#day 19 sling

[sknow-and-ink]

2019

Day 19 - Sling

She patched him up silently that day. She knew that he knew something, but he couldn't say.

[rueclfer]

everything is embarrassing // izuku midoriya

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

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

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

he can barely catch a break to breathe.

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

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

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

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

5-10 minutes is crucial to izuku.

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

if he's lucky.

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

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

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

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

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

izuku blinks once. then twice.

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

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

12:12am

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“is it?” he cocks an eyebrow.

“you have much more to lose.”

-

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

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

“hey.” you cough.

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

“oh. it’s you. hey.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

you have much more to lose

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-

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

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

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

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

izuku is a busy guy.

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

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

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

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

he doesn’t know how he does it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“me more. i’ll miss you more.”

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

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

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

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

-

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

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

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

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

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

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

finally.

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

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

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

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

“izuku midoriya?” you cough out.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“by heart.”

-

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“-and you’re here?” you tease.

his face flushes red.

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

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

you laugh. he definitely hasn't changed.

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

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

11:00pm.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“me more.”

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

-

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

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

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

his eyes snap up to meet yours.

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

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

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

his face scrunches in embarrassment. 

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

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

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

“i don’t think i ever noticed.”

“noticed what?”

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

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

a beat of silence passes.

“sorry.” he mutters.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

his heart sinks to his stomach.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“please stay in the city. please.” 

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

“you want me to stay?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

with you, it feels a bit gentler.

with you, it's worth it.

-

bonus ssrryy i have to be indulgent lmao:

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

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

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

izuku presses his lip into a wobbly smile.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[thehusbandoden]

Lashing Out -Husband!Bakugo Katsuki x Wife!Reader

A/n: hope this is okay? Don't be afraid to leave feedback <3 Also I didn't know what to do for the title... gosh this sucks T^T

General info: Genre: angst to fluff/angst to comfort \\ wc: 1,270 \\ fem reader \\ posted: 03/19/24

Warnings!: angst, hurt, partner being harsh, partner being insensitive, crying, passive reader, mean Bakugo, and lashing out. I think that's all, pls let me know if I missed any!

You perk up as the front door opens, revealing your toned hubby. You giggle excitedly, your cheeks heating up and butterflies forming in your stomach from the sight of your beloved. It’s been three years since you said, “I do”, and yet you couldn’t help but fall in love all over again when your eyes met his attractive frame and familiar warm eyes.  

Bakugo, however, didn’t seem as excited to see you. He lets out a sigh as you wrap your arms around him, slinging an arm around one of your shoulders half-heartedly before semi-gently pushing you off him as he closed the door.  

You frown but shake it off. He must have had a hard day, right? It would be better to just be supportive and tone the affection down a bit. You follow him like a shadow as he takes his gauntlets off, dropping them to the floor. He strips his mask, neckpiece, and gloves off before slumping onto the couch.  

You gently take his combat boots off, pulling his socks off and grabbing some lotion. He must be exhausted and sore from work, maybe a foot massage would help? You lovingly begin to massage his sore feet, shyly looking up at him every once and a while. He doesn’t respond, keeping his face buried in his pillow.  

You continue to gently massage his feet as he lays on the couch mindlessly. Your fingernail grazes part of his foot, causing him to hiss and yank back, glaring down at you. “What are you doing?” He growls, shooting you a look of anger and... disgust.  

“I-I was massaging your feet baby. You seem to be having a hard time so I-”  

“Quit it. I’m not your baby, quite treating me like one. I don’t need you to coddle me. Go do something useful for once and leave me alone.” He spits, shooting you one last glare before darting off the couch and into your shared bedroom, slamming the door. 

You feel tears sting your eyes, but you shake your head, refusing to let them fall. You gingerly stand up, putting Bakugo’s hero gear away. You pick up the house for a while before sighing. You step up to your bedroom door and gently knock.  

“Ba- Katsuki? Can I come in?” You hear a grunt, not a clear yes or no.  

You step inside quietly, walking up to your husband in bed. He was staring up at the ceiling with a snarl etched on his handsome face. 

“What’s wrong, love? You know you can talk to me, right?” You murmur, placing your hand on his. He yanks his hand from yours, breaking the skin-on-skin contact. Your heart throbs in your chest, but you don’t push. 

“I’m having a hard day. Don’t make it worse for me.” He grumbles, turning away from you.  

“Did you eat?” You sigh, biting your lip in worry.  

Bakugo growls softly as he glares at you. “Quit nagging me and leave me be. Get out of my face, woman.”  

Your heart throbs harder against your chest as you feel tears sting your eyes. You nod quickly, looking at the floor so he doesn’t catch sight of your fragile emotional state.  

“I’m going to go to bed, do you still want me out of here?” You murmur gently. Bakugo groans, glaring harshly at you. 

“Yes! Get out of my hair! How many times do I need to repeat myself to you!?” You stand up as your heart throbs again. You quickly leave the room, causing Bakugo to huff in annoyance.  

Tears form at the corners of your eyes as you check the doors to make sure they’re locked, turn off the lights, and quickly get ready for bed. You brush your teeth and grab an extra blanket. You didn’t have pajamas out here, and you didn’t want to disturb your tired husband, so you just laid in the smaller bed, trying to get comfortable without the familiar heat of your beloved next to you. 

After tossing and turning for quite a while, you give up on sleep. Sighing, you hold yourself as you try to stop the tears. You know he’s just having a hard day, but it doesn’t make the throbbing in your chest lessen. You cradle a pillow close to your chest, hugging it tightly as you desperately try to not let any tears fall. 

His harsh words flash in your mind as you try to drown them out. 

One tear slides down your cheek. 

The way he addressed you as “woman”, as if you weren’t anything but an object. 

A second follows the first, the third swiftly following suit.  

How harsh he was with you. It was like you were a coworker or past classmate, not his wife. Much less the woman he had spent loving, courting, and cherishing since the second year of high school. 

The fourth, fifth, and sixth tear drop down your cheeks, causing the gates to crumble as multitudes of tears slip down your cheek, gathering at your chin before dripping onto your pillow.  

You cover your mouth with your hand, trying to stay quiet. You fight with yourself for a few moments before coming to a conclusion... what’s the point? He’s upset with you no matter what you do... so why hold it in? Why bottle up your feelings?  

A choked sob slips past your lips, tears quickening at your frustration for allowing yourself to make a sound. A second sob follows the first, and yet a third and fourth join your desperate cry for help.  

You feel yourself falling apart, just above the brink. You rock yourself back and forth, sobbing into your hand. You feel like you’re about to drown... and then it all stops. A warm hand gently touches your shoulder, a soft, familiar voice sounding in your ears.  

”Baby?”

A soft gasp falls from your lips, temporarily being drawn from your sorrow as your eyes meet crimson glory. Bakugo looks down at you in worry, quickly coming closer. He gingerly presses a hand to your upper arm in concern.  

Your tears bubble up as you try to contain your emotions, unable to speak. 

“Y/n baby... I-I don’t know what to say...” he mumbles, his hand finding it’s place on your head.  

“S-Suki...” you blubber out, the tears slipping. Bakugo’s crimson eyes burn with guilt as he wraps his arms around you, gently lifting you into his arms, like he first did as he brought you home from your joyous wedding.  

“Shhh it’s alright.” He murmurs in your ear, bringing you to your shared bedroom, laying you down on your bed. It was larger and much more comfortable. He quickly joins you, wrapping you into his hold and he whispers sweet things into your ear, an arm wrapped around you, a hand on your stomach and the other on your head, slowly petting your hair.  

You sniffle, trying to hold it in as you cling to the man you love more than anything. “Shh let it out baby. Let it all out.” Bakugo murmurs in your ear, pressing a loving kiss to your temple.  

You attempt to hold it in for a few more seconds before finally breaking, sobbing into your husband’s chest as you clench his shirt tightly. He caresses your head and back, kissing your endless tears away as he coos at you.  

“Jerk.” You sob, holding onto him tighter.  

“I know baby, I know. I’m sorry honey.” He mumbles against your skin, holding you a little tighter.  

Bakugo Katsuki was not one to apologize, but he would do anything for his beloved wifey.  

~~~~~

Bakugo's masterlist | Masterlist | Navigation | You can tip me here

Reblogs and feedback are greatly appreciated! <33

~~~~~

Do not copy, repost, nor plagiarize my work. Ask before you translate or use my work in any way, minus reblogging.

[theprongspotter]

Bag - Jegulus - @stag-microfic - Day 19 - 1,009 words

Regulus stands near the entrance of the student union, staring down at his phone as his thumbs dances across the screen with rapid precision. Barty has been blowing up his phone for the past five minutes with increasingly ridiculous messages, ranging from “r u dead or smth??” to “im dying of boredom in this hellhole.”

“Get a grip,” Regulus mutters under his breath as another notification from Barty pinged onto the screen. He responds quickly, reassuring his impatient friend that he’d be there soon, though Barty’s dramatics were beginning to grate on his nerves. He can practically picture Barty slouched over a table in the library, drumming his fingers in exaggerated impatience while Evan probably sat quietly, ignoring his antics.

Just as he finishes typing, a voice rings out sharply through the busy hallway: “Look out!”

Regulus barely has time to lift his head before a figure comes barreling toward him like a freight train. His eyes widen, and for a split second, everything seems to slow down. But there is no stopping the inevitable. The next moment, the person’s solid frame collides with his, and the impact sends Regulus sprawling backward onto the cool tiles. His phone slips from his fingers, clattering onto the floor beside him.

A sharp ache radiates through his lower back and elbows from the fall, and Regulus grimaces, his palms pressing against the ground for support as he momentarily lays there, dazed. There is a murmur of concerned voices around him, the hallway bustling with students between classes, but Regulus ignores them as he mentally assessed the damage. It isn’t until he gathers himself to stand with his phone in his hand that he notices something was missing.

His tote bag.

The realization hits him like a second wave of panic. His black tote bag, the one that carries his laptop, books, and—most importantly—his latest assignment, is no longer slung over his shoulder. Regulus’ gaze darts around frantically as he scans the ground around him. A wave of frustration surges in his chest. Of course, he thinks bitterly. Just my luck.

As if this day can’t get any worse, a figure steps into his line of sight, holding the missing tote bag in one hand. Regulus’ eyes flickers up, ready to snarl, but the words catch in his throat. Standing there, with an awkward, sheepish smile, is none other than James Potter, the university’s star rugby player and, unfortunately for Regulus, his brother Sirius’ obnoxiously loud best friend. His presence is both a blessing and a curse—at least he has retrieved the bag, but now Regulus had to deal with him.

James’ smile is lopsided, his hand moving to rub the back of his neck in a nervous gesture. “Sorry about that,” he says, his voice warm and slightly breathless. “I—well, we—” He gestures over his shoulder, and Regulus notices the group of people standing a few feet away: Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius himself, all of them looking somewhat amused by the situation. Sirius has his arms crossed, a grin playing at his lips as if this were all part of some grand joke.

Regulus scowls, his irritation flaring up again as he snatches his bag from James’ hand. “Yeah, whatever,” he mutters tersely, his sharp gaze darting away from James and back toward his bag as he checks for damage.

James, however, doesn’t seem put off by the attitude. If anything, his grin widens, his hazel eyes twinkling with a mixture of amusement and curiosity. “I’m James, by the way,” he says, as if Regulus hasn’t just dismissed him.

“I know who you are,” Regulus snaps, slinging his bag back over his shoulder. He adjusts the strap with a little more force than necessary and begins walking toward the library, trying to put as much distance between himself and Potter as possible.

But James isn’t easily deterred. He falls into step beside Regulus effortlessly, his grin now teasing. “Oh, so you’ve heard of me?”

Regulus shoots him an irritated glance. “The whole school knows who you are,” he retorts, wishing Potter would take the hint and leave him alone.

James raises his eyebrows, his smirk growing more playful. “Yeah, but this is different.”

Regulus stops mid-step, turning to face James with a raised brow. “How?”

James takes a step closer, his voice dropping slightly as he answers, “Because you’re you.”

Regulus blinks, completely thrown by the response. His brain scrambles to process the sudden shift in tone, but the confusion only deepens his frustration. “Yeah, that makes no fucking sense,” he finally says, shaking his head as he turns on his heel and resumes his walk to the library.

James laughs lightly, easily falling back into step beside him. “Where are you headed?” he asks, his tone friendly, like they are just two mates chatting after class.

“Away from you,” Regulus mutters, keeping his eyes fixed ahead.

“Aw, now why would you say that, love?” James’ tone is lighthearted, but the endearment makes Regulus’ stomach flip involuntarily. He clenches his jaw, fighting the urge to snap back.

Before he can respond, Sirius’ voice rings out from behind them. “Oi, Prongs! Stop flirting with my brother and get back here!”

Regulus and James both turn to see Sirius standing with his hands cupped around his mouth, Remus and Peter standing nearby with amused expressions. James chuckles, giving a playful salute in response. “Right, right. I’m coming.”

He looks back at Regulus, his grin still annoyingly charming. “See you around, Reg,” he said, his voice low and warm, and before Regulus can come up with a retort, James winks at him and jogs back to his group of friends.

Regulus stands frozen for a moment, his heart thudding annoyingly in his chest. His cheeks flushes, much to his dismay, and he scowls at the floor as he hurries the rest of the way to the library. No matter how hard he tries, though, he can’t shake the lingering warmth from James’ attention—or the fluttering in his stomach that just won’t go away.

[whumpgifathon]

Hello! And welcome to my brand new whump gifmaking challenge! I'm your host @aceofwhump and I'm excited to bring a whump challenge specifically created with gifmakers and visual artists in mind.

The challenge begins August 1, 2024!

Rules:

All gifs posted must be made by you. Do not just post gifs using the gif keyboard and claim them as yours and do not repost other people’s gifs. No AI-generated content please.

Various mediums are welcome! So long as the visual art aspect is the focus you can make whatever you want. Yes this is primarily a gifmaking challenge so everything is geared towards that but any visual art is welcome. If you draw, make moodboards, edits, videos, etc you’re welcome to participate!

You can use the prompts however you like. There is no wrong way to use a prompt. Feel free to interpret them however you wish. If you think it counts as whump? It's whump! Make it! Angst, comfort, emotional whump, small things, big things, it all counts so no need to over think it.

Tag all potential triggers (things like emeto, gore, nsfw, blood, eye whump, rape/noncon, etc.) When in doubt, tag it.

Tags to use when posting so I can find your ppst: #whumpedit, #whumpgifathon, #whump gifs

Please try to include the show/movie title, character names, and episode number (if applicable) somewhere either in your tags or in the post caption. This way anyone interested in watching it can find it easily.

An example of a way you can caption your gifsets:

@whumpgifathon | Day #: "prompt description" Show/Movie title, episode number, character name

And here's the prompt list!!! I hope you guys like it and find it inspiring but not overly challenging!

Remember that this is a relaxed event!!! I just want to offer my fellow visual artists some inspiring prompts and an opportunity to have some fun. So sit back, relax, and have fun!

Text version below:

Whump Gifathon - August 2024 Prompt List

Day 1: Space Oxygen Deprivation | Time Loop | Experiment

Day 2: Feeling Sick Fever | Infection | Delirium

Day 3: Environmental Earthquake | Storm | Hypothermia

Day 4: Captivity Chains | Caged | Rescue

Day 5: Water Shipwrecked | Drowning | Waterboarding

Day 6: Skills Try out a new technique you haven’t tried before using your favorite whump trope as inspiration!

Day 7: Emotional Crying | Panic Attack| Fear

Day 8: Hospital Ambulance | Intubation | Waking Up Disoriented

Day 9: Battlefield Explosion | Gunfire | Field Medicine

Day 10: Temporary Effects Blinded | Amnesia | Poisoned

Day 11: Recovery Sling | Pain | Seeking Support

Day 12: We All Go A Little Mad Sometimes Straight Jacket | Forced Injection | Hallucinations

Day 13: Aesthetic Highlight your favorite whump aesthetic

Day 14: Sleeping Nightmares | Exhaustion | Passing Out

Day 15: Trapped Impaled | Buried Alive | Locked Inside

Day 16: Western Cauterized | Bitten | Hanged

Day 17: Comfort Hugging | Blankets | Gentle Touch

Day 18: Broken Broken Bones | Emotional Breakdown | Broken Spirit

Day 19: Relationships What is your favorite type of whumpee/caretaker relationship? Platonic? Romantic? Familial? Show me!

Day 20: Blood Bloody Hands | Bleeding Out | Covered in Blood

Day 21: Fantastical Nonhuman | Resurrection | Magical Healing

Day 22: A Knock to the Head Headache | Knocked Out | Bloody face

Day 23: Travel Gone Wrong Car Accident | Plane Crash | Train Delrailment

Day 24: Magic Magical Exhaustion | Cursed | Possession

Day 25: Period Drama Pick a time period of your choice and highlight the whump!

Day 26: Everything Hurts and I’m Dying Grief | Resuscitation | Presumed Dead

Day 27: Superheroes Overused Powers | Powers with a Side Effect | Villain

Day 28: Torture Beaten| Flogging | Choked

Day 29: Restrained Zipties| Rope Leash | Medical Restraints

Day 30: First Aid Ice Pack | Stitches | Bandages

Day 31: Colors Highlight a specific color in your art

Alternate Prompts:

"Stay With Me" Begging Heat Exhaustion Bedside Vigil Self Surgery Taser Scar Reveal Collapsing Protective Electrocution

[tennessoui]

hey what about an au where obi-wan raises luke on tatooine and for the first year or so he'd would just talk to the baby about every memory and even every nightmare because those are all rooted in love too and he knows when luke's older he'll need to mind his words and not say much more than a few things about luke's father to the boy for security's sake, but when he's a baby, he can say anything so he does. he says everything he can think of and most of it is about anakin, his padawan then his partner then his ....

it's a rough year. lots of tears from both of them. but so many late night talks too, broken man to orphaned baby. obi-wan doesn't know if he'll ever be able to teach luke to swim on a place like tatooine, but he has twelve different stories about teaching anakin. and if anyone's going to teach this skywalker to fly, it will be kenobi this time, alright, and it's going to be by the kriffing book. and luke's going to learn how to sit up straight with good posture....but oh, anakin used to sling his body upside down on the couch, head hanging off, just to annoy obi-wan. that was when he was still young and relaxed and he didn't have the weight of the galaxy on his shoulders, of course. and luke doesn't have to like boonaberries, obi-wan promises, but he'll save some credits to buy some anyway just to test, because once anakin ate a whole gallon jug of them after a twenty day siege and obi-wan and his men told him he'd turn blue from it, but it was aayla overhearing the joke and telling anakin that that's what happened to her that really made them laugh. and---and---and---

and then luke's grown up and at a cantina with his friends and they get on the subject of fathers, and biggs asks him if he knows anything about his dad, and luke's like 'well i know he fought in the clone wars! and he was a good pilot! and. i think i look like him....'

and biggs is like come on, old ben's never said anything else??? it's been 19 years!!

and luke thinks about it and he doesn't really remember anything but he remembers the sound of words like a waterfall and a warm feeling so deep it's almost like an ache, and he's like 'ben loved him. i know that. ben really loved him. i think he told me once, but i must have forgotten.'

[woman1festo]

big info post about the Maryland mall shooting and the shooter, Darion Aguilar.

( i have compiled this post in my notes from all different news articles, sources and google searches. it wasn't too easy to find much, but i hope this is enough insight/info.)

Darion Aguilar was a 19 year old, as described by his mother as a as 'a gentle, sweet kid' who has never been interested in guns.

'If you were to go in his room you would see what a gentle sweet kid he was,' she said, adding that he was a vegetarian because he was concerned about animal welfare.

He was also described as a "good kid" who "is quiet, kept to himself. Nice, normal, calm demeanor."

That was until January 25, 2014. He took a taxi around 10:15am, then he had entered the The Mall in Columbia where he was dropped off.

He went downstairs to a food court directly below the store, authorities say surveillance tapes show him sitting and walking around for nearly an hour. this may have been due to the fact that he was obsessed with the Columbine shooting. it's suspected that he waited until the time of the shooting had lined up to the original one in 1999.

(Investigators found thousands of searches on Aguilar's computer related to mass murder, school shootings, guns and explosives.

He also looked up websites for people with mental health problems, and he told a doctor he was hearing voices in the months before the shooting.)

Reports have said that Aguilar took a picture of himself inside the dressing room at Zumiez in the minutes leading up to the shooting and posted the photo to tumblr with a caption reading,

"I had to do this. Today is the day. On previous days I tried this I woke up with anxiety, regret and hope for a better future this day I didn't, I woke up felt no emotions no empathy no sympathy. I will have freedom or maybe not. I could care less."

It was said in mentioned selfie that some of way he is dressed, wearing a white t-shirt, boots and cargo pants with his shotgun in a sling around him, is reminiscent of one of the Columbine killers.

Police say he bought a shotgun last month – a 12-gauge Mossberg – and kept it hidden as a taxi cab dropped him off at the mall. before exiting the dressing room, Aguilar dumped his backpack out, changed his clothes and assembled the gun.

As soon as Aguilar stepped out, he raised his gun, took a few steps, aimed at his first victim, Brainna Belolo (21), and fired, killing her instantly.

He continued on to aim at his next victim, Tyler Johnson (25) , who was said to be near the front of the store, hitting him multiple times. he also died instantly.

Aguilar then stepped out of the store and fired two shots across the mall on the upper railing. One struck a railing while the other struck a woman in the heel. He then turned towards the food court, fired one shot and struck a wall right outside the Great American Cookie store, very narrowly missing more victims.

Next Aguilar turned back to Zumiez and fired through the glass at a mannequin before re-entering Zumiez, sticking the shotgun in his mouth and shooting, killing him instantly.

A total of nine shots were fired by Aguilar, out of the 54 rounds of ammunition he brought with him. The backpack he had with him contained homemade explosives, most likely made with fireworks, but were not powerful enough to cause major structural damage, police said.

"(Aguilar) was just silent. Focused. There was no sort of expression or emotion," an eyewitness recalled.

Despite officers arrived less than two minutes after the first 911 call, they entered to find Aguilar dead.

Desperately searching for a motive, police discovered his journal, which was about 20 handwritten loose-leaf pages in roughly chronological order. In a portion police released, Aguilar makes an angry, expletive-laced statement in which he anticipates the killings in "a couple of hours."

"I'm going to [fucking] kill you all in a couple hours I'm anxious, I hate you all so much you are pathetic pieces of [shit] who deserve to die. Worthless you all are [fucking] worthless. Everything seems fake. I think that I may already be dead," one journal entry read.

He apologized to his family for what he was about to do, that he wrote he was ready to die, that he wanted to die and hated others. He never mentioned to his family that he needed any help for his mental illness. While he talks about killing people, he never gave any specific targets.

Sources say it also shows a hatred of certain groups and a general unhappiness with life. 

[popcornforone]

PEDROTOBER 2024

I have never done this before & I know it’s technically a drawing challenge set up by @alyssamariag & @norththelemon but I was away on holiday & had some time to write, so I thought why not. Yes I should have worked on WIP & other things but you know this is gonna be fun. I’ve taken some liberties with some but you’ll understand why.

I will be updating this every day in October so stay for the that. Most of these are short with hints of smut but some are well you know all to well.

So please let me know peoples how you find these

Warnings before we start:- some of these fics will not be for those under the age of 18 so please read at your own discretion, also assume consent is used for most of these unless stated & swearing will be included in a few of these. Any other warnings will appear per fic

1) Dreamy (Mr Fantastic)

2) Bromance or Romance P1 (Dieter Bravo)

3) Only the Best (Agent Whiskey [nails prompt])

4) Unspoken (Silva)

5) Be a Good Girl (Detective Tim Rockford[Esquire prompt])

6) Bromance or Romance P2 (Dieter Bravo)

7) Home (Ezra)

8) Smothered (Mrs Flores & a Special guest[Corona Prompt])

9) Think Fink (Frankie Morales [Fink the Fox Prompt])

10) The Casual Campaign (Ted Garcia[Candid/ T-shirt Prompt])

11) Red (Max Phillips)

12) Pride (Marcus Moreno[Rainbow Trousers Prompt])

13) Speechless (Javi Gutierrez)

14) Domestic (Dave York [free choice])

15) Make Me A Match (The Materialist)

16) Laters Doll, Keep Smiling (Agent Whiskey)

17) Handy (Dave York[Arm Sling Prompt])

18) Smitten (Oberyn Martell)

19) Two Faced (Max Lord[SDCC Prompt])

20) I’ll Make an Exception (Frankie Morales)

21) Bromance or Romance P3 (Dieter Bravo[Curls Prompt])

22) The Wait (General Marcus Acacius [Gladiator II Prompt])

23) Safety (Din Djarin)

24) One Last Dance (Max Phillips [Sundance Prompt])

25) Laundry (Javier Peña)

26) Flying High (Javi Gutierrez [Vanity Fair Prompt])

27) Unlocked (Joel Miller [The Last Of Us Prompt])

28) OCTOBER (Marcus Pike [any Marcus Prompt]{part of the Marcus pike Diary})

29) Sweet Like Chocolate (Lucien Flores[The Uninvited Prompt])

30) Roses (Detective Tim Rockford[Awards Fit Favourite Prompt])

31) Spoilt (Mr Ben [SAG Awards Prompt])

[1425fivefive]

19-choscar(oscar/charles), and maybe you will write a whole fic about them someday? 🥺

Choscar anon, how I adore you!

19. kiss passionately - choscar

The hotel rooftop in Baku is empty save for one person: Charles.

He’s floating in the pool, arms resting on the edge, chin propped on his forearms as he looks out over the city.

Oscar considers turning around. Heading back to the elevator and going to his room, taking a long shower or texting Lando to ask what club he ended up at.

But Oscar had wanted to take a nighttime swim after the race, unwind after the intensity of the day, bask in his victory under the soft glow of the moon. He’s not going to let Charles scare him off. Even if he hasn’t been alone with Charles like this since the night after Monaco, when Charles had found Oscar at the club and invited Oscar back to his flat.

In the months since, Oscar’s wondered whether maybe he hallucinated that night. His fingers in Charles’s soft hair, Charles’s gorgeous green eyes blinking up at him, Charles’s tongue dragging over the crease of his hip.

Charles hasn’t acted any differently since. Still polite, friendly, vaguely flirty—exactly the same way he acts with Pierre or Carlos. Oscar can’t help but wonder whether maybe it meant nothing to Charles.

All Oscar knows is it meant something to him.

As Oscar peels off his shirt, he wonders whether maybe he’s hoping to force an answer out of Charles. Force Charles to reveal something real, behind all the layers of Ferrari media training.

When Oscar slips into the pool, sending ripples across the surface, Charles looks over at him. His expression is smooth, placid, revealing nothing, as if Oscar could be anyone and not someone who’s come Charles had tasted only a few months earlier.

It stings.

“Nice night,” Charles says casually, still floating with his arms propped on the lip of the pool.

“It is.”

The pool’s relatively shallow and Oscar stands in the middle, trying to figure out what Charles is thinking.

“You were fast today,” Charles says. He doesn’t reveal how he feels about that, just says it as if he’s stating a fact.

Oscar hums. “You were too.”

Charles laughs, short and harsh. “Not fast enough.”

And—there. A tiny crack in Charles’s facade of cool detachment.

Oscar pounces. “You were faster than me in Monaco.”

“Ah, Monaco,” Charles says, a hint of pink coloring his cheeks. “That was—a good weekend.” He meets Oscar’s eyes and there’s something there, his gaze hot, heavy.

Oscar swallows, his mouth suddenly dry. “Yeah,” he agrees. He thinks for a moment before— “What did you like about it?”

Oscar means for it to come out seductive, confident, but his voice is choked and needy.

Charles smirks. “What was there not to like?” Charles asks. “Winning my home race, of course.” His eyes flash, and he adds, “You fucking me was quite nice, as well.”

Oscar flushes, knocked off balance. “I thought you—maybe regretted that.”

“Maybe,” Charles says, shrugging. Oscar’s heart sinks, but Charles continues, “We are practically coworkers, no? It is—complicated.”

“Yeah, but—” Oscar pauses, considering his next move. 

He wants Charles again, desperately, even more after racing him today. Having Charles in his mirrors for almost the entire race, pulling off the overtake and keeping it, all the way to the end. They’ve been racing each other all year, circling each other at track after track.

Oscar takes a deep breath and admits, “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that night.”

Charles’s breath hitches.

It’s an opening, however small, and Oscar forces himself to say, “I want to. Again.”

Charles pushes away from the wall, and walks slowly toward Oscar through the water.

“You want me?” Charles breathes, his expression open, almost scared.

And that’s not quite what Oscar said, but it’s exactly what he meant, and he nods, reaching a hand out to Charles. Charles takes it and Oscar pulls him through the water toward him.

Charles ends up wrapping his legs around Oscar’s waist, slinging his arms around Oscar’s neck. Oscar’s holding his breath, his hands gripping Charles’s ass, holding Charles up.

“Tell me again,” Charles murmurs, his nose brushing Oscar’s, eyes trained on Oscar’s lips. “Tell me you want me.”

Oscar laughs, soft and breathless. “I want you, Charles.”

Charles moans at that, a desperate, low sound, and leans forward, capturing Oscar’s lips in a searing kiss.

It’s just as good as Oscar remembers. Better, maybe, now that they know what the other likes.

Oscar licks into Charles’s mouth, groaning at the feeling of Charles’s tongue against his. Charles whines into the kiss and Oscar tightens his grip on Charles’s ass, pulling Charles flush against him. When Oscar uses his hold on Charles’s ass to drag Charles against him in a slow, smooth grind, Charles pants desperately against his mouth and whispers, “Your hotel room or mine?”

“As long as this ends with you in bed with me,” Oscar says, grinning. “I really don’t care.”

Charles laughs breathily and pulls Oscar back in for a kiss. When he pulls back, he murmurs, “Yours, then. I do not want my sheets getting dirty.”

Oscar rolls his eyes, fondly. “You’re such a princess.”

“Am I?” Charles asks, eyes sparking, a small smirk on his lips. “Perhaps you should treat me like one, then.”

Oscar wants to do nothing more. “Reckon that can be arranged,” Oscar says, grinning, before pulling Charles in for another desperate kiss.

[mickandmusings]

iv. so high school

part of the 'hangman & honey' series!

summary: With Honey and Jake's senior year coming to a quick end, Honey is more than thrilled to dream about her upcoming days in the Austin sun as a future UT student. Blindly, and perhaps naively, she assumes Jake will be at her side for another four years. Jake has a secret he's refused to tell her, and the weight of it threatens to collapse his chest. He knows it's the right decision, but he can't help but think of the hurt it will cause the girl he loves.

word count: 4.4k

warnings: fluffy->angsty, building up to some major angst, folks, buckle up, also two posts in one week is crazy, just let me be mentally ill thanks <3

-

'And there he goes! #86, Senior Jake Seresin catches the ball from #19, Senior Ethan Williams, and runs towards the end zone for the touchdown and...it is good! That's a win for the Haven High Bobcats! The Blue and Gold Nation is officially in the playoffs!'

The crowd roars in Honey's ears as she jumps up and claps in elation at Jake's score-saving play. Haven had been behind by just a handful of points, and he'd won the game just before the buzzer sounded for the end of the fourth quarter. She smiled as she watched his teammates pummel over him, lifting him above their heads as he slings off his helmet, sweaty blonde hair shining under stadium lights. His Hollywood smile is blinding, and although she can't hear it, she can see him laugh.

Honey turns to Janet and Jacob Sr. moving next to her, both of them picking up their stadium seats and filing out of their row in the bleachers. Honey picks up Jake's football sweatshirt and slings it over her shoulders. She sported a solid navy long-sleeve under Jake's spare gold jersey she wore, but Jake had insisted she bring another layer. He had been right, of course, she had shivered through the first half of the game, but after halftime, she had broken into a sweat cheering Jake on. She trailed behind Janet, making their way back to the parking lot to meet up with her small-town football star boyfriend. Honey chatted pleasantly with Janet and Jacob Sr. as she stood next to their truck, telling them about she and Jake's after-game plans. They had decided on their usual post-game dinner at The Basket, then they'd slip off into one of the empty pastures far from the farmhouse and simply enjoy some alone time, not that the grandparents needed to know that detail. She waved them goodbye when they parted to their truck, and Honey walked across the parking lot to Jake’s truck. She leaned against the side of it, waiting for him to arrive. She didn’t bother to pay attention to the stares in her direction or the whispers filling the air, Jake was the senior football star hanging out with her, so she’d expected the push back.

She heard him before she saw him, his hearty laugh filling the air. He’s fist-bumping and bro-hugging his teammates before he makes his way over to her. His smile widens, throwing down his duffel at her feet and lifting her up off the ground, kissing her lips. Honey's own smile appears, lightly chastising him to put her down. When he does, he notes her appearance, fondly looking at his own numbers across her torso, but concerned she’d be freezing.

"I told you to wear that sweatshirt, not tie it 'round your waist. You're gonna end up with a head cold and you're gonna be all mopey and miserable."

Honey gave him a pointed look.

"Okay, Dad, cool your jets. I'll put it on when we get to the truck."

He opens her door and she slides in, and he opens the back door to throw his duffel bag on the floorboard. Honey waits for him to slide around to his spot at the front, but a voice calls out his name.

"Hey, Seresin! You comin' out tonight, man? Everyone's coming down to my place, gonna have a bonfire."

Ethan Williams' voice calls after him. Honey listens in as they speak, her eyes cutting awkwardly to her hands, fiddling with the hem of the jersey she's wearing. Truthfully, all Honey wanted to do was grab their dinner, go back home and plop into Jake's bed, and sleep until noon the next day. She understood why Jake would want to go, Ethan was captain of the football team, quarterback, and Jake's friend. It was their senior year, the last chance to soak up any childish memories before their impending adulthood. Jake was funny, the life of any party, but Honey was still learning to adapt to that sort of environment. Jake cut his green eyes to look at Honey, raising an eyebrow as if to ask what she wanted to do. Honey nodded slowly, a forced smile plastered across her face. Honey hated parties, especially ones like these, where almost everyone in attendance was friends with one another, while she was just there by association. She took a deep breath and calmed herself, it’d be fine, she’d go along with Jake for a few hours, let him laugh and mingle, and then they’d go back home. There she would have him to herself.

“Yeah, follow you there?” Jake replied back quickly. Ethan nods and walks toward his own truck. Jake quickly slings into the driver’s side of the truck, cranking it, and waiting for Ethan to roll out.

“Honey, you say the word and I’m blowing this party, I know-“

“No, no,” her voice is confident, at least to her. “These are your friends, and you just took us to the playoffs, Jake. You should celebrate, you deserve it.”

He gives her a wide grin, one that makes her heart swell with ridiculous adoration for the boy across from her.

-

A few hours later, Honey finds herself sitting on a bale of hay a few yards away from the bonfire, nursing a beer she hadn’t taken more than two sips of. She didn’t care for the taste of beer to begin with, often starting one and letting Jake finish it, but this one tasted particularly sour. It likely had nothing to do with the beer at all, her attitude had been sour for the past hour or so, and she was more than ready to go home. She had sat and listened to the other player's girlfriends gossip amongst themselves-who was sleeping with who, who cheated on who-typical high school gossip. She had tuned them out mostly, her eyes following Jake as he laughed with his friends. His eyes would meet hers occasionally, checking on her without having to say a word. She wasn't sour at him for having fun, she had wanted him to have this, childish teenage memories to look back on ten years from now. It wasn't his fault she wasn't having fun, it was hers, she should've tried to talk to other people in school these past four years. She remained relatively uninterested in their blabber, but when she heard something that perked her ears, she simply couldn't stop listening in.

“I know you all saw those scouts tonight, they were hard to miss in that bright orange.”

“Of course I did, they’re always at Haven games when the season is good. The question is, who are they scoutin'? Ethan has already announced he’s going to A&M, they’re not there for him.”

“They’re at the games for Jake Seresin, duh! He hasn’t accepted a scholarship anywhere, it’s got to be him. None of the other guys are good enough, my own boyfriend included.”

“Well there’s only one person who would know his plans, you just have to ask her,” Brett’s girlfriend Haley spoke. She was turning to Honey, her pale blue eyes kind. “Hey, Honey, why don’t you come sit over here with us?”

Honey stilled, the condensation on her beer can making her hands cold. Haley had always been kind to her, their boyfriends were close friends, Brett was one of Jake's few friends that spoke to her, and it made for easy camaraderie. Before she could overthink it, her feet carried her over to the group of girls, sinking onto a hay bale next to Haley.

“So, Honey,” Sarah Grace, Ethan’s girlfriend, started. “Where does Jake plan on signing to?”

Honey’s mouth felt as if she’d been eating cotton, her eyes wide. She, truthfully, had no idea. It wasn’t something Jake had ever talked to her about. She’d assumed he would go to UT Austin, it was his preferred team, and it wasn’t too far from Haven. It was Honey’s future school, hopefully, because she’d follow him anywhere.

“Um,” she started. “I don’t really know, but if I had to guess, probably UT Austin. I mean, he’s been a Longhorns fan since before I knew him, and that’s where I’ve sent my early decision application, so..." She ends her statement with a shrug. She feels like everyone’s eyes are on her, feeling a blush forming at the unusual attention.

“No matter where he goes, he’ll be a star, so it’s a win-win for you either way.” Haley smiles encouragingly, now turning her full attention to Honey. “On a more important topic, have you picked out your color for prom? Because Brett and I are doing pink, which he hates, but I’ve had my heart on this dress since freshman year so-“

Honey listens to Haley, but her mind is far from prom and dress colors. How was it this far into their senior year and she had yet to talk about college plans with Jake? She had just assumed they’d go to UT Austin together, but maybe she’d read it all wrong. What if he didn’t want her to follow him?

“-so you should come with us, we’re all going together, it would be fun, having another girl around.”

Honey’s eyes widened, realizing Haley was inviting her to come prom dress shopping. Her eyes widened, she’d never been invited anywhere, not sincerely at least.

“Um, yeah, that sounds great. I-I’ll be there.”

Haley lets out a squeal of excitement as she smiles, making Honey smile too. She’d spent the rest of her night engaged in conversation with the other football girlfriends, finding herself laughing as the girls welcomed her warmly. Jake watched from afar, smiling to himself as he watched Honey's body language begin to settle in the small group of girls. He gave her space to socialize amongst them, proud of her for stepping even a foot out of her comfort zone. He finds her a few hours later, bidding the other girls a swift farewell before sweetly grabbing her hand and whisking her away back to the truck, back home. As the pair walked away into the distance, the girls began a new discussion.

“So, who wants to bet on how long those two have been more than friends?” Sarah Grace starts, her eyes still on the couple fading into the distance.

“Jake Seresin and her? Listen, she’s a sweet girl but they’re polar opposites. No way they've got somethin' going on. They’re nothing but friends.”

“Bullshit, she’s worn his jersey every single game, and he’s always got his arm around her. And those eyes he gives her? No way they’re not at least fooling around.” Ethan's girlfriend pipes up.

“Rumor has it she lives with the Seresin’s cause her mom’s a deadbeat. I mean they share a bed and everything, I bet they fuck like rabbits. We all know how well-off the Seresin's are, not to mention the influence that comes along with it, what if she's like, baby trapping him or something? I'm calling it now, she'll be pregnant before prom."

“You’re all wrong,” Haley finally piped up, shaking her head at the ignorant girl's statement. “Those two have been dating since sophomore year, are you truly that blind? For God's sake, have you ever seen Jake let anyone else borrow his clothes like that? Fuck no. Not to mention his obsession with touching her every time she's in his vicinity-they hold hands, she'll intertwine her arm around his, sleep on his shoulder-they're not hiding it. You just didn't notice it because you don't think someone shy like Honey could pull a ladies man like Jake Seresin. You should’ve seen them at Brett’s New Year’s Eve party last year, I swear Jake wasn’t going to let her breathe he kissed her so hard. Those two are in love, crazy about each other, but Jake is…not like other guys. He'd never let something like that happen to Honey. He isn't the idea you have in your head, at least not with her."

-

Jake cranks the truck and swings his arm around the headrest, his head peering out the back glass to back out. His hand lands on Honey’s thigh when he finally gets on the road. It's routine, his hand always rests against her when they ride together. She made no move to scoot closer, and when Jake looked at her, he expected to see her eyes shutting with sleep, but he instead found them wide awake, eyebrows pinched in thought. He sighs, he should’ve known from her being abnormally quiet when it was just the two of them.

“I can feel you thinking all the way over here. Talk to me. What's the matter, baby?” Jake’s voice is calm, soothing, as his thumb rubs lazy circles on her leg. Honey looks over at him, catches a glimpse of his concerned eyes, and looks back out her window before responding:

“There were scouts there tonight, from UT Austin. Word around the party says they were there to watch you.”

Jake shrugs, confused at where the conversation was heading. “That's a bad thing?”

Honey shakes her head. “No, it’s just, Haley and the other girls were asking if you were hoping to go to UT, and I realized I couldn’t even tell them, because I didn’t know. I-I even put my early decision application there, because I just thought that was where you’d go. It occurred to me I didn't even ask, I just thought we'd go together.”

As Jake processes her statement, he swallows thickly. He knew Honey's college plans, and as much as he'd wanted to follow her, he knew in the depth of his heart he wouldn't be following her to Austin. He had no aspirations for a traditional college route, and had already sent in his application to the Naval Academy. He hadn't told her, he hadn't told anyone, with the exception of their guidance counselor.

“I, um, I’m sendin' my application to UT too, just trying to scope out some other options, ya know? If I get hurt during a game or somethin', I’m over, I’ll lose my scholarship. I-I mean, my grades are there, but they’re not perfect, not like yours. Grandpa Seresin, he went straight to the Naval Academy after high school, paid for everything until he retired to the farm. Danny did too, played football there and everything. I just, need somethin' with some padding like that, just in case, so I’ve been holding out on a definite answer.”

His answer hadn’t been a complete lie, just, not the truth either. Honey nods in understanding, satisfied with his answer for now. Finally, she scoots over in the seat and leans her head on his shoulder, burying her head into the crook of his neck. She’s comfortable, content.

“That's good, just know I’ll follow you anywhere. I couldn’t imagine not having you around for four years, no way I'd survive without you."

Jake gulps, his heart breaking in half in his chest. His mind raced, if he told her the truth, it would kill her. There was no guarantee he'd be accepted into the Academy, but he hadn't even told her that he'd tried for it. He knew he had to tell her, but he kept it to himself for now, trying to enjoy their moments of being seniors together. He leans down and kisses her head, his mind swimming with thoughts of how he would tell her if he got accepted into the Naval Academy. He could already picture her big eyes swimming with tears, the fake smile she’d plaster across her face for his sake, telling him how proud she was, and how she would be hurting on the inside the entire time. He didn’t want that, he couldn’t face that, so, as fall turned to winter and then winter into spring, he’d neglected telling her completely.

-

When her early acceptance to UT Austin came in December, Honey had been all smiles and excited rambles, and that night, as they ate the celebratory dinner Janet made Honey, his stomach turned with guilt. Come the spring, when everyone else was announcing acceptances, he would no longer be able to lie to her, to defer the truth. But he pushed it to the side, letting both himself and Honey focus on all the exciting things that came with the last few months of high school, but they passed quicker than he wanted them to. They’d made it into the playoffs, won a few rounds before their luck run out and the football season was over. Christmas was done and over before he blinked, and his heart all but shattered at Honey’s blinding smile when she opened her very first orange Longhorns sweatshirt of her own-a gift from his grandparents. Honey had let her shoulders fall in happiness, tossing off Jake's Cowboys sweatshirt she was wearing to throw it over her head. She’d cried and squeezed both Janet and Jacob Sr. so tightly, but Jake could not smile, his entire chest was tight with words he couldn’t say. So when he opened an identical box with the same sweatshirt in a bigger size, he had to wipe on a smile and swallow the lump in his throat, because everyone still believed he’d be tagging along with Honey come August, his grandmother included. He had spilled his secret months before to his grandfather, who listened earnestly, but gave him a raised eyebrow look.

"This got anythin' to do with Danny?"

Jake had sighed, choosing not to say anything. Nothing got past his grandfather. His Uncle Danny had served in the Navy his entire life, as long as Jake had been alive. When Uncle Danny hadn't come back from his last post with the Navy, it had sent the entire family into shambles. It wasn't until months later that they'd found out the truth-he'd been shot down and lost his life.

Jacob Sr. had only nodded his head, sort of shocked by Jake's sudden announcement, but not surprised. His grandson had always had a flair for the unexpected.

"He'd be proud of you, kid. Just, the truth is better out than in. I know you haven't told Honey, that sweet girl deserves the truth, Jake. And you better tell ya Granny too, if she finds out from someone other than you, she'll kill you before you even get to Maryland. Believe me, women always find out the truth."

Jake suddenly wished he would've taken that advice sooner.

For the entirety of the next few months, he burned as he listened to Honey talk about them at UT: the apartments they'd move into together, joining him for football games, being his tag-along at parties, and him joining her in the library to help her study. She was so excited, happier than Jake had seen her in, well, ever-she was getting away from everything: her mother who she despised, this small town that felt suffocating at times, the people who talked shit about her, but she’d still have him, the one person she truly loved. She'd make him stop and let her check the mail each day as they came in from school, waiting for an acceptance letter for him that would never come. Honey would give him a sweet smile and assure him it would come sooner or later. He wouldn’t burst that bubble for-he couldn't-at least not yet.

-

As the colder days turned into a particularly hot April, Jake had five weeks before graduation, meaning he had T-minus thirty-five days to tell her. He had prolonged it this far, because after he told her the news, it was likely he’d never see her again. He'd received his Naval Academy acceptance letter two weeks ago, and as proud of himself as he was, he knew the disaster that would lay ahead of him, all at his own hand. He had broken down on the couch the night that Honey was out with Haley and Sarah Grace prom dress shopping, and his grandmother had gotten the truth from him. Janet had wrapped the boy in her arms, the boy who now towered over her, as if he was a toddler again and let him cry, knowing his decision had been made, but it didn't mean it would be easy.

Instead of focusing on the imminent pain, he spent his free time working on the old farm house on the south side of the farm. The house was nice, built years ago for a group of farm hands hired for the summer, but was in desperate need of a deep clean and some minor fixes. He had thought it’d be a great place for Honey and her new friends (Haley and Sarah Grace) to get ready for prom together, and a place he and Honey could decompress afterwards without any prying eyes, or worrying about waking up Janet or Jacob Sr. His grandparents had thought it was a good idea, happy to see Honey bring around more friends than just their grandson. As he scrubbed the floors and moved furniture into the house that week, his mind raced with ideas of how he would tell her, and, more importantly, when. After an internal pep-talk, he decided on telling her after prom, after the last fun before graduation was over. He wanted her to have one good night after her hell of a high school experience, but he needed to get the truth off his chest, and fast.

-

For now, he's wrapping his fist against the wooden door of her bedroom across the hall from his. He stares back at the Dawson's Creek poster plastered across it as he speaks.

“Honey, can I come in?”

“Hold on!” Her voice pipes up, and a shuffling noise is evident behind the door. “Okay! Now you can.”

Jake pushes open the creaky door and notices nothing out of place, which makes him raise a brow.

“What was all that racket about?”

“I had to hide my prom dress, I don’t want you to see it before prom night, it’s supposed to be a surprise! Haley said it was a ‘crime’ to look that good, so I should keep it a surprise from you.”

Jake shakes his head, kissing the top of her head as he pulls her into his arms.

“Well that poses a bit of a problem, darlin’. Don’t know what color tie I need, or what flowers to put on your corsage.”

Honey blushes, forgetting about that.

“For the flowers, do whatever you want, just something pretty, and the tie, black.” She attempts to mask her sly smile.

“Black?” Jake’s green eyes widened, his arms pulling her closer as he looked down at her. The sight of Honey in a black dress would probably kill him on the spot. "Don't think I've ever seen you in a black dress, baby."

Honey smiled as he spoke the nickname that still gave her goosebumps nearly three years later. She shrugs nonchalantly, as if the sudden change was nothing.

"Wanted to switch it up, leave our whole class with the whole 'wallflower is hotter than you think' dramatic exit, like a movie."

Jake chuckles, "You've got to stop watching so many of those cheesy romances. C'mon I got to show you somethin'."

He pulls her forward by the hand as she quickly slides on her sandals at the door. He brings her out the door and pops open the passenger side of his vehicle, helping her in. He slides into his driver's side and backs out, leading to her incoming question.

"Jake, where are we going?"

"That field with the house in the middle."

"Care to tell me why?"

"You'll see, darlin', patience, please."

Honey rolls her eyes at him as she looks out the window at the fields full of animals passing them by, slowly morphing into empty ones. Jake pulls into the driveway of the house, and Honey notes the lights on in the house.

"Did they hire some hands for the summer? You should've told me, I'm not really dressed to meet strangers, Jake."

Jake opens her door, and helps her out.

"Nobody's here but us, Hon. Just c'mon," He leads her through the front door and into the house, and she's immediately in awe of how nice it looks. There's no more layers of dust, or the sort of weird, tangy smell a shut-up house has. She turns to her boyfriend again.

"You did all this? You cleaned this place up?"

He nods, pulling her into him, her back to his chest.

"Thought it would be nice for you and the girls to get ready in, since me, and Brett and Willie and Ethan are getting ready at the house, no way we could share a bathroom with all of us."

"You fixed the bathroom in this place?" Honey's eyes widened, launching from his arms and into the hallway. She opens the door and audibly gasps-he added lighting around the mirrors, something the bathroom was once lacking, giving the perfect spot for them to get ready. "You are somethin' else, Jake Seresin."

She approaches him as he's standing in the door frame, kissing his lips sweetly. When they break apart she catches sight of the open bedroom door, immediately moving to look at it. She pushes the door completely open, finding the once broken headboard fixed, clean sheets, and the curtains are no longer filled with dust. The boy who she had to force to pick up his laundry had vacuumed this house from top to bottom.

"It looks amazing here, J, seriously." Her eyes are round as she looks around.

"I, um, I thought it'd be nice for us to have this place for just us, ya know? For prom obviously, but also if you wanted to come home during school or the summer? Wouldn't have to be cramped up in the house with the old folks."

He didn't have the heart to say he had done it so she would have some space away from the memories of him if she decided to come home. He didn't like imagining her working her ass off for some overpriced apartment during the summers when she could live here. The place wasn't anything fancy, and it's interior was definitely aging, but that was something she could fix, if she wanted. It gave Jake peace of mind to know that even if he wasn't around for her, that she would have somewhere to go, that she would be taken care of. She leans back into his embrace, taking in the house's appearance.

"Hey, J?" Her voice is quiet, but not somber.

"Yeah, baby?" He replies, his chin falling to her shoulder, planting a chaste kiss on her temple before he rests there.

"Do you think, someday-, maybe-, maybe s-someday we'd fix this place up together? It could be ours? I mean, it's perfect, a decent size house on a big patch of land. We could make it our own."

Jake's heart sinks to his feet, feeling like he might hurl with the amount of guilt swirling in his stomach. Her eyes are so wide, full of hope, and she gives him that smile, the one that's so rare it's practically reserved for him alone. He swallows down the round of tears threatening to choke him, and gives her a smile of his own.

"Someday, I'll give you the house of your dreams, baby. I'll give you whatever you want, if you'll let me."

-

taglist:

@djs8891

@unattainablesillygoose

@psuedochakra

@fraaaaankiiiiieee

-

[brook1yn-baby]

all mine

main 4 dating hcs <3

characters; kyle broflovski, stan marsh, kenny mccormick, eric cartman x gender-neutral reader

warnings; just a smidge of smut :3

a/n; first actual post 😱 also theyre like 18/19 in this

kyle broflovski:

he’s absolutely lovesick.

bro wrote and performed a love song for rebecca when he was in 3rd grade

you can be damn sure he’s doing that and more for you

only in private though, not big on pda, especially when you’re around his friends

you both know how much he likes you, so he doesn’t feel the need to put on a show when you’re in public

he’ll sling a loose arm around your shoulders while he’s talking to the guys or sit next to you during lunch, little things that tell you he’s still yours

his jealousy does sometimes get the better of him though

probably a little insecure in the relationship, scared he’s gonna lose you to cartman like he did with heidi

one time the five of you were at a party and kyle started squaring up to guy who’d asked you if you were single

sorta gave you the ick but he made up for it by walking you home, giving you a tipsy goodnight kiss and a lopsided grin before stumbling over your porch steps and heading back to stan’s place, the other guys having to hold him up the whole way there

that was the first and last time you’d seen him drink

after you told him about his attempt to fight some random guy, he decided that it’d probably be better for everyone if he stuck to being the designated driver

oh and he loves how close you are with his family

the first time he invited you over for dinner, he was terrified about his parents embarrassing him

almost cancelled when his mom wouldn’t stop saying that her ‘little bubaleh’ was in love

still, you managed to charm them the whole night, asking questions about gerald’s job and helping sheila clean up after dinner, even enduring ike’s constant questioning about if you and kyle were gonna get married

that’s when he knew he’d found the right one

definitely ended the night with your guys’ first kiss <3

stan marsh:

i’m gonna be honest he’s a fucking loser

definitely not the most attentive boyfriend you’ve ever had, but probably the best you were gonna get in south park

it’s a small town and options are slim, so you often had to give stan the benefit of the doubt

absolutely terrible at replying to messages

if you two aren’t physically together, you probably don’t talk

luckily for you, he’s a whiny bitch and will most definitely complain when he’s not with you

meaning most of your free time is spent at his house, listening as he practices guitar, playing video games or just laying in his arms

you could go to his and just nap the whole time and he’d still be happier than if you weren’t with him

you know his relationship with his dad isn’t the best, so you have to be prepared for many late-night ‘can i come over’ texts

most of the time it’s because randy’s drunk or just being a dick and he can’t stand to be around him

and obviously, you’re his safe place

sometimes though, his messages are a little less innocent

he’s a teenage boy at the end of the day, and he has needs

(as do you ;))

you and stan have a pretty stable relationship in comparison to him and wendy, but there’s been times when you two had to go on a break

whether it’s because of his constant need to be around you or his drinking, sometimes you just needed space

you and shelley def complain about him together when you’re on a break

she’s a couple years older but she gets it better than anyone

her own relationship was pretty rocky too, so it was nice to just vent to eachother, probably with a bottle of wine and takeout

it was probably a little weird that you still hung out with his sister when you and him were on a break, but you honestly didn’t care

you and stan never stay broken up for long though, the both of you eventually crawling back

maybe it was a little toxic, maybe you knew it wasn’t really gonna last, but for now, you had him and he had you

that’s all that mattered <3

kenny mccormick:

good old kenny mcwhoremick.

despite the rumours of his promiscuous lifestyle, his body count was actually significantly lower than you expected

not that you cared; you were actually quite happy that he was so experienced- not many boys your age knew how to pleasure both themselves and their partner

he wasn’t just great in bed, either

he’s quick to fall for you, infatuated with you after just a few meetings

immediately takes on a sort of caring role in the relationship, definitely protective, similarly to how he looks after karen

it was nice to have someone so doting, though you had to remind him a few times that you could take care of yourself

he simply shakes his head, stubborn as ever

speaking of karen, you adored her

anytime kenny invited you to his house, you spent most of your time playing dolls with her or letting her do your hair

he loved how motherly you acted towards her

probably got him thinking about starting a family with you tbh

he absolutely loves showing you off, be it with pda, on social media, whatever

you were his and he wanted everyone to know

definitely has a highlight on insta dedicated to photos of you, and a playlist of songs that remind him of you

(also of songs that he’d thought about fucking you to)

though you do spend lots of time at his house now, he was really against the idea when you first started dating

you’d suggest watching a movie at his place and he’d come up with some excuse to do it at yours instead

it wasn’t that he didn’t want to spend time with you, he was just embarrassed of where he lived after years of teasing from the other boys

one day you decided to show up out of the blue, wanting to surprise him for his birthday with presents

he’s gobsmacked when he opens the door, quickly trying to divert your attention away from the mess in his living room, his parents passed out on the couch

you reassure him that you don’t mind, asking if he wanted you to go; you really wanted to stay and see his reactions to your gifts, but you weren’t going to push him if he was uncomfortable

he was relieved when you said you didn’t mind, finally inviting you in

it was the first time he’d let a partner into his house which was terrifying in itself, but he calmed down when he saw how relaxed you seemed, getting comfy on his bed and waiting for him to open his presents

you obviously didn’t care how messy his home was, or how his parents weren’t the best at looking after their kids

you only cared about him <3

eric cartman:

listen, as much as i love the enemies to lovers trope with cartman, i love the fake dating trope even more

(and i love combining the two the most teehee)

cartman had recently received some pretty embarrassing information about you, and decided to make the most of it while he’s coming up with his newest scheme

you had had a crush on one of the other boys in your class for a few months and, even though you’d only told your closest friends, somehow he’d found out

so, in order to make heidi jealous, he’d forced you to be his pretend partner in exchange for not telling your crush you liked him

it was humiliating- having to hold his hand as he walked you to class, sitting with him at lunch, enduring his sickly-sweet pet names..

..only at first, though

after a few weeks, you’d come to enjoy the routine the fake relationship provided

you also found that you actually liked spending time with eric, and he could be pretty funny when it was just you two

you did your best to shove your feelings down, slightly ashamed and pissed off that you liked him, of all people

still, it couldn’t be helped- you had stopped staring longingly at your crush during class, eyes fixed on cartman across the room

it didn’t help that heidi didn’t seem too jealous either, causing him to ramp up the ‘pretend’ affection

when you were around him, he acted like he couldn’t get enough of you; playing with your hair, caressing your face, all the while keeping a strong arm around your shoulders, like he wanted to keep you close to him

as much as you liked the attention he was giving you, it was infuriating knowing he was only like this to get heidi back

it all came to a head when he tried to kiss you as she walked past you both in the hallway

you pushed him back, all of the feelings you’d been forcing down suddenly overflowing, choking on tears as you walked away

you knew when he didn’t bother following you that this relationship really was just pretend to him

it wasn’t until later that night when he showed up on your doorstep, hands in his pockets, sighing, that you realised maybe you were wrong

he obviously wasn’t big on apologising but tried his best, looking slightly annoyed as he admitted that he’d only blackmailed you into being his fake partner because he knew you’d say no if he actually asked you out

his logic was completely insane to you, but from eric’s point of view, he genuinely saw it as his only option to call you his partner

your heart melted as you thought about how he went through all that just because he had a crush on you

you don’t say anything in response, shocking him a little as you walk towards him, wrapping your arms around him and laying your head on his chest

sure, you’d hugged before, but it was awkward and emotionless, just pretend

this was different- his arms enveloped you, pulling you close as you felt him laugh

he was most definitely gonna tease you later for being ‘obsessed’ with him, but you could deal with it

after all, you were really, actually his <3

[alwayslurkinginthebackground]

Pedrotober Masterlist

I am thrilled to participate in Pedrotober 2024 hosted by @norththelemon and @alyssamariag! View the full prompt list HERE or enjoy my submissions throughout the month of October!

Note: As a writer, I took some pretty drastic liberties with some of the prompts to make them work from a writing perspective. All prompts have been adapted to fit a specific character and will be listed as the month goes on!

Another Note: Note: Drabbles marked with *** are rated E, Minors DNI. All drabbles list specific warnings, if applicable.

Day 1: Mr. Fantastic | "Thank Heaven" Pairing: Frankie Morales x f!reader Summary: Frankie can't help but admire his choice of costume for Halloween.

Day 2: Kieran Bromance | "The Competition" Pairing: Mr. Ben x f!reader Summary: Your boyfriend and his arch-nemesis face off in your school's yearly decorating contest.

Day 3: Nails | "All Along" Pairing: Frankie Morales x f!reader Summary: Frankie paints your nails.

Day 4: Silva | "Ghosts" Pairing: Silva x Jake Summary: It felt like he was being followed by ghosts. Or perhaps, after all this time, he was still following them.

Day 5: Esquire Bonuses | “Get in the Truck”*** Pairing: Joel Miller x f!reader Summary: You won’t get in the truck until Joel tells you why you’re going. He shows you instead.

Day 6: Dieter Bravo | "KitKat" Pairing: Dieter Bravo x f!reader Summary: You and Dieter learn your love languages.

Day 7: Ezra | "Countdown" Pairing: Ezra x reader Summary: He has to let you go.

Day 8: Corona | "Lucky" Pairing: Frankie Morales x f!reader Summary: Frankie sets you up on a blind date.

Day 9: Fink the Fox | "The Backyard" Pairing: Frankie Morales x f!reader Summary: You watch Frankie and his daughter play in the backyard.

Day 10: Fav Tee/Candids | "Pedialite" Pairing: Mr. Ben x f!reader Summary: Do you think some people have killed themselves over nausea?

Day 11: Any Max | "Turn"*** Pairing: Joel Miller x f!reader Summary: Joel convinces you to watch a movie, and then convinces you that he's far better than the man on screen.

Day 12: Rainbow Pants | "The Best Day" Pairing: Javi G x f!reader Summary: A nasty stomach bug forces you to miss Javi's Walk of Fame ceremony.

Day 13: Javi G | "Mariposa"*** Pairing: Javi G x f!reader Summary: Emptiness can always be filled with love. A VERY special collab with @alyssamariag and @imdrinkingpedro.

Day 14: Freebie! | "The Fox" Pairing: Javi G x f!reader (Set in the "Mariposa" Universe) Summary: Sofia gives you and Javi a gift.

Day 15: The Materialists | "Different"*** Paring: Randy x reader Summary: When you meet a stranger at the bar, your shared heartbreak shows you that you're more alike than you are different. Rated M for themes of depression.

Day 16: Whiskey | "Right Place" Pairing: Agent Whiskey x f!reader Summary: Whiskey has been distant lately, but when an undercover op goes wrong, everything becomes clear.

Day 17: Arm Sling | "Useless"*** Pairing: Joel Miller x f!reader Summary: Joel's injured...but that doesn't mean he's useless.

Day 18: Oberyn Martell | "Helpless"*** Pairing: Oberyn Martell x f!reader Summary: You sometimes wish you could convince yourself to leave, but then he reminds you why you stay.

Day 19: SDCC | "Excitement" Pairing: Mr. Ben x reader Summary: Ben makes sure you've seen the sizzle reel for Marvel's newest film.

Day 20: Frankie Morales | "Quiet Moments" Pairing: Frankie Morales x f!reader Summary: Crossword puzzles with Frankie.

Day 21: Curls | "Picture" Pairing: Frankie Morales x f!reader Summary: You can see your future with Frankie so clearly.

Day 22: Gladiator II | "Fate"*** Pairing: Marcus Acacius x f!reader Summary: Two souls that were never meant to cross paths find each other, even as death lurks in every corner.

Day 23: Din Djarin | "Blaster" Pairing: Din Djarin x reader Summary: You and Din differ in opinion when it comes to the Loth-cat that keeps showing up.

Day 24: Sundance | "Before"*** Pairing: Marcus Acacius x f!reader Summary: Whispered words long to fall from your tongue as Marcus makes a vow to you in the moonlight.

Day 25: Javier Pena | "Lies" Pairing: Javier Peña x f!reader Summary: Your entire relationship is formed on lies until you realize that the only one telling the truth is him.

Day 26: Vanity Fair Cover | "Domesticity" Pairing: Frankie Morales x f!reader Summary: Four little slices of life with Frankie Morales.

Day 27: The Last of Us | "Promise" Pairing: Joel Miller x f!reader Summary: The promises you whisper. Contains major spoilers for TLOU Part II.

Day 28: Any Marcus | "After"*** Pairing: Marcus Acacius x f!reader Summary: At times you know that the man who has returned to you is the same one who left, and in other ways, he's entirely different.

Day 29: The Uninvited | "S'mores"*** Pairing: Joel Miller x f!reader Summary: Your camping trip gets canceled, but Joel finds a way to make it up to you.

Day 30: Fav Awards 'fit | "The Shirt"*** Pairing: Javier Peña x f!reader Summary: If there's one thing you know about Javier Peña, it's that he really loves the way you look in his shirt.

Day 31: SAG Awards | "For You" Pairing: Frankie Morales x f!reader Summary: He's never been prouder than in this moment.

[badbatchsprincess]

Heated - pt.2

Pt.1 ~ Pt.2 ~ Pt.3 ~ Pt.4 ~ Pt.5 ~ Pt.6 ~ Pt.7 ~ Pt.8 ~ Pt.9 ~ Pt.10 ~Pt.11 ~ Pt.12 ~ Pt.13 ~ Pt.14 ~ Pt.15 ~ Pt.16 ~ Pt.17 ~ Pt.18 ~ Pt.19 ~ Pt.20 ~ Pt.21 ~ Pt.22 ~ Pt.23 ~ Pt.24 ~ Pt.25

Masterlist

Summary: This is an ABO Bad batch!Poly x Omega Reader smut with a plot. This takes place as an AU before order 66. Y/N previously served under the 501st before being transferred to Special Forces 99. This is her adventure with these rowdy Alphas in a quickly changing universe.

THIS IS AN ABO AU ABOUT THE BAD BATCH (NO CANON OMEGA!) Due to the unfortunate situation of her name being Omega… Omega the child from the canon series is not going to be apart of this fanfic/porn with a plot. I feel obligated to put this warning in because it makes my skin crawl thinking anyone could make that mistake. 

Warnings! Non-canon violence, not sure if this counts as pollen trope but hunter is a little feral, knife violence, blood, gore, substance abuse, hinting at but not committed non-con

─ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ──── ♡ ─── ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ──

You were barking out orders the moment your feet hit the tarmac. Droids scattered everywhere, scrambling to gather all the supplies you needed for immediate deployment. Realizing you were nearly out of everything (you didn’t know it was possible for five men to go through so much bacta gel), you knew you had to restock. Working with a special forces unit, you knew no one was going to question or stop you. You rested a hand on your hip while scrolling through the last of your checklist on the datapad.

“Pip!” Tech’s voice rang out across the filling tarmac. “I've got your things!” He strutted up to you, holding your duffle bag with all your belongings.

“Thanks, Tech,” you smiled and took it from him before unzipping it to fill it with more supplies.

“I tried my hardest to find that face cream you like, but the labels were very confusing, so I just put both of them in there,” he rattled on, clearly distressed he couldn’t decipher them. You giggled, “It’s alright, Tech. Thank you.” He visibly calmed, knowing he hadn’t failed you.

“Where are we going?” you asked, shoving more feminine products into your bag from the surplus bins.

He pushed up his goggles, looking at his datapad. “I believe we're heading to a star system called the Crait system in the Outer Rim Territories. It’s a mining planet. Hunter didn’t say what the mission objective is.”

You hummed and zipped up your bag before slinging it over your shoulder.

“So much for shore leave, huh?” you joked.

He just huffed and followed you out of the rows of medical surplus supplies.

“I wanted to apologize for earlier,” he sounded uncomfortable. You knew expressing his feelings was difficult for Tech.

“It’s alright, Tech,” you felt your cheeks heat up.

“No, I mean I just didn’t understand what was so embarrassing about mentioning Commander Wolffe’s obvious interest in you,” he rattled on, “But after discussing the implications with Hunter and the others, I think now I understand why that was making you uncomfortable.”

You just stood there, chewing on your lip, praying he’d be done soon.

“Though I understand it to be factual that an alpha male would find you attractive. You are, in fact, a prestigious example of an omega female, and judging by the fact that all of our implants are due for replacement, the urge to mate grows stronger by the day, especially in the presence of such an omega.”

You waved your hands, “Okay. Okay!” You forced out a chuckle, “I accept your apology. But please stop making me think about the Commander.”

He quirked his head, scenting your discomfort.

You just sighed and linked your arm with his while making your way back to the Marauder. He was unsure what to do with this sudden physical contact. He swallowed thickly, feeling his heart race.

"It wasn't just about Wolffe," you whispered in his ear, hoping Hunter wouldn't hear, "I was also embarrassed because talking about my sex life in front of my commanding officer is very awkward."

"Ahh, I see," he nodded, understanding.

"You want things to remain professional," he added.

You nodded and patted his arm, "Exactly."

"That makes sense," he concluded.

You physically relaxed, knowing he finally understood. For someone so intelligent, sometimes the point hits him right in the face before he sees it, and even then… It made you laugh, especially when he didn't understand some of Crosshair's innuendos or dirty jokes.

When you finally approached the Marauder with your parade of droids behind you carrying your supplies, Echo waved his scomp arm at you two before you broke away from Tech to finish up your job. Wrecker popped his head outside, asking if you needed help carrying everything inside, which you gladly took him up on his offer.

"I gotta go change!" you announced, tossing your bag back into your bunk before fishing out a fresh uniform. You stalked to the back of the ship, sliding open the fresher door. You locked it behind you and began to strip. Pulling off your civilian clothing, you folded it neatly before shimmying into the medic uniform. The white tunic just ended past your bum and secured nicely with a belt around your waist. You then slid on the white leggings and black combat field boots on top. You laced them tightly before standing. You looked at yourself in the mirror, giving yourself a once-over before leaving the fresher.

The others were just finishing up the final refueling when you left the fresher. You wished you could have washed away the remaining alpha stench, but such luxuries were forgotten when you received the orders to leave again.

Brushing past Crosshair on the way out, you slid past him, making your way to the storage bins. Wrecker had dropped off your restock, and you made haste putting everything in its correct location before stowing and locking the compartments. You also took the time to restock your personal pouch along with the field bag that everyone seemed to use.

"Everything set to go?" Hunter asked as he settled into his seat behind Tech's Pilot chair.

Tech confirmed, "We can begin the crosscheck now."

Hunter nodded to Echo, who made sure all of the airlocks were functioning and the life support was in optimal health. You clambered back to your jump seat and buckled in.

Before you knew it, the Marauder was up in the air, climbing altitude quickly before passing through the atmosphere and reaching cruising speeds. Crosshair returned to the main cabin with firepuncher in hand, along with his cleaning kit. He sat down at the table and began taking his precious rifle apart. 

You unbuckled from your seat and slumped down slightly getting comfortable.

”So, what are we doing now?" Echo asked, peering up from the copilot's seat.

Hunter stepped forward, pressing the cylinder drive into the ship's console. In front of you all, a holomap of the Crait system appeared. Hunter zoomed in on the planet the system was named after and specifically honed in on a particular part of the glowing orb.

"Apparently, we're to investigate a missing research party." He zoomed in on one of the mountain ranges on the stark planet. "They disappeared two rotations ago."

"What were they doing on Crait?" Tech asked.

"That was classified," Hunter groused. "It probably had to do with mineral deposits. That seems to be the only thing of value in this system.”

You stared at the projection of the planet, feeling your stomach churn a bit. Something didn’t seem right; it wasn’t common to hear about research parties going missing. Commando groups like your own, sure, it was part of the job, but scientists? There must be more to this, clearly. The Jedi deemed it classified. You shook your head. General Skywalker would have never settled for such little information.

"And we’re just supposed to do what exactly?" Crosshair raised a brow. "Look for a bunch of lab rats?"

"They wouldn’t send us if it was just looking for scientists," Echo crossed his arms. "They’re not telling us for a reason."

Hunter nodded in agreement. "We’ll be there at 0700 hours. Prepare for the extreme. We have no idea what we’re walking into. Get some rest. We’re going to need it." Hunter walked over to the extra weaponry cabinet and grabbed a pistol.

He walked over to you and held it out to you, "I know!"

You raised a brow.

"I know you don’t like blasters," he sighed and held up a handful of leather straps. "But I don’t know what’s out there."

"Does she even know how to use one of those?" Crosshair paused cleaning fire puncher.

For once, you agreed with the sniper. "Sarge, I’ve never received training. I’m much better with my injectors and bandages."

"For me?" He pleaded with you. You could see how worried he was. "Please."

You sighed and relented. He knelt down, straightening out the leathers before holding them open for you to step into. He pulled them up until they were snug around your thigh. He looped the top strap into your uniform belt and settled the blaster into the holster.

"Aren’t you just going to tell me to stay on the ship anyway?" You reasoned.

"Yes," he retorted, "but if something happens, I don’t want you totally helpless."

"What are you expecting to even happen out there?" You were getting worried now.

He stood up and put a hand on your shoulder, trying to calm you. "I’ve heard stories about the Crait system. We all did when we were trainees." He let go of you. You looked at your shoulder briefly; this was the most the Sergeant had ever touched you. "I’m hoping they’re just stories. But I would never forgive myself if something happened to our own."

You just nodded and decided to leave it there. You were in no mood for ghost stories. You just looked at Crosshair who shook his head skeptically before returning to his work.

You decided to let them come up with their plans while you went to sleep while you still could. Kicking off your boots, you settled into your freshly cleaned bunk. Gonky waddled past leaving you in relative silence. The blaster on your hip felt heavy and cold. You sighed, knowing Hunter was just being a good Sergeant and an Alpha. He was a protective one; you realized that was in his nature.

Taking a deep breath, you tried your best to relax into the cot, pulling your blanket up over you, leaning into the rumble of hyperspace. Feeling yourself doze off, you gave in and allowed yourself to sleep.

You must have been out for a while because when you woke, the boys were just finishing up their meals. You could smell it from the bunks. You sat up, rubbing your eyes, smearing makeup everywhere, but you didn’t care. You stretched and checked your data pad for the time. You only had about an hour and a half before reaching Crait. You stood up and in your socks, you scooted out of the bunks into the main cabin and plopped down at the table, still exhausted.

“Do you guys ever sleep?” You mumbled, pulling out the ready-made ration pack and placing it into the heating unit.

“Significantly less than natural-born humans,” Tech informed. “It’s part of our design to require less sleep.”

“Yeah but just because you require less doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.” You heard the ding and removed your pouch of food. “Sleep is nice.”

“That is true,” Tech replied.

Echo pushed his cup of caff in your direction with a smile. You gladly took it and shared a sip or two while you dug into your food.

Crosshair and Wrecker understood what you were saying. The two were slumped up against the sidewalls of the ship, having fallen asleep at some point doing whatever they were doing. Crosshair clutched firepuncher to his chest like a baby. You snickered. It was a little concerning how much he loved that thing.

“So, Y/N?” Tech began while scrolling through something interesting on his data pad.

“Yeah, Tech?” You chewed a mouthful. The beans and rice were delicious. This was your favorite ready-made in the supply kit.

“When was the last time you had a heat?”

You spit out your food and choked on the remaining bits still in your throat.

“Oh my maker.” Echo reached forwards, handing you a napkin and a cup of water.

That woke up the boys. Crosshair growled with displease.

“What the hell, Tech?” You screeched, sputtering to catch your breath.

He looked confused. “What? I didn’t mention the Commander nor is this pertaining to our earlier conversation about Hunter.”

Oh my maker. You could kill him.

“What about Hunter?” The Sargent poked his head out from the fresher.

“Nothing. You are not relevant to this question,” Tech replied, turning to you like nothing was wrong with asking a question like that.

“Why the hell do you want to know that?” You whisper-yelled.

“Well, I was thinking. You got your replacement suppressor implant earlier today and it made me think about how it’s recommended that an Omega has one breakthrough heat every six months per standard solar rotation time. And well, you’ve been with us for six months now. It would be putting you right in that window and I thought I should ask since none of us were able to get our replacement implants on such short notice.”

You blanched.

“First of all, I’m actually going on about two years without having a heat.” You then pointed a finger up in the air. “Second… I beg your finest pardon?”

“Pardon granted,” he nodded. “We have not received our replacement-”

“I heard you,” you snipped. Whirling around, you faced all the boys in the cabin now.

“Was no one going to tell me this?” You looked around at all of them. “I leave you alone one time. ONE time! And everything goes to shit? I’m literally trapped here with five Alphas and no one said anything?! For maker knows how long?!”

Wrecker looked scared. He’d never seen you yell, and he’s never smelled such sour distress rolling off of you in waves before. He fought every nerve in his body to scoop you up and squeeze you.

“It was a mistake, ad’ika.” Hunter stepped forwards.

“No! No. Don’t ad’ika me.” Your accent was terrible. You didn’t even know what it meant.

“No need for distress,” Tech cleared his throat. “We were given these.” He holds up a pill bottle. They all four of them pulled it out of their various pockets. “Suppressors.”

“We were scheduled for our implants in two rotations, this is all they could give us on such short notice.” Hunter used his soft voice with you, trying to give you some kind of solace.

“And how many did they give you?” You crossed your arms.

“Enough for three cycles,” Echo replied, putting the bottle away.

“You’ll be okay,” Hunter assured, “We all will be fine.”

You sighed and shook your head, grabbing your pouch of beans and your spork. “The second we get back to Coruscant I want you all in that medical bay or I swear to the maker I’ll cut you open and do it myself.”

Echo cringed.

“Sorry.” You waved at him. You knew he and Wrecker didn’t particularly like medical stuff. You also knew Wrecker tends to act like a raging bantha when there's any kind of injectables nearby.

“Did you say you were going on two years-” Tech chirped.

“Oh my maker, Tech! I’m banning you from talking about any of my medical history!” You wailed.

Crosshair chuckled from his seat, and you spun around to glare at him.

“But I-”

“No!” You pointed your spork at Tech. “You’re officially forbidden.”

You huffed and shoved a big spoonful of food into your mouth, determined to finish it before you touch down. You cannot believe that this is how your day has gone so far. From almost going home with Wolffe to now discussing your lack of anything in front of your team… and your Sergeant. You could have imploded. Luckily the others gave you some mercy and returned back to their tasks, letting you eat in silence.

But now that Tech had mentioned it, you started thinking about the boys. They too were recommended six-month ruts for performance reasons, and you knew that out of all of them, Crosshair was the only one, that you were aware of, had partaken. Actually, every time you’re on shore leave, he disappears for a week, coming back smelling like a different female. The others, however, you weren’t entirely sure, unless they were far better at hiding it.

You only had confirmation because Cross actually needed bacta for his back one time. She had clawed her way through his milky skin like a feral nexu. He had asked for help, surprisingly, one random morning.

“We’re on approach.” Echo spun around in the copilot seat, waiting for Tech to take his spot in docking the vessel.

You scrambled to chuck your wrapper in the trash and wash off your spork before putting it back in the drawer. The others got ready for descent, and you folded your legs up, watching the white planet come into view. The more you passed through the clouds, the more you realized it was a glittery white barren planet.

Crait.

Home to absolutely… nothing.

Upon descent, Tech brought the Marauder down on a flat plateau nestled next to a pretty large hillside. From your view through the cockpit, there was literally not a soul out there. No plants, no animals. It was a little jarring. What was Hunter so bent out of shape over?

Once Echo released the door to the Marauder, you were instantly hit with a bit of cool air. The air, however, had a strange scent to it.

Hunter immediately cringed, bringing his arm up to block his nose.

“It’s salt.” He coughed out struggling to adjust.

“Salt?” Wrecker stood up, pushing Tech out of the way before trotting down the steps. Upon putting his boot on the ground, there was a light crunch sound. He scrapped his boot, revealing a deep crimson rock underneath. What an odd planet.

“What are your orders, Sarge?” You asked, standing up to stretch.

He slid his helmet into place, relieved to have the air filters. “Echo and Y/N stay on board in case we need backup… or a quick pick up. The rest of you are with me. Let’s make this fast I want to get out of here as quick as possible.”

“I didn’t see anyone at the coordinate point when we landed. I think we should start there and hopefully Hunter can track them down.” Tech slid his helmet on. Crosshair and Wrecker were quick to suit up and follow them down the steps outside.

“Echo, can you close the door? It smells.” You asked politely. He was happy to oblige and seal the door, watching the four brothers stalk their way towards the coordinate points.

You stretched out in Tech’s chair, spinning around before settling on Echo.

He side-eyed you nervously.

“So…” You raised a brow. “You got any good gossip for me, domino?”

He sighed, knowing where this was going… He spun to face you and put his boots up on your armrest. “Naturally.”

You smiled wickedly.

~~~

"This has to be the weirdest planet I’ve ever been to," Wrecker couldn’t help but kick the salt around, watching the red appear.

“This planet is really messing with my head," Hunter said, bending down to place his hand on the surface. Instead of being able to single out little electro currents, he could feel the entire planet pulsing. It seemed to be drowning out everything else. He felt more blind than he ever had. 

Crosshair peered down his scope, looking at the steep mountainside they were supposed to be scaling to get to the base camp.

“It has to be mining operations. I can’t seem to fathom what else it could have been," Tech looked around at the geography.

When they reached the foot of the hill, they looked up at the skinny crag they’d have to walk through, and Wrecker sighed. He hated heights. The four clones pressed their sides into the side of the mountain as they walked very carefully along the narrow path. Down below were nothing but red stalagmites jutting up from the earth. One slip and that would be a nasty fall. Wrecker just kept mumbling to himself to not look down as the inched closer to their destination.

“Anything?" Tech asked Hunter, who just gave him a defeated shake. Tech sighed. Hunter was usually the most valuable part of their expeditions. 

“We should be arriving soon," Tech looked up from his tablet, noticing how the narrow walkway gave way to a massive cave-like structure tucked into the side of this vast canyon.

Inside this cave was a pristine Republic research vessel, along with a few tents set up with various tables filled with scientific research machinery. Everything was untouched, but abandoned. Hunter could tell by the smell of the food still sitting out on their plates it had been left alone for at least a day. The others filed in to start investigating the scene. Tech noticed that the footprints seemingly led deeper into the cave. He slid his infrared visor into place and began scanning the entrance to the tunnel.

~~~

“Oh my god, Echo!” You howled, watching his pale face light up pink. “You did WHAT with Fives?!”

“It was one time!” He justified and looked up at the ceiling. “We were young and had never even seen a human female before. She was also an omega and us clones had no clue how we’d even react in their presence.”

“Ahh!” You giggled. “Was it fun?”

He bit his lip. You shook your head with a playful look.

“Have you ever shared before?” He asked.

“Me?” You laughed earnestly. “No way. First of all, I'm too busy for one, let alone two.”

“Don’t knock it till you try it,” He nudged you with his boot.

“Oh my god, Echo.” You slapped his shin. “I didn’t know you rolled like that.”

“No one does,” He laughed. “Except the Domino Squad.”

“You were living a wild life before the 99s. I can’t believe you never told me that.” You giggled, standing up with your comm. It had been well over an hour and you hadn’t heard from the others.

You pressed your comm, “Hey boys, just checking in?” You waited a few moments before calling out to them again. “Must be the mountain range,” Echo pointed out.

“I’ll give it a few more minutes,” You settled back down in your seat.

He sat up a bit straighter now, looking at you directly with crossed arms. “Now tell me about Wolffe.”

He smiled devilishly.

~~~

“No lifeforms are coming up on my scanners,” Tech informed.

“I haven’t seen anything but salt,” Wrecker looked around, putting his hands on his hips.

“So what?” Crosshair drawled. “It’s not like they vanished. They had to have gone somewhere.”

As if on cue, Hunter heard the telltale sound of someone rustling coming from the cave. He didn’t think twice before taking off after the noise. He ignored his brothers’ protest and continued after the sound. The echo of crystals tinkering filled his senses, and he disappeared deeper into the cavern. He turned on his night vision as he stalked the sound.

“Hunter, wait!” Crosshair called after his brother, but Hunter was determined. He groaned watching the oldest of them trot off into the cave.

Hunter heard the sound off to his right this time; it was much closer. He zeroed in on a narrow passageway and slowly approached. A distinct smell filled his senses… Death.

Pulling his gun out, he rounded the corner to find a small woman curled up in a ball, covered in crimson dust. A beta from the look of it.

“Ma’am?” He asked, kneeling down and lowering his weapon. She was shaking and trying her hardest to hide from him. Looking around, he noticed that there were a couple of deceased members lying around the cavern in various positions.

“What happened?” He demanded, noticing how they all wore Republic uniforms, including the scared scientist. She just trembled in shock. Her blonde hair was mangled and her clothes were torn in some places.

Quickly, the others filed in behind Hunter, coming into view. The woman hissed in warning, and Hunter decided to back off a bit. She was definitely frightened.

“Ma’am, we’re with the Republic. They sent us to find you,” Hunter tried to assure her.

“The Republic,” She tested the words on her tongue. “They have to know!��

“Know what?” Tech asked inquisitively.

“They-they…” She looked around the cave like she was seeing things. Wrecker followed her gaze noticing she was seeing things that weren’t there. 

Hunter realized she was probably traumatized, shell-shocked. He elected to try and coax her out of her sitting position. He reached up and unclipped his helmet, bringing it to his side in an effort to help calm her. When the woman finally looked back at him, she shrieked in pure horror before grabbing a handful of the dust below her and throwing it harshly in his face before scampering further into her hiding spot.

“Get away!” She was screaming at the void now. 

Clearly, she was hallucinating. 

Hunter sputtered and swiped at his eyes, trying to knock the powdery red off of him.

“You good?” Crosshair asked, helping knock the dirt off of him with a few slaps with his gloved hand.

“Argh,” He growled, feeling the particles sting his eyes and nose. It had an odd taste that was starting to take over his senses.

“Ma’am, you need to calm down,” Tech stepped forwards, holding a tranquilizer pen he stole from Y/N's pouch. She flailed when he injected her, but it quickly took effect. She slumped back down into the ground in a heap. Tech monitored her vitals as she slowly came back to something considered normal.

“I think his tattoo scared her,” Wrecker pointed out. Especially to someone on a deep trip like her, he probably looked like a monster.

Hunter decided to leave Tech and the others to sort out the survivor while he went outside to try and wash the dirt from his eyes. 

Yanking off his bandana, he grabbed his canteen and leaned over to pour it over his face. He used his free hand to yank off his glove and rub at his skin and eyes. 

“Kriff,” His heart was racing. He took a deep breath trying to dislodge it from his sinus’.

When he was certain he got it all, he closed up the canteen and wrung out his bandana. The world suddenly started to move strangely. Hunter tried standing up straight but the red rocks all round him started dancing with the wind. He wavered and clutched at his collar suddenly feeling restricted. 

“Tech, something is wrong,” He muttered, but he was forced to slump down onto the abandoned research table. 

Tech didn’t hear him. 

Hunter’s skin started to crawl, and his sense of smell was starting to go into overdrive. He could smell everything. The beta women, the earth, the crystal critters lurking just out of view, Wrecker’s day-old blacks and sweat. He could smell the gun oil residue on Crosshair's fingertips and Tech’s hair gel…from under his helmet. 

He was smelling things he knew he shouldn’t be, not from this distance. 

He rolled over off the bench onto the floor on his hands and knees into the loose salt. Suddenly, he felt the Alpha in him take over control. His chest puffed up as he fought for control. He was being reverted back to basic instincts, and he knew his grip on reality was slipping and slipping fast. He was heaving, trying to keep some control but the panic was taking over.

“Cross!” He cried out, but he knew his brother couldn’t hear him.

~~~

You were flushed, admitting to Echo that you had actually thought about it. Like really considered going through your heat with the Commander, had you all types of blushed.

"And imagine, you'd all would have had to have a sub-in if that had happened." You shook your head.

He laughed at you, knowing you hate this kind of stuff, which made it all that much funnier.

“Do you like him?” Echo asked.

“I don't know him,” You shrugged.

He clicked his tongue, “Well, that's not really a requirement, is it?”

You just slapped his shoulder, “You’re a slut, Echo. You know that?”

He just put his arms behind his head, “What can I say, Cyra’ika? I’m an alpha.”

“You’re not all like that,” You jabbed.

Echo rolled his eyes, “You have no idea. Back in the old days me and the boys had some stories…” He smirked.

“Mhmm,” You giggled and tried the radio one more time; this time, you opened the door to the ship and stepped outside, hoping the radio signal would be stronger.

“Tech? Hunter?” You called out into the comm, “Cross? Wrecker? Someone come in!” You shifted your weight onto one foot and looked at the little comm device.

You heard a series of clicks coming through the radio, then you heard Hunter’s broken voice.

“Ugh,” You shook the comm, “Signal’s trash… Hunter?”

“I-I… open… I-I need,” His voice was stuttering through the static.

“I think he wants the side door open,” Echo said, trying to boost the signal.

You nodded and trotted down the ramp, taking out your binoculars. You pointed them in his direction, but still, you didn’t see any movement. Hopefully, they were able to find the scientists and you can finally return home for your real shore-leave, maybe even take the Commander up on his offer. You giggled to yourself, lowering the binoculars.

You heard a little jingle and looked down and yelped.

A small little crystal fox stared back up at you blinking its amber eyes curiously. 

“Hi there,” You said, slowly lowering your binoculars. The small creature stepped forwards before quickly nipping onto your shoelace and tugging it loose.

You twitched, bringing your leg back afraid it would bite, but instead, it chirped and darted off under the ship and towards the mountain range jingling as it ran.

“Hey, Wait!” You shouted and ran off after the little guy, “Hold on!”

~~~

“Where’s Hunter?” Crosshair asked, looking around the cave.

Wrecker shrugged, and Crosshair decided to go looking for his brother. When he exited the cave, he noticed the fresh tracks leading away from the abandoned camp and the overpowering smell of an Alpha… in rut.

He followed the tracks until he reached the mountain pass.

Crosshair grabbed his comms and radioed in, “Hunter! Come in!”

He trotted back to the cavern and grabbed Wrecker, “Hunter took off, c’mon, we gotta go now.”

“You have to warn the Republic,” The woman grabbed onto Tech’s uniform.

“Warn them about what?” He scanned her body, noticing the telltale signs of elevated heart rate, dilated eyes, and nervous twitching. The woman was high as hell.

“The minerals. T-they’re…” She looked out at the members of her team, “It’s toxic.”

The three soldiers all looked at each other, knowing Hunter got a good dose of it and with his senses, he was probably coming unglued.

“What is the substance?” Tech asked.

She looked at him, “Unrefined Spice cut with-” Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she fainted.

“Shit,” Crosshair wasn’t liking this one bit.

“I got her. You guys go get Hunter,” Wrecker picked the lady up and let the others take off running after their infected brother.

Tech and Crosshair wasted no time sprinting out of the cave and towards the narrow pass.

~~~

You had heard Echo radio for you which made you halt in your tracks. The crystal fox scampered away disappearing into a narrow crevice the mountain side. 

“Get back here.” Echo sounded worried, “There’s someth-” He was cut off. 

You spun around realizing you had ventured far from the ship. You sighed and bent down to re-tie your combat boot before taking off in a jog back to the Marauder. Jumping over a couple smaller boulders you made a beeline for the ship. 

“I’m coming Echo!” You radioed back and scurried up the steps, “What’s going on?” 

You looked around but the ship was silent. You narrowed your eyes and peered around the corner of the cockpit into the main galley. You heard a strange muffled noise before drawing your weapon. You flicked it to stun before holding it up suddenly overcome with nerves. 

“Echo?” You called out softly into the back of the ship. 

Suddenly Hunter’s head popped out from behind the bunk door. You sighed and put the gun back into the holster and pointed a finger at him, “Sarge you scared me half to death.” 

He approached, “I wouldn’t want that omega now would I?” his voice sounded strange. You raised a brow watching him get nearer. He looked disheveled. His grey armor was covered in a crimson substance and his hair was all over the place.

“Hunter are you okay?” You asked reaching for your pack. 

He lunged forwards and grabbed your wrist in a bruising grip. You yelped out trying to snatch it back but he just pulled you into him before throwing you backwards against the dining table. Echo’s caff and various plates went flying and clattering onto the ground. You yelled out in pain as your back collided with the steel surface. He stalked up to you grabbing you again and you tried to shove him off not understanding why he was being so rough all of a sudden. Your heart felt like it was going to burst out of your chest. Hunter however was deathly precise in his movements. 

“Hunter what-” You started, but he grabbed your neck and slammed you flat to the metal table before going for your wrist. You thrashed around trying to throw him off of you but he was too big and too strong. Your head was pounding from the impact. He settled in between your thighs pushing his hard pelvis into yours sedating you. 

“Stop fighting me omega.” He leaned down using his free hand to pin your arm to the table. You whined feeling him clamp down on your neck. He was starting to hurt you. The panic was setting in. Something was very wrong with Hunter it’s like he was possessed. 

You used your free hand to back hand him as hard as you could. His head snapped to the side with a crack. He growled making your insides churn. Thats when you noticed his pupils. They were beyond dilated. They nearly absorbed his entire eye, you were staring back into endless black holes. 

“Hunter get off of me!” You kneed him in the side making him gasp and cough knocking the wind out of him. You had a split second to get up and you took it. Ignoring the aches in your body, you shoved him back, he struggled to catch his breath and you turned to run. Making your way down the main galley you went for your bag to grab the tranquilizer. 

“Omega!” He used his alpha voice. You had to fight the submission. Every cell in your body wanted to bare your neck and submit to him but you fought it. This wasn’t Hunter. Hunter would never do something like this. Especially not use his tone on you… ever.

“Come.” He demanded standing there gripping his side while he caught his breath. 

You ignored him and kept rummaging for your pack, “Where the fuck is it?” You couldn’t believe it. You always left it in your duffle. 

You heard his heavy foot steps approaching when you decided to go for your stun gun instead. When you had a good grip on the gun, your feet were yanked out from under you. Hunter was way too fast and trained. You landed with a thud on the hard durasteel floor dropping the pistol. He was dragging you out of the narrow galley back into the main cabin. Thats when you noticed Echo knocked out on the floor next to you. He must have found Echo first before he realized you weren’t in the ship.

“Hunter!” You kicked at him with the other leg, “Stop! This isn’t you!” 

“Omega.” He growled out getting on the floor and kneeling on top of you. He placed a calloused hand on the back of your neck keeping you pinned with a squeak. You could feel his hardness pressing into the plush of your ass and you whimpered. He was in a manic rut. You felt him lean down getting closer to your scent glands. He reeked of pheromones. You were practically choking on it. You concluded he was defiantly in a rut. You had to get out of here. 

“Omega… smells w-wrong.” He shook his head trying to get a better sniff. 

“Hunter please!” You whined feeling how hot his breath was on your neck. His smokey scent was everywhere and it was starting to consume you. You could feel your body starting to react to these pheromones and you cursed yourself. He no doubt could smell you. 

You were suddenly flipped over onto your back roughly making you whimper on impact. Tears slipped out of the corners of your eyes as you filled with fear. His face didn’t even look like his own anymore. The softness he reserved for you was gone and all that was left was the animal that lived inside him. 

He leaned down and licked the stray tears off your face with a hum. You pressed your hands into his chest pleading with him to let you go. He pinned your hands down to the durasteel and shifted his weight so he could shove his nose into your neck where the fresh implant rests and your mating gland. He growled disapprovingly and used one hand to tear your shirt collar and rip the bacta patch off of you. You shrieked as it burned. 

“Hunter!” You cried begging for him to get control. 

He looked at the incision menacingly before reaching to the vibro blade on his sleeve. You realized whatever infected him, reverted him back to his primal instincts and one thing between him and a rut was your implant. You flailed helplessly under his weight trying to get away. He tore your uniform top down the seams revealing your bound chest to him.

“Tech!” You screamed, “Crosshair!” You prayed they were close behind. They were probably the only ones strong enough to stop their brother.

Hunter leaned down pressing the tip of the sharp blade to your smooth gland. When the tip met your skin you screamed in pain feeling him lightly pierce your skin. You felt the hot blood running down your shoulder making his nose flare. You screamed in agony praying he’d just get it over with. Your voice broke with your screams.

“Wrecker!” You wailed hoping they’d hear you and that they were in a much better state than this. 

You screamed again feeling the tip of the blade remove the implant as it clattered to the ground. You shuddered starting to feel dizzy from the blood loss. He leaned down to lick the cut spreading his alpha pheromones into your open wound. He tried purring in an attempt to comfort you, but the death grip on your neck didn’t help in any way. You reached down to his thigh searching for anything to help you. He nuzzled your neck again licking at the wound like a corellian hound. 

You knew he kept another blade on his belt but you were struggling to find it. Then when you brushed up against his side, you noticed he still had his gun. In a flash you brandished his pistol pressing it into his side. He was still purring totally unaware when you made your move.

“I’m sorry.” You cried then pulled the trigger. 

He looked at you stunned for a moment before slumping back onto his heels and releasing you. You took a deep gasping breath then sobbed realizing what you did, but he fell back against the side of the ship letting you scurry up to your knees. You turned his weapon to stun and unloaded on him. You stared at his limp body shaking in fright that he’d get up again at any second.

“Y/N?” Tech’s alarmed face appeared in the entry. You fired a few stunning shots at him without thinking but he retreated in time. 

“We’re not infected!” He yelled putting his hands up. 

You lowered the gun and fell back against the leg of the table Hunter had wrangled you onto just moments earlier. You let Hunter’s gun clatter to the ground. 

Crosshair and Tech entered the ship looking alarmed at the scene. 

“I shot him.” You whispered. They turned to look at their stunned brother who had a plasma burn in his side a long with a fresh stream of blood oozing out. 

“You’re bleeding.” Crosshair ran to your side taking his helmet off and reaching for your collar. You flinched making him second guess his movements. He had no idea what Hunter had done to you, but from the blooming bruises around your neck and chest, he was starting to put som pieces together. 

Tech scanned Hunter and determined the shot not lethal. He helped Hunter onto his back and started removing his armor while Crosshair tried to clean your wound. 

“What did he do to you?” Crosshair asked with anger laced in his tone. 

You just whimpered feeling the exhaustion settle in after the adrenaline wore off, “H-he cut my…” You waved at the wound, “He was like an animal.” You pointed to the little pill shaped device lying in the pool of your blood on the floor. Crosshair saw it and turned back to you. You were shaking now as the horror of everything was starting to settle in. He got up and grabbed some supplies from your bins and came back to your side. He knew you weren’t a soldier, but it didn’t make your behavior any less disturbing.  Seeing an omega cry was like having Hunter's vibro blade shoved into his chest.

“We heard you when we got down the hill.” Tech said pressing a bacta pack to Hunter’s side, “I’m sorry we didn’t get here sooner.” He then hooked hunter up to a liquid IV in hopes to flush his system of the drug.

You just nodded resting your forehead against Crosshairs shoulder. He quickly cleaned your wound opting to forego gentleness he was just wanting to get you patched up. Luckily Hunter made a pretty clean cut and it isn’t deep. He applied the bacta and the bandages just like he’d seen you do a hundred times. He then grabbed the pain killer injection just like last night. He distributed the medicine and continued to hold you as your shakes subsided. 

Wrecker and the sedated scientist arrived shortly after. He just stood there looking at everything bewildered. He set the lady down on a pallet on the floor before returning to his brothers. 

“What happened here?” He asked taking off his helmet. 

“It seems the unrefined spice caused Hunter’s senses to go into overdrive. He reverted back to his more animalistic instincts and attacked Y/N. He was searching for an omega.” Tech took off his own helmet. Tech grabbed a pair of binders and attached one to Hunter and the other to the cargo hold. They had no idea what they were going to get when he woke up. 

Noticing your worry, Crosshair decided you’d had enough. He bent down and scooped up your knees up and carried you back to the bunks. You leaned your head against his chest wanting to just go to sleep.

“Are you okay?” He asked softly setting you down in your bunk. He sat across from you in Tech’s neatly made cot. 

You just sniffled feeling more tears surface. Hunter was one of the men you did feel safe with. It was just any omega’s worst nightmare having a trusted alpha turn on you like that. Even though you know it wasn’t really Hunter, it was still horrifying. He was so strong. It frightened you. 

“Oh Ad’ika.” Crosshair sighed standing up and rummaging through his things. He came back with one of his civvies shirts. It was black and massive. He knelt down at your side taking his time unlacing your boots and sliding them off. He then went for your shirt gently removing what was left of the ripped fabric. You just stared at the ceiling as he shimmied you into his shirt. You settled finally and he grabbed your favorite blanket before pulling it up to your chin. You were unaware the Alpha was capable of such gentleness. 

“Do you want me to stay?” He asked noticing your shaking again. 

“I’m okay.” You croaked, “Thank you Cross.”

He didn’t fight you, but everything in his body begged him to stay and to comfort the frightened omega. He stood up and left letting the door swoosh closed behind him. 

When you were finally alone you started to wail. You cried and cried until you couldn't physically produce any more tears. Never had you ever resolved on to crying while on the job, but then again, you’d never been in a situation such as this before. 

Some time later, Wrecker came tiptoeing into the room worried that you were asleep. When he realized you weren’t, he showed you his Lula. You sniffled and gave him a little smile as he tucked lula into your blankets with you.

“Thanks Wreck.” You cuddled lula letting her comfort you. 

“Anytime pip.” He retreated back to the galley. You noticed Crosshair perched against the wall in the galley keeping watch. You sighed knowing he was at least a bit protective. Knowing he was watching over you, you relaxed a bit. Then sleep came and consumed you quickly. 

~~~

“What the actual fuck happened.” Crosshair demanded looking around the entire ship. The images of your torn up bleeding body haunted him. He might get pissy with you for your little flirting with the regs but this was unacceptable. No one is allowed to hurt an omega like that, especially his brother. It was taking all his control to not kick the shit out of Hunter’s unconscious body. 

“We need to get back to a medical base. I’m afraid I didn’t get a proper explanation from the surviving scientist. She said it was unrefined spice mixed with something else and the others seemed to have died from prolonged exposure. I don’t know what will happen to Hunter if we can’t get him back to a hospital.” Tech sat back into his chair looking at the others. 

Echo had come back to consciousness at some point and needed an ice pack for the bump on his head. He looked to tech, “Get the Marauder up in the air and radio to any of the nearest Venador fleets. We can meet them half way.”

“Better yet, I’ll call Captain Rex.” Tech plugged his data pad into the console, “General Skywalker was supposed to be stationed in the Nabooian system near by.” 

“How do you know that?” Wrecker asked rubbing his eyes. 

“The drunk 501 boys last night mentioned it while they were alluding to the General’s fascination with the junior senator. They were refueling when we landed yesterday.” Tech replied sliding his goggles up. 

“Oh I like that senator.” Wrecker nodded, “She’s hot.” 

“I don’t care what we do.” Crosshair leaned against the galley hallway, “They both need immediate medical care.” His nose crinkled at the smell of Y/N’s blood still drying on their floor.

“Agreed.” Echo stared at Hunter’s limp body. He knew the Sargent was never going to forgive himself for this. Echo sighed, explaining this whole situation just got so much worse. Hunter was probably going to want to shoot himself when he comes to.

“Being their old medic, I’m positive they won’t have an issue treating her.” Tech began the take off process wanting to get off of this horrible planet. 

“Just get us off this forsaken planet.” Crosshair grumbled walking back to the bunk doorway. 

─ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ──── ♡ ─── ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ──

Ahh okay, I think this story is going to be a little darker obviously, but it's for the plot! haha enjoy babes.

I'm also sitting here realizing I don't think Omega will be able to be written into this story given the obvious issue with her name lol so tbd on that.

[simply-whump]

Mysterious Lotus Casebook (莲花楼) - Whump List

Whumpee : Li Lian Hua played by Cheng Yi, Fang Duo Bing played by Joseph Zeng and Di Fei Sheng played by Xiao Shun Yao

Synopsis : Ten years ago, Li Xiang Yi, the master of the Sigu Sect, dominated with his superior swordsmanship and was a symbol of light in the martial arts world. However, he suddenly disappeared along with Di Fei Sheng, the leader of the Jinyuan Alliance, after they arranged to battle in the East Sea. Ten years later, Li Lian Hua is a countryside doctor who travels dragging around a lotus tower. He accidentally becomes "famous" and gets pulled into the pugilistic world that he no longer wants to have any connections with. (MDL)

Genres : Mystery, Historical, Action

Warning! Possible spoilers below!

Li Lian Hua

Ep 1 : Fighting, cuts on his face and chest, veins appear on his arm, stabbed, spitting blood, eyes red, falls into the water — Slammed into a table

Ep 2 : Paralysed briefly — Choked

Ep 3 : Unwell, blue veins, treating himself — (Flashback) Stranded on a beach unconscious, wakes up, blaming himself for the death of many — Walking weakly, collapses, treated, bleeding from the mouth, told he lost almost all his power and is poisoned with no cure in sight, told he only has 10 years to live — (Present) Sword at his neck  — Locked up

Ep 4 : Hands tied — Chained, almost tortured, saved

Ep 5 : Hit by rocks, blood at his mouth, found, concern for him, passes out — Unconscious in bed, wakes up from a nightmare

Ep 6-7 : None

Ep 8 : Hit, holding his chest, spitting blood — Sword at his neck

Ep 9 : (Flashback) Crying — (Present) Grabbing his chest, concern for him — Fails to get up

Ep 10 : (Flashback) Has an allergy to peanuts, red spots on his neck — (Present) Pinned against a column, grabbed by the neck, grabbed a second time 

Ep 11 : Pushed, rolls down, hits a rock, falls into water, bruise on his neck

Ep 12 : Arm in a sling — Crying

Ep 13 : Paralysed — Kinda forced to drink some medicine, feeling uncomfortable, inner power given to him forcefully, blue veins on his neck and hands, in pain, spitting blood — Thrown into a pit full of snakes, bitten multiple times, groaning in pain — Spitting blood

Ep 14-17 : None

Ep 18 : Healing someone, using some power, sweating — Collapses, spitting blood —Coughing, concern for him, passes out — Unconscious in bed, concern for him — Walking unsteadily, vision blurry — Told he only has 4 months left to live — Crying — Has trouble getting up, given inner energy

Ep 19-24 : None

Ep 25 : Falls through a trap — Choked, almost stabbed, saved

EP 26 : Holding his chest, kidnaped — Thrown to the ground, surrounded by monsters — Found on the ground seemingly unconscious, concern for him, is fine, helped up

Ep 27 : Identity revealed to Fang Duobing, collapses, spitting blood, passes out — Wakes up, coughing — Walking unsteadily — Waking up in bed, coughing, told he was unconscious for 3 days — Coughing

Ep 28 : Hit, holding his chest

Ep 29 : None

Ep 30 : Arrested — Poison acting up, unwell, cold, curled up on himself, shivering, concern for him, wrapped in blankets — Wakes up in bed, vision blurry — Loses balance briefly — Blue veins on his neck, fighting, spitting blood, concern for him, in an explosion, helped up, attacked, thrown around, spitting blood, weak on the ground, vision blurry, protected — Unconscious, carried — Unconscious in bed, wakes up, concern for him, can’t get up, shaking, blue veins on his hands, coughing, told to lie down, cold, coughing up blood, passes out — Unconscious in bed, treated — Carried unconscious

Ep 31 : Wakes up — Crying — Coughing, refuses to be saved at the cost of someone else’s life

Ep 32 : Crying

Ep 33 : Crying, spitting blood, collapses to one knee, continues to fight even though the poison is acting up

Ep 34 : Crying — Red and blue veins on his wrist, concern for him

Ep 35 : None

Ep 36 : Captured, chained in prison, wrongful accused, frees himself

Ep 37 : Drops a cup, rubbing his eyes — Stabbed by someone he trusted, spitting blood, passes out — Missing — Prisoner, chained, unconscious — Wakes up, vision blurry, weak, coughing blood, blind

Ep 38 : Still chained, coughing — Choked, coughing — Regains sight, manages to free himself 

Ep 39 : Intense final battle, poison acting up — Learns a shocking truth, teary eyed

Ep 40 : Uses his internal power to save someone, coughing, sweating — Walking unsteadily, collapses to one knee, spitting blood, vision blurry, concern for him, passes out — Wakes up in bed, pulse taken — Spitting blood — Leaves (Dies? Lives? You decide)

Fang Duo Bing

Ep 1 : Drugged, dizzy, passes out 

Ep 2 : None

Ep 3 : Locked up

Ep 4 : Hands tied

Ep 5 : Drugged, passes out

Ep 6-7 : None

Ep 8 : Hit, spitting blood, passes out — Woken up

Ep 9-12 : None

Ep 13 : Hit, spitting blood, collapses to one knee, in pain — Suddenly passes out, unconscious in bed, treated

Ep 14 : Unwell, treated — “Poison” acting up again, in pain

Ep 15 : None

Ep 16 : Cured — Tied up (Comedic)

Ep 17-25 : None

Ep 26 : Has a headache, collapses — Fighting, arm cut, treated, bandaged

Ep 27 : Bombarded, fighting many enemies at once, shoulder cut, saved by Li Lianhua — Feeling betrayed, upset, crying

Ep 28-29 : None

Ep 30 : Drugged — Wakes up tied up with ropes, taken hostage, finally learns that Lianhua is gravely poisoned, grabbed by the neck, freed — Fighting a lot of people at once, injured, holding his side

Ep 31 : Coughing, bleeding from his previous injury, hiding it

Ep 32-34 : None

Ep 35 : Hit, falling through a deep hole, trapped

Ep 36 : Still trapped, fighting, hit, spitting blood

Ep 37-39 : None

Ep 40 : Crying, worried for Li Lianhua

Di Fei Sheng

Ep 1 : Fighting, stabbed in the shoulder, stabbed in the chest, falls into the water 

Ep 2-7 : None

Ep 8 : Poisoned 

Ep 7-12 : None

Ep 13 : Acupuncture performed on him

Ep 14-19 : None

Ep 20 : Stabbed in the stomach, poisoned — Unwell, bleeding, walking unsteadily, passes out, found in the water unconscious — Lost his memories, passes out — Unconscious in bed

Ep 21-24 : None

Ep 25 : Has a headache, poison spreading, treated

Ep 26 : Headache, groaning in pain, collapses

Ep 27 : Headache, poison acting up, stumbling, supported, sweating, cutting the palm of his hand with his sword, cured, passes out — Wakes up in bed, regained his memories but pretends he has not

Ep 28-33 : None

Ep 34 : Poisoned, attacked, bleeding from the mouth, stabbed, both wrists and ankles slashed (tendons broken), bleeding, collapses, bleeding from the mouth — Weak

Ep 35-37 : None

Ep 38 : Prisoner, chained in water, injured, wound touched, wincing, stabbed, spits blood (in the villain face, which was kinda nice), slapped — Freed, carried — Meditating to heal himself, bleeding from the mouth, helped — Trapped

Ep 39-40 : None

>> More Whump List

[lulublack90]

Prompt 19 - Cheek

@rosekillermicrofic September 19, word count 790

Previous part First Jegulus part

A round little man waddled into the café and Regulus nodded his head towards him. Barty grinned a toothy grin as he eyed up his prey. This was going to be fun. He nudged Evan and jutted his chin towards Pettigrew. Evan patted him fondly on the cheek and stalked towards the man, who’d just sat down at an empty table. 

“Hello,” Barty heard Evan say in his most velvety voice. It sent a shiver down Barty’s spine. He loved that voice. Pettigrew jumped, not realising Evan had sat down at his table. Barty pulled out the chair next to Evan and sat down, making sure his pointed teeth showed clearly. He’d been called a vampire many times over the years, as his canines were rather sharp. Smiling like that didn’t help the rumours, but Bart couldn’t care less. 

“Oh, er, hi. Erm, I don’t really like sharing a table, if, if you don’t mind,” Pettigrew squeaked nervously as Barty picked up the fork from in front of him and twirled it in his fingers. 

“Well, we don’t like little rats who film our friends,” Barty said in an over-calm way. He pulled his top lip up even more, knowing how insane he’d look to the other man.

The sound of scraping chairs behind him alerted him to the Potters moving in. He didn’t take his eyes off the rat for a second. 

“And we don’t appreciate our son’s being used for your entertainment,” Effie hissed as she and Monty sat down beside Barty. Barty looked at her, impressed. Effie Potter had bite!

“What she said,” Monty said so cheerfully that Barty nearly broke character to stare at him in bewilderment, but he didn't have time for that as Pandora popped up beside Evan. 

“Peter? Peter Pettigrew, is that you?” She gasped. Wait, did Panda know him? “Oh, haven’t you been naughty? I’ve a good mind to tell your mother on you. Using my dear friend Sirius to get views online. That’s not very nice, you know,” She wagged her finger at him. Barty felt nervous himself. When Pandora wagged that finger, usually someone would be filled with regret not long after. 

Another two chairs were pulled over to the table and Regulus and James sat down. 

“The only one who can torture my brother is me,” Regulus sneered, his voice full of venom. "The fact you think you have the right to film him at all is beyond me." 

“Dickhead,” James shot at him. Barty had to try very hard not to snort.  

“James Fleamont Potter, language,” Effie gasped. 

“Sorry, Mum,” James flushed and tried again. “You hurt my friend, prepare to di—” Monty elbowed his son in the ribs, “Have a good telling off,” James huffed as he rubbed his side. 

Finally, Remus and Sirius joined the group around the table.  

"It gives me great pleasure, Mr Pettigrew, to inform you--” Remus said sweetly, too sweetly. Barty looked Remus over again and saw the fire behind his eyes. Oh, Remus had a crazy side. No wonder Regulus liked him.  

“Sling your hook, you're barred!” Sirius shouted at the cowering man, making Barty jump. Pettigrew leapt to his feet and ran for the door.    

The odd assortment of defenders chased after him. Barty felt exhilarated as he charged down the pavement. Regulus had been adamant that they were to scare Pettigrew only and not actually harm him. Sirius didn’t want that. So Barty let him escape. The stubby man could move surprisingly fast. He stopped running once Pettigrew disappeared around the corner and waited for the others to catch up. 

“I got it all on film! I got it all on film!” Effie cried out excitedly. 

“So did I,” Monty grinned wildly. “Oh, wait,” His face fell. “I had it on the wrong camera. It’s just my face.” Barty couldn’t help it. He burst into knee-slapping laughter. James’s parents were hilarious. 

“So who’s watching the café?” James asked, looking around the gathered people.

“Oh shit!” Sirius yelled and raced back to the unmanned café.

“Speaking of videos, wait until I show you what Barty did the other day. I can guarantee it’s the best thing you’ve ever witnessed in your life,” Evan said, baiting them until everyone wanted to see what Barty had done.

“Let’s wait until the café shuts,” Barty added. “I think there might be multiple viewings required. Evan agreed and put his phone away as they all walked back to the café together. Barty took Evan’s hand in his and winked at his boyfriend mischievously. He couldn’t wait to see Regulus’s face when he watched what Barty had done to his mother, but he could wait a few hours more. The anticipation was the best bit. 

Next part

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