you onto Jason’s lap and you waste no time curling into his neck, which smells a hell of a lot better than Roy’s. 

He comes back with a med kit and hands it to Jason. “I’ll be right back. I need to check on Lian.”

You visibly pout, not missing the pitiful looks they send your way.

You hate it. Hate that they can see you so vulnerable, no matter how many walls you put up, while they both remain surrounded by fortresses. Your bottom lip quivers under their careful concern and soon enough, you’re forced to shove your head into the crook of Jason’s to stifle your sobs. You’ve done enough damage to that little girl already; she doesn’t need to hear you wailing, too.

Again, the only words that seem to make it past the thick lump in your throat are, 'sorry' as your tears and snot steadily leak onto Jason’s shirt. Nevertheless, Jason pulls you tight against him and lets you cry it out.

Eventually, your pounding headache overcomes your ability to cry and you sit there sniffling until Roy returns.

"Sorry for being such a crybaby."

“You aren't a crybaby,” Jason assures you.

“You’ve even said it yourself,” you lamely remind him of what he’d said after the manor party. 

Roy chuckles fondly at the memory, but you cut it off with a single, pointed glare in his direction. He puts his hands up in faux surrender and starts playing gently with your hair. You can’t help but melt into his delicate touch.

“That was about Bruce, Joker is a different story,” Jason points out, all while watching your interaction with a tender gaze. “Listen, neither of us are mad at you, so you can stop with all of the apologies.”

You don’t recall much of eating, let alone how the Tom Kha tastes as your body floats through the motions. You want to will away the remaining tendrils of terror the Joker holds over you, but they refuse to relinquish themselves over your thoughts.

“I bet you’re drained. Let’s get you to bed.”

You allow them to lead you to the bathroom, drifting weightlessly behind them in the auto-pilot-like haze your body has shut down into. You don’t even bother with your routine as you strip from your clothes and gratefully accept the t-shirt Roy throws your way. You take off your underwear with little shame and throw it in their hamper before slipping into their bed in between them.

You ignore their widened eyes as you shamelessly curl into Jason’s firm chest, leaving their eyes to widen even more. Roy quickly gathers his bearings and moves to attach himself around your back like a leech. This is how you all end up falling asleep. 

•••

The light filters through the large window in their room and you hiss at it as you curl further into the body next to you, breathing in their addicting morning scent and moan.

“Mmm. Good morning to you too, princess.” 

You crack open a tired eye to see Roy’s lazy smile coupled with messy red hair splayed out against the pillow you're sharing.

“Don’t ruin this for me, Roy.” 

He snorts, drawing you closer to his chest, which you easily let him. From this close, it’s easy to ignore the aching remains of your pounding headache from last night. You feel the remnants of nausea from your episode, but you don’t want to worry him with anything.

You whine when he gets up and motion for him to carry you.

“Jesus, you’re just as bad as Lian.”

You roll your eyes and laugh when he comes up to pick you up bridal style. 

“Thank you,” you reply earnestly, knowing you only would’ve made a fool of yourself if you’d gotten up with your legs feeling as unsteady as they do.

Roy carries you past Jason, who’s playing dolls with Lian on the floor, to set you down on the couch before plopping down next to you. You lounge on the couch, half watching as they play some sort of Barbie gladiator brawl Lian had created and half spacing out until.

Eventually, Jason sets the Raquelle doll down and makes to leave.

“I need to go over some stuff for work, so I’m going to head out,” Jason says as he stands, brushing imaginary dust from his jeans as he does so. “Is that okay?”

You startle when his eyes meet yours, drawing you from your thoughts. 

“Me?” you ask unsurely, looking at him in confusion. “You’re asking me?”

He shrugs and tries to look nonchalant, but you see right through his façade. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

You startle slightly when he walks over and leans down to embrace you. You’re barely able to return the gesture before he heads off to get dressed as if nothing had even happened in the first place, leaving you completely stupefied.

This? This is something you could definitely get used to.

The entire day, much to Lian’s chagrin, is a never-ending downpour, effectively eliminating any hopes of hers to go to the park like she’d been begging about ever since two days ago. It's all for the best, considering you hardly have energy left after last night and your body will hardly cooperate as is. Eventually, Lian gives up on toys and cartoons and snuggles you extra hard. 

Meanwhile, Roy starts up a game you’ve never heard of and offers you the controller.

“Wanna play, babe?”

As a force of habit, you automatically look around for Jason to see if he’s heard but quickly remember that it’s just you and Roy. You smile lightly, rejecting the controller in favor of cuddling into his side. He allows you to easily, even going as far as to draw you closer to his side when he maneuvers his arm to be around you while still being able to play.

You and Lian watch Roy in sleepy silence as he fails the same boss fight six times in a row before you shift with a tiny laugh and grab the controller. “You’re not paying attention to your health and you’re shi-sucky at dodging. Give me this thing.”

“Sure thing, princess,” he relents easily. You blush as he continues to stare at you even after you’ve unpaused the game. “Are you feeling any better?”

You bite your lip, content to focus on the virtual battle at hand while escaping from your internal battle until Roy asks. You allow yourself to get lost in the game just a bit longer until Lian squirms against you to face you with an exaggerated pout face that rivals your own from the night before.

“Hey! Dad asked you a question!”

You try to stifle your giggle at the little girl’s sleep-ridden, slightly slurred sentence, but she hears it anyway. She furthers her pout by crossing her arms petulantly.

“You’re right,” you sigh, pausing the game to pet her hair gently before turning your head to face a grinning Roy. 

He still has you trapped with his arm around your shoulder and uses the position to gently drag his prosthetic finger in tantalizing, nearly ticklish, circles. You couldn’t get any closer to him unless you were actually sitting on top of him, which didn’t sound awful at all, yet you fruitlessly tried to close any remaining gaps between you as you squirm further into his warmth.

“Good,” she pokes you in the stomach and you flinch slightly at the pressure, “now tell dad you’re sorry.” 

You look from her to Roy and internally curse as your cheeks heat up.

Roy’s shit-eating grin is enough to have you rolling your eyes, but your blush speaks volumes as to how you’re actually feeling about the situation.

“Sorry, Roy.”

“Who’s Roy?” Lian squints at you like you’re slow. “That's dad.”

Roy snorts and you’re two seconds from beating his ass, but you appease Lian nonetheless.

“Sorry, dad.”

“How sweet,” Roy coos your name and uses his free hand to tilt your chin up and over to meet his gaze.

You gulp lightly. Your eyes flicker from the deep green of his eyes all the way to his red, blush-stained lips.

“Do you ‘cept her apology, dad?”

“I do,” his voice rasps as it fans across your face, which is now mere inches away from your own.

“Good,” she huffs. You feel her settle back into your side, but you're entirely focused on Roy. “Now, answer the question.”

“How old are you again?” you joke.

She settles back into your hold and motions for you to continue.

“I’m tired and still scared and tired of being scared… So, it’s just a lot. It’s hard to talk about s’all,” you mutter out the last part, wanting desperately to get back to the game, but Roy takes the controller from your hands before you can.

“Remember when you said being scared is normal?” You groan when Lian throws your own affirmations back at you. You don’t have the heart to tell her that there’s a difference between being a toddler robbed at gunpoint and you, a grown-ass woman who still can’t get over something from years ago. “I love you,” she says finally. 

At her unexpected admission, you and Roy share a quick glance with each other, leaving her to fret as if she's said a bad word. Roy pauses his game and focuses his attention solely on you and Lian next to him, leaving you to blush under his watchful green eyes. 

“I love you, too,” you say, uncurling partially from Roy’s side to draw her to you in a half hug. “Come nap with me.”

“No, naps are for babies,” she giggles as she attempts to flee from your arms. You only put up a little fight before letting her run across the couch to the opposite side.

“Hey! I’m not a baby.” You hold up your hands like she’s forcing a secret out of you. “All I’m saying is that Superboy loves naps.” 

She stops suddenly in your grasp and you know you have her.

“You don’t know that,” she insists skeptically but crawls back into your arms, anyway as if she can't decide whether or not you're lying. 

You’ve never really hung out with Roy alone and it's nice to know that, even after all these years, it isn’t awkward at all. Even if most of the day has been spent in silence, Roy still manages to make you feel at ease. It's incredibly endearing, though you’ll never admit it out loud. You find yourself truly basking in your time with him and Lian.

You don’t know when you doze off, but a particular booming thunder startles you from your nap. You nearly snuggle back into your sleep when you hear two sets of snores harmonizing above the sound of the torrential downpour outside. You shift, stirring Roy from his sleep.

He shoots you a questioning brow as you untangle yourself from the two sleepy Harper’s to stand. 

“I need to shower,” you whisper and lean over his slumped form to absentmindedly run your fingers through his hair. 

You try to ignore how easily he leans into your touch, how delicately his red lashes flutter closed against his freckled cheeks, but you can’t. In fact, it’s all you can think about as you go through the motions of washing and drying yourself until you realize you’re naked in their room with the door unlocked.

You quickly get dressed in a pair of shorts and a random t-shirt you find folded on the dresser that smells intensely of some sort of woodsy cologne before returning to the living room. You easily snatch the controller from Roy’s grip and take over. “What?” you challenge with a smirk.

“You,” he flicks you roughly on the nose, “are lucky my etai yazi is here and I can’t curse.”

“Whatever,” you say, sticking your tongue out at him only to gasp as he grabs it. “Heh! S’not hair!”

“What was that, princess? Something about it not being fair? Didn’t quite catch that.” It’s his turn to smirk as he leans in to rumble, “Cat got your tongue?”

“Yeh, a weal puthy,” you jest back.

He erupts into a fit of laughter and you manage to free your tongue in the process, but he grabs hold of part of the controller.

“You’re still annoying as ever, I see.”

You huff, securing your grasp on it. “Yeah, same to you.”

“Cliche,” he says as he smugly tugs the controller towards himself.

You tug it right back. “Roy, it’s touché.”

“Oh,” he responds sheepishly and ruffles his hair. “Well, touché touché then!”

You giggle lightly, watching as his face softens at the delicate noise, “That’s not even how it works!” 

He snatches the controller from you and springs from the couch to get away from your grasp. He holds it above your head, but you don’t give him the satisfaction of jumping for it like he’s undoubtedly waiting for. Instead, you stomp his foot, effectively bringing the controller back down to your height. relinquishing his hold on it. You quickly grab it and waste no time racing back to the couch where Lian, who's managed to sleep throughout the whole ordeal, is still snoring.

“Not fair,” he whines as he rubs soothingly at his foot. “You played dirty!”

“What other games do you have?” you ignore his exclamation and his pain in lieu of moving to crouch in front of their TV stand. You make quick work of flipping through the disks you see, but nothing catches your eye- that is, until… “Oh, no way, you have Skate 3?”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Roy rubs his face mirthfully while he watches you bend down on all fours to reach for the game that's stuck between the wall and the console.

You finally manage to grab it and stick the disk in and try to crawl backward when Jason walks in to see Roy seriously eyeing your ass and joins in.

“Damn.”

You startle at Jason’s deep voice, hitting your head on the shelf you’d been reaching under in the process. “Shit!” you groan.

You want to absolutely disappear as you're forced to wiggle backward until your head is clear of the offending shelf. You stand up as soon as you're free of the damned TV stand. 

“You good?”

“Mhm,” you say, nodding a bit too quickly and bristle when they start to chuckle. “Shut up.”

“Daddy!” Lian rushes up to Jason, who lifts her up into a spin. You catch Roy beaming out of the corner of your eyes and feel a pang of longing in your stomach. “You got us McDonald's?”

Lian scurries off with her happy meal with an excited screech that you can’t help but laugh at.

Roy ruffles her hair as she rushes by him before going over to kiss Jason. “How was work, love?”

 “Unproductive,” he says, tone revealing nothing as he sets down the greasy bag of food on the counter.

“Oh.” The sound of disappointment in Roy’s voice matches the look on Jason’s face. “That’s alright, don’t worry about it. Same shit for me too; don’t forget that.”

You nod, knowing the feeling. Or, well, at least you think you do from what you're picking up on.

In the stress of the last day or so, you’d completely blown off one of your gigs. Even though shit was hitting the fan and you technically didn’t have an apartment, you know you'll still probably be forced to pay out the remainder of your lease. Plus, it's not like you can just force yourself on their household and become another financial burden to them when they already have Lian to look after. 

Hell, you're already taking up space in their literal bed. You can’t not help out financially if you continue to live here but damn… You're going to go broke. 

It's a fear of yours after having lived with thieves. It's the whole reason you went to college and graduated early- you can't afford to be like them. You won't allow it. And yet, here you are, neglecting work.

“Why is our daughter playing Skate of all god-forsaken games?”

You follow Jason’s emerald gaze to the couch, where Lian is poking at the controller with half an apple slice half sticking out of her mouth.

“Lian, do a kickflip!” you encourage her. You snatch a sandwich out of the bag and go over to where she’s randomly mashing the buttons yet somehow nailing the moves. 

You all finish dinner quickly and they disappear off into the room while you finish the skate competition you started before yawning. It's definitely time for bed. You slump down to the floor to turn off their Xbox and follow after them. 

At first, you don’t notice anything as you go about rifling through one of their dressers for a sleep shirt. You still don't notice anything when you toe off your panties and throw them in the hamper. It’s only when you’re checking if the coast is clear to slip off your shirt that you hear it.

Jason’s soft, needy moans, Roy’s satisfied grunts alongside the slapping of wet skin together.

No fucking way.

You think about Roy’s rosy, damp skin from the other day and can’t help the moan that escapes. At the realization that the only thing between you and their naked bodies was a singular, thin wall, you bite your bottom lip.

You feel your clit throb in response to their escalating noises and know that if you’re about to do what you’re thinking about, you better do it fucking quick. 

You already feel close as the memories of your previous session in this room flood your mind while the real sounds play out from the bathroom next door. The image of Jason bottoming for Roy while your shampoo and body wash still pollute the bathroom only spurs on your imagination that they want you, that they're doing this on purpose, that it isn’t just an obsession.

You force yourself to move in time to their audible thrusts, not even bothering to cover up the obscene noises sputtering from your mouth the closer you get.

Their rhythm picks up and you tremble as you force yourself to follow along with the toe-curling pace. You know it's only a matter of time before the pressure building icily in the heat in your lower abdomen releases.

“Fuck me,” you hiss as you quite literally think about that.

You know you’re completely fucked when Roy’s voice cracks pathetically around Jason’s name, echoing for your pleasure as it bounces around the tiled room.

You're still coming down from your high when they emerge nonchalantly. You quickly close your legs together when you hear Roy ask if you're in the room.

“Oh, damn,” Jason says. The sight of your trembling form on their bed is all the answer they need.

“I guess you guys did figure out how to fuck with me here.”

Roy drops his dumbfounded look and the towel he's rubbing his hair with at the sight of you to chuckle in disbelief. 

Your face flushes as he openly stares over the naked expanse of your legs tangled in their sheets. You tug the hem of Roy’s t-shirt you borrowed but realize quickly that it hardly covers anything anyway and release it in favor of covering the scar you’d bloodied earlier.

This apparently pisses Jason off. “What would you say to me if I covered up my scars?” he presses, raising a pointed brow at the action as he joins you on the bed in his boxers.

“Why would you do that?" you ask quizzically as if it's obvious, which, for you, it is. "They look hot.” 

He draws back, seemingly dumbfounded that you've said such a thing. 

Hell, even you're surprised with yourself as your hand subconsciously smacks itself over your mouth as a barrier to prevent any further stupidity from leaking out.

“Told you, Jay,” Roy says smugly.

“Oh, like you’re one to talk,” Roy gulps under the sudden heat of your attention, “hiding your fucking prosthetic from me like I’m some shallow bitch.”

You stare down at your hand in betrayal. Wasn't it atop your mouth to stop the bullshit from spewing?

It's Roy's turn to look completely baffled. “That’s not what it is at all, princess.”

“Well then,” you begin fiddling with the covers, “seems like we’ve all got our shit then, so leave me be.” You huff but still pull Jason close to you. You're glad when he doesn’t put up a fight as you draw the covers over the two of you.

You feel the heat of Jason’s cheeks as he blushes, drawing him into you while pressing yourself against his boyfriend. You lightly nudge Roy to put his arm around you to cuddle, which he obliges easily. 

You fall asleep with the remains of your orgasm coating your inner thighs.

•••

When you wake up in the middle of the night, both sides of the bed are cold and completely empty. In your sleep-hazed panic, along with the scalding memories of the attacks over the past few days, your first instinct is to check that Lian’s safe.

Your feet quietly carry you across the hall only to find her dead asleep in her bed. You move to close her door softly and go back to sleep when you hear a window latch from the main room. 

You tense, freezing as you wait for further noise and, when none comes, you race back to the master bedroom to look around for a weapon. You know these motherfuckers are strapped, but where would they hide it? You quickly find a loaded gun, rolling your eyes when you find it nestled amongst a shit ton of lube and dildos in Jason’s nightstand. You force yourself to push their earlier session in the shower from your head as you wield the gun. 

A gun would definitely do a lot more damage than a ginger root… Jason's words of warning come to mind while you survey the hallway, ultimately finding nothing.

The foreign weight of the metal serves as a constant reminder that you have absolutely no idea how to wield the damn thing.

Your hands shake slightly as you gather the courage to check around the corner, only to immediately retreat. You only barely manage to withhold your terrified gasp as you press yourself against the hallway wall at the sight of a giant shadow moving across the living room.

Shit. 

Your breathing halts without your permission.

There's a groan, then a voice shushing.

Your eyes widen owlishly. There are two of them?

Your head slowly peaks around the corner to confirm that, yes, there are two men in the apartment.

Oh, fuck.

Okay.

Oh, motherfucking fuck.

You steel yourself, realizing you're going to have to confront them sooner rather than later.

Does the universe really want you dead this bad?

You see the first man fiddling with the lamp by the couch and figure that, while his friend is still hanging halfway through the window, this is the best time to make a move. 

The first man's back is to your position and you soon realize that now's the time to attack. You use the darkness as your cover, avoiding the squeaky spots on their hardwood floors as you traverse behind their various pieces of furniture until you reach the end of your cover.

It's now or never.

The dude looks to be well over six feet tall from where you stand, but you won’t let his height nor your semi-naked state phase you. You’ve dealt with worse. Much worse... You shake your head, dispelling your spiraling thoughts in order to ready yourself for the attack.

Somehow, you manage to muster up the courage as you avoid the last weak spot on the floor. You press the loaded gun into the dude’s back just as he flicks on the lamp.

The light clicks on, casting a dim, yellow glow across the scene unfolding in front of your very eyes. It's only then that you’re actually able to make out your attacker’s features.

Red Hood.

You gasp at the realization, cursing yourself instantly when his head snaps your way.

“We need to stop running into each other like this,” Red Hood robotically tones while holding up his hands in lax surrender.

However nonchalant he may act, you don't allow yourself to falter, keeping your aim steady on his back. You even go so far as to press the gun further into the leather of his jacket.

“Or just in general might be nice,” you retort deadpan as you position yourself in a way that creates a buffer between the two men and the hallway. “Just because you’ve saved me doesn’t mean I won’t cap your ass for breaking and entering, buddy.” You nod at the man who's still hanging halfway in the window and halfway out. “I’m talking to you, too, arrow boy.”

He groans again. Whether it's in pain or embarrassment, you aren’t sure, but it’s enough of a distraction for Red Hood to flip around and disassemble your gun before you can even realize it’s been taken from your hands. 

You stare up at him, completely shocked and, deep down, a bit turned on.

You’re weaponless and Lian’s door is the first door in the hallway.

Okay, no. Not turned on- you're scared as fuck. Who are you kidding?

“We’re not here to hurt you.” He pushes you lightly down on the couch and, in your state of shock, you let him. You remember your outfit choice too late and quickly tug the hem down over your crotch as far as it'll go, but whatever he’s seen, he’s seen. The damage is done, but true to his word and regardless of your undressed state, it doesn’t seem like he's going to hurt you. “Stay put,” he warns and retreats backward toward the slumped-over form of the arrow dude from the coffee shop.

You watch as Red Hood lifts the man with some effort, shaking your head when you realize how many questions this is prompting.

“If you’re not here to hurt me, why are you here, then?” 

“You were right,” Red Hood’s warbled, robotic voice sounds against the silence of the apartment while he carries the slumped man over his shoulder, ignoring your question entirely.

You click your tongue in annoyance, crossing your arms as you get up to follow behind him petulantly. Just who does he think he is walking around the apartment like he fucking owns it?

“I know.” But you don’t know; you just like being told you're right.

He makes a robotic noise you assume, no, hope, is amusement as he sets arrow dude down on the kitchen island and turns on the main light. 

You maintain a wary distance from Red Hood as you go to check on the man bleeding all over the countertop Jason had just cleaned. You quickly piece together that it’s most likely Roy, as you’re almost certain that it’s a match to his prosthetic hand. Your revelation still doesn’t explain why Red Hood's here, though. 

“Roy?” you try.

He nods, slipping off his domino mask to look at you. Your heart stops beating for the second time tonight. His eyes are wincing in pain and you look down to find a dagger embedded in his thigh.

“We owe you an explanation,” Roy says, leaving you to furrow your brows in confusion as to who exactly the 'we’ in this situation is.

Roy and Red Hood??

You look over at the hulking, helmeted man in question quizzically, wishing he’d just up and leave already.

You let the silence of the situation settle over you. 

You look away from his red helmet and take Roy’s prosthetic hand into your own, turning it over in a brief inspection. “Think I’ve heard that one before,” you say slowly, keeping an even gaze on Red Hood from the corner of your eyes. “Don’t think I ever actually got one.” 

You sigh as you set his hand back down on the counter, turning to meet both of their stares. 

The vigilantes in front of you seem to cower under your heavy gaze, which, under any other circumstances, would be totally comical, but you can’t ruin the hold you have over them when you have them right where you want them.

They aren’t getting out of it this time; you're going to make sure of it. 

Your mind is already racing with speculations and connections after Roy’s vigilante reveal. Soon, your conspiracy-like theories quickly spin from your head and into an audible, verbal mess.

“So, if you’re arrow dude…” The wheels are turning so loudly in your head that you don’t even hear Roy’s groan of shame. “Then,” your eyes keep shifting between as your thoughts race around Jason and Roy's matching duffle bags and odd hours, “and then… What?” You thought back to the Wayne family teaching you self-defense. All that bullshit about 'hostage training' was all cover up for... “Wait, no.” And the Wayne Gala, which meant- Damian… No, Bruce, Jason. “No way.” 

You finally come to a conclusion, blinking owlishly at the men in front of you.

 “WHAT THE FUCK?!”

A/N: dun dun DUUUUNN let me know what ur thinking i promise i dont bite :p

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[hergrandplan]

YR ask - if you could change one thing in the show without changing the overall plot, what would it be?

- dreamyelectronicmusic

I love this question. Also because it's the easiest to answer as in, I knew the answer the minute I read the question.

I would make Wilmon remember that they do in fact have laptops, and that they'll be able to chat with those laptops (text, call, even video call!) once phone hour is done. And that they don't need to be miserable because they supposedly barely talk to each other. Alternatively but related, I'd get rid of that whole "no phone" story line, because I don't think being able to communicate more often would change anything about how they handle the struggles they face. They'd still be there, and they still wouldn't know how to handle them properly, and we'd still get that pressure and ending of episode 5. But it would make them happier and I mean... grounding Simon was enough if they really wanted some barrier. The no phone line was ridiculous (also because again... laptops exist. And they OWN them.)

[horn-of-leo]

would it be alright to ask if you have any saint seiya headcanons? love your art btw!

OMG THANK U!!!💖💕💗 ^w^ ALSO OHOHOHO you do not know how much power you've given me here >:3 I have SO many headcanons to share about this series because I'm so normal about it

oh gosh I dunno what exactly to get into tho cuz I have alot and this post will be soo long if I tell like everything I got but I got a bunch of funny and cute stuff for the main 5 (tho I'd be happy to share any other specific characters headcanons on another post if you or anyone in general is interested)

Anyways my headcanons for the bronze saints! :D

Did a lot of the obvious headcanons where everyone is aged up a bit+unrelated ('cept of Ikki and Shun ofc) because it's dumb how improbable it all is

Ages:

-Seiya-16, 5'3"

-Shiryu-17, 6'0"

-Hyoga-18, 5'10"

-Shun-16, 5'6"

-Ikki-20, 5'8"

Seiya

-Bi king

-Shortest/Youngest of the team

-He knows how to play guitar because Seika taught him how

-After being stabbed with the sword of Hades, the others go on a journey to find Apollo to heal Seiya. While he manages to get Seiya out of his coma, the effects of the sword still effect Seiya from time to time if he over pushes himself since Hades’ power is that strong

Shiryu 

-Also bi king 

-Half Chinese/Japanese

-Grew up in China but was recruited by the Graude foundation and moved to Japan

-He likes to sing but gets shy when he's put on spot, Seiya likes to tease him about it

-He was blind fr but water of life/seventh sense brings it back

-During his fight with Krishna while he only gets partially blind and he's able to heal by the Hades arc(I've also put longer in-between times where the plot happens so they get to have more freetime to live)

-During this time, he had sunglasses/a cane(usually when he's in crowded areas)

Hyoga

-Gay

-Grew up as a city boy

-One who had most memories of his mom since she died when he was 10

-Probably one of the later ones recruited into the Graude Foundation

-Usually stays in Russia with Crystal Saint and Yakov during times of rest (my ver of Crystal Saint lives and he just used to be a saint back then but retired, plus Yakov is his kid)

Shun

-Trans, Pan

-He becomes the Pisces saint in my version cuz fuck canon

-He likes drawing and painting 

-Out of Hades’ vessels, he's the one who's come closest to resemble him. 

-He looks like him during Hades’ youth apparently, though no one would really be able to tell considering the circumstances Hades had grown up in

Ikki

-Ace

-The Virgo saint in my version 

-Number 1 HyoShun hater/j

-Remembers his parents, both died in a car crash when he was 5 and Shun was a couple of months old

-They stayed at a relative's for a bit but were treated badly, plus strange occurrences began to happen involving Shun where dead things would suddenly just turn up around him that further added to the mistreatment. So Ikki took Shun and ran away. 

-Ikki was besties with the black saints too because I think their dynamics would be super funny

Altogether hcs

Pals Dynamics 

-Everyone is great as a group, it'll be Seiya who'll usually initiate meetups as a whole group or sometimes they'll all just run into each other when going out somewhere 

-Ikki never texts in the group chat because he doesn't have the app they use. 

-He only calls people which is also still rare. 

-He'll be the type who calls at the middle of the night to drive somewhere random. 

Hyoga: *sleeping* Hears his phone go off and he sluggishly picks up.  Hyoga: “Who is this?” Ikki: “Wake up and get ready. We're going somewhere.” Hyoga: “Ikki?! It's in the middle of the night!” Ikki: “I'll be there in 5.” Hyoga: “Did you call me because no one else picked up?” Ikki: “…” *Line ends* *A few hours later Hyoga sends Shun the number used to call him* "I think this is your brother's number..."

And that's how the gang figured out Ikki had a phone. They all had to figure out his phone number through just passing it over. 

One more phone shenanigan, one of the first people he calls is Shaka when he gets a phone but he doesn't own one ofc so the only next option would be…

Aioria: Hello? Ikki: Are you with Shaka right now? Aioria: Excuse me? Is this Ikki? Also why would you assume he'd be here with me?! Ikki: I asked are you with Shaka right now? *silence* Aioria: Yeah... 

-Ikki and Shiryu are the only ones in the group who are really awkward with each other. They always need a third person to balance them out

-Ikki thinks that they're cool, but Shiryu doesn't appreciate his type of banter  

-Shiryu doesn't have good sarcasm skills because he's too earnest. If he throws shade, he'll just low blow you 

-I feel like at least Seiya, Shiryu, and Shun keep in touch with the other 5 Bronzes

-Probably most frequent person they run into is Jabu

-Apparently, Jabu goes through a goth phase

Future Bronzes

-Out of the main 5, Seiya is the only one to become promoted to a Gold Saint afterwards since everyone else retires. Though they still can use the armor if they need to. 

-Shiryu settles down as a farmer 

-Hyoga ???? actor AU????, He's not the type to share about his personal life so his childhood is a mystery to the world and the only info found of him from back then was his short-lived wrestling career(lol) during the Galaxian Wars

-Shun and Ikki don't take the armors either, I like doctor Shun so I'll keep that

Body types

From ripped to leanest: Shiryu, Ikki, Hyoga, Seiya, Shun

Shiryu- Clearly the most physically fit of the five. He punches like and is a tank but he's also very agile despite his frame. 

Ikki- Has a stocky build with broad shoulders. Definitely had to fight the most so it's been building up for years. 

Hyoga- He's not huge but he has a pretty fit and toned body. Probably from all of the swimming. 

Seiya- Still more on a muscular side but still pretty lean compared to the other buffer dudes. 

Shun- Just lean, he's not great if we're talking raw strength-wise but has more defensive skills to make up for it.

Sleep headcanons

Seiya- Heavy sleeper, snores a lot, he's the type to starfish and hit people on accident, making sleepovers somewhat of a nightmare. 

Shiryu- The type to fall deadly silent and still when he's asleep so that people think he's dead. Luckily, he's a light sleeper and won't be too hard to wake up. 

Hyoga- He lightly snores but is a sleep talker and will say some of the craziest shit ever and never have any memories of doing so. 

Shun- Most normal sleeper out of the bunch, but is deathly scary when being awakened. The gang will swear Hades is still in him from the dirty looks he gives if he's disturbed. 

Ikki- The type of bloke to go snork mimimi.

Cafe Orders(these were from my sister since she's an expert in the field because I'm not a person who goes to cafes regularly)

Shun- Matcha Latte

Shiryu- Oolong Tea

Hyoga- Caramel Frappe

Seiya- Lemonade Refreshers

Ikki- Unicorn Frappe (joke)

I probably have more than this tbh but these were the only ones I've written down so far!! I love them all so much so i have this long list of random stuff haha thank u for asking me to share!!! QwQ

[violettawriting]

Chapter Two

Francesca's P.O.V

It's been a week and a half since Leóns party and I've been extremelly busy with classes and all of the complementary college projects i've signed to this semester. I barely have time to think about anything else besides sheet music and guitar chords.

I was in the middle of revising a song lyric that I've been working on when my phone starts vibrating, and my brother Luca's name appears on the screen.

"Ciao, Luca. Cosa desideri?" I answear not really in the mood for talking.

"Woah, okay... i missed you too." He teases. "How are you? We haven't heard of you in weeks."

"Sto bene, Luca. Just very busy." i try to sound as friendly as I can.

"Hm. Good to hear. Soo... you already know why I'm calling, right? You still haven't told us if you're coming for nonna's birthay party."

I take a deep breath and press the bridge of my nose with my thumb and index finger. I hate to sound like I don't care about my family's stuff. I mean, I love them and I miss them very much. But sometimes it seems like they just don't aknowledge the fact I'm living in another continet and it's not that easy to go visit. Plus, I'm really focused on college right now. They'll be offering a huge opportunity to work with the biggest singer of Buenos Aires, Angie Carrara (aka Vilu's aunt), to the student with best grades by the end of the semester and I've been working my ass of to get it.

"Yeah, I know.. I'm sorry. It's just that I still don't know if there'll be any exams in that week. I promise I'll give you guys a response ASAP."

"Hm... alright. Just please don't take too long, 'kay?" I mumble a positive answer. "Okay then... Prenditi cura di te. We'll be waiting for you call.

"A presto". I hang up and stare at my screen. God, I really need a good night of sleep.

I stretch in the chair and run my hands through my hair, sighing wearily. After a few seconds staring at the wall, I finally get some courage to get myself up and go to the cafeteria buy myself something extra-sugary.

In the middle of my walk from the dormitories to the main building, I notice how crowded the campus is today. For some reason, it seems to have more people around this wednesday afternoon. I watch as a few groups of students pass by, chatting in hushed tones. As I finally approach the grand entrance of the University of Buenos Aires, I spot a rather... amusing pair, whispering intensely in a more secluded corner.

I spot Ludmila's shiny hair first. Her colorfull outfit starkly contrasts with Diego's plain gray shirt and black pants. I try not to stare but I just can't help feeling intriged by this weird duo.

Obviously I'm not able to make out the words, so I eventually give up on watching them. But not before Diego cathes my staring eyes and stops talking. I try to act normal, as if it was just a coincidence that I was looking at their direction the same moment he looked at me, and rush into the building.

***

I'm sitting at a table in the corner of the cafeteria, waiting for Cami who's currently stuck in class with Gregorio. Poor her. I sip my cup of hot chocolate slowly, savoring it before it ends and I have to go back to my studies.

I am completely distracted inside my own mind and don't notice the blonde girl coming in my direction. "Hi, Fran! How are you today?" Ludmila aproaches me with that well-known fake tone in her voice. "It's been a while since we last had a chat!"

I stare at the girl, trying not to give her a face as annoyed as i feel right now. I've known Ludmila since high school, when i moved to Argentina with my family and started studying music at the Studio 21. It's no news that she's a trouble maker and will do whatever it takes to archieve her goals. Good thing we don't get to spend too much time together here in Uni.

"Hello, Ludmila" I reply not really giving her much attention.

I can sense what's to come when she pulls the chair on the other side of the table and sits in front of me. "So, how's the... chocolate?" she asks, in that typical Ludmila way.You can tell she's struggling to find friendly words to say. God, she's terrible at pretending to be interested in other people.

"Great. Can I help you?" I ask her directly. We both know she wouldn't come here if she didn't wanted something from me.

"Woah, Fran, it really hurts my feeling when you speak to me like this" She touches her chest in a hurt way and makes a sad puppy face. I say nothing, just stare at her with my brow arched, waiting. "Well, okay. Whatever," she drops the act. "I just wanted to ask why were you eversdropping my private conversation yearlier".

I keep staring and pretend I have no idea what she's talking about.

"Oh please, don't play dumb with me. What did you hear?" She is leaning on her arms, almost reaching the middle of the table, looking at me intently.

"I didn't hear anything, Ludmila. And I wasn't eversdropping."

She fake laughs, dismissing my answear with a "don't bullshit me" look.

"Seriously. I couldn't hear a word. And honestly, I don't care, either. So, don't worry. I won't tell anyone you were dealing drugs with Diego or anything." I say, getting up and grabbing my stuff.

Ludmila laughs loudly at that and I turn my head at her direction, actually intriged by her reaction.

"Drugs?! Oh, please, Fran. As if i needed any of that shit. Mind you, I'm pretty content with my sane mind. I'm naturally fun and entertaining." She runs a hand through her hair and leans back in the chair. "Plus, I would never do that to my body. Hello?? I'm an artist. A star. I gotta take care of my health and my voice." She says, as it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Aaalright... good for you. Really, congrats." I say, forcing a interested voice. "Now, if you excuse me, I have a saxophone waiting for me to play it in my dorm." I walk away as quickly as I can, leaving her no chance to keep the conversation going.

As I was briskly walking through the place, I bump into a familiar redhead who also seems to be in a hurry.

"Oof! Francesca, you nearly knocked me over!" Camila scolds me. "Where are you going with such hurry?"

"Sorry, I was running from Ludmila. She's certain I was eversdropping her and Diego earlier."

"Well... were you?" My friend asks, as we leave the building.

"No!! Of course not. I just saw them suspiciously whispering and thought it was weird." I say, trying not to sound as if it was a big deal because I know how invested in gossips Camila can get.

"Hum... I see." She ponders for a moment and we keep walking towards the dormitories. When I think the subject is already over, she spats "But like- why were they together? I mean, what could these two possibly have in common? Obviously it wasn't for drugs. Ludmila would never use any of that..." she keeps rumbling as I stay silent. Suddenly, Cami stops mid-walk and gasps. "Oh. My. God. What if they're secretly dating???"

I turn to look at my insane friend. "What? Where'd you get this idea from?" I say. "Of course not. They would never date each other. Plus, what's this? Middle school?" I dismiss her crazy idea, but as I think about it I start wondering if that would be really impossible. "Anyway. It doesn't matter. Why are Diego and Ludmila even a topic of our conversation?"

I open the door in front of me and enter the dormroom, leaving those thoughts in the hallway.