#cars are so stressful yet a necessary evil

[redwormart]

having a tough day, lookin at ghouls

he's annoying (affectionate).

[burnedbyshoto]

go the distance

(will you) go the distance

— You’re perfectly content in life except for the fact that you are not dating Deku. When his best friend won’t help you out, you turn to the dark side to get what you want.

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pairing: pro hero!midoriya izuku x bad villain!reader

warnings: 18+, nsfw, smut, manga spoilers, pro hero!au, villain!reader, ofa usage for sex lol, size difference, manhandling, public sex, slight degradation and praise, deku eats his cum outta ya pussy, big dick deku, corruption but make it opposite, deku is a pervert change my mind

word count: 12,715

a/n: well, yall already knew I wanted to make this fic a reality, so here it is for bnharems villain collab!! check out all the already amazing stories if you haven’t already. thank you to kara, sky, and jo for reading this for me because lmao im ass rn. I’m gonna go to bed because I partied a bit too hard last night.

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your quirk: distortion – can make afflicted persons vision shift 6 cm to the left or right at the cost of having their own vision shift the same way

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“Breaking news: We have yet another report to add to the slew of attacks this month, this comes just days after we broadcasted rumors of a villain running rampant over the city. This spate of attacks has put the entire metropolitan area at a standstill, road closures, and damaged property making it difficult for commuters to get to work in the morning. 

“Road maintenance endeavors to do its best to keep the city running, but it seems futile when these attacks continue to increase. The entire city was brought to a standstill by the mysterious villain who has still not been named, but reports show they are nothing like we have ever experienced before. 

“Where are the heroes now? Who will save us from the terror overwhelming our city? 

“Every day the crime toll continues to rise and we have no one here to protect us. The Hero Public Safety Commission assured us earlier in the week that the crime rate would go down, that the top Heroes are out there protecting our city, but if so, where are they? Is it really safe to go out anymore, who can we trust? Would you put your life in the hands of a Hero today? When they have proved our streets are no longer safe. We still have no information on what is going on, or who is involved, but we must remain observant. We will continue to report the latest news as we receive it, but for now, we must implore you to heed the warnings of the city-wide curfew that is soon to be implemented. If anyone has any information on these occurrences in the city, please send them to us or contact the police, you can remain anonymous. The safety of our citizens is what is most important, stay vigilant and don’t go out unless it is absolutely necessary. One thing we know for sure: we can no longer rely on Heroes to protect us. The streets of our once-great city are no longer safe, we are no longer safe.”

The female reporter closes her eyes, despite still being on the air, her eyebrows furrowed as she exasperatedly sighs.

“Was that good enough, Mirage?”

You look at her with a pout, your eyes then clenching shut as your lips move with unsaid words as you motion for the cameras to stop rolling. You tilt your head right and left, muttering a bit.

“Did that seem better to you this time? I don’t know, I don’t think it was scary enough...”

You open your eyes to see the exasperated reporter looking at you as if she personally sought to end you right where you were sitting.

“You are the worst villain I’ve ever encountered,” she deadpans, and you laugh in agreement.

.

.

.

You weren’t really a villain.

If you must put a label on what you were, you would say that you were the best PR head any hero agency could ask for. You were, after all, the top student graduate from UA’s Business Course and had been ushered into a condensed agency the moment you were finished taking your graduation pictures. 

And well, if you are actually curious about the… villainy, you would like to uphold and continue to stress that you weren’t a villain! You were just a public nuisance – like those stupid YouTubers – with the ability to garner Pro Heroes’ attention! People had no reason to scoff at what you did on the daily.

You took both of these jobs very seriously!

It was like being straight out of a comic for you!

A simple – hopefully should the heroes you’re in charge of not be stupid – nine to five job by day, and a badass, crime-committing, sexy as shit villain by night! How could anyone ever hate you for your lifestyle! How could anyone ever hate you?!

But we are all noisy people, and everyone wondered just why you became a villain because you had a beautifully stable job with an impressive salary! Why would such an amazing woman such as yourself dabble in the evilness of humanity? 

Well, you did have an answer for the public.

“Why do you engage in evil, villainous schemes?” the reporter deadpans, absolutely and utterly not being paid enough to humor you in this forced interview.

The public loved drama, pizazz, a little showmanship even from what they deemed humanities worst! So, you told the world why you chose to be evil instead of good:

“Because I want to be!” you grin, flashing a pose as you make your away from the interviewer you had very much illegally forced to interview you. “And because a hero killed my cat!’

Of course, that was a lie! Why would you ever hand over the real reason as to why you decided to become a villain! You’d be laughed right out of Japan, possibly be murdered by a horde of fangirls!

For you see, there was one reason and one reason alone as to why you decided to take your place within the villainy hall of fame. Why you chose to do more in your day outside of your already demanding job.

And that one reason was: Pro Hero Deku, civilian name Midoriya Izuku.

Now, trying not to come off as some creepy, weirdo, stalker fangirl, you could fully admit that you were in love with the stupidly large hunk of a man that debuted as an official pro a year before you graduated from high school. 

You remember how the world was finally recovering from the year-long nightmare that had ensued. To be honest, you were stupidly surprised you had even managed to graduate, given that most of schooling had become somewhat of a joke.

FIVE YEARS AGO, MARCH, 2XXX:

It had been in the evening, the clear blue sky becoming ruby red and blood orange as you made your way out of campus. The air somehow smelled of sweet hay and gasoline, but you didn’t mind. There was hardly anyone out at this time, most students had made their way home already, and the only sounds were the moving cars of businessmen just trying to get back home.

There really wasn’t any reason to suspect anything to go wrong, this was a simple daily walk back home after school that wasn’t like any other. But then there had been a loud pop, an ever louder screech, and finally, you managed to whip your head in time to see a car tumbling through the air straight at you. 

There was hardly any time to think, even less to react, and the only thing you knew was that you were not going to survive.

You braced yourself, eyes clenching and body curling, your mind screaming because this was not going to be the way things ended. But before it could happen, before the car could come down upon you and squish you like a bug under a shoe, something picked you up and you were weightless.

Waiting for an impact that never came, the tears that were endlessly streaming down your face were suddenly stopped by rough, warm fingers smoothly wiping them away.

“Hey, it’s okay! You’re safe now!” a voice says softly to you, endearingly warm and comforting. “I’m here, don’t worry.”

“Am I… did I die?” you whisper, unsure if you even want the answer, your eyes remaining closed because you refused to open them up to some angel that could confirm your death. “God, what an embarrassing way to die!”

“Oh – um, no! You’re not dead! I promise!” the voice laughs brightly, just softly enough that you believe him and not be entirely horrified by the amused reaction. Your eyes crack open slowly, just barely peering back into the world, still half praying you weren’t dead. But all you saw was green. 

Green eyes, green hair, green clothes.

You blink, once, twice, realizing only then you were staring into the eyes of a boy about your age.

He had curly hair, freckles littering his face, and eyes that easily pierced through your very soul.

Without meaning to, your breath stopped, frozen in your lungs as you were captivated by a handsome man with a curving, beautiful smile. 

“See, I told you it was okay!” he teased you, head cocking to the side as he grinned largely.

The action itself seemed to strangle the strangest noise out of your mouth as you realized suddenly and immediately that your face was burning and all you could think was:

A cute hero rescued me, a cute hero rescued me,��a cute hero rescued me, acuteherorescuedme!

“Sorry about that scare! I would’ve caught that car sooner, but I wasn’t paying attention to who was around!” the green boy apologized, bowing deeply in front of you in his apology. “There’s a commotion just up ahead, so I recommend you take the next road over.”

You nod numbly, unable to conjure even the slightest hint of your voice again as he stood up to his full length. He was average in height it seemed, taller than you, but still not towering. The hero looked behind his shoulder, those big green eyes focusing onto the distance, onto something you couldn’t even begin to imagine – or see, really. He blinked and turned back to you, smile gone but the gentle aura to him remained, but now his face, his mouth, was underlined with a sense of urgency and engagement to whatever sent a vehicle tumbling your way.

“Which train do you take home?” he asked, eyebrows relaxing from his stern position, as his smile picked up again. “I’ll take you closer to your station!”

“B train,” you manage to wheeze out – unable to be the reason why he was held up but also confused as to just what he could do to get you closer to the station that was at least a mile away from here.

“Perfect! I know where that is!” he laughs for just a moment, and before you could even ask if this was going to be some escorted thing – because you definitely did not need it – his arms were fastly secured around you, and suddenly you were weightless.

A cold wind rushed against your face, nipping at your nose, cheeks, and ears, sending your hair flying around – into your mouth! Oh, you were screaming! You were soaring through the skyline, being held by some hero you couldn’t name, and you were screeching at the top of your lungs.

Making the mistake of looking down, your arms were suddenly around his shoulders, your voice growing even sharper and louder as you squeezed against his body and refused to let go. His hands, despite the gloves, were warm on your back, and his soft chuckle warming you from nose to toes as he secured his grip on you.

“I got you,” he spoke, “I won’t let you go, I promise.”

Those words don’t exactly ease you, but there’s a comfort to the genuinity to his words. You nod nonetheless, your face buried deep into his neck. The cold wind continues to whip around you, the only thing sounding in your ears is the cruel whipping wind and quiet city below.

“I’m landing now,” he informed you, body shifting in the wind, and reflexively, you clung even tighter to him, expecting the similar stomach dropping motion of a roller coaster going straight down. “You’re – ack – c-choking me!”

The knowledge of that, hearing the strain and entirely unhidden sound of him choking against the current chokehold you had on him, you released him entirely with a shriek of your own. Was it a smart move? No, definitely not because you were how many hundreds – if not thousands – of feet in the air with a quirk that could not, and would not save you.

“It’s okay! I’m fine!” he quickly said, his arms shifting around your waist as you felt your body weight drop just the smallest bit. To which your focus landed to the concrete floor so far down, and you began screaming again. He panicked just a bit too. “Y-You’re okay too! We’re landing! We’re landing!”

Soon, but not soon enough, the concrete floor came underneath your feet, and you practically felt your knees buckle underneath you. The train station behind you was practically invisible, and you felt the floor come in contact with your knees, and you collapsed onto your hands and knees. You could feel the tears streaming down your face as you wheezed and panted, unable to move from your position. 

“Hey, look, we made it!” he laughed gently, probably being said in hopes that you would feel better. (It did make you feel slightly better, his laugh was light and pretty to listen to.) You could feel him approaching you, iron covered red shoes appearing before your vision. Looking up, you saw that the young hero was crouching, his face holding a wobbly smile that was earnest, worried, and full of unspoken hope. “I do need to get back, but before I do, are you good enough to be left alone?”

You blinked your soaked eyelashes at him, still largely unable to say anything at the cute hero in front of you who had a few scratches on his cheek, right below his freckles.

“Y-Yeah, um,” you say, your tongue cotten and lead in your dry mouth. “I-I’ll be fine, I think.”

The green eyed hero nods, offering you a hand and assisting you to your trembling legs, “That’s good to hear!” he chirped, his wobbly smile becoming a grand, bright grin. “You were really brave! I was impressed!”

Now, you were an idiot at times, but even you could spot a stupid lie. Still, hearing it said with such honesty, as if this hero who was no taller than five foot eight truly believed it, made something bubble in your chest, and soon you found yourself laughing.

“No need to lie to me, h-hero,” you manage to speak between stammering breaths, “thank you for saving me, though. I appreciate it.”

You grin crookedly at him, and to your utter delight, he reciprocates it.

“It’s the least I can do. I’d offer to take you home but… I’m not quite finished yet,” he says, and you can only nod, the conversation obviously reaching its last strides. You watch as he floats up, his eyes looking at you, but somehow focused how many miles away from where he had brought you from. “Stay safe?”

“I’ll try my best,” you agree to his question, hands clasping before your lap. “Finish the job quick, hero?”

He grins, “I’ll try my best.”

You feel a breathless sort of laugh escape you as you watch him beginning to shoot back up, but a sort of horror shoots through you as you rush forward, running right after him, hands cupping around your mouth as you scream:

“What’s your name?!”

The blur of green in the air freezes, and you stop running as you see green eyes and freckles focusing back onto you.

“Deku! My hero name is Deku!”

You stop at the curb of the street, eyes focused on the sky as the green eyed hero named Deku grins one last time before shooting off at a speed probably much faster than when he held onto you. The wind blows around you, and you can only feel the heat sitting on your cheeks and the way you’re smiling as you stare after his figure that's long, long gone.

“Deku...” you whisper to yourself, ignorant to the world of commuters beginning to appear at the station. “Thank you.”

And thus came the very apparent and obvious day in which you fell head over heels for Pro Hero Deku.

Now some people called you a stupid fangirl, obsessive stalker, and sometimes, yeah, you were obsessive and weird about your slight infatuation with a stranger. It was strange, you knew that! But you also knew that you had practically no chances of ever being able to woe the man behind the image of Deku because Midoriya Izuku practically existed as Deku 24/7.

After you graduated from high school, you were put into the same agency that was currently holding Deku. Without tooting your own rom-com obsessed horn too much, you fully expected to walk in and be handed Deku’s file as his PR manager and be able to thank him for not only saving you all that time ago, but also eventually sweep him off his feet. 

But your reputation preceded you well, probably too well, because the first day you entered the office and was handed your list of three clients to work with, neither one was for Deku. Being a PR manager for heroes was hard, a job that practically held no set hours because, unlike your typical celebrities, heroes had no type of privacy or protection. They were constantly under the spotlight, being viewed by adoring fans and scornful critics. Your job served as the first line of defense for heroes against the public, and there were some heroes that were quite hilariously easy to work for because they were genuinely good.

The older PR managers typically held the quieter, easy tempered, or less combat heavy heroes. These heroes typically never had a bad thing said about them, their job was a glorified PA job but even less because there was no expected demands from the heroes they had to take in. Unless, of course, a hero wanted to do some sort of public event they hadn’t considered. 

But there were the louder, quick to temper, or the heavy combat heroes that while made you an insane amount of money, also brought you a near 120 hour work week because there was so much to do, so much to consider, so much to keep your eyes on. There was the constant slander, the people who hated the louder, quick to temper heroes because they didn’t like their attitude, completely disregarding that they had been unsafe and a liability the entire time the hero was dealing with them. The talk shows that took months to convince to allow for an interview because they heard false rumors, and so you have to practically wrestle a boa constrictor to get a measly five minute interview done. And then the combat-heavy heroes… no one would ever shut up about building damages and how this hero broke his nose while he was stealing a store! 

Not to mention having to have every single piece of social media on your phone, set to notify you whenever your clients names were brought up so that you could look at it. You’ve seen more than enough lewd drawings of your clients to last you a lifetime, enough fanfiction, and fan edits that left you with blazing cheeks and the need to never look at your client ever again. But mostly you checked each and every update because you were their first and only line of legal defense on these sorts of things.

You’ve taken down leaked nudes, fake news, and qualmed rumors and speculations.

It was hard.

So when you were shown to your desk on your first day and three files were handed to you, you were shocked to see the hero names you would be working with.

Dynamight

Phantom Thief

Shouto

Somehow, without having yet to speak with a single one of your now current clients, you knew that you were going to have your work cut out for you.

“Good luck newbie!” the woman who gave you the initial tour chirped, clapping you on the back. “You got this!”

Good lord.

Without much to do other than reading through the three’s files, you realized that you already knew a bunch about two of three of your clients. DynaMight and Shouto were two heroes that you knew teamed up with and hung out with Deku a lot, both on-field and off-field if any of the out of costume pictures said anything. Because of their connection with Deku, you had at one point learned a bit about them.

You knew that Shouto was a crowd favorite. He was tall and sweet and a complete airhead at the best moments despite him being smart. Controversy still surrounded his character, despite all the good he did, because of the past history that was brought out about his father Endeavor and his brother Dabi. The country couldn’t figure out where they stood in terms of that reveal. Endeavor did a lot before the reveal, and continued to rise up to everything in his path despite the skeletons in his closet being thrown out for the world to see. They neither forgave him, nor hated him, they only watched and waited. Then Dabi, of course, was seen as a could-have-been version of Shouto, and many tried to ask if he was really a hero and not actually siding with the League. After all, why on Earth would he be defensive of his father too?

The public had an unmoving image of Shouto based on anything but who he was as an individual, and you decided immediately that it would be your job to fix that. He was also, after all, a dear friend of Deku, so you’d do anything.

Phantom Thief was your easiest of the three clients. A relatively well mannered man who was kind and a bit weird in a fun way. He had a great sense of self and was a reliable person on the field. He made a great hero, but you could see the way his spirit blazed with an unspoken rivalry between him and the other two of your clients. Well, it seemed like he was the best until his former self appointed rivals came into the picture, but that was hardly ever, and according to Shouto, he was way worse back in their first year. 

The greatest scandal he’s had so far in your three years of working at their agency was the one time he was lied to about a quirk and accidentally copied a woman's quirk that gave her the ability to change her cup size. Safe to say that Phantom Thief accidentally broke a few buttons on his shirt and was unable to stop civilians from snapping pictures. 

But of course, the one that had you practically crying yourself to sleep nightly for more than one reason was Dynamight.

You’d known about him the moment you looked up Deku on your phone.

They were practically a hero duo in everything but name. They were always seen doing the same things together, whether that be on patrol together or maybe getting dinner, most of their top recorded fights were done with each other by their sides. You had also learned that they were childhood friends, and you practically vibrated at the thought that even though Deku was not your client, the chances of meeting him were still astronomically high.

There was no way you wouldn’t not meet Deku!

But you were wrong, so very, very wrong.

Turns out the hero duo in everything but name meant that Dynamight refused to let Deku be anywhere near him in the agency – the very small amount of time they spent in here. The few times they were in the same room, Dynamight absolutely refused to be interrupted because that was their paperwork hour. You had only ever been blessed with seeing green curls turning the corner as Dynamight gripped your forearm, refusing to let you follow.

“Like hell I’ll let you distract the shitnerd,” he stated simply, his red eyes narrowed as he stared down his nose at you. You opened your mouth, ready to defend your not so innocent intentions. “I’m not stupid, so don’t pretend like you won’t try anything.”

Your jaw snapped shut.

Safe to say that you couldn’t do anything about Deku so long as Dynamight was around.

But Dynamight as a client was exhausting to put it kindly.

There were so many opinions and thoughts and issues and praises coming from everywhere. Hell, even the fucking Americans and westerners had caught wind of the Wonder Duo at one point and while you were well knowledgable on their opinions on Deku, the ones on Dynamight were the ones that you had to focus on now.

People still called him a villain, so many unhappy with the fact that he still screamed and cursed and threatened. There were many conspiracy theories that he was working with the long dead League of Villains. They turned their nose up at the fact that he was childhood friends with Deku, claiming that no way an asshole like him could have ever been friends with him. And of course the bullying revelation that had come out shortly after your debut. 

That had been a trip, one that had you even shocked as Dynamight approached the table in front of the media, his body calm and composed. You had watched as he simply said he owed nothing to the media, that he had already done all that he could to deserve his atonement and deserve Deku’s forgiveness. He had spoken clearly, concisely that it wasn’t any of their damn business as to what he did, and if he apologized to them, the unaffected, the ones that had nothing to do with his early years of bullying Deku, of his previous weakness and insecurity, it would be a waste of his breath. 

It isn’t to them he should ever be apologizing to anyways.

You had watched as he stood up, face calm, and hands shoved into his pockets as he stood and walked away despite the screaming reporters. You had wanted to stay longer, have your own hand in damage control, but a swoop of green came in and Deku was at the microphone eyebrows furrowed as he pointed a finger at them all and said that his past with Kacchan was between him and Kacchan only, and his decision to forgive Kacchan were his and only his.

You didn’t hear the rest, didn’t even get the option to hear the way the hero you loved defended the hero you worked for – his childhood friend.

No.

Dynamight had grabbed your elbow and dragged you out of the room with him, the metal doors clanging closed the moment fierce green eyes met yours.

You watched in the company car as Dynamight looked outside the window, one elbow on the doorframe holding his chin; his gaze focused sharply on nothing but the passing sidewalk. Had it not been for the way the hand on top of his lap trembled, you would have thought he was perfectly okay.

Neither one of you talked about that again.

But just because you didn’t talk about it again, didn’t mean the world was the same. People claimed he brainwashed Deku, others demanded that Deku beat the shit out of Dynamight. You knew that Dynamight would want nothing to do with this, but you would stay in the office (an almost useless, empty office as most PR managers did their business at home) for hours long after you were supposed to be gone, practically arguing with someone who only existed behind a screen and didn’t even care that much – but you couldn’t stop.

Seeing Dynamight’s shaking hand had really done a number on you.

“The hell are you still doing here, eyelashes,” Dynamite asked from the dark entrance of the floor. “Go home already, don’t waste your time.”

You had startled at the initial intrusion, but you immediately relaxed seeing the smudged paint around red eyes and blond hair. You barely kept your gaze on him before turning back to your computer and continuing your argument.

“I’m not wasting my time, I’m doing my job,” you remark, eyes squinting at your keyboard because your vision is definitely blurry. “I’ll be heading out soon anyways.”

“God you’re fucking annoying and stubborn!” Dynamight barked, the heel of his hand slamming into his forehead. “This is exactly why I won’t introduce you to the fucking nerd!” 

“What?!” you shriek, suddenly looking at your client as if he had personally attacked you – and in a way he did. “What do you mean you won’t introduce me to Deku because of that?! I’ve already met Red Riot, Chargebolt, Cellophane, and Pinky through you!”

“Yeah, because they’re not stubborn idiots too!” Dynamight accuses, jamming a gloved finger at you as he begins stomping your way. You startle, your chair shooting backward as the explosion hero makes his way towards you at alarming speed.

“What are you—?!” you shriek, hands flailing about as he grabs you by the collar of your distressed shirt.

Dynamight lifts you up to your feet as if you were a sack of flour and you grasp onto his forearm.

“I might tell you that you’re the most annoying and stubborn bitch in the world, but you’re not worse than fucking Deku,” Dynamight sneers, his red eyes narrowed and stern. “I’m not going to let you meet him until you learn how to give or you’ll hurt him, and I’m not going to be part of any reason as to why he gets hurt again.”

Your jaw dropped, clearly offended, but you closed it just as fast; the weight of his words made you a bit sad, even for just a bit.

“You’re kinda cute when you care for Deku, you sure I’m his biggest fan?” you tease, grinning at the hero to which he rolls his eyes.

“Shut the hell up and go home already; it’s annoying seeing you fight a losing battle that’s none of your damn business,” Dynamight simply said, putting you back onto your feet and blocking out your desk. 

“I’ll go home on the condition that for my birthday you at least consider introducing us!” you say, unwilling to move from your spot. “I’ve been working for you for three years! You’ve kept me away for three years!”

Dynamight’s stare didn’t even shift the slightest millimeter, his red eyes unamused as you groaned in grief and annoyance.

“I’m stubborn? Have you met yourself?!” you grumble snatching your jacket and purse from the hook on your cubicle and shoving them on. “My names God of Explosion Murder: Dynamight and I am Stubborn™ but will never admit it.”

You continued mocking your long time client and most definitely friend if you dared to say so, and dragged the heel of your foot all the way to the elevator to which you were joined by Dynamight. The trip down the elevator is silent, and you keep your gaze locked on the closed doors, unwilling to even look at the hero next to you.

Soon enough, the elevator reached the ground floor, and you got ready to walk out.

“I’ll consider it,” Dynamight said as the elevator doors opened. “Also, fucking stop calling me Dynamight, Bakugou’s fine.”

He walked off the elevator with his hands shoved into the pockets of his pants.

“Thank you, Bakugou!” you shriek, your lungs failing you at the thought of finally being introduced to Deku! You hadn’t moved from your spot from the elevator, your chest hammering with the thought of getting to meet Deku.

“Don’t get your hopes up, you’re still irritatingly stubborn,” Bakugou merely calls over his shoulder before lifting his hand in a halfhearted wave before stepping out of the glass door.

That brought you back to reality just a bit and you scowled, knowing you would have to go beyond and above to prove that. 

But you see, there were many reasons to cry about having Bakugou as your client. Besides the stinkhole of his previous bullying, people just were not understanding his typically prickly exterior. You had to go head to head with reputation tarnished, had to slap fangirls away who demanded that Bakugou degrade them where they stood. It was hard to not be stubborn as not only his PR manager but his friend, and in less than a month, still plenty of time before your birthday, you had already grown irritated of the meeting-Deku-card he waved over your head.

“Mei, if I have to go any longer than this, I will die and hope I am reborn as Deku’s new guardian angel,” you pouted, chin pressed against a cold metal tabletop. Your hands being used as glove models for one of your best friends Hatsume Mei. “It’s first of all impossible getting anywhere near him with his guard dog Bakugou literally stopping me whenever I’m within a ten foot radius! And then I’m not even sure what will happen when we do meet again! Would I even be able to talk to him?!”

“Why wouldn’t you? You talk to all my babies with me! There’s practically nothing you can’t do,” Mei laughs, smacking you against your back before returning her intense gaze back to the gloves. “Deku’s uh… I actually can’t remember him but I’m sure he’s a great conversationalist! I think he helped me with the Sports Festival my first year.”

 “That was Iida,” you laugh, wiggling your fingers as Mei demanded. “You’re so bad with names and faces, I’m impressed you know mine.”

“You saved my baby, of course I remember you,” Mei turned her grin towards you, “but come on, why can’t you get with him besides this Bakugou guy?”

“Well, he’s just like Bakugou! He’s practically married to his job! Their schedules basically match together perfectly! There’s literally only three hours a day while they’re on the job that they’re not together! And that’s when they patrol their own parts of town because there’s hardly any activity they don’t need to be attached by the neck.” You explain and rant, your cheeks puffing as you stand up and allow Mei to run further tests on the glove. 

“Sounds like you gotta become a villain to woo this hero guy, huh,” Mei spoke, eyes focused on the glove as you pointed a finger at the far wall and watched as a beam exploded from the fingertip and pierced through the steel wall like butter. “Too bad you’re a goody two-shoes or else I could make you some serious villain gear and make you a fearsome villain to then prove that Hatusme Mei’s babies and creations are untouchable and the best in the world! Muah-ha-ha-ha!”

You know her words are more joking than serious, but that doesn’t stop your eyes from widening. Your body shifts over to where she was standing and you screech pointing at her and just narrowly missing setting off the laser again. 

“THAT'S IT!”

“What’s it?” she asked, completely confused.

“You have to make me a villain!” you exclaim, rushing over to Mei, who is eagerly waiting for her babies returnal especially since it ran perfectly. “You have to make me near-invisible gear that can keep me going toe to toe with Deku until I can seduce him!”

“You want to turn evil?” Mei questions, finger pressing quizzically to her chin. “That doesn’t seem right.”

“I am definitely not villainous to pull that off, but like I pretend to be a villain so that he talks to me and we can like get to know each other!” you exclaim, you’re unable to keep from hopping up and down on your feet, your grin unfathomably bright. “It's practically a romcom in the making!”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Mei laughs, altering the band of fabric around your waist. “You do know heroes and villains hardly speak? It’s more like… ‘I’m more powerful,’ ‘No me!,’ ‘No, ME!’”

“Um, I’m pretty sure that’s not true, but whatever! I’ll figure out a way!” you continue on unaffected because this plan was genius! Especially if you had Mei in your corner?! Her recent development of not using such… steampunk designs made her creations elusive and dangerous to own. Hence why she was an extremely sought out manufacturer, by villains and heroes alike. “And if I can go toe to toe with Deku of all people, you’ll know that you and your babies are the undeniable best!”

“Hm, that is promising,” Mei agrees with a nod as she forces you around. “Is this Deku guy all that good?”

“He’s the one you made the iron soles for!” you chirp and watch as the recognition and challenge spark immediately in Mei’s yellow eyes.

“Oh,” Mei chuckles, turning away from you and looking at her pile of made babies. “This would be good.”

“So we have an agreement?” you grin excitedly. 

“Give me a month, and we’ll have your debut!”

Fuck Bakugou for thinking you weren’t good enough!

.

.

.

You hadn’t expected the initial phases of villainy to be quite as hard as it was, if you were being honest. The late nights at Mei’s personal lab made sure to keep your plans a solid secret, but you had to prepare for the wild range of what Deku’s quirk entailed.

There was smoke, something you were already used to working in because of Bakugou and his quirk. You’ve navigated quite a bit in his smog, and as long as you knew where you were, you would be fine. 

There was also that danger sense, which allowed him to know when things were coming – something that shouldn’t be too big an issue considering you weren’t actually attempting to extract danger onto him. 

Blackwhip was a big issue. How far or how much could you do if he even grabbed a hold of you. With sleuthing and the help of Mei having files on everyone's quirks, you were able to find information that blackwhip was a creation made of energy. Meaning that Mei was now making some type of destructing material to lessen the energy of the quirk, allowing for you to escape should he attempt to capture you this way.

Float was stopped by having most of your fights occur within a confined area, which was needed for you anyways! You didn’t need to be caught by anyone else but him! You didn’t actually need to land in jail – you would prefer to not be handled by anyone but Deku, actually.

Then of course the stupid superstrength and superspeed, both of which you knew you could handle with your quirk. You’ve been head to head with people with quirks similar to that before, and you knew your quirk was tricky enough that you’d manage to slip right past his fingers just fine. After all, you knew full and well that the Deku who took down S class villains was worlds quicker than F class villains – aka you.

You would be fine.

But today was day one, first of how many days it would take to get Pro Hero Deku, aka Midoriya Izuku to fall in love with you. 

You were dressed in a black and purple bodysuit that was definitely not inspired by Shego from Kim Possible’s costume. Your hair was dyed purple by a special spray Mei created that would be washed out by the end of the day, but wouldn’t ever give away that it was fake. You wore a mask over your eyes, and grinned seeing that you couldn’t see a fleck of color on your irises. 

Perfect.

And with far too much confidence, nauseating excitement, and unjustified attitude, you marched down towards your first spot, ready and adopting the identity of who you were about to become.

Mirage.

It was time to act. Deku and Dynamight were on different patrol routes right now, and you sent your threat, readying for the moment for the man in green to come in with the desire to stop you. With the very real threat of stealing every puppy within the tristate area being broadcasted within the area unless and hero bests you, you waited for your savior to come and stop you.

“I am here to stop your villainous acts, you villain!” a voice shattered the silence just as it shattered your heart. You looked over your shoulder to see some hero you couldn’t name standing at the other stairwell entrance with his fists clenched and ready to fight. 

You groaned, shoulders crumbling with your well hidden disappointment.

“I wasn’t looking for you!” you exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at the flabbergasted hero who was just trying to figure out what was happening. “Where’s Deku?!”

“He’s – he’s not here yet,” he stammers, eyes wide. “It’s not his day anymore to patrol this area?”

“Aw fuck!” you complain, pouting at the realization that you had messed up. “Okay, I’ll be back later, please don’t come back. Bye!”

With a small wave, you easily stepped through the door to the stairwell next to you and left, your threat empty and the hero victorious despite not actually stopping you. And unfortunately, although you had wished and prayed even, this was not the last time a screw up like this would happen.

At the threat of destroying all the cats in the area, you had another hero show up, not Deku, and you groaned and left before they could even finish their call of stopping you.

You then threatened to poison the watering system, to which you found out that Deku was held up at another major villain threat in a different city. You groaned and stomped off after that. 

Then there was the time you swore you would increase the overall temperature of the city per one degree celsius should your demands not be made. Shouto answered that one and you immediately walked away the moment you saw the familiar head of red and white coming your way.

Time and time again you kept being caught by heroes you could not care about, being confronted by no names and nobodies. It was tiring, and Mei was beginning to sigh just the smallest bit whenever you showed up to try yet again.

But you weren’t a quitter!

You would win!

This was your last attempt at getting Deku to notice you.

After threatening to wrap all the citizens in the area with a giant froot by the foot, you were almost sad to say that the heroes ignored your cry for chaos and no one had come to check on you.

You sat outside the building you used as your trap for Deku, pouting into a hot dog that the neighborhood's grandma gave you because you looked like you needed something to eat. It’s a good thing you weren’t actually a villain or else they’d be fucked, you bitterly thought as you took another bite of your food. 

It had been a month of empty, no Deku appearances, and you were going to bite the bullet and pretend to be not stubborn just so stupid Bakugou of all people could introduce you.

You kicked your feet as you sat on the staircase, humming as you watched the empty streets bend with the wind. It was quiet, beautiful, peaceful.

“YOU!” a voice shrieked to your left, and you watched a pudgy, red nosed man racing over towards you, a flash drive clenched in his hands. “TAKE THIS! RUN! DON’T LET THE HEROES TAKE IT!”

You gawked at him, feeling the small plastic device being shoved into your hands as the man collapsed at your feet. You squeaked when you heard a voice yelling stop and you bounced to your feet, turned into the building and raced in.

Your breathing was erratic, heart in your throat as you raced up the stairwell, unable to begin to imagine what the hell the information on the flash drive held. You were practically hyperventilating as you reached the floor you had come to know extremely well, and you stood near the window with shaky hands and legs.

What did you take?!

“I’m going to need that back, I’m afraid,” a low smooth voice said from behind you, and you froze immediately. Old anxiety overcome by a new anxiety, one that made your stomach flip and blood burn. 

Turning around, you felt awestruck to see the one man you’ve been waiting for… for fucking years now, really, to appear before you, finally be there. In the flesh, completely, entirely. Your jaw dropped, your gaze looking down from your clenched hand that held the USB to the way that Deku looked at you with warm eyes that were underlined with steel that made you want to drop to your knees, confess everything, and beg to be his. God, he was so fucking tall. He had only been about five foot eight the last time you had actually talked, and now he was at least a foot taller. His teenager haircut was long gone, now replaced with his curls trimmed at the nape of his neck before filling out on top – not quite an undercut. He had more freckles now, surely. His skin just a bit tanner, a scar trailing from his cheek to his jaw. You knew there were more scars, just as you knew that there were dimples when he smiled.

You wanted to have him between your legs while you begged for mercy, holy shit.

Tucking the USB into your pocket, you tilted your head as you will yourself to relax.

“I went through all the trouble of getting it... I think if I’m going to hand it over quickly, I deserve to know what’s on it, no?” you tease, your confidence coming out of nowhere while a smile spreads ever so largely over your features. Deku’s eyes widened just a bit, shock overcoming his green eyes.

“I’m sorry, but that’s confidential,” Deku stresses, taking a step forward toward you. You click your tongue, taking a step backward while grinning.

“I don’t think that’s what I asked for,” you giggle as you watch Deku’s face go through an array of emotions before settling onto one – curiosity.

“What do you want?” he asked, apparently entirely ready to discuss any and all terms and conditions with you.

“Honestly?” you reply, tapping a gloved finger to your chin as you ‘think.’ Deku, however, nods. His stance relaxing, becoming one of preparedness but not the takedown he had previously entered with.

“A date with you.”

You watch as Deku’s eyes slam wide open, his jaw dropping immediately and he stammered. Oh, how your heart soared and how you felt giddy and wonderful as he seemed to slip and slide on his own tongue!

“A-A date?!” he ends up almost shrieking, his head shaking left and right. “T-That’s a total lie! You can’t possibly – well, no! Please tell me the truth!”

But you were giddy, practically drunk off the fact that you were making the most powerful hero in the world blush like a little schoolboy. You suddenly were on the offensive, stepping towards your hero who was much larger than you with power and drive behind each step. And it must have been the way you stared him down, the way you walked towards him at blank range with such brimming confidence that Deku takes a step back. But it’s something that makes you want to laugh as the heel of his foot gets caught on a raised tile, and you watch the mountain of a man tumble to the floor.

You’re on top of him immediately, hands pressed to his shoulders, knee settling near his crotch with most of your weight so he got the idea to not do anything funny. The USB sits between your fingers, and you lean over his flushed face that looks up at you with wide eyes.

“Actually, I changed my mind, I know what I want,” you say instead, nose ghosting over his. “Everytime I decide to do something… naughty… I want you to be the hero on the case to stop me. You and just you.”

You lean in closer, so close that you could see the specks of gold in his green, green eyes.

Deku hasn’t spoken, and you’re pretty sure his chest isn’t moving as you press your breasts against his.

“Understood, De-ku?”

Your teeth tug at his bottom lip and let go as he nods.

“Good, good,” you grin, sitting up on his chest and taking the USB in your fingers and slipping it into his utility belt. “Take good care of that for me, I’ll see you next time, hero…”

You had only managed to flash a quick wave before disappearing through your usual door, hoping and praying to god that whatever the hell possessed you would continue until you reached Mei’s. It wouldn’t hit you until much, much later than you had stunned Pro Hero Deku speechless within the first meeting.

Hell, you thought giddily as you answered Bakugou’s call about how he probably just got into a bit of a messy situation, maybe you do have the potential to woo him like this. 

.

Thus truly began your descent as the villain Mirage.

.

It was quickly accepted and discovered that the moment you stepped into that costume and colored hair that you were the prey for Deku and Deku only. Most of your interactions with Deku occurred within buildings, and you used Mei’s gear to gain the final laugh each and every time to allow for you to escape. There were times, however, where you could be seen racing through the sky. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop as Deku followed after you, leaping, tumbling, and even catching you at times. 

You flirted with him heavily, allowing yourself to be caught so that you could bat your pretty lashes and press your chest against his. It didn’t matter how professional he was, how good at his job he was, Deku was a pervert – so obviously a pervert it made slipping away almost too easy.

But because you had the world-renowned, world known Pro Hero Deku as the only hero on your case, soon the small block who had to play victims to your horrendous crimes became only a small percentage of people who were watching your crimes. These near daily crimes (or inconveniences/botherings as the people on the internet say to defend you and your actions) are becoming both a worldwide sensation, and so, it took nothing for you to continue having Deku at your feet and the world chipped in. So you agreed to do interviews, forcing uneager reporters to do segments on you so that the hype behind you and Deku’s relationship grew.

You didn’t want him to leave you, not until you got what you wanted, and unless you were an idiot, you were nearly positive you were almost there.

Why would you say that?

Well, a few reasons.

The first came about a week after you had first met Deku again.

You had joyously gathered the means to create a machine to shave down an eighth of an inch of everyone's shoes in the entire country of Japan without their knowledge. You had ever so evilly explained that the point of this was to ensure that for a full day, everyone would feel off and unbalanced but would not know why.

You had said this, grinning widely as you turned around to see Deku standing there attempting to fight off a very amused smile. 

“I don’t think that would be all too evil, Mirage,” he called out to you, arms folding across his chest as he watched you set up the machine to do exactly what you said you would do.

“Mm, that’s what you say now, but just wait until you’re one of the losers stumbling around,” you say back, grinning as you turn around for just a second, wagging the knife at Deku from the distance. 

“Well, regardless, you know I can’t let you do that,” Deku laughs just slightly, and you grin, standing up.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yes, so I’m going to have to ask you to stop right there.”

You giggle.

“Make me.”

You’re not sure what happens, but there’s dodging and weaving, spinning and sliding. You’re practically wheezing from how hard you’re laughing as Deku can not manage to land a finger on you with the help of Mei’s items and your quirk. It all comes to an end when instead of dodging, you throw yourself right at him, and Deku has not anticipated that. 

His eyes are wide open and you fiercely grin as he falls back onto the floor, unbalanced and only slightly frantic. You have the knife pointed at his neck, the dull blade sitting gently on his skin.

“So, Deku,” you taunt teasingly, your teeth burying into your bottom lip for just a moment at the sight of the dark flash in his green, beautiful eyes. “Tell me one thing, or I’ll continue on with my vile plans.”

“O-Okay?”

“Are you single?”

The second attempt came a few many weeks later. 

You had gathered about 75 tons of glitter bombs and were in the current process of making them one. You had plans of setting it off over Tokyo so that for practically the rest of eternity, the entire city would have glitter everywhere. The only thing is that you did have to glue the glitter bombs together because, well, no one made super giant ones.

“This is so annoying, there’s glitter everywhere, and I’m only ten glitter bombs in!” you complain to the ‘empty’ room but knowing full and well that Deku had appeared through the broken window at least five minutes ago.

“If it’s annoying to you, then shouldn’t you stop?” Deku replied and you grinned. 

He really couldn’t stay quiet, huh?

“Well, if it’s annoying to me, then that means every one of my victims will also find it annoying. Win-win situation.” you say, turning around towards him and winking. Facing back towards the glitter bombs you scowl, “stupid fucking glue gets everywhere, too!”

“Regardless, you know I can’t let you do that,” Deku said as leveled as he could although you swore you heard a laugh in his voice.

“Just try and stop me,” you reply back stone cold.

You stand up and watch as Deku stands up from the windowsill and sighs just a bit too heavily.

“Guess I have to,” he says and shoots out before you’re well prepared.

Typically, and probably in any other situation, this would have been the end. Pro Hero Deku had come at you with the speed and power as he took out any other Class F criminals, but unfortunately for him, and definitely fortunately for you that glue was EVERYWHERE.

Deku’s hand was stuck onto your arm, and your chest was glued to his stomach, and you swear you never quite got the strawberry Deku references until right now.

The perverted hero burned scarlet, his face practically simmering with heat as your body became undeniably stuck to his. You had to fight off the vindictive smirk, the practically snarling grin as you could feel something hot and heavy twitch at your hip.

“Fuck,” Deku wheezed.

“Fuck, yeah,” you grinned.

.

.

“WHAT?!”

.

.

Deku could not look you in the eyes for about 10 more interactions following that, but you counted that as a win. But undoubtedly, your starred and favorite memory of it all was something that occurred just last week of the current present events.

You had stood on top of a building, threatening the entire government of stealing (i.e., cutting off) the aglet of their shoes and sweaters and then removing all the laces so that it would result in their wasted time and entire humiliation!

“I don’t think most people even know what aglets are, to be honest,” Deku said from behind you. You turned around to see that he was standing there with an unsuppressed grin. “It’s not a good enough threat.”

You go unfazed by his judgement, choosing to instead bat your eyelashes and push your hair behind your ear.

“Not a good enough threat, and yet, you’re still here?” you tease, enjoying the way pink flushes to his cheeks.

“Where else would I be?” he says, and you have to ignore the way your stomach fills with butterflies. 

“You’re not cute when you flirt back,” you deadpan, biting your tongue harshly when he says ‘hey!’ “Enough chit chat, let me kick your ass now and then do what I need to do.”

Unlike probably what is 95% of the time, you made the first move today. 

You were on the offensive, jabbing and weaving, sweeping and punching. Deku’s green eyes were nearly black as he watched you, analyzing and taking in your movements, countering them all without so much of an issue.

“I still don’t get your quirk,” Deku grunted as his hand swiped at the empty air. “Why won’t you tell me?”

“So then you can turn me in to the government who are still salty about their aglets? I don’t think so!” you say with a laugh, rolling out of the way as Deku lunges forward. “Try again, baby, I have full faith that you’ll get it.”

Deku puffed out a chuckle and lunged again, his huge gloved hand swiping at you, with nearly accuracy despite your quirk being on. But… he wasn’t exactly perfect.

RIIIIIIIIIP!

Cold air hit your breast and your jaw dropped as your very exposed breast appeared before you and Deku. Pro Hero Deku had torn the breast of your costume, the costume that you purposefully did not wear a bra for because you had wanted this exact scenario to play out.

“DEKU!” you screech, pretending to be modest and covering your tit as Deku finally yanked himself out of staring at your breast and whipped around. 

“Oh my god, I am so sorry! I didn’t think that was going to happen! I didn’t even mean to look at your boob! It just sort of all happened too fast and it was very shocking! N-Not that you have an ugly boob or anything because actually I think you have a very great boob! But oh my god, I need to shut up please ignore me!” Deku spoke so fast in a matter of five seconds, and you couldn’t even tell him to come back as he sprinted away.

His ears burned red and you swore even as he was gone, you could still see the red of his ears illuminating the sky.

You laugh.

“What a perv.”

And so, we are back to the beginning.

Back to how you forced a local news channel to read your demands so that you could hopefully take your final bow as Mirage forever.

With the threat of having a machine that would make dogs bark at a frequency for hours on end until humans eardrums broke then bleed. You made your way to your typical building and hummed as you waited. 

The world outside was the same as always.

There were a few people out, a few cars driving through the street, and a few birds chirping here and there.

It was peaceful.

“Don’t you think the new reporter thing was a bit dramatic?” Deku chuckled from behind you.

You were used to him approaching like that, used to him trying to portray being elusive and cool. In your opinion, it just made him dorky.

“No such thing as being dramatic when I’m trying to go head to head with the greatest hero ever,” you respond back effortlessly. You spin on your heel and look back at Deku, who is leaning against a doorframe that he most definitely is slouching on so that the top of his head doesn’t hit the frame. “Hi, Deku.”

“Hi, y/l/n,” he says with a soft smile, one that's slightly victorious, one that makes your stomach knot in a pleasant way.

“Ah, you discovered my secret identity,” you observe, grinning as you begin approaching Deku. “Should I be scared?”

“Probably not, I don’t think I could do anything to you,” Deku sighs, pushing off the door frame and walking towards you too. “You’re pretty amazing, y/l/n.”

“Let’s prove that then,” you grin while zipping forward.

As if the both of you knew that this was the end of the line, the final confrontation, the battle this time was different. It was showy, flirty, full of spins and side steps, playing a game of cat and mouse while dodging and weaving. You laughed as blackwhip dissolved around your costume, and you frowned as he began using more of his power to get from point A to point B much quicker.

You’re not quite sure how it happened, what exactly you did wrong, or maybe Deku just finally figured out the pattern you used for your quirk because suddenly you were being tackled from behind. You shrieked as the two of you went down, his body flushed on top of you, his chest pressing to your shoulders. 

The both of you were heaving, panting, completely out of breath from the five minutes you took playing around. He holds your wrists in one hand, pinned above your head, and the other one is on your waist. You were trapped beneath him, unable to move the absolute unit of a man above you, arms and hips weak to his weight. You shoved your hips up, attempting to shift some of his weight off you, but you froze as he choked on a breath by your ear.

Your ass was pressed against something hard, thick, and hot.

Oh.

Ohhh fuck.

It was happening.

Holy fucking shit.

Your breathing hitches as you thrusted your ass up again, confirming you were grinding on what was definitely Deku’s hardening cock. And once again, Deku makes the prettiest, most embarrassed gravelly grunt at the back of his throat and you feel like every strand of resistance and strength snaps.

The hand on your waist pulls you even closer against his crotch, and there's lips pressing against your neck, and you absolutely lose it. 

He kisses your neck sloppily, teeth nipping at your exposed flesh, and you grind against him, moaning and thrusting back as your body feels like it's on fire. He wanted you! He wanted you and your plan to woo him worked!

“I’ve wanted this for so long,” you keen breathlessly. “Wanted you so badly, Deku.”

“Fuck,” Deku curses, his hips thrusting back against your clothed ass with power you couldn’t fucking wait to feel. “I wanted you too. Wanted you so badly, but didn’t think – holy shit.”

His hand that pins your wrists lets go of you, and moves to grab your jaw. You nearly fucking melt as his full lips slam against yours, and you moan as his lips move against yours. There’s something indescribable about how he’s kissing you, the want, the need, the months of suppressed tension bursting through every move and curve of his mouth. It doesn’t matter to you that you’re pressed up against the concrete floor, you feel like you’ve been placed into another world, an area where you can never come back.

Your arm reaches behind you and buries into his soft curls, you tug at them as your ass circles against his thrusting hips. His tongue slips into your mouth, and you whine at the hot, wet muscle in your mouth, and it sends your head spinning. You can’t take it anymore, you need him, want him flushed against your front.

“Can I fuck you?” Deku asks swollen lips pulling away from yours, his mouth frantic and trailing kisses up your cheeks and down your jaw. “Please, I wanna fuck you so bad. Wanna fuck you on the floor and against the wall. Can I make you mine?”

You nod your head frantically, unable to come up with the words to say in order to tell him yes.  

Deku laughs breathlessly and flips you over so that it’s your back against the floor now. 

And just like you want him to, Deku comes down to reclaim your mouth. Hot, open mouthed kisses, teeth tugging at your lips and hands grabbing your waist. His hands are huge against you filling up the space between your hip and your waist without an issue. Your legs wrap around his waist, feeling entirely small underneath him, but entirely ready to be fucked by him.

His lips move expertly against yours, teeth nibbling at your lips, mouth then sucking on your tongue. You can’t keep the continuous moans from leaking out, can’t keep yourself from staying quiet as your eyes flutter open and see green eyes so dark they look black, staring down at you with the intensity of a predator. 

You were his prey, and you would present to him at the drop of a hat.

His body is hot, heat rolling off of his hero costume in waves, making you feel like you were near burning against him. And the heat between his thighs sits at the bottom of your ass, thrusting up and grinding against you so that you don’t forget even for a moment that you are making him this way. 

“I always knew you’d have such a pretty moan,” Deku mumbles as his fingers find the zipper to your costume and begin to tug it down. His lips trail down your neck, biting and nipping at the newly exposed flesh. “Knew you’d look so pretty under me, waiting to be fucked into submission.”

The words spark something within you, your eyes fluttering as your hips grind just a tad bit faster and you whine. 

“Aw, is that what you wanted this entire time, y/l/n?” Deku asks, his grin pressed against your collarbone. “Wanted to be stretched out and fucked until you can’t anymore?”

“I want it,” you gasp, your fingers burying deep into his curls. “I want you, I want it, I want your dick in me already!”

“Not into foreplay?” Deku chuckles just a bit, tongue then tracing up your neck. 

“Oh I am,” you snap, fingers finding the zipper of his own costume. “You can find out later how much I’m into it, but right now, I have been wanting you for years, and you will not make me wait any longer!”

Deku only nods frantically, and it's a mess of limbs, sloppy kisses, and clothes as the both of you strip to nothing. 

Deku’s in between your legs, one hand pressed to the back of your knee, the other gripping what you believe is his dick because it makes everything in the world freeze as you see it. It’s huge, so thick that his hand wraps around it in a nice grip, and it long, curling up to his abs, curved and veiny. 

“Holy shit,” you squeak, your cunt already clenching at the thought of taking that in. 

“Are you ready?” Deku asks, the hand on your leg moving away for a moment as he cards his fingers back through his hair. “I don’t have a condom, though.”

“That’s fine, I don't care,” you dismiss his words, eyes too focused on the flush cock in his hand. “I don’t think I’ll live after you kill me with that anyways.”

Deku laughs just a bit, his dimples flashing as he leans in and kisses you deeply. You tremble underneath him, feeling so small pressed up against him, and you mewl when you feel the head of his cock pressing between your folds.

“Put it in,” you gasp, leg lifting and wrapping around his waist, “put it in! I want you to fuck me until I can’t walk, do you understand?!”

Deku nods, and with a sense of frantic need, his hand guides his cock into you.

It feels like you’re splitting in half. The girth of his cock stretching your walls out to the max, and he’s only going in. You scream loudly, both in pain and pleasure because it hurts so good.

“Take it, baby, take me all in,” Deku pants, his hips pushing out small, tiny thrusts to ram his cock further and further into your twitching cunt. “That’s i-it, holy fuck, that’s it! You’re taking me all the way in. F-Fuck… you’re so amazing! So fucking perfect!”

Tears are pouring out of your eyes, and your nails are tearing into his back, you sob slightly overwhelmed with his cock and the absolute pleasure of finally getting what you want and it being so much better than you thought. Your cunt throbs almost violently as Deku’s cock finally hits your cervix and your eyes roll to the back of your head as he thrusts in further, lips attempting to claim yours. 

“Fuck me, Deku,” you beg, hips beginning to slam and fuck up onto his cock. “Please! I need you!”

“Such a desperate little villain though,” Deku sighs, teasingly, giving you one strong thrust for good measure. It goes a long way though, the power behind his thrust and thighs promising you a bruised ass, thighs, and cunt makes your mouth water for more. “I need you to promise to never do anything like that again and be a good little manager for Kacchan.”

“W-Wha–”

“Be good and stop being Mirage, or else you won’t be fucked.”

There was no hesitation.

“Okay.”

And just like that, Deku’s soft smile curves into a knowing, fierce smirk, and you can do nothing as his hands press to the back of your knees and he begins thrusting his hips into you. And it takes you completely out of control. 

It’s a messy, frantic dance, your body holding onto his, your lips pressing against his, desperate and needy for his, and he is basically trying to imprint his body onto yours, the concrete, and the walls. Your bodies are so foreign to each other, and yet, when he fucks into you just a bit hard, just a bit faster, you come undone, back arching and toes curling as you sob his name.

It’s overwhelming to know that he can read you this well and for you to have never fucked him before. It’s empowering to see that he likes every forced and involuntary squeeze and clench of your cunt. He loved when your nails dug into his skin, raking their existence against the plane of broad muscles and scars. 

Deku curses your name as you clench around him, his hands moving to your jaw so that he can lift your face to kiss him just so. He kisses you with a heated passion, a need that strips your entire being bare, and his hips slam so loudly against you, the slicked wetness is squelching and slapping with every grunt and moan.

In and out his cock goes, and you praise him and his cock.

You praise him for making you feel so good, for stretching out your pussy with that fat cock of his. You beg for more, and more, and more. You want every snap of his hips to send new colors to your vision, and every echoing squelch of your meeting, sloppy sexes only adds to the blabbering, unmanaged sentences from your lips. 

“Harder, faster, more!” you beg, practically wailing against his shoulders, needing him more and more. The concrete hurts against your back, but you don’t care. You don’t care if he breaks your back, it’s a fall you’ll take. “Don’t hold back! Don’t you dare hold back!”

“Fuck, you’re crazy,” Deku gasps, his sweaty brow burying into your cheek. “I won’t though, I won't. Be ready, I’m not sure if you can take it.”

Before you can snap back that you can in fact take it, Deku’s weight falls heavier onto you and the angle shifts just slightly, and your words are ripped right out of your throat for a pitched, window shattering screech. Deku fucks into you with a new power, some untapped strength as greenspark falls from his skin as he ruins you for anyone ever again.

Your voice begins to scream out, the feeling of his vicious, thick cock snapping into you, shoving your shoulders further and further into the concrete was sending your head spinning. Your body is convulsing as he fucks you with new vulgar need and strength. But before you could scream your praises, Deku’s fingers shove into your mouth, and his other hand wraps around your neck, silencing your words and noises as he fucks up into you again and again and again.

“So loud, angel,” Deku smirks, fingers stroking and pinching your tongue as saliva pours endlessly from your mouth. His voice isn’t strained however, doesn’t have any indication that he’s out of breath or ready to tap out and that nearly makes you go insane. “I can’t wait to see everything that makes you look like this… you’re so pretty when you’re getting fucked.”

Your head is spinning, the heated tightness in your core clenching and throbbing as his conquesting cock never once stops or lessens. It just grows and grows and grows. His cock twitches in you, and your eyes roll to the back of your head as he lets out a deep moan. 

“Such a good and wet cunt you are,” Deku gasps as you gag against his fingers that press roughly against the back of your tongue. Your vision feels hazy, but you feel like you’re on cloud nine as his hand on your throat opens and closes, demonstrating his power over you. “I’m so glad you went through all this hard work to get me to fuck you.”

You can’t speak, so you nod desperately, you were so happy you did this too. 

Your hips buck up into him with sheer stubborn drive to get him to toss his head back and moan, you wanted to see him unhinged too. Your eyelashes flutter, as his hands remove themselves from your face, and they move to your hips to help you out. But the building tightness and demanding need in your cunt was growing louder, hotter, completely undeniable. Your teeth sinking against his skin as you whimpered loudly, absolutely pathetically as you shifted faster, fucking against him harder.

“I-I’m so close,” you manage to moan out, and a sharp escape of air comes from his nose at that revelation.

Deku nods, his head moving so that his forehead rests against yours as he looks deep into your eyes. “I need you to look at the way your belly bulges while I fuck you before you cum, I want you to watch it bulge as you cum.”

You whimper, the strain in your neck almost insufferable as you peer down at your hastily exposed stomach, and you nearly faint at the pornographic, near-insane image of your stomach bulging with his hammering monster of a cock. And just like that, the tight heat in you snaps without a hitch, and you come tumbling down from the heights of your building orgasm. White heat and light spread through your body, your jaw slacking as you moan loudly, screaming his name as you convulse against him, body entirely limp. Deku, who was barely hanging by a strand, completely loses it when your core clenches like a vice against him. 

Hot, thick ropes of cum spurt from his cock, his heavy, shaking gasps the only thing you can hear as he fucks into you once, twice more for good measure he collapses onto his forearms above you. It’s hot, almost too hot as he lays on top of you, the sticky fluid of his cum radiating against your already blazing walls, and for a bit, there’s silence.

Deku is the first to move afterward, and you whine as he pulls his cock out of your sore, abused pussy. You make a noise of curiosity then fear as Deku spreads your legs even more open and moves so that his head is face to face with your cum filled pussy.

“What are you–?!” you screech as Deku takes a lick out of your dripping cunt.

“Fuck, this does taste good,” Deku smirks as he once again licks your overstimulated pussy and you sob. “Besides, who said we were done?”

.

.

.

.

.

bonus! 

“Everyone, this is my girlfriend y/l/n y/n!” Izuku happily introduced you to his group of friends.

“What the hell?!” Bakugou screamed, thrusting a finger at you and all you did was laugh.

So much for not being stubborn, huh.

[archived-kin]

genshin modern au cheat sheet

i’m planning to do more pieces set in this au, so i’ve put together a quick list of the characters i'm planning to write about/include!

there are three main groups here - the zhao family, the ragnvindr family and friends, and the Miscellaneous Pals™

(the next volume in this au is going to be a xiao piece, and that should be up within the next two or so days!)

1. the zhao family

zhongli, 36: history professor at the local uni who also plays the guzheng very well, tea-enjoyer, a very proud and supportive dad who loves his kids more than anything in the universe - probably unironically has so many pictures of them in his wallet

xiao, 23: taking a degree in psychology at the local uni, has a cool motorbike, bit of a control freak, doesn’t like surprises, will drop-kick you if you look at him or his sister funny, wants a cat but his dad’s allergic, never really grew out of his emo phase

yanfei, 19: baby of the family, prodigy lawyer-in-training, far smarter than many people give her credit for, likes building snowmen, has to protect her unsuspecting dad from Evil Salespeople looking to make some extra money

xiao and yanfei are biological siblings, and zhongli adopted them when xiao was 11 and yanfei was 7. the circumstances of this adoption is a mystery that none of the zhao family members seem willing to divulge…

the zhao siblings can have a little bit of tragic backstory. as a treat.

basically they were born into poverty and often went hungry for days on end. biological parents were distant and neglecting (though not actually physically/emotionally abusive - yet.)

when xiao was caught shoplifting bread and fruit from a local grocery store so that he and yanfei could actually eat, both parents went ballistic and kicked him out the house in the middle of one of the coldest winters the town had seen

poor kid was practically freezing to death out there, and yanfei raised such a fuss back in the house that mum slapped her square in the face to get her to shut up, which xiao saw through the window, and he promptly decided that he Was Not Putting Up With This Shit for any longer

immediately went to a neighbour’s house and told them what was going on, neighbours promptly called cps, and an investigation was launched

parents were deemed unsuitable for raising kids and (after a lot of back and forth) the two kids were taken into care

meanwhile zhongli was kind of sad because he had no friends or family in this town and all he really did was write articles, read books, and mark work

then one of his co-workers mentioned hearing about xiao and yanfei’s story and it hit zhongli so hard that he immediately rang up the adoption centre and ended up taking them in

and from then on both yanfei and xiao were very happy and healthy because zhongli was literally the best dad ever and put everything into taking care of them

2. the ragnvindr family (+ friends)

diluc, 29: budding businessman who still works at his dad’s cafe but is looking to open up his own company some time soon, still buys himself juice in those little cartons with the straws, still doesn’t know how raising bread works?? how does it get bigger???

diona, 7: diluc’s adopted daughter who has her father firmly under her thumb, bit of a spitfire but can also be the sweetest kid ever, enjoys making ‘potions’ out of grass and flowers and water (diluc can and will actually drink these potions because his love for his daughter knows no bounds)

kaeya, 25: diluc’s idiot little brother who’s changed majors at least five times and still doesn’t really know what he wants to do, practises fencing and horse riding in his spare time like a nerd, spoils his niece rotten

lisa, 26: the first of kaeya’s three roommates, has a degree in english and could easily have gone on to become a leading scholar but chose to instead open a bookshop that gets way more business than expected because she’s pretty and men and women alike are all simps

albedo, 23: the second of kaeya’s roommates, bit of a genius, has already started his chemistry phd, is almost concerningly pale and exhausted at all times, has not gone a day without breaking one of the cups for at least two years

venti, 21: the third of kaeya’s roommates, studying music, acts way older than he is sometimes but is mostly just a child, asks at least one of his roommates to marry him every day without fail, was and still is both a music and a theatre kid

lisa’s actually the one who owns the roommates’ residence because it’s on top of her bookshop

i was going to keep the whole ragnvindr family trauma thing but i decided that diluc deserved to be happy in at least one au so the brothers are still happy brothers :D

unfortunately that means that i’ve transferred a lot of the family trauma over to diona

essentially her mother died when she was a baby and her father, draff, turned to alcohol to get him through the stress of raising a child alone. unfortunately this led to him drunk driving one day, and he crashed the car into one of the wall’s of diluc’s dad’s cafe.

draff died on impact since he was in the front seat, but three-year-old diona managed to pull through despite her injuries. one thing led to another, diluc ended up taking care of her for a bit while the authorities sorted the whole thing out, but then he got too attached and decided to adopt her permanently

now diona has a dad, three uncles and an aunt who are all willing to shower her with all the love she deserves :’)))))

3. the Miscellaneous Pals™:

xiangling, xingqiu, chongyun, 17: local high school kids, they’re all kind of dating each other, low-key got adopted by xiao at one point, guoba is xiangling’s guinea pig and they all have joint custody over him

barbara, bennett, razor, 17: also local high school kids, also kind of all dating each other (but a lot more tentatively), regulars at diluc’s cafe, almost never seen apart

lumine, aether, ??: they keep showing up here and there around town to climb a tree and just sit there throwing leaves at people on the streets, then disappear. no one knows who the fuck they are

tartaglia, 23: nicknamed childe by his friends, also known as Mr Moneybags, is always just hanging around the local uni campus but doesn’t actually study anything there. his real name is ajax, but he thought that was lame so he gave himself a cool new one

eula, 24: new teacher at the local high school, her father used to be headmaster and was notoriously cruel to his students so everyone’s kind of wary of her, but she’s just really sweet and wants the best for her pupils :(((

amber, 21: number one eula defender, teaches the younger kids at the local primary, likes bunsen burners a little bit too much, still can’t remember how to spell the word necessary

hu tao, 25?: shady local mortician who may or may not practise illegal things, was kind of dating yanfei at some point but zhongli sent her packing as soon as he realised who she was, no one knows what her deal is

xiangling’s already a budding master chef and has received several offers from culinary schools, xingqiu is planning to study literature/language at uni but also might just go straight to trying to get a book published, chongyun is going to continue the family tradition of studying the supernatural with maybe a side job at xiangling’s future restaurant so that he doesn’t end up with no money if he doesn’t get any supernatural work

barbara is planning to go to medical school and also sings/dances in her spare time, bennett still doesn’t know what he wants to do but is considering carpentry among other things, and razor is dead-set on working at either a zoo or an animal shelter when he’s older

tartaglia never leaves the house without at least three pocket knives and a water pistol. he’s never had to use them yet, but you never know...

eula and amber live together and are probably dating but they’ll both just dodge the question if you ask them about it

they’re most definitely together though because on eula’s birthday amber brought her entire class of little kids to say happy birthday and bring her flowers

(incidentally amber is diona’s teacher)

[dilfbatman]

Do you have any Headcanons about Bruce actually being a good father to Jason/ Bruce and Jason trying their best to make up? (Sorry about whoever that last post was dear)

hi omg no worries at all JDJDJD and YES I DO! <3 THANK YOU FOR ASKING!

okay so. i have MANY thoughts about this and i have a vision that’s gonna be v hard to articulate bc it’s all in my mind like a movie BUT i will try to get the gist of it down! // there’s ofc more descriptions and stuff but that’s all in my mind i can’t jot it all down but here ya go! :’)

- i know jason has plenty of trauma due to his torture/murder + not being avenged + having to crawl out of his own grave & then feeling as if he’s not welcome/he feels as if he has to be the one to CONTROL crime if no one else steps up and bruce has stated that jason does what batman can’t & honestly it feels like that for jason it’s a necessary evil that needs to be done/he considers it justice!

- and i’m of the thought process that bruce actually despises joker... i don’t think there’s anything less than antagonistic hatred and disgust for joker -> he murdered his young son and bruce carries that guilt/anger/shame w him everyday and i know some people & writers are like obsessed w batman & joker being rivals and yet somehow batman still protects him and revives him but No... in my eyes if joker ever dies then i think bruce would be fucking ecstatic. bruce/batman can’t kill like the Character at the moment Is Not A Killer... but if someone murks joker i certainly don’t think he would revive him/he knows how much trauma he inflicted on his son/on him too and it’s more like a. good fucking riddance

- i also just feel like beforehand all that though that jason gets plagued w lazarus rage at times... he’s often controlled and can control his anger and direct it when he wants but i just feel like one day he snaps. i always had a vision that one day he wakes up from a nightmare and he stumbles to his bathroom and he looks at the mirror and he’s FACED with himself. jason does feel guilt & remorse sometimes and i think that stuff creeps up on him and he wonders if what he does is right and i feel like. ok he had depression we know that and we know he has a lot of anger and i just think he gets disgusted w himself at times and feels weak for some odd reason and he punches the mirror

- like he just punches the mirror so unbelievably hard and doesn’t stop and there’s glass and blood everywhere and all of a sudden someone is behind him and holding him and jason is thrashing and his voice is hoarse from screaming and he’s cursing and he’s yelling soooo hard at bruce. he’s screaming everything he can think of and it’s w the intention of bruce feeling the pain & anguish jason feels. he says he hates bruce he says he wishes he was dead (both him & bruce) he wishes that joker was dead he wishes none of this shit ever happened. he half means it and he half doesn’t. he kinda just needs to get it all out there and listen both jason & bruce are big guys but bruce is just the strongest person over all so he’s the only one that can hold jason and jason just falls to his knees and WEEPS. he’s sobbing he’s crying he’s just in so much emotional and mental pain and bruce just hugs his baby boy

- jason is at his chest and hitting it hard and then less hard and then softly. and then he just cries into bruce’s chest. like bruce holds his son as he weeps and bruce is crying too but he holds jason as tight as he can and he never wants to let go. eventually jason’s sobs taper off and bruce looks into jason’s eyes and they’re a dull green and he knows jason feels numb and bruce just carries him to his bed. he patched him up and he softly speaks to jason. i think the whole night bruce just talks to him and holds him and it’s one of the few times jason feels tired yet protected. they speak about everything and they’re sitting up and jason tells him how he feels and everything he’s pissed off and sad about and bruce breaks down bc he knows how much hurt jason has been in and he gives his side and apologizes endlessly. i think i would want this part to just end w some sort of mutual understanding & speaking/talking to each other

- they both get therapy. both individual & doing it together! it’s a long process but it’s a process worth doing. i think after a while their relationship is more familiar and they like to do stuff together! they’ll work on cars & drive their motorcycles and bruce will take him & the other kids to the arcade. i think jason stress bakes and bruce learns to do that from him too. i think bruce will bring back their weekly reading tradition and sometimes after patrol bruce will read to jason and jason falls asleep on his shoulder after patrol. i think at the end of it i would want them to simply understand each other and more than anything - bruce lost a son & jason lost a father and they don’t want to lose each other again - it’s not always sunshine & rainbows but there’s a love there and a bond there that can’t be severed

[ruby-whistler]

hey, so!! i was in the car for a couple of hours yesterday and all i did was listen to music and make animatics in my head. so here are a few songs i thought i could ramble about that fit certain arcs/characters

pitiful children - be more chill

starring:

c!wilbur as squip

c!tommy as jeremy

l’manberg as the squip’s influence

l’manberg members as “the children”

c!dream as the confused guy in the background

-

“then i invaded” because that’s what. yes. c!wilbur moment.

basically, he’s convincing tommy that everyone is “incomplete” or “in pain” because of the “obsolete operating system” that is dream’s “rule”. that’s a lot of quotation marks right there. he’s saying how they’re going to “save” them by making them loyal (“let’s complete their chains”) to l’manberg. “let’s teach the pitiful children, who just haven’t a clue, just what to do” - you know, the whole “you’re naive, that’s good” thing because c!wilbur is scarily smart.

he’s trying to make c!tommy think the world will be better - “shiny happy people singing sweetly, gone is human error and fear” (again, criticizing c!dream) - if they make l’manberg and if l’manberg wins. the usual.

“every issue tucked away so neatly, if you feel a sob or tear, just turn that knob and switch that gear” probably my favorite lyric in the musical. this could be c!wilbur hiding the fact that he has Issues because of the stress he’s putting on himself, as well as the fear of being controlled, via trying to gain more power with the elections and pretending that he is fine and definitely not spiraling.

the next “pitiful children” switches into wilbur trying to convince dream to give him the tnt to “save” people. jeremy changes from tommy to dream; dream sees tommy beaten down and exhausted from the rebellion and does what he thinks is necessary.

the instrumental pause are the events of the 16th, and the next chorus and last upbeat verse is dream thinking everything will be “wonderful” again and no one will feel “left out or unsure”, that he can fix what wilbur broke - that he can have his happy family back, and being determined to get it. “when we rule” refers to the final disc confrontation and the vault.

basically, the song could be used for c!dream and c!wilbur’s parallels.

over all it’s a banger song. yes i did have a bmc phase, next.

unaligned - the undertale neutral route fansong

c!ranboo, 100%. it matches him so well.

“The brave and foolish ones

They walk not on the center

The signs are pointing every way

And I don't know which route's better

Some will take the fall

And some will see tomorrow

I could be the light or darkness

Redemption or sorrow

How could I live on with what I've done?

You took me in, showed me love when I had nowhere to run

You offered me your everything and I threw it all away

My indecision keeps me unaligned”

this could be his regrets for technically “betraying” l’manberg by helping c!techno and c!phil even though they gave him a home when he had no place to stay. could also apply to the community house and c!dream, with him not wanting to believe or “live on” with what he’s allegedly done.

his indecision, not wanting to be on any side, is what keeps him “unaligned”, because he doesn’t know “which route’s better”. light or darkness matches up with his aesthetic as well.

bring that fire - war*hall

looping this song for hours on end is the reason why i made this infamous post.

this is a dream smp army (sapnap, dream, george, punz) song, no questions asked. the freaking hype i feel is exactly the rush i got from seeing them kill it. it being l’manbergians - and, hey, look. i never said dream was some weak-minded woobified idiot, alright? i despise l’manberg with my soul, so that is the true evil, but in the l’manberg war, dream’s a brilliant anti-hero. he did kill people, but he was very fun doing it, and he was in the right, and they asked for it, so. anti-hero vibes.

as well as everyone else - i freaking love them, did i say that yet? yes, so these lyrics really match their ruthlessness and how they were determined to win, taking it further and further to assure victory (beloveds) -

“No stopping me

Breaking barriers

I keep on crushing it till I am done

I didn't get here by accident

No I've been gunning it since I was young

Better believe I'll be standing

There ain't no moon that can outturn the sun

I didn't get here by accident

No I've been gunning it since I was young

Second to none

Been gunning it since I was young

I'm standing at the edge now

It's about to go down

I'm gonna take it higher

It's time for me to light it

So they can't deny it

Ay!

Bring that fire!”

“If you take a shot, boy, you better not miss

'Cuz it won't ever happen again

You gonna wake up and not even know what your name is or where you have been

Better be ready to bleed if you think that you have any hope for a win”

“I never go dim

'Cuz I only know how to win”

i miss them. bring them back. i want them to fight more revolutionaries. they only know how to win and they Freaking Did LET’S GOOOOOOOOO

song’s a banger idk where or when it’s from but please listen to it.

pity party - melanie martinez

dream stuck alone in prison feeling his sanity slip away from him piece by piece in isolation, wondering where everyone is and why they aren’t coming :)

“did my invitations disappear? why’d i put my heart on every cursive letter? tell me why the hell no one is here?”

like, you know. people who he still cared about. the thank you notes he made. also, exile arc parallels.

“tell me what to do to make it all feel better”

[ Dream tried to swim in lava ]

[ Dream tried to swim in lava ]

[ Dream went up in flames ]

“maybe it’s a cruel joke on me, whatever”

sam being cruel to him, dream being convinced everyone hates him and he deserves this after all, forcing himself not to care.

“i’ll cry until the candles burn down this place

i’ll cry until my pity party’s in flames”

[ Dream burned to death ]

[ Dream tried to swim in lava ]

[ Dream tried to swim in lava ]

“maybe if I knew all of them well
i wouldn't have been trapped inside this hell that holds me”

pandora’s box - maybe if he had more allies, more friends, more people on his side, they’d not let him suffer like this. they’d come help him, get him out.

“i’m laughin', i’m cryin'”

the whole ‘laughing at tommy’s death’ bit as well as the fact that - yeah, he’s not been doing very well mentally in there, has he.

“it feels like i’m dyin'

i’m dyin', i’m dyin'”

[ Dream tried to swim in lava ]

[ Dream burned to death ]

[ Dream tried to swim in lava ]

[ Dream tried to swim in lava ]

[ Dream tried to swim in lava ]

[ Dream went up in flames ]

:)

that’s all! i don’t know what this post is. feel free to send in songs, i have a playlist.

[daydream-believin]

Never-Ending Roadtrip (Autumn in New York, pt 1)

Summary: (ch 1)  (ch 10) Reader joins Douxie in the quest for Nari’s safety. He’ll need company won’t he? - chapter 9) new york tourism and some relaxation for a stressed-out emo wizard

Warnings: Swearing, alcohol mention, implied nudity (just a bath)

Word Count: 3542

A/n: Go listen to ‘autumn in new york’ by ella fitzgerald and louis armstrong to set the mood for this chapter and the next lol. i do like lovecore i promise. also this was going to be it but ive split it up. enjoy

Douxie was very careful to take inventory. One head, two head, dragon head, his own head. All accounted for. Four heads, no more no less. Not even a pesky stowaway gnome. His family was together. Up in the air, on the ship, winding blowing through their hair. Douxie could see sky scrapers on the horizon.

The trolls had been cordial in their goodbyes, but made no effort in giving the impression that they wanted the wizard family to stay any longer than they had. In fact, it was discouraged if not outright. The trolls almost gave off an aura of relief when they faded from view of the settlement. But that was understandable. Douxie’s family had caused a bit of trouble during their stay.

Bagdwella was certain that Archie was a bad omen for her shop and would freak out whenever he tried to enter. Y/n had been a bit confused and tried to explain to her that black cats were in fact supposed to bring wealth, not financial ruin, but apparently Bagdwella had been thinking of an old trollish superstition about dragons instead. Y/n had no counter to that.

Nari had no real knowledge of how money worked, and was determined to make that Douxie’s problem. And the problem of all the trolls in the shops of the town. There was a bit of a problem with her “dining and dashing” in the pub, the one troll eatery in the still developing town. Poor thing had no idea food costs money. Someone had always been around to feed her. Douxie and Y/n almost couldn’t keep up with the demand of sweaty socks they had to produce in order to pay the annoyed barman. Turns out it was somewhat hard to make sweaty socks when you’re actually trying to. It was like their feet realized what was happening and couldn’t pass up an attempt to make their owner’s lives harder.

As much as dear Y/n prided herself on being tolerant, she and Dictatious were going round and round. It was easier to ignore the guy when she didn’t have to live in close quarters with him but that luxury was lost on this stay in Trollmarket. Y/n and Dic argued every time they were in close proximity. She couldn’t help it. The old troll had opinions, and those opinions were wrong. And don’t even get Y/n started on how sad and then angry he made Blinky feel with the whole dead, wait not dead just an evil traitor, wait now he’s okay somewhat, thing. And his personality was shit. Peace was never an option.

Needless to say the trolls were in fact happy to send off the wizards. Douxie was happy to no longer suddenly hear a clatter and then instantly get a headache knowing it was probably one of his problems. They had only been in Trollmarket a few days. Okay so a week, they had stayed there a week. It was only seven days. Eight actually. So to say, they hadn’t been there long enough to cause any real problems. And now they were headed to New York. New York New York.

Douxie was ready to get some quality romance in with his wife. Autumn in New York was perfect for that. The city streets glowed with life. A nice stroll down the sidewalks painted in golden light, arm in arm, carrying the warmth in their hearts and bodies with them, was just what they needed. There were lots of sights to see, and Y/n loved to see them. And it was heavily populated, which would make it safer. Safe was something greatly needed.

For some reason, ever since that one night in the forest, Doux had felt like watching his back. It was tiresome, always being on edge. Of course, he had been this whole trip. But recently it had been amplified. Douxie didn’t know if he was sensing the Order’s presence or if being wed had turned up his protective instincts up to an eleven, but it really would be fantastic to be in a safer environment. He was crossing his fingers New York was one.

Just outside of city limits, the boat was shrunken into a little toy and placed back inside of it’s bottle. The little bottle fit neatly in the backpack that Y/n was wearing. Everything fit neatly into the backpack that Y/n was wearing. It was charmed. Doux would rather it be in hers than his, just as a peace of mind. A quick getaway for her lest they ever be separated. He wasn’t too worried about himself. Nari clung to her side, so it would also be best to keep it with her in order to protect Nari. Yeah, that was totally the reason.

They hailed a cabbie and took it into the bustling city. Douxie had pulled a couple strings with his old buddies, and managed to get them an apartment to stay in. The owner wouldn’t be back for a few weeks, and was happy to have someone to house sit for her. Douxie was happy to have a roof over his family’s head he didn’t have to pay for. It was a win-win.

Y/n never stopped looking out the window the entire cab ride. Douxie thought her excitement was adorable. She had her arm stretched over Nari in the middle to be able to hold his hand. The veggie lady didn’t mind. She was also focused on the view out the windows, fascinated by the sheer number of cars and the heights of the tall buildings. Douxie could feel Y/n’s wedding ring as she squeezed his hand. It helped calm him.

This apartment was owned by a starlet. It was huge, for New York standards. It was really high up, which made Douxie a wee bit nervous. Eleventh floor. It was eccentrically decorated, with bright colors. There was a wall in the living space that was a floor-to-ceiling window, covered by pale pink curtains and strings of heart-shaped beads. The other walls had a wallpaper that was white with red rose motifs. The couch was bright cherry red, furry, and oddly shaped. The kitchen cabinets were painted hot pink, with frosted glass doors that bore a rose pattern. The refrigerator was also cherry red, with white and pink heart-shaped stickers stuck onto it. Everything was fucking red, white, or pink. It looked like Saint Valentine himself threw up. Douxie was afraid to see what the bedroom looked like.

Douxie checked the fridge. Yeah, it was empty, apart from the box of takeaway from who knows when and the three bottles of wine. To be expected, of a single young up-and-comer, one supposes. They would have to go get groceries. Archie was making biscuits on the fluffy surface of the couch. It was probably very soft, Douxie had yet to touch it himself. He was kind of afraid of it, to be honest. Nari seemed to also like it, and was spread out on the top, limbs hanging over the back of the couch. Y/n opened the curtains a bit and was staring out the window. Doux headed for the bedroom, to go see what they were working with.

The bedroom was not in any way tamer than the open living space, but at least it wasn’t as bad as Douxie was expecting with the ah, love theme this place had going. It could have been worse. It was fluffy, pink, and glittery, but at least it was rated PG. Apart from the heart-shaped bed, it looked like it could have been a dressing room. There was a vanity with lights ringing the mirror and one of those dressing screens in the corner with several feather boas hanging over it like some kind of cliché movie set. Douxie was setting his backpack down, as he sat on the side of the bed turned away from the door, when he heard someone go into the en suite. And then he heard various noises of,, happy surprise? Sounded like Y/n.

“DEWDROP! THERES A HEART-SHAPED TUB. A FUCKING HEART-SHAPED TUB. COME LOOK.”

Bleeding balroths. Douxie rolled his eyes as he stood up from the comfy feather mattress to go see what she was shouting at him about. The tiles that covered the bathroom were annoyingly pink. The air smelled like something he could only describe as pink. Sure enough, there was a heart-shaped tub like someone’s cheesy honeymoon suite, and his wife was already in it, despite it not having any water. She wore an all too familiar cheshire cat grin on her face. He had one word for this.

“No.”

“Whatever.” Y/n stuck her tongue out childishly. “You’ll change your mind tonight. You will join me in the incredibly fragrant heart-shaped bubble bath, Dewdrop. Mark my words.”

~ ~ ~ As a first stop on the itinerary, they decided on Central park. Some greenery for Nari. And for Y/n too. Trees were good for the soul and one should never spend too much time on concrete. Gave Archie something to scratch that was not the couch that they did not own. It was fine when he did it in Arcadia, their sofa was old and tattered anyways, but not here in the apartment they were housesitting.

Y/n claimed the walk through nature was necessary to restore the energy lost on the trip into the city. The walkways were paved, and Douxie had to really keep an eye on both Nari and Y/n, who should know better, from wandering off the path. Maybe he should get two baby leashes when they were to shop later. Occasionally they would pass by a café. Douxie was glad he was not working in one of those. This trip was a much-needed vacation, as stressful as it was.

A little ways in and they came across a pond, with a cute little bridge that the walkway went under. Douxie rubbed his hand over the stones as they walked through. It was worn, as many hands had also done so over the decades. This bridge, as old as the park itself, was still younger than him. And it had met so many more people than he could even fathom. Doux himself had met so many people over the years. He had been touched by many too, like this little bridge. And just like the people who touched this bridge, none of them quite knew the impact they would be leaving. What they were wearing down. He heard a happy squeal as Y/n and Nari made a sudden sprint ahead of him. Apparently, there were ducks in this pond.

The Met was just a few minutes’ walk from where they exited the park. Douxie was happy with the idea of a quiet art museum trip, that sounded peaceful and relaxing. He needed all the peaceful and relaxing he could get right now. Y/n was actually really excited about this one despite it being not that exciting of an activity. She was trying to psych up Nari. “It’ll be fun, we can pretend we’re a gang of art thieves and we’re doing recon for a heist.” The veggie lady had no idea what any of those words meant.

There were lots of paintings in the Met gallery. It contained multitudes. One painting, they passed as they walked down the corridors, Y/n stopped, transfixed, stared at the painting for a few minutes, and then carried on like nothing happened. She didn’t look particularly sad, or happy, just confused, like she was processing something. Douxie made a mental note to ask her about it later.

Next stop was a walk down Fifth Avenue. It’s not like they could afford to shop, but it was a must-do in NYC so they must-did. They walked holding hands with Nari in the middle like their child. She liked looking in all the window displays. Every so often she would stop to stare and they would tug her along. The trees lining the sidewalks presented their autumn colors. The oranges and golds gave the streets a cheery vibe.

They passed a few food trucks. The trucks were filling the air with various delicious aromas. Douxie’s stomach growled loudly. Y/n giggled and suggested they pick a truck for lunch. Douxie had his eye on a fish and chips truck. It didn’t make ‘em quite like you could get in London but it was trying. A for effort. Y/n thought it was fantastic. Douxie was just spoiled.

They made their way over to the Rockefeller Center, just around the corner. A short walk and Y/n had spotted a coffee shop. So now they were going to a coffee shop. Douxie couldn’t help it, she looked at him with such big eyes. What was he supposed to do, say no?

The coffee shop was warm, and much appreciated relief from the autumn chill that had taken over. And a nice warm drink was sorely needed. Y/n found a nice couch in the back of the shop. Douxie sunk in, deeper than he expected to be able to sink in, but it was an old couch sunk into by many people. It was cozy. The love of thousands made it the sofa the way that it was. Love had made it squishy, love had made it comfy. Speaking of love and squishy and comfy, Doux pulled his dear wife Y/n to his side in an embrace. Low-key cuddling on the coffee shop couch was the best part of Douxie’s day. Nice, relaxing, he needed this. He pressed a kiss to the top of Y/n’s hair.

The Top of the Rock is an observatory deck in Rockefeller Center. Very high up in the air, one can see a great view of the city skyline and get a peek at that famous empire state building. Archie didn’t really care about it, he could get aerial sights any time he wanted, so he took this time to take a nap. Y/n leaned close to the glass, amazed and getting slightly wooed by the city. Douxie slung his arm around her, and, under the guise of affection, pulled her a few steps back. She really was hell-bent on stopping his fragile heart. And then Nari just straight up put her hands, paws, on the glass and put her body weight on the window. Nope. Douxie made sure to ask her to step away from the glass nicely, lest he frighten her, but still tried to convey that what she was doing was something he saw as dangerous and it worried him. Doux was very happy when they were back on the ground.

Douxie liked people watching. So did Y/n. It was one of the things the used to do on weekends in Arcadia, strangely enough. It wasn’t weird. All those people, they all had lives of their own. They all had stories they were living, and it was interesting to glimpse just a small insignificant piece of it. Or sometimes even significant. It was always hard to tell as an outsider, whether or not an ordinary moment was really the turning point of someone’s life. NYC’s famous Times Square was perfect for people watching.

There was something odd about it. The square itself felt wrong. A hundred neon advertisements all at one time. Not an inch of surface didn’t bare the name of a brand. There was something profoundly sad about it. One might even go as far as say disgusting. And there were many, many signs and people. Douxie tried not to attempt to take it all in at once, lest he risk sensory overload. The sun had already set, the brightly lit signs were brighter than ever. There were so many people around them. There were some buskers, some even playing at the same time, so the music clashed. Perhaps there was too much life here. It was loud, and Doux liked loud, but he liked harmonious loud, like music and excitement, not the chaotic loud that surrounded him. He made sure he could see Nari, that she was close to them. Douxie squeezed Y/n’s hand. He thought maybe he should just pay attention to her, tune out everything else. The lights made a brilliant halo around her gorgeous face as she turned to him. The beautiful goddess he called his wife’s eyes searched his, and she noticed he was not so comfy.

“C’mon, let’s go get some dinner.”

They walked away from the square for a few minutes, putting some distance between them and it’s light, before coming across a pizza place for dinner. It was good. The classic, New York slice. And it was pizza. Y/n would admit, it wasn’t special. She actually liked the pizza from the local pizza place in Arcadia Oaks way better. Douxie and Archie agreed with her. But don’t tell any New Yorker’s that. The main thing is that they got a nice dinner, and it helped Douxie calm down. There were only a few other people in the restaurant. The booth they were in was off to the side, away from everything. Y/n stroked Douxie’s palm with her thumb. Archie sat in his lap and purred. He appreciated them.

They’d had a long day. It was best to get home. Once opening up the cherry red door the valentine’s day décor assaulted their eyes once again. This would be okay for the time being but Douxie had no idea how someone could dwell here full time. As he plopped down on the furry couch, he noticed for the first time the numerous little cherub figurines that littered every available surface. It might be interesting to meet this starlet one day. She seemed to have a cupid schtick going. She probably looked the part too.

As soon as they crossed the threshold, Y/n had made a sneaky beeline for the bathroom and that honeymoon suite style tub. Douxie rolled his eyes fondly and scoffed from his place on the sofa when he heard the water turn on. Of course. He supposed he could use some extra relaxing. But she’d feel like she won. Y/n was gonna make a big deal out of this, he could feel it.

Miss starlet had an unhealthy amount of soap bottles filling the storage space in the bathroom. A dragon hoard of fancy scented soaps. As fun as pouring some various vividly colored, strong and flowery goops into the tub and pretending it was a potion would be, and it would be, Y/n opted to find some more calming aromas for poor Doux. Lavender, lemongrass, and jasmine, were what she was on the hunt for. She managed to find both lavender and jasmine soaps, and a lavender candle. No lemongrass. But Y/n wouldn’t have held her breath on that one. It wasn’t exactly glamorous or glittery.

With the water hot, bubbles high, candles lit, Y/n had crafted a very romantic and relaxing evening. She stood back to admire her work for a moment before going to go get Douxie. He was laying across the couch, using his crossed arms as a pillow, with Archie snoozing on his chest, when she found him.

“Sorry Arch. Find a different pillow for the night?” The dragon-cat understood. That didn’t stop him from throwing a look at the two as he settled back down into the couch’s fluff.

Ignoring Archie, Y/n took Douxie by the hand as she led him back into the room she had set up. The air smelled very strongly of lavender. The pink of the tiles was muted in the dim light, which Douxie was thankful for. Then he noticed the giant fucking mountain of bubbles Y/n had turned the bath into. He supposed she wanted him to get in that. Somehow. They’d have to be careful not to accidentally choke on any bubbles.

Douxie let out a little groan as he slid into the bath. The hot water felt great on his tense muscles, he had to admit. He was feeling better, and more relaxed. He certainly wasn’t anywhere near as stressed as he was in time square anymore, but the tension of this strange combination vacation/flee-for-their-lives-trip was taking its toll on the master wizard. He wouldn’t put it past his hair to start greying soon. A wizard was only ever as old as they felt, after all. And boy, did Douxie’s bones feel old. He laid his head back and closed his eyes. No worries right now. He was safe, Nari was safe, Archie was safe, Y/n was safe. Y/n was right beside him, so extra safe too.

“So, how’s it going.” Y/n laughed at Douxie getting a little lost in the hot water sauce.

“Nuclear.” Douxie opened his eyes to take in his wife’s pretty face he just knew was smiling, he could hear it in her voice. Doux pulled Y/n into his embrace and against his chest. She rested her head on his shoulder. “Thanks. I- I guess I sort of maybe needed this.”

Y/n snickered. “Of course you did. Remember, I’ll always be here to take care of you.” She brought his hand up and kissed his knuckles. “Always, Mr. Casperan.”

“And that goes the same for you, I’ll always take care of you, Mrs. Casperan.”

[aquagustd]

Hi Yus!!! 💖 I’m trying to figure out why jungkook wouldn’t want junho when him and oc saw each other again at yoongi’s wedding, cause when we saw him in the fast forward chapter he seemed like he wanted to leave their dangerous lifestyle behind and (presumably) be with her and have a normal life and start a family eventually!! So for him to react so negatively to his own child like a year and a half later makes me think whatever thing he was doing while he was away (maybe when he left he saw it as like his last “mission” or whatever to tie up loose ends and finally be free from that lifestyle) was unsuccessful, and knowing this he was like there’s just no way having a baby in this environment would be safe?

I’m also curious if he kept tabs on oc and junho from a distance after yoongi’s wedding up until present day in the story? Or if he only recently started doing it like when he would go to junho’s kindergarten.

Also, there’s something bugging me about yoongi’s character.. idk if I’m being petty or what LOL but it seems like he isn’t making the effort to loop the oc in on stuff that’s happening? She’s a grown woman who has a son to protect and he didn’t think it was noteworthy to mention that jungkook was back in town, something that could potentially put her and her son in danger. When she brings up being followed he kinda brushes it off, knowing that jk was back and shady stuff is sure to ensue… maybe he didn’t want to worry her more than was necessary so he was gonna deal with it himself but like it seems like such a misguided attempt to protect her. He also seems like the one person who could set jungkook straight if he wanted to, but he hasn’t made an effort to (at least not that we have seen.. maybe he has behind the scenes) it just feels like there are a lot of things he could do to lessen the oc’s stress and prevent jungkook from further terrorizing her. There’s obviously a reason jk left oc with yoongi at the end of fast forward and I’m guessing it’s because he knew yoongi would protect the oc in his absence. But where he at lately tho 😭😭 she’s getting beat up outside her car, thrown in a pool fully dressed and unable to swim, terrorized on a daily basis by jungkook coming in the house trying to cut himself with a knife and now on top of that having the threat of her child taken away…. I’m not fully convinced that he doesn’t know how jungkook is treating the oc. There’s no way he’s clueless to the situation.. sigh I just wanna know where he’s at I know the pharmacy ain’t that busy!!!!!! 😖

Ps. I hope it doesn’t seem like I’m making excuses for jungkook’s shitty actions hjsjdnfjd I swear I’m not I’m literally so mad at him especially after the latest chapter when he had the audacity to imply that he has the right to full custody of junho!!!! I just feel like there has to be more to the situation that we haven’t learned about yet and I’m not quite ready to write him off as an evil one dimensional villain (even tho he sure seems eager to prove that he is one 😤)

I wish I had more theories on tae’s backstory tbh.. his character is such an enigma to me. As of right now in the story I trust him a hell of a lot more than any of the other men, but just like how I think jungkook isn’t one dimensional, I don’t think tae is either. I think it would be too predictable for him to be an all good knight in shining armour type of character.. there’s obviously secrets he has yet to disclose so I’m really curious to find out more about his past/his dad. It’ll be fun to see how it all ties in to what’s happening!! One of the things I like about your stories is that you’re really good at creating very nuanced and multifaceted characters, all of them have their redeeming qualities as well as flaws and I think that’s why you have so many people invested because the characters feel relatable!!

Btw I hope you’re having a nice weekend!!!! 💖

-🧽

🧽 anon i’m gonna fight you 😤 sorry this took me a bit to get to

no but these theories 🤌🏻 yeah you’re right. why would he have this sudden switch in character — as if what he wanted to accomplish when he left didn’t work out !! after all these years, he’s still caught up in ~illegal~ dealings despite him opening up to y/n & telling her that he wishes he could leave it all behind. it wasn’t really specified when he started to communicate with junho again — since we saw in the first part that he calls pretty often — so there was a time after yoongi’s wedding when they lost all connections to each other completely. and then they started talking again (mostly him & junho on call) we still need to find out more about that.

lmaooo 😭 yoongi where tf you at? we need you 🥲 but i will say that you’re right — jungkook left oc with him for a reason but he’s just not doing his job ✋🏻 ever since who arrived ? 👀

exactly !! i know i was like mad at everyone for defending jk 👁 in the beginning, not too long ago, but there is so much we need to learn about him — why he’s behaving this way, why he left, why he returned & why he’s being so gd mean to oc 😤 and tae — we know so little about him.

hdjdksks THANK YOU 😭😭 i try my best & i hope you’re all still invested in hie & it’s not getting boring lmao. but yeah even oc has her faults. one thing i like to write in my fics is little/big things that she might do wrong. or things she could say that was literally uncalled for (i try to do this with all my y/n’s tbh. i hate perfect y/n’s in fics 🫣 like either one fatal flaw or a lot) hie oc’s weaknesses - her son & the fact that she jumps to conclusions & is impulsive at times. just like that jk has his redeeming qualities 👀 anyway tysm for reading & dropping your theories 😩 so good.

[archadianskies]

croissant aux amandes

→ on Ao3

@dbhrarepairs​ Saturday Day 6: Meet the Family •  Reverse AU; Mob AU RK900/Simon

Ronan supposes he should be thankful his mother is keeping this particular meeting just between them. He’d rather be uncomfortable in private than openly humiliated though he thinks there’s a degree of humiliation regardless.

“We could do with a connection to the DPD,” Amanda swipes up on her tablet and the screen fills with a detailed profile. “Gavin Reed, former detective, freshly made Lieutenant as of two months ago. Negligible age gap, questionable morals but gets the job done. He likes cats, which is in your favour.”

“With all due respect, mother,” Ronan makes a face, “I’d rather be disowned.”

“Duly noted,” she nods, swiping a new profile onto the screen. “David Allen is your senior by thirteen years, Captain of SWAT Unit 32 and wields immense influence. His team is loyal to him, and he is known to be a kind, honorable man. He likes dogs which isn’t to your favour, though he is not against cats.”

Ronan studies the profile for a few moments- it wouldn’t be a bad match but it still didn’t feel right. “Perhaps in another life?”

“I will put Captain Allen as a ‘maybe’,” Amanda notes. “If not the DPD, then we could accept Carl Manfred’s offer.” The screen populates with a new profile, lengthier and more detailed. “Markus Manfred is an excellent candidate: no age gap, powerful family, powerful connections. Kind, thoughtful, charitable, and very well educated. Not sure where he stands about cats, but he’d be cordial about it I’m sure.”

“I find the older brother far more tolerable company,” Ronan scoffs, turning away.

“Leo?” Amanda says incredulously. “Leo Manfred has nothing to offer, that son squandered his inheritance and spent half a decade high on red ice, disgracing his family.”

“He’s gotten clean and is redeeming himself. He’d be a far better companion than his pretentious, insufferable -”

“Enough,” his mother commands, and Ronan cuts himself off. “There is of course Elijah Kamski, since he is unmarried and of similar age to his cousin Reed. We already have the Kamski connection through your brother, though.”

He tries again. “Are they the only options?”

“They are the best options we have researched,” Amanda turns the screen off. “There are female candidates as a backup but you said you prefer men so these are the male candidates. The gender is of course irrelevant; your fiance must be the one who brings the most to the table.”

“Mother,” Ronan sighs miserably, and Amanda sits beside him. She rests her hand over his, and knowing she is not an overly physically affectionate person only makes the gesture more meaningful. 

“You have submitted no candidates yourself, Ronan, these men are just the ones my team have found,” she reminds him carefully. “I want you to be happy with your choice, whether it be genuine affection, or an amicable arrangement like your brother.”

He knows it could be worse. He knows she could force an arrangement and there would be nothing he could do about it. The Stern family controls this city and it isn’t out of character for his mother to want an advantageous match now he’s turned thirty and declared no intentions to marry yet. It is a kindness, doing all this for him when he has been dragging his feet the past year, knowing this was to come. 

“I can postpone the luncheon, if you would like more time,” she says gently, squeezing his hand. 

“I’ll have an answer by then, I promise,” Ronan vows, because he does not want to disappoint her and delaying it will only prolong this particular brand of suffering. 

 *

Connor finds him under his favourite tree by the pond, and Ronan scoots over to make room on the blanket.

“That bad huh?” His older brother teases, though his smile is apologetic.

“It wasn’t...bad,” he concedes with a wince, “just awkward. And uncomfortable. She suggested Reed at the DPD.”

“Oh, yikes!” Connor laughs and Ronan manages a brief smile. His expression softens as he shifts to wrap an arm around Ronan’s shoulders. “Hey, it doesn’t have to be The One, you know? I don’t- I’m not... inclined romantically or sexually. Chloe is a wonderful friend, and I treasure her company. Our marriage provides her power and influence and security, and safety to nurture her relationship with North under the guise of a bodyguard.”

“You are...happy?” Ronan asks curiously, and Connor smiles.

“I’m very happy,” he nods. “It might not be romantic love, but there’s love in our friendship. You can have that too, brother, if you want.”

 *

It’s a lot to think about. It’s too much to think about, really, and so after too many hours of being stuck in his own head, Ronan escapes to his favourite spot in the whole city: Jericho. 

The cafe is somehow in the heart of town but so hidden it feels like stepping into an entirely different world, and he’s been escaping to its bare brick walls and cosy interior for years now. It’s owned by the Lambert twins, Daniel and Simon. Though the older twin is abrasive and curt, the younger is shy and gentle and always has time for Ronan.

“You look like you’ve had quite the day,” Simon laughs, already reaching for a mug and starting to make him coffee. “Take a seat, I saved an almond croissant for you.”

“You’re an angel, thank you,” Ronan takes the corner booth and watches as Simon goes through the familiar, well practiced motions. It’s close to closing and there’s only one other patron, so Simon decides to sit opposite him with his own mug of coffee.

“What’s got you looking like you’re carrying the whole world on your shoulders, hm?” The blond prods, and Ronan delays answering in favour of sipping the perfectly brewed mug of coffee in his hands. 

“My mother was being a little...overbearing this morning,” Ronan says hesitantly, leaving out the big details. “With the best of intentions, of course. She means well, but I still feel like I’m being slowly backed into a corner.” 

“I’m sorry to hear that, it must be difficult,” Simon frowns empathetically, earnestly, because he is a good and kind friend. Ronan thinks if he weren’t the son of a crime family, he would marry Simon. 

They would have a soft, quiet life full of love and be entirely uneventful and Ronan would manage the business side of things for the cafe so Simon would never have to worry. Maybe they could adopt a cat or two. He wouldn’t even mind a dog, honestly. He’s partial to german shepherds. 

But that’s never going to happen, and it’s with a sinking feeling Ronan realises once he marries he may have to cut ties with Simon completely as he takes on more and more of their family’s work in the criminal underworld. 

“I… am to be married,” he says no louder than a whisper but Simon hears it, Simon’s lovely blue eyes widen at those words. “Well, in the future I mean. My mother is trying to matchmake me with- with certain friends’ sons.”

“In 2038?” Simon asks in disbelief. “Your mother is trying to matchmake you in the year 2038?”

“She means well,” Ronan repeats, sighing tiredly. “She just wants me to marry ‘the one who brings the most to the table’.” He echoes her words with the same regal air and Simon laughs though not unkindly.

“Sounds intense.”

“I have a luncheon next weekend with all of our extended family and friends, and she expects me to announce an answer then.” He picks at the almond croissant, and it’s as perfect as always- buttery, flaky and fresh. The layers are light, the almond slivers paper thin, and the sweetness just right. It feels like a last supper, knowing he probably won’t be able to return. He’d never want to drag Simon into his world of blood. 

 *~*

Danny arrives in time to help him sweep and mop up. His brother is a warm, comforting presence in his peripheral, and Simon soaks it up like warmth from a blanket.

“Saw one of those supervillain black cars the Sterns use on the way here, was it Ronan again?” Danny asks as they’re putting the mops away. “You know he’s getting engaged next weekend, right?”

“How did you know that?” Simon blinks in surprise as he hangs up his apron.

“Leo told me,” Danny shrugs. “The old man said he’s pushing for Markus to marry him.”

“Oh,” Simon tries not to sound so disappointed, and he’s not even sure what for- that Markus is to be married, or that Ronan is the one marrying him. 

“Yeah, I know right? Ugh, gross,” his twin makes a disgusted face. “Poor Ronan, imagine having to marry Mr Perfect and run the criminal underworld.”

“They’re a respectable family!” Simon argues, feeling a twinge of indignant anger on Ronan’s behalf. “The Sterns have transformed the educational landscape of the city- Kara was able to open a kindergarten because of their philanthropy! Imagine having that influence- I’d- I’d completely revamp child services and open shelters and proper mental health centers for abused children and adolescents. I’d make sure no one ever had to go through what we went through.”

“You sweet sweet child,” Danny snorts back a laugh, though it isn’t mocking in the least. “They’re a necessary evil for this city because the senator is an incompetent but dangerous fuckwit. Don’t get me wrong, I like them- they get things done. It’s just the thought of the Manfreds joining that circle that gives me bad indigestion.”

“Markus Manfred is- he’s an amazing man, Danny. Ronan and he would be perfectly matched,” Simon chews his lip, feeling his chest ache. “He certainly would bring the most to the table.”

“What?”

“Oh, it’s just something Ronan said,” Simon flashes an apologetic smile. “He said he has to marry ‘the one who brings the most to the table’.”

“Brings the most to the table ,” Danny repeats, stressing the start and end of the sentence. Simon looks at him, eyes wide. “You don’t think-”

“Oh I do think,” his brother’s grin falters slightly, “But only if you want to, Simon. It’s a pretty crazy idea and uh, we might mysteriously disappear only for our bodies to be found in an underpass somewhere in a couple of weeks.”

It’s a ridiculously crazy idea, Simon knows this for a fact, but it’s so crazy it might just work.

* 

The Stern estate is beautiful, even from the other side of the huge wrought-iron gates. 

“You boys must be lost,” a guard drawls, sauntering over to the driver’s side. “Best you head back down the driveway and forget you ever came this way.”

“We're catering for the luncheon you dumbass,” Danny rolls his eyes. “So best you step aside and let us through so we can set up.”

The guard falters, frowning heavily. “There’s no mention of-” he looks at the side of the delivery van, “Jericho Cafe on the guest list.”

“Because we’re not guests,” Simon tries to mimic Danny’s impatient, snappy tone. “We’re catering for the guests.”

“Hey, listen, honest mistake,” Danny shakes his head. “No harm done. Let us in and we’ll do our job and you can do yours.”

“I-I’ll run it by the boss,” the guard fumbles for his phone.

“Ask Ronan,” Simon says firmly. “He’s the one who booked us, not- not the boss.”

The stretch of time as they wait for an answer feels like an eternity, like Simon is awaiting sentencing where the outcome could very well be execution. Is he signing his own hit? Is dragging his twin into this the worst mistake of his life?

“Alright, sorry about that,” the guard apologises, pocketing his phone and waving at someone up ahead. The gates part, and Simon doesn’t know whether to feel relieved or even more fear. “Go on through, the service entrance is on the right-hand side.”

“Thanks buddy,” Danny salutes lazily before driving through the now opened gates. He’s gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles are white.

“Danny-”

“No, shut up, we’re doing this. He ran it by Ronan and Ronan okayed us to come through,” Danny exhales slowly as he brings the van to the service entrance. A couple of confused kitchen staff come out to see them. 

“Alright,” Simon swallows thickly. “We’re doing this.”

* 

They unload and designate whole delivery trays laden with baked goods to be carried by the staff. Simon leads the way, trying to will his hands not to shake as he carries the feast he and Danny spent all yesterday prepping for, and all this morning from the crack of dawn baking so it would be as fresh as fresh can be for this very moment. 

He enters the dining room and there is Amanda Stern, matriarch of the Stern family. There is Ronan Stern, handsome as can be in a sharp tailored suit, and beside him are a couple- his brother Connor Stern, given the resemblance, and a lovely blonde lady in a periwinkle blue dress.

“Simon-”

“Madam, I have come to ask for your son’s hand in marriage,” Simon commends his voice for not trembling as he sets down the tray on the long dining table. Behind him, Daniel places his tray down and soon the staff follow, more and more until the table is absolutely brimming with food. “This is what I bring to the table.”

Amanda looks at him, expression unreadable and Simon thinks oh, he’s absolutely about to be executed. “You’re the Lambert boy,” she looks him over as if taking him apart atom by atom. “That cafe in Capitol Park.” “Yes ma’am,” Simon nods, clasping his hands behind his back so she won’t see how badly he’s shaking now he isn’t holding anything. She turns her eyes to the spread on the table.

“What is Ronan’s favourite?”

“The almond croissants,” Simon answers immediately, gesturing at them. Amanda nods and he picks one up using a pair of tongs, serving it to her on one of the bread plates. He risks a glance at Ronan who still seems frozen in shock, and it’s as if everyone is waiting with baited breath as Amanda bites into the croissant. Chewing thoughtfully, she sets the plate down and looks over at him. 

“I prefer blueberry danishes, but I can see why he likes these,” she’s smiling now, an amused matronly smile. “Is he your chosen fiance, Ronan?”

“If he would have me,” Ronan replies softly, reaching for Simon’s hands. “If a life with me is what he wants.”

“Yes,” Simon smiles, “I do.”

~*~*~

{ Inspired by [this tumblr post] about the intricacies and formalities of the 'Bride Price'.}

[chayacat]

Devil’s Sweet Star (46)

Fandom: Dead by Daylight

Ghostface x Female Reader  

Rated M for Violence, Language and Smut  

***

He couldn't believe he had come to this point. He didn't want to believe it actually. And yet... it’s very real. If one day he had been told that he would use spiritualism to deal with his problems, Danny would have laughed everything he could. Then he would have mocked the fools who believe in it. Unfortunately for him, you believe in it. And he can't really make fun of it. He wants to keep his arms. The day was still under stress and waiting for Melina to arrive, to finally free you from all this. But Danny is not enthusiastic about the idea. But he hides it, to please you.

Melina had arrived early that evening, with two boxes containing all her grandmother's mystical objects. The sooner she comes, the sooner the problem will be solved. That's what she told him on the phone, 1 hour ago. And knowing Melina, Danny suspects that the accelerator must have suffered. He took one of the boxes and went up to the apartment where you were making coffee. Melina arrived with the second box in hand, which she gently placed on the ground.

“Are you sure what you're doing? You didn't need so many objects.” said Danny, sighing.  

“Jed. We don’t joke with the spirits! especially evil spirits! I gathered all the objects that Grandma used to chase away negative entities. there is one that will correspond to what we need against those who want you harm!” responds Melina, crossing her arms.  

“Because in addition you don’t know what these objects do? it's going to take the whole night!”  

“I did as fast as I could Jed... I didn't have time to look in detail at the properties of each object. But all 3, we will go much faster.”

“Do you think it's going to work?” you ask, giving Danny and Melina a cup of coffee.  

“The only way to find out is to try. But in your interest, it’s better that it works. As I said, we don’t joke with evil spirits. And who knows what these things might do in the near future.”  

In their interests. But Danny already knows the result. He knows very well that it’s a waste of time and you no longer risk anything. But if it can reassure you, then he is ready to let spiritism do its magic at home. Hoping that it doesn’t encroach on his business. And the sooner you are reassured, the sooner he can return to kill poor "innocents" at night. Even if at the moment, the offenders are discreet in Roseville. And they’re few.

Melina began to open the boxes and search throughout this bazaar for the objects that will be most useful in your situation. Candles, amulets, crosses, salt, holy water, a Ouija... All the necessary of spiritism and ghost hunting was in these boxes. It's a real shop. Danny never had the opportunity to meet this woman, the poor one having died, but one thing is certain, she was a believer to the end. You help Melina to search and Danny, in front of this, had to resolve to do the same. If it's not unfortunate...

“Guide to spiritism for newcomers: learn to master and use one's celestial power safely. Are there really people reading this stuff? I thought it's innate and that it was mastered with experience.” said Danny, showing the book at you and Melina.  

“It is. But sometimes, it’s...hard to control, to not cross the border. Once my grandma explained to me what happened to one of her friends who, like her, have this kind of gift, crossed the borders between us and spirits world. She was not the same at all. She was... as if she had been drained of all energy, a real zombie. No doctor, not even the greatest specialists could determine where this could come from. But my grandma, she knew that her friend had crossed the point of no return and a few months later... she died in her bed. My grandma was always paying attention since that day.” responds Melina.  

“Frightening...” you said worried.  

“Isn't it? I would need this book. Thank you for finding it, Jed.”

“A protective amulet? Has it already worked?”

“More than once! It was my grandmother's lucky charm. She always used it as a last resort when other objects did nothing. We will be able to use it too, with salt.” replied Melina.  

Danny sighs before looking away. What not to hear... Melina prepared the table and put the book there, which she opened, flipping through the pages one by one carefully so as not to miss anything. She has to make sure that everything goes well, for her as for both of you. Danny glanced at you, seeing your little worried but adorable face. It reminded him of the first time you met Ghostface. The same face that in the end, convinced him not to kill you. In addition to your temper.

“Oh, come on. Are you going to walk away now?” said Jed in Danny’s mind.  

“Shut up.” Danny simply responds.

“Imagine that it works. And let this thing not come back. You'll have to believe that all this isn't just a big joke for profit.”

“And if it doesn't work, I'm going to beat myself up and all this mess to go down to the car...”

“Danny, you saw this thing just like me and (Y/N). You can't deny the existence of this thing, whatever it is. And obviously it wants to use you to feed her. The question is how. And personally, unless you're a sadomasochist, I don't think you want to know, and live it.

“Yeah yeah. We’ll see if it works.”

Jed sighed before disappearing. Danny looked at you and Melina again, both of you reading the book to ward off evil spirits. If this stupid stuff really works, he promises to go to church at least once a month. What? it's already better than nothing! don't ask too much of him either... Melina, while following the instructions, installed all the equipment around the apartment. Then she invited Danny to join you in a salt circle that she had drawn following the pattern that was written on the book. She had drawn one for her moving a little away from the two of you.

“Whatever happens, don’t move. You will be safe in it.” said Melina.  

“If you say so...” responds Danny not really convinced.

“OK... To the spirits that haunt this couple, I ask you to leave them alone. Let them live in peace and go back to where you came from. They didn't do anything to you.”  

A heavy silence was made in the room. No noise. Danny looked everywhere but saw nothing, no mist, no voice, no giant spider legs. The flat calm. He almost wanted to leave the circle to turn the light back on and stop all this circus, but when the idea crossed his mind... he heard them. Voices. And you too visibly. He turned his head in the direction of the voices, and noticed that the door of the bedroom was smoking... this thick mist... yes, it's them.

“Melina...it’s there...we see them! Our bedroom door is surrounded by a black and thick mist.” you said.  

“Okay. Don’t move. Stay in the circle! Nothing can happen to you inside.” she responds. “Who are you? Why are you attacking them? And what do you want from them?”

“You will not be able to escape us. Sooner or later, you will come with us. You will soothe our hunger. And you Danny will help us.” said the voice.  

“It... wants to take us. It says we have to feed him.” said Danny calmly.  

“Why?” asks Melina.  

“If only I know.”  

Suddenly, as in the café, the door opened on a black mist. The spider legs came out slowly and gradually advanced towards the group. Danny felt that you were sticking more strongly to him. He also felt that you were shaking. By pure instinct, he made you step back to put himself in front of you. If he could grab one of the knives in the kitchen...

“Go away! leave them alone!” replied Melina looking at the opened door.  

“Pathetic creature. your little toys won't do anything to us. Now Danny... it's time for both of you to join us.” Said the voice again.  

One of the paws rushed at the two of you in one fell swoop, grabbing Danny in the leg, causing him to fall to the ground. Then it began to bring him back to her, while Melina desperately tried to pull him out to free him. So, she could see it? Or she had to feel it and the thing had to appear to her like a shadow.

As he gradually felt the mist take hold of him, your voice brought Danny back to his senses. And when he turned his gaze to you, he saw you throw a knife at him. That's exactly what he needed. He grabbed the knife, got up and planted it in the paw of the thing which, in a shrill scream, let go of him as it returned in the mist, still wounding Danny in the leg in the process. Melina pulled him back and observed the foggy door which gradually became thicker.  

The paws tried again to catch Danny but this time it was you who took the initiative to attack. Armed with a chopper, you cut off one of the legs which will make a new scream of the thing. No one had time to do anything that you find yourself throwing against the wall of the living room. Then the other paws came out, recovered the severed paw and left in the mist that disappeared as mysteriously as it had arrived.

“Holy shit...What the f*ck was that?” asks Melina shocked, helping you to get up.  

“I... I don’t know. But one thing is sure...it’s scary.” you respond, shaking a little.  

“Yeah...I don’t see it, but I believe you. Are you okay Jed? Nothing broken?”  

“No. I’m fine.” Danny simply responds.  

2 hours later, the three of you were sitting on the couch, a cup of coffee in hand. Danny had bandaged his leg and avoided moving it too much, the pain still being present. He couldn't forget that strange feeling that the mist had made him feel... As if she had tried to take possession of him. For a moment he felt himself and Jed leaving. It was a... disagreeable sensation.

“What do we do now?” you ask, breaking the silence.  

“I don't know. This thing... whatever it is, is much stronger than I thought. It’s not an ordinary spirit; it’s an entity that’s very powerful. And whatever we do, it will be useless. I don't know what she wants from you but... you're going to have to deal with it. And pray that one day she will leave you in peace.” said Melina worried.  

“It will never leave us alone.” starts Danny with dark eyes. “This thing will never leave us alone wherever we are. She will haunt us down until she gets what she wants: us. Why...that’s the question.”  

And he's right. You can run away as much as you want and can, it will always find you. Like a parasite it’s related to both of you, and sooner or later it will have you. How, why and when, that the question. You must enjoy the days to come from now on. Only God alone knows if it will ever be an ordinary day...  

Or your last day on Earth.

***

(The last chapters are just as hard to write as the first, fortunately the weekends serve me a little to set up the ideas I want to implement XD As I told you, once DSS is finished, I think I will take one or two weeks of rest before starting the fanfic on RE8 which I think will be more or less long,  depending on the direction it will take! so if during these 1 or 2 weeks you have questions or if you want to know more about the poor potato that I am, do not hesitate! I'm always available! I hope you’ll like this chapter like the other ones! Well, it's time for my brain to rest! Have a great weekend to you all!  See ya! )

[thegoodprincess]

Together We Are Apart, but Apart We Are Together | KTH Ch. 9

Author: thegoodprincess Pairing: Kim Taehyung | Original Female Character Genre: romance, fantasy, action, forbidden love, human KTH | angel of death OC, supernatural au Word Count: 7.3k [series, ongoing] Rating: N/A Warnings: None Summary: After admiring a handsome boy from afar, an Angel of Death reluctantly rescues him from his own demise. As a result of going against her better judgment she inadvertently invites him into her world.

Author’s Note: Hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving. Next up is Christmas, which is so exciting. Again sorry for the slow updates. I recently bought a car [yay] but it’s a manual transmission, which meant I had to learn how to drive stick shift [boo]. So that’s what has been taking up my free time lately other than work and school. So yeah…. that is all. Peace, Love, and BTS. ✌️😘💜

Together We Are Apart, but Apart We Are Together

Chapter 9. The Chase

“If you love something let it go free. If it doesn’t come back, you never had it. If it comes back, love it forever.” – Douglas Horton

It had been a few weeks and the wound in my heart left by Taehyung’s forced departure had yet to heal. Malachi had tried to make light of the situation several times. But each time he did so it ended with me either having teary eyes or me hurriedly leaving the immediate vicinity because I needed to physically distance myself from the weight of his words. Sometimes it was both.

Now with all the time that had passed one would have thought I would have came to terms with what happened and why it was necessary, but I just couldn’t. It wasn’t that easy. Was it ever easy to just simply wipe someone from your thoughts when you carried such intense unexplainable feelings for them? Maybe I should have placed a memory charm on myself? I almost did, but Malachi said that it was unwise. He spouted some nonsense about how it was better to have loved and lost than to have ever loved at all.

Malachi worried it was unhealthy to dwell on missing Taehyung. It once got so bad that he even suggested that I go out and search for Taehyung, not to interact of course, but just to visually check up on his well being. However, this wasn’t possible. The protection amulet I had given him not only protected him from any evils he might have crossed paths with, but any unnatural influences as well which included me; I couldn’t even utilize the power of the mirror to find him. The only way I would have been able to cross paths with him was if I just happened to come across him randomly. It would have taken too much time to try to seek him out, not to mention energy. I would have been distracted from the duties I was bound too. But that didn’t mean that there wasn’t a temptation there though.

There were many instances where I thought I saw him. Seeing someone from afar with a similar haircut, clothes, even height would send me into a frenzy, hoping it was him only to be let down when I got closer or they turned around to reveal their face. It was such an unfair disappointment having my racing heart literally lurch forward then immediately come to an abrupt halt when I realized it wasn’t him. But that all changed one fateful day.

I was surveying the humans walking around Achasan Ecological Park after spending the early morning helping to guide a forty year old man who had passed on to the afterlife. He’d fallen asleep and died on the train while on his morning commute to work. Surprisingly he handled the situation quite well given the circumstances; death is a process that is heavily misunderstood and quite fast paced, it is easily very overwhelming for most experiencing it. The man even made a joke about how it was probably due to stress. After tearfully saying goodbye to his family and thanking me, he happily went into the light.

Now as I walked around, I couldn’t help but process what had happened. Reflecting on the endearing things he had said about his family, I saw how much he genuinely loved them. He took the time to explain how his six year old daughter enjoyed dress up and wanted to be a veterinarian when she grew up because she loved her “doggy” so much and wanted to be able to help him out when he was sick. While he knew he was leaving her at such a young age, he had faith his wife was going to be an extremely capable parent on her own and didn’t need him there to succeed. He cared about them a lot, but knew and accepted that he could no longer be with them. He only wished them the best and said farewell promising that in time they’d be reunited again.

Maybe it was selfish and crazy, but I wanted what the man had with his family for Taehyung and I. I’d like to imagine that in some parallel universe out there, I’d end up living happily with Taehyung by my side. We’d have a family and build a home together. Malachi could even be a grumpy uncle to our children. Lost in the middle of my daydream, I inattentively stared out into the crowd of people.

However, it was as though I manifested him when I heard a very particular noise. My ears perked up and I contemplated for a moment whether my senses were playing a trick on me. But the sound was unmistakable and I couldn’t resist the urge to follow it. Trying to pinpoint the location of where exactly it was coming from, I clumsily trudged through the snow narrowly avoiding both people and trees. When I finally was able to discern the correct direction, it became more pronounced the closer I got to it. That’s when I saw Taehyung.

At first I didn’t think it was him; his hair was different. But when his face came into view I knew for sure that it was him. No longer was he sporting the golden hue I’d grown fond of when I imagined him. Instead, the color had returned to being dark and glossy again. While his hair texture still held plenty of volume, his haircut made sure that it remained long on top. Although this time it was shorter on the sides and now parted to the side. He looked dangerously handsome, more suave and mature as apposed to the boyish innocence aura the blond gave him.

He was talking to another boy who looked to be taller than him with dimples. Both were bundled up, fully complete with winter coats, snow boots, big scarfs, and warm head accessories to shield them from the chilly weather. A few hours prior it had snowed, which meant that everything was covered in a fresh layer of pristine white snow. It was so cold that the tips of their noses were red and their breath could be seen exiting their mouths and mingling with the air as they conversed. I stood a few feet away witnessing their casual conversation feeling like I was on the outside looking in. Time seemed to slow down, as if they were perfectly in focus while others moved blearily around them. He was so close yet a literal world away.

Seeing him now merrily laughing with who I presumed was another one of his friends, I was content he made a full recovery and was back to living his normal life, the one where he never met me. There was a odd sentiment there; it was… bittersweet. I smiled to myself, feeling the prick of tears behind my eyelids. Unsure of what to do with my trembling hands that wanted nothing more than to reach out to him, I stuffed them into the pockets of my dress. I decided I’d give myself exactly one last minute of watching him from afar before I’d put him out of my mind forever. I stood fixed into place for the first ten seconds, just observing the way he interacted with his friend, desperately wishing I could join in on their conversation. In my fantasy I’d walk over and introduce myself, then ask if I could sit with them. 20 seconds. We’d talk about something mundane like the weather. It would be awkward at first but they’d be nice and then we’d laugh about it, effectively breaking the ice among ourselves. 30 seconds. From there we’d have an actual conversation and it would end with them inviting me to meet up with them again. 40 seconds. Naturally we’d get to know each other more and eventually become friends. 45 seconds. But I knew that would never happen. I couldn’t be with him, neither as lovers nor platonic friends. 50 seconds. It was painful knowing he existed, but he wasn’t meant for me. 55 seconds.

During the last five seconds I felt something cold skim over my cheek. Knowing it wasn’t a tear, I looked up towards the sky. Snow had suddenly began to fall for the second time today. It fell calm and was so light it looked as though the flurries were suspended mid air, like they’d never reach their journey to the ground. I briefly closed my eyes for a moment to gather myself and embrace the feeling of the snow softly caressing my face. 60 seconds. Just after I opened my eyes, something very bizarre happened.

Taehyung turned his head and looked in my direction, seemingly straight at me. The rational part of my brain was telling me he couldn’t see me, wouldn’t be able to even if he tried; but the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end instinctively telling me that something was off about the manner in which he stared so intently.

Still staring in my direction, he spoke towards his friend his eyes never leaving me, “Hyung, I need to take care of something real quick. I’ll text you later.”

“Oh, uh, sure. Okay.” The boy with dimples responded, his eyes followed the direction in which Tae was staring. “Do you see someone you know?” He curiously craned his neck.

“I think so. See ya Namjoon.”

“Bye.” Namjoon awkwardly waved, but before he could finish uttering the sentiment Taehyung had already gotten up and started walking purposefully in my direction.

Panicking I looked around to see if Tae had seen a familiar face that was someone other than me. But he wasn’t making an effort to call out anyone else’s name.

“Excuse me,” he said.

Surely he wasn’t referring to me. I looked behind me to see who he was talking to, taking a few steps backwards to create distance between us as he slowly inched closer. I didn’t see anyone behind me.

“Yeah, you.” He pointed towards me. Hesitantly I pointed towards myself stunned that he could actually see me.

“Yes.” He nodded eagerly, quickening his footsteps. That’s when I knew something was extremely wrong, not knowing how to deal with the situation I chose to do the only thing I could think of in that moment – run. Panicking I ran as fast and as far away as I could, not looking back. He shouldn’t have been able to see, let alone remember me.

“Hey, wait. Please stop.” He pled, outstretching one of his hands. The speed of his pace increased three fold, judging from the timing of his footsteps hitting the snow covered ground. I was only spurred to flee faster.

The crunching of the snow beneath my bare feet echoed in my ears as I dug them into the frozen slush to gain traction. I dashed through the forest, my heartbeat erratic in my chest. Adrenaline surged rapidly through my veins, my breathing came out in pants causing my lungs to strain, and blood pounded thunderously in my ears. I knew every curve and bend of the forest. With wind whipping in my face and biting viciously at my skin, I dodged branches, expertly contorting my body out of the way as I had memorized the exact placement of my face, arms, and legs from running the course so many times prior. I just needed to get to the gateway and then I would surely lose him. Surprisingly he was swift on his feet and kept up with my pace rather well. I tried to lose him several times. But to no avail he persisted, always not too far behind me despite the wintery haze that made the immediate surroundings difficult to see and maneuver. Every time I spontaneously turned the direction of my path to lose him he was able to still find me. I had even taken the precaution to run along rocks and through bushes to hide my footprints. I even used a snapped branch to cover up any tracks that I left behind.

Then up ahead I saw the arch, just a few more steps and I would lose him for sure. Once I was close enough I took a running leap through the gateway and entered an open clearing. Suddenly winter melted away and gave way to spring. Exhausted I slowed my pace feeling victorious like I had just won a marathon, but I didn’t get the chance to fully stop and appreciate the change of scenery because I heard him before I saw him, still hot on my trail. Deeply confused and continued to sprint. But I stopped when I heard a loud gasp followed by an oof.

Against my better judgment I stopped, wanting to at least make sure he was okay. Concerned I turned around, Taehyung had tripped. But he seemed fine though, as he had broken his fall. He was on his knees with his hands outstretched in front of him on the ground, to support his upper half as a result of him bracing himself. His face was downcast too, probably still trying to process when exactly it had gotten so close to the slippery moss beneath him. While I couldn’t see his eyes, his long dark lashes were prominent when contrasted against the powdery flakes of snow that had sprinkled them.

From this angle tiny red scratches on his face could faintly be made out. A few decorated his exposed forehead between the two curtains of his bangs, one going straight through one of his dark strong eyebrows. Another particularly angrier looking one sat high upon his cheek right under his eye, a small amount of dried blood had already crusted over it. But the worst one was on the corner of his lower lip. It had split. Fresh beads of bright crimson red blood rested on the apex of it. His tongue swiped them away before they could slowly trickle down his chin. I had assumed a barren tree branch had swung back and forcefully struck him to give him the gash, although it wasn’t too severe. Speaking of branches, his ivory colored wool coat was torn from it getting snagged on the offshoot of some of the trees and a few stray leaves were tangled in the exposed parts of his hair poking out from under his brown knit ear muffs. Overall chasing after me had proven tricky for him and yielded him a disheveled appearance.

I debated whether I should run away or help him up, but I stood fixed in place, my toes curling into the earth in frustration. I was afraid to interact with him, knowing that if I did so it would make the gravity of the situation all the more real. Turning my head I wondered what were the chances he’d catch up to me, if I took off at that very moment. But I couldn’t run away now though. Abandoning him in the middle of my world was just as equally dangerous as him following me into it.

Just then he looked up and our eyes locked. “Don’t you dare run away from me again.” He declared with fiery determination in his eyes. My eyes widened at a loss for words. My heart stopped. Did he know? For another moment it was silent, the weight of his words sinking in, I instinctively took a step back in an attempt to put more distance between us. As I stepped back a twig harshly snapped, causing us both to flinch. Taehyung quickly rushed out, “Wait. Please don’t run away again. I promise I won’t hurt you.” His voice came out softer less frantic, sounding almost broken like he was pleading with me. Paired with his watery eyes and his down turned mouth, he remained on his knees as to appear non-threatening. Did he really think I was running away from him because he thought I thought he wanted to harm me? Well he did just frantically chase after me into an empty forest. So I guess it wasn’t that plausible.

“I know. You should leave. Go back the way you came.” I nodded off into the direction we originated from.

“But I don’t know how to get back. I was following you.”

“Oh, I had no idea. Really? I wasn’t aware of that.” I sarcastically retorted. I was a bit agitated by his incessant need to pursue me here, so much so that it led to him being put back in danger when I had previously worked so hard to keep him out of it.

He reacted to my tone by lowering his head in shame. “I’m sorry.” I instantly felt guilty for making him feel bad. “I-,” he looked directly into my eyes with his smoldering gaze, “don’t know the way back.” He admitted sheepishly, wincing he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

I narrowed my eyes trying to determine if he was really telling the truth, because while his eyes seemed genuine, his voice wavered towards the end of his profession almost like he was trying to deliberately sound helpless. The longer I stared the less willing he was to make eye contact, his eyes bouncing between me and the ground. But before I could offer advice on how he could return home, he audibly gasped.

Taehyung had been so busy trying to catch up to me, he still hadn’t taken the time to observe the forest’s sudden change in season. That is until now. So for the first time since coming through the portal, Taehyung finally noticed his surroundings. Slowly rising to his full height, he stood and distractedly wiped the front of his jeans off while taking in the magical scene before him. I knew he was surprised at what he was witnessing, I myself still had never really become fully accustomed to the way the scene shifted.

Brisk winds and the misty fog lifted and just like that a myriad of colors burst before our very eyes; the cold uniform palate of pure whites, smokey grays, and muted blues were replaced with the vibrant hues associated with spring: ambient vivid greens, bright blues, and soft purples were just a few of the many colors that bloomed with ease. No longer were the trees collecting ample clumps of frozen snow. Instead, leaves decorated the branches; they looked as though the wind was whispering sweet nothings to them from the way they vibrated with excitement. While the wind and leaves were like lovers, the branches were like Mother Nature’s child extending their arms outwards – long and eager – to reach out for Father Sky.

The aforementioned sky that was formerly filled with thick Altostratus clouds that hung low and heavy in the air, was now a clear expanse the color of a robin’s egg with the sun being perfectly visible. With no dense fluffy masses in the sky, the sunshine was able to pleasantly warm our previously chilled wind-chapped skin.

A chorus of cicadas hummed replacing the still dormant nature of the forest. Birds chirped calling to their mates; some even weaved in and out of the trees, effortlessly gliding through the air. If you strained your ears the faint sound of a nearby creek in the distance could be heard reverberating off the trees. Its babbling brook effectively added to the melody of the woodland ambiance. Then a light breeze blew, causing the overhead canopy of leaves to gently rustle.

Not only did an unnamable but distinct crisp woodsy odor invade my nose, but the wind also picked up and carried the scent of rich earthy soil, wet moss, and the musky-sweet smell of leaves. Their aroma quickly diffused throughout the spot we currently stood. Out of distress I couldn’t help but keenly inhale the scent. I needed to calm my nerves so that I’d have enough poise and patience to handle the situation. Somewhere out of the corner of my eye I saw a monarch butterfly flutter by. I secretly hoped it was a good omen for what was to come next.

Months of winter had practically melted away in the span of a few seconds and gave way to spring.

Taehyung was mesmerized. “Am I dreaming?” He theatrically rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times, removing his ear muffs in the process. After stuffing them into one of his coat pockets, he carelessly untied his blue knit scarf and shrugged off his coat. A clover green cable knit sweater was revealed to be underneath. Due to the warm weather, he loosely tugged the fabric of it away from him. He then carefully draped his jacket over his arm and just opted to throw his scarf over his shoulder.

I couldn’t help but make light of the odd situation and his unexpectedly quirky reaction. “You really need to learn how to trust your eyes,” I countered back.

“Yeah, I guess seeing is believing sometimes,” he said distractedly staring at the trees, as if this was a normal everyday conversation. He reached out to touch some of the low hanging leaves, gently rubbing his gloved fingertips over the foliage.

“It’s weird, I have the strangest sense of Déjà vu from being around you. Like we’ve done all this before, y’know?” He leaned in and whispered. I tilted my head in question. “Have we… met before?” He tentatively asked me fixing his unwavering stare onto my face.

“Hmm, possibly.” I winced apprehensively.

Then suddenly a particularly strong breeze of wind blew, effectively blowing the scarf Tae had slung over his shoulder off. It was carried away in the wind. Not thinking, I chased after it. It wasn’t until I finally grabbed it and then heard a soft gasp from behind me that I realized I had walked about three feet off the ground and was now floating above the forest floor.

“What are you?” Taehyung didn’t sound afraid but rather genuinely curious.

“If I told you, you’d be frightened of me,” I admitted in a whisper, after I touched down on the ground a few feet from him.

Closing the distance between us, I slowly made my way over to him to hand him back his scarf. I waited for him to flinch back away from me. But the inevitable never happened. Instead he remained still and made no attempt to move. Stopping within arms reach, I held his scarf out for him to take and he gently took it for my grasp.

“Thank you.” His voice came out soft and genuine. Angling his head to the left to seek out my eyes, I refused to meet his stare out of fear I would see uncertainty swirling in the depths of his irises. Instead he placed his index finger under my chin and tenderly tilted my face up to meet his. “Don’t worry I’m not afraid of you.” I pursed my lips and hummed. I couldn’t help but be seemingly lost in the depths of his gaze as I noticed the small golden flecks that reflected in his eyes under the direct sunlight. In that moment I forgot how to breathe.

“Do you trust me?” I softly whispered locked into his stare.

“I…,” he paused his uneven eyes darting back and forth penetrating mine, seemingly in search of answers to my cryptic responses. “I don’t know why, but for some reason I do.” His intense eyes never left mine.

“Then,” but before I could explain any further Taehyung’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and his knees buckled; he fainted. Catching his dead weight in my arms, we both collapsed to the floor, with me landing on my knees. Broken sticks, dried leaves, and the gritty dirt on the ground uncomfortably dug into my skin but it was fine as long as Taehyung wasn’t hurt. I cradled him in my arms for a second as I pushed the hair that had fallen in his face out of it. I assumed him running rampantly through the forest and entering through the gateway had ill effects on his body. He more than likely passed out from the strain as well as stress of the situation, similar to how a scuba diver’s body undergoes shock when they ascend from the ocean too rapidly.

Rising up, I wrapped my arms around his torso and dragged his unconscious body towards a particularly large abandoned greenhouse that wasn’t too far from the clearing we were in. It had lush greenery that grew spectacularly along the sash bars and purlins that separated the glass panes. The foliage looked like curtains softly blowing in the wind with the way they hung loosely across the entryway. There was a short series of weathered stone steps that led up to the door. Trailing your eyes up the two engraved stone pillars were the next part noticed. Each one had long trails of vibrant velvety leaves that generously wound all the way around the carved structures. Almost no area was left bare. But the focal point of the façade’s architecture was its high dome. Delicate motifs decorated the perimeter of it. The sculpted faces and flowers that had been incorporated into the design gave the building a baroque style. If you squinted your eyes, you’d even notice the occasional face missing either a nose or an ear where the appendage had broken off from enduring the elements and time.

The inside was practically the same as the outside, with vines wildly curling themselves around the structure, growing in right through the cracks in the foundation from the outside and side ventilators. But the most eye-catching difference were the stained glass windows that were now visible. They depicted various scenes of nature and were located along the sides of the premise. Some of the displayed mosaics included a sunrise, a honeybee landing on a daffodil, and hummingbirds mid-flight. Their beauty was further elevated with the help of the outside light that highlighted them; sunlight illuminated the shades of orange, yellow, red, blue, green, and purple that adorned the glass.

In one of the far off corners of the vicinity there was an iron spiral staircase that led up to the second story that bordered along the perimeter of the building’s walls. It’s purpose was to reach the roof ventilator. But it also granted the opportunity to admire the formerly existing botanical garden from up above. Empty ceramic pots hung down from the vaulted ceiling, casting shadows on the walls. They seemed to dance as the antique pottery swung to and fro. While there were no designated zones for specific flora to grow, a plethora of woodland wildflowers such as primroses, bluebells, and honeysuckle joined the company of the vines to create a makeshift garden. Dilapidated wicker chairs and wooden benches that had been left to be forgotten, sat haphazardly on the first and second floors. Some were arranged along potting benches, while others faced in the direction of the windows as though they sought to admire the outside view; some were even knocked over on their sides. Their wood had already began to rot, split, and wither away; while the wicker was simply deteriorated from the environment’s accumulated moisture. I dragged Taehyung over to one of the wood benches.

After inspecting one to make sure it was free of splinters, I sat with my legs criss-crossed and used Tae’s jacket as a makeshift pillow to gently rest his head on my dress-covered thighs. Almost absentmindedly I combed my fingers through his hair, picking any leaves that were tangled in it out as I contemplated whether or not it was a good idea to bring him here. Maybe I should have just returned him home again. However, I couldn’t help but wonder why he was able to see me, let alone how he was able to slip past the veil of my world. Most normal humans of his age and older couldn’t get past the threshold to cross over into my world. So how was he so easily able to do so? From what I was aware he didn’t have the sight; he wasn’t one of the ones that could communicate with the world beyond or a witch. Hell, he didn’t even possess the ability to have premonitions.

Slowly Taehyung began to stir in his sleep, mumbling something indiscernible. I lowered my head to study his face. His eyebrows scrunched a few times before he finally opened his eyes

“Uh, my head.” He winced, bringing his fingers to his temple to massage it. He hadn’t notice my presence yet. He blinked a few times to focus his vision before he met my eyes. His face scrunched in confusion, then analyzing the placement of his head in relation to my torso he eventually realized he was laying in a stranger’s lap. Immediately his eyes popped open and his mouth gaped, spooked from not only the proximity of our faces but the arrangement of our bodies.

He nearly jumped two feet in the air as he quickly scrambled away from me. Finally rigidly standing to his full height at least six feet from me, he just proceeded to stare. It was the first time he had distanced himself from me. I felt a bit saddened by his reaction. His facial expression was cold and unreadable. It caused me to uncomfortably squirm in my seat. For a moment I feared he had forgotten me and was now readying himself to run. That is until I heard him faintly mouth something under his breath.

“My angel.” He uttered, although it sounded more like a question rather than a simple statement. It was like he wasn’t completely sure of who I was or perhaps he was just simply in disbelief. My breath caught in my throat.

Relaxing my features, I challenged Taehyung. “See I told you. You are scared of me,” I accused. It was meant to be playful but Taehyung failed to pick up on my tone.

“No!” He panicked. Taking a breath, he calmed himself and flicked his bangs out of his face. “I’m not really. I’m just surprised is all.” He meekly responded fidgeting with his sleeves. He then took a moment to assess his surroundings before he continued, “Where are we?” He inquired while looking around.

“An abandoned greenhouse. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” I declared leisurely gesturing to the structure and framework of the windows.

“Yeah.” He answered breathless, but he said it while looking straight at me. I felt my heart rate spike. He wiped away some of the sweat that had accumulated on his brows as a result of the humid temperature with the back of his hand. I couldn’t help but follow the movement with my eyes. Taehyung in turn slowly inched closer closing the distance between us. He removed his gloves and cautiously offered his hand out in front of him with his palm facing up. I presumed he wanted me to slide my palm into his, but out of fear of our bare skin touching I only stuck out my index finger. He repeated the hand gesture and the tips of our fingers touched.

Any boundaries between us shattered indefinitely. Small slivers of the mask each of us wore fell away to fully reveal ourselves – bearing our souls to one another as we stared entranced in each other’s eyes. In the background the slightly muffled sounds of the forest through the glass seemingly went silent. Instead, I was vaguely aware of the sound of glass shattering from somewhere in my periphery as my ears began to ring. The high frequency only became more pronounced as I stared into Taehyung’s eyes. His eyes were so dilated that they almost looked black. I could see myself reflected in them. My breathing slowed, I was hyperaware of what felt like an electric current course through me and my body temperature rise. The feeling was a strange pin-prickling sensation that felt like a thousand diminutive needles prodding you – coaxing you to heed their crucial advice.

Those very same needles seemed like they were stitching Tae and I together. With each consecutive pull on our strings of fate, there was also an opposing force trying to rip us apart – tugging at the seams to unravel the threads but that very last fiber just simply wouldn’t budge. A snap never came. Instead it remained intact, strong and resilient, ready to bear the brunt of whatever was determined to break it.

We were connected.

“How peculiar,” I gasped softly in astonishment. I torn my gaze away from our fingers and looked up at Taehyung from under my eyelashes. From the look on his face I could tell he felt it too. Taking it a step further I opened my hand and expose my palm and Taehyung did the same, mirroring my action he laid his palm flat against mine. I then splayed my fingers out. I immediately noticed the striking size difference between our hands. Then Taehyung made the move to interlock our hands by slotting our fingers together. His enormous palm and long fingers almost completely engulfed my whole hand.

Rotating his wrist gently, I admired the feel of his hand wrapped around mine. His palm was not only large but soft and warm, and for the first time I noted that his fingernails were immaculate with well kept nail beds. “You have such pretty hands,” I absentmindedly admitted.

“Thanks.” He smirked. Then tearing his gaze away from our intertwined fingers, his eyes suddenly fixated on the top of my head. He sucked in an audible breath.

“Your hair,” he sounded awestruck. I diverted my gaze downwards feeling my vision slightly blur as my pupils and irises slowly expanded. Taehyung didn’t notice, too busy transfixed on my milky white mane.

Almost in an instance I became aware of the shift in my appearance. Somehow physically breaking the touch barrier with Taehyung had triggered the magic that was shielding my normal appearance from a human’s sight, to shrink away and reveal how I truly looked. The auburn tone drained from my roots as if the deep red color was bleeding out, while the pure white pigment chased after it and seemed to crawl all the way down my waist length hair.

“It reminds me of fresh snow.” He admitted in a low whisper. Taehyung then daringly ran his fingers through a few strands and tucked some behind my ear. I closed my eyes more out of nervousness than coy arousal.

I was ultimately anxious at how he’d react to my eyes. No longer were they hazel with honey colored browns and gold flecks mixed with shades of soft and vibrant greens, but instead a color reminiscent of black opal under sunlight. In the past some had described them as looking as though they captured a small fraction of the universe in them with the way they seemed to reflect a prism of various iridescent colors that were akin to the planets in sky – or cosmic dust as some like to call it. While others simply compared them to a black hole: captivating yet endless and all consuming; they found them to be altogether unsettling.

One person in particular, a drunk old man, had even came out and said that they were like staring death in the eyes, cold and unyielding, as though he was standing at the edge of a bottomless abyss staring down wondering how long it would take for him to reach the bottom. Would he just fall forever, suspended in air, left with only his regretful thoughts never to reach the ground or was the darkness just a trick – an illusion – where he would reach the shallow end with such great force that it would knock all memories from his mind and he’d be a shell of himself sentenced to an eternity of blindly scrounging for anything that invoked emotion to make him feel human again. He deemed it a gaze that penetrated you down to the core and slowly stripped away your resolve until you were left with nothing but to accept what you did and what you had yet to do, knowing this was the end as you awaited your fate. They were something you couldn’t look away from, even though every fiber of your being was telling you to resist in order to save yourself just a few more precious moments of time or rather life. While his philosophical declaration could have just been the alcohol talking, there was truth to the statement and it unintentionally hurt me. Fearing Taehyung’s rejection I kept them tightly shut.

“Why won’t you look at me?” Taehyung sounded confused. “I’m sorry I did that.” He hastily replied thinking I didn’t appreciate his hands in my hair or his flirty antics. “It was inappropriate of me.” He loosened his grip on my hand and stepped back from me, the sound of his boots beginning to scrape across the dirt alerted me of his intended movements.

Surprised by his guilty admission and misinterpretation of my body language I squeezed his hand and clumsily sputtered out, my eyelids nearly flying open before I clenched them shut again, “What! No!… It’s my eyes…,”

“Do you have something in them?” He concernedly asked leaning in. He was so close I could feel his breath fan across my face.

“No, I…. my eyes uh, look different.”

“Different?” He was clearly confused.

“Yeah, different. As in they might scare you.”

“Well let’s see them then.” He replied with a positive pep in his tone.

Apprehensively cracking one eye open and then the other, my blurred vision adjusted to the light to refocus back onto Taehyung so I could read his facial expression. I willed myself to stare into his eyes as though I wanted to see the raw unadulterated true nature of his soul. A pregnant pause permeated the air as I waited for him to say something either hurtful or flattering. Hoping for the latter, I braced myself with stiff shoulders and a forced smile. My posture was not only rigid in preparation to soften the blow of any barbed words I anticipated would cut through me if they were delivered by him, but to also put on the façade that I was fine with not being favorably received.

He immediately drew in a breath at a loss for words, his mouth gaped open a few times before he shut it. But his jaw didn’t clinch instead his kind eyes visibly softened. “Funny they remind me of a rainbow kaleidoscope I use to play with when I was a kid,” he innocently confessed, his eyes bouncing back and forth between the two. That wasn’t a comparison I was expecting to hear. Looking down, I shyly smiled both relieved and slightly taken aback.“Don’t worry, you have pretty eyes.” He whispered reassuringly as though he was telling me a secret, effectively throwing my compliment from earlier back at me. I giggled.

“Hey,” I playfully countered pouting, “you stole my line.”

Continuing our banter, “I prefer borrowed,” he said nonchalantly shrugging his shoulders while looking out the corner of his eyes. “But… there is something I want to steal.” He purred as he craned his neck. The proximity of his face was tantalizingly close. A tsunami of butterflies erupted in my stomach. Their fluttering wings made it increasingly hard to concentrate on what Taehyung meant.

I furrowed my brows unsure of what he was hinting at. But he leaned in closer and closer, inches turned to centimeters – until he kissed me. My eyes automatically closed upon the impact. It was a quick chaste kiss but it didn’t erase nor diminish the fact that it was amazing. And it was the first time he kissed me.

As his supple lips gracefully brushed against mine, they merely teased at a higher hidden meaning. The action gave a foreboding feeling of there being something greater meant for us, as if the kiss sealed our destinies together. In that brief moment soft knowing whispers of my subconscious tickled at my conscious mind telling me this was fated, something inescapable, meant to happen. Whether it was now or later, it was best to just succumb and not delay the inevitable.

Goose flesh broke out on my arms, the hairs on the back of my neck rose, and a tingling sensation moved from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. It was silent. Only the sound of our breathing could be heard. The earthy smell of the greenhouse mixed with the potent smell of Tae’s scented lotion and sweat filled my nostrils, intoxicating my senses. His lips were warm, tasting faintly of flavored chapstick that gave them a slippery texture as they caressed mine. Time seemed to slow down, my heartbeat was the only thing rapidly racing. I wanted to stay like this; not forever but for just a moment longer.

But just as quick as it started, it was over. Taehyung was the first to reluctantly pull away, red blush blooming across his cheeks like red peonies. Then suddenly his visage broke and a fraught expression graced it.

“What’s the matter? ” I spoke in a hushed tone as to not alarm him. I was full of trepidation that he had regretted the kiss.

“I didn’t ask. I’m, uh…sorry if I caught you off guard. I apologize. I’ve been tempted to kiss you since the moment I first saw you. It’s all I’ve been able to think about,” Taehyung admitted with a dreamy look in his eyes. All the air left my lungs. He soon realized what he said, shocking him out of his stupor. “No! That’s not what I meant. I was thinking about other things as well. I didn’t chase you into the forest just to kiss you. I –,”

I cut him off from his nervous rambling, “Hey it’s fine… I liked it.” He anxiously nibbled the side of his bottom lip that wasn’t injured. I brought my hand to the side of his cheek that had gotten scratched and gently stroked over it. That seemed to calm him as he began to slowly blink at me. Inclining my face towards him as if I was going to continue our kiss from earlier, his eyes briefly snapped open before lazily drooping again. His breath came out shallow as he moved in closer. I stopped within an inch of his lips and nudged his nose, running the tip of mine along his dorsum. Then leaning in a little further I just barely grazed my lips against his. Taehyung in turn leaned in tilting his head in anticipation to close the distance, but I teasingly backed up and he chased my lips. He looked disappointed that I didn’t kiss him. I smiled at him. Understanding that I was playing a game, he perked up and his large hands pulled me towards him. My hands rested against his chest to steady myself. We were so close to each other our torsos touched. He smiled at me.

Flirtatiously slinking away from his grasp, I began slowly walking circles around him. He began doing the same. We were enchanted with each other, our enamored eyes never leaving the other. Until he grabbed my hand and spun me around twice as if we were dancing, all while laughing at the same time.

Sliding my hand down his arm I grabbed his. Intertwining our fingers again I smiled at him brightly. “Come, I have something to show you. I promise I’ll explain everything once we’re there.”

“Okay.” Taehyung unhesitatingly agreed, allowing me to drag him along.

As we left I noticed that some of the window’s glass panes had cracked, making them look as though they had silky spider’s webs etched into them. But the shatter glass hadn’t completely broken. Light still seeped through the intricate patterns and casted ornate shadows on the floor. The patterns somehow reminded me of Taehyung getting helplessly entangled into my life and vice versa. I just hoped he wouldn’t bear the same fate as the flies that fell prey to the aforementioned arachnid that was my world.

[always-and-forever-a-killjoy]

Hello fuckers! This is the ridiculously long fic I've been vagueposting about for like weeks. 23k words sitting in a doc! I'll be trying to post maybe once every two weeks, but once school starts again it will be a lot harder to get out 3k words in a week. I have seven chapters written, so I'll consistently update for probably 2-3 months and then no promises after that. This is going to be a fucking epic.

Note that not all warnings  apply to all the chapters, so I'll be warning for triggering/upsetting content in each chapter individually. Please heed those!

You all also get to play a game of 'guess which song the chapter title is pulled from', which is made more difficult by my music taste ranging from musicals (les mis! DEH!) to my chemical romance. I'll let you know what the chapter title was from when I post the next chapter. Also, the POV switches each chapter, so that info is also in the notes.

Title: Coming, Coming Home

Chapter Title: Do you want to live out loud?

Chapter Wordcount: 3099

Summary:

The story of 109 WKIL, from the mother that began it to the daughter who saw the end of it.

Warnings: None for this chapter!

Taglist: @wishiwasthemoon-tonight @sleevesareforlosers @stressed-depressed-emo-mess @tasteofamnesia @dagger-queen @no-braincells-here @piratecherricola (message me, send an ask, or reblog/reply to one of my posts if you want to be added or removed)

AO3 Link

(Actual fic under the cut)

It began with a handheld radio.

The killjoy who was already beginning to be known as Dr. Death Defying had stolen quiet a few of these portable transmitting devices when he left the army of the corporation called Better Living Industries. Now, he began to give them out, one after another, to the small clusters of rebels who were just beginning to call themselves killjoys. With those, the groups kept each other updated for a while, passing whispers back and forth over the airwaves. The positions of squads of dracs, who had extra supplies, where there were good buildings to scavenge from or shelter in.

Those were highly effective in the small rebellion, news passing quickly between the few rebels, but as more killjoys began to enter to desert, take up the colors and masks and ray guns and form themselves into a true rebellion, it was getting to be not enough. 

“We need something with a wider reach.”

Dr. Death Defying was sitting at the so-called strategy table (which in actuality was a shitty kitchen table strategically repurposed), listening to White Lily talk about rebellion. It was another ordinary afternoon, or as ordinary as one could get in a post-apocalyptic nuclear desert plotting to overthrow an evil mega corporation. The sun was shining brightly overhead, and he and his best friend, the fiery spirited White Lily, were in a partially wrecked house out in Zone Four, where they had been staying for most of the time since the Helium Wars. Both former soldiers, they had served together for a little bit after D had first been recruited. He had been transferred to a different squadron soon after, and they hadn’t deserted together, but they’d met up after the wars and become close friends. Two dreamers who wanted to save the world, she had said. And so now they were trying to do just that, one killjoy recruit at a time.

“If this is going to be a true revolution, Walkie-talkies aren’t going to cut it,” White Lily went on. “We need a way to reach more people. Get the word out quicker.”

“Did you have any particular ideas?” Dr. Death Defying asked dryly.

Her eyes gleamed in the way that meant she did, in fact, have an idea. “A radio station.”

“A what?”

“A radio station. I know I sound crazy, but hear me out. If we can get our hands on the equipment, a lot of killjoys already have radios and that way we can also reach the ones with only a car radio. We broadcast news- who’s dead, where bli is attacking, just generally what’s going on. We can also make speeches over the radio, like what’s his face, the president guy, did with his fireside chats."

“FDR. And you can make speeches over the radio.” It wasn’t that he couldn’t, per se, but he would rather leave the main speaking part of it to her.

White Lily briefly made a sad face, but was back to determination within seconds. “Right, well I can make big speeches if you do daily announcements and news, deal?”

“Deal.” They realized a second later what they had just accidentally agreed to and sighed. 

The other just grinned. “Time to get some radio equipment!”

And so it began with a hand held radio and a duo of Helium Wars survivors, and 109 WKIL was born.

109 WKIL didn’t actually broadcast until two full months and a new crew member later. It turned out to be not exactly easy to get their hands on the equipment necessary to send out signals, and neither of them knew precisely what running a radio station required anyways. They researched as best they could, asking around and reading any old books they could find, but supplies were scarce and electronic equipment especially so. And so they didn’t get the radio station fully running until after the arrival of their third crew member.

It was another of the somewhat lazy afternoons in the desert when Cherri Cola showed up at their house in a stolen BLI News Van. White Lily was gone, off talking to a small band of neutrals and trying to persuade them to aid the rebellion, so it was Dr. Death Defying who was there to see a no-longer white van screech to a stop. He kept his ray gun close as he stepped outside, since the van was Better Living Industries, but the side of it had a sprinkling of graffiti and it was covered in dust, which reassured him somewhat.

“Hello?”

The van’s engine clicked off and Dr. Death Defying breathed a sigh of relief as a lean teenager hopped out, squinting in the sunlight. They were clearly a killjoy, given the pink mask, and they also wore scuffed jeans and a too-small black jacket despite the warmth of a desert afternoon. Their hair was brown and a sandy mess, and they were perhaps an inch or two shorter than Dr. Death Defying. They were completely and utterly un-intimidating with the sole exception of their eyes, which blazed with fierce and bitter kind of anger. 

“Another killjoy?” Their voice squeaked a little, undoing any effect of those fiery eyes, and they cleared their throat. “Uh, another killjoy?”

At loss for words, he nodded. “I’m Dr. Death Defying, he/him and they/them.”

“Cherri Cola.” They fiddled with their shirt hem. “He/him.”

“So…I’m assuming you’re looking for White Lily?”

“Was actually just looking for a place to stay the night,” Cherri Cola mumbled. “I didn’t realize you were already staying here, I can leave-“

“Absolutely not, get inside.” They hoped their voice didn’t sound too firm. “White Lily and I are happy to let people stay with us who need.”

“Oh.” D pretended not to notice the relief on his face as he ran a hand through his hair. “Thanks.”

“Of course. Do you want to come into the shade? It’s baking out here.” He didn’t mention how hot the other killjoy must be in that jacket.

“Yes, please.” 

So he led the strange teenager inside, half-wondering what made the teen’s eyes so old and filled with hurt and rage. It wasn’t an uncommon sight in the zones, per se, but this kid’s eyes were striking in their pain.

“So, how old are you?”

“Sixteen, you?”

“Twenty. Do you want some power pup? We’ve got a bit of extra, I think.”

Cherri nodded eagerly, and he devoured everything D put in front of him. “It’s been a while since I’ve been able to pull off a raid or anything, and hacking vending machines isn’t as easy as it looks.”

That would explain why he was so lean. “You’ve got the look of someone who’s been out in the desert a while.”

“Almost since the end of the wars.” There was no need for him to specify which wars. The Helium Wars loomed over everyone and everything, desert and city. 

“Ah. I’ve been here since the very end of the wars, so not too much longer than you. My friend White Lily and I were both deserters, we met up and decided to stick it to the man, as it were.” 

“So you live together?” Cherri Cola’s face had softened into curiosity.

“Yep. We’ve been sheltering in this house for quite a while now, but we’ve lived together for longer than that.” 

Cherri nodded. “I’m on my own. Runaway from Battery City, never found a crew. It must be nice to live with your friend, though.”

At that moment, said friend came tromping through the door. “Hello, D!”

“Hey, Lily!”    

Cherri waved with a quiet “Hello.”

“Hello, random stranger in my kitchen!”

Dr. Death Defying sighed. “White Lily, this is Cherri Cola, he/him. Cherri Cola, this is White Lily, she/her.”

“Nice to meet you,” Cherri said politely. 

“Nice to meet you too, kid! So I’m assuming this softy offered you a place to sleep for the night?”

“I did, he needed a place to stay.”

“Softy.” White Lily turned her grin on Cherri Cola. “You’re welcome to stay for a bit, we’ve got a nice place and an extra room, so I don’t see why you wouldn’t.”

“I can pull my weight,” he offered quietly. “I know how to sew and some first aid and a little bit of fighting, but I’m not great yet.”

“What makes you think you have to pull your weight for us to give you a room for a night?” Lily’s face was genuinely concerned. “Can’t believe I’m going to say this, but chill, kid.”

There was something in Cherri’s eyes that reminded D a little of a wounded animal as he glanced up at Lily. “You’re sure I don’t have to be helpful? I can do a lot of things- okay, not a lot, but I’m pretty good at fixing things and I know how to fire a ray gun, even if I can’t really do hand-to-hand combat.”

"Well, if some dracs attack, then you can put that to good use,” D told him.

“Wait, did you say you can fix things? Tech skills?” Lily leaned forward, and D didn’t have to see her face to know what she was thinking. 

“My…I knew someone who’s an engineer,” Cherri explained.  “I know how to fix a lot of things.”

“You don’t happen to know anything about radio equipment, do you?”

“Lily,” D sighed.

“Some, why?”

“We could use some help getting a radio station off the ground. And shush, D, if he’s going to stay anyways, we might as well figure out if he can help.”

“A radio station…do you have a transmitter? Or anything of the sort? And you need modulators.”

“We’ve got the modulators,” D told him. “We need a transmitter, the little one I found isn’t near powerful enough.”

Cherri Cola frowned, tilting his head. “Well, I’ve got a news van with what I’m assuming is a very powerful transmitter, haven’t tried to use it yet, though. We’d have to figure out how to make it work with audio instead of video, but I bet you could use the antenna from that. An FM station shouldn’t take too much technology, depends on how wide you want the range to be. Power is probably more of an issue?”

“We’ve got some large batteries, do you think we need a more permanent power source?”

They talked until the sun was starting to set, Cherri having quite a bit of useful advice and knowledge to supplement what little research D managed.

And after Cherri was safely asleep in the spare room, Dr. Death Defying and White Lily convened back at the shitty kitchen ‘strategy’ table. 

“You’re not seriously thinking of letting him stay forever,” Lily said as soon as she had taken her seat.

“Why not?” Usually, it would be Lily who asked this question, but “He needs a home.”

“This better not be fucking Socks all over again.” Socks, being, of course, the cat D had tried to take in during the Helium Wars. Not only had he been a lot of trouble, he had eventually run off onto the battlefield, and neither of them had been able to stop him. They could only assume he had been killed in the final days of the wars.

D still regretted that, but this was different. “He’s not a cat, Lil. But he does need a safe place to stay. Besides, you were the one who was grilling him about radio station technology.”

“At first. Then you took over with all your technical words and phrases.”

“All we were doing was talking transmitters.”

“Nerd boy.” 

D sighed. “Anyways. He can clearly be helpful, given how much he knows about radio technology and other things, and he’s obviously in need of a place to stay.”

“Well, we’ve got one of those at least,” Lily sighed. “He better end up a good radio station assistant for you.”

D knew that meant Cherri was staying. “We’ll offer to let him join in the morning.”

“We will.” Lily’s face was serious. “Be prepared for him to say no, D. We’re not famous yet, but being friends with rebellion leaders probably isn’t an easy lot.”

“Of course not.” The flashlight they had hung for light flickered. “We’ll warn him about a friendship with us means, but we can’t just kick him out.”

“Technically, we can, but we’re not going to.”

“Absolutely fucking not.”

The next morning dawned slightly overcast, which was rare in the desert. It provided somewhat of a gloomy atmosphere as Cherri Cola wandered into their living room area with a tired “Morning.”       

“Morning,” Lily yawned back. D was the only one properly awake at the crack of dawn, always an early riser. 

He found it somewhat amusing how non-functional Lily was until she had had some coffee or gotten some adrenaline from a fight. “Good morning.”

Cherri settled down in one of the chairs cautiously as Lily opened her mouth again. “So, D and I were talking. Big softy that he is, he wants to let you stay with us if you want, and I figured you might be pretty handy when it comes to radio stations.”

“Don’t let her twist it, she’s equally on board.” D resisted a sigh. “We do have to warn you, we’re leading a rebellion. Lily is, at least. I’m something like a right hand, I suppose. So it will be dangerous and difficult to be friends with us, and the radio station will not be an easy endeavor either.”

“Can’t be worse than…” Cherri trailed off. “Can’t be worse than wandering the desert on your own in a stolen news van. Do you really want me to stay?”

“Hey, we always want another pair of hands.” White Lily’s joking tone didn’t get a grin out of him.  “You seem like a neat kid, why not let you stay?”

“Guess so.” Cherri yawned again. “So, do you happen to have a screwdriver? I think I’ve got some ideas about the modulators.”

So Cherri Cola came to live with them. His primary occupation was trying to get the radio station able to broadcast, alongside Dr. Death Defying, combining each of their respective technology skill with a lot of guesswork and the knowledge gleaned from whatever books they could find. He rarely went on runs with White Lily at first, but as they found out a week or so in, he turned out to be more than a decent shot with a ray gun.

“Holy fuck, Cola.” White Lily was staring at the empty can he had just knocked over- from a distance of a hundred and twenty feet, further than D or Lily had managed yet. 

“Is that a good or a bad ‘holy fuck’?”

“Good. Holy shit. D and I haven’t hit that yet, not with a shitty little ray gun like yours anyways.”

“What’s wrong with this ray gun?”

“No offense, but that’s a piece of shit.” D watched as she took the ray gun and weighted it in her hands before handing her own to Cherri. “Feel what this one’s like- it’s a little heavier, but it’s a lot nicer. Yours doesn’t even have a stun setting.”

It took him one or two practice shots, but within a few minutes he was shooting even more effectively.

“A hundred and FIFTY feet! D, did you see that?”

“I did,” D told her, glancing over at the youngest of their little trio. “Cherri, we need to get you a better ray gun.” 

The better ray gun would have to wait, though, as the next day, they finally found the last few pieces of equipment and things that they would need for the radio station. They had decided that 109 WKIL would broadcast from the news van Cherri had arrived in, since the antenna was already attached and that way it could be portable if Better Living Industries managed to track their signal. So a few days of fixing later, they had cobbled together a working radio apparatus that could broadcast at a range of thirty miles or so. It had taken a lot of swearing, banging around, and failed test runs, but eventually they had it figured out.

The very first broadcast fell to D, as it was decided he would be the main DJ, and he settled at the panel a little nervously. Cherri was crouched beside him, fiddling with the last few cords. 

“Think we’re good to go,” he whispered.

"Right. Here goes nothing.” D took a deep breath. “One-oh-nine in the sky and the pigs won’t quit, welcome to the very first broadcast by one oh nine WKIL, the rebellious radio station of the desert. I’m Dr. Death Defying, and I’ll be your usual DJ, keeping you updated on all the news from claps to raids to Mad Gear concerts.”

The script had been decided on beforehand so that he didn’t stumble too much, but he still had to pause to take another quick breath and steady himself. “We’ll be doing our broadcast at this time every morning, pretty soon after alarm clock radiation, and we’ll be fanning the spark of this desert into a flame. So tune in, listeners, for all the latest updates, weather, traffic reports, and the best music we’ve got. One oh nine in the sky, this is Dr. Death Defying signing off.”

Cherri gave them a broad grin and a thumbs-up as D fumbled to click the right buttons to get the music going. D grinned right back, and White Lily came charging into the van a few minutes later, brandishing the radio they had been using to test their broadcasting capabilities. 

“It worked! You came though loud and clear, even a good ten miles away, and you’re already getting good at this. I told you, you could do it!” She gave him a high five, grinning, and turned to Cherri. “And good job, soda kid! You’re already a radio station technician.”

Cherri laughed and high-fived her. “Wasn’t expecting to become one at sixteen, but not the worst place I could have ended up.”

They had tried to spread the word as best as possible about the radio station beforehand, so D knew there had been a fair amount of killjoys already listening to the first broadcast. And word travelled quickly in the desert, so he didn’t doubt their listener base would grow over the years. But for now, the rebellion was small, and the twenty-one-year-old leader and her two best friends were heading inside for a celebratory breakfast of power pup.

[ssa-montgomery]

Behind Closed Doors Chapter 2

Word Count: 3342

Story Summary: After a drunken night together Emma and Regina seem to fall into a hidden relationship. Dinners that aren’t quite dates, nights together that they pretend never happened. No one knows, and it’s perfect. Though it seems somewhere along the line Regina started to feel more than she ever imagined she would.What will happen to this relationship, as well as their friendship when Emma brushes it off as casual and begins to date Killian? A heartbroken Regina and an oblivious Emma attempt to fix it. What if people find out what happens behind the closed doors of Regina’s home? Can Regina win back Emma’s heart?

Characters For This Chapter: Regina x Emma, Mary Margaret, David Nolan, Henry Mills

Warnings For Story: Angst, Smut, Heartbreak, Swearing, Alcohol use

A/N:  Chapter 2 is finally here! Some pretty steamy stuff in this one, no smut quite yet as I’ve never actually written any so any feedback on the scenes in this chapter would be highly appreciated as there is some actual smut coming up. Hope you are enjoying the story so far!

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Feedback is what motivates me to work so please let me know what you think! Reblogs are also greatly appreciated.

Taglist is open!

Emma was now standing at the bottom of the stairs, her arms wrapped around herself in a way that made Regina wonder if it was to fight off the cold or just a protective habit. She looked exhausted, there were dark circles under eyes that stood out harshly against her pale skin and her face scrunched up as she took another step forward and morning light hit her eyes. She was hungover. If not still a little bit drunk. Regina had to admit, there was an excessive amount of drinking the night before on both side and she was suffering the aftermath herself.

"Well as much as I would have loved to tell Snow White what exactly her innocent daughter had been doing all night, I do have a reputation to protect. Couldn't have people thinking the Mayor has a favourite Sheriff now could we?" Regina teased taking a step towards Emma.

"Oh of course not, if that got out you might have to have a secret affair with my Dad too. You know, just so you don't choose favourites." Emma grinned. It was a grin that was just so Emma and suddenly the events of the night before seemed so far away, it was like nothing had changed. Regina knew better than that, something had changed but she would do it all again if given the chance.

"Please don't put that image in my head, Miss Swan." Regina groaned rolling her eyes at Emma's comment. "You would like some coffee? I can make breakfast if you'd like. Or maybe some aspirin."

"Oh god yes to aspirin, my head feels it's going to explode, but I really should get home Regina. Henry's probably worried and if I stay here much longer Mary Margaret might actually lose her mind and form a search party."

"Of course." Regina nodded. She recognised the disappointed feeling that had now taken over, making her heart feel like it had dropped into her stomach. She wanted Emma to stay, wished she would. She wanted to talk about what exactly had happened between them last night and more importantly what that meant for them and their relationship but she also understood. If she was in Emma's position she wouldn't want to leave Henry at home worried about where she was. That conversation could wait for another day.

Regina cautiously reached her hand out and hesitated before wrapping her hand around her wrist. She tensed slightly, waiting for the moment Emma would move or flinch away from touch, but instead, Emma just smiled at her. She leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. It was light, her lips just barely brushing against Emma's. It was the complete opposite of the memories that flooded back to her when Emma leaned into her but still the heat of Emma's skin against hers made her heart race.

"Go get dressed Emma. I'll find you that aspirin."

Once Emma had disappeared upstairs to get ready Regina made her way through the house to the downstairs bathroom. She looked at herself in the bathroom mirror and sighed. Her magic had reapplied her makeup and she looked composed but much like Emma her head was throbbing and she knew under her makeup she would have matching dark circles, she was sure her rude awakening had not helped her case. She opened the medicine cabinet and searched for the packet of aspirin she kept in there. Finally finding it she pulled it out and shut the cabinet.

"Regina?" Emma's voice echoed down the hall.

"Coming Emma!" Regina called closing the cabinet door.

When she found Emma she was standing in the kitchen, already pouring herself a glass of water. She turned around and held a second glass out to Regina who happily accepted. Emma's hair was unwashed and her shirt was crinkled after being discarded somewhere on Regina's floor the night before but somehow she still managed to look beautiful. Regina swallowed the tablets hoping they would kick in soon and handed the packet over to Emma.

"Thank you." Emma smiled. She glanced up at the clock on the kitchen wall and groaned. It was almost midday already. "I should go."

"Yes, you probably should." Regina agreed, her disappointment lacing her voice.

"Okay then." Emma stood at the counter a moment longer just watching Regina, reluctant to leave at all.

Finally, she shook her head and placed her glass of water down on the counter walking out of the room towards the front door. Regina followed her and pulled the front door open for her watching her walk out of the house. Emma stopped once she was standing on the porch and turned around to face Regina.

"My cars still at the Rabbits Hole, isn't it?" She sighed.

"I'm afraid so. If you wish I could bring you there." Regina offered.

Emma shook her head. "No, no it's okay. I don't think I should be driving right now anyway, might have to arrest myself. I'll just call David."

"Goodbye, Emma."

"See you later Regina."

~~~

The sound of the stairs that lead up to the apartment squeaking under Emma's feet seemed even louder than usual in the deafening silence. The guilt of not calling her parents was eating away at Emma. When David had come to pick her up he had just silently wrapped his arms around her and then made her promise to never disappear like that again. The thought of facing Mary Margaret was almost terrifying, she had sounded so frantic at Regina's and she knew she would be bombarded with questions about where she had been.

David swung the front door open and within seconds Mary Margaret had descended the stairs.

"David, did you find her?" She asked, her voice higher than normal that worried tone still there.

"Hi, Mom," Emma said awkwardly as she finally walked into the apartment.

"Oh, Emma!" She flung her arms around Emma and pulled her into a constricting hug that Emma quickly returned. "Thank goodness you're okay! I was so worried when I didn't hear from you. What happened?"

"I'm so sorry I should have called, I was fine, I just had one too many and stayed with a friend. I promise I'm alright."

"Oh, it's okay Emma all I care about is that your safe just please in future call your mother!"

"Mom?"

Emma's heart dropped at the sound of Henry's voice from upstairs. She looked up to see him standing at the top of the stairs. He was so grown up now, he had changed so much since Emma first arrived in Storybrooke that it was scary sometimes. She knew she could trust him to stay with his grandparents or even home alone if it was necessary but she hated leaving him.

"Heya Kid, I'm sorry if I worried you. You okay?" Emma asked.

"Yeah." Henry nodded walking down the stairs to where the rest of them were standing. Emma pulled him towards her and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "What happened last night?"

"Just a regular girls night with too much to drink." Emma laughed. It was a lie, but she wasn't ready to tell anyone the truth. Especially not Henry and her parents.

~~~

"Well, I didn't take this as your usual spot." Emma teased returning her smirk.

"Oh, it's not." Regina laughed taking the empty seat next to Emma at the bar. "Just the closest place to the office with liquor."

Regina was wearing the same outfit Emma had seen her in that morning at the town hall, one of her black pencil skirts with a long slit on one side that showed off her leg when she shifted to cross them. She had the same white dress shirt on but now there was a black corset on over it. Emma was convinced Regina had dug it out of her old Evil Queen wardrobe, it was lace-up in the front and was made out of leather material. Regina had shrugged a black suit jacket on with it but it was clear that the corset was meant to be the centrepiece of the outfit. Emma certainly wasn't complaining.

"Long day, Your Majesty?" Emma let the title roll off her tongue, the hint of a suggestive tone coated her voice as she shifted in her seat leaning further towards Regina.

"You could say that," Regina said watching the way Emma moved closer and then signalled to the bartender.

"Another Madam Mayor?" He asked moving away from the man he had been talking to in favour of serving Regina.

"Two shots this time please." She made direct eye contact with Emma as she spoke and her eyes lit up with excitement at the thought.

The bartender placed the two shot glasses in front of them and Regina quickly reached forward, swallowing down the contents in a matter of seconds. Emma laughed and picked up the other glass copying Regina's movements. Emma could feel something more than just the drunken giddiness telling her this was going to be a good night.

"So what has the Mayor drinking alone tonight?" Emma asked.

"Well I'm not drinking alone anymore, am I? Just more paperwork than I would have liked and I needed to destress."

"Aren't you glad you ran into me then?" Emma smirked at her.

"That depends on whether you help me destress or just add more stress to the pile."

Emma shifted on her seat again, this time letting the back of her hand brush against Regina's knee. Regina didn't move away as Emma had expected her to, instead she arched an eyebrow at Emma and gave her a challenging look. Emma took a moment to consider whether Regina was just entertaining her or if she truly was playing a game with her, trying to get her to make the first move. Emma turned back towards the bartender and signalled for another round.

"Oh please, I'm a joy to be around." Emma joked. She picked up the next row of shots from the counter and held one out to Regina.

"We'll see about that." Regina accepted the shot and Emma watched her closely as she drank it. Once Regina placed her empty glass down on the counter she leaned forward and gently pulled at the cuff of Emma's sleeve. "If I'm not mistaken that shirt is mine, Emma."

"Hmm was it? Shame, I like it."

"Guess I'll just have to take it back."

That was enough to give Emma the bravery she needed. She trailed her hand up exposed skin of Regina's leg and let it rest on her thigh. Regina's eyes flickered down to her hand before meeting her gaze again. Regina's eyes had darkened now, her usual brown now almost completely black.

"Bit of a handsy drunk Miss Swan?"

"That a problem?"

"Oh not at all."

Regina caught Emma's wrist when she tried to push her hand higher up her leg. For a second Emma panicked, some part of her worrying that maybe she had read the signs wrong. Then she stood up from the stool, Emma's hand still in hers and lead her towards the back entrance of the bar easily slipping through the crowd. Emma hurried to keep up with Regina's fast pace, her heart hammering against her ribs as she followed her. Regina pushed the door open and a wave of cold air hit them both. The thought of the cold quickly disappeared when Regina jerked Emma forward by their still joined hands and crashed her lips into hers. Emma gasped at the sudden movement, regaining her composure a moment later she returned the kiss. She could taste the bitter taste of the shots on her lips as well as the faint taste of Regina's own homemade apple cider.

Emma let her hands fall to Regina's waist and swung her around, walking her backwards until her back hit the brick wall of the bar. Regina let her hand glide up her back before tangling in her blonde hair, her other hand finding her waist.

Emma was convinced she had simply drunk too much and was now passed out at home. This couldn't be real, but the feeling of Regina pressed against her and her hand in her hair was very real. There had always been teasing between them. Flirtatious comments that lead nowhere but now, this was happening.

Regina let her hand that was on her waist tug at the bottom of Emma's shirt, her fingers brushing against her skin as she untucked it from her jeans. Emma sighed against her lips and pulled her even closer to her, the feeling of Regina's warm hand against her cold skin lit up her nerves and made her skin break out in goosebumps.

"My car is parked around the corner," Emma whispered.

"Emma I don't care how badly either of us wants this, I'm not letting you kill us in that car."  Regina laughed but it came out breathless. "I'll handle that."

Emma nodded, she fully trusted Regina with whatever she had in mind. She leaned back in to kiss Regina with one hand planted on the wall behind her to steady herself. Emma could feel the heavy blanket of Regina's magic wrapping around her, the warmth of the spell and the faint smell of burnt sugar taking over her senses. When she pulled away to try and catch her breath they were standing in Regina's house and Regina was now pushed up against the wall in the hallway.

"Impressive." Emma grinned.

"Oh shut up Miss Swan."

Regina grabbed Emma by the collar of her shirt and pulled her back down into a heated kiss nipping gently at her bottom lip. Emma let her arm slid around her waist and moved her way from the wall. Regina quickly took the hint and started to move back towards the stairs. Halfway there Regina stopped to kick her heels off to the side, with her love for heels Emma had never noticed before that Regina was shorter than her. She caught her as she staggered slightly and dipped her head down to place a kiss just below her jaw, her hand coming up to cup her cheek. Kissing further down her neck Emma continued to slowly back Regina towards the stairs.

Regina's mind was clouded with the feeling of Emma's lips against her skin and she stepped too far back, the backs of her legs hitting the stairs. She stumbled backwards and she landed on the stairs with Emma on top of her. They both broke into laughter, Emma shifting her weight off Regina so she wasn't crushing her.

"You alright?" Emma mumbled against Regina's lips.

"Perfect." She nodded.

Regina had landed with her knee bent on the steps letting her skirt slip even further up her leg. Emma glanced down and ran her hand up her leg not stopping where she had in the bar. Regina gasped and wrapped her arms around Emma's neck, her face buried in her blonde hair. Emma pulled her hand away moving it up to Regina's waist and instead let her leg rest between Regina's thighs. Regina moved closer to Emma and brushed against her leg.

"Emma." Her voice was broken and she could hear the pleading tone. "Wait. We are not doing this on my stairs."

"Are we not? Because it seems like we are." Emma teased.

Regina shook her head and brought her hands around to push at Emma's chest. Emma couldn't help the whine that escaped her throat at the loss of contact as Regina stumbled to her feet. Of course, no matter what Regina would be in control of the situation and Emma loved that. She pushed herself up and followed Regina upstairs. She had been in the house many times, including the upstairs but there was something different about it now as she was lead down the hall with nothing to guide her but Regina's hand that had now found hers gain.

Regina pushed open a door at the end of the hall and pulled Emma inside. The lights clicked on but Emma couldn't pay attention to anything else in the room, not when Regina threw her jacket over the back of a chair and sat down on the edge of the bed. Emma just watched her for a moment, watched the way she lay down and stretched back on the bed her back arching up slightly as she moved. Her hair was already a mess from Emma's hands and she was sure half of Regina's missing red lipstick was on her own lips. She was stunning.

"Are you just going to stand there Emma?" Regina called.

Emma grinned at her and kicked her own shoes off before following Regina to the bed. She climbed on top of her, her knees on either side of her hips as she stared down at Regina. She brought her hand down and gently brushed her hair out of her face.

"I should have told you earlier but you do look beautiful tonight Regina," Emma said, her voice softening. She moved her hand down to run her fingers across her jaw.

"So do you." Regina smiled. She leaned up so her lips were right next to Emma's ear and whispered. "In my shirt."

"You're not going to let me forget about this are you?"

"No, because I don't want to forget how good it looks on you." Regina ran her hands down Emma's side and her fingers played with the hem of the shirt. She let her hands slip under the material and pressed them against her ribs.

Emma pushed Regina back against the mattress and kissed down her neck, letting her teeth drag across her pulse point which made her flex her fingers against Emma's skin. Regina brought one hand back to her side and Emma noticed her raise it out of the corner of her eye. Quickly realising what she was about to do she sat back and caught Regina's wrist in her hand.

"Let me, please?" Emma asked pressing her lips to the palm of her hand. She knew Regina could just use her magic to strip them of their clothes in seconds but Emma wanted to do it herself.

"Okay." Regina nodded.

Emma leaned forward again and took the end of the ribbon that held Regina's corset closed in her hand, slowly pulling it open.

~~~

Regina glanced at the pile of paperwork that sat on her desk and sighed. It seemed like she had barely made a dent in it since she sat down in the study almost an hour ago. Her mind seemed incapable of focusing on anything but the events of the night before. No matter how hard she tried to concentrate her mind would wander back to Emma and what had happened between them. She barely had any time to talk to Emma before she left and she still didn't understand what that meant for them. Her mind wouldn't be at ease until she talked to Emma about it.  

She pinched the bridge of her nose and slid off her glasses letting her eyes land on her phone. Regina took a deep breath and picked up her phone, quickly dialling Emma's number before she had the chance to back out. The phone rang once, twice and then.

"Regina? What's wrong?"

"Nothing wrong, I just thought maybe we should talk about well I'm sure you know what I mean," Regina explained. "I thought perhaps you would like to come over for dinner Friday night?"

There was a beat of silence and she could hear Emma moving around presumably to another room. Regina started to worry she had overstepped when Emma didn't respond.

"Henry's with Charming on that camping trip for the weekend so maybe-"

"Regina." Emma laughed. "You had me with the mention of food. You just surprised me is all, don't worry."

"Right." Regina let out her own laugh, the tension that had her so worked up finally easing. "So let's say six o'clock Friday?"

"Okay, I'll see you then."

"See you then Emma."

Taglist: @thewaywardimpala​ @waknatious​ @sapphiccyanide​ @thedoctorspersonalblogger​ @strugglepoof​ 

[professional-benaddict]

Starker Britain, 1938 AU

Tony, 18+ Peter, interwar period, Britain, chronic illness, doctors and exams, May and Richard Parker alive but absent, soft pxrn, 2.7k

For the mood boards here

Tag list: @carey-roza @annoyingcatto @strawberryparkers @starker-3000 @starkerprince @urfavisastarker @misssecretstudenttree @80zmdewrit3rbabe

It took two nurses and a very determined doctor to get Peter to breathe, and scream, when he was first born on a very hot and dry August day in 1920. Ever since that day, breathing has been a struggle for the boy and the blue tint in his skin when he was just a babe still lingers on his fingernails, around his eyes and on his lips till this day. Some would have thought that having a sickly son would make Richard and Mary Parker want to spend time with their only child, but in reality it had the opposite effect and made the pair hide away from the son, using work as an excuse. Some would say that it was no excuse at all, however, as Britain needed everyone to do their part to rebuild their homeland after the Great War. And, with another war building up in the Eastern horizon, international relations are not the only ones turning tense, but also family relations and the Parker family is no exception. Richard is called back to do his duty for his country as a Major, while Mary has to start training hundreds of new nurses to treat the wounded soldiers that are coming, which is her duty as head nurse at the hospital in town.

Peter’s parents are so rarely around the Parker estate, so Peter is left alone in the huge house with the maids, his books and Gladstone, a rough looking, but kind hearted English bulldog. Peter finds enormous comfort in his pet, as well as some irony in them both struggling to breathe. Besides petting Gladstone and reading books, Peter looks forward to his weekly visit from the family doctor, Tony Stark. The doctor is American, and even after all these years, Peter is still incredibly intrigued by the way the doctor talks and moves. The boy finds the older man very exotic and endlessly fascinating and always has a list of at least a dozen questions that he has prepared to ask the doctor when he arrives at 1pm on Thursday. The list includes mostly questions about how life is in America, but sometimes also about technology and medicine. 

“Thank you, Hogan.” Tony smiles, stepping out of the car with his medical bag in one hand. The driver gives a wordless nod and exists the car as well to go and have his usual smoke as he waits for the doctor to return on one of the benches in the large garden surrounding the Parker estate. 

Before heading in to see his patient, Tony usually always makes a quick stop by the stables, offering the happily nickering horses sugar cubes from the palm of his hand. The doctor has always been fond of horses. It reminds him of home back in America. But, to his disappointment and confusion, Tony finds none of the Parker’s three horses to be in the stables, which is odd to say the least. Waving a greeting to one of the gardeners, Tony heads down the gravel road to the back of the building instead of taking the steps leading up to the front door. 

“Afternoon, Doc.” The gardener smiles widely, showing the gap between his front teeth as he pushes his hat further back on his head to meet the doctor’s eyes. “Back so soon?” 

“It’s Thursday.” Tony points out with a chuckle. He always comes on Thursdays.

“Oh, right, right, silly ol’ me. This summer heat has been getting to my head, I fear.” The gardener huffs, wiping the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. 

“You be careful, Barry, the heat is not to be messed with.” The doctor says, his voice a bit sharp with concern for the hardworking older man. Just like the doctor, the gardener has been serving the Parker’s for decades now. The gardener tips his hat with a grin and says his thanks before excusing himself to continue tending to the flower beds. But, the doctor does not let him go just yet. 

“I couldn’t help but notice that the horses are all gone. Have they gotten sick?” 

“Oh, the army came and took them, Doc.” The gardener says. Tony nods thoughtfully and thanks Barry before heading off, adjusting his hold on his bag and continuing ahead till he reaches the backdoor of the kitchen. 

The kitchen is surprisingly quiet, so Tony guesses that the maids and kitchen staff have just finished with lunch and are taking a break. Setting his bag down on the counter, the doctor peels off his jacket and rolls up the sleeves of his crisp white shirt before washing his hands thoroughly. By the time he is done, one of the maids enters the kitchen and startles with a little yelp. 

“Oh, it’s you Doctor Stark! I didn’t hear you come in.” The maid squeaks out and resumes what she came to do by setting a tray down on the counter. 

“Afternoon, Emily. Was that Peter’s lunch you just brought back?” The doctor asks, eyeing the considerable amount of food that is still left on the plate. At least the glass is empty. 

“Yes, Doctor Stark, he hasn’t been eating much, sadly. Major Parker had to cancel his trip home last weekend.” The maid, Emily, replies dutifully. 

“May I see?” Tony asks, extending his hand. Emily nods promptly and goes to one of the cabinets. From behind a large jar of flour, she pulls out a little notebook and hands it to the doctor. Tony accepts it with a ‘thank you’ and flips through the pages, humming thoughtfully as he looks at the newest food logs since his visit the week before. The boy has been eating less and less. “Thank you, Emily. I assume he is in his room?” The doctor says, handing the notebook back to the maid who puts it back in its hiding place. 

“Yes, Doctor. Shall I make some tea for you?” 

“That would be lovely. And some biscuits as well, if you could?” Tony smiles, placing his jacket over his forearm and takes his bag in the other hand before heading upstairs. He greets the maids as he passes them and then pauses by a door, knocking three times and chuckles at the familiar growls coming from behind the door before entering. 

Like always, it is Gladstone who greets him, or rather comes to inspect to decide whether to let him enter his master’s bedroom. The bulldog has never bitten anyone, although he is fully capable of doing so and gets that point across with his growls and rough huffs as he blocks the way into the room. 

“Hey, boy, will you let me in?” Tony chuckles and crouches down to let the dog smell his hand. After a sniff and another growl, the bulldog waddles back to his owner, using the seat at the bottom of the bed to climb back up to join his master on the queen sized bed. The doctor knows that he has been granted access and closes the door behind him. 

With the thin and light silk curtains drawn, the large bedroom bathes in the gentle and pale yellow light that the midday sun casts. Everything looks peaceful and quiet and the curtains dance lightly in the gentle breeze coming through the open balcony door. The doctor is pleased to know that the boy is at least following some of his advice. Having all the windows and doors shut would just make his breathing worse. 

Turning his attention to the bed, Tony finds Peter on his back, sleeping peacefully. Or as peacefully as he can with his slightly laboured breathing. The boy’s chest rises and falls a little too fast for the doctor’s liking, but at least it is even. He must have fallen asleep just a moment ago since the maid was just here. Tony hates the fact that he will have to wake the boy, but it is a necessary evil. 

“Peter…” Tony starts gently, sitting next to his patient on the bed and taking his delicate hand into his own, feeling his pulse under his fingertips. “Peter.” 

The boy stirs slowly, blinking his eyes a few times, but does not open them yet. He huffs a little, his lips curling into a soft smile at the familiar and comforting sound of his doctor, whom he has known his entire life. The doctor was actually the one who held him even before his mother did when he was first born. 

“Hi…” Peter murmurs, not opening his eyes yet, but tilts his head towards Tony. The doctor feels how the boy’s hand tightens its grip in his, like an infant does on reflex. 

“Hi.” Tony replies softly. “Won’t you open your pretty eyes for me?” 

Finally the boy obliges and cracks his eyes open so that honey brown eyes meet darker brown ones. Peter feels his heart flutter just a bit at the warm smile that Tony returns him. He traces the smile lines in the older man’s face with his eyes for a split second. One can easily tell that Doctor Stark is a kind doctor based on those smile lines. 

“Have you had trouble sleeping too?” Tony asks, getting to business. Peter frowns at him and coughs a little before placing his hand on Gladstone’s square-shaped head. The dog hums in content and settles his head down on his master’s hip to be pet. 

“Too? Have the maids told on me?” The boy asks with a quiet chuckle. Tony notices the sad undertone in the sound in an instant. He does not even need to ask to know that the boy is quite disappointed with his father for canceling his weekend trip home, again. At least his mother does not make any promises, so she does not end up breaking them either. 

“Yes, Emily tells me that you haven’t been eating properly. Must I stress to you once more how important it is that you at least maintain your current weight?” 

“Don’t waste your breath.” Peter shoots back, a playful grin on his face as he looks at the doctor pull out the stethoscope from his bag. It is still the same bag that Tony had with him when he got the message that Mary Parker had started labour and delivered Peter into the world. That was now nearly 20 years ago. But, the stethoscope is a new one. Tony rolls his eyes at the cheeky response. Snarkiness is a good thing. It means that the patients still have some fight in them. 

“Speaking of, how has you breathing been?” Tony asks, putting the earpieces in place after unbuttoning the soft and white cotton tunic that the boy is wearing. Peter of course lays back and lets the doctor do as he pleases, keeping his gaze fixed on Tony’s eyes as he places the diaphragm on his vulnerable and ghostly pale chest. 

“Not any better, nor any worse.” Peter says, coughing weakly and clearing his throat. 

“The same?” Tony rephrases, placing the chest-piece just under Peter’s left nipple. 

“The same.” Peter repeats, still keeping his eyes fixed on the doctor. 

The rest of the check up goes by like always with Tony checking the boy’s temperature, blood pressure, eyes and throat all the while Peter tells the doctor about the books he has finished since the last visit. The finished books include two different ones on botany and three of Doyle’s detective novels. Sometime during Peter’s summary of the second botany book, Gladstone had hopped down from the bed and trotted to the balcony to growl at the gardener down below. 

“‘The Hound of Baskerville’ again?” The doctor asks, putting away his medical instruments now that he has finished the exam. Only one thing remains now. 

“Yes, again! It is the best one I have ever read.” Peter replies, and it is hard for Tony to argue with that. The boy’s knowledge about literature is far greater than his own and after many heated, yet friendly discussions, he was wise enough to stop questioning the boy about literature when he was ten. “Is not Doyle famous in America?” 

“I am not sure. It has been decades since I have been home.” Tony muses, taking out the neat case with the glass syringe from his bag. Without needing to prompt him to, Peter turns over on his side, pushing the expensive cotton sheets and his underwear down to expose his plump ass. The boy’s voice is slightly muffled when he speaks. 

“Because you’ve been here.” 

“Because I have been here.” Tony replies softly, readying the syringe and shushes the boy gently when he sticks the thick, metal needle into the plumpest part of the boy’s ass. Whimpering quietly, Peter tries his hardest to not kick and squirm, although he would very much want to. The injections really are dreadful, but he would have a hundred of them to get to converse with the doctor. 

Finally, the doctor pulls the needle out, but the pain is still there, throbbing and demanding Peter’s attention. Tony knows this and sets the syringe aside before rubbing a comforting hand on his patient’s bony hip. Having a tendency to get lightheaded after the injections, Peter needs a few moments to collect himself and Tony provides comfort and sympathy through gentle touches. He brushes back the boy’s curls from his forehead and lets his hand slip down from his hip and to his lower stomach, resting there just above his public bone. It is a wordless question and Peter replies with a shake of his head. 

“Not today, thank you, Doctor Stark.”

“You’re upset about your father.” Tony points out, pulling his hand back to rest on Peter’s hip again. The boy nods, staring right in front of him and watching as the curtains dance in the breeze coming through the open windows again. It smells dry and hot. 

“I’m upset at my father.” Peter corrects, taking a deep breath before continuing. He shifts his hips slightly, allowing the doctor to pull his underwear back up. “They even took Lady.” 

“Hmm, yes, Barry told me. I’m very sorry about that, Peter. I know how much you loved Lady.” 

“Father would have known. Right? He would have known that they were taking everyones’ horses and he could have warned us. But, he chose not to.” 

“It could have been out of his hands, Peter.” Tony points out, but Peter does not respond. The doctor frowns softly, knowing he made a mistake by defending the Major. “Perhaps they will return her. They might have collected too many horses.” 

“Perhaps.” Peter says blandly, not believing the dumb lie at all. He is not a child anymore. Tony of course notices that he has only made the situation worse and backs off a little, letting his hand go from the boy’s hip. But, suddenly Peter grabs his hand and pulls it around his torso and to his mouth, resting the doctor’s fingertips on his lips. 

Tony huffs out a fond little laugh and scoots closer to the boy, so that his thigh is pressed against the boy’s back where he is still laying on his side, facing away from the doctor. The boy’s breaths tickles his skin. He can faintly feel the soft flesh of the boy’s lips, then the soft vibrations when he speaks. 

“Don’t go…” 

“I’m still staying for tea. Emily will bring it up soon.” 

“No, I mean- don’t go.” 

“Where would I go?” 

“To the war.” 

Tony cannot help but scoff out a chuckle at the ridiculousness of the idea. Twisting his hand, the doctor gently presses his thumb to Peter’s bottom lip. 

“Someone has to stay behind to take care of the ones at home too.” 

Tony can feel Peter’s lips curl upwards in a smile at that, however it does not last long before he relaxes the muscles and purses his lips in a kiss to his thumb. Major Parker may have taken Lady, but he had made sure that Tony was not called in to the medical corps. However, the doctor decides against telling Peter that. 

“Because charity starts at home? Like my mother always says.” Peter says, his voice slightly bitter at that, but his lips are soft. 

“Because you are the future.” Tony corrects and moves his hand to cup Peter’s cheek, tilting his head towards him to finally kiss him on the mouth. Gladstone growls and barks widely at the gardener, but the pair in the bed do not pay the pet any mind. 

[bluem0use]

It's about time I introduced you to the cast of The Crackin'-Up Studios. Don't worry. You'll be seeing them again, especially in the mini-comics!

**In order from top to bottom, left to right**

Billie Bob Willie-Nillie Black Sheep: The overall face of The Crackin'-Up Studios itself. She is the ring leader to the whole circus. The pilot to all the flight attendance. The manager to a corporate office. You get the whole idea. She's one poppin' fire-cracker (A.K.A. has a short temper) that's all for the business, but doesn't mind getting silly from time to time. On screen, she is the definition of unpredictable and crazy, fun and silly. She's a gun happy country gal that started off small and came out big with her talents for making people laugh. She worked hard to get her way to the top. And all of it has obviously paid off. If someone was to use words to describe her, it would be fun, loving, friendly, brave, courageous, generous, the list could go on and on. This gun-loving  little lady, no matter where she goes, always somehow seems to change people's lives. And for the better.

Poochie Pooh Poodle: Billie's partner-in-crime. Her bestest friend since her younger years. Her ride or die buddy. Poochie is the main co-star to the series, and a serious eye-candy to men. While Billie is featured as the funny, wacky, unpredictable, quirky character on-screen of the trio, Poochie is often featured as the sex-appeal. The sex symbol. The hot mama. She also models as a little side job whenever necessary. She's the sweetest sweetie-pie you will ever meet in your life. However, proceed with caution. When provoked, she's one sassy gal and won't hesitate to give you a mouthful (and probably a gun wound) if you mess with her, or her friends.

Wolfie Blackfang Wolf: What's the three musketeers without a male in the picture? Wolfie may not have known these two women as long as they've known each other, but their his closest family he's ever had since he left the orphanage. He is also the main co-star to the series, accompanied by being the musical genius of the three. Since a young boy, Wolfie has practiced music as not only his hobby, but his life. His alluring ability was able to trap the young black sheep and poodle in a trance on a fateful night in a club where he worked to try and make a living, thus landing him a job and a ticket to materialization through the ladies. From there, he has always acted as the stud of the three, protecting them whenever they needed an extra hand and also charming women with his attractive voice along the way.

Candy Bat: This "monster", this "usually nocturnal creature of the night", this "mysterious shadow" is nothing but a sweet treat in the eyes of many who travel far and wide to Nightwalk Bay to get a taste of his sweet treats at the local candy shop. At least, that's what Billie, Poochie, and Wolfie will tell ya. Famous for his line of business, Candy Bat is a harmless, humble candy man..err..bat that seeks nothing but to fill the mouths of the fortunate with a sweet after-taste. His delicious pastries, frozen desserts, and fizzy drinks aren't the only thing that appeals to the eyes of many. He's also a support character at The Crackin'-Up Studios during the day and a friendly (but hissy, due to his uncontrollable excited hisses whenever he meets someone new and/or is excited) candy shop-keeper at night.

Scratches: Whoa, watch out for that web! There's a BIG spider up there! And his name is none other than Scratches, yet another support cast character for The Crackin'-Up Studios. When in the presence of my six-armed friend, be cautious. Scratches loves the ladies and will go through extreme lengths to entangle you in his web, if he deems you a worthy enough mate. Don't worry fellas, he doesn't swing that way. Though..spider's gotta eat, right? What? Spiders only eat insects? Not this playful, flirtatious one. Note that this spider is dead, and has been ressurrected after a deal made by Ozzan (scroll down to reference Ozzan's bio). Therefore, Scratches likes human flesh too. Dont worry too much though. He's too busy chasing both Poochie and Billie around the studios, trying to declare his love for them. Though...something about a huge demon spider just..turns those two ladies off.

Honey Hyena: As the name implies, this hyena is sweet as honey! Raised on a bee farm, this little lady never expected to end up being a supporting cast character to The Crackin'-Up Studios. That was, until a little Black Sheep mozied on over and decided to offer her the position and the materialization process just like everyone else. She figured the nice lady would need the money boost besides "Milkin' bees all day long" - Billie. Honey loves bees. In fact, on her days off from woking at the studios, that's all she does! Is work, work, work at her long-descended family bee farm, making honey and selling it for some dough (money) as a side job. She is also the motherly figure to all the cartoon ladies on set and often tries to share her knowledge with them in hopes she can help guide them on the right path. I mean, not everyone is perfect, right?

Bon Isabell Bunny: Daughter of a long deceased magician (who was, ironically a white bunny), she has seeked to find more support by becoming a supporting cast character to the TV series. However, though, she wasn't looking to be a supporting character when offered the job by Billie Bob. Bon has a bit of a...strong hatred for Billie Bob. Bon saw how much love and respect the black sheep got, even from her "enemies". So, what does this tempered (its just as bad as Billie's, trust me), quick-to-anger, grumpy gal do? Well, it's like they say, "Kill the sheep, take her wool!". That is...if she could catch her first. Forever caught in this game of cat-and-mouse on screen and off screen, Bon decided to settle into this position for now. Hopefully one day, her magic tricks and traps can pay off and actually earn her a spot in the lead position.

Bon Iseah Bunny: Twin brother to the other Bon Bunny, this bunny seems the complete opposite of his sister. This magic bunny doesn't mind being a supporting cast character, and instead enjoys making others smile with her magic tricks and qurkiness. After all, its what his deceased magician father would have wanted. He admires Billie and everything that she does not only for everyone else, but herself. He just hopes with time, his sister can see that. For now, this calm bunny will just have to play as yin to his sister's yang (A.K.A., trying his best to calm her in her most stressed and ferocious moments).

Molly Cow: Before her rise to fame as another member of The Crackin'-Up Studios crew, Molly Cow, the half-pig half-cow offspring, could not keep a job to save her life! She was lazy, less focused, often slacking or ducking off, and/or giving up before she even set foot in the door! The funny thing is, she wouldn't care, and just go back to living with her parents. Seeing as though Molly's confident and care-free attitude was a necessity to bring on some laughs, all Billie had to do was offer a hand to the voluptuous, intriguing young woman and for some odd reason, this cartoon has managed to keep the job ever since. Side note, if you ask her what her "other" job would be whenever she brings it up, it would be shopping. She is ALL about the fashion!

Malachi (formerly known as "Michael Jamesking"): Yes, Malachi is actually an angel. AND, he is also a featuring asset to the team whenever needed. With the help of one of Veronica's potions (scroll down to reference Veronica's bio), he has the ability to shrink down to size on command. He also is a good line of defense if life-threatening danger ever be-falls the company, for even if he is a judgement angel, he is considered very powerful against a mortal (unless demon weapons are used against him). He is pure, friendly, and kind, however, you must not associate yourself with the presence of evil upon first meetings. He IS a jugement angel after all and will be quick to judge you and shame you for your choice of sin and avoid you like the plague while also be-littleing you. Ironically, the only exception to this treatment is Ozzan (his best friend in all universes) and Bendy (in the head-canon canon universe). Also note, Malachi was never always Malachi. Malachi was once Michael, a regular, normal, working business man who unfortunately got hit by a car on his morning rush to work.

Ozzan: Oh boy. This one's a bad one. If you thought Scratches (scroll up to reference Scratche's bio) was bad, wait until you get a load of this one! This foul-mouthed, ill-mannered, obnoxious, flirtatious pervert is somehow a necessity to The Crackin'-Up Studios. His crude sense of humor and anctics tend to get a good laugh out of adults more than oblivious children. He will flirt with anything, sleep with anything, hell even risk catching some sort of SEXUAL DISEASE for anything that has legs. This man lives, breathes, and embraces everything that is bad at every cost, every time. Its possibly why he was so close to Lucifer (the Devil) back when he was in Hell. Though, take caution. If you piss him off (which isn't really hard to do), he WILL tear you to bits and peices with his bare fists. Also, beware of tentacles and trendils ladies. He has them everywhere and can use them not only in battle, but also for...other things. So beware and..make sure your doors are locked.

Veronica Bat: Born "Daddy's Little Monster", Veronica is the daughter of Candy Bat and Valentine Naxxremis (formerly Bat)(She will be referenced in the next ref). For most of her life, she has lived with her mother and embraced her witch-hood, which usually ends up with the little gloom and doom bookworm getting bullied for being a "half-breed". However, her luck gets turned around when she meets Billie Bob (like a lot of these people's do) who helps instill in her to be happy to be herself and to screw what everyone else says..and to also get back at them at all costs. She looks up to Billie and Poochie as her "Aunties", though, has trouble getting along with her father. She was raised to believe she had left her and her mother and never really loved them. Which, is obviously not true, but, she has a hard time believing that. Once welcomed to the cast, Veronica is a huge hit with the goth little teen girls who aspire to be like her: beautiful and mysterious. Let's just hope she gets he powers under control first, for she struggles with that a great deal on screen for comical effect and off screen.

Patricia Greene Pig: (A/N: She probably has had the MOST change out of all of them, so beware) Patricia is Delloris's (scroll down for Delloris's bio) bestest friend since childhood. Snobby, rude, sassy, class. All of these combined makes her perfect for scenes where she's the girl that thinks she's too good for the male trying to win her heart. Likes are, their only trying to "woo" it for her money. Oh, did I mention she's very wealthy? Her and Delloris aren't friends for nothing. You have to have some sort of status when it comes to getting in goods with the mayor's one and only daughter. Also note that Patricia is an EXTREME germo-phobe and will pelt you down with germ-x if you've so much as TOUCHED an un-sanitized door knob.

Hank Kat: Hank Kat has been an aspired musician since he was a little boy. He has really known the struggles of what it's like to be broke from both of his poor parents. So, as a way to raise some money, he went out on the streets and played his father's old rusty trumphet for some pocket change. Crowds were so awed at his talent, before long, Hank was hitting the clubs to try and win over some cash to take care of his parents once he became of age. Similar to Wolfie, Poochie had just so happened to stumble upon him. Though they didn't exactly see eye-to-eye due to species war, they were able to put their differences aside the night they had spent together, dancing the night away. As they danced, Poochie would listen to this party-goer's story and become sympathetic for the poor fellow. Thus, she figured his wallet could be fed a little more and thus offered for him to be a support character on the team. With his toe-tappin', feed stompin', hand wavin; jams that he can play on trombone, trumphet, pretty much just about any instrument he could blow into, he would become not only a major asset to the supporting cast, but also the music, both at his day job at the studios and his night job in the clubs.

Puncho: This "unstoppable brick wall" can take a punch and also pack it. After all, they don't call him "Puncho" for nothing! Though he's not much of fan favorite unless it comes to his famous boxing episodes, Puncho is a well-served supporting cast in the crew. He's often seen alongside his partner, Scraps Skunk (scroll down for Scrap's bio), no matter what the situation. He has a temper just like Billie, girl Bon, and Ozzan, however, instead of unleashing it by yelling at coworkers and throwing large objects (Billie), chasing someone down the hall with a chainsaw (Girl Bon), or spewing a bunch of curse words that's enough to make a sailor blush (Ozzan), he lets out his steam in the ring. He is the undefeated champion (if you don't count his and Billie's first brawl in one of her posters) within the boxing ring and anyone who dare wants to challenge him in taking his belt, well. Better be prepared for the pain. Bring a lot of ice.

Scraps Skunk: A timid, shy soul who is pure and good at working the ring as a referee. He plays fair though, he always will support his bestest friend, Puncho no matter what. His often scared, frightened, shaky attitude is welcomed on screen whenever needed. He was often bullied through his childhood and unlike those who have toughed up from it, he only seemed to soften. Hell, even Billie has chewed him out for his overly push-over nature. Though, she gives up. For nothing can change this poor man's soft heart and kind ways.

Wallis Moose: What else to say about this guy besides him obviously being a horrible detective? After his first appearance as one in one of Billie's episodes, Wallis fell in love with the idea of being one and even off screen, tries to solve "mysteries" wherever he is needed. However, he always slips up short and makes himself to be a fool. How did he even earn a spot on the team? Well, to put it simple, Wallis is a stone cold, hard drunk. He drinks and drinks and drinks, and when he's hiccuping and stumbling all over the place, Billie couldn't help but find it amusing the first time they met. After all, the first night they met, they both danced drunkinly through the streets of Nightwalk Bay, where they somehow met. As kooky as it sounds, it actually happened. Believe me.

Chico Georgina Chick: This once poor broken flapper was able to leave her broken past of having to prostitute herself on the streets and go some nights starving behind. Coincidentally, Chico was given another opportunity at a better life by Hank Kat (scroll up for Hank's bio), who happened to run into her at one of the clubs and show her a much better life than what she was living by offering her a position at the studios and materialization through the machine. Now a re-born, classy lady, this former flapper...heh...well, let's be honest. Girl loves to party and dance like there's none tomorrow, is ready to bring all the club's joy and bump to the table on screen. Hank is often seen by her side, playing away on his trumphet while she dances on top of a table. Nothing too promiscuous or provocitive. Want to keep the adult's attention but not as much. She's known as the party girl out of the group and also knows a thing or two about fashion. Also, keep her as FAR away from Molly (scroll up for Molly's bio) as possible..they fight a lot.

Delloris Acorn: Delloris is the beloved daughter of the mayor of Toon City, within the alternate world where cartoons "live". Her mother died giving childbirth and though she never knew her mother. She was always expected to act lady-like and proper, is why she carries herself that way. Though, the day Billie met Delloris and her father and was allowed to spend the day with her, Billie turned her upside down and all around. To the point Delloris came home, dress cut into a tank-top, short short overalls, knee-high socks, messy hair, and busted shoes. Billie's excuse was they were pig wrestling (no pun intended Patricia). Her father was awfully upset and almost demanded Billie to be arrested, however, Billie's sly deal to offer Delloris a spot at the studios was the only thing that saved her from some jail time. Now, while away from her rich and perfect life as the mayor's "little princess", she's allowed to get down and dirty. Especially on screen where down and dirty are necessary for some laughs.

Mad Mouse (also known as "Maddison K Mouse"): Why is this mouse so quiet and mysterious? Why does he never speak or even take off his goggles? Wait, is this mouse even a "he" at all? Well, yes and no. To put a long story short, back in these days and times of the early 1900s, women weren't taken seriously. Even toon women. Born a genius, the only way to get people to notice her freakishly large brain talent is to disguise herself as a man and as to go as "Mad Mouse" instead of "Maddison Mouse". However, her little secret couldn't be kept that long, for an incident in her labs caused her to lose part of her disguise and have to come clean to Billie, Poochie, and Wolfie. It was through them who helped her realize that, no matter who you are, your voice deserved to be heard no matter what. From that point on, this support cast member decided to cease wearing the disguse and be her actual self. Though, I wouldn't mess with this quiet little genius. She's a little...mad (crazy), as the legends and cartoons portray her as.

[is0gild]

Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Chapter 12

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.

Word Count: 10,649

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

There was no way.

No. Friggin'. Possible. Way.

Rayne was bonkers. Off her rocker. Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. A couple screws short of a toolbox, a few cards shy of a full deck, and several fries scant of a Happy Meal.

She was just… wrong. She had to be. The very idea was outrageous. Laughable, even. There was just without a doubt and quite simply no way.

No way that Lea had a crush on me, that is.

I mean, come on! All I'd ever done was make a complete bumbling idiot out of myself in front of the guy! I'd kissed him before uttering so much as my very first 'hello' to him, chucked a phone at a wall in front of him for no apparent reason after spouting off nonsensical gibberish, sat on him without even the slightest bit of a heads up or forewarning - which to be fair wasn't really my fault, but still! I could go on and on with this list, but I'd rather not as it was just depressing me at this point.

Had a crush on me? Please, he probably just saw me as a total trainwreck of a human being by now and was merely half curious, half terrified to see what would next be pulled out of the bag of crazy that was me. So no, he absolutely did not have any sort of feelings even remotely resembling… that. Not at all. Not towards me.

...so then why did I now find myself hovering outside the mall, trapped in a heated staring contest with my pale reflection in the glass door as arriving and leaving customers gave me weird looks, the very idea of so much as taking one more single, solitary step over that threshold and into the food court seeming utterly impossible to me?

It'd been a couple days since the now infamous (or so it was in my head, at least) Friday night out. A couple of days which I'd thankfully had off from work, giving me some much needed time to recuperate from all that stressful social activity. By the grace of some benevolent deity up above, not to mention my magnanimous, boundless mercy, Anna still lived. But she hadn't got off without a long, stern, and particularly mind-numbing lecture from me, as well as a promise from her to keep me stocked in a lifetime supply of Triple Chocolate Mallowpuffs by way of recompense. She wasn't completely off the hook yet, but it was a start.

During my downtime, I had given little to no thought to Rayne's musings - aka unhinged ravings of a madwoman. Oh sure, the stray ghost of her words might have flitted across the back of my mind once or twice. But whenever they had, I'd simply banished the silly notion with a soft chuckle and a shake of my head.

Which is why I wasn't quite sure what the big deal was now, out of the blue, here, at the entrance to Dusk Town Center, right before my first shift back since the night at the bar. Why in my brain, her words had cranked up from a barely audible whisper to a full blasting, thundering roar played on loop. Why the idea of facing Lea now just all of a sudden seemed so…

...intimidating.

...ugh, this was stupid.

I was being stupid.

It wasn't like I was some third grader in the schoolyard afraid of catching cooties from a boy. I was an adult, damn it! An adult in the adult world with an adult job leading an adult life! So I could handle any such feelings, or more specifically lack thereof, like a goddamn adult!

He did not have a crush on me.

He did not.

With that, a newfound determination filled me. Eyes hardening, chest puffing up, and shoulders squaring, I grabbed the door handle, yanked it open with more force than necessary and marched into the food court with my head held high.

...followed immediately by flipping a one-eighty, dashing back outside and around a corner to hide, pressing my back against the wall with one hand over my hammering heart.

Well done, champ. A for effort. Did a real bang up job there, eh?

I took a few seconds to regain my composure and fortify my resolve. Then I inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, straightening up to my full height once more. Alright, take two. Giving myself a firm, reassuring nod, I walked back inside again.

It was there, seated at a food court table roughly halfway between Pizza Planet and Ice Palace, that the reason for my initial retreat could be spotted. Lea was hunched over what looked to be a textbook of some sort, with papers covered in messy scrawl strewn about every inch of the round dining surface. He was gnawing a pencil between his teeth and agitatedly ruffling his hair as flipped to the next page. I don't know why I had given into my knee-jerk reaction to run from him the second I'd seen him. He was so engrossed in whatever he was working on, I highly doubted he'd even noticed me walk in. And I was strongly suspecting he'd probably continue to fail to notice me if I just strolled straight on past him to the Ice Palace to prepare for the start of my shift.

Which is exactly what I was going to do.

Or at least, that'd been the plan anyway.

But something stopped me. A sort of… stubbornness that abruptly flared up within me. I wanted to settle this right here, right now. Prove once and for all without a doubt that Rayne was in fact a total loon and that he definitely did not see me as anything more than just a friend. I still had a few more minutes before I had to clock in, so now was a good a time as any.

Seizing the opportunity before I could overthink things and lose my nerve, I made a detour and headed straight towards where Lea sat. Arriving at his table, I pulled out the chair across from him and sat down heavily, burdened with great purpose.

Alright. Phase One of the Mission Not A Crush complete. On to Phase Two.

Which was…?

Good question. Was actually... still kind of, sort of trying to figure that one out.

Potentially a greeting of some sort would be a good place to start.

As Lea glanced up and became aware of my presence at last, I began, "H-"

He leapt out of his seat and bolted, knocking several loose papers off the table in his wake.

I blinked.

...see? Not a crush.

Not if he was running away in fear at the very sight of me.

As well he should. I was a very fearsome vision to behold, after all. My mere visage redefined the very essence of horror, did it not? Look upon me and tremble, puny mortals, for I-

"Ow! Hey, quit it already!" a voice that sounded suspiciously like Xion's pulled me from my thoughts.

Turning my head towards where it'd come from, sure enough, there Lea was with the girl in tow. Literally. He was dragging Xion over to the table by one of her ears pinched between his fingers. The two of them pulled up to a stop in front of me, Lea scowling as he released her and she stumbled a few steps forward. With a tiny hiss of pain as she rubbed the abused lobe, she glanced back at him. He simply crossed his arms and started tapping his foot, clearly waiting for something.

Xion looked at me now with a guilty frown, folding her hands together just below her waist and bowing her head. "Please forgive me, Elsa, I am so very, very sorry. Sorry for tricking you-"

Lea cleared his throat.

She hastily tacked on, "-and for conspiring with Anna-"

He did it again, louder this time.

"-and, uh… for manhandling you into my car-"

A third time.

"-and…" she pursed her lips to one side, squinting up in thought, "...and for not driving with the comfort and safety of my passengers in mind-"

Once more, with feeling.

"-and for, ah… providing… less than optimal seating arrangements to you throughout the whole experience?" Xion ventured, glancing back at Lea. He rolled his eyes but gave a shrug, which she seemed to take more or less as a sign of his grudging acceptance. Her eyes then fixed on me once more, "I meant no offense, but sincerely apologize if I embarrassed you or made you feel uncomfortable in any way."

...this… I had not been expecting.

I just stared blankly at her for a second. Then I realized she was patiently awaiting my response. "Oh! Um," I gave a tiny awkward laugh, "that's okay. We're fine. Totally good. Don't, uh… don't even worry about it."

Her face immediately lit up with a relieved smile. "Thanks, you're the sweetest!" Then she gave Lea a dull look. "Satisfied? Can I get back to my job now?"

His eyelids drooped, but he sighed and waved her off. She ran past him, blowing a raspberry in his direction as she went. He plopped back down into his chair at the table, pinching the bridge of his nose as he grumbled, "Kids these days, I swear."

"Thanks," I smiled at him, "that was really very thoughtful, but you didn't have to make her do that. It wasn't necessary."

"Somebody's gotta teach the lil twerp good manners and respect," he leaned back in his chair slightly, scratching a spot behind his ear. "Her parents certainly never did."

Humming a soft, noncommittal noise, I then looked down at the clutter littered across the table. "So what are you up to? What is all this?"

"Decided to take my lunch break to try and unravel the enigma that is," he held the textbook up, showing me the cover, "Intro to Calculus. It's being a real pain in the ass though. Honestly, who needs to know all this crap? Evil math genius super villains, that's who! Shit, I'm just looking to run a lil shanty of an ice cream parlor by the sea, not trying to calculate how to blow up the sun or anything," he tossed his pencil down against the open pages of the book.

I rubbed a knuckle along my lips as I felt them tug up at one corner. "Not math's biggest fan, I take it?"

"Not my strong point, no, but usually I can get by. Unfortunately, I caught some kinda bug a couple weeks back and had to miss a few days of lectures. Asked the teach what I missed, but he's a royal asshole. Just brushed me off, telling me to talk to his TA instead."

"And the TA?"

"Mini asshole in the making," he scoffed, snatching up a small stack of sheets from the table to wave about. "Just handed me his photocopied notes for the days I was out sick and told me to figure it out. They're useless though. I can't read his chicken scratch. A big test is coming up on all of this too that's s'posed to be a huge chunk of our grade, so I really need to wrap my head around this junk."

"Maybe I can help. Let me see." I moved closer, shifting over to the seat beside him. My shoulder brushed against his as I leaned in, spotting a piece of paper sticking out from beneath the textbook on which it looked like he'd been trying to (unsuccessfully) work through some of the chapter's exercise problems. "Derivatives, huh?" I murmured, picking it up to take a closer look. Then I pointed to the first equation, "This one is almost right, you just forgot to conjugate the binomial. It's an easy mistake, anyone could've made it."

"I, uh…" he trailed off. I glanced over at him, realization just now smacking me like a ton of bricks at how close our faces were. Boundaries, Elsa, boundaries! Dropping the paper, I quickly pulled away, spine banging firmly against the back of my seat. Clearing his throat, Lea picked up the sheet and glared down at it, "Damn, I thought I did that!" After a couple seconds of scrutiny, he grabbed his pencil and started furiously erasing his work before jotting in new numbers, his knee jiggling restlessly beneath the table. The scratching of the graphite stilled almost immediately however as he looked over at me, quirking an eyebrow. "...weren't you an Art History major?"

Reaching for my ponytail to self-consciously pluck at a tendril, I said, "Well, yeah, but I'm pretty good with numbers too. You're in luck, Calculus was just about where I called it when it came to college math courses. I mean, I took the class a couple years ago, but a lot of it's still pretty fresh in my brain. I'd be happy to work through more of it with you, but..." I frowned up at the giant clock hanging over the food court entrance. "My shift's about to start."

His eyes followed my gaze and he grimaced. "Crap, I need to punch back in myself." He rose to his feet, slamming the book shut and swiftly gathering all his stuff into one big, crumpled heap. His gaze shifted to glance at me out of his peripheral. "...you working tomorrow?"

I stood as well, tipping my head to one side. "No, but then I'm back on the schedule for the next three days after it. Why?"

"Good, I have it off too." Things more or less together now, he picked the sloppy stack up and tucked it under one arm as he slid the pencil behind one ear. "You think maybe you could help me cram for my exam? Say…" he looked away, rubbing the nape of his neck, "...my place around noon tomorrow?"

My eyes widened a fraction. "Oh! Uh… yes. Sure. Of course! I don't already have plans, so I'd be glad to. What are friends for, after all?"

Note the keyword here: friends. Cuz that's what we were. Period.

The huge smile that broke out across his face now all but blinded me. "Thanks, El, you rock! I owe you big time for this! I'll treat you to an absolute mountain of your favorite ice cream, which is…" he paused, narrowing his eyes for a second before snapping his fingers and pointing at me. "...Goofy Parfait? No, too basic… Double Crunch? Nah, that's not it either. Eh, I'll figure it out sooner or later! I'm closing in, I can feel it!" He started jogging backwards towards the Pizza Planet. "Anyway, you can get my address from Raindrop! S-" He bumped into a plastic chair, stumbled for a bit before catching himself as another paper flew loose. "Heh… meant to do that. See ya tomorrow!" He waved then turned and sprinted off to avoid clocking in late.

I raised my hand, my fingers curling in a tentative wave back, "Yeah… tomorrow…"

So that, apparently, was Phase Two of Mission Not A Crush.

Go to his home and prove it there.

Perfect.

What could possibly go wrong?

A lot.

That was the answer you were looking for.

A lot could go wrong.

Starting with-

"Ahhhhh!" Rayne squealed yet again as she turned the steering wheel, making the car take a right down a side road. "I can't believe my baby's going on her first date! It really is true, they grow up so fast!" she gave a mock sniffle as she reached over to pinch my cheek.

My left eye twitched and I swatted her hand away. It was a mistake telling her. But Lea had told me to get his address from her. And of course the second I'd asked, she had insisted on driving me there. Should have seen that one coming a mile away. I sighed, "I've had dates before. It's kind of hard to wind up engaged without going on a few dates first. Not impossible, mind you, but hard. And it's not a date, I'm just helping him study for a test."

"Mmmhmmm, sure," she gave me a knowing smirk, "and I'll bet you get all dolled up in a new dress like this for all your other not-a-dates."

"Please, I bought this secondhand in a thrift shop for ten dollars, I hardly call that getting dolled up," I rolled my eyes before looking down at myself.

As it turns out, yesterday had been payday. Meaning my first check, hallelujah! I think this officially made me a bonafide adult. And seeing as how my wardrobe was limited to my work clothes, a couple of hand-me-downs from Rayne that she no longer wore, and that one outfit I had, er… shall we say "borrowed" during my whirlwind escape on my wedding day, I had felt some clothes shopping had been in order after I got off shift yesterday. But working at an ice cream shop in the local mall doesn't exactly have you rolling in the big bucks, as one might imagine, so I'd quickly discovered that a used clothing store was a dirt poor girl's best friend.

I'll admit that I had lucked out a bit with the sundress I now wore, given that it'd come from the bargain bin and had even miraculously fit like a glove. It was a pastel blue with tiny, faded white polka dots, its gently billowing skirt falling to just below my knees. Triple spaghetti straps held it up at the shoulders and it had a sweetheart neckline with embroidered, white lace trim. It was high waisted, with ribbon weaving up the front of the bodice segment and a loose bow tied at the small of my back. Paired with my usual ankle boots of course, because really, who had the munny for more than one pair of shoes? Not me, that's for sure! But the best part? Stockings. Blessed, blessed stockings! My legs could die happy now.

So was it a new dress? Yes, but that was more so to do with my distinct lack of other options than anything else. And, okay sure, the thought had crossed my mind that this was the first time Lea would be seeing me not in Ice Palace attire, so of course I'd wanted to look at the very least, erm… presentable? Yes, that was the word. Presentable. Was that a crime now? I think not!

"Well I think you look cute enough to eat!" she declared before waggling her eyebrows at me. "I'm sure that's what Lea will be thinking too."

"Oh my god, Rayne!" I huffed, hiding my face in my hands and slouching down into the car seat.

I don't know a lot about having friends, but I wonder if they're exchangeable. Like, if you can return them to Ye Olde Friend Shoppe and get store credit that can go towards the purchase of a new gal pal, one that's not delusional and won't take sadistic pleasure in teasing you mercilessly. Yeah, that'd be super-duper nice right about now.

"We hath arrived!" I heard her gleefully announce, feeling the vehicle come to a full stop.

I peeked out between my fingers to see we were now parked at the curb beside a long, colorful row of what looked to be duplex apartments. As I lowered my hands completely, Rayne suddenly seized my chin and jerked my face towards her, studying me with eyes squinted. My brow furrowed, "...what are you doing?"

"Hold still." My jaw still trapped within her iron grasp, she reached for her bag in the backseat, hand noisily rummaging inside for a few seconds before pulling out a light brown makeup pencil. "I wanna make those adorable freckles of yours hella pop so that boy really goes all weak in the knees."

"Ugh!" I yanked my chin free and snatched the pencil away from her, rolling down my window and chucking it outside the car.

"Hey! Those aren't free, you know!"

"Tack it onto what I owe for rent," I grumbled as I closed the window again.

"Whatever," she huffed before she started taking off her jacket. "Take this, will you? It's chilly out, I don't want you to get cold."

Unbuckling my seatbelt, I gently pushed the proffered garment away, "I'll be fine. The cold never bothered me anyway, you know that."

She shrugged, tossing it into the back. "Suit yourself, but don't come crying to me when you catch your death out there." I reached for the door handle, but stopped as she said, "Hold it, c'mere." Oi, what now? I slowly turned my head to cock an eyebrow at her. She licked the pad of her thumb and wiped it across my cheek, "You got a lil schmutz."

I couldn't get out of the car fast enough, staggering onto the sidewalk and whipping around to slam the door shut behind me, nostrils flaring as I narrowed my eyes down at her.

She lowered the passenger window again, gracing me with a sly grin. "Have fun on your study date, sweetpea!"

"It's not a-" The engine roared and she cackled as she sped off. I stamped my foot and crossed my arms, lips twisting sourly. "...date."

It wasn't! That was in fact what I'd come here to prove, after all. That there was no crush and this was not a date. She'd see. I'd show her. Then we'd see who got the last laugh. Ha!

As I turned to face the line of apartments, I realized I had no clue which one was supposed to be Lea's. Rayne had never given me a unit number, just told me she knew exactly where it was and would take me there. I would hope that this one coated in a dingy cherry paint that she'd dropped me off directly in front of would be it, but with that girl's sanity track record lately, I couldn't be sure that was a totally safe bet. Still, I had to knock on one of these doors, so this one was as good as any to try first.

Running my hands down my dress to smooth out the nonexistent wrinkles and sweeping my braid forward over one shoulder, I puffed out a slow breath and put one foot forward. Then, after a pause, the other. Then the other. Eventually, I was climbing the three steps that led up to the door and coming to a stop in front of it.

Then I hesitated, gnawing on my lower lip.

Smoothed my dress again.

Fidgeted with my braid some more.

...I was running out of ways to stall.

Inhaling and exhaling once more, I brought my fist up to the door, preparing to initiate Phase Two of Not A Crush. And came to an abrupt halt, my knuckles a hairbreadth's away from the wood.

Because now we came to the second thing to go wrong.

That being me realizing I had absolutely zero idea of how to accomplish Phase Two.

In fact, what the heck was I even doing here? I struggled with regular one-on-one social interactions on any given normal day, even when I didn't have an ulterior motive to worry about on the side. How on earth had I fooled myself into believing I could handle it, this, here, now, while juggling a stupidly self imposed secret mission as well? This was a terrible plan! What the actual frick had I been thinking?! Did I know myself but at all?!

...you know what? I'm leaving. This was already too much and I hadn't even gotten past the friggin' front door yet. Sorry to bail, Lea, but you're a smart lad with a good head on your shoulders. I have the utmost faith in your ability to navigate yourself through the trials and tribulations of Calculus all on our own. Peace, I'm out!

Spinning on my heel, I rushed back down the steps and beelined for the sidewalk. The walk home wouldn't be short. And I hadn't been paying attention on the drive over, so I wasn't even sure which way I should go. But psssh, minor detail. I'd just pick a direction and if it was meant to be, I'd find myself on my own doorstep sooner or later, right? Right. Now this was a plan I could get on board with. This, I could-

"El?"

I froze mid-step with a wince, gritting my teeth.

Fudge.

...should I just make a run for it?

Probably not. Pretty sure he was way faster than me with those freakishly long legs of his.

Putting on a shaky smile, I stiffly turned back around to see that front door now open with Lea standing on the threshold, giving me a quizzical look.

And it was just hitting me now as I looked at him that this wasn't only going to be the first time he was seeing me out of work clothes, but the first time I was seeing him out of his too. He was wearing a long, untucked button up that was a deep purple plaid and sleeveless, with a black tee on underneath and a black, loose hoodie vest that hung open over it. His legs were clad in dark, dark red skinny jeans, accompanied by tall black boots on his feet. His hair had been pulled back into a stylishly messy ponytail with a few spiky bangs poking free and of course he was sporting his usual guyliner. Though was it just my imagination or was there a bit of an extra swoosh to those wings at the corner of his eyes today? Probably just my imagination.

He… cleaned up pretty good.

...I mean, not that I pay attention to stuff like that or anything. Ahem, anyway!

"Where ya going?" He moved one step down the small set of cement stairs, grinning slightly. "You know that's the wrong direction, right? Living room's this way."

"...it is?"

First thing to blurt out of my mouth and we're off to a simply superb start here.

"Oh! Y-yes! Of course it is! I… I knew that! But, ah…" I took a teeny step backwards. "...I forgot something at… at home!"

Yeah, my backbone.

"That's it!" I laughed weakly and there was another shift back of my feet. "So I was just going to, you know…" I jerked both thumbs to the right, "go get it! Then… come straight back. Here. To your place, uh... o-of course!"

He frowned, looking down the street before glancing back at me. "You were gonna walk? Isn't that kinda far? Tell ya what, let me go grab my car keys and I can swing you back by your place real quick."

"No!" I threw up my hands, rapidly shaking my head. Drat. Thwarted. "N-no, that's… that's fine. And you know what? It's... not actually all that important. Really! Turns out I, um… I don't need it after all."

Looks like it was just time for me to grow a spine instead.

"Oh. Okay then, if you're sure," he shrugged before heading back up the steps and walking inside, holding the door open wide for me and smiling big. "Come on in. Mi casa es su casa!"

"Th...thanks," I managed to squeak past the anxiety squeezing my throat, making it hard to get words out. Taking a deep breath, I clenched and unclenched my clammy hands before clasping them together in front of me just below my waist. Then I rallied, if only just barely, and got myself up those stairs and inside, hearing him shut the door behind me.

The room I'd stepped into was open and rather spacious. To the right seemed to be the living room, in the middle of which stood a long coffee table, a couple of armchairs, a well-worn plush blue sofa covered in far too many pillows (all of them mismatched) and a large rug checkered in various shades of red. A giant dark wood entertainment center took up one wall with a large flat screen in the middle. The shelves surrounding it were mostly filled with books and DVDs, but there were a few odds and ends to decorate it as well, such as a couple of red frisbees sporting sinister-faced fireball decals in one cubbie, while in another sat a framed chart of what looked to be the lunar cycle.

To my left was a dinette space with its table already buried underneath a textbook and a mound of papers, and further to the left beyond that lay the kitchen. The two rooms were separated by an island counter wedged between a pair of thick square columns, the one furthest forward having a skinny door in it that was currently closed. Behind the dinner table and further back in the apartment was an open arch leading into a small corridor - more of an alcove, really - with two doors on the back wall and two more at either end of the hall.

"So..." I began as I glanced around, fingers already fiddling with the tip of my braid, "this is your casa?"

"Yup! Let me give you the grand tour." He all but bounced into the sitting area, arms dramatically flourishing in his best Vanna White impersonation. "The living room! Top of the line and comes with all the deluxe amenities you could ever dream of, including a couch as ugly as sin and a rug old enough to be your father!"

I snorted into my fist, biting back a tiny grin as I felt some of my tenseness beginning to fade, if only by a smidge. "Fancy."

"You like that? Well then prepare to have your mind blown." He darted over to the left side of the apartment now, presenting it with another theatrical sweep of his hands. "Dining room! And get this, you're never gonna guess… a kitchen!"

"Wow, dining room and kitchen? Amazing, you really do live in the lap of luxury here. My my, how the other half lives."

"I try not to let it go to my head. And check it out," he moved to the column bearing the small, inset door and pushed it open, revealing cramped shelves full of foodstuffs, "comes complete with itty-bitty pantry space!" It really was tiny. Could Lea even fit in there? Leaving the door open a crack, he then moved into the hallway, smacking a hand to the back door on the left. "My room." He pointed to the door at the right end of the hall, "Bathroom." Then the one at the left end, "Closet."

Nodding, I looked to the only remaining door directly to the right of Lea's bedroom. "And that one?"

He shook his head and waggled an index finger, "Oh-ho no, you don't wanna know what horrors lay beyond that door."

I quirked an eyebrow at that, one corner of my lips twitching upward. "Is that where you hide all the bodies then?"

"How'd you know?" He'd said it with such dead seriousness that for a second there, I started to get nervous. Then he snerked and chuckled, folding his arms beneath his chest as he leaned a shoulder against the inside of the archway. "You really are too easy, ya know that? Nah, that's just where I keep my household Saïx."

My head tilted. "...what's a Saïx?"

"Two for one deal, roomie-brother combo."

"You live with your brother? That sounds nice... not a lot of people do that after highschool."

One of his shoulders bobbed in a half-shrug, "Half-brother if ya wanna get technical, but yeah. We grew up in the foster system and had to put up with a lotta crap. Learned fast the best way to survive was for us to stick together. I guess old habits die hard. But I don't see him all that much anymore actually."

"Oh?" I frowned at that. "Why not?"

"I'm a creature of the sun, he's a child of the moon. Total night owl. His job keeps him up all hours and he sleeps all day. Nowadays I really only see him during breakfast which is his dinner and vice versa."

My eyebrows knit together. "What's he do for a living?"

Another bounce of the shoulder. "Hell if I know. He works remotely, so basically just locks himself up in his room all night glued to his laptop. Rox and Xion sometimes do take a late night though and caffeine up before dropping by to drag his ass outta his hidey-hole n' make sure he gets some fresh air every once in a while. The kiddos are convinced he's a vampire at this point, swear up and down that they've even seen him hiss at sunlight. But I know that's just silly. Totally ridiculous." Here he paused with a smirk. "Cuz he's obviously a werewolf."

A smile tugged at my lips. "Obviously?"

"Yup! All the clues are there." He struck up a finger. "Crazy obsessed with the moon." Up went a second one. "Likes his steak so rare, it's still mooing. Classic sign of lycanthropy." A third digit joined the other two. "And here's the real kicker: dogs? Love him."

"Wow," I laughed softly. "Well then, with such irrefutable proof, hard to argue that logic."

"Thank you," Lea bowed his head. Then he pushed himself off the wall and walked over to the dining table, pulling out a chair for me. "On that note, shall we?"

I nodded, taking the offered seat and reaching for one of the pages of notes. "Sounds good. Let's get to it."

"Bueno Volcano?"

I glanced up from the open textbook before me, blinking once at Lea before my eyelids drooped. "No, I do not believe the derivative of F evaluated at X as H approaches zero is… Bueno Volcano."

Another one of our flavors of ice cream, as you might've already guessed.

He was staring at me with a completely straight face while wearing his pencil like a moustache. Removing it with a gentle harrumph, he leaned his chair back onto its hind legs, "C'mon, El, we've been at this for hours now. I need a study break."

I sighed through my nose, inserting a worksheet into the book to save the spot before shutting it. "Fine." I was kind of getting stiff from sitting still for so long. Stretching one arm over my head and arching my back to work some of the kinks out of my muscles, I asked, "So, Bueno Volcano… final answer?"

Lea's seat wobbled precariously and he had to grab the table to keep from falling over. Ruffling his hair with a sheepish laugh, he then visibly mulled for a second before shaking his head, "Nah. Spicy veggie ice cream is just weird. No one's into that junk."

"You'd be surprised," I hummed a chuckle, planting an elbow on a small stack of papers and resting my cheek in my palm. "You're running out of options. You sure you haven't guessed it already?"

"Positive. I'm getting warmer though. It's on the tip of my tongue now, I can practically taste it!"

I raised a brow at him. "So what's it taste like?"

He slapped a hand down to the table with a smile, declaring, "Victory!"

"...I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with that flavor," I deadpanned.

"Bah, don't get cute, you know what I meant," he bopped my forehead with his pencil and I flicked it away. Then he tapped it to his chin as he eyed me thoughtfully. "...so why Art History?"

Um…? Where had that come from? Besides out of left field, that is. "What do you mean?"

He shrugged, twirling the pencil between his fingers now. "Just something I've been curious about�� why pick that as your major? Why stick with it until you graduated if you weren't feeling it? Why even start it in the first place?"

"I, uh…" I averted my gaze, hands rushing up to toy with my braid. Answering those questions would involve bringing up my parents. And that was a whole other can of worms that I wasn't sure I was particularly ready to pop open just yet.

"Ooo, I'm sensing another secret." Grinning, he scooched his chair over closer to me now, bumping his knee into mine. "Don't worry, I know information isn't free. So how 'bout another trade? Tit for tat. Quid pro quo. One o' mine for one o' yours. I'll start." Then he was lifting up his shirts.

And I, in turn, was turning beet red and slapping a hand over my eyes.

Jeez, this guy did not know how to keep his top on!

"I've had stitches!"

...oh.

My fingers tentatively parted and I saw that he'd only raised the layers of fabric by a few inches, revealing a jagged scar wrapped around his side just above his right hip, big and gnarly, but also old and long since healed. I was kind of amazed I hadn't noticed it the first time he was shirtless in front of me. Then again, he had been drenched in ice cream at the time which had most likely covered it, and I had been a little preoccupied with spazzing out and using my hat as a makeshift censor bar.

"What happened?" I breathed, lowering my hand.

"Saïx happened." I gaped up at him and he released the hems, letting them fall back into place as he batted a hand, "It was an accident. We were only kids at the time. But turns out a chainsaw? Not a toy."

I spluttered, "A ch-chainsaw?!"

"Pssh, it's no big deal, was only a lil one. It'd have to be for an eight year old to be able to lift it after all," he brushed off with a snerk.

Fixing him with a flat look, I muttered, "You and I have two very different definitions of 'no big deal.'"

"Trust me, it looks a lot worse than it actually was. Poor Saïx though, he thought he'd killed me and the little dweeb couldn't stop bawling his eyes out at the hospital. I think he cried more than I did that day, which is funny cuz I was always the bigger crybaby of the two of us." Lea smiled as he relaxed back into his chair a bit, interlocking his fingers behind his head, "Yeah, we were one screwed up pair o' brats. It's no wonder no family ever wanted to keep us monsters, we were a handful to say the least." Then he nudged my shoe with the toe of his boot, "Alright, your turn now."

I glanced away, pursing my lips to one side. Then I locked my gaze back on his with a tiny smirk. "I've shoplifted."

His eyes widened and his head rocked back a bit as he blinked at me a couple times. Then he was narrowing his gaze, "Okay, one, no fair, you know what info I wanted."

I let my shoulders rise and fall, "You just said a secret for a secret. Never specified I had to answer your earlier question."

The rolling of his eyes was his only retort to that before moving on, "Two... you? Shoplift?" He gave a snort. "Does not compute. What was it even, a stick of gum? Some change from the Take-A-Munny-Leave-A-Munny tray?"

I lifted my chin a hair and inspected my nails, feeling a bit too pleased with myself. He'd thought he'd had me pegged. Well, I'd shown him. There's more to me than meets the eye, bucko. "Some clothes. These shoes," I slightly lifted one of my feet, presenting the left ankle boot. Then I paused for dramatic effect. "...a phonebook."

"A…?" he gave me a blank look for half a second. Then he burst out laughing, throwing up his hands, "Look out, we got ourselves a badass here! Behind that sweet, innocent face lurks the sinister mind a hardened criminal and cunning master thief! Best be careful or she'll come for your sticky notes and wall-hanging calendars next. Pfffft, a phonebook. Why? Just… why?"

Crossing my arms, I gave a derisive sniff. "I had my reasons."

Now he cocked his head to to the left, a sly curl twisting his lips. His interest had been piqued. He looked down, studying my shoes with a low hum. "...those still look kinda new. So your lil foray into the world of the five-finger discount had to of been pretty recent. I'd say… maybe a month ago, two tops."

I stiffened.

Oh no, I'd said too much.

I hastily pulled my feet back under my seat, as if to hide any further evidence he might gleen from them. "Speculate all you want, you're not getting anything else out of me."

"Oh, I see how it is. Tough nut to crack, eh?" His eyes crinkled as he leaned in closer to me, propping his elbows on his knees and tucking one arm behind the other. "Am I gonna have to go all good cop, bad cop on you now?"

...okay, cheeks, what's the deal here? I know you're still on red alert from the false alarm with the shirt earlier, but come on, this was nothing to be stoking the coals over! I cleared my throat, turning my head to one side, "No, it's just… that's a whole other secret, is all."

Lea straightened up in his seat, both eyebrows reaching for his hairline. "You mean you want another one outta me?" He shook his head with a grin, rising to his feet now. "Damn, El, you drive a hard bargain. I need to rack my brain to come up with something else good for ya. I'm gonna grab a soda while I'm at it." He winced as he made his way over to the kitchen, "...and I'm just now realizing I've been a totally crap host this whole time. Did you want anything to drink?"

"Just a water, please?" I asked, soon hearing him clinking cups around followed by the sound of a running faucet. I looked down at my lap, tucking in my lower lip as my fingers tangled into the tuft of my braid. I don't know why I was still thinking about it. I'd successfully sidestepped the question and he'd let me off the hook without me giving any sort of explanation for now. And yet, it still lingered at the back of my brain… prickling, needling, until-

"It's because I was a coward." The words were out before I'd even realized it.

He looked up, blinking at me from across the island counter. "Pardon?"

"...why Art History," I clarified softly, my hands going to my lap now to clench slightly at the fabric of my dress. "Because I was a coward, too afraid to go against my parents' wishes. They… said it would be necessary in order to make me more refined and cultured for my eventual role as… as a wife to any potential future husband I may have had. And I just… It seemed… easier just to go along with what they wanted."

"Woah," I heard him approaching again and watched out of the corner of my eye as a glass of water was set down at the table beside me. He retook his seat, a can of Kupo-Kola now in hand, "Remind me again, what era we living in? Coulda sworn we'd left the Dark Ages behind a few centuries ago." My gaze rose to meet his, a wilted attempt at a smile tugging my lips. He cracked the can open with a satisfying fizz before taking a sip. "So then, what did you want?"

I frowned. "What did I…?"

"Say you'd flipped your folks the bird and done your own thing. What would you have majored in instead? If you'd even major in anything at all. Just… what did you want?"

My brow furrowed as I processed for a few heartbeats. "...I'm not sure, actually. Guess I never really thought about it." Then again, no one had ever really asked before. Not even me to myself.

He huffed out a laugh through his nose. "Sure ya have. Everyone has interests, dreams... and hey, you were a kid once. What did you wanna be when you grew up?"

"I…" Trailing off, I squinted towards the ceiling as if I'd somehow find what I was seeking somewhere up there. Unfortunately, no magical, clear-cut ceiling answers divining the secrets to my soul revealed themselves unto me. Drat.

What were my dreams and interests? Did I ever even have any? How pathetic was it that I had to ask myself that? That said however, my mind did strangely keep circling back around to that conversation I'd had with Rayne a few nights ago. I began slowly, "When I was younger, I… did like taking part in musicals. Nothing huge, mind you, just for school and summer camp, things like that."

"That's still something though!" he nodded, face lighting up as he took another swig before putting the soda down. "And didn't I tell ya you should get into singing?"

Eyelids drooping, I gave a tiny scoff. "It's nothing, just a stupid, childish fantasy. My parents were quick to squash any such silly notions as I grew older, saying no daughter of theirs was going to be a failed singer or two-bit actor who never made it. It's not a job that's suitable for-"

"But whoever said anything about turning it into a job?" he cut me off, tipping his head to one side. "I mean yeah, that's one option, but it could also just be a hobby. You know, for fun. You could take a class or something, just to check it out... they offer drama courses at my university. Oh, and I know a couple people from the local community theater, I could check with them for you! Why not give it a shot?"

I grimaced, one hand shifting to rub my elbow. "I don't know…" Being on a stage again, performing in front of an audience, just... all those people… the mere thought already had me feeling the chill of anxiety clawing its way up into my chest.

"Look, I'll talk to those theatre friends of mine and also get you a catalog for next semester's courses. No pressure, but just so you have the information, ya know, in case you get curious," he smiled.

...I guess it wouldn't hurt... And I had to admit, a teeny part of me was drawn to the idea. However, a much bigger part of me shriveled up in dread and made my stomach churn and knot up. "...thanks, but I don't think that's really-"

The loud, groaning creak of a door opening suddenly pierced the air. Lea paled as his head snapped over to the left towards the hallway, his eyes going round. Then he facepalmed and hissed out through grit teeth, "Fucking hell, not today!"

Puzzled at his reaction, I started to follow his gaze, "What are you-?"

His hand abruptly grabbed mine, immediately drawing my attention back to him as he whispered urgently, "Don't move. Don't even breathe."

What the…?

Despite my rising confusion, I did as I was told. I heard a slow thud, thud, thud of footsteps approaching, felt movement behind me as something brushed passed and kept lumbering along. Was that… Saïx? If so, why then did it feel like we were reenacting a scene from a Jurassic Park movie with him the T-Rex and we the scared humans trying to hide in plain sight by going stock-still? I heard the steady footfall muffle now, presumably by the living room rug which is where it'd sounded like he'd been heading. Lea relaxed a little and I took it as a sign for me to do the same, now tentatively turning in my seat to glance over my shoulder.

Across the room stood a man with his back to us. He was tall, but I think Lea still may have had him beat by an inch or two. Long blue hair fell down well past his shoulder blades, bangs a chaotic mess on top - most likely bedhead if, like Lea suggested, the guy had been sleeping all day. A black tank top hugged his torso with grey camo sweatpants beneath it and feet bare. He'd come to a stop directly in front of the far wall and was now just… staring at it.

Knitting my eyebrows together, I whispered, "What's he doing?"

Still keeping his voice down as well, Lea said, "Sleepwalking. Something he's done all his life, but it's been months since the last episode, so I was hoping we'd be in the clear today."

"Oh." I cocked my head. "...shouldn't we wake him?"

"No," he said quickly and with as much emphasis as he could muster in his hushed tone. "He goes totally berserk if you do. Believe me, it is not pretty. Best just to stay out of his way and let him do his thing. He usually only wanders about for a few minutes before he heads back to his bed. Just-"

He hastily cut himself off as Saïx chose that second to whip around and face us. His eyes were closed and between them, a faded scar in the shape of an X slashed across the bridge of his nose. Lea's hand still on mine, I felt his grip tighten as Saïx started ambling in our direction. "Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it," I barely heard Lea chanting under his breath, watching Saïx like a hawk as he drew ever nearer.

He came to a lurching halt once more, this time next to the dining chair across the table from us. Lea scowled at him, muttering, "You're gonna do it, aren't you, you slumbering jackass? You're gonna play musical goddamn chairs." As if on cue, Saïx pulled out the seat and sat down. Watching him, it was almost eerie the way he seemed to look directly at us even though his eyes remained shut the whole time. A second later, he was rising again and moving counterclockwise towards the next chair closer to me. As he plopped down once more, Lea growled, "Damn it, of course. Of. Fucking. Course you are, you big, dumb, sleep deprived- shit, move!"

Lea leapt to his feet, yanking me up and out of my chair with him just as Saïx was about to yet again take a seat, this time on top of me. Lea backed up a few steps towards the kitchen island, me still in tow and our fingers now interlaced, his other hand miming pulling a zipper over his lips to me while his unblinking gaze never left his brother. A few seconds ticked by before Saïx was up and on the move again, his knee banging into Lea's chair, making the redhead cringe slightly. However, this only seemed to give Saïx pause for a beat before it too was sat upon.

I felt a tug on my arm and Lea started pulling me along, gingerly sidling over to circle the table in an attempt to put it between us and Saïx as we watched him stand back up and move onto the next seat. Then the next. And the next. He did this a few more times, with us all the while continuing to sneak around so as to stay opposite of him. At last, he seemed to lose interest in the dining area, turning his back to it and making his way into the kitchen.

Lea's eyes darted over to his bedroom door. Then to where Saïx had disappeared behind a column. Then back and forth a few more times. Then he murmured, "C'mon. My room. He always stays outta there."

I reached for the textbook with my free hand, "Just give me a sec to-"

"No time, leave it!" he hissed, making a run for it, giving me little choice but to stumble after him or be dragged. We were almost there, his door was just a few more feet away, but then-

"Motherfu-" Lea quietly choked out as Saïx reemerged from the kitchen directly into our path. Immediately putting on the brakes, his feet scrabbled and skidded until he had shifted into reverse and backed up against the square column at the end of the kitchen island, yanking me backwards with him. He flattened himself against the surface and I did the same as Saïx shambled by hardly centimeters in front of us. Saïx then came to a stop once more, this time taking up post in the small corridor right smack dab in front of Lea's room.

Lea released a barely audible sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. Then, still maintaining a whisper, "Bad Saïx! Bad!" He flicked his hand in his roomie's direction a couple times, "Shoo! Shoo!"

Saïx, seemingly unperturbed, didn't budge.

...this had to be… without a doubt, hands down… the weirdest social visit I'd ever been to.

Another minute passed of Lea unsuccessfully trying to persuade Saïx to get lost. Finally however, he did decide to move… straight towards us.

"Crap." Still leading me by the hand, Lea bolted around the corner and back into the dinette. The table, the chairs, the island, everything blurred past us. It was all happening so fast and before I knew it, Lea was jerking me into a hiding spot with him. And where, one might wonder, might that be?

Do the words 'itty bitty pantry space' ring any bells?

This, at least, solved one mystery. Lea could, in fact, fit in here. Not only that, there was even enough space left over for one (1) awkward Elsa to go in there with him. It was however, hrm... a rather tight squeeze, to say the least.

"This door opening in is really shit design," Lea grumbled, back pressed against said door and unable to close it as there was, quite simply, not enough room to do so. Not with us in the way anyhow.

He'd released my hand by now and I currently stood opposite him, my own spine uncomfortably pressing into the shelves of canned goods behind me. The gap between us was virtually non-existent to the point where every breath I took had my chest brushing up against his. Of course, that cinnamon scent of his that I was becoming oh so familiar with at this point was present and accounted for, invading my senses. And was it just me or was it getting a bit on the warm side in here? Poor ventilation. That had to be it. Yup.

I had no idea where to look. His face? Out of the question! Not in here, not this up close and personal, nope, nu-uh! I'd just have to settle for what was right in front of my nose.

Why good day, Mr Man Boob! We really have to stop meeting like this. Still looking as stately as ever, I see… wait! Oh gosh! What am I doing? I can't be staring at his frigging man boobs! That's just… just so unseemly! ...or is it? Is it technically okay for me to get an eyeful of man boob? If so, well that's a bit of a double standard now, isn't it? Better to be on the safe side and shift over to your charming neighbor here.

Hello there, Mr Bicep! Looking real good, real fit… have you been working out? Well whatever it is, it's doing wonders because let me tell you, you look nice enough to-

...ahem, readjusting focus once again, now landing on, um... Mr Collarbone! Yeah, Mr Collarbone here seemed innocent and harmless enough.

I think.

Clearing my throat, I asked, "So… he doesn't ever come in here during one of his episodes, right?"

"Never." I heard some shifting that I think was his head turning to look out the door, where there had yet to be any further movement. "...almost never."

"...how reassuring."

And silence reigned once again. This was so uncomfortable. I was dying. Come on, Elsa, say something else! Anything to break the stifling awkwardness! Say something… something nice! Yeah, like a compliment! Tell him… what a lovely home he has! No, too generic. Comment on the… smallness of his food closet! No no, jeez, that wasn't even a compliment. Point out the… stateliness of his man boobs! …oh dear god, no! Dang it, Elsa, why are you so bad at this?!

"So, uh... what's a nice girl like you doing in a pantry like this?"

I blinked. Then, somehow, I finally found the courage to look up at him. He said nothing else, just gave me a tiny half-grin and a wink. And just like that, all that tension inside me cracked, shattered, and started to melt. Slowly but surely, a smile stretched at my lips and I gave a soft snort.

How did he do it? How did Lea always seem to know just what to say to put me at ease?

Shaking my head, I murmured, "I bet you use that line on all the ladies."

He hummed a low chuckle and made no other reply, just continued to stare down the few inches that separated us. Gosh, his eyes really were just the most beautiful shade of green, weren't they? Out of the corner of my peripheral, I saw his hand slowly rising until it hovered just beside my cheek. There he paused… hesitated… and then-

Clunk!

A sudden noise from outside and his hand had seized my shoulder tightly while his other shot up, pressing an index finger to his lips. I nodded and we both peered out into the dining room, waiting. We heard Saïx before we saw him, that very distinctive thud, thud, thud of his footsteps drawing nearer. Then he plodded into view, pulling to a stop right outside the doorway and just stood there. Neither of us moved a muscle, remaining frozen like statues and holding our breaths as we watched and silently prayed.

After what felt like an eternity but in reality was probably only ten seconds, he started walking again, lumbering off out of our line of sight. We both exhaled and slumped, listening to his footfall fade. Then there was the blessed sound of a door creaking open followed by it clicking shut.

"Is that it?" I asked hopefully, voice still a whisper.

"Should be." He cautiously poked his head out to look around. "I mean, sometimes he gets crafty for a sleeping dude and will just open and close doors without going through them, but it's rare."

Good enough for me! I slipped out of the pantry and crossed the dinette, coming to a halt next to the sofa where I started to stretch a bit. Ahh, taste that sweet, sweet air of freedom! Whew, I had been starting to get a bit claustrophobic in-

"Look out!"

At Lea's warning, I spun around. Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the apartment, there Saïx was again, heading straight for me!

And I, being the total dummy that I am, decided to pick the absolute worst time (aka now) to have a total deer in the headlights moment. My body was just not responding. Hello, legs? Anyone home? Now would be a really great time to jump out of the way! ...huh. No reply. Feet? Come in, feet, old buddies old pals! Saïx's getting real close here so if you could just, ya know, get a move on, that'd be swell! ...radio silence from that corner too. Well shoot, I thought as I squeezed my eyes shut, I guess this was it. The end of the road. The final curtains. Goodbye, cruel world. So long, and thanks for all the-

An abrupt force suddenly barreled into me from the side, pushing me out of Saïx's path at the last second and sending me tumbling over the arm of the couch where my back hit the seat cushions, decorative pillows flying everywhere. As my brain scrambled to catch up, I gradually became aware of the fact that there was a large weight on top of me, pinning me down. Warily, I peeked one eye open. Then the other. Then I blinked once. Twice. Then my face erupted into an inferno.

Because that weight on top of me? I'd figured out what it was. Or rather, who it was.

Lea.

He must have thrown himself at me, knocking us both out of the way of danger and onto the sofa. And thus why he could now be found hovering over me, his hands on my wrists, holding them down to either side of my head as he propped himself up, his hips resting between my legs. His head was currently turned to the left as he watched over the backrest of the couch, probably tracking Saïx's movements. So engrossed was he in this that I don't think he was aware of the rather compromising position we were in right now.

Unlike me, who was very, very aware.

I just stared up at him, unable to move, unable to think. My face grew hotter and hotter by the minute as my heart thundered in my ears. My breath hitched and my mouth grew dry. But the weird part? I… wasn't panicking. Oh sure, all the classic signs of panic were there, but that wasn't it. That wasn't what I was feeling. What was it then? This strange, alien emotion I felt invading my chest as I gazed up at him, making me feel all…

...kind of, sort of warm and fuzzy?

...wait.

This wasn't-

I wasn't-

Dear lord, it couldn't be I-

"There!" Lea puffed out a sigh, his shoulders sagging in relief. "I actually saw him go back into his room just now, so we should be safe for real this time. Sorry 'bout all th-" The words died in his throat as now, at long last, he looked down at me. And you could all but hear the click in his brain. He froze, eyes wide. There was a long stretch where neither of us said or did anything. Then abruptly, "Shit, s-sorry!" He quickly released my wrists, shooting up onto his knees and hastily crossing his arms, jamming his hands into his armpits. "I didn't mean to- That is, I- This was just- This isn't how it-"

In his rush to stand, he slipped and fell off the couch, banging his head against the coffee table. I gasped, sitting up and reaching for him, "Are you okay?"

In a flash he was back on his feet, rubbing the fresh sore spot and blurting out, "Yup, no, I'm good! Just dandy! Just a small concussion, no biggie, nothing a bandaid or-" once again, the coffee table got the better of him and he stumbled backwards over it. He managed to catch himself however and chuckled weakly, "Heh… who put that stupid thing there? Anyway, I'll just go, uh, get myself patched up... in the bathroom! Yeah, be right back!" And with that, he practically blurred across the apartment and straight into the restroom, slamming the door shut behind him.

...well then.

I think that answered that.

Mission Not A Crush.

Because I think we can all agree now that Lea clearly and quite obviously…

...did not have a crush on me.

I mean, come on, did you see the guy? He couldn't get away from me fast enough! All but tripping over himself to put as much distance between the two of us as he could. Probably desperate not to give me the wrong idea. Well message received, loud and clear.

However, this did complicate things a bit now though.

Because even though he didn't have a crush on me…

...I was now pretty sure I had a crush on him.

Author's Notes: Ahhh, this chapter… in which it's probably never been made more clear how really bad Elsa is at reading social cues from others xD Also, always love me a good ol' "hey, look, we're trapped in a tiny cramped space together" scene, that's my crack yo :3 But on another note, now Elsa's gone and done it… she caught feelings, the lil fool! Something she's never had to deal with before, so this should be fun xD Minor Fun Fact: Saïx's middle name in this is Isa, just like how Lea is technically our redhead's middle name as well. But unlike Lea, Saïx actually likes his first name so that's what he goes by. And we'll have a real appearance from Saïx in later chapters, not just sleepwalking zombie Saïx xP Another Minor Fun Fact: the stuff about the chainsaw was supposed to be a reference to Saïx's claymore from the video games - chainsaw is just the closest thing I could come up with xD And for those unfamiliar with this bit from the manga, there's a point where Saïx attacks Axel with his claymore and leaves him wounded right where Lea's scar is in this chapter, so another teeny lil reference, weeeee! Another ANOTHER Minor Fun Fact: Lea's outfit, if you didn't recognize it, was based on his outfit at the end of KH3! Elsa's outfit… was not based on anything, it just sounded like something I thought she'd look cute in xD Also this chapter marks the start of me regretting a little bit making this story only Elsa's POV. I mean, how fun would it be to write all the things going through Lea's head right about now? xD Alas, I'll just have to leave that up to your imaginations, dear readers!

Next chapter, what will Elsa do with these new fledgling emotions of hers? Is it really a crush? Or is she simply confused in all the whirlwind of excitement that just happened? Will Lea ever pass his exam? COULD the derivative of F evaluated at X as H approaches zero actually BE Bueno Volcano? Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading, I super duper appreciate it! And an extra BIG thank you to those of you who’ve liked, reblogged, and followed so far, seeing those lil notifications always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

[kentuckywrites]

The Hero’s Path

One hundred lobsters. Two endings. One hero, one villain.

New Los Angeles was alive tonight. The lights of BLADE Tower and the surrounding buildings lit up the city streets and drowned out the stars in the sky. All natural beauty was destroyed in its wake, but the city harbored its own form of beauty, its own way of sheltering life. Amongst the humans walked all kinds of xenoforms, many who had come seeking refuge in the city thanks to the brutal conditions of Mira’s ecosystems. They were peaceful here, secure in their safety and the parts they now played in the city’s development.

To think New Los Angeles was being threatened by something internal. To think that only one BLADE knew of the danger, lest innocents be caught in the flame.

Pongo was exhausted. No, there had to be a better word, a better way to describe just how his body ached with every step forward. He wasn’t even sure if he was in control of his own two legs at this point. No matter what he thought, he simply walked forward, watching the comm device in his hand with bloodshot eyes - though no one would see the strain even if they got close enough. They would see the eye bags, surely, and if they dared to stick around they’d see how his left arm twitched more often than usual, having held the comm device up for hours, days on end.

He stumbled through the administrative district, down Division Drive in the dead of night. The map on his comm device beeped suddenly, a red dot appearing in the nearby vicinity, and Pongo beelined for it. The Mediator division, an open section to his left. Yes, it was here, it had to be. Pongo didn’t acknowledge the weird stares he was given as he walked in and began to search through the crates pushed up to the left wall. An easy hiding spot, a perfect hiding spot. 

Pongo’s efforts paid off. He eventually pulled out a lobster plush from behind the crates, shoving his comm device into his pocket so he could dismantle the bomb with both hands. The process was quick, perfected over ninety-seven other bombs, and soon the lobster plush was simply that. Now there was only one more left to find, and then the city would be safe again. 

Safe again...or safe for now?

As he exited the Mediators’ unit with the lobster plush dangling loosely in his hand, he grit his teeth at the memory. The first plush he’d discovered, lined up nice and pretty next to the test hangar in the industrial district. He’d received a call from an anonymous number from one “Blood Lobster”, who informed him that there were a hundred lobsters hidden in the city, all bombs, all ready to detonate at a moment’s notice. Find them all, Pongo was told, before they blow. Find them all, before people were killed. A twisted game of hero and villain, a game Pongo couldn’t back down from, a game he couldn’t afford to lose. 

His comm device buzzed in his back pocket. Even in his delirium, Pongo wanted to believe it was Elma checking in on him, Lin telling him there was an update to her newest Skell fanfiction, L’Cirufe asking for help packing up his shop for the night. He pulled his comm device out, answered it.

“My dear, dear Pongo! You’re finally down to the last of my precious babies. Such a busy worker bee. I just want to pull all your little bits apart and see what makes you tick!”

Of course it was the Blood Lobster. Of course it was. Pongo felt his skin grow warm as his blood boiled beneath, his entire body now quivering to match his left arm. His grip on the comm device and the plush tightened. 

The Blood Lobster continued, knowing fully well what kind of reaction he’d sparked in Pongo. “But that will have to wait until you find the last toy. And I’ve put that one in a veeery special place.”

“Where is it.” Pongo growled, his voice raspy and unforgiving.

“Ah, such an obedient little puppet,” The Blood Lobster cooed, “You make Daddy so very…ANGRY.” 

“Where is it.” He asked again, losing patience.

“Oh, I am SO going to enjoy killing you in person! Just a bit longer now. Kyaaa ha ha ha ha! Are you EXCITED yet?” The Blood Lobster gave no indication that he’d heard Pongo’s question at first. Perhaps he had and ignored it in favor of his performance. But after a content sigh, he said, “I left the last of my little babies with one of New LA’s especially useless citizens. It’s the perfect cure for their annoying little justice fetish.”

The next words the Blood Lobster spoke fell on deaf ears. Pongo dropped the lobster plush and sprinted towards the elevator down to the city’s lower level. He didn’t care how much his legs ached, he didn’t care that the call hadn’t ended and that the Blood Lobster’s laugh echoed from his pocketed comm device. All that mattered was getting to him. All that mattered was reaching Justin as quick as possible.

The elevator was too slow. The world was still turning, and the elevator was still too slow. When it finally stopped at the lower level, Pongo bolted, heading for the street. There were hardly any cars, making it simple for him to run with reckless abandon towards the commercial district. He could see the fountain from the highway, positioned to the front left of the two towering office buildings, he could see how many people were walking around. He could see the outline of the man sitting on the fountain’s edge, blissfully unaware of the danger he was in. Pongo pushed forward with all the strength he had left, and soon he had made it into the commercial district and off the street. The man at the fountain - Justin, Justin Wright, the Mediator with a profound sense of justice - spotted him and stood up suddenly. As Pongo stopped in front of him, he smiled, a bright and warm gesture tainted when he saw the state Pongo was in. 

““Hmm? Well, I’ll be! It’s the agent of justice!...You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Is something wrong?”

“Has anyone given you a stuffed lobster?” Pongo blurted out, still gasping for air that never filled his lungs. 

Justin raised a curious eyebrow, his arms folding over his chest. Even in the midst of the city lights, there was nothing they could do to illuminate his features. He was a beacon of light, a spark that Pongo had grown to love and adore for the past month. Being someone’s hero, their icon of justice...he wanted to do anything he could to keep that image, because Justin’s smile wasn’t the same otherwise. Deep below, Pongo knew just how much he meant to Justin, and the same could be said reversed. The Blood Lobster knew exactly which target would hurt him, and Pongo was scared shitless thinking of who he’d target next, given the chance.

“A stuffed…lobster? Like a hunting trophy?” Realization hit Justin in that moment and he lit up, a finger raised indignantly. “Oh, you mean a stuffed toy for children. Yes, actually, I did receive one recently. The note said it was from someone I helped on an assignment - it was quite kind of them to remember. But how did you know?”

Tears started to form in the corners of Pongo’s eyes, a result of stress and relief combined. He’d made it in time. Justin was still alive, talking to him, and he could still be saved. He started to explain, words broken up by occasional gasps for air, “Someone planted...bombs all over the city, hidden in those...those plush lobsters. One hundred total...I believe that you have the last one.”

“So the plush I received was a bomb?” Justin’s eyes widened, “And a hundred of them were hidden all over the city...oh my word. It’s a good thing you went out and found the rest.”

“Do you have it with you?” Pongo asked.

“The plush? Why yes, I do...er, yes, let me just hand this over to you…” 

Justin pulled a small stuffed lobster from his pockets, much smaller than the previous ones Pongo had encountered. But he treated it no differently, taking it from Justin and working quickly to disarm the bomb that was sewn inside. One loud breath escaped his lips, and finally, finally, he had done it. He was one step closer to saving the city from the Blood Lobster. 

Pongo threw the lobster off the edge of the road, not bothering to watch it splash down into the waters below. Approaching Justin again, he let his tears run wild, embracing Justin in a tight hug. “Thank the gods...I was so worried I would not make it in time and something would happen to you…”

“And I’m thankful you came to save the day, my magnificent hero,” Justin returned the hug, rubbing Pongo’s back. His words were gentle and reassuring, and Pongo kept the hug going for longer than was necessary. He’d spent so long hunting down the bombs that he had neglected every aspect of himself, including this dormant desire for physical affection. He let himself sink into Justin’s body, fatigue and relief hitting him all at once, and Justin let him. When Pongo pulled away, he kept his hands on Pongo’s shoulders, making sure they were staring each other in the eye.

“When you find the evil genius behind this crime, bring down the mighty hammer of justice for me!” He said with a confident grin, “I have no doubt you’ll emerge victorious.”

Pongo grinned, feeling restored from the hug. “I will do my best, for the sake of New Los Angeles. Thank you for believing in me, Justin.”

All too soon they bid each other goodbye. Justin turned away and walked towards the central part of the commercial district, and Pongo took one step towards the highway he’d came from. But then his comm device buzzed in his back pocket. Pongo tensed, nearly ripping it out of his back pocket and accepting the call with a sharp scowl.

“…It seems you’ve found the final piece, friend. And my preparations here are complete as well. Let’s end this, shall we?” The Blood Lobster’s voice dripped with a poorly hidden rage, “I’m inside the base of those useless puppets, the Definians. Don’t keep me waiting. I’m so eager to see you, I could just EXPLODE!”

The Ganglion Antropolis. Pongo know the base well, knew the best way to sneak in and not be seen. It would be tedious searching the entire cavern, but worth it, especially if it meant finally putting an end to this tiring charade. 

Pongo pressed the button to end the call without saying anything. The Blood Lobster would pay for almost killing Justin, for endangering and taking the lives of the innocent people of NLA. He would suffer by Pongo’s hand, and Pongo’s hand alone.

The end was nigh. Pongo knew the hammer of justice would be swift.

~

Pongo refueled Eros and got his tension filled on his weapons before taking flight. No one questioned his departure, no one stopped him from leaving, no one even assumed he was going on this mission. He was on his own, just as he’d been throughout this entire nightmare, and he would see it through to the end. Eros left behind a gentle trail of pink and purple light, an artificial aurora in the night sky. Outside of the city the stars greeted him with soft twinkles, scared of the anger boiling in the pit of his stomach. Nothing, not even Mira’s indigens, stopped him from reaching Cauldros in the next few hours. The atmosphere shifted to an oppressive heat, and Pongo wiped his brow absentmindedly. 

Eros landed just outside the Ganglion Antropolis, the entrance to a large cave surrounded by a thick lava flow. Pongo hopped out of his Skell, checking his gear one more time before jogging inside. The Blood Lobster hadn’t said where he’d be inside the Antropolis, but Pongo had a feeling that he wouldn’t be hard to spot. Stealth was never his forte, but he took great caution to follow it, lest he aggravate every Ganglion inside and suffer an untimely death before he could bring the Blood Lobster to justice. He knew the best places to hide, the best places to run, thanks to the time he spent here fighting the Definians. As he approached the room where he fought the Rekoskell, Pongo caught a glimpse of pink metallic paint, a manmade Skell, waiting deeper inside. 

This was it.

Pongo took a steadying breath and walked inside, his photon saber drawn and hanging low. The Skell took a small step forward as if to prompt Pongo forward, and a voice echoed out from its cockpit, distorted but familiar.

“Ah, it’s so nice to finally meet you. My name is the Blood Lobster. Yours is Pongo. There. Now we’re old friends.”

Pongo bit his tongue, itching to scream at him that they weren’t friends, friends wouldn’t place bombs around the city and expect him to find all of them, friends wouldn’t pull this kind of shit whether it was a prank or not. The Blood Lobster continued, “I’m so very impressed with all your hard work. And as a special treat, I’ll answer one question of yours right here, right now.”

One question. One answer. Pongo’s grip tightened on his photon saber, briefly glancing down at the energy that radiated off of the blade. There was only one question he needed answered, one question that burned at the edge of his mind.

“Why...why did you do this?”

“Some people just want to see the world drowned in a tidal wave of chaos and hate. Is that so wrong?” The Blood Lobster chuckled, and the answer made Pongo grit his teeth. “Oh, and before we fight, would you like me to kill a few more of New LA’s finest? Just to add to the drama, you understand.”

Pongo opened his mouth, stepping forward to start the fight early, an uncontrollable rage dripping from his expression. But the Blood Lobster interrupted him. 

“No, don’t answer that. Let me answer it for you: ‘Why, yes, I’d love you to kill Director General Chausson!’ MINIONS! Bring the captive to me!”

Pongo whipped around, expecting to see the director general in chains, beaten, within an inch of his life, begging for mercy. But the entrance of the cavern was empty. There was no Director General Chausson, nor were there minions dragging him along. The Blood Lobster laughed, and Pongo resisted the urge to slice the Skell in half, right then and there. 

“Kyaaaa ha ha ha! Oh, that’s rich! If you could have seen the look on your face! Priceless, I tell you…Anyway, question time is over. Now you and I will settle this for good and all,” The Blood Lobster’s Skell braced itself to fight, lights igniting from inside its frame, “That is, if you can overcome the final weapon left by the Definians…the Blood Despair!”

Pongo spun the hilt of his photon saber in his hand, mentally and physically preparing himself for the fight. One versus one, man versus Skell - though the Blood Lobster was driving an Urban model, the same make that Pongo was given upon completing the Skell license tests, the same make that he’d cherished until his upgrade to the Lailah model. He knew the ins and outs of the Urban like the dirt paths of Primordia.

The Blood Lobster cackled as its first attack powered up, a large machine gun that pulsed with electrical energy. Pongo charged forward, deciding that his best move was to try and topple the Skell and render it useless. But he wasn’t fast enough to outrun the electrical currents that fired out of the Blood Lobster’s gun, and it hits him square in the chest, sending him flying onto his back a few feet away. His photon saber flew out of his hand and he coughed as he pushed himself back up. Thank the gods he could take hits like those - no visible blood stained his armor, but a tingling sensation left over from the electrical energy had him wrap an arm around his stomach. 

The Blood Lobster prompted him forward with its empty hand, and Pongo made a mental note of where his photon saber had landed before pulling out one of his dual guns. He activated Ghostwalker, stepping forward as the shadows licked at his feet, crawled up his arms and shoulders. His newly formed clones mimicked his every action, and as he looked up at the Skell, the Blood Lobster growled.

“Always prepared, Pongo. I’ll admit I’m impressed!”

The way he said Pongo’s name made him stiffen, but he soon rushed forward with the lone gun in hand, attempting to fire at the Skell’s head. His aim had never been the best, and dual guns were not the greatest at dealing damage on their own, but at least some of the bullets hit their mark. A few ricocheted off the Skell’s frame and hit the cavern walls, but Pongo was already switching the gun out for the photon saber he’d dropped before. Picking it up with his left hand, he bolted towards the Skell’s left leg just as the Blood Lobster began unloading more rounds to try and stop him in his tracks. Thankfully the Ghostwalker he’d prepared was taking effect, and many of the bullets hit the shadows that flickered around him. One managed to catch him in the leg, but he’d fathered too much momentum, he was too close to his target. Pongo jumped, bending behind him to catch the inner joint of the Skell’s knee with a powerful slash, and the cut was deep enough to disconnect the lower leg. The Blood Lobster’s Skell fell to one knee and he cried out in frustration, swinging an arm wide and catching Pongo off guard. He was hit in the chest again and flew backwards, tumbling over himself and getting the wind knocked out of him. 

“Not done yet, are we?” The Blood Lobster taunted as Pongo forced himself to stand again. Luckily he hadn’t let go of his photon saber, but the mistake had passed on to his gun, which had been tossed to the side. He shook his head as an answer to the Blood Lobster’s question, but quickly realized he was bleeding from a new gash on his forehead as the blood trickled down his right eye and into the corner of his mouth. More determined than ever, Pongo leapt back into action, aiming to attack the other leg of the Skell. As the Blood Lobster continued to fire at him with the machine gun, Pongo thanked the gods that Ghostwalker was still in effect, since many of the bullets kept scattering around him. Pressing down on the hilt of his saber, he slid underneath the Urban and quickly righted himself against the wall and used his speed to launch himself forward, unleashing a Starfall Rondo on the other leg joint. Several slashes made in quick succession, too quick for the Blood Lobster to counter, and the lower leg popped off completely. Another cry from inside the cockpit and the torso of the Blood Lobster fell forward. Despite the arms still functioning, the impact on the ground incapacitated the remaining limbs, and the machine gun was knocked out of the Skell’s hand. 

Pongo let out a loud exhale before walking around the corpse of the Skell, retrieving his gun in the process. Putting his photon saber away, he pulled out his second dual gun, and once he was positioned in front of the Urban he raised both towards the cockpit as it opened in a swell of smoke. He could only afford a small glance down at his leg, which was bleeding through his jeans. A lucky shot, Pongo cursed silently, trying to avoid standing on it with the full weight of his body.

Someone finally pulled themselves out of the cockpit, and Pongo watched as they entered the smoke, coughing. Then they emerged, and finally, finally, the Blood Lobster’s identity was revealed.

“Heh…victory is yours. I…knew it…Heeeee…You really are the agent of justice I longed for.”

No. 

No.

Every part of Pongo’s body screamed out in pain, in heartbreak. The Blood Lobster, after all this time...it was Justin. Justin was the Blood Lobster. Justin did this. Both guns still pointed at him, Pongo’s hands shook, and he couldn’t stop the tears that came to his eyes.

“Surprised?” Justin asked, crossing his hands over his chest as he watched Pongo breaking before him, shattering into pieces, “You didn’t see this coming, did you?”

The question wasn’t one of surprise, no, it was more of an indignant and disappointed remark. But Pongo couldn’t bring himself to answer. Words would betray him, bring out the pieces of Pongo’s heart to be stepped on and broken again. Justin smiled as Pongo lowered his guns, on the verge of collapsing in on himself.

“High praise, I must say. Though that trusting nature is all part of your heroic appeal.” He sighed, “You’re amazing, you know that? I’d even say…perfect. Oh, my pulse is just racing right now!”

Pongo forced himself to look up, some demented fragment of hope sparking to life once again. But Justin continued, perhaps never seeing the spark or ignoring it entirely, “I colluded with the Definians, planted bombs, killed scores of innocent people, all for this moment! All to become a villain worthy of you. To finally complete my story arc and earn the right to be smitten by the forces of justice.”

He pushed some of his dirty blonde hair out of his face, and blue blood trickled down his face. He wore the wounds like war paint, and it made Pongo sick to his stomach. “Now, what say we bring this story to a close? The only one fit to drop the curtain is an avatar of absolute good…you. Now end this! End the Blood Lobster’s villainous plot to plunge New LA into chaos - bring down your mighty hammer of justice!”

Justin expected Pongo to…to kill him? Pongo raised his guns again, locking onto Justin, his heart pounding beneath his armor. Was this really how things had to end? Of course it was. Maybe Pongo deserved this, since he trusted Justin, he looked up to the Mediator like he was a beacon to follow in the darkest night. Now that he’d shown his true colors, that he’d proven he was a shadow following along in the brightest light…

Pongo’s eyes squeezed shut, and let his heart decide.

Deploy the Hammer || Stay Your Hand